———–

“There they are,” Edward said over his shoulder. “They don’t move too fast, and slower still when they have captives, but there are at least three of them for each of us. I am reminded of Custer, except he wasn’t on the move and the Brainers don’t have arrows. Also, we’ll win.”

“That is the general idea, Eddie,” Franklin said and then turned to face us, stopping our walk. “Here’s the thing. The captives won’t be much help to us. They’ll want to be but they’re weak and hungry by now. Which makes them a threat to themselves, really.”

“So we should separate them and get them clear,” Edward put in, “except that leaves us down a few men, doesn’t it?”

“It does. So here’s what we were thinking. If we can break their circle and round up the captives then…”

“But they can’t run, so we’ll be slow getting clear. Which gives the Brainers a good chance to surround us all.”

“Which is why we brought the rest of that stuff,” Franklin finished and unslung his pack.

The Brainer herding party got themselves a good sight farther from us as we hunkered down and got to work. Work was trying to dissolve the styrofoam in the alcohol and making it a good slush, before we filled some hollowed out avocados with it. Supposedly the rubber bands would hold the avocado together without too much slop.

While Otto, Sally and I made makeshift napalm avocado grenades, Billy helped Franklin and Edward mash some of the mint leaves. The paste of it was then handed around.

“Smear this under your arms and across the back of your necks,” Edward told us as Billy passed the glop around, “then apply a handful to your heads.”

“They hunt by scent,” Franklin said with an evil grin, “their eyes are all right, but nothing special and the mix-up in scent will slow down their reactions.”

“As will being on fire,” Edward added with a childish smirk.

“One would think,” Franklin Cleaver said and nodded.

“Also don’t forget, the make-up will make a nice thing to stripe and prevent glares from hitting your eyes some. Use it, but don’t use it up, we may need some to help get away,” Edward said as he got back to work.

When we finished up our chores and packed the resulting goodies carefully it was turning towards dusk. Edward and Franklin told us that we’d be on a fast march from then on in and started off. I carried the half avocados with Billy lugging the other half. We lagged a bit behind, trying to hurry without sloshing the stuff around and making the avocados nothing more than useless. The sheer amount of nervousness might have had something to do with it, too.

“We have to get close,” Franklin said just loud enough to be heard, “and break their line before we set any fires. We don’t want to risk them just tightening their circle while on fire. So first we distract them. Then we get folks clear. After that we douse them as we retreat.”

“Then,” Edward finished, “we come back for them and finish them off.”

“Of course we do,” Edward said with a nod, “I figured that went without saying.”

“I said it anyway.”

“You always do, Eddie.”

“Thanks, Frank.”

“That wasn’t a com… you know what? Never mind. You’re very welcome.”

We drew ever closer, hunched down and moving as quietly as possible. The column ahead didn’t seem to notice us, but we could see them clearer all the time. The Brainers seemed to all be riding horses. The horses moved all right, a bit of a lumber, but not slow for horses. That worried me.

“When we get there, Eddie and I will break the rear guard and them move up to start distracting the rest. I want you guys to circle the humans and get them free. We’ll retreat as one unit and then go back for more.” Franklin looked at us over his shoulder, “Remember, take out the head on the Brainers. And don’t get bitten.”

We nodded nervously and looked up at how close the Brainers seemed to be. I realized that we were doin’ the hunting here, they were our prey, but it sure felt like we were just a take-out meal waitin’ to happen.

Cleaver and Bones didn’t give us another sign, or impart anymore advice, they just moved. Suddenly they were ten feet ahead of the rest of us. Really, I guess them breakin’ away and startin’ towards the goal was a sign for us, so maybe they did give us one after all.

Whichever, we picked up our own pace and stayed as close behind as we could. Moving at that speed we closed with the Brainers in no time at all. We could see them clear as night now, the Brainers in long coats and wide brimmed hats, clearly dressing as they remembered they had when they were alive, or perhaps simply still in the clothes they died in. The sight truly made me wonder if maybe we hadn’t picked the wrong group and these were just cowboys on an old style cattle drive.

The sounds they made washed that thought right out of my being, and quick like. It was the same keening and moaning we heard from the staked Brainer back a ways, except there were human moans added in along with an almost barking sound from the Brainers, a dry coughing expulsion of air that felt like someone trying to fake being able to talk. It was all so utterly not human that it sent chills along my spine and I tightened my grip on the straps of my pack until my fingers hurt from the pressure.

Still, we got nearer and nearer until we had fully closed with the herd.

Edward and Franklin were, of course, in front. They came up behind the rear Brainers and even as they were noticed both men drew knives and hamstrung the Brainer horses, sending them toppling. A quick thrust deep into the base of the skull and both horses stopped twitching.

Their riders, on the other hand, were already up and moving. Edward went in close with his knife, slicing and confusing the Brainer until it couldn’t keep up. Then he went in for the kill, leaving his knife in the chest of the thing and pulling a gun. Franklin had a gun, too, seemingly out of nowhere. They fired a few seconds shy of together and the twin reports sounded like two sharp cracks of thunder pounding across the sky.

It might not have been the best move. All of the Brainers turned to see what was going on, as did the humans in the center of the circle. The gun shots caused too much confusion, on both sides. Not that it stopped Cleaver and Bones. With all the Brainers looking at them, they skirted the inside of the circle, trying to break the line.

We moved in, pushing past the downed Brainers and their horses to start grabbing the humans and tugging, cajoling and forcing them towards freedom. Otto noticed that one of the downed Brainer horses had a sword in a scabbard along the saddle. He grabbed it free and stuck it in his own belt—it was either a prize or hopeful advantage and I didn’t know which he was going for.

The humans didn’t want to come with us. Their minds seemed destroyed and I wondered if we would have to kill them just to help them. Flames whoomphed to sudden powerful life towards the front of the line and I knew that the mixture worked at the very least decently. Brainers howled and started to leave the humans alone, moving to rid themselves of their biggest distress.

Edward and Franklin shot a few times, and lit a bunch more fires, causing the Brainers to start to hang back. They pulled back and started to go around the fires. Their mounts were ditched as soon as they became a problem to ride.

The humans were panicked and unresponsive, having no idea what was going on. their hands hadn’t even been tied. They weren’t being held by anything other than fear and exhaustion. Neither were things we could fix right off, but we hadda push ‘em as hard as we could, regardless.

Two Brainers broke free and came at us from the right. Otto stabbed one in the head with that new sword of his and I chopped another in the side with my knife. I meant to aim higher but I was in a rush. Looking back I could see that the Brainers couldn’t locate us easily what with the brightness of the fire hurting their eyes and the mint distracting their sense of smell. Still, we weren’t exactly quiet by then.

Time seemed to slow. The fires blazed and moved, Brainer horses and men shambling along the ground, casting hellish light on anything near by. The moaned and howled their pain and frustration to the heights of heaven. It was a sound that would stick with me, clawed into my brain for all time. The sound was animal, sub-animal even, but also oddly human. I hoped like hell there wasn’t a live human in the mix, burning alive.

We pushed at the humans, moving around them as we did, screaming at them and growing desperate at their lack of focus. These were broken men and women and I wondered if they could even be brought back to even an approximation of sanity after what they had gone through. I doubted it, but that didn’t mean they weren’t worth saving.

Eventually, we had the humans moving, somehow I had moved to the back of the mass as we went, next to Billy. Sally and Otto had the front, leading us out. Edward and Franklin were still doing what they did best. Killing things, that is.

But just as suddenly as the sun breaking through a cloud they were right between Billy and I, helping us force the humans out to safety. A few of he Brainers were coming after us, on foot. I felt something sharp tear at my ankle, right through my boot, and cursed. I was sure I had been snake bit until Franklin started barking orders.

“Otto! I saw you grab that sword. Get it here, fast!,” he bellowed. Otto was next to me quickly. I wasn’t sure what was going on as time seemed to slide in and out of focus. I looked down, trying to see what kind of snake it was and saw a Brainer with blood on its mouth in a trail that led to my ankle.

I was dead, and I knew it. Franklin didn’t seem to agree.

“It’s a god damned infection. We have to stop it before it spreads,” he said tightly, grabbing the sword Otto offered him.

“Frank, we haven’t proven this,” Edward started to say.

“Then we will, now Eddie.”

I saw the blade rise and then it swam in my vision. The pain didn’t swim though. No, it bit down hard and sharp. I blacked out as soon as I started to feel it though, so that was all right.

——————————

I woke up a bit later and looked around, confused. I was inside the chain link barrier, but it didn’t seem to have been set up right, or at least fully. My leg hurt, the left one where I had been bit. It throbbed with pain, a harsh constant thing that felt almost alive in its intensity.

I looked down and saw that my left leg ended just above the knee.

“He’s awake,” I heard Sally say.

“Yeah,” I managed, “what happened?”

“It looks like they saved you. You haven’t turned,” she said, mopping my brow with a cloth gently.

“My leg?”

“Small price to pay for living.”

She was right. I had to thank Otto for being dumb enough to take the sword in the first place and Franklin for deciding to try his theory. It made me wonder though, if Brainer infections could be stopped that easily.

“Not always,” Franklin said, kneeling down next to me and seeming to read my mind. “Sorry, I know what you’re thinking, it’s obvious. No, I just had to try it. The infection acts like an infection, even if we are not sure if it really is one. You were bitten low enough it was worth a try, but it spreads fast.”

“Are we done, then?”

“Not quite. Eddie and I need to discourage anything from following us. There are still ten or so Brainers out there, coming after us. You guys are done. Get back to your town, with the guys we saved.”

“See you soon, then?” I asked him. The pain broke down any reluctance I held towards talking to Franklin with my usual deference and respect. He was just another man to me now.

“Sure will,” he said and nodded at someone I couldn’t see, “Otto, finish this and move them back towards town, we’ll catch up.”

Otto came into sight holding an avocado. He broke it open and poured some of the contents onto my stump. Oh lord the pain, the stinging wretched pain. I threw up and realized from the taste of my mouth it wasn’t the first time I had vomited recently from pain.

“Otto?” I managed weakly.

“Sorry, man, we have to cauterize this. It’s gonna hurt as bad as the amputation. But it’s the only way…”

“Sounds good,” I interrupted, “just do it before I think about it.”

He nodded at me and lit a match.

——————————

I woke up to the swaying motion of being carried. I turned my head to try and see what was going on, where we were, but the motion of my head combined with the gentle sway of whatever I was being carried on made me feel sick. I closed my eyes again and lost more time.

——————————

I didn’t really come to until the West Gate was being opened for us. The cheering woke me up. We had done it, we were heroes. I couldn’t figure out, at first, why Otto and Sally, who were both in my line of sight, looked so grim. Yeah it had been a slice of hell but it was done and we all made it. My left leg was a small enough price for that, Sally was right.

When we got into town and settled some I found myself in a small cabin with Sally Billy and Otto. That’s when I noticed the problem and why they all looked so down, despite our victory. It wasn’t quite a victory after all.

As for exactly what happened, well there were a few different stories on that. They all agreed that Cleaver and Bones went back out to kill the remaining Brainers. That much was certain as anything. Sally thought she heard Franklin scream in pain, but Billy was sure it was Edward. Otto said he didn’t hear any screaming at all, just some gun fire. The gunfire was the other thing they agreed on.

Did Franklin die, or did Edward? Neither? Both? We didn’t know. Otto and Sally wanted to turn back and help ‘em but Billy had pointed out that the hostages were the more critical of the two groups just then. So they had gotten us all back to town. Sally demanded that the three of them go out and look for Franklin and Edward. Billy waffled on the point, sure they would come back of their own accord before too long. Otto just wasn’t sure. Me? Well, shit, I wanted to go look for ‘em. They had saved my life.

No, more than that they had given us a burst of hope that we all needed to survive. It was the start of things. The first Brainer raid, but not the last. How could we not go find them, or their bodies, and pay them the tribute they deserved?

Well, in the end the three of ‘em went off on a recon to see what they could find while I sat watch on the gate for them. Those were the worst three days of my life, possibly. Just waiting, unable to do anything to help.

In the middle of the third day they came back, though. They found a lot of spent shells and dead Brainers and a lot of blood. It didn’t tell us anything and they didn’t see any sign of Franklin or Edward.

A month or so later when I had learned to use a crutch almost as well as I had used my leg, Sally and I went on another hunt for the two. No Brainer men in the area, just some rabbits and a possum. No live men either. Nothing. The west had reclaimed them as utterly as it did everything else.

Well you know what happened after that. Brainer hunts started to form up and Otto trained a lot of ‘em. Sally and Billy became leads with him and they made a bunch of difference between ‘em. I took over guarding the West Gate for a bunch of years, keeping my eyes peeled, every dammed day, for two men in dusty clothing sauntering up to the wall.

The desert was still bad enough on its own, but adding the Brainers and their mounts to the mix didn’t seem quite as bas as before. We were still losing the fight but now we could see a way to hold it where it was if not turn it, eventually. Civilized areas started to slowly, very slowly, come back. The future didn’t look bright, but it wasn’t all blackness neither. All because of two strangers who got fed up with everyone feeling defeated.

They paid some kinda price for it, too. Or maybe they were just still out there, fighting. No one knew, and no one ever reported finding so much as a clue to what really happened that day.

Some days, I still sit up on the wall, looking and waiting.

———–
High Noon of the Living Dead is copyright Adam P. Knave.