Liberty's Run
Part 7 Volume 2 of the Liberty Schoenhauer series
By: Walter G. Esselman
To help bring pharmaceuticals back to the Fleet, Liberty and Uncle Danny are trying to get shopping carts. But they have just run into a new alien, which may hunt by movement.
Steeling himself, Uncle Danny moved towards the front of the grocery store and away from the alien. After a moment, the bird–thing turned and stalked in another direction.
Atop a nearby roof, Liberty suddenly realized that she had been holding her breath. She let it out slowly and dropped her head on top of her rifle.
"I'm gonna to kill him," moaned Liberty softly.
However, she immediately looked back up to cover her friend. Even if she did think he was an idiot right now.
Below, Uncle Danny watched the zoms nearby. He saw that they were moving faster towards him. Resisting the urge to run, he put on a little more speed. The bird–things did not seem to notice.
There was still a big hole in the front of the store, so he stepped through and looked around. The front was clear of zoms. However, he drew his machete, just in case.
The shopping carts were still corralled to the right, so he went over. Pulling out a full–size shopping cart, he set the machete in the child seat and spun it around slowly.
One of the bird–things was standing right in the hole. Freezing, Uncle Danny did not even breathe.
Sweat broke out on his forehead as he fretted. If Liberty decided to shoot it, then the other bird–things would race directly towards her. He wished he could tell her that he was okay. They really needed walkie–talkies.
"Garak du somme," snapped the bird–thing in irritation.
Then it went back out the hole.
Once it was clear, Uncle Danny went back out at a zom's pace. There was a zom closing in on him, but he was able to head in the opposite direction. He did not dare attack it with those bird–things nearby, and he could not outrun it. So, he set a pace just ahead of it.
The rattling cart did not seem to attract the notice of the bird–things. Reaching the end of the parking lot, Uncle Danny lifted the cart up onto the grass, but he had to drag it to the next parking lot.
Liberty backed away from the edge of the roof and climbed off her building. Uncle Danny came around the corner with the cart and a zom following.
"One moment," he said to her.
Taking the machete from the child seat, he swung around quickly, but aimed low. He slammed the blunted weapon into the side of the zom's knee and it dropped quickly. Returning to the cart, he smiled at Liberty and she punched him in the upper arm.
"Ow," he smiled softly. "You got bony knuckles Mija."
"You deserve it," hissed Liberty.
"Won't argue that point," shrugged Uncle Danny.
"Now," said Liberty. "If we both go back, we can get three more carts, and Bordeaux."
"Yeah," agreed Uncle Danny. "We can't just leave him."
They stepped away from the crawling zom and moved back towards the highway. There, they left the cart by the side of the road. Then they headed—at a zom's pace—back towards the grocery store.
"I wonder if we should moan more," smirked Uncle Danny.
"Let's just get this done in one piece," said Liberty repressively.
"Hey, you already punched me. You're not allowed to be angry with me anymore," said Uncle Danny.
Liberty rolled her eyes good–naturedly. "True, I guess I can't."
Returning to the parking lot, they left room between them and the bird–things. However, they still had to avoid the regular, ordinary, garden–variety zoms as well.
"You got a secret admirer," teased Uncle Danny.
A zombie in Gucci stumbled towards them and was soon joined by another in flannel.
"This way," said Liberty. "I didn't see anyone under the cars, but…"
"I'll keep my eyes open," nodded Uncle Danny, looking for ankle biter zoms, who lurk beneath cars.
As they slid between two vehicles, one of the bird–things came to a stop before them, blocking their exit.
"Shoot," whispered Liberty.
Behind them, the Gucci and flannel zoms were closing.
"Over," suggested Uncle Danny. As slowly as he could, he climbed up onto the car on his right.
Taking his lead, Liberty climbed up onto the car on her left. A quick glance showed that Uncle Danny had already climbed over his car and was clear. However, there were more zoms on the other side of her car.
With trouble on both sides, Liberty placed her feet carefully and started to climb up onto the roof.
The Gucci zom grabbed her boot, tugging insistently. Liberty almost tumbled into the zoms, but she just managed to keep her grip on the roof. Leaning forward, she slid as slowly as she could towards the back.
The bird–thing was still in front, looking around.
Now, the zoms on the other side of her car were coming straight towards her. Gucci zom was still holding onto the end of her boot and following.
She'd be snack food in a second.
Her top half reached the edge of the trunk.
Liberty took a chance. She let herself fall forward off the trunk. That pulled her boot out of Gucci zoms' grip.
She heard a bird noise and the car shook as the alien jumped on top of it.
Quickly crawling underneath the car, she disappeared just as the bird–thing looked over the edge of the trunk.
Liberty heard a hiss near her and saw a crawling zom underneath her car. It was almost upon her. In the confined space under the car, she could not draw a weapon.
Bringing up two fingers, she poked the zom in the eyes.
"Ah! Ah!" cried out the zom, as it shook its head blindly.
The car shook again and the bird–thing moved away.
A hand gripped her shoulder.
"Shit!" she hissed.
"It's okay Mija," said Uncle Danny urgently. He hauled her out and away from the zoms.
"Okay, that was waaaaay too close," said Liberty with a relieved, and terrified, laugh.
"I wanted to run over," said Uncle Danny. "But I couldn't, not with that thing watching."
"It's okay," said Liberty. "Let's just get those carts."
They moved at a zoms' pace towards the front of the store, but Liberty faltered as they grew near. Uncle Danny looked at her questioningly, but then he saw where she was looking.
"We could keep him safe from zoms, but who could've guessed alien birds," said Uncle Danny.
Liberty sighed and slowly turned away from the young marine's body.
"We get the carts first, and put him in one," she said.
In the store, the front was still empty, so they grabbed the carts as quickly as possible. Liberty took two, leaving one cart nested in the other, and Uncle Danny took one.
They returned to Bordeaux.
"Feels wrong stuffing him in a cart," said Uncle Danny sadly.
"I know," agreed Liberty.
A zom was getting close, so she gently pushed it with her carts. It lost its balance and fell.
The movement caught the eye of a bird–thing. But it quickly lost interest. As it ran off, Liberty took a deep breath and moved over to Uncle Danny.
"Let's just get out of here quick," she said. "Our luck is not going to last forever."
Gently, they picked up Bordeaux.
"Ugh, he's heavy," hissed Liberty.
"What was he carrying," grunted Uncle Danny. But they did manage to get him into the cart. However, he ended up face first with his butt in the air.
Uncle Danny made an unhappy face. "He looks uncomfortable. I know that's stupid, but…"
"No, no. It does feel wrong, disrespectful," said Liberty. "But we need to go. When we're safe, we can rearrange him."
Resigned, they moved out with their carts and Bordeaux. Because the bird–things had fanned out to search, it was easier to slip between them. They added the other cart to Liberty's and kept going.
Moving in and amongst the zoms, they made it back to the TrueAid as fast as they dared. Uncle Danny looked around, but he did not see any of the bird–things. Pulling open the front doors, they pulled in the carts and closed the doors behind. Several zoms bumped up against the window, but could not get in. They moaned sadly.
"Is it stupid that I feel bad for teasing the zoms," said Liberty.
"Yes," said Uncle Danny seriously.
Liberty looked at him in surprise, but then he gave a big grin to show that he was kidding. She returned it.
"Hello?" called out a tenuous voice from deeper in the store.
Turning, they saw Smalls holding up his rifle. A smile suddenly leapt across his face.
"You're all safe!" said Smalls.
A darkness fell over Liberty and Uncle Danny.
"What?" asked Smalls.
"So, that's what I've been up to," said Smalls, a short time later. He stopped and slowly looked back at them. "I hope he gets his In and Out."
"What?" asked Uncle Danny.
"Bordeaux," said Smalls. "I hope…" And he pointed towards the roof. "Up there. I hope he gets his In and Out burger."
"What would heaven be without In and Out?" suggested Liberty kindly with a smile, even though she had never eaten there.
Uncle Danny looked over at Liberty.
"Actually, the Fleet is going to want to know what those bird–things look like," he mused.
"I gave up my cell phone a while ago," shrugged Liberty.
"Mine's a doorstop somewhere," nodded Uncle Danny.
Small's eyes grew wide. "Oh!" He bolted to the front of the store.
Liberty and Uncle Danny were looking at each other in confusion. They heard the sounds of someone rooting about. Shortly, Smalls returned with an armload of boxes and batteries.
Dropping his loot onto the pharmacy counter, Smalls looked up at them.
"Brilliant," commended Liberty.
"Why didn't I think of that?" asked Uncle Danny with respect.
They each opened a box with a digital camera in it.
"This way if any of us gets a chance, they can get a shot," said Smalls.
"Well, we should probably fill up our carts and go," said Uncle Danny as they pocketed their individual cameras.
"What if we can't get it all?" asked Smalls.
"We get what we can and worry about the rest later," said Liberty, and she rolled a cart into the pharmacy.
Small looked at the pharmacy shelves. "I don't know what any of this stuff does."
Liberty's eyes lit up. She ran out of the pharmacy, only to return a moment later.
"Book about pills!" she said excitedly. "That'll help anyone cataloging all this."
"Especially if we get stuck with that," smiled Uncle Danny.
"Exactly," said Liberty.
"Should we look for certain things?" asked Uncle Danny.
"Let's see how much the carts will hold first," said Liberty.
Clearing the shelves turned out to be easy. Uncle Danny parked the cart under the first set of shelves and—with one big arm—shoved the pills into it. With two shelves down, Liberty motioned into the store.
"I'm going to check for over the counter stuff," she said. "There might be something handy there.
Liberty moved out of the pharmacy as the guys secured the prescription medication. But people needed other stuff as well, thought Liberty, aspirin for one. Picking up a shopping basket near the pharmacy, she stepped carefully over the dead(er) zoms, because it felt rude to step on them.
While taking all the aspirin, Tylenol and Aleve she could, she glanced up and her heart skipped a beat.
Shortly, she returned to the pharmacy with her basket and dumped in her first haul.
Liberty turned to go back when Uncle Danny spoke up.
"Dora the Explorer?" he asked with amusement.
Liberty looked back over the shoulder strap of her new backpack.
"Just picked up a little something," she said briskly.
"It looks pretty full," smiled Uncle Danny.
"It won't slow me down," said Liberty, though she was not sure why she felt defensive. "I gotta go."
Over the next hour, they filled two shopping carts to the brim. Uncle Danny experimentally moved the cart around, and then tipped it a little. Several bottles fell over the edge.
"That's not good," he muttered, and then disappeared back into the store.
"Can we grab some food too?" asked Smalls carefully. "And more importantly, drinks."
Liberty's stomach rumbled in response. "Actually, we should grab something for the road."
They took a moment and got some food and drink. Smalls appeared with several 2 liters of Mountain Dew.
"Don't judge me," he said defensively.
Uncle Danny reappeared with several boxes of saran wrap.
"That's brilliant," said Liberty. They quickly wrapped the two shopping carts so that the medicine didn't fall out all over the place.
"Maybe we're pirates now," suggested Uncle Danny.
"Pirates?" asked Liberty curiously, because she knew he was bothered by the idea of stealing. "Actually, some pirates worked for the British Crown, and harried enemy ships," said Liberty. "So, maybe that's what we're doing?"
"Pirates for the Fleet?" grinned Uncle Danny. "Sounds better than common thieves."
"You are many things, but never ‘common'," smiled Liberty. "And definitely not a thief."
Uncle Danny grinned broadly. "And this medicine will help a lot of people who need it."
They moved the carts towards the front of the store when she noticed something.
"Are you wearing an Avengers backpack?" asked Liberty of Uncle Danny.
"I don't know what you're talking about?" replied Uncle Danny airily.
Liberty glanced over and saw that the rack of paperback books was practically empty. She looked back at him in surprise.
"Every library has to start somewhere," he said, a little bashfully.
"Thank you!" grinned Liberty.
Companionly, she bumped shoulders with him as they carried out two backpacks stuffed with books from the store.
At the front door, they looked out carefully, but did not see any of the bird–things.
"You left him like that?" asked Smalls with heat in his voice. He gestured at Bordeaux with his butt in the air.
"Damn! Sorry! Thanks for reminding us," said Uncle Danny. Embarrassed, both he and Liberty took a moment to readjust Bordeaux's body.
"Still looks uncomfortable, but at least he's more dignified now," muttered Uncle Danny.
Liberty did take a moment to run back into the store and get a big bottle of Purell for them.
"Hey guys?" asked Smalls. "How are we going to get all this in our boat?"
Liberty and Uncle Danny looked at the contents of their carts.
"We're going to need a bigger boat," said Smalls.
Uncle Danny chuckled.
"What?" asked Smalls.
"Seriously? You just quoted Jaws," said Uncle Danny.
Smalls— and Liberty too— shrugged.
"I'm surrounded by heathens," muttered Uncle Danny in mock despair.
With no bird–things in sight, Liberty and Uncle Danny pulled as quickly as they could out of the TrueAid and knocked some zoms aside. Thankfully, zoms do not have the best coordination, so several fell over.
With a path made, they led Smalls out, who was pushing poor Bordeaux. Shortly, they found a way through the slow moving zoms and Liberty motioned for them to slow down.
"We can only walk a little faster than the zoms, or we'll get noticed," said Liberty. They started walking back towards Malibu pier.
"So, what do these things look like again?" asked Smalls.
"Just big birds," said Uncle Danny.
"Is it crazy that I want to see the alien birds?" asked Smalls carefully.
"Yes," said Liberty and Uncle Danny in almost perfect unison.
"Still," replied Smalls in a tiny voice.
Liberty shrugged. "It's different when you've seen them in action."
"I don't want to go toe to toe with even one of them," said Uncle Danny. "They're like cats, all sharp edges."
Weaving past the In and Out, they made their way towards the beach.
"You know, if we pull the shopping carts, we should be able to get them across the sand," suggested Uncle Danny.
Pulling his cart onto the sand, he tugged the cart behind him with both hands. The cart was wobbly and resistant but went.
"Better than carrying it," shrugged Liberty.
With varying degrees of success, they got the carts close to the beached boat. Only one cart fell over, which left poor Bordeaux covered in sand, as well as dead. They picked him back up and tried to brush him off.
Liberty and Smalls walked over to their little boat.
"It's definitely not going to fit us, Bordeaux, and all the medicine, is it?" said Liberty slowly.
"Maybe someone has a bigger boat back at the Fleet?" suggested Smalls.
"Problem is lack of fuel," said Liberty. "The submarine that picked us up before is now just a floater, until we find more fuel."
"Maybe we could..," started Liberty as she walked quickly back towards the carts.
"Above!" cried Uncle Danny. He grabbed Liberty and pushed the sniper back towards the shore.
One of the bird–things landed in a spray of sand closer to the road. It gave a shrill cry and shot towards them.
But Uncle grabbed a cart full of meds and shoved it in front of the bird–thing. It immediately crashed into it and fell over hard.
"Back to the boat!" cried out Smalls.
Uncle Danny and Liberty ran towards the boat. Smalls shoved the small boat into the water and hopped in. He climbed across the rails towards the outboard motor. Liberty grabbed the boat.
"In!" she ordered of Uncle Danny. He did not bother to argue and awkwardly climbed in.
Liberty jumped in and they started drifting away from the shore. After several unsuccessful pulls, the outboard motor started. Smalls aimed them away from the shore, Bordeaux and the medicine.
"Dammit!" snarled Uncle Danny.
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