You Can't Survive Alone

Part 18

Evening meal
Instead of eating separately for dinner like we usually do, Nick walked around and asked everybody if they would join us in the main dining room for dinner tonight. Everybody- including the hospital people and Hobbes- agreed that they would be there.
As we trickled into the dining room, I wondered what we would have for dinner. Usually, we each grabbed whatever we wanted from the pantry and ate that, but they must've put something together for us. Immediately when I walk in, I can smell something delicious. They must've used some of the meat that was in the freezer when we came and was still cold, because I could swear that I smelled roasted meat.
On the dining table sat a huge plate with a huge hunk of roast beef in the center, with bowls of gravy, mashed potatoes, carrots, peas, and canned fruit such as strawberries, mandarin oranges, and even cherries. There was so much food- so much it must be impossible for us to eat it all. Maybe not impossible- there are eleven of us, combined- but it would be difficult. I'm sure we'll manage it.
I sit down in a chair, at the place with the name tag that says "Ash." There are eleven place-settings, for each of the eleven of us. As the others sit down, I realize that a few people are missing: Zack, Nick, and Aaron. They appear through the door last, and walk together to the places they had set for themselves. Everyone starts serving themselves at the same time. I start with beef, potatoes, oranges, and peas. I look at the people around me, and realized that they had placed us near the people we were most friends with. I was sitting next to Zack, Aaron, and Nick was directly across from me. Kat was next to Zack, and Jess was next to Nick. Liz and Jess were across from each other; Mark and Maya were together as well. Kyle sat at the end next to Mark. Hobbes was across from Kyle.
I hadn't really been able to see Hobbes much earlier, so I studied him now. He had short brown hair, and hazel eyes. He was stockily built, but not fat, as he obviously hadn't eaten well in quite a while. He was short for his age, which I figured was around fourteen. Wire-framed glasses perched on the edge of his nose. He ate like he hadn't seen food in quite a while, which I bet was probably true, or, at least, not this much food.
None of us had seen this much food in a while. About halfway through the meal, Mark sits up and holds his water glass in the air. "Toast to Nick, Aaron, and Jess for setting up this amazing dinner for us." Everyone raises their glasses in response, and Nick, Aaron, and Jess look pleased. We eat the rest of the meal in silence.
After dinner, we brew a pot of coffee and sit back at the table. It's time to plan.
As usual, Nick starts the discussion. "As you can all see, we have a new member with us tonight. His name is Hobbes, and we found him in an apartment building today. He has survived this alone." People start to murmur at the thought that he'd survived alone. How had he survived? "Later tonight, he'll recount his side of the story about how he got here. But, as we also saw today, the zombies are starting to mass into groups." Outrage at this claim. This is not very popular. "I know, zombies have always worked apart in the past, but obviously they don't plan to keep it that way. Aaron, Hobbes and I were attacked by a group of about thirty on our way back today. Hobbes was bit, but thanks to Jess, he did not become a zombie before we could save him." Jess looks pleased as many people begin applauding her.
"What are we going to do about the zombies? I mean, it's not really safe for us to stay here anymore, is it? There's a huge pile of blood and bodies out in the street, and you know as well as I that zombies are attracted by noise, light, and smell!" Zack sounds aggravated as he points this out.
"Earlier today, Mark, Kyle and I moved the bodies. There is still blood on the street, but we should at least be safe until morning." People start talking about halfway throughout Nick's response, so he has to grow louder to be heard. "Guys! Hey!" The people quiet down a bit while he continues talking. "Zack brought up a good point. Cities, sadly, won't be very safe anymore. Which finally brings us to the point: What are we going to do? Are we going to stay here? Move out, into the country? If we were to leave, how would we bring supplies? There's a lot to be considered here."
Thankfully, everyone doesn't talk at once. We each take turns, saying what we want to do. Zack starts by saying, "It just isn't safe here anymore. I don't think we can stay without being overrun, because we aren't a small group that can go easily undetected, and we aren't a large group that can easily hold them off. We're right in the awkward in-between where you can't fly under the radar and you can't defend yourself. We should go to the wilderness."
"And what, exactly, would we do in the wilderness? Start a farm? What about when winter comes? Where will we get supplies then?" Liz obviously doesn't want to leave her hospital project.
"I just want to do whatever's safest for me and my sister," Mark says, meaning Maya.
"I don't plan on leaving the hospital any time soon," Kyle says. "Leaving all our supplies and abandoning the people who may need us in the future would only bring further pain."
We argued back and forth for a long while, and it became obvious that there were two sides that would not agree: Mark, Maya, Kyle, and Liz wanted to stay while the rest of us wanted to go.
There was still one big question though: how would we get to the mystical place known as "somewhere else"?
For the first time in the conversation, Hobbes spoke up. "There are train lines all over the city."
"Yes, and how does this help us? Are we going to conduct a train and get off in The Middle of Nowhere, USA?" Liz asks sarcastically. "None of us even know how to start a train, much less drive or stop it!"
"That isn't exactly true... I used to be slightly obsessed with trains. I can drive pretty much any train you'll find in America, and we can simply stop and get off wherever you guys want to."
"Seriously?" Nick asks incredulously.
"Dead serious." Hobbes looks quite proud of himself. "If you guys load up one of the trains in the city, I can get us out of here. I mean, as long as you guys still want to."
Everyone stares at Hobbes, and he sinks down a bit in his seat.
"Well, we have our escape plan. Now, I guess, to decide when we leave," Nick says.
"I still don't want to leave," Maya says. "I want to stay with my brother."
"I'm not abandoning the hospital. Sorry guys, but I can't leave," Liz says. Kyle nods to show he's staying as well.
"What about you guys?" Nick asks as he turns to the rest of us. "When do you guys want to leave?"
There is silence for a moment, then Jess says, "we should leave as soon as we can. It isn't safe here anymore, and I don't want more people to get hurt."
"I agree. Get supplies, get ready, and leave as soon as possible," Aaron says.
Zack looks at Kat and I as he says, "as soon as we possibly can."
"Okay. We'll start preparations tomorrow, then. Scavenging runs, packing, getting everything on the train. Oh, and Hobbes- does it matter which kind of train we use? Or can you conduct any of them?"
"I'd suggest that you use a passenger train, for your own comfort, because traveling so far in a freight car would be... Uncomfortable, to say in the least. There may be a few zombies on the train, but we can just take them out before we leave."
"Passenger train it is, then. We'll also help clean up the street for those of the group who are staying, of course. We can't simply leave it to them, and we'll obviously need a place to stay if we ever come back."
We all nod in agreement. Since I was directly responsible for the huge puddle of gore on the street, it wouldn't be very fair for me to leave it for someone else to clean up.
"Before we head to bed, I'm interested to hear this kid's story," Kyle says.
Sounds of assent echo throughout the room. "You feel fine with telling us, right?" Nick asks Hobbes.
"I-I'll tell you." He takes a deep breath, and begins his story.
"So... I'll just start immediately after the beginning of everything, alright? I woke up, like normal, except it wasn't normal. It felt like something was wrong, you know? I looked out my bedroom window, and the glow coming through the window wasn't sunlight- it was the orange and yellow of a bright fire. The building across the street was in flames, and I could hear people screaming... My mom came in the room, told me to get dressed, that we were leaving. I got ready like it was a normal day, but I packed a bag and got ready to leave.
"My mom and I piled into the car, and I remember wondering why we were getting in the car because the streets were absolutely packed with other people trying to leave, t-to get out. It took multiple hours to even get close to the city's edge, and there was a huge barricade put up, with soldiers and everything. They were turning people away, and there were huge signs that said "QUARANTINE ZONE". Then- and this part is a little fuzzy, but I swear I saw someone climbing over the barricade, and it was like the soldiers didn't notice. But the person's face... it was all torn up and bloody, but he acted like he didn't even notice it. The guy ran up to one of the soldiers and just attacked him, and the other soldiers tried to pull the zombie off of him, but it was too late, and the soldiers all started to curl up on the ground and scream...." He takes a deep, ragged breath before he continues.
"My mom said that we had to get out of the car and run, but the car door was jammed, and the things were running towards us... She finally got the door open, and we got out and ran, but one of them caught up to her. They were swarming over the cars and people were running around, and it was just absolutely crazy, you know? But one second she was there next to me, and then she was being pulled back into the crowd, and she yelled for me to run...
"I ran as fast as I could, and I got away from most of the people. I ducked into one of the buildings in the side, and stayed there for a bit. I boarded up the windows with some plywood I found on the side of the shop, and nailed boards over the door. There wasn't any food or water, and that wasn't a very good few days for me, but at least I stayed alive, right? Better than what most people did.
"I didn't really believe that I needed it, but I made myself a weapon- I took a long plank, and put a few nails through the end, like spikes. I hiked through back alleys and took shortcuts through buildings, and ran into a few zombies. Mostly when I found them, I ran, but sometimes I just had to fight... If you guys don't mind, I think I'll leave out the fights...
"I made my way slowly back to my apartment. Fire-fighters hadn't bothered to try to save the house across the way; it was a burned out husk. My building was abandoned, and I nailed boards over the first floor windows and doors, trying to stop attacks, and it worked for a bit, but a few still got through. I went through all my neighbors things, survived off bottled water and canned food. Slowly, I adjusted to the way things had become.
"Then, earlier today, a large group of zombies got through my barricades. They came up the stairs, and I fled up the fire escape to the roof- my last line of defense. I had been training myself to fight with knives, and to be able to throw them, and I had a huge array of them up on the roof waiting for me. I fought all morning, but I finally was overrun. I was sitting on the highest point I could on the roof, on top of a cell tower or something I had climbed up. The zombies couldn't climb, so I was safe for a while. Aaron and Nick found me, killed the zombies, and got me down. We ran as fast as we could to your base, but they had had another group following them. We were going past an alley when a lone zombie jumped out onto me. I could see the White House, a mere hundred feet away, but the zombie bit me. They shot it and they carried me to the house. I must've gone unconscious, because I don't remember anything after that until I woke up on the floor. The rest you know."
This kid was a survivor, all right. I can't even imagine going through all of that alone... It's a wonder he isn't insane. I look around, and see everyone watching Hobbes with a newfound respect.
"Thank you for sharing your story with us," Nick says. The sentiment echoes around the room as people say, "Wow," and "Amazing."
Hobbes slowly gets up, and walks through the doors that exit to the hallway. I can hear his footsteps crashing up the stairway as he runs to his room.
"On that note, I'm headed to bed," Zack says. We all start to get up, and I realize that Hobbes wasn't the only one who had been crying. I can see the remnants of tears on people's cheeks as they remember their own ways of getting here. We walk upstairs, some of us nearly falling over and wavering as though drunk.
Slowly I curl up in bed, and cry quietly until I fall asleep. I'm not going to let that kid's suffering be for nothing, I promise myself. That kid is going to live, and I'm going to see it happen.