First Activation

“We need to be in the best possible shape,” Jack said. “Lea, you might know the area, but we don’t. What if something happens to you? We’ll be feeling a lot better if we manage to get a few hours of sleep.”

We managed to pass Toledo with no further issues, apart from a few stops that Jack required to vomit by the side of the road. As we neared Monroe, my eyelids were getting heavier, and I was trying various techniques to keep myself awake. Jack and Lea had both slipped into sleep a few miles before, so I bit my lip, shook my head from side to side, or forced my eyes open as widely as possible. When none of that was working, I decided that we needed to stop.

Chapter 10 – MI

I shook Lea awake; she blinked a few times and frowned at me.

“How far is it from here?” I asked.

“Where are we?” She yawned.

“Is there any place you know where we can stop for a few hours?”

She looked at the approaching road sign for Luna Pier.

“It’s not far, about ten miles I think. Exit here, and we should be able to find somewhere, there’s a few quiet places around.”

I pulled off the highway, and we quickly found a house on Luna Pier Road that looked promising. Jack approached the door and knocked, there was no answer. We crept around the back and tried to peer through the windows, but blinds prevented us from seeing inside.

“Fuck it,” Jack said. “Let’s kick the back door in. I’m too tired to start hunting around for the perfect house.”

He raised his foot and smashed it against the door, it didn’t move. Lea stepped forward, turned the handle, and the door opened.

“Sometimes it’s worth keeping things simple,” she said, smiling.

Jack looked at me and puffed his cheeks.

We entered the house directly into a small clean kitchen, and then continued into the living room.

“I think it’s empty,” Lea said.

“Why don’t we check upstairs for some bedding? I think we should all sleep in the same room tonight,” I replied.

Jack and Lea agreed, they were both too tired to bother putting up an argument. We started to climb the staircase slowly, listening for movement. Upstairs, were three closed doors which presumably led to the bedrooms and bathroom. The bedrooms were the most sensible place to look for our requirements. We took a door each and I entered a small room with a single bed. I took off the duvet and pillow, and then heard Lea curse loudly from another room.

I dropped the bedding and ran into Lea’s room holding my rifle in a firing position. Lea was staring at two dead bodies lying together on the bed. They were an elderly couple dressed in day clothes and holding hands, they didn’t appear to be long dead. Four empty pill bottles lay on the bedside table.

“Sorry, they freaked me out in this light,” Lea said. “I didn’t mean to scare you guys.”

“Don’t worry about it; we can take turns using the bedding I found in the other room.”

Jack edged past me and looked at the scene on the bed, “Christ, that’s awful. Let’s close the door and get downstairs.”

We filed back to the living area and sat on the couches in silence. With a dead couple upstairs, I wanted to find somewhere else, but we all appeared exhausted and needed some rest. I rose with a grunt and checked that all the doors and windows were locked. Jack and I pushed a large dresser and bookcase in front of the internal doors. There was no point taking watch and sitting up all night with the house secured, so we agreed to get some sleep.

I took a recliner, Jack spread out on the floor with the duvet, and Lea pulled a single sheet over herself on the couch.

Ron was probably plotting his next moves a mere ten miles away from us, and the second activation was due tomorrow. I couldn’t concentrate on what I was supposed to do about it all, and drifted in and out of sleep until a disturbingly vivid dream at dawn woke me completely.

In the nightmare, I was dressed as a groom and standing at the top table with the rotting corpse of a lady in a wedding dress sitting next to me. I had notes in my hands about to give a speech. As I looked around the large reception room, I could see it was filled with the rotting corpses of my family and friends, all in suits and dresses. They started to heckle me.

“Why did you get on the plane, Harry?”

“Why are you still alive?”

“You’ll be married to the dead soon.”

I came awake with a start, and rubbed my eyes muttering under my breath, “Fucking hell.”

“What is it?” Jack whispered.

“I just had a nightmare about getting married.”

“Loads of people have had that in real life,” he yawned.

Lea must have been awake, she replied, “Yeah, Jack, mostly women faced with the likes of you.”