“You know I’m kidding,” Tommy smirked.
“Yeah, but I’ll never pass up an opportunity to punch you.”
“Yeah, God forbid.” He said, drawing another punch from Melanie. “What was that for?”
“Sarcasm is punch worthy, we agreed on this.”
“Was I involved in making this agreement?”
“Nope, it’s a totalitarian relationship, I’m the King.”
“Don’t you mean Queen?”
“Sexist!” Melanie said, punching him yet again.
****
“Tommy, get up!” Bobby said in a harsh whisper.
“Why what’s wrong?”
“Zombies are outside, look out the window.” Tommy did so, and saw three down his street who didn’t appear to be traveling with a pack. Tommy quickly threw some gray sweatpants and a blue high school baseball shirt on and ran downstairs with his brother.
“Might be some good practice,” said Tommy.
“Matt will you have our backs if anything happens?” said Bobby.
“I will, but from the door. If they get too close to you two I’ll pick ‘em off.” Matt grabbed his assault rifle from last night and reloaded it. The Nagels each grabbed a shotgun and holstered two pistols in their waistbands. “Remember, aim for the head, a body shot won’t do anything. And if your gun jams or just isn’t working, you have two more ready in your waist there. You guys have shot guns before right? You know to pull the hammer back and-“
“We’ve shotguns? Not shotguns but-”
“No, not shotguns, shot… guns.”
“We’ve shot before, family in South Carolina, man.” Bobby interrupted.
“Well good luck boys, be safe.”
“Alright, let’s do this, Bobby.” Bobby grabbed Tommy by the back of the neck and touched his forehead to his. And they both knew they had each other’s back, that nothing bad would happen to them as long as they both were there. Then they walked out the door.
They weren’t noticed at first; they walked out and began walking straight towards the three zombies. They were about a football field away and still were unnoticed. Bobby kept looking over his shoulders to make sure there were no others. Tommy stared down their prey, in awe of what he was seeing. Their hearts pounded, knowing at any second they could be seen and would have to be ready. Tommy’s hands were trembling, which made him more nervous because his shot could be off because of it.
Finally, when they were equidistant from the house and the zombies, one of them saw the Nagels and immediately sprinted towards them. The other two followed. Bobby whipped the shoulder strap of his shotgun back, so it would be behind his back, and took out one of the pistols for more range on his shot. Tommy waited for them to get closer so he could use the shotgun. Bobby began to fire. First shot, miss. Second shot, hit it in the shoulder, hardly slowed it down. Third shot, headshot, the zombie fell to the ground instantly.
One down, two to go. At this point, they were about 30 yards out. Bobby started shooting at the other one. First shot, grazed the side of his head, which left a line of blood on the street and a standing zombie. Second shot connected, two dead zombies.
The last one was about 10 yards away. And they got a close look at its appearance. Any bit of life was sucked out of him. It looked like a guy, his skin was incredibly pale, his lips were a faint purple, and his eyes looked glazed and foggy. Then Tommy aimed his gun and fired, missed. He wasn’t sure how it missed it looked like it was right on point. Tommy pumped the shotgun, it was about 5 yards out, and he fired. The blast of the shotgun echoed loudly throughout the desolate neighborhood. Headshot. The zombie’s top half flew back and his legs kicked out as he fell backward. And that was the first time Tommy Nagel killed a zombie.
Their ears rang as they approached the zombie whose head had just been blasted with a shotgun. They were still prepared to shoot, even though there was no way it was still “alive.” They examined the body of their attacker in silence. The cold, white body now seemed even more lifeless with its head almost completely off. Its limbs were skewed in all directions, and his blood looked to be a very dark red, with almost a brown tint to it. His hands were stained with the blood of previous attacks, especially on the fingernails.
Matt was still at the door calling for them to come back. It gave Tommy a flashback to when they were kids playing in the street and their mom called them back for dinner, it made him smile. They walked back to the house still a bit on edge, but also satisfied. They felt victorious, and their confidence was high as they thought of their friends who they would be seeing soon.
Chapter 8
Tommy and Bobby decided that the following day they would head out to Matt’s Fort to raid it for weapons, which was against Matt’s wishes of course. When the brothers first saw Matt in their driveway, the last thing they expected was him to hold them back. Matt used to be the crazy one. As kids, Matt would be the one to climb so high up a tree that the fall would kill him, he was the one to ring the doorbell when ding-dong-ditching, he was the one to start a fight with Ryan Dansby, who was a foot taller than him and almost twice the weight, he was the one to slap the hot substitute teacher on the ass and run like hell before she could see who he was. He used to have to talk the Nagel brothers into participating in his crazed antics, but now the roles have been reversed.
It took a while to convince Matt to give them directions. But he finally told them how to find Fort Allen and where to get the goods. It was about a half hour west, towards the danger zone. They would take Route 71 for 18 miles, “hook a Randy” (which they assumed was turn right) when they get to the McDonalds WITH the playhouse (the one without it is too early). Then they would stay on that road until they got to Waxon Glaxon’s Auto Emporium Deluxe with the giant inflatable waving arms guys and “bank a Louie” on that road. The entrance to Fort Allen would be a couple miles up on the right but they shouldn’t go in there. Instead, stay straight until they get to the four-way stop with the tree that dangled over to the middle of the road and “hook a Randy” on there where they will find the second entrance. Go in the second entrance and keep your eyes peeled for a gray building that says “Mess Hall.” And behind the mess hall is the weapon supply shed where they weren’t to take too much of the stuff in case soldiers were to come back to the Fort in need of weapons.
“You guys got it?” Matt checked.
“Sure,” Bobby said.
“Easy,” Tommy chimed in.
“You sure? I know it was a lot to process.”
“Yeah.”
“Easy.”
“…I’m going to write it down. And you guys should take my Humvee.”
“Deal.”
Before they left, Matt taught Tommy and Bobby some basic gun etiquette. They practiced reloading until it became second nature, how to fix a jam quickly and efficiently, and of course, how to not accidentally shoot each other’s face off. Tommy and Bobby set out that morning around 10:30 with directions from Matt and their guns in case they ran into trouble on the way. They would’ve liked to have Matt with them; a little Marine experience couldn’t hurt. But at this point, they were satisfied with getting the directions.
They took off in Matt’s Humvee, sarcastically wearing the camouflage outfits their uncle had bought them for the hunting trip they never went on. They headed west on Route 18, farther into enemy territory. Bobby had to dodge abandoned cars throughout the trip; it looked like the zombies had a major impact on this area. Cars all over the road had broken windows windshields, large dents, and even some noticeable scratches. Then they remembered Matt’s Humvee has large dents and noticeable scratches for the same reason.
“How come they didn’t attack our town more, Tommy?” Bobby asked in a concerned tone.
“I don’t know, maybe there are fewer people around us, or maybe the… what’s the word… flock?”
“Horde.”
“Horde, maybe the horde died down or split up before they got out to us.”
“Yea
h, maybe. Either way, we got lucky.”
“You think we’ll be able to take down a whole flock-“
“Horde-“
“-take down a whole horde of them, Bobby?”
Bobby paused, he’s always been a planner, but he had no plan for this question. Can they take down dozens, hundreds of them? Will they be able to run or drive away if it gets too hectic? He had no straight answer to this question, so he simply replied, “Aim for their heads.”
Bobby sensed the mood getting a little heavy, so he lightened it up a bit, “So, what do you want to be in this new regime of northeast America?”
“I’d be shocked if I wasn’t voted the new president!” Tommy replied enthusiastically.
“And what’s your first order of business, Mr. President?”
“Bring back dunkaroos,” Tommy said without hesitation.
“They don’t make dunkaroos anymore?” he was genuinely concerned.
“I couldn’t find them!”
“Let’s check next time we’re shopping.”
“We have to shop?”
“We have to eat?” Bobby mocked.
“Is that the McDonald’s?”
“No, it doesn’t have a playhouse.”
They eventually got to the intersection where the tree dangled over the middle of the road and turned right. There was a gate blocking the entrance to the Fort, so Tommy got out and lifted it so the Humvee could pass. They were almost up to the Mess Hall where they stopped to see an old general laying on the sidewalk with an empty bottle of whiskey to his side. They got out and checked on him, but he was dead, with no signs of being attacked. They figured it was because of the poisonous airborne antidote Matt told them about, or more likely, alcohol poisoning.
They got to the supply shed, which they thought looked more like a supply castle, and they saw the door was busted. Their guns were out and ready, just in case. They feared for a second that someone had already wiped the place out of weapons, or that something was in there. They slowly opened the door with their guns raised, and Tommy let out an “Oh my God!”
The place was loaded, guns were hanging from the walls everywhere, ammo everywhere, handheld missiles everywhere, anything you could think of was everywhere. They wondered why Matt even mentioned not to take too much because even with a fully filled Humvee it wouldn’t make a dent in the supply stock in this shed.
“So what are we shopping for today?” Bobby asked with a smirk.
“Guns, first off, grab some assault rifles.”
“Yeah, I think the automatic feature of them might come in handy.” They put 4 assault rifles and about 200 corresponding magazine clips in the back seat of the Humvee.
“What else?” Tommy asked.
“Better pistols, I don’t like these.” They threw their pistols on the ground and picked up 6 new ones and put them in the back seat, along with 300 corresponding clips. Tommy walked back in the Shed and went over to the black bulletproof vests.
“These.” He said.
“Zombies don’t have guns.”
“Yeah but they look badass, and they can hold 6 magazine clips.”
“Grab four.” Four bulletproof vests added to the Humvee.
“Anything else?” Tommy asked.
“Yeah,” Bobby said, holding a grenade.
“A grenade?”
“Absolutely,” Bobby said as he tossed it to Tommy, and then grabbed 9 more and placed them very gently in a bag in the Humvee.
They also grabbed some flares, two more assault rifles, and some heavy-duty combat knives. They were now ready for war.
“Tomorrow?” Tommy brought up on the ride home.
“Let’s get Jordyn.”
Chapter 9
When the news first hit the Rutgers University campus there was a widespread panic. It was late at night, and those who weren’t asleep were quickly awoken by a panicking floor-mate who happened to be watching TV. Jordyn was one of the people asleep. She was in the fifth year of her five year nursing program, with a degree in her second major, French, already in her pocket. She was a resident assistant or “RA” on a freshman floor, not being able to resist the urge to help young students assimilate themselves into their new school. Or at least that’s what she said during her interview for it, the free room and board was the real reason for her RA choice. She woke after hearing yelling from down the hall and went to make sure everything was ok. As soon as she opened her door she saw one of the girls on her floor fly out of her room towards Jordyn. She propelled herself into Jordyn and hugged her like a lost child at an amusement park finding her mother. She began crying but wouldn’t say why. Other girls started coming out of the rooms to see what was going on. But the hugger still wouldn’t say what was wrong. Finally, she simply spit out “TV!... TV!” The girls all piled into Jordyn’s room as she went to put on the TV. They watched the same news report that Tommy and Bobby watched.
The girls were panicking and looking to Jordyn for answers, but she didn’t have them. “What to do in the event of zombie attacks” was not part of the RA training and safety program. One girl was rattled more than the rest, because her family lives in Philadelphia. Some of the girls were comforting her instead of worrying about themselves. Jordyn decided to head outside to see if she could find out what to do from other students or police.
The once quiet, peaceful night had turned chaotic outside. No sign of police or campus authorities. People were running in all directions, but for the most part, the general flow of traffic seemed to be heading up towards the Rutgers Athletic Center, or RAC, the school’s basketball stadium.
“Jordyn!” Jordyn turned to see Nicholas MacNamara, a friend and classmate.
“Nick! Where are you going?”
“Up to the RAC! Everyone is going there, the police are there, but we have to hurry. Come on.”
“I have to tell my, residents!” Jordyn yelled as she started running back towards her dorm hall.
“We don’t have time! They are going to close if it gets too full or if the zombies get here!” But Jordyn didn’t stop, if anything she sped up to a full sprint to her hall now knowing that time was pressing. Nick stopped, he had to wait for her. She ran inside and quickly ran up to the fourth floor to tell the girls, who were all still gathered in her room.
“Girls head to the RAC, you’ll be safe there, go!”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be right behind you just give me a second, now go!” The girls scurried out of her room, and began heading outside. Jordyn grabbed a piece of paper and a thin point-tip sharpie and simply wrote “Head to the RAC” on it. She left it on her desk, just in case someone came to her dorm.
Jordyn and Nick began running towards the RAC, with Jordyn having to slow down to stay with her less athletic friend. Her residents were up ahead, but slowly became out of sight as they out-ran Jordyn and Nick. Nick didn’t appear to be out of shape, but he clearly wasn’t used to this kind of physical activity. Jordyn grew anxious as she knew each passing moment more and more people would be piling into the RAC, and she feared they would hit capacity before she got there. She would occasionally run a bit faster and see if he was capable of keeping up, he wasn’t. So she jogged along anxiously with her face showing a constant state of panic.
The RAC was finally in sight, and they were still funneling people in, a calm wave came over Jordyn’s body. But as they got closer, they closed the doors, and a police officer outside the doors was telling people to back away. Nick and Jordyn approached the man, as did the other people, to beg for mercy. But he was stern, and told them the door locked inside anyway. Then Nick came up to him.
“Officer, please! You have to let her in, she’s pregnant!” He pled, pointing at Jordyn. The officer wasn’t going to turn away a pregnant girl, so he told the officer inside to open the doors for a second. He let Jordyn went in, Nick tried following behind her.
“Woah, where do you think you’re going?” The officer said with a hand on Nick’s ches
t. Nick froze.
“He’s the father! Please let him come too I need him!” Jordyn blurted out. The two officers looked at each other, and decided to let Nick in too. The second officer closed the doors again and locked them from the inside.
“Pregnant, huh?” The officer said.
“Y- yes, sir,” Jordyn answered.
“Well I don’t buy it, but you two are already in. Good luck to you.” Jordyn and Nick walked away from him, then she leaned in and whispered “Very clever” in Nick’s ear.
****
“So what are you and Jordyn going to name your kids?”
“Shut up, Tommy.”
“I’m just asking like have you guys talked about it or what?”
“Shut. Up.”
“Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s talk about the wedding! Going to go with outdoor? Church? Maybe a nice beach one?”
“Seriously Tommy shut up.” Matt chimed in from the backseat. Tommy spun around from the passenger to seat to completely face Matt.
“Oh, Matt I forgot you were coming with us! I thought you weren’t leaving the house for a while?”
“Yeah, why am I on my way to Rutgers again?”
“Because you looooove us and want to help us out.”
“Well, I’m starting to question it. You guys know we’ve passed six zombies already?”
“Wait, really?” Tommy asked.
“Actually, it’s seven but who’s counting?” Bobby answered.
“Hey Bobby what’s Jordyn going to Grad school for?” Tommy asked.
“It’s not grad school, just a five-year program, and nursing.”
“She’ll be a great nurse.”
“Agreed.”
“Are the crazy hours going to affect your home life together though?”
“I hate you.”
Just then, two zombies ran out right in front of the Humvee. All three of the boys yelled a profanity out of shock. Bobby ran right through them, one went flying over the car, the under was ripped under it. They felt a momentary sense of relief after hitting them, until Matt said,
The Fortress Page 4