by Levi Doone
I creep beside him, kneel, then whisper, “Zombie?”
“No, rodeo clowns.”
“What?”
“Yes, zombies. I think it’s gone. It was right outside the big window there. Must’ve wandered into the yard.”
We stay put for a little bit more, and Rudy puts Bruno down. “I think it’s clear.”
Bruno runs to the couch, jumps on it, and barks.
In an instant, the picture window shatters with a heart-stopping smash. A zombie leans in and reaches for me.
I jump back and whack my head on the wall behind me.
Rudy, in a single motion, leaps toward it and plants his sword into the thing’s head. It’s as if he’d practiced this sort of thing regularly, like it was choreographed.
“Yeah,” Rudy said, “this dog is awesome. These freaks won’t be able to sneak up on us with Bruno.” He pulls the sword from the head and wipes the orangey goo off the blade on the arm of the couch. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Sure, physically, thanks to Rudy. I’m getting sick of feeling helpless.
Maria calls out, “What’s going on? You guys okay?”
“Fine,” Rudy says. “Just a zombie. It’s dead.”
Just a zombie? These things have been terrorizing me all day and probably will for the rest of my, most likely, short life.
I stand slowly, my legs a little wobbly, and sit on the couch. Bruno comes to me and curls against my leg. I stroke his back while shifting on my sore butt. I’m a mess. My clothes are still wet and sticky, I’m shoeless, and I start to feel sick to my stomach.
“I’m never gonna get used to this,” I say.
“It’s crazy, huh.” Rudy moves to a recliner and sits. “I’m gonna stay down here and keep watch for a while. Why don’t you go try and get some sleep?”
“I’m not tired right now. I’ll keep you company, if you don’t mind.”
“Cool.”
I wait for him to start in on me. You know, the whole if you’re going to survive, you need to blah, blah, blah. But he doesn’t say anything, just stares out the broken picture window, which makes me think, Great, now he’s just ashamed or embarrassed for me. He must think I’m just pathetic.
After a few minutes, he finally says, “You need a weapon.”
“What?” I wasn’t expecting that, and of course, I take it the wrong way and go off. “What’s that supposed to mean? Getting sick of saving my butt? I’m a fourteen-year-old girl. Why the hell would I have a weapon? It’s not like I’ve been preparing for this. Hell, I don’t even have shoes on, so why don’t you just lay off?”
It was like the frustration off the worst day of my life was exploding in an array of hostile words, directly aimed at the guy I owe my life to. “And besides, who the hell would be prepared for this anyway? I mean, really, zombies? Give me a break. I’m sorry I haven’t become this great slayer of the undead in less than twenty-four hours.”
I’m finally out of things to say, so I stand and am about to do my famous stomp out of the room for effect routine when I notice Rudy handing something to me.
“What’s this?”
“Take it. Now you’re armed.”
It’s a large knife. I take it and look it over.
“It’s a bayonet used on the M-16 assault rifle. It may be small, but if you shove it in the eye socket of one of those creepers, it will kill it quick.”
It doesn’t look small to me. “Oh, um, thanks.” Guess I shouldn’t have gone off on the poor guy. He took it well, though. I like the idea of a guy who doesn’t freak out over me freaking out. It’s more than that, though; it’s like he has a style or class about him. Something like a strong, silent type with something else I can’t quite put my finger on, but I find it intriguing.
Then he stands and begins to unfasten his belt.
“Whoa, slow down, big fella. I’m thankful for the knife, but not that thankful.”
Rudy stands still for a second. Looks like he’s trying to understand what I mean. Then he rolls his eyes to the ceiling and laughs loudly. He covers his mouth to stifle the noise, but he can’t seem to stop.
I don’t get what’s so funny. In fact, I’m getting angry.
He slides his belt half off and removes a sheath, handing it to me. Still laughing, he manages to say, “Here, for the bayonet.”
“Oh yeah, um… thanks.” Oh man, I really need to stop jumping to conclusions.
“No, thank you. I really needed that.” He collapses back into the recliner and continues to chuckle. The stress from the most horrible of days releases through laughter. Good for him. Bruno leaves the couch and jumps on Rudy’s lap. Traitor.
I lean back to rest my head on the sofa back. “Okay, Rudy, let’s have it. What’s your story?”
“My story?”
“Yeah, you said you were raised by your dad. What’s the rest? You know… Where are you from? What did you do before? How’d you get to know so much about zombies in less than a day?”
He sat up and cleared his throat. “I’m from up the road in Woonsocket. You know where Grandview Avenue is?
“Yeah, by the gas station off Pine Swamp. It’s near where I live, West Wrentham Road.”
“Oh yeah, we’ve gone that way all the time,” Rudy states. “Anyway, I went to Woonsocket Middle School, obviously, and didn’t do much else but help my dad.”
“What did you help your father with?”
“Well, let me first explain my dad was a bit of a conspiracy nut. He really thought the government was planning something to end civilization as we know it. He spent some time in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it changed him. When he left the military, he had enough money between my mom’s life insurance and his retirement pension so he didn’t need to work. He stayed home and prepared for a disaster he was sure would happen. I know, nuts, right?”
“I don’t know. Actually, it doesn’t seem so crazy now.”
Rudy laughs a bit. “Yeah, he was a freakin’ genius. I actually did have fun with it. He taught me fighting techniques with and without weapons, how to survive off the land, how to make and fortify a bunker in our basement, complete with dry food, a well and septic, and enough weapons and ammunition to take on an army.
“Once the reports of an asteroid started, my dad felt justified. And I was glad he was nuts and made us do all that work. We started preparing the bunker for survival in a post-asteroid world. We made a bunker beneath the bunker, sealed it off with steal and cement. We actually made an environmental ecosystem down there so we could survive the ash.”
“Wow, sounds like a lot of work.”
“I stopped going to school, and we worked night and day. You can imagine our surprise when the asteroid exploded. All that work for nothing.
“I mean, we were glad the catastrophe was averted, but we were a little disappointed.” He stops talking for a minute, then says, “Now that I’ve said it out loud, I guess I sound crazy. I didn’t want people to die, but you know, we just were looking forward to seeing if we could survive.
“Then my dad got sick. That sucked. He figured people were turning into flesh-eating zombies when he saw the reports from China and Australia. That’s when he knew he was a goner and gave me his final instructions—to study him once he turned and find how they operate and how they’re killed. That’s how I know about these things.”
“You killed your father? I’m so sorry.”
He stares at the floor and says, “Yeah, I miss that nut. He was a good guy. Do anything for me. If it weren’t for him, I’d probably be dead.”
“And if it weren’t for you, I’d be dead.”
“And us,” Guille says from upstairs. “We can hear you by the way.”
“Sorry, we’ll keep it down. Try to get some sleep.”
After a moment, I say, “It must have been hard to kill your dad. I can’t even imagine.”
“First of all, you have to get it out of your head that these things are people. They’re called the undead for a reason
. The person part has to die; then the body becomes something else, something that understands only one thing and that’s to feed on the living. The strangest thing is it’s just like the movies. It’s like they follow the Hollywood script on zombiology.
“They’re mostly attracted to movement, but they also react to smells and sounds. The only way you can destroy one is by taking out the brain. The one thing that’s uniquely different is the weird glowing blood that’s thick like peanut butter. That’s really the only substance that resembles it. At least they don’t make a mess with blood splatter or major leakage.”
“Okay, that’s really gross. We just ate peanut butter.”
“Sorry, but I’m afraid we’re all gonna have to get used to that stuff and everything else that goes with those things.”
“I know, but can we please not use food to describe their bodily fluids?” I shudder in disgust.
“I guess that’s fair.”
“So, Rudy, if your house is such a good place to hole up, why did you leave it?”
“After I shot my dad’s corpse, my house was quickly surrounded by the creepers. They were starting to come through the windows, so I shot a flare at a neighbor’s house. It caught fire and attracted the zombies.
“I got out of the house and just went looking for other survivors. I ran into a group of guys in Cumberland. They were in a furniture store that quickly got swarmed after I got there. I used a torch to get the dead creatures to follow me, and that’s how I ended up by your tree house. The creatures you were hiding from were the ones following me. So I guess you being trapped was my fault to begin with.”
“Oh,” I remark, and we sit in uncomfortable silence for a time. I shift my butt around. It feels a little better on the cushions but only for a while.
Then Rudy says, “Okay, Lea, your turn. Tell me about yourself.”
“Not much to tell. Like I said, I live, or lived, with my foster parents and my brother.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you had a brother. I’m so sorry.”
“No, he didn’t get sick. We sort of got separated. That’s where I’m headed, to get help and find him. At least that was the plan when I was chased out of my house by my zombified foster parents.” I tell him the embarrassing story of me being chased all over the town of Cumberland.
“Well, you’re not going to find anyone, at least not any police, to help you find your brother. Do you have any idea where he might be?”
“Last time I saw him, he was going to his girlfriend’s to get her and bring her back to our house. He never returned.”
“I’m not going to bother telling you the odds he’s still alive.”
“He’s alive!” I jump up. “He has to be.”
“Then we’ll have to find him. Just tell me where his girlfriend lives. We’ll go tomorrow.”
I tell him, then ask about his friends.
“Don’t worry about them. They’re idiots anyway—loud, stupid, idiots, too stupid to stay alive. Besides, they’ve probably moved on by now.”
“And you think you have a better chance staying alive with two small kids and a chicken?”
Rudy smiles. “You guys are much better company. And all you need is a little training.”
“Yeah right. I freeze every time one of those things comes at me.”
“Wrong, you take a defensive position.”
I snort “That’s a nice way of saying I cower.”
“All you need is to learn how to attack and make that your reaction.”
“And you can teach to me?” I hope he can help me. I’m sick of having to be saved. I need to be able to take care of myself in this new world.
“Sure can.”
“Okay, Rudy, you’re hired.”
“First thing tomorrow.” He sets his watch to get up early.
“What time is it anyway?” I ask.
“Huh, just a little after nine.”
“Is there a radio in the house?”
Rudy thinks for a minute. “I saw one in the basement. Missing your favorite show or something?”
“Avril, the girl I heard on the radio today. She said she’d be on at nine.”
“Oh, cool. Just go down to the basement and go to your left. You’ll see an opened door. Go in and look on the workbench.”
“Um, can you at least come with me?” What? It’s a creepy basement.
“You can get it. I’m going to get some D batteries from my flashlights. Radio was probably running off a plug.”
“Do you have a light for me?”
“Sure.” He pulls out a small cylinder-shaped object from a large pocket on the side of his pants. “Don’t turn it on ‘til you’re on the cellar stairs and the door is closed. Don’t want any creepers coming ‘round.”
“Okay.” Man, I don’t want to go alone, but if I want to see if Avril is still somewhat safe, I guess I have no choice.
I follow Rudy’s directions and instructions, and in literally seconds, I’m back with an old-school boom box equipped with a tape deck and all.
Rudy puts in the batteries and gives it back to me. I switch the radio to AM and scroll to the end of the dial then back until I hear a familiar voice.
“No signs of life in the city from where I’m at. Just a lot of unlife, if that’s even a word. If it ain’t, it is now. Again, if anyone out there has the means to fight off a few hundred zombies, I’m at the WBSV studio on West Main Street. If not, then you probably have similar problems like me.”
Avril continues with her story, then signs off about fifteen minutes later.
“Poor girl,” Rudy says after I turn off the radio static. “And we thought we had it bad.”
“Yeah, this whole thing is crazy. Nothing will ever be the same, will it?”
“Look, we have a long day tomorrow. Go get some sleep. I’m gonna stay down here for a while.”
I say good night and go upstairs. Bruno stays with Rudy, and I find comfort in having two guards keeping the kids and me safe. I lie down on the floor, wondering if I’ll even be able to sleep. Staring at the ceiling, I think not of the horrors of the day or my brother, but of Rudy and what a great guy he is. Not to mention hot. I may have been able to dodge death, but Cupid’s arrow hit me right in the heart.
Chapter Thirteen
I awake to daylight straining its light up the staircase along with some noise coming from below. I look around, wondering where I am and why I’m on a hallway floor.
Once I see Maria and Guille sleeping, I remember the whole end of the world, zombie apocalypse thing. Then I remember Rudy, and my mood lifts.
Figuring the noise below must be him, I ease down the stairs slowly with my knife thing in hand just in case. I creep my way to the living room and see Rudy and Bruno aren’t there. I look into the kitchen and see Rudy walk by.
I take a breath of relief and go into the kitchen to find breakfast ready. Oranges and apples are sliced and neatly displayed along with grapes and bananas on a serving platter in the center of the table.
He notices me and smiles. “Good morning. I just threw some fruit together. We’d better enjoy it. This kinda stuff won’t stay fresh long, and if we don’t come across any fruit trees, this may be the last time in a while we get to have fresh fruit.”
I try to give him my best, most attractive smile to hide my excitement in seeing he wasn’t a dream. I must be nuts. The world has gone bye-bye, and I’m falling for a guy like I never fell for anyone. I mean, guys just never really noticed me before, and I never really cared. Now that I’m the last teenage girl on Earth, besides Avril, I care very much. I’m just glad the last teenage boy, besides my bro—
That’s right. We gotta find him. “Hey, when are we going to find Luke?”
“Relax, eat, and we’re going to do some morning training. Then we’ll be on our way.”
Maria and Guille come running down the stairs and attack the food.
“And good morning to you too,” Rudy says.
I sit and eat some grapes. They
taste good. Rudy gives us each a water bottle and says, “Eat and drink up. We have a lot to go over.”
I don’t know what he has in store for us, and I don’t care so long as we get to Luke as soon as possible.
It doesn’t take long to finish, and I begin to feel anxiety growing within my chest. “Look, Rudy, can’t we worry about training after we get Luke?”
“It won’t take long. I promise. And where we’re going, there’s sure to be a lot of Zebs.”
Guille looks up. “Zebs?”
Rudy explains, “Yeah, you know like in Vietnam, the nickname for the enemy was Charlie, and in World War II, it was Gerry for the Germans. I figure Zeb is a cool name for a zombie.”
“Whatever. Let’s just do the training and go,” I say.
“Zebs, yeah, that’s cool,” Guille decides.
“Training? What kind of training?” Maria asks.
“Funny you should ask.” Rudy stands and walks to the door. The three of us follow out and to the backyard, where we see Rudy’s handiwork. Four zombies, or Zebs, are tied to four trees. They’re motionless and all have head wounds.
“I see you’ve been busy this morning.” I then see Bruno charging at me from the woods. When he gets to me, he jumps at my legs a few times. I squat to pet him. “Morning, little guy. I forgot about you.”
Rudy goes to one of the trees where an aluminum baseball bat leans against it. He picks it up and hands it to Guille. He then pulls a large knife from his belt and gives it to Maria. “This is a Ka-bar. It’s the combat knife of the marine corps.”
“Aw, why does she get a knife?” Guille whined.
“Because you’re stronger and I’m sure you know how to swing a bat.” Rudy turns his attention to me. “And I see you have the bayonet.”
“Rudy, I don’t know about this,” I complain.
“I’ve already killed them, so they can’t hurt you.”
“Yeah, but still this is just gross.”
“Look, we’re doing this. I’m not going anywhere with you guys ‘til I know you can take care of yourselves. I can’t do everything, and who knows when we’ll have another chance like this? I just want to show you how to use the weapons I gave you.” We all stay quiet. “Okay, hold your blades like you’re going to stick it in one of the Zebs.”