They took the Ford Falcon. Dan, Meredith, and Quinn packed the usable items from the house—weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies—and departed without delay. Although Dan and Meredith were in tattered condition, they decided to dress their wounds on the road.
None of them desired to stay at the house any longer.
Dan watched the bloody scene recede. In the passenger mirror, he saw the dead men lying facedown in the street, unmoving—another testament to Tim’s legacy of bloodshed. Dan said a silent prayer they’d be the last bodies he’d encounter.
While they’d packed, Meredith had filled him in on the events that had occurred prior to his arrival. Although senseless and brutal, none of them surprised him.
He glanced over his shoulder. Quinn and Ernie met his eyes from the backseat. The little girl was patting the dog, and they stared at him expectantly.
“We don’t have much longer,” Dan promised.
Quinn nodded. After all they’d been through, her trust in him was unshaken, and it was enough to stir Dan’s emotion.
He turned his attention to the road, picking out the signs and markers that had led him back to his companions. The journey was lost in a haze, as if it were a nightmare he’d had, the details lost. But it didn’t matter. He didn’t need to recount the steps. What mattered was that he’d made it.
Meredith and Quinn were alive.
He rummaged through some of the supplies he’d taken from the house, picking out several gauze pads and alcohol. Then he lowered the visor over the passenger seat and took himself in. After a week on the road, Dan felt different, as if he’d been deployed in a war. The man staring back at him had gaunt features and sallow, puffed eyes. Blood stained his cheeks and ran in trails from his forehead.
He could no longer pinpoint the source of the injuries. They were lost in a battle he’d rather forget, remnants of a journey that spanned countless miles.
Since the infection had begun, each day had seemed the equivalent of two. He could no longer recall what it was like to be stable. The road had become a home for him and his daughter, as dangerous as it was. Even the Sanders’, with its promise of safety, had only provided temporary respite. He’d known it couldn’t last forever.
Hopefully, their journey would end soon.
He dabbed at his face, wincing as he glanced over at Meredith. Her features were just as blemished.
“Do you want to pull over?” he asked her. “Clean up?”
“No. I’d rather keep going,” she said.
Meredith’s face was filled with resolve. It was an expression Dan had seen on Julie, back when she’d been alive. He smiled at the resemblance.
His eyes roamed the vehicle. The interior was still in pristine shape, as if he’d imagined the events that had transpired earlier. It was hard to imagine he’d almost died in here. He tried to forget the Ford Falcon had almost been his final resting place.
It was a means to get them to Abbotsville. Nothing more.
The vehicle hummed over the road, renewing his hope with each passing mile. Dan was grateful to be off his feet. He’d pushed himself past the point of exhaustion, and his body begged for reprieve. But he couldn’t sleep. Not until they’d reached their destination.
If there was really help in Abbotsville, he wanted to be awake to see it.
As they traveled closer, they began to see bodies of the dead infected on the road. Dan was reminded of his journey several days prior, when he and Quinn had fled St. Matthews for Oklahoma. The bodies were a grim reminder that the agents had succeeded in their plan.
But they were also a symbol of hope. Things were ending here, too.
Meredith swerved around several fallen bodies, their hands stretched in front of them, as if they’d been waiting for one final passerby to latch onto. None of them moved. They passed several farmhouses, the yards vacant and haunting. No survivors ran out to greet them.
Meredith navigated several more turns, and her eyes fluttered. Dan reached over and touched her arm, startling her.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just a little dizzy.”
“Do you want me to take over?”
“No. We’re getting close. The town limits are only a few miles away. After that, it’s only a short distance to the center.”
He watched her cling tighter to the steering wheel. As they drove, the houses around them appeared in greater frequency. It was as if the landscape was leading them to safety, one building at a time. Dan fought the inclination to believe it. He was already conjuring backup plans, ways to defend themselves and change course, should they find nothing in Abbotsville.
He was hopeful but practical.
They’d gone a few more miles when Dan saw a familiar vehicle in the distance. The white, hulking car had been driven off the road and into a patch of grass.
The SUV.
“Look,” he whispered, as if the occupants might hear him. Meredith slowed, but only slightly.
They’d already learned their lesson.
Dan held a rifle at the ready as they passed by. All the vehicle’s doors were open, including the back lift gate. No one was inside. Bloodstains spattered the SUV’s interior. Meredith let her foot off the gas and coasted past. Dan swallowed, thinking of the family who had robbed them. It looked like Ted, Nancy, and Grant were dead.
Karma had already caught up to them.
Several yards past the SUV, he instructed Meredith to stop. He recalled the food they’d had in the vehicle. In all likelihood it was gone, but he’d check in case.
“I’d like to think we’ll find assistance in Abbotsville, but we can’t rely on it,” he said. “I’m going to search for supplies. I’ll be right back.”
Meredith agreed. She stopped.
“Be ready to move,” Dan warned as he disembarked.
He crept back to the SUV and studied the surroundings. Remains were scattered around the grass, but the bulk of the bodies was gone—it looked like they’d been pulled into the nearby field and consumed. The interior of the vehicle was ripped and shredded, the contents strewn everywhere. Dan saw nothing of value inside. The creatures had gotten to the family, and looters had finished the job.
Judging by the dried bloodstains, it looked like the events had transpired much earlier. The infected that had done this were probably as dead as the family they’d feasted on.
He gave a final look at the car and walked back to the Falcon. Meredith, Quinn, and Ernie were waiting. Dan got inside and shut the door.
“Find anything?” Meredith asked hopefully.
“No.” He held up his empty hands.
“Are they dead, Daddy?” Quinn asked from the backseat.
“It looks like it, honey.”
“Even Grant?”
He nodded. Without another word, he locked the door and Meredith accelerated, leaving the gruesome scene behind.