JR stared at him curiously. “Why not use GPS?”
“I’m using it now. But I guarantee that system along with the internet will soon be only a distant memory, then without paper maps we’d have nothing. In fact, I have maps of the entire country and every state in it including Alaska; but I didn’t bother with Hawaii or any other offshore islands. The zombie onslaught will cause the internet to be shut down due to lack of maintenance, power, and personnel.”
“You’re just full of gloom and doom possibilities; and it scares the hell out of me. It’s frightening to know my entire life and dreams turned upside down in a single day, and I have only a bleak future ahead of me. The thought of a future like you laid out is as if we’re going back two or three centuries in time to when people worked from dawn to dusk just to have enough food to feed themselves.”
Sam shrugged. “Yeah, it’s not much to look forward to when compared to the conveniences we grew up with. But it’s what’s there. The life skills we’ll need haven’t been taught or used for a hundred years or more. As far as your life being upended in a day, that’s not totally true. I saw what was happening around the world many months ago; you and others had the same opportunity to see it but chose to laugh it off and ignore it as silly rumors.”
JR was incensed. “Well, thank you mister hateful know it all. I’m sorry I’m such a dumbass and didn’t realize the world was coming to an end.” She stared straight ahead and quietly pouted.
JR drove for an hour and fifteen minutes and knew they should soon be approaching Garden City, Kansas. They were in open farm country surrounded by flat land to gently rolling hills; and from the west the ever present wind blew with harsh gusts that caused the truck and trailer to often sway to the right shoulder. The wind caused ripples in the golden wheat crops planted on both sides of the road like human waves in a sports arena. All day they had followed a concrete path through acres of wheat, corn, or soybean fields as far as they could see.
The orange sun was to the west, and dusk was on the way. Coming over a slight rise, she saw several vehicles on the side of the road about a mile ahead. The only buildings in sight were farm structures in the far distance on each side of the ruler straight highway. Figures milled about in the middle of the road. “Sam, look ahead.” She let up on the gas, coasted, and prepared to stop in case the people needed help.
Sam straightened and blinked to get awake. “Slower . . . much slower” Sam murmured as the distance closed. “See what’s going on before we get too close . . . there are four trailers behind . . . it looks like a sedan, an SUV, and two pickups . . . easy now . . . some of those are zombies fighting people. Stop here, we’re about a hundred yards from them. I’ll use a rifle to put the zombies down at this safe distance so we don’t get attacked.” He grabbed the steering wheel with his left hand. “I’ll steer while you load a magazine in your Glock. I hope you’re ready for it and don’t shoot yourself.”
“Yeah. I’m ready; I’ve been practicing my draw empty.”
“Remember you’re shooting a semiauto. When the magazine is empty, eject it to the ground and jam a loaded one in. Don’t waste time trying to put the empty in a pocket; that could get you killed. Every second is precious with zombies attacking. Good luck girl. Let me know if you get in trouble.”
The truck stopped and JR shifted to park and set the brake.
Sam stretched over the seatback and grabbed an M 21 from the gunrack in the rear window, opened the door, stood on the threshold, and quickly counted thirteen zombies. He made head shots as fast as he could aim and squeeze the trigger. “Let me know if any zombies get within fifty feet and hit them with your handgun. I’ll try to save the live humans up ahead first.”
JR opened her door, exited, and glanced behind them. Two pickups pulling trailers had crossed over the slight rise, and a motorhome was barely visible behind them. Both pickups stopped a hundred yards from her. She turned to where Sam was firing and saw an older, heavyset woman being attacked by two zombies. Blood flowed from open wounds where the woman was bitten as she screamed and fought valiantly. Quickly her struggles ceased, and she fell to the concrete. In less than a minute, she rose in clumsy jerks and joined the attack on people who had been her friends or family members a minute earlier.
