Dark Days
Part Four
By Tooki
Edited by Tonya
2023
A day turned into two, two days turned into two weeks. That was how long Detective Ken Hutchinson and Captain Harold Dobey had been gone. The world was upside down, it had been taken over by the living dead. People who died and came back to life to attack the living. It was a losing battle.
They had left Dobey’s two children, Rosie and Cual, along with his wife Edith and Hutch’s partner David Starsky at the Dobey’s cabin while they scavenged for supplies. The group had planned on leaving together until Starsky was injured leading a group of the dead away from the cabin.
Starsky’s ankle had healed quickly making him wish that this partner and captain had waited, then they all would have been on the road together. He had mastered catching fish but they were few and far between. Their supplies had been stretched until there was nothing left. They were going to starve unless they packed up and left the cabin.
Starsky found Edith standing at the kitchen sink quietly crying as she was washing up dishes that would be packed to go with them. “It’s going to be alright.” He tried to comfort her. “We will find Cap and Hutch.”
“We don’t know which way they went.” Edith wiped her face with the back of her hand.
“They wouldn’t head back to the city so we know a general direction.”
“They might not be alive.” She whispered. It had been the first time those words had been spoken but not the first time that they had been thought.
“Ahhh, Mrs. D you know they are fine.” Starsky grabbed a towel and began drying plates. But he had his doubts, if they ran into trouble why didn’t they just head back?
Edith laughed at him calling her Mrs. D, he always knew how to make her laugh. “I guess we are about ready to go.” She handed him the last dish. “Kids, are you ready?” Edith called to Rosie and Cal. She had sent them to pack their things, room in Starsky’s Torino would be limited, only things they needed to survive would be taken.
“All ready mom,” Cal said as he held up a small bag.
“Where’s your sister?”
“Sitting on the bed crying.”
Edith sighed, Rosie was having a hard time since her father and Hutch left. Edith started toward the bedroom but Starsky put his hand on her shoulder. “Let me.”
She nodded and went back to packing up a few more things from the kitchen.
Starsky found little Rosie sitting on the bed clutching a stuffed dog. “Are you ready Rosie?” He asked, sitting down next to her.
“I want to wait for daddy and Uncle Hutch to get back.” Her eyes were swimming in tears.
“We are going to find them.” Starsky put his arm around her. She leaned heavily on him.
“Really?”
“Yep, as soon as you are ready we will get on the road.”
“Okay.” Rosie slid off the bed and handed the detective the stuffed dog then grabbed her bag and took his hand.
Starsky led Rosie out of the bedroom, Edith and Cal were by the front door waiting. “Let me go out first,” Starsky said. Rosie gripped his hand tightly. “It’s going to be okay, I just want to make sure there is nothing out there.”
Edith took her daughter's hand so that Starsky could open the door. He looked at Edith, she nodded, “Be ready,” she whispered to her children.
As the days had passed more and more of the dead had staggered by the cabin. The foursome mostly stayed inside and were as quiet as they could be. Starsky would venture out only to try to catch the few fish that were left in the lake. Cal would keep guard to alert the detective of any danger.
Starsky opened the door and stepped out with a tire iron in his hand. Cautiously he looked around, his red Ford Torino was only several yards from the cabin. There were no sounds coming from the woods as he made his way toward the car. Starsky waved for Edith and the kids to follow him. He opened the trunk so they could toss in the things they were bringing with them. The kids got in the back seat, once they were settled Starsky slid behind the wheel and Edith got in the passenger side. “Let’s go find your dad and Hutch.” Starsky gave the kids what he hoped was a hopeful smile. He turned the key and the car roared to life, he looked at the gas gauge and was happy to see there was a full tank.
Hutch and Harold drove much further than they had intended. The road had been clear, there were vehicles off the side of the road which other travelers had cleared. Hutch would slow to see if it was worth stopping but the cars they saw had already been scavenged.
They came to one small town and where hopefully they could find supplies to get them by until Starsky’s ankle healed. Hutch pulled up to the front of a market. “Let’s take a quick look Cap.”
They both got out of the station wagon, carefully looking around. At this point the living were as dangerous as the dead. People were desperate and were willing to do anything to survive.
Hutch pulled out his Magnum, Dobey had the fireplace poker, they walked to the entrance of the store. The windows were all broken out, the inside of the store was trashed. What hadn’t been taken was strewn on the floor and the shelves tipped over.
The two men looked at each other. “Should we chance it?” Dobey asked, knowing what danger could be lurking inside.
Hutch looked up and down the street, most of the other buildings were burnt to the ground or nothing of interest to them. “Let’s give it a try. Just watch yourself.”
They carefully stepped through the broken door, the smell was the first thing to hit them, both men pulled their shirts up over their noses. “What is that?” Dobey questioned but they both knew it was the smell of rotting flesh. In their line of work they had smelled it far too often.
Hutch worked his way to the back of the store where he found the object of the odor. A man bloated, and discolored lay on his back, flies buzzing around. He had a bullet wound in the middle of his forehead. Hutch looked around, hoping whoever had shot the man was still not lurking in the store. The dead man didn’t look as if he had turned, so the motive here was probably robbery.
Dobey kicked around objects on the floor hoping to find something. He spotted a bottle of aspirin which he pocketed. Most everything else were things that nobody could use. Spoiled packages of lunch meat, crushed cans of fruit and vegetables. Smashed bags of chips, cookies and crackers. “Why would somebody do that?”
“What?”
Dobey jumped; he hadn't heard Hutch approach him. “Why would someone ruin all that food so nobody else can use it?”
Hutch shook his head, “I don’t know Cap. Let’s get out of here.” He didn’t like the feel of the town. “Maybe the next town will be better.”
“Maybe,” But Dobey held out little hope. “How far have we come?”
“‘Bout a hundred miles.”
“We have to go back.” Dobey looked at his detective over the top of the car.
“We have to find food.” Hutch understood his Captain’s concern. “Hundred more miles? If we haven’t found anything we’ll turn around and go back.”
Reluctantly Dobey agreed, “Alright.”
Back in the car, Dobey pulled out a map of the area and studied it. “Any suggestions?” Hutch asked as he turned back on the road and drove away from the town.
“There are several small towns along this route but I’m afraid they might be no better than this one.” Still studying the map Dobey suggested, “Maybe we should get out onto one of the highways.”
Hutch didn’t like it, a highway might be more congested with abandoned cars fleeing the cities. But it didn’t seem like there was much of a choice. They needed to find bigger towns that might have something left.
“Let’s get on Interstate 5 and head north,” Dobey tapped the map. “Hopefully we will find supplies before we hit Sacramento.”
“Sacramento is a ways out.”
“I know but like you said we have to find food, we can’t go back without it.”
“Alright, they can make it a few days without us.” Hutch agreed.
“Edith can make a meal stretch, that woman is a marvel in the kitchen.” Dobey praised his wife.
With his Captain's help Hutch got onto the interstate. It was smooth sailing until they came to an on ramp with a multi car accident. Smashed cars with rotting bodies littered the road . A few of the cars had people that had come back to life after dying but were trapped in their vehicles.
Hutch slammed on the brakes, “Shit, now what?”
“We could try to drive around.” Dobey rolled down the window to get a better look at the terrain off the side of the road.
“If we had a Jeep. I don’t think your wagon will make it without getting stuck.” Hutch put the car in park and got out. “Let’s look around, maybe we can find some supplies and head back.”
Dobey got out and followed Hutch, “We could try and move some of the cars.”
“Let’s see what we can find.”
The first car they came to the driver looked dead but when Hutch tapped on the window, its eyes opened slowly as it turned its head toward the sound. It began to struggle and snap its jaws together. The detective backed away from the car, he wasn’t going to tangle with it if he didn’t have to.
Hutch moved to the next car, it was empty, doors wide open. The keys were in the ignition, the detective reached in and grabbed them. He went to the back of the car, and opened the trunk. There were two cardboard boxes, Hutch opened the first one, it was full of canned goods as was the second box. A smile spread across the blond’s face, he reached in and pulled a box out, “We hit the jackpot Cap!”
When his captain didn’t answer, Hutch turned, the box in his arms. What he saw made his blood run cold, four large men one of which held a gun to Dobey’s head stood watching him. “I think we are the ones that hit the jackpot.” The man with the gun to the captain's head said.
A second man walked toward Hutch and took the box from him. “Jimmy, get the other box,” the man ordered.
Jimmy, who looked younger than the others, stepped forward, retrieving the box still in the trunk.
“Could we keep one box? There is plenty for all of us.” Hutch asked. “Our family is starving.”
“Well now they have two less mouths to feed.” The third man walked up to Hutch, brought up the rifle he was carrying and hit the detective in the side of the head. Hutch dropped to the ground unconscious.
Dobey lunged forward, the man pistol whipped the captain, sending him also to the ground.
“Do you see them yet?” Rosie asked from the back seat.
“Honey, we have only been gone an hour.” Edith told her daughter.
It had been smooth sailing. They had seen a few abandoned cars but no dead stumbling around. Starsky scanned both sides of the road as he drove. He didn’t expect to see his partner, captain, or the station wagon this close but he wasn’t taking any chances. If something had happened, a wreck or they had been overrun by the dead, he needed to know. No matter what happened, he would keep Dobey’s family safe at all costs.
They had been driving nearly two hours when they came upon the same small town Hutch and Dobey had stopped. Starsky pulled up to the grocery store, he didn’t like the look of the store, it had clearly been cleaned out of anything useful. If he had been with Hutch they would have checked it out but leaving Edith and the kids in the car alone wasn’t going to happen.
“Let’s keep going.” Starsky said, turning back onto the road. “Maybe we should get off this road, find an interstate.”
“We might miss them.” Worry creased Edith’s brow.
“If all the towns on this route look like this, they might head to a bigger road.” Starsky stopped the car and looked at Edith, “What would Cap do?”
Edith thought for a moment, she looked into the back seat at her children who were sleeping. “Interstate, he has maps in the glovebox. I know him, he would have pulled them out and studied them to figure out the best place they might find supplies. It sure wouldn’t be in one of these little towns.”
“Alright, interstate it is.”
“What do you think happened?” Edith whispered so she wouldn’t wake the children. “They wouldn’t be gone this long, even if they found no food.”
“I don’t know.” Starsky stared at the road ahead not wanting to think of what possibly went wrong.
They turned onto the first interstate they came to and headed north as their counterparts had done two weeks ago. Starsky drove slowly, both he and Edith were looking at the cars off the sides of the road but none of them were the station wagon.
Rosie and Cal woke from their naps and began asking questions that neither adult could answer. Suddenly, Edith leaned forward to peer out the dirty windshield. She pointed down the road. “Looks like a bunch of cars on the road ahead.”
Starsky slowed the Torino even more, “Do you see any movement?”
Edith surveyed the area, shaking her head no. It looked as though a storm had passed through at some point leaving downed tree limbs and debris on the road and cars. As they got closer Edith sucked in her breath.
“What is it?” Starsky asked not seeing what she did; he was busy concentrating on avoiding branches on the pavement.
“The station wagon, I see our station wagon!” She exclaimed. Starsky stopped the car looking through the windshield. Edith opened the door and got out, “Stay in the car!” She told the kids.
“Edith, WAIT!” Starsky yelled. He looked over the back of the seat at the two wide eyed kids. “Stay in the car!” Starsky jumped out, gun and tire iron in hand.
“Harold!” Edith called, “Ken!” Running to the wagon Edith opened the passenger side door, to find it empty. She spun around scanning the tree line. “HAROLD!”
“Edith!” Starsky put his finger to his lips but it was too late, one of the dead lurched out of the trees toward them. Several more followed, “Get back to the car!” He ordered.
Edith ran back to the Tornio and opened the door, but instead of getting in she said to Cal, “Hand me the rifle.” She went back to stand next to Starsky.
“No guns unless we have no choice.” Starsky told her, glad to have the backup just in case he couldn’t handle all the dead.
He met the first one as it staggered toward them. Starsky ran the tire iron through its head. Three more came across the road. Edith hit one in the head with the butt of the rifle while Starsky took care of the other two. They were both gore splattered by the time they got back to the car. Cal and Rosie were relieved to see the adults.
“Where are they?” Edith asked, trying not to cry.
Starsky opened the trunk, rummaging around and finally pulled out a towel, which he handed to Edith to wipe off. He looked around. “I don’t know. From the dust and debris on the station wagon I would say Hutch and Cap abandoned it a while ago.”
“But why? Why wouldn’t they just turn around and come back if they ran into trouble?”
“I wish I had an answer.” Starsky took the towel from her and cleaned himself up. “Maybe the trouble wouldn’t let them.”
Dobey came to, his head ached, he slowly sat up looking around. His detective was still laying on the pavement unconscious, his head bleeding. They had been lucky none of the dead had found them. Dobey grabbed the fireplace poker that was not far away from him. The captain got to his feet holding his aching head as he approached Hutch. For a moment Dobey thought his man might be dead but then he saw Hutch’s chest rise.
“Hutchinson,” Dobey gently shook his shoulder.
Slowly Hutch opened his eyes then squeezed them shut again. The sunlight felt like knives stabbing his head. A moan escaped his lips as he tried to sit up. Hutch gently touched the gash on his head. He winced in pain and his hand was covered in blood.
“Easy,” Dobey said as Hutch tried to get to his feet but fell back.
Head spinning, the blond looked up at his captain, he held his hand up, “Help me up.”
Dobey got his detective on his feet. Hutch leaned against the car they had found the stash of canned food. “They took it all.” Dobey said disappointed. “Let’s get out of here.”
“We need to get back to the cabin and regroup.”
With Dobey’s help the two men made it to the station wagon. Hutch got into the passenger side, Dobey slid behind the wheel. “Son of a….” Dobey cussed as he went to start the wagon. “They took the keys!”
Hutch closed his eyes, leaning his head back on the seat. He felt sick to his stomach, he opened the door and promptly threw up. Not much came up as they hadn’t eaten in a long while. “Now what?” Hutch wiped his arm across his mouth.
“You need some rest, I’m pretty sure you have a concussion.” Dobey looked at the cut on Hutch’s head. “And we need to take care of that wound.”
Leaving his detective in the wagon Dobey checked out the other cars that had been in the wreck blocking the road. Luckily he found a first aid kit under the front seat of one of the cars. In another he found several cans of food. It wasn’t much but it was something. Dobey also found a few blankets.
“CAP!” Hutch yelled as he watched two dead ones come up the road behind the station wagon in the side mirror.
Dobey dropped the items he had scavenged and brought up poker. He met them at the back of the station wagon. Hutch opened the car door and slid out despite the pounding in his head. He reached for his gun in his shoulder holster and realized it wasn’t there, the men that attacked them had taken it.
The Captain took down the first one easily. The second one wasn’t as easy and Dobey was exhausted and hurt. He missed its head, stabbing instead high in the shoulder where the poker stuck. He pulled, but only managed to pull the snapping, grabbing what used to be a man toward him.
Hutch scrambled toward his captain, he shoved the man, skin hanging from his face and arms exposing bone. The man hit the road. Hutch planted his foot on the man, pulled out the poker from its shoulder and ran it through the brain. Hutch dropped to his knees, all this strength spent.
Dobey was instantly by Hutch’s side helping him to his feet. “Thanks.” Dobey was glad for the help. Hutch’s head was spinning as Dobey got him back in the car. “I’ll be back. I found some things before they showed up.”
Hutch nodded as he leaned back against the seat. Dobey was back in a few minutes. He tossed the canned food and blankets in the back seat, keeping the first aid kit. He got Hutch seated with his feet on the ground so he could check the laceration on the detective's head. After patching him up, Dobey inspected his own head wound.
“What’s next?” Hutch asked.
“You need to rest. We’ll spend the night here, it will be dark soon. There are a couple of cars I haven’t checked yet.” Dobey pulled a blanket from the back and covered Hutch. “If you need me toot the horn.”
“Be careful.”
Dobey checked the rest of the cars, finding more cans of food and thankfully a can opener and cans of soft drinks. His biggest find was a machete, which would give them extra protection.
By the time he got back to the wagon Hutch was sound asleep. Dobey climbed in the driver's seat and shook Hutch hoping he could wake him. Hutch opened one eye and looked at his captain. “Sorry to wake you, I just wanted to check on you.” The older man fumbled around in his pockets and pulled out the bottle of aspirin he had found at the ransacked grocery, it seemed like days ago but it had only been hours. He handed Hutch aspirin and one of the warm soft drinks.
Hutch nodded his thanks as he put the pills in his mouth and downed half the drink. After a meal of cold canned beans and some fruit the men settled down for the night in the station wagon.
As the sky began to lighten, Dobey checked on Hutch. At first he couldn’t wake him, but finally the detective came around. His head was still pounding and his vision blurry. “How are you feeling?” The Captain asked.
“Not good,” Hutch moaned.
“We can't stay here. We are sitting ducks if those men come back, not to mention the dead.”
“Where are we going to go? I’m in no shape to walk very far.” Hutch admitted.
Dobey leaned over and opened the glovebox and pulled out the map. He spread it over the steering wheel and studied it for a few minutes. He tapped the map with his finger. “We are here.”
“There has to be somewhere we can hold up until we can figure out a way to get back to the cabin.” Hutch peered at the map. “Doesn’t look like there is much around here.”
“There has to be some houses, a barn, something.” Dobey looked around but there was nothing in sight. “I could scout around and see what I can find.”
“No, we stay together!” Hutch exclaimed.
Dobey nodded, he knew his detective was right. They had to find a place to rest up and then get back to the cabin.
It was clear his partner and Captain were gone. Starsky walked both sides of the road hoping for a clue as to where they had gone but the storm had washed away any evidence.
Edith appeared next to him, “Anything?” Starsky shook his head no. “What are we going to do?”
“I guess we should go back to the cabin. Maybe they are heading back on foot. It would take a while.”
Agreeing, the pair headed back to the car. Just as they were about to get into the Torino a noise caught their attention.
“Sounds like a truck,” Edith commented.
Concern crossed the detectives face, if the occupants of the vehicle weren’t friendly they could be in trouble. “Get the kids and go hide in that stand of trees.” Starsky ordered as he began kicking debris around the car and carefully placed branches on the car to make it hopefully look like they hadn’t just driven up.
Starsky followed in the direction Edith and the kids had gone. He had grabbed a few things from the trunk just in case. He found them crouching down in the trees behind some bushes. He put his finger to his lips to keep them quiet as the truck approached the Torino.
The truck came to a stop on the road, the same four men that had attacked Hutch and Dobey got out. They surrounded the red car. One of the men let out a low whistle, “Looks like a parade float.” The other three laughed.
The men opened the doors, two got in and searched the car. There was no key in the ignition, it was safely in Starsky’s pocket. They got out and looked around. One man put his hand on the hood, the engine had been off long enough it had cooled. The car wouldn’t give them away.
“Let’s get out of here!”
Starsky, Edith and the kids waited a while to make sure the men were gone. Finally they emerged from their hiding place. He carefully looked around before going to his car. The doors were standing open but other than that the car looked fine, until the detective noticed the flat tires. “Son-of-a….” Starsky began. He kicked the front tire, he looked at Edith, she was shaking her head in disbelief. “I could swap tires with another car but that would take a while and it’s going to be dark soon.”
“What are we going to do?” Edith looked at her children who looked frightened.
“Why don’t we move into your station wagon, there will be more room to spread out.” Starsky suggested.
“What if those men come back?” Edith whispered.
“I don’t think they will be back today.” Starsky answered. “We will figure out what we are going to do in the morning.”
It was a restless night for the two adults. They could hear what they figured were the dead walking into the cars but none approached the station wagon. The minute it began to get light, Starsky was out of the car looking for tires that he could swap for his ruined ones.
When he returned, rolling a tire in front of him, Edith was at the Torino trying to figure out something for breakfast. Rosie and Cal would be awake soon and hungry. She was rummaging around in the trunk.
“Found a tire I think will work. Now I just have to find three more.” Starsky said as he let the tire drop next to the car.
“We need to find some food,” Edith said, holding up their last two cans of beans.
Starsky made a face, he was tired of beans, especially since they would have to eat them cold.
“Mom?” Cal called.
“Right here.” Edith called as she walked back to the station wagon.
“Aww not beans!” Cal complained when he saw the cans.
“Sorry honey, it’s all we have.”
Starsky looked into the back of the station wagon, “Hey buddy, we will try to find something better but I have to get the tires fixed. Do you want to help Cal?”
“Can I mom?” Cal looked hopeful.
“You stay right by David’s side, no wandering off.”
“I promise!” The boy clambered out of the car eager to have something to do.
Edith was about to wake Rosie when she heard the rumble of a truck. She shook her daughter awake then looked to see where Cal and Starsky were. “Grab your stuff.” Edith hissed at her.
The noise of the truck didn’t escape Starsky, he looked in the direction of the sound. It was coming up the road behind the Tornio, by the sound it was moving slowly. Starsky grabbed Cal and they sprinted back to the car. There was no time to get rid of the tire the detective had found.
Starsky pointed in the direction they had hidden the day before. “Hurry!”
They were barely out of sight when the truck pulled up and the men got out. “I knew there was someone here,” The man kicked the tire on the ground. “Spread out, find’em!”
Jimmy asked, “Why?”
“Because I said so!”
As the men spread out, Starsky whispered, “We need to move!” He hoped they wouldn’t run into any of the dead as they escaped, that could give them away.
Two of the men approached the stand of trees where Starsky, Edith and the kids were hiding. One of the men had a gun in his hand as they stepped into the bushes. Finding nothing he grumbled to his partner, “This is a waste of time.”
After the men left, Starsky decided it wasn’t safe to go back to the road, he led Dobey’s family away from the highway hopefully in the direction that Hutch and Dobey had gone. Chances were they also ran into the men in the truck. Starsky reached down and picked up Rosie, hoisting her onto his shoulders. He gave Edith what he hoped was a reassuring look and patted Cal on the back. Somehow they would stay alive and find Hutch and Dobey.
The End.
NO, this is not the END…LOL