![\"the-walk-comic.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/zyracuse.com\/images\/titles\/thewalk.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n
Clipboard knew something was up as soon as the 18th Squad came trudging down the boulevard. They were moving too slowly. The 18th had been becoming one of the best: they were going out farther and returning with more kills than any other unit. They were cold, efficient, and ruthless\u2014just like everyone else in Corpse Corps. They did not carry guns. They didn\u2019t need to. Their ZEDs\u2014zombie elimination devices\u2014always came back covered in gore.<\/p>\n
They were never very loud, but today, they were noticeably quieter. Parker, Uptown, and Vannawhite all piled through the checkpoint and reported their kills. They marched silently on through toward the baggage claim to stow their weapons. Holey came through last.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many\u2019d you get, Holey?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSixteen personally. I split a couple with Uptown. Give them to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means your squad\u2019s kills are up fourteen percent over September. You suppose Zack is moving back west?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProlly.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it getting bad? What happened out there today?\u201d<\/p>\n
Holey held up his pointer, third, and ring fingers, dropped his ZED, and continued on toward the front door of the terminal.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, no, Holey. I\u2019m sorry, man. It\u2019s\u2026\u201d He flipped the pages of the clipboard up, \u201cKrezner today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holey kept walking, holding his three fingers in the air above his head.<\/p>\n
Uptown spit on the parking garage floor. \u201cCan you believe it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNaw. Any Z that takes a chunk out of Holey would just spit it out again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, but he\u2019s taking the Walk. Didn\u2019t you see him talking to Clipboard?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo way,\u201d said Vannawhite, turning even more pale than normal. \u201cI never saw him get bitten. Zack couldn\u2019t get close enough to him to get a bite in. There\u2019s no way.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a long, uncomfortable silence that Parker finally broke. \u201cWhat are we going to do without him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus,\u201d answered Uptown. \u201cWe\u2019d better not get a rookie. The Boss was just getting good at this stuff. We\u2019d better get some dinner before they run out again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holey crossed the footbridge and came to the hospital unit. Back in the day, you could get a rock-hard, overpriced bagel here. Now you\u2019d be lucky to get antibiotic for an oozing sore. Doctor Krezner looked up as he approached\u2014members of Corpse Corps always got quick service after a mission. Holey flashed him the three-fingered W. Krezner\u2019s jaw dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cHoley. What happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes it matter? I need clearance to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStep into my office.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAren\u2019t you afraid I might turn on you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, no. You don\u2019t have the signature puffiness around the eyes and your gross motor control seems fine. You\u2019ve got hours. We\u2019ve got hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. We do.\u201d It wasn\u2019t an office so much as stepping through a doorway into the food prep area of the former Au Bon Pain. \u201cJeez, doc. I hope you don\u2019t charge as much as they used to for a beer in this joint.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry about this. Your medial insurance\u2026\u201d he paused. \u201cOh forget it. This is no time for joking around. Where did it get you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoc, I just told you. It doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure it does, Holey. I\u2019ve got to see the wound. Examine it. Approve your clearance for the Walk. You know Brooks won\u2019t just let anyone go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no wound.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you\u2019re not walking. Sorry, soldier. Back to your barracks. No early check out for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoc. I can\u2019t do it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHoley, the number on the board this morning was 1834. With you gone, it\u2019s down one more. Your crew gets a rookie to replace you as leader. That rookie is some hotshot who wants a quick way out from sanitation. That endangers two of your crew and makes it dirtier around here at the same time. That makes my job harder to keep sick people from getting sicker. Forget it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s easy for you to say. You\u2019re back here and away from Zack. He’s in my head. I left one behind in the clear zone. I endangered my crew and I endangered future missions. I am a risk to the future success of my squad. I will not stand trial for treason. I just want to go. I\u2019m tired. I quit. And I want to take Zack with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHoley. What happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a kid I knew. I’m going whether you clear me or not. Let’s do this the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Krezner asked, \u201cHave you got your will in order?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNope. Got no kin here. Just give my stuff to 18th Squad. They\u2019ll know what to do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The doctor called for a police escort. Holey raised his right hand in the signature W and walked back to his bunk. He changed his shirt to his favorite, a non-regulation blue Patriots jersey and turned his back on everything left in his life. The word spread quickly. People gathered and lined the walkway to see the dead man walking, but they always remained a respectful distance back. Whether that was out of solemnity or the virus they thought he carried, Holey didn\u2019t know. He was re-issued his Zed and the policeman fell in behind him with a hand on his holster. The crowds lined the driveway to the tollbooth. Except for the kids who squirmed with impatience, they remained silent and Holey stared straight ahead, turning only to nod to Uptown, Vannawhite, and Parker.<\/p>\n
After he passed, Parker said, \u201cYou know, I don\u2019t even know why we call him Holey. Was he a priest or something?<\/p>\n
Vannawhite answered. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter. He\u2019s going to be impossible to replace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uptown snorted. \u201cI always just thought it was short for a-hole.\u201d They both turned to stare at their squad mate, jaws dropped. \u201cWell, whatever. Dibs on his knife.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holey knew the Walk was going to be a long one, but it didn\u2019t really matter. He had all the time in the world. No more chores, no more ration lines, no more forays. He took the Boulevard bridge over 81 and turned south on Route 11. His feet guided him without conscious thought. South and west. Avoid the main routes. Avoid parked cars. Avoid confined areas. Avoid open areas. Move faster than Zack could. He picked off a couple of lone shamblers that crossed his path on Hiawatha Boulevard and took a long way around the mall, going down to Court Street to avoid both that and the Hiawatha 81 onramp that was too close to highway level for comfort. He crossed over 81 again as it coiled across the north side, looking over at it and thinking that it was still a zombie-choked parking lot. Someone would have to clear that out for a clear path to the south. Not his problem. But someone from the Blue Zone would come up with a plan, he knew.<\/p>\n
South on Bear and over Onondaga Creek. Too bad they\u2019ll never get around to cleaning that up. They had gotten so close. That and the lake. All the great plans, the same ones he had heard since he was a kid. There\u2019s that same old politician\u2019s promise: the lake will be swimmable again\u2014but this time, only by people who want a chance meeting with Zack.<\/p>\n
There was a big cluster of Z\u2019s outside the Basilica. Were there survivors inside? There couldn\u2019t be many. What, did they think Zack was going to respect the tradition of sanctuary? We ought to make contact. Or more correctly, someone from the Zone ought to make contact. Someone else\u2019s problem. Not his. He used a strategy he wouldn\u2019t have used with his squad: He walked faster than the ghouls could and turned left on Avery. He\u2019d always avoided the West Side. Why hadn\u2019t he noticed how beautiful the rolling hills on this side of town might have been? Nothing that a few bulldozers and a few years couldn\u2019t fix now. A little old-school urban renewal.<\/p>\n
As he turned onto Avery, he slowed down, knowing once he was out of Zack\u2019s line of sight, he\u2019d be safe from anything but a random stroller. He could fight them off in his sleep as long as they weren\u2019t moaning and calling in their friends. He knew the Avery detour would add a couple of miles to the route. It didn\u2019t matter. Eric wasn\u2019t going anywhere. Holey knew a guy from the Zone who had lived on this stretch of Avery, but he wasn\u2019t in the Corps and Holey wasn\u2019t going back, so he\u2019d never know that his house was a burned out husk. Maybe it was better that way.<\/p>\n
Going past the zoo, Holey tried not to think about the animals. Those majestical creatures. Had they resisted? Had they triumphed? Had they understood? Would the fences hold Zack out? Would the fences hold the grey wolves in? Turn onto the ironically named Grand Avenue and start heading west again. Only a couple more miles and he\u2019d be there. This distance was a lot easier to cover in a Rumbler. Walking was a drag.<\/p>\n
He approached from the east. Fairmount Fair had been the original goal. The Wegmans, Target, and the Dicks Sporting Goods sat there like ripe plums, waiting to be plucked. More important than the food and weapons that had probably already been picked clean would be the clothes of Marshalls. Three teams had headed out every day for a week before the Grabbers would come in. Lots of people had a similar idea before the evacuation and the place was loaded with Z\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Assault, retreat, pick them off one by one. The strategy had worked well. The kill ratio was high, but the Corps had lost five in the process. None of them returned to Central to report back to Clipboard, but just began their Walk from there. Zack leaves the bitten alone. It\u2019s weird. They must have killed hundreds before they turned. All they got for it was their picture on the Memorial Wall and their number subtracted from the total on the whiteboard. They hadn\u2019t died in vain. They had made his job easier, just like he would for the people that came after him. Wasn\u2019t that what it meant to be in the Corps?<\/p>\n
Holey used his crowbar to jimmy the sliding glass door of the Target open. A red-shirted clerk with a missing eyeball shuffled toward him. \u201cNo thanks. I know what I need. I don\u2019t need any extra help.\u201d She wasn\u2019t in good shape. In fact, she looked like she belonged at Wal-Mart.<\/p>\n
A single poke with the crowbar took her down. \u201cI\u2019ll be committing armed robbery today in addition to extermination. I\u2019m sorry about that.\u201d He didn\u2019t know why he always apologized to the ghouls he eliminated. They didn\u2019t know any better, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. He went back to housewares, dispatching a couple of moaners en route, and then picked up a bag of rubber gloves. Then he cut over to hardware and to his surprise, he managed to find two cans of lighter fluid. As he went past the cash registers, something shiny caught his eye. He picked up four packs of Pokemon cards and said to a cashier trying to grab him from across the conveyer belt, \u201cPlease put these on my tab.\u201d He stopped by the restaurant. There were a few kernels of eight-month old popcorn left. They tasted as good as they did the day they were popped.<\/p>\n
Avoiding the parked cars on Genesee, he climbed the hill toward the intersection at Onondaga Road. He knew what he\u2019d find there. How do you miss a cherry red 2007 Mustang GT smack dab in the middle of the intersection? If the streets weren\u2019t ghoul-infested parking lots, he could have that thing up to 80 in about seven seconds. But he wasn\u2019t there for the car. It was the kid. How on earth did that kid end up under the front right tire of that car? His body may have been mangled, but Holey congratulated him on his good taste. Holey could see the spot where he had been bitten. The blood had come through the jersey he was wearing and turned the middle of the thirty-seven from white to brownish-red.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, Snake. How\u2019s it going? You aren\u2019t looking so hot.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boy formerly known as Eric let out a growl that sounded like it had come from the pit of his bowels after three helpings of chili. It smelled as bad as it sounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe quiet, my friend. I\u2019m just here for a visit. I don\u2019t want to start some sort of zombie party. You know why I\u2019m here, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Eric started to twist and pull to free himself from the front tire. His blank, white eyes screamed hatred and a desire for living flesh. Holey stepped backward in spite of himself and nearly vomited as Eric pulled himself out from under the weight of that 4.6 liter V-8. Both his feet and lower legs were nearly flat. He dragged himself along the ground with his forearms. His moan was not the sound an eight-year old should ever make.<\/p>\n
\u201cDude, I never had any idea when I started calling you Snake that this would be the reason.\u201d It was kind of funny in a terribly sad sort of way. \u201cYou know there\u2019s no point in delaying this.\u201d Holey seemed to be trying to convince himself more than to console Eric. Eric didn\u2019t seem to mind. He\u2019d become the ultimate Snake, more poisonous than a viper, with no desire greater than to sink his teeth into Holey\u2019s Achilles tendon.<\/p>\n
Holey sidestepped and raised his ZED. He whispered, \u201cI\u2019m\u2026so\u2026sorry\u201d and as gently as he could, put his little friend out of both of their miseries.<\/p>\n
Amazing. The Mustang had no bodies inside it. It even had some gas left. Whoever had hit Eric must have bolted. It must have been just during the Panic, when there was still some conscience remaining over injuring young kids. It wasn\u2019t possible to tell how long it had been since he\u2019d been bitten, though. Holey hoped it was before the accident. Snake had slithered a long way from his home. Holey opened the package and pulled on the gloves. It\u2019d be 24 hours before the Solanum would inactivate and he couldn\u2019t afford to wait. Eric\u2019s friends would be showing up soon.<\/p>\n
His ZED opened the front window quickly. Power windows indeed. He unlocked the door and swung it open. He yanked up on the emergency brake and shifted the car into neutral. The he strapped Eric into the driver\u2019s seat, slid the seat forward, and tilted the wheel down. He closed Eric\u2019s eyes, took off his gloves, and tossed them on the passenger seat. Next to them, he tossed the cards. He wouldn\u2019t have known if there would good ones in there or not. \u201cSorry, man. They\u2019re all I could find. I hope they\u2019re good.\u201d<\/p>\n
He waited until he heard them coming. One mile an hour. They shuffled past the Wegmans and interminably up Genesee.<\/p>\n
He then doused the car in lighter fluid, reached across to release the emergency brake, and with one hand on the roof and the other on the brake, pushed. As the car started to accelerate, he flicked his Bic.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t quite the funeral for a Scandinavian king Holey had hoped for. Still, Eric picked up enough speed to fan the flames and light the remaining gas in the tank on fire. It wasn\u2019t as good as Holey had wanted, but Holey had wanted one of those Hollywood explosions that never really happen in real life. Instead, he watched with satisfaction as the car rolled over four-five-six Z’s before coming to a stop just past the McDonald’s. It would do. It would have to.<\/p>\n
\u201cDude. If your mom ever finds out you crashed a stolen Mustang in Fairmount, you\u2019re dead. You know that, right? I\u2019ll see you around. I\u2019m really, really sorry it had to end like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holey started heading north on 173 away from the Z’s oozing around the Mustang and up the hill. North and east. Back toward home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Clipboard knew something was up as soon as the 18th Squad came trudging down the boulevard. They were moving too slowly. The 18th had been becoming one of the best: they were going out farther and returning with more kills than any other unit. They were cold, efficient, and ruthless\u2014just like everyone else in Corpse […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,16],"tags":[123,207,55,58,86,85,48,73,89,87,88],"class_list":["post-21","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1-edited-stories","category-characters","tag-longer","tag-18th-squad","tag-clipboard","tag-corpse-corps","tag-eric","tag-holey","tag-krezner","tag-other-survivors","tag-parker","tag-uptown","tag-vannawhite"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pemv8-l","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zyracuse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zyracuse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zyracuse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zyracuse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zyracuse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/zyracuse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1847,"href":"https:\/\/zyracuse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions\/1847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zyracuse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zyracuse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zyracuse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}