Chapter 70- A Van Down By The River

I raced to the corner of the building at the end of the street and ducked around the corner.  Peeking back the way I came I saw the fat zombie in the blue running suit followed by a kid in jeans and a green hoodie.  His skin was pale and his teeth were covered in blood that matched a bright red trucker cap sitting flat brimmed on his head.  He looked as though he'd been eating something, or someone very recently.  He moved rapidly toward me, unable to see me any longer but determined to reach my last known location.  I looked around and saw a white labeled "Coak Construction" with the tagline "Everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink." On the side of the van was a comical character with a red hat pulled down over his eyes and a tool bag slung over one shoulder.  He looked remarkably like the kid I had just seen.  I opened the side of the van and found a veritable cornucopia of tools that could be used as weapons. Hand saws and drills, hammers and crowbars.  I climbed in, looking for a good melee weapon.

As I climbed in I instantly recognized the smell.  As a teenager I had worked two summers as a framer for a local construction company doing hurricane upgrades on various commercial buildings.  The smell of machine oil mixed with sawdust instantly brought back memories of fast food lunches and convenience store dinners.  I looked around the van at the various shelves built into the walls.  Cardboard boxes full of nails and plastic cases with specialized tools littered the shelves.  Across the floor was a thick layer of power tools, brooms, and air compressors.  A tool belt humg on a hook, two framing hammers hanging from metal loops.  I would need to be close to make these effective, and I preferred to have something that could be wielded fairly easily but still give me more than an arms length distance.  

In the very back I saw a bunch of tools propped up in the corner.  I lifted a shovel and saw the bright yellow of a sledgehammer behind it.  A vivid flash in my mind and I could see my neighbor slamming away on his bumper.  It's hard to believe that was just a few weeks ago, and only a few blocks away.  The world was so different now.  I glanced out the back window and saw the two walkers getting closer.  I quickly began climbing back toward the front and as I reached for the door a flash of silver caught my eye.  Lookino over I saw the keys dangling in the ignition.  I smiled to myself.  Things might just be going my way after all. 

I made my way back to the corner just in time to see the young kid approach. I swung my sledge low and hard and felt a sickening crack.  His knees crushed out from underneath him and he crashed to the ground.  Unphased he snarled at me, swinging his arms at my ankles. "Stupid crawler" I called out, and kicked his head away from me.  I began to wonder at what point I stopped thinking of these as sick people and began assuming there was no possible cure, no human buried inside, hoping for relief. 

I looked down at the pitiful creature, jaw hanging off yet still trying to grab me.  His useless legs drug behind him as he pulled himself along the road.  I looked back at his cohort and saw she still hadn't cleared half the distance he had.  "You're not eating me today" I said, pointing at her.  "Consider this the first day of your diet." I walked away, leaving both of them helplessly snapping at me, infuriated that they didnt have the capability to catch up.  

I pulled open the driver's side door and climbed in.  Gripping the steering wheel tightly I felt free for the first time in days.  I turned the key and the engine started right up.  Adjusting the mirror, I put on the sunglasses I found on the dash.  They were neon green with pink arms, and said "Chameleons" on the side.  I looked at my reflection and smiled.  "Let's go empty out a storage unit."