Zombie Farm

by Crisp, M. L.

  “No, as soon as I heard it, I ran and got you guys!”

  Scott picked up the microphone and spoke into it. “This is the Mangum Fire Department, we copy you!”

  “Thank God! This is Air Force First Lieutenant Sheila Nelson. My vehicle has mechanical problems, I require assistance!”

  “Where are you at?” Scott asked.

  “I am at the Carter/Mangum exit.”

  “I know where it’s at. Are there zombies in the area?”

  “Negative, I don’t see any hostiles at the moment. But I’m a sitting duck out here!”

  “Ask her if she’s armed.” Allison said.

  “Are you armed?”

  “Affirmative, I have an assortment of weapons, but I need help ASAP!”

  Melvin snatched the microphone, “sit tight, that’s not far, we’ll be there to provide assistance as soon as we can!”

  “Roger that!”

  Scott looked at Melvin. “We will?”

  “Bet your ass we will, we can’t just leave her out there.”

  “Melvin, once we open those shutters, there’s no coming back here. The place will be teeming with zombies!”

  “Hell, those shutters won’t hold for much longer anyhow. So we leave the nest a little early is all.” Melvin said.

  “Guys, we need to be careful. The man I told you about, the bastard that tried to rape me, he posed as a correctional officer. This could be something like that.” Allison said.

  “She’s got a point Melvin, she’s armed, and if it’s a trap, it might be more than one person. They‘re armed with military ordinance, and all we have is my service revolver.”

  “Folks, I know all that, but we can’t just leave her out in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Where will we go when we ‘rescue’ her?” Scott asked.

  “We hightail it to the city, Allison was planning on doing that anyway, and I know you woulda’ went with her.”

  “He’s right Scott. If it doesn’t look right, we can always pass her by.”

  “Ok, before we go, we need to load up the truck with as many supplies as possible.” Scott said.

  Fifteen minutes later, the fire engine roared to life. “Ok Melvin, take one last look around, don’t get all misty eyed on me.” Scott said.

  Melvin shook his head, “let’s just get the hell out of here!” He said, and hit the button to open the shutters. He quickly jumped into the cab, Allison was sandwiched between them.

  The battered shutters opened, zombies spilled into the station, and the fire truck drove forward, crushing zombies in its wake.

  CHAPTER 8

  The fire engine came to a stop, Melvin craned his neck out the window, “well, I see her, or her jeep anyway.”

  Scott cupped his hand over his eyes, blocking the sun, “yeah, me too” Scott said, removing his revolver from its holster.

  “What kind of shot are you?”

  Allison shrugged, “aside from photo shoots, it wasn’t part of my modeling training.” Allison joked.

  Scott grimaced, “seriously.”

  “Ok, bad joke. I haven’t shot a gun since I was a kid.”

  “Melvin, you were a farm kid, you must know your way around a gun.”

  Melvin’s mustache twitched, “I ain’t no sharpshooter or nothing, but I reckon I know enough.”

  “Ok, you take the gun, climb up on top, be ready to shoot if anything goes wrong.”

  Melvin took the pistol and scrambled out of the cab. Allison looked at Scott, “you think this is on the level?”

  “Guess we’ll find out soon enough, too late to turn back now.” Scott said, and leaned in and kissed Allison on the cheek.

  Melvin felt the truck move forward, he steadied himself as they inched closer to the stalled vehicle. As they drew nearer, he saw a woman in an Air Force uniform step out of the car. The woman was holding a shotgun.

  Melvin pointed the pistol and yelled, “put your weapon down slowly!”

  She complied, and put her hands in the air.

  “Ok, that’s good, now slowly back away from the weapon.”

  She did as she was told, and Scott stepped out of the vehicle, and picked up the shotgun. He examined the woman in front of them, her light blue uniform shirt was smeared with blood. “You bit?”

  She shook her head no, and she spoke, “that’s a negative, I did run into hostiles, but I wasn’t bit.”

  Scott thought for a moment, and then yelled, “ok, I think she’s for real. Melvin, come on down, I’ve got her covered. Allison, go ahead and step out.”

  Melvin and Allison joined Scott, and the four of them stood uncomfortably for several seconds. Then the woman spoke, “since we’re all friends now, I would prefer it if you didn’t point that at me.”

  Scott and Melvin lowered their weapons so they were facing the ground. “Fair enough, my name is Scott, police officer.”

  “I’m Melvin, volunteer fireman.”

  “I’m Allison…um, former model.” Allison said, and felt kind of silly.

  “I’m First Lieutenant Sheila Nelson.”

  “Swell to meet you, but why are you out this way?” Melvin asked.

  “When all this started, we were at Altus Air Force Base, they sent me out to bring in some retired Colonel. Lived around here in a big house, I found his house, but he wasn‘t there. When I heard the base had become compromised, I decided to stand fast.” Sheila explained.

  “Sounds like you had it ok there, why’d you up and leave?” Scott asked.

  “It was safe for awhile, but then a group of those things showed up the other night. The house had a big picture window, they broke in in the middle of the night. Lucky I made it out alive.”

  “Damn, you didn’t have it boarded up or anything?” Allison asked.

  Sheila looked a little embarrassed, “no, kept meaning to get around to it, but never did.”

  “So you ain’t exactly the special forces?” Melvin said.

  “No, I’m not, I’m a paper pusher that they found expendable enough to send to fetch a whining retiree.” Nelson said, with an edge to her voice.

  Melvin put up his hands. “Whoa, sorry there, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “So where you held up?” Sheila asked.

  “Well, we were in the Mangum Fire House, but that was overrun when we came to help you.” Scott said.

  Sheila looked taken aback. “Great, then where do we go from here?”

  “We’re headed into Oklahoma City.” Allison said.

  “That has to be a deathtrap!” Sheila exclaimed.

  “Not necessarily, depending on what part, most folks were probably at the fair when this went down.” Melvin said.

  “So you’re saying we should be ok as long as we steer clear of the fairgrounds?” Sheila asked.

  “Well, we gotta’ swing by there to see if we can help Allison’s parents.”

  Sheila shook her head. “Fine, let’s just get out of here, I’m feeling a little exposed. You got room in that fire truck?”

  “I tell ya’ what, that rig eats gas like a motherfucker, how ‘bout I take a look at your vehicle and see if I can fix it?” Melvin offered.

  Sheila motioned for him to be her guest, and he opened the hood. After a few minutes, his head popped up. “Simple, just needs a new spark plug, I should be able to swap out the one from our truck. Scott, grab the tool box I packed.”

  Once he had finished, they moved over the supplies into the jeep, squished together, and left the Mangum Fire Truck along the side of the road.

  CHAPTER 9

  The jeep barreled down the interstate, Allison sat on the edge of her seat, looking expectantly into the distance. It was normally no more than a two hour drive into Oklahoma City, but with the abandoned vehicles in the road, it had taken nearly four. But the interstate was less blocked once they entered the city. They were getting closer to the fair grounds. Scott reached from the back, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t get your hopes up Allison, the word we h
ad on the radio the day this all started, about the fair grounds wasn’t good.”

  Allison moved her hand on top of his, “I just have to see for myself. If there’s any chance…” Her voice trailed off as the jeep slowed down, and then came to a stop. Sheila turned to Allison, “this is as far as we can go, you can see the cars backed up for a mile, and those things, they’re all over the place.”

  Allison stared into the distance, she could see the fair park from here, the ferris wheel sat immobile, but it was the space needle that drew her attention. The rotating compartment wasn’t at the top, or the middle, it was nowhere to be seen. Scott squeezed her hand, she squeezed back.

  Sheila sighed, “look, Allison, if you want, we’ll find a way to get you down there. But don’t have any illusions, if we go there, we won’t be coming back.”

  Allison took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. She was silent for several moments, and then she exhaled, and turned toward Sheila. “No, I just couldn’t not come, I had to see for myself, make sure there was no way they could have survived.”

  Sheila nodded, “well, it will be dark soon, what now? This is your town, any place that might be semi safe for us?”

  I don’t know, maybe Shepherd Mall, nobody goes there anymore.”

  “That’s not exactly true, it’s usually filled with senior citizens.” Scott said.

  “Where then?” Sheila asked, getting a bit impatient. It was just a matter of time before the creatures clogging the road took notice of them.

  Allison thought for a moment. “The lake!”

  “You think so, that’s one of the most popular places to go on the weekend in OKC.” Scott observed.

  “But it looks to me like half the city was at the fair when this happened, the rest probably made a run for Tinker Air Force Base. If we can find a boat, load up on supplies, and get out on the water, those things won’t be able to get to us.”

  “Of course, we’ll be screwed when we run out of supplies.” Melvin said.

  Sheila shrugged. “I can’t think of a better plan, besides, it will just be temporary, it will give us time to think.” Sheila turned the jeep around and drove away. “Ok, somebody tell me how to get there.”

  The jeep made its way around the trail by the lake, but there were no boats at any of the docks. “I don’t see any of those things, I’m pulling over before we run out of gas.” Sheila announced.

  The four of them exited the vehicle and walked to the water’s edge. On the horizon, they could see several boats clustered together. Sail boats, speed boats, row boats, all different kinds. “I guess I’m not the only one with the lake idea.” Allison said.

  “Well, it looks like it was a good idea, we’re just a little late to find a boat of our own.” Scott said.

  “Ok, so the boat idea didn’t work out, what next?” Melvin asked.

  Sheila scanned the area carefully, in the distance, at what appeared to be a high school, there was a black man on top of the roof. The man was wildly waving his arms. “Over there, on top of that school!”

  The others looked and saw him too, they piled back into the jeep, and drove in the direction of the high school.

  CHAPTER 10

  The jeep entered the school parking lot, zombies were centered around the front side of the school, aside from some stragglers wandering the parking lot. Suddenly, at the other end of the school, the same man they had seen earlier came from around the wall of a courtyard, and waived to get their attention.

  He was successful, but he also got the attention of the creatures at the front of the school. Sheila punched the accelerator and sped toward the courtyard, passing the mob. There was an old AMC Gremlin that had crashed against one of the pillars, the jeep came to a halt next to it.

  The man was now at the other end of the courtyard, holding a steel door open for them. “Grab what supplies you can and run for it!” Sheila bellowed, as she herself grabbed the bag of weapons and ammo and darted out of the jeep.

  The four of them ran toward the open door, Melvin’s belly shaking over his belt. They reached the door with time to spare, and the man that had been signaling them pulled it shut as they entered.

  Melvin leaned over coughing, and the others looked around. They were in an expansive lobby, on the far end there was what appeared to be a concession area, the ceiling had streamers hanging from it, Allison assumed this is where they held school dances. There was a set of stairs off to the side of the doors they came in, leading down a darkened area, with a sign above that said “Band Room.” Aside from the man that had been waving at them, Allison noticed there were five teenagers.

  There were two blonde girls that somewhat resembled each other, but one of them was strikingly beautiful, she wore a cheerleading uniform, with a big W on her chest. A red headed girl, chubby, but cute. Two boys, one lanky, a bit nerdy looking with thick glasses, but still a good looking kid. The other boy was, she hated to think it, but kind of cartoonish looking. Droopy cheeks, very fat, and wearing a well worn Ghostbusters T-Shirt.

  The last was a young woman, a bit plain looking, but still a handsome woman. She seemed to stand apart from the others. The man that had waived them in appeared to be in his early fifties. He turned to them and smiled. “Hello, I’m Vice Principal Tyrone Kane.” He said, sticking out his hand.

  Melvin shook it, as did everyone else as they introduced themselves. Tyrone motioned to the somewhat plain looking girl. “This is Valerie Carpenter, one of the teachers here.”

  Tyrone continued down the line. “This is Marla.” He said, pointing to the striking blonde. “Her sister, Madison, over there is Tess.” He said, singling out the chubby red head.

  “I’m Rodney.” The cartoonish looking kid said. “And I’m Kyle.” The other boy said.

  “Please follow us to the school library upstairs, once we’re on the second level, those things outside tend to settle down.” Mr. Kane said, as he led the way.

  They entered the library, and Tyrone motioned for them to sit on the couches. Tyrone smiled at them expectantly, and then fixed his gaze on Sheila. “So, I see you’re a Lieutenant, I assume you’re in charge?”

  “In charge of what?” Sheila asked.

  Tyrone looked a bit confused. “The rescue operation. I mean, that’s why you’re here, right?”

  Sheila sat forward and shook her head. “I’m sorry if that’s what you thought. No, we’re in more need of rescuing than all of you it appears.”

  Tyrone frowned. “I see, I saw the military vehicle, uniform, the weapons, I just assumed.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you.” Sheila said.

  Tyrone held up his hands. “No, I’m sorry, I guess I just hoped this nightmare was coming to an end is all. Of course, all of you are welcome here. We have plenty food right now, I suppose with extra people, we’ll need to ration a little more carefully.”

  Melvin held up the bag of canned goods he had grabbed. “Well, we do have some supplies we can add to the inventory.”

  “How fortified is this place?” Sheila asked

  “It’s held up so far, brick walls and metal doors, pretty solid. We haven’t been breached yet.” Tyrone said.

  “Good, we need to keep it that way. I know those zombies seem dumb enough, but if they find an opening, that’s all she wrote.” Sheila said.

  “They’re not zombies.” Rodney interjected.

  All eyes turned to him. “Excuse me?” Sheila said.

  “Rodney is our resident ‘zombie’ expert.’” Tyrone said.

  “Is that so?” Sheila said.

  “He’s been very helpful, he knows a lot about this stuff.” Miss Carpenter offered.

  “They’re too fast to be zombies, but that’s what everyone wants to call them.” Rodney shrugged.

  “I see, well, the term seems to work well enough. Whatever we call them, we need to make sure they don’t get in here. How’s the weapon situation?” Sheila asked.

  “Nothing to speak of, unless you count the knives in the cafeter
ia.” Mr. Kane answered.

  “That‘s one thing we have plenty of.” Sheila said, holding up a duffle bag with various butts of weapons sticking out.

  “I hope we won’t need any to begin with.” Tyrone said.

  Sheila nodded, but even a paper pusher like her knew their situation here was only temporary. At some point they would need to find more food. “Mr. Kane, I assure you that we will earn our keep in this situation. If you need help with cleaning, cooking, security, just let us know.”

  “Call me Tyrone, and of course Lieutenant, we will all pitch in and make the best of our situation. Until help comes.”

  “We saw several boats out on the water, have you had any contact with the people on them?

  “No, with the students in my charge, I felt it safer not to try and engage them. We have heard gunfire from that direction.”

  “You said most of you have been sleeping in the library, is there any place more private than that?” Allison asked.

  “Of course, I suppose you can all take your pick of classrooms. We just decided to stay together at night because of the kids.” Tyrone explained.

  Marla, the beautiful blonde, folded her arms. “I am so totally not a ‘kid!’” She said, eyeing Scott.

  “Neither am I!” Rodney stated.

  Tyrone put his head in his hands, and then looked back up. “Of course not, I meant young adults. Rodney, please, take the supplies they brought with them and take them to the cafeteria. Miss Carpenter and I will show them around the school.”

  “Like, I can show you around if you want!” Marla said, stepping forward and grabbing Scott’s hand. Scott turned red, the boy, Kyle, sneered at this. Allison was a bit taken aback.

  “No Marla, Miss Carpenter and I can handle that, why don’t you help Rodney carry the new supplies to the cafeteria?”

  Marla rolled her eyes, and let go of Scott‘s hand. “Whatever.”

  The group followed Mr. Kane and Valerie out of the library, Allison conspicuously putting her hand in Scott’s.

  After the tour, they each picked different classrooms to settle in. Allison sat at the teacher’s desk, spinning the globe around. Scott sat in front of her in one of the student’s desks. Allison winked at Scott. “Wow, that cheerleader works fast huh?”