Timothy Long - Beyond the Barriers

The rest of the crew filed out as I stood in front of the door. Liz tried to meet my gaze, but I had it firmly on Lee. I didn’t want any mistakes. If any of them flinched, I was going to kill him.

O’Connell snatched his handgun off the floor, but kept it low as he went out. I backed out last. It was awkward to hold him like this and walk to the truck. Words were whispered back and forth between the folks we had left outside and the reconnaissance team, as I now thought of them.

“It’s not personal.” I said as I hauled him into the cab with me.

The others dropped down low in the truck bed and scrambled for weapons. I didn’t know the drivers name but he nodded at me once then started the truck.

It groaned as he shifted into reverse. He gunned the engine and we shot backward. Lee was half hanging out of the truck and I didn’t have any choice but to let him go. He fell to the ground as we went around the corner. I slammed the door shut, but not before I got a full dose of hate from Lee. If looks could kill, I would have been six feet under.

We returned with less than we had left with, but we were alive. The driver had radioed ahead, and when we pulled into the compound it was to a small army. The men and women came out in force and looked ready for war. I saw every kind of weapon, including long blades. A couple even sported what looked like Asian swords.

Thomas met us as we came through the gate.

When folks simmered down and went back inside, I was left with just the crew that had gone out on the “rescue mission.” Thomas listened to the story again and thanked me with a handshake.

As we headed home, Liz turned to confront me. Her eyes were angry, and I could understand a reprimand. I could have played it cool, given our weapons over, and maybe they would have let us go just like they said. Maybe they would have used us as hostages or even tried to get info on our forces.

“Christ, Tragger.” She sighed loudly. “I’m not going to say that was a stupid fucking thing to do.”

“You don’t have to.”

We walked in silence for a few feet. Daniel turned and winked at me, then sped off into the Walmart. The others kept pace. I guess he had a hot date.

“You know you just made an enemy, right?” she said. “Lee isn’t going to forget that nor forgive you.”

“I know.”

I would like to report that was the end of Lee, that I never saw him again. That, sadly, is not what happened in the coming weeks.

I went to the gym again that night, but she didn’t show. I worked away some of the tension I had built up during the stand off in town. There was no way I would be able to sleep, as amped up as I still was, so I worked out until I was beyond exhausted.

I planned to ask Thomas about Katherine, but it seemed prudent to mind my own business. I’m sure she had her reasons, and they were none of my concern.

The next day, Thomas showed me the communication room where they were picking up a signal from Portland on a low band radio. There had been communication for a few weeks, although sporadically, about the work on the city to keep out the undead and the ghouls. I listened intently, because Allison might be there, if she was still alive.

They had been formulating a way to leave the compound.

I was taken aback at first. They had shelter, a way to protect themselves, and they had food and water.

“This won’t last forever. We have held out pretty well, but the supplies you see are all that’s left for miles around. A lot of people in the store don’t want to be isolated anymore. So many rumors out there about the cities being free of the dead. About the government being in control. They just want a chance at a normal life.”

Plans based on rumors. I wished I had a better idea on how to proceed.

The strategic exit was pretty basic—they didn’t need something with a million steps to get out. The hard part would be the distraction. Someone was going to drive a small tanker to the end of town, near the barricade through which I had blasted, and detonate the truck’s gas supply. The gas station in the parking lot meant we had a good bit of fuel for all the trucks, so we could spare a few hundred gallons to light up the day. When the ghouls went to investigate, the convoy would leave and head for Portland.

The problem was that someone had to be the bait to set off the distraction.

“Who might that be?” I wondered out loud. The other men in the room turned as one and looked at a form that had slipped into the room.

“That would be me.”

I turned and met Katherine’s eyes. She didn’t offer a smile, just a stony wall of non-emotion, just like her voice when she said she was going to create the distraction. I don’t know what was more surprising, her speaking up or my next words.

“I’ll go with her.”

“Not necessary. We have a capable guy. In fact, it’s Pat here, the guy who spoke up for you the other day.”

Pat was nervous, and looked away when I met his eyes. He nodded once to Katherine, and then crossed his arms, staring at the map laid out before the planners. They had a crude drawing of the Walmart compound as well as the street leading out of Vesper Lake. There was a line of cars and trucks drawn over it in red, with stick men manning guns on the back of trucks and SUVs. I saw some of the innovative things that the engineers in the group had created for the cars. Sunroofs turned into gun ports and one pump truck with a nozzle that spat gas. Probably a flamethrower, but it would also work well to lay down a stream of gas that could be lit.

“I have no doubt that Pat is a good guy, but don’t you need someone with some combat experience?”

“You are looking at a roomful of men with combat experience,” Thomas said.

“He can go if he likes. The more the merrier,” Katherine spoke up. “Besides, I hear he did good things yesterday.”

“The jury is still out on that one.” I whispered.

“Fine. We’ve run this place from the start with the help of volunteers. You want to go with, be my guest. But I want to say that a guy like you is very valuable, and I would prefer if you stayed with us. We may need your expertise later on.”

“You make it sound like a suicide mission.”

“What else would it sound like?” Katherine asked.

That night, we met and went over the plan. Then Katherine and I worked out in the gym. She told me she had been ‘busy’ the last few nights and unable to make it. I took her at her word. After we were covered in sweat and walking toward the shower room, she thanked me for volunteering to go along.

“I know you’ll be a big help.”

“Why do you want to be the one?” I asked her, looking out the corner of my eye to see her expression. It didn’t change.

“Someone had to do it. I have nothing left to live for. My children were …”

I let her trail off and didn’t say a word. I escaped relatively unscathed. Sure, I lost things, but I didn’t know the fate of Allison, so I assumed she was alive and safe in Portland. My own reason for going was the inescapable feeling that my fate was somehow tied up with Katherine’s. I’ve never been one to believe in a god or a destiny, but somehow it felt right when I was with her. Emotionless or not, she was the first woman to whom I had been attracted in years.

“I wish I could say I understand, but I don’t. I didn’t really have anyone before the event, and I don’t have anyone now. If I die, then it won’t be a great loss. Who will look for me years from now when the world is right again?”

“Is that why you agreed to go? Some gesture of futility against an insane world?”

“No. I volunteered because I wanted to be with you.”