Mrs. Kim: A Zombie Apocalypse Psychological Thriller

by Deyo, Jason

  Nothing moved inside Fork, so he found a rock and tossed it at the small building. He hit the metal siding and the racket pierced the still air. He did not anticipate how loud it was going to be and immediately regretted it. He listened and watched for a long time, but nothing happened.

  He approached the front door, looking for anyone or anything that might have heard the thunderous noise of the rock hitting aluminum. He got to the door and peeked through the windows. He opened the door and looked inside. “Hello?” he said, just loud enough for anyone who might be inside to hear.

  “Good afternoon,” a voice said from behind him.

  Keith whirled around, pistol in hand, pointing it at the center man of three. They stood in the middle of the parking lot, about twenty feet from him. The man in the middle had his hands up, but the two on the side both had pump action shotguns pointed at Keith.

  Keith was shocked. He had never had a gun pointed at him and he never had to point his gun at anyone.

  “We don’t want to hurt you,” the middle man said. “We are coming here for the same reason you are. My name is Evan. This here is Mason.” He gestured toward the youngest of the group. “And this here is Robby.” By the wrinkles on his face and greying hair, he was by many years the oldest. “We can all lower our weapons now,” he said as he put his arms down, slowly pushing his two partners’ barrels to the ground.

  Keith lowered his pistol at the same speed as the shotguns lowered. “I don’t want any trouble.” He decided he was going to hold onto his pistol.

  “Neither do we. We didn’t catch your name,” Evan said, smiling.

  “Keith.” He said staring at the middle man and his surprisingly clean, plain white crew neck shirt. “I didn’t hear y’all coming up on me.”

  All three started to smirk. Evan responded. “Well we were walking down the middle of the road when it suddenly sounded like a building just fell over. Once we heard all the commotion, we snuck the rest of the way. We watched you sneak up and after realizing you probably don’t have anyone watching your back, we decided to get a little closer and introduce ourselves.”

  Keith didn’t respond, but simply nodded his head. He was fascinated that these three men were able to get that close to him without making a sound, despite walking over an asphalt parking lot riddled with rocks and potholes.

  Evan studied him more closely. “I think I’ve seen you in here before.”

  “I come here often. Most mornings.”

  “I think I was pulling up when you were just leaving. You drive that lifted grey, F-150?” Evan was smiling.

  “Yeah. That’s me.” He put a lot of work into his truck and cherished any compliment. Keith knew Evan looked familiar, but would never be able to tell where he knew him from, other than from around town. “So you’re from here?”

  “Born and raised. Is it just you out here?” Evan asked.

  Keith thought about his question. He had seen plenty of movies where once you’re alone the bad guys, or whatever you would call them, would kill you for your supplies. His mind raced and was not sure how to answer.

  Noticing that Keith was putting some thought into answering his question, he rephrased. “What I mean is, do you have family, friends, somewhere to stay?”

  “Yeah, my home wasn’t broken into. We were fortunate enough that we laid low and were missed. It’s just me and…” He hesitated. “My wife. As you know the phones are broken, so I really don’t know about friends.”

  “The reason I ask is because we have a place not too far from here and you and your wife are more than welcome to come join us,” Evan said.

  “How many people are with you?”

  Evan looked at his companions. “What is it… thirteen, fourteen, something like that?”

  One of them spoke up. “We’re closer to twenty, including five or six little kids. Before we left, Jason said he was bringing a family in.”

  Evan looked back at Keith. “We have a good amount and everyone contributes. We have 24/7 watch and plenty of beds.”

  “Where is this place?” Keith asked.

  “It’s the farm right around the corner off of East Gate.”

  Keith’s eyes opened wide. “The one with the barn star on it?”

  “That’s the one.” Evan smiled.

  “You still have power too then. You have all those solar panels and a couple of wind turbines.”

  “Keith we’re not hurting. We are going to survive this thing in comfort.” Evan nodded and smiled. “Well, Keith. As I stated before, we are here looking for supplies and food just like you are. We are staying in a farm right down the road and you and your wife are more than welcome to join us. The more the merrier we say. Life is easier in a larger group. But we need to start packing and move on.”

  Evan stepped past Keith and opened the broken glass door. He reached behind his back and into the back of his pants. He watched Keith follow his hand and pulled his pistol from his waistband. “I can go first if you would like?” He paused, and when he didn’t respond he turned to the other two. “Watch the door.” He turned to Keith. “I’ll go in first. I go left and you go right. We’ll meet in the back.”

  Keith nodded in approval.

  They entered the disheveled store. It had been ransacked, but whoever was here before, were obviously limited in what they could carry. Plenty of food and supplies remained on the shelves. The small store had three aisles. As Keith and Evan walked along the walls of the store, they could see the middle aisle through the empty holes in the shelves.

  Keith stopped at the door in the back and Evan walked toward him, looking down the middle aisle. “This is the office. There’s nothing past this,” Keith said. He turned the knob. He said a quick and silent prayer, praying Mr. or Mrs. Applebee wouldn’t be waiting for him on the other side. He pulled the door as Evan aimed the gun. Keith let out a sigh as he saw the small office was empty.

  Evan wore a large smile. “This place will take care of us for a very long time. My guys and I are going to clean out most of the shelves. Take as much as you can carry, because this place will be empty next time you come back.”

  Keith understood, nodding without saying a word.

  “At the farm you and your wife will never have to worry about one of those things coming through the door or through a window when you sleep. Most of us are family in some way or another. And as you already guessed, we have an endless supply of electricity.” Evan chuckled.

  Keith smiled and shook Evan’s outstretched hand. Evan nodded, then jogged to the front of the store, skipping over boxes of food and other products. “Robby, go get the truck.” He hollered to the older of the two and he began to move quickly through the parking lot. “Mason, lets load’er up!” The youngest of the trio ran into the store. He had remarkably smooth features with a fresh buzz cut on the sides of his head and slightly longer hair on top.

  “Hey, you pack your bag with everything you need and we’ll give you a ride back to your place,” Evan said.

  “You’re not going to be able to get close enough. The roads are blocked.”

  “Then we’ll get you as close as we can.

  *****

  Evan and his crew drove as close as they could before they met their first roadblock. Evan drove the small truck and Keith sat on the passenger side. Mason, the youngest and smallest of the crew, sat uncomfortably in the middle. “Do you want us to go with you?” Evan asked.

  “Nah. I’m about fifteen minutes from here. It’s kind of a delicate situation in our house right now. I know where the farm is. I’ve driven past it many times. If we don’t get there today we will get there eventually.”

  Evan cleared his throat with mild hesitation. “It isn’t just you and your wife is it?”

  “We have a…” He stopped, not really knowing what to call his son anymore.

  “You have a kid. Son, daughter?”

  Keith had to regain his composure. “A son. He was sick from the beginning. He didn’t get…” He didn’
t feel the need to continue. He got the feeling they already understood.

  “You’re not alone. There’s a couple that lives with us who lost children. We don’t ask questions. We just try to make them as happy as we can.”

  “It may take some time for her to leave.” He opened the door and stumbled over the proper words. Mason immediately moved over taking his place in the passenger seat. “She said she’ll come with me if I find a place to stay, but I’m not really sure if she will.”

  “You know where we are,” Evan said.

  Keith thanked them before he turned and started jogging to his home.

  As Keith traveled through his neighborhood, he tried to stay close to the cars, large trees and sheds, to block the view of the undead walking the streets. He tried to stay away from any windows and when it was necessary he stayed close to the houses, ducking under windows. As he turned the corner to his block, he noticed many undead moving away from his direction and toward the direction of his home. He ran across the street and to the backyards to hide himself from the undead on the street.

  Once he passed the first house he was able to see a mass of bodies piled against a door. Because of the distance, he wasn’t sure if it was his home, but if not it was very near to it. His heart dropped and began to pound with fear, knowing it was so close. He dropped his backpack and ran toward the horde. As soon as he got close he immediately recognized his back porch.

  He could not count the bodies that piled on his deck. They were so close they conjoined into a solid mass of wriggling appendages. “Amelia!” he screamed. “Amelia!”

  He shot two in the back and as soon as the shots rang out they began to turn their attention to the closer prey. He moved closer and put two more bullets into the mass of knotted bodies, of torn bloody clothing and open wounds.

  They were slow to turn, but once they found their next victim they moved with newfound vigor. Once they fell from the deck he knew he had to draw them away. He ran around to the front of the house as they pursued him hoping to lose them. The horde on the road saw him and turned their attention to him. Keith returned to his backyard to lure the remaining undead trying to squeeze into the window. He yelled at the few. They turned and fell down the steps as he distracted them.

  They fell on top of each other pinning the ones on the bottom. As they were recovering he shot them one sure shot at a time. He did not count how many bullets he had left, but knew he was running low. A loud growl startled him. From the front of the house, one of the ghouls was moving fast and was coming directly for him. It moved clumsily, due to the wounds it had on its legs, but it was moving a lot faster than the rest. Keith immediately knew he was going to have to get close to hit this one or run away to get him away from his home.

  The ghouls from the back porch were beginning to get up, and the initial horde rounded the corner—never making it all the way around the house. His gunshots must have made them turn around and come back. He dropped two with precision shots to the head and he took two shots at the fast moving one, but its erratic movements made him miss both times. Keith knew he was going to have to lose them in the woods. He waited until the fast one was close and ran toward a row of thorn bushes. Clearing the thicket he took a few steps and turned.

  The sharp thorns grabbed hold of its clothing and dug deep into its flesh. He knew the bushes wouldn’t hold them for long, but prayed it would hold them long enough to get to his hunting blind.

  The hunting blind acted as his son’s fort in the summer and where they hunted in the winter. It has been a few months since he had hunted in it, so he hoped his son didn’t tear it down. Running to his blind, he was happy to find his son hadn’t altered it, much. Ducking into the small entry way he laid low. It didn’t take long before the erratic moving ghoul shuffled past. It never turned it’s attention from its path and continued to travel straight. Keith looked toward the houses and could see many more figures moved through the woods. Four more undead moved past his blind, never paying attention to the neatly stacked branches and logs.

  Once the path was clear he heard the sound of more undead moving through the growing vegetation. He wouldn’t be able to travel back the same way without running into the rest of the group. He forced his way through a couple of bushes and a couple of the undead noticed him trying to cut through to a new path.

  Keith did not feel the thorns and briers cut into his legs and arms as he plowed through the overgrowth. He made it through the woods two houses down from his. The undead were scattered in small groups spread throughout his neighbors’ backyards, with the exception of three who were still trying to reach for Amelia. They were converging on the back of his house and one was attempting to climb the small set of porch steps, drawn by the three groaning at the door.

  “Hey!” He yelled to draw them further from Amelia. “Hey! Over here!” He waved his hands. They turned their attention toward him and from one of the groups, a horrible screech was heard. One from the middle of the crowd began to push the others over and made a wild dash toward him.

  Keith pulled his gun and fired two shots into the running ghoul’s chest. It fell from the force, but quickly got up and continued to run. He looked at the house closest to him and saw it was Mr. and Mrs. Rogerio’s. He hadn’t closed the back door when he left. He ran and jumped over the three small steps in a single bound. The ghoul hit the railing and lost its balance again. It tripped up the stairs and got to the screen just as Keith was closing the door.

  He had seen what a fresh ghoul could do. He remembers seeing them pull the door from its hinges across the street, the night everything happened. He waited to ensure the ghoul was going to come for him and lose all interest in Amelia. He closed the door as soon as the beast struck the screen. It pushed it in, and then fought with it, smashing the glass and twisting it from the hinges like a piece of tin. Keith watched from the window of the backdoor when it saw him. The ghoul stopped and stood still as it stretched its jaw, revealing a black foreboding maw, and bellowed a horrible screech that hurt Keith’s ears.

  Keith raised his pistol waiting for the perfect moment and pulled the trigger. It’s head snapped back violently. It stood still and quiet for a long second; long enough for Keith to realize the slide on his pistol was back, indicating he was out of bullets. The ghoul took one step backward and dropped. He put the pistol into his side holster and looked at the situation in the backyard.

  Keith could see the scattered mass of undead were moving toward him, so he locked the door and examined the front street from the house. There was a growing group in the front of the house, but they were making their way toward the back. He ran to the back to assess the situation. The undead were coming together, but hadn’t reached the porch yet. He stood on the porch and screamed for the undead to come get him.

  He had a plan and knew it had to work; if it didn’t he was never going to make it home in time to rescue his wife. Keith hollered to the undead until they were at the bottom of the step. He kicked at the first few, knocking them back, to give him more time. He ran back to the front of the house and unlocked the front door. He waited until the groans grew louder. The flock grew in number and began to funnel into the house. Once a few entered the rest would follow. As soon as the first one passed the kitchen and shuffled into the living room, he ran out the front and closed the door behind him.

  The ghouls shambling on the street saw Keith run from the house and immediately changed direction. They were slow and stumbled into each other, but Keith understood the horde would tear his house down by sheer number alone. Ensuring they saw him and were still following, Keith ran between the houses and back into the woods. Cutting through the woods he could see the three undead trying to force their way into his back door.

  Returning from the woods, he ran up the steps of his deck and shoved a knife through the base of one of the ghoul’s skull. It crumbled in front of him and the second ghoul stopped crushing the female ghoul against the glass and started pawing for Keith. Keith drove t
he hunting knife deep into the side of its temple. He looked through the window and saw Amelia standing just out of the female ghoul’s reach. He reached through the window, grabbed hold of the ghoul’s hair and pulled her head up. He pushed the knife deep into the base of her skull.

  He pulled her from the glass that was impaling her stomach and dropped her on the porch. He turned the knob to open the door, but it was locked. He looked at Amelia, confused. She did not move to open it, but rather looked at him with disgust. He reached inside the broken window and unlocked the door.

  “What’s your problem?” Keith said as he entered his home.

  She was completely appalled by his actions. “You just killed those people!”

  Keith was shocked by how loud she was being and pulled her away from the kitchen. “I just killed those people? Are you fucking crazy?” He brought her into the living room.

  Amelia pulled away from him. “Get the fuck off me!”

  He forced her to the couch and held his hand over her mouth. “You need to keep it down. You’re going to get us killed.” He looked to the back door to see if any of them were stirred by their argument. “What were you thinking? Why were you standing there watching those things at the door?”

  She pulled his hand from her mouth. “Those things weren’t going to get in. They were stuck. That girl wasn’t one of them yet. She was different.”

  “She was exactly one of them. There was nothing different about her.” He got up and opened an ammo box from the end table and began to reload his magazine. Looking over his shoulder looking at the back door again, he noticed the black blood smear that ran down the door.

  “We could have helped that one. The same way we’re going to help Jimmy.”

  He tried to pretend not to hear her and continued to reload his gun. “I found a place. There are a lot of people there. There’s food for everyone. It’s guarded and there are people there just like us.”

  “What do you mean ‘like us?”