WILLA, стр. 32
What bolstered our spirits were the stories about government facilities where we could go to be safe. Uncle Jamie warned that the possibility of such places still standing was farfetched. We didn’t care. We wanted to see for ourselves. We argued that we had to go somewhere, and a military base was a logical destination.
“The nearest military facilities to our location are the Air National Guard station just south of Memphis and the Memphis MEPS, but we know Memphis is gone. I’m betting everything up I40 north to Nashville has probably fallen to the zombies as well,” Uncle Jamie said, looking over the map he’d spread across the picnic table before us.
“There has to be somewhere we can go,” Chase said, looking over our uncle’s shoulder.
“Not really. We have to assume that those creatures have overrun many bases and quarantine camps. If they hadn’t, more of the survivors we’ve met would be heading to one not speculating about them,” Uncle Jamie said.
“But...” Chase started to argue.
“I’m not saying we aren’t going to find one. I’m just trying to narrow our prospects so that we have a specific destination,” our uncle told the boy.
“There are two Army National Guard stations in middle Tennessee. One of them might be standing and sheltering people,” Sam said, pointing to an area on the map around Pulaski.
“They are far enough away from Huntsville, the nearest large city—so yeah, they might be relatively unscathed,” Uncle Jamie said, scrutinizing the map.
“Is that where we are going?” Chase asked, sounding excited for the first time in months.
“Looks like. We’ll continue along the Mississippi/Tennessee border into Alabama. We’ll cross into Tennessee just before we hit Florence. I heard someone blew up both dams in the area and caused a great deal of flooding, so we might not get far into Alabama. Does that sound like a plan to the rest of you?” he asked.
Sam and I nodded. Chase nearly jumped for joy.
“All right. Get some rest. We have a lot of walking to do,” Uncle Jamie said, folding the map before taking the first watch.
The sun was still out, but setting fast. If we woke at dawn, we could get in a lot of miles the next day.
Two days later, we stumbled upon a massive horde. Chase spotted them and screamed like an idiot, getting the creature’s attention. Sam clamped a hand over his brother’s mouth, but it was too late.
“Where are we going to hide?” I asked no one in particular.
I was swinging my head around me, and all I could see were paper-thin trailers. None of them would hold up to the numbers heading our way.
“The park should have a manager’s office. It should be sturdy enough to withhold the press of them. Look for that,” Uncle Jamie said, grabbing my arm and Sam’s and all but dragging us behind a row of trailers.
Sam held tightly to his brother.
“They’re getting closer,” Chase cried.
“We can fucking hear them. Now shut up,” Sam said.
“There,” Uncle Jamie said, pointing to a small brick building.
How we got lucky enough for the doors to be unlocked, I don’t know, but they were. We barreled straight into the park’s main office and flipped the lock seconds before one of the creatures slammed into the massive metal door.
The inside of the office looked as if someone had recently been taking shelter inside it. The person had boarded up the windows and brought in two-by-fours that we could slam down over the door as well.
“Thank God for small favors,” Sam said as he and Uncle Jamie secured the two-by-fours.
Behind me, I heard Chase start to gag.
“You better take that shit to the bathroom,” I said, whirling on him.
The last thing we needed was the smell of his vomit luring more of those creatures to us.
Chase clamped his hand over his mouth and spun in circles until he found the bathroom. He bolted to the tiny room, and thankfully, shut the door behind him.
“What?” I said to the stares Sam and Uncle Jamie aimed my way. “We have no way of cleaning it up if he spewed on the floor. Did either one of you want to smell his vomit for however long we are here? This place stinks enough as it is.”
“You didn’t have to be so mean about it,” Sam said, stepping past me to explore the rest of the building.
“Probably not, but he’s going to have to man up, or he’s going to die or get us killed,” I said, moving to a window to see if I could peep through the cracks.
I didn’t know why. I knew those creatures were out there because we could hear them banging on the walls, windows, and doors.
“Someone has pretty well boarded up this place, but we should probably move the furniture in front of any entry points just a precaution,” Sam said.
“Good idea,” Uncle Jamie said, motioning for Sam to help him move a large filing cabinet in front of one of the windows.
I flipped a desk on its side and slid it in front of the side door.
We worked for a good fifteen minutes. Chase didn’t come out of the bathroom until we’d finished.
That entire day we spent checking and double-checking the entry points. The smell of us going to the bathroom, coupled with the scent of food wafting out of the cracks, was keeping the creatures coming. All we could do was pray that they gave up before we ran out of supplies.
“We can’t stay here much longer,” Uncle Jamie said on the evening of our second day in the office. “We’re running out of food.”
“We can’t go out there,” Chase said, glancing toward the door.
It wasn’t bowing as it had in the past. I suspected, as Uncle Jamie most likely did, that the horde was thinning, but by how much I couldn’t tell.
“We’ll starve in here in a week if we stay,” Sam