Chatter

Chapter 3

The door of the fire truck jammed. Everyone was loaded inside and the damn door would not shut. The infected had surrounded the truck and began rocking it all while chattering. Autumn was tucked into her father's lap and hid, plugging her ears.

The engine revved. Nothing was wrong with the engine. If this were movie, it would be stalled and everyone would be panicking. Instead Cade had made himself the driver and threw it in drive.

The fire truck slammed forward into the pack of killers. Blood splattered the windshield and plenty of thuds were heard as they pulled out of the airport. Cade turned on the wipers but it just smeared the blood around worse than before.

"Guys we are on the road. I am heading us North toward Michigan where the border to Canada is. With any luck we will make it in a day." The rest of the group kind of looked at each other with worry. How could anything in this situation be so easy?

Getting out of the city would prove harder than expected for the band of survivors however. Even though they were on the interstate which sat next to the airport, the roads were littered with vehicles and the walking dead were all over. 

Driving through the mess took many hours. It was as if everyone had turned at the same time and the world had just stopped. As they passed one car in particular it hit home. Two children with their eyes rolled back were clawing at the backseat window of a SUV. 

"It looks like everyone got the shot," said Keiko. The others just watched in horror and sadness as they drove by slowly. 

"Daddy I'm hungry," whispered Autumn.

"Think we could stop along the way and find some food? The little one is hungry and frankly none of us have eaten in who knows how long," said Hank to the group. 

Cade looked at them in the mirror, thinking about it. He glanced at the gas gauge that neared empty and said, "There is a truck stop ahead. We can stop and see if there is any food and we need gas."

Trina was huddled into the side of Vick like they had been lovers. "Good god I am starving. I hadn't even thought about it." She put her head back into his side. 

The slow miles drifted on. Every so often they would run over a chatterer. The noise would bring more but they had driven by. The noise seemed to Cade like a calling of some kind. Maybe that was their signal to gather.

Dwayne was quiet through all of this. He seemed to be far away in thought. "They are dead aren't they," he said looking out the side window. "I mean this is it. We live or we die, but they are both." He started getting the shakes. "I'm just a pilot. I hadn't gotten the shot yet because of a layover in Tokyo." 

The others quietly listened and thought to themselves. Vick clutched his bag and closed his eyes. He wasn't annoyed by Trina, any other time he'd be hitting it, but at the moment she was a burden.

"We should bust into a motel and settle for the night after we get food," said Hank. The rest agreed and the anticipation of food and a night's sleep made everyone feel a bit better after all that had happened.

The fire truck pulled off exit 312 and crossed the bridge over the interstate. The truck stop was just ahead on the right. Nothing seemed out of order so far. There was undead walking about but the group had yet to really have to deal with them up close besides on the plane and the tarmac and neither of those resulted in much fighting or killing.

Cade pulled the truck into an open spot to pump gas. He got out first and walked around to the pump. It was dim. The readout was black and looked hopeless. "Shit, it is off. Lemme check the others." He snuck around to each pump, ducking and weaving quietly between the monsters. "Shut off, all of them are off."

He crept back to the fire truck, "Guys we have a problem. No gas."

Suddenly a chatterer grabbed Cade from behind. "SHIT." It had hold of his shoulders, pulling him down and away from the truck.

"NOOOOO," screamed Autumn. 

This alerted a large group of undead towards the people. Cade spun around to his back. He had his hands around the things neck to keep it at a distance. The monster had its mouth open, drooling down its face and dripping onto Cades neck. "Guys help."

The beast opened its mouth further and large fangs grew. "Guys really." He brought his knees up into the things chest and pushed as hard as possible. It reeled over and Cade sprung up. "These things are like super zombies, WTF. Someone find me a weapon."

Keiko was the only one not panicking. Even Vick seemed frozen in place. She quickly looked around the truck and found a fire axe. The woman grabbed it and went to the door. "Cade here," she said and tossed the axe in his direction.

The axe landed several feet to the left of Cades position. The group of undead and his wrestling buddy were approaching. Weirdly sometimes they were quick and sometimes lumbering, almost stalking.

Cade stumbled over to the axe and gripped it with both hands. "Guys get off the truck, we have to move." He swung with all his strength hitting the first one between the eyes. Its head parted in two and brains and blood spewed everywhere drenching Cade and the gas pumps in red and goo.

The others filed off the fire truck with make shift weapons and fear. Vick held a large chain. Hank had Autumn's hand and a screwdriver in the other. Keiko had another axe. Trina and Dwayne hadn't found anything so they were in the middle of the pack for protection.

Vick yelled, "Let's make our way to that motel."

They all saw one of those old by the road motels with about six rooms total. It was just across the highway and diagonal from the truck stop. "Ok let's cut behind the burger joint and gas stations and try to lose these undead before we go there," said Cade. 

The sun was starting to set in the sky and the group all knew that shelter was essential. Food and rest would have to come after that. The slow chatterers couldn't keep up with them and slowly they made their way to the motel with no one behind them.

"Strange we haven't seen any real people yet," said Trina. "Surely not everyone got the vaccination. 

Hank went into the manager's office and came back out quickly with two keys. "There's candy and pop in there, better than nothing." He handed Keiko a key. "Two rooms, however you guys think we should split up."

Everyone went into the office and grabbed some candy and soda. Then they split off into the two rooms. The night would prove to be long.

*If you enjoyed this chapter please vote and comment. If you didn't tell me what I can improve. Thanks!*