They spent most of the morning trying to row the boat with their hands, but at some point they realised that it was futile and gave up. As the ferals groaned, their sounds attracted even more ferals. The entire dam was now surrounded by ferals, which made it impossible for them to get off the boat.
Everyone was exhausted and felt hopeless. Penny finger-combed her hair, Adam sharpened his knife while thinking and the rest all fidgeted, while trying to find a solution.
“What if we shot them all?” Carl, again, ran his fingers through his hair. He had a frown on his forehead and sweat beaded on his upper lip.
The sun was starting to reach its peak, which made the afternoon blazing hot. Everyone had armpit stains and sweaty hair. Willow’s skin was also starting to turn red.
“We could try it,” shrugged Tim. It was better than his idea, which was nothing.
Without speaking, Willow took the gun from Carl, aimed and shot a feral in the head. They were about a hundred feet from the shore. Everyone gaped at her. She turned around, arched a brow and asked, “What?”
“Where did you learn to shoot like that?” Adam was really impressed and looked at Willow in a new light. He now saw her more as an asset for the group than a disadvantage.
She shrugged and aimed to take fire again, but Adam quickly interjected, “No, Willow! We don’t have enough bullets to shoot them all. We’ll just have to wait it out and hope they go away.”
Again, Willow shrugged. It was becoming her signature move, and she handed the gun back to Carl.
Soon it became dark, but the ferals still stood at the water’s edge, hungry and determined.
They were starting to go crazy in the boat. Penny stared at nothing, her eyes unfocused. She felt hot, hungry, scared and defeated. She was ready for death.
Carl didn’t feel the same as Penny; he refused to give up hope, but he was also starting to go crazy.
“I can’t take this anymore! We have to do something! There has to be someone out there who would be willing to help us!”
“Carl…” But Carl ignored Adam, grabbed his gun and started shooting in the air. He’d made at least six shots before Adam ripped the gun from his hands.
“Enough! We need to stay calm and not act irrationally. You need to be patient. Plus, the gunfire is attracting more of those things!”
“Adam, I can’t do this anymore. I’m losing it, man!”
They kept arguing. Penny kept staring at nothing in particular, but her ears picked something up. She was definitely hearing something.
“Guys, I think I hear something.”
Carl and Adam stopped speaking and also listened. There was definitely something there.
“What do you think it is?”
“I don’t know, but it sounds like an engine.” Penny answered Tim’s question and kept listening.
In the distance they saw a sliver of light. Penny blinked a few times, not believing her eyes. A red truck came barrelling down the hill and was headed straight towards the hoard. The ferals turned their hungry eyes towards the light and slowly walked in the direction of the truck. The red truck was also blasting hard core metal. The sound drew the ferals in, they couldn’t resist the light and sound. The bank of the dam was almost empty.
The truck turned around and slowly led the hoard up the hill.
In awe, Carl whispered, “Am I dreaming or is this really happening?”
Tim stood next to Carl and pinched his arm, hard.
“Ow! What did you do that for?!”
“Now we know you’re not dreaming,” answered Tim.
“Yo! You guys need help?” A voice shouted from the bank.
“Yes!”
“Help!”
“Please!” They all shouted at the person, hoping he would help.
A rope hit the water near the boat. “Grab the end and tie it to the boat. I’ll reel you in.”
They did as the guy asked.
“Is it tied?” yelled the voice.
They all screamed, “Yes” and then they felt a tug on the boat.
The boat was slowly pulled towards the empty bank. On the water’s edge stood a dark figure. They climbed out and quickly saw that the figure was a man with black hair. He gave them a broad smile, “Are you guys okay?”
They all nodded, speechless about everything that had just happened. “Well, come on then! Get in the car.” They had barely seen the car, which was basically a mini-bus, when they had come to the bank, because the car had no lights.
They were all a bit hesitant, but never-the-less got in.
The driver found a dirt path and drove towards the direction of the city.
The guy with black hair drove the car, Adam sat in the front with him and the other five were squashed into the back seats.
“Why did you help us?” Adam braved the question.
The guy shrugged, “Human decency, I guess. I’m Roger by the way.”
“Adam. Do you live in the city?”
“No, we live in a warehouse near the city, which is kind of difficult, because the dead are always crawling there, but we manage.”
“The dead?”
“Yeah, didn’t you notice how they can’t die unless the brain dies?”
“Yeah, but we just call them ferals.”
The guy laughed, then turned the car onto the highway, which lead towards the city. “Just relax, we’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
The entire group sat back and kept silent.
ns 18.68.41.175da2
