Free Fractured: Outbreak ZOM-813 by Marie Lanza Page A

we sped down the dusty road. A part of me was feeling I didn’t get the closure I needed.  I couldn’t fully be satisfied that my family wasn’t in that place. I had to focus on getting to the next base and hope we would have better luck.
    “How far to Camp Glen?” Dan brought his eyes up to the rear view mirror.
    “About two hours northeast of here,” Jaxon said.
    “I don’t see Camp Glen on this map. I see Lynn further east, and the only base north is Fort Coulee.” I held up the map to show Jaxon our highlighted route of the bases we planned on hitting.
    “Camp Glen won’t be on any maps. And Lynn has been shut down for years,” Jaxon explained.
    “I’m hungry Daddy.” Ethan’s little voice sounded exhausted.
    “I’m sure you are, bud. It’s probably been awhile. Here…,” Jaxon reached in his pack and pulled out one of his MREs.
    “Ethan, are you thirsty? There’s some bottled water just under your feet,” I pointed out.
    “Can you say thank you?” Jaxon asked.
    “Thank you.” Ethan reached for a bottle.
    “You’re so welcome.” I found it heartening that Jaxon reminded his son to use manners in the middle of the end of the world.
    “We should stop before dark and camp out for the night,” Jaxon suggested.
    “That’s not a bad idea. I don’t remember the last time we even ate something.” Dan looked to me for my thoughts.
    “Yeah. That sounds like a plan to me. What do you suggest?” I turned around in my seat to face Jaxon.
    “We find a neighborhood and break into a home.” He looked to Ethan who was handing him the water bottle. “You done with that, buddy?”
    Ethan nodded and leaned against his dad’s arm.
    “We could all use some rest.” I smiled at Ethan.
    As we drove north, the sun moved across the sky, darkening as it began to settle in the west. I thought I might fall asleep, but my body just wasn’t allowing me to rest. Even in the security of Dan and Jaxon’s company, my nerves were on edge. 
    I watched the desert and mountainous scenery pass us by while thinking about the peace of mind these areas had always brought me. Before the outbreak, I loved getting away from civilization for a weekend with Dan. We’d call it our runaway weekends, packing up and getting out of town for even just one night. It was strange to think there was nothing left of the civilization we once knew.  
    Ethan slept quite comfortably in Jaxon’s arms. He would jerk and occasionally moan, and I was afraid to think of what nightmares must hide away in his dreams. Who knows what he experienced during the breakdown of the base? I hoped for his sake that he didn’t see much, but was instead locked in that office for the entirety of the massacre.
    I was a little surprised by how empty the road was. The larger highways were littered with cars, but if you didn’t know what had happened over the last few days, you could safely assume that this was just a desolate highway in the middle of the desert. I guess in a panic most people took the direct routes they knew when they fled the cities. But the traffic jams must have become death traps. Every once in a while we would pass by an infected; they looked more emaciated out here in the middle of nowhere, juxtaposed to the infected in the city.
    We finally reached the outskirts of what was probably once a quaint, small town now just a far reminiscence. This community had a Western style feel to it, but now resembled a real ghost town. Its residents either fled or still roamed the streets in their new, ghostly decayed form. Almost like a kind of purgatory, these monsters were stuck where they became infected. Stuck to wander forever without a destination until they were reeled in by the lure of living flesh. Then, powerless to resist following the flesh, they mindlessly chased until it was lost or captured. A few infected roamed the streets. Some were drawn out of buildings by the sound of our truck and followed in our direction.
    “This looks