Free Zompoc Survivor: Exodus by Ben S Reeder Page B

lot about the character of a man by the way he treated folks around him when he held power in his hands. When we’d had the chance, Porsche and I had helped Sherman out. It was a small difference, but it was enough for me to hang on to my humanity.

Chapter 7
    Average , Ordinary Heroes
    Unhappy the land in need of heroes
    ~ Bertolt Brecht ~
    We drove along quietly after that, Sherman leaning up against me as I rode in the back of the truck, Porsche quiet in the front. All told it had been only a couple of hours since the world started its one way trip to Hell, but already I was feeling the strain. She wound her way through the back streets, and I could hear the moans of the infected and the distant screams of the dying. Gunshots sounded in the distance, and I heard another Chinook fly overhead. That sound stirred questions in my head. What in the Hell were Army helicopters doing flying over the city without their running lights on?
    “Turn the radio on,” I said. A heartbeat later, static filled the air. Porsche turned the volume down before she turned to me.
    “The Q’s off the air,” she said.
    “Try KTTZ,” I told her. “If it’s news you know they’re gonna be all over it.” She hit one of the presets on her radio, and an unfamiliar voice came over the speakers.
    “…again, evacuation is in progress. Army National Guard personnel and Homeland Security agents are asking all citizens for their cooperation as they evacuate uninfected members of the population. If you have encountered an infected person, please inform the soldiers or agents who are evacuating you and medical help will be provided for you. If you are in a safe place, such as a school or your place of employment, please stay where you are and call this station or 417-555-EVAC. Emergency evacuation is in progress. Stay indoors and do not make contact with anyone who is infected.” Silence followed, then the voice began again. “Citizens of Springfield, please stay in your homes and cooperate fully with your local, state and federal government representatives. Martial law has been declared for the state of Missouri and an immediate curfew is in effect. Looters will be shot on sight. Emergency evacuation is in progress. Again, emergency evacuation is in progress. Army National Guard personnel-” Porsche turned the radio off as it started to repeat what we’d already heard, then turned to me with wide eyes full of questions.
    “Should we…?” she let the question hang in the air between us. I shook my head slowly.
    “No, if this was legit…we’d be seeing running lights on those choppers overhead,” I said. “This doesn’t feel right.” She nodded, and I felt a pang of guilt when she turned her attention back to the road. Up until today, we’d just been co-workers, sharing a few hours at a time, talking about inconsequential things. Now, she was trusting me with her life.
    We made a left, then she took a right down a side street and a hundred yards later, we were turning right on to Seminole. The street was clear ahead, save for a few bodies. When we passed the first one, a man in what was left of a patient’s hospital gown, I saw tire marks across the side of its head in the pale light of the street lamp. Further on, one of the infected in a white lab coat and suit pants had been reduced to crawling along, its legs and hips twisted almost completely around. Tire marks were clearly visible along its back, and there was broken glass imbedded in its face. A third body was splayed out in the middle of the road, with a bloody tire tread running straight up the back of her skimpy yellow minidress. A grim smile creased my face as I let a spark of hope kindle in my heart. Someone had been this way not long before, and I was willing to put good money on my girl Maya. How she’d gotten past Campbell and the St John’s campus was a mystery to me, but if anyone would have been able to figure it out, that person would have been Maya. Glenstone