Deadfall: Survivors

by Richard Flunker

  We agreed that we probably needed a watch, even if I was almost sure we would see nothing up this far. First, we were quite a ways off from any of the major cities and the major highways that usually managed to draw off the zombies like ant tunnels. Second, I still stood by my thirty five hundred altitude zombie barrier. And thirdly, we hadn’t seen a single zombie anywhere at all on the road a good two hours from the spot we were camped at. We figured that just two people splitting watch would be more than enough. In any way, just to be cautious, we packed everything else back up into the truck once we were done eating, and had only our sleeping bags out.

  We talked a little about our two new younger additions. From my own experience as a teacher, I merely suggested, that either, or both of them, would talk when they felt comfortable with it. Or they might never speak of whatever happened to them again in their lives. It was up to us to make sure that they were ok, and that whatever did happen to them didn’t completely change them, and perhaps even make them dangerous to us. Dawn, the poor older woman who had never had children of her own, gave hints that it was her responsibility to take care of them. I remember Aaron and Lucy snickering to each other when she mentioned this. I can only imagine that there’s something going on here that they find funny.

  I have a feeling that this desire Dawn has to “take care” of the younger ones in our group, rises from a hidden (or not) guilt that comes from that fact that she thinks her former husband didn’t take care of their flock as he should have. This might be her way of paying for his sins. I understand all about that kind of guilt and pain that comes from deception in a family. Notice I have spoken a lot about my father, and yet there hasn’t been a single mention of my mother. Horrible family past and deception is something I rarely like speaking about, much less writing about, although I feel like I may have to at some future point.

  We talked about the next two days (that's how I calculated it). Our fuel was fine to cover the fifty or so miles up to the small town at the foot of the mountains that I planned on leaving the truck behind. Our concern was still food, so I mentioned a few smaller towns along the way, since I’d be trying not to use any major roads or highways. I suggested raiding homes instead of stores, since the likelihood of finding food in houses seemed higher to me than the places most would have raided already. The zombies had arrived later and in slower number in the less populated, and more specifically, more hilly and rural areas. I’m still a little surprised that I hadn’t met more survivors in the areas that I hiked through. Then again, surviving for nine months without a constant source of food and energy might drive a lot of people to leave. I still suspect that there are plenty of people alive in the mountains.

  Raiding homes would take longer, of course, but I planned on spending the night at a small mountain village called Balsam Grove. If I remembered right, there was a community center we could lock ourselves into for a night. We would all need a good night’s rest, and hopefully, good and plentiful food in preparation for the hike the next day. I was really worried that this hike might be too much for them, and I’ve really been trying to drive that subject home, really harping on how hard it’s going to be, yet no one is really saying anything against it. I really expected some opposition to the plan, or at least insistence on driving the truck all the way up.

  That whole development worries me a bit. They’re all simply following my lead. Except for Dawn, I'm the oldest here, but that seniority crap is pointless here. Evan is clearly better equipped mentally for the end of the world type scenario that we’re in. Aaron is clearly an alpha type, who’s usually the kind in charge and comfortable giving the orders. Tague is an international journalist, who has clearly been around far more than all of us put together. I’m nothing like those guys. I'm a former history teacher, who loves to hike and is afraid of guns.

  I've been really trying to hint at this fact quite a bit now. I think, deep down, I just want one of them to take over and be the leader, but so far, no one is headed that way. Well, maybe after the hike, they won’t be so willing to follow my lead.

  So what do we do? I know we have to get home first, but then what? That’s been a thought that has been rattling around in my brain now for a few days, even though I've managed to nearly get myself chomped on by zombies. There’s enough food to last this whole group a couple of years, if we did nothing at all. So then what? We build ourselves a nice little mountaintop community? What happens when one of us dies, and we get eaten by our own community members? The conversation would die quickly though, when that last subject came up. I know I was feeling hopeful about returning to my home, but I already knew what awaited me there. For the rest of them, it was like some secret holy paradise that was waiting for them after death, and I was their angel, leading them to their reward for enduring the pestilent zombies.

  So what’s going to happen after they realize that it’s just another place, safe yes, but another place where life is the same?

  It’s a nice cool evening. I hope I sleep well. I have to get them up that mountain first.

  Yes, a lot happened in these past two days.

  Evan’s Note: Did I really sound so redneck back then? I wonder if Brian just exaggerated.

  That couple of days was chaotic. Finding Heather and Chris, I had almost forgotten how it had happened. Chris rarely talks about it anymore.

  Entry 23 – Up We Go. Fifteen Days Since I Started Writing.[22]

  It was, in essence, a quiet drive here. It wasn’t quiet because it was a storm of conversation both inside and, apparently, outside in the truck bed, where Evan and Tague had decided to continue riding in. It was quiet though, in that not one zombie was seen. It almost felt like a normal drive through the countryside with a bunch of friends, except for the fact that these people here with me are still, for the most part, strangers to me. But at least a day like this helped take some of that strangeness away. It also helped me breathe a sigh of relief. If I had been worried that I was taking potentially dangerous people to my safe place, it seemed to me, more and more, that these people were not one of those. I may still be proven wrong, but for now, I can breathe easy.

  We stopped twice along the way. The back roads that we took really led us through some rural areas with sparse housing. We did stop at some mountain resorts filled with luxurious cabins though. One was right at the bottom of the wilderness area we had stayed in last night. It only took us about an hour and a half of rummaging through the cabins and storage areas, and while we found no food worth ingesting, we again saw no zombies. Plus, the difference between the city and out here was also calming on the nerves. In the bigger cities, the destruction caused either by rioting, looting or zombies was so vividly apparent, that the cities no longer felt like what we were used to. But out here, there was no destruction, just abandonment. If you could blank your mind for a moment and forget all that had happened, you could actually think things were normal, and just that feeling, I could see, gave people hope, put smiles on their faces.

  The second resort yielded us two large boxes of elbow noodles, and even some blocks of some type white cheese. Yes, this evening, we’re dining on macaroni and cheese a la apocalypse. It’s nowhere near what we, as good Americans (except Tague), had come to know as mac and cheese, but it was definitely an enjoyable meal. We were able to find some pots here at this community center we are at, and after some rummaging for fuel of any sorts, we decided to hit up a stock of firewood Aaron had found at a nearby house and we made a simple campfire. Boiled water, cooked the noodles and melted the cheese are all things done easily over a fire.

  There was far more than eight people could eat, but I do think we ate for eighty people tonight. It’s exactly what we all needed. To top it off, some of us cut up the rest of the sausages and put them into our meal (although not the sardines). Then Tague delivered the ultimate dessert in the form of some instant coffee and hot chocolate packets he had found. We only found five mugs, but we gladly shared. I'm not a coffee drinker, but this time I mix
ed some with my chocolate drink.

  Heather and Chris seemed to be more smiles than not. It could have been the slight semblance of normality, maybe the first time in a while, that set them at ease. Heather had asked me earlier, when she saw me looking at something in my journal, what I was doing. When I explained to her about my journal, she asked if she could have some of the paper as well. I ripped out a few pieces and gave them to her, and as I look over to her now, I see she’s found a pen or pencil somewhere among the mess here, and is writing something down herself.

  Therapy works.

  After dinner, while it was still light out, I had everyone redo their packs. I wanted to make sure we had only the bare necessities, enough to get us up the mountain without completely tiring out those who weren’t ready for this kind of hike. I had a water filter with me, so we wouldn’t have to carry much water with us. I knew for sure that there were plenty of streams we would be crossing. We would even be following one for a while up the mountains. We packed the noodles that we hadn’t cooked, as that would make an easy lunch again. While everyone packed or repacked, I made sure my handheld GPS was still charged. I had plugged it into the truck this morning, and while I knew the trail I was going to take quite well, I wanted to be sure. It had been years since I had hiked it, and it had been nine months since I'm sure anyone other than deer and bear had taken the trail. I didn’t want to risk getting off trail and getting lost.

  Tague had finished first. He was by nature a minimalist, and had learned so in his career as a journalist to pack light, so he was ready to go. He told us he was going to go check a small volunteer fire department station right next door to the community center. Our luck with finding the guns in the fire station in Charlotte made it a good idea to check out. While he did that, Evan and I fashioned a pack for Chris. He would only be carrying a few extra things, the pot to cook with on the way up and ammunition. Evan, of course, wanted to carry as many of the weapons as we could all carry, but I managed to get him down to three guns between all of us, plus ammunition for them. I just didn’t see the need for them, and it was just more to carry. His main worry was having weapons for the future.

  “We don’t need to carry any up.”

  Evan: “What if we need some later on? Up in the mountains?”

  “We probably would never need to use them up there.”

  Evan: “And, at some other time? You know, when we go out to raid?”

  (That always made me smile. What, were we pirates?)

  “Well, I know for sure that there are guns at the house.”

  Evan: “What kind?” (He said that with the joyful tone of a kid being told he is going to a toy store to buy something, with eyes wide open and a hint of excitement in his voice.)

  “Honestly, I don’t know.”

  Evan: “Oh yeah, you're not a gun guy.”

  I could only shrug my shoulders. I had thought about it today. I had always been afraid of guns, because I didn’t know anything about them. Now I had someone who did know about them. I think that once we get up there and get settled in, I really should learn. One of my biggest fears in this new world, and where the use of guns would be necessary, would be if we ran into the living that had worse intentions than those I had rescued in Hendersonville. It may never happen, but maybe I need to start preparing myself for situations like that.

  Tague didn’t find much at the station, mostly random junk, but I did take a shine to some LED flashlights he had managed to dig up. Combined with rechargeable batteries, those could come in handy. He did come up with a good idea though. We decided to stash all the weapons we were leaving behind into the truck, and park it inside of the fire station. It would keep it out of sight, BUT, if someone were to find it and need it, it would be a boon to them as it had been to us. And if not, then we knew where it was, if we needed either the truck or the weapons.

  There were plenty of couches and cushions from which everyone was able to make beds out of, at least beds that were far more comfortable than lying on the ground. Together with the hot and plentiful meal and the nice hot drinks, everyone was in a good mood, and generally, a good mood led to a good sleep. I found a way to string up my hammock and tonight, I would sleep with the top off. Wouldn’t need any kind of bug or rain repellant tonight.

  We barricaded the door with anything we could find, but there really wasn’t any real worry in the air. Even my usual caution had gone out the window a bit. I can only think that it’s this closeness to what has become my own safe haven that’s giving me this feeling of safety. I’ll be glad to be back.

  Entry 24 – The Hike[23]

  We found two dead hikers today.

  The hike began just fine. In fact, it almost felt like a group hike from the good old days, when most people weren’t trying to eat you. The eight of us set out this morning, headed up the highway a little bit, until we veered off and took an old forest road that forest techs and rangers probably used back when it paid to be a ranger. The road would take us about two thirds of the way, up to a point called the Courthouse Falls. It’s a gorgeous little waterfall that empties out into a small pool and cove. I had planned on making a good lunch stop there before taking the steep hike up to the top.

  The waterfall is truly a sight. I have pictures I had taken here years ago, after some particularly heavy summer rain showers and the amount of water coming over the falls was impressive. I remember taking a dip in the small pool with my girlfriend at the time. We got mostly naked to wash off the heat and sweat. That was a very good day for me, and a memory from so long ago, it’s hard to discern what actually happened in my mind.

  Today, the memory has been fouled by the two dead hikers we found there. Tague, probably about the only person here who has any experiences with corpses or dead people that aren’t trying to rip your flesh off, figured that they had been dead for a little over a month. He also pointed out that this might have been a double suicide. The two bodies were apart from each other, and two small guns were found, one still in the clutches of one of the hikers, the other, near the other one. Both had gun shots to the head.

  I can’t even begin to imagine what took place here. If it was only a month ago, then these two, male and female, had been alive and survived for quite some time in the new dead world. Had their hopes died here? I keep thinking about my day here, many years ago. Had this couple also shared one day of pure bliss, and then ended it while it was good? And not just ending it, but making sure they didn’t come back as something worse.

  Everyone was quite somber about the whole scenario. About a mile from the falls, I had begun talking about them, and everyone was actually quite excited, possibly about lunch, or the falls, or just simply resting for a bit. But the bodies changed everything. We have all seen plenty of dead. Obviously, we see the ones that are still walking around, but we've seen plenty of those that have been disposed of as well. But I think for many, if not most of us, this is the first time we’ve seen a dead human body that was not a zombie.

  I’ve never contemplated suicide, that is, after the apparent end of the world. I really didn’t have a reason to. I was alone, so my death and subsequent rise as a zombie wouldn’t affect anyone, and if I died in my house, well, no one would ever find me or the house. Plus, I was fine. But I can’t speak for everyone else, and I am sure as hell not going to ask about it now, despite how curious I am. I know Heather and Chris have fared the worst out of this group, but, both Aaron and Lucy lost their families, Evan had to kill his own zombie father, and both Tague and Dawn have seen plenty of misery of their own.

  Is suicide an option for them? I truly hope not.

  The waterfalls were truly beautiful. But we left that beauty to the two dead humans who decided to finish it with that beauty in their mind. At least, I’ll imagine it that way.

  Instead, we veered off the path and began taking a trail that went up behind the waterfall. We followed the stream not even half a mile up, until it formed another small fall, nowhere near as impressive as th
e one below, but nonetheless, forming a pool and a convenient resting spot. We cooked up our noodles and ate, heartily, but quietly.

  I knew the hike ahead, the steeper sections, would keep everyone quiet, but that was probably a good thing now. I don’t think anyone was really in the mood for conversation, and the hike up was going to suck the words out of most everyone anyways. From that point, it was only about a mile and a half to the top, but I knew, as it proved out to be, that it would take most of the afternoon, and many, many stops. We would follow the stream most of the way up, so that would provide us with all the water we would want, and need.

  On the way up, I gave one of the radios to Tague, who led up the rear to make sure no one lagged behind, and kept us decently close together. I only had to check in twice before we reached the top. It actually only took us three and a half hours, better than I had expected. At the top, it was only a small walk along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and then a small, quick hike back behind off of the road to where the entrance to the house is.

  We got here at about six pm, still an hour of light to go, even if the sun was starting to go down. I know of course, that my house isn’t what everyone was expecting. When I moved the wooden crate and revealed a metallic door, I got many odd looks. It got even odder, when I brought up a small panel, and punched in the code that unlocked the door. I entered my house to the hiss of clean, filtered and stale air, lights flickering to life in the hallway that led into my house.

  I’m writing this now as everyone is taking showers. I’ve collected all of their clothing and am washing them. Sadly, I have nothing new they can wear, so they’ll have to wear their own clothing, albeit clean, until we can do something about that. I just gave everyone large blankets that they can wrap in until the clothes are dry. They’re all in the main locker, with all the showers, although there is enough of a separation that women and men can have some privacy. I pulled out some of the pork chops I knew for sure we had in the freezer in the kitchen, and fired up the grill to get them going.