Taking her eyes off the now dead woman, Amber noticed another group of the dead at the end of the street, farther away from their little camper. They were just standing around. It was as if they were waiting for a sight or sound to attract them. Taking a look himself, Kirk said “Oh my… This isn’t good.” “No, I don't reckon it is.” Bobby replied. He looked at his upset wife and asked her how she was doing. Amber told him she was fine, but in reality, she was scared. She had more information now than she’d had earlier though and felt a bit stronger because of it. “Hmmmm, knowledge really is power,” she thought to herself.
Thinking back to the plethora of horror movies she’d seen and all the post-apocalyptic books she’d read, she knew the steps to take to stay alive and avoid being bitten or ending up like poor Cynthia. She looked through the crack in the window once more and noticed that Cynthia was no longer laying down. She was now shuffling away from their camper, towards the inactive group waiting for outside stimulus. She turned away from the sight outside and quietly addressed the group. “Ok, first off…” Looking at Kirk, she said “They’re really zombies, Kirk. If they’re dead and come back to life to start eating people, they’re zombies.” She then looked around the room at the rest of the crew. “Secondly, you should all know how to kill them. I know I’m not the only one here to have seen any undead movies.” Everyone besides Kirk agreed. He didn’t know anything about zombies, he hated scary movies and therefore never watched them.
“By now, everyone in the U.S. should know how to kill the brain. Smash it, stab it, shoot it. Doesn’t matter how, but killing the brain is the key. Shooting them in the chest does nothing besides waste a bullet. Guns are effective, but they’re loud. We’re going to need blunt or sharp objects. We use any guns we have as a last resort.” She stopped talking and scanned the RV, looking for a weapon. Her eyes landed on Bobboo standing there looking fragile and afraid. Amber thought for a second and then grabbed some of the cooking magazines she had bought the week before. She began to tuck them into Bobboo’s clothes, trying to create makeshift armor for the boy. Next, she got a roll of duct tape out of the cabinet and wrapped his arms and legs in it. She put his Optimus Prime hoodie on over all of it and zipped it up. With his hood on, his clothes covered all of his body besides his hands and his face. That would have to do for now.
While she did that, Bobby got busy packing up all his handguns and ammunition. Once that was done, he grabbed another bag and put some Vienna sausages, SpaghettiOs, crackers, granola bars, a jar of peanut butter, the rest of their loaf of bread and a bunch of bottled waters inside it. He also added a set of clothes for him and both his wife and son. With that done, he sat back down with the rest of the guys and discussed what to do.
“We need to get out of this RV park and get somewhere safer. If we get surrounded, this door isn’t gonna hold, and the windows aren’t reinforced or anything,” JC told them all. “Yeah I was thinking the same thing,” Justin said. They all nodded their heads in agreement. “Where do we go?” Amber asked. Kirk, Justin and JC all wanted to get their guns and ammo, some clothes and extra food from their respective campers before they all left Beacon Lodge. They talked about it and decided that they’d go to Kirk’s RV first. His fifth wheel camper was parked directly across the street from Bobby and Amber’s, so first on the agenda would be to get across the street alive. Looking through the crack in the shade once more before closing it, Amber wondered if it were even possible. Things were looking bleak outside. With dead cannibals all around the RV park, could they make it to the three other campers without being bitten? She decided that the questions weren’t going to be answered from inside this camper. They would have to leave.
Chapter 11
Beacon Lodge
Zapata TX
Having kept their weapons from the work truck, Justin and JC were ready to get on with their hastily put together plan. Bobboo was all armored up. Amber had duct taped her biggest kitchen knife to a sturdy wooden broom handle to create a sharp, makeshift spear. She quickly changed into thick jeans and a hoodie, then put her leather jacket on over it. Last, she put the backpack full of food and clothes on her back. Taking Amber’s cue, Bobby put his heavy work jacket on and put his 1911 and gun holster on his hip. “I’ll be damned if I’m gonna pack them all in a bag,” he said, referring to the gun on his hip. “It’s the best shooting pistol I own. Better safe than sorry.” That done, he put the bag full of guns and ammo on his back. Next, he clipped the leash on Caesar, then grabbed a smaller, but still wickedly sharp knife from the butcher block and stood at the door. He and the dog were ready.
Kirk still had his small .22 handgun, but since learning that the undead were attracted to sound, he opted to put it in his back pocket for ‘safekeeping’ and began scrounging around in the silverware drawer for another weapon. He found a large hammer-like meat tenderizer and swung it around a few times to get the hang of it. When he was satisfied with his new weapon, he stood by the door with the others.
With everyone finally ready, Bobby opened the camper door and they all quickly exited in single file. Bobby went first with Caesar, followed by Kirk, then Amber with Bobboo next to her, tightly gripping her hand. Justin was next, with JC the last in line. They followed each other to the front of the work truck, trying to look everywhere at once, their heads on a swivel, trying to spot any dangers lurking around. They were both seen and heard immediately after the door had been opened. Zombies were everywhere around them and they were seconds away from becoming surrounded with every tick of the clock. Caesar growled softly, willing the undead to come and get him, he wasn’t afraid, he was mad at them. Bobby shut him up and then motioned for them all to follow him as he crept down the length of the dual cab extended bed work truck towards the road they would have to cross to get to Kirk’s.
In the middle of the road laid what appeared to be an actual dead body. It was once a pretty woman, but now she was missing both of her eyes, her nose had been bitten off, her teeth were visible through a hole in her jaw and she was missing an arm and a leg. There were bite marks all over her remaining leg. She looked as if there wasn’t enough left of her to reanimate. It was a most gruesome sight. Bobby steered the group around the seemingly twice dead woman across the street towards Kirk’s camper. Caesar began to growl again as he passed by the dead woman, but Bobby told him to hush and hurried across the street. Kirk quickly followed. As Amber and Bobboo stepped around the woman, her good arm shot out from under her and she grabbed Bobboo’s foot. He screamed loudly in terror as she pulled his food to her mouth and bit his ankle, hard. Amber swiftly stabbed the woman in the top of her head with her spear, killing her. The damage had been done though. Bobboo had been bitten!
Kirk turned around and picked Bobboo up, covering his mouth to stop the screaming and quickly headed towards his camper behind Bobby and the dog. Amber followed closely behind, tears silently falling, praying that her son would be ok. Justin and JC were the last ones to the RV, with three zombies closing in on them. As soon as they were inside, JC locked the door and they all pulled down every shade in the place. Kirk enjoyed natural light and always opened them in the morning before work. With that done, they all sat down in the living room. Kirk took his hand away from Bobboo’s mouth, while whispering to him to ‘be quiet while his daddy looked at his wound.’
Sitting him down on the floor, Bobby took his son’s left shoe off and unwrapped the duct tape from his leg to examine his ankle. Expecting a large bite and lots of blood, the group was surprised to see a bruise forming in the shape of a bite mark, but only one of the teeth had broken the surface leaving a small bloody scratch. The duct tape had saved him from a terrible fate. Relieved that their son was going to be ok, Amber and Bobby both let out the breaths they’d been unknowingly holding. Their little son would not die today. Kirk looked down at him and said, “That was close little buddy, calm down now. You want a piece of candy.” Bobboo smiled through his tears and nodded his head. Kirk gave him a piece of candy
from the lot he had in his pocket (he’d been trying to stop smoking cigars). He assured the boy that everything would be alright.
The three zombies that had been following JC and Justin made it to the RV and began to slap their hands on the camper, startling everyone inside and drawing the attention of other nearby dead walkers. Bobby looked at Kirk and in a low voice said, “Better get your shit together Pawpaw, we’re gonna have to leave soon or we’ll be surrounded and then we’ll be trapped.” Kirk winked at him, nodded and then quietly walked up the few steps to his bedroom, found a bag and began to put his essentials inside. He packed some extra clothes, his toothbrush, deodorant and some toilet paper. He also packed up some granola bars, raisins, beef jerky and a few bottles of water. Next, he grabbed his gun cleaning kit and pocketknives. Last was the ammunition for his small gun. The rest of his guns were at Chet’s house. He knew that his son would keep them clean and well maintained. He wandered around the camper, quietly thinking about what else to pack.
Chapter 12
Star’s House
Richmond VA
Isaac, Charles and Star sat in the living room of their little house on the southside of Richmond. With the TV on, but muted and the captions on, they watched as the local newscaster talked about the Covid-19 virus, the Mexican vaccine and how to stay safe. “This just in, we have learned from confirmed sources that the Mexican vaccine had been administered to the whole population of Mexico late last week. The Mexican government mandated it for all citizens.” Star looked at Isaac and said, “Maybe that’s why your mom and dad are having issues where they are? You can see Mexico from their RV park. The undead are migrating to find a food source. Your mom needs to know about this.” Charles agreed with her and Isaac got his phone from his bedroom and started to call his mom. Star quickly stopped him, “No, text her instead. No need to call. The phone ringing might not help her right now, we don't know how bad it is there.” Isaac acquiesced and sent his mom a text that read:
Mom I luv u. We just heard on the news that all the people in Mexico got the bad vaccine. Please be careful and call me when you can.
When he was finished, he looked up with tears in his eyes. “Nana,” he said “I wish I was with my parents and brother right now. I hope they’re ok. Man, I hope she calls me back soon.” “I know honey,” she replied. “I'm sure we’ll see them again. We just gotta survive long enough for that to happen.” She hugged him tightly and told him she loved him and that she was happy he was here to help keep them all safe. “I don't know what we’d do without you,” she said.
After a little while, Isaac felt better and decided to go to his room and play some video game for a bit. His games always took him away from the real world. He thought he could use some distraction. He only played for a few minutes though, his mind couldn’t focus on the task at hand. His thoughts kept going back to his mom, dad and brother. He wondered if he would ever see them again. He was clinging to the hope that everything would turn out, but his optimism was waning.
Chapter 13
Beacon Lodge
Zapata TX
Amber had just finished rewrapping the duct tape around Bobbo’s leg and ankle again when her back pocket vibrated, startling her and causing her to jump. She grabbed the phone out of her pocket and saw that it was a text from her big son, Isaac. She quickly opened it and read it out loud in a low voice. “Mom, I love you. We just heard on the news that all of Mexico got the bad vaccine. Please be careful. Call me when you can.” She quickly sent a text back to her son, letting him know that she loved him too, thanks for the information and that they were safe for now. She told him that her phone was on vibrate, she couldn’t call right now, but she’d text him regularly so he wouldn’t worry so much.
“Well that explains why there are so many around here and why nobody upstate knew anything about it earlier this morning,” Bobby said. “Your mom said that Richmond got a bunch of the vaccine and now a lot of people are dead… Well dead-ish. I wonder if Dallas got any of the killer vaccines. We need to get out of this park and away from the border before the whole damn population of Mexico ends up coming through here!” They all nodded their heads in agreement. “Hurry up Kirk!” JC said in a low growl. Kirk poked his head out of the open bedroom door and whispered, “relax my friend, I’m almost done loading up all my pistolies. I already got some toiletries, snacks, extra shirts and britches. I even got toilet paper. Trying to be prepared for anything.”
By the time he was done loading up all his stuff, there was slapping and pounding coming from three sides of the large RV. Nothing had come around to the end of the camper yet. They all seemed to congregate on the front and the sides of the fifth wheel. “We need a plan to get out of this tin can, or we’re gonna be stuck. Sounds like we’re damn near surrounded now,” Justin said. Looking around at each other, they all began thinking about how to get out of the camper safely. Just then, Kirk remembered that he had an emergency exit. He had a trapdoor in one of his closets that led outside, underneath the camper. He told the crew about it.
“I know a way out,” he explained. “As long as those dead suckers aren’t underneath the camper, we should be able to get out through the emergency exit I’ve got in my closet. Or, one of us can get out that way and draw them away from the door so the rest of us can get to the next place. Where are we going next?” Justin’s fifth wheel was parked next door, but they were almost surrounded by the undead. They talked about going back across the street to JC’s little 20-foot camper too. It was parked three spaces down from Amber and Bobby’s RV, but it was going to be a tight fit with five adults, a kid and a big dog. JC said that he’d go by himself, but with the fact that he was such a big guy (6 foot 3 inches tall and 300 lbs.), he wouldn’t fit through the trapdoor in the floor of the closet. He would need someone to draw them away from the door and then he could head over to his camper and pack his stuff. When he was done, he would text Amber to let them know that he was ready to leave it again in case he got surrounded while he was inside.
Justin offered himself up and quickly explained what he thought was a better plan for everyone. “Shit, I’ll go. Better to take a chance out there than to keep going crazy here. This pounding is driving me nuts!” He continued, “I’ll get out there, draw them away from the door, get to my camper and pack my stuff while JC gets his and we can all get into a truck and get the hell out of here. Y’all should get to whichever truck we’re taking, draw them away from our campers and then come back for us when we call.” Admittedly it was a good plan. When no one objected, Kirk led him to the closet where the emergency exit was. Opening it, Justin poked his head out of the door and checked to see if any of the dead were under the camper. There were none there, so he motioned to them all to get ready to go, hopped down through the hole in the floor and disappeared.
Chapter 14
Beacon Lodge
Zapata TX
Once Justin was outside under the large fifth wheel RV, he quickly scanned the area and assessed the situation. He noticed that there were no undead at the very end of the long RV. Silently, he crawled to the back of the place and got out from under it. He ran a few steps away and began yelling at the walking corpses. “Come on over here y’all! Free food walking! Come and getcha some!” Once he’d gotten the attention of the walkers surrounding the camper, he ran over to his RV, climbed the steps to the door and once inside, he slammed the door behind him. Zombies began pounding on the door that he’d just walked through.
Inside Kirk’s camper, the group heard him yelling, although it was muffled, and they couldn’t make out the words. The sound of the slapping and pounding abruptly stopped. A few seconds later, they heard a loud slam. That was their cue to leave. Weapons in hand, JC was going first this time, since he had farther to go. Opening the door, he stepped down the steps followed closely by Bobby, who still had Caesar’s leash. Amber followed, with her spear in one hand and Bobboo tightly gripping her other hand like before. Kirk was last to exit the fifth wheel,
meat tenderizer in his hand and his backpack on his back, he quickly and silently followed his friends.
When they reached the front of the camper, they split up. JC went left towards his camper and the rest went straight across the street, back towards the waiting vehicles. Bobby decided that Amber’s truck, a big dual cab long bed Chevy truck with a brush guard would fit them all. It had a reinforced bumper and a full tank of gas. The slip tank in the bed of the truck was empty, but to him, it was the perfect choice. He’d bought her that truck six months ago when her old Volkswagen's motor blew, and it was worth every penny he’d spent. Amber always left the keys in the ignition, since she feared losing them if she didn't. Getting to the truck first, he threw his backpack into the bed. Then, he opened the back door and pushed the big dog into the backseat. Kirk quickly dumped his bag in the bed as well and followed Caesar into the back of the truck. Once he was in, Bobby shut the door, opened the driver's door and hopped in.
Amber dropped her bag into the bed of the truck like the others and crawled into the passenger’s seat. Next, she put Bobboo on her lap. As she was pulling the door shut, a ragged looking woman who was covered in blood, missing an arm and had lost most of her body organs through a hole in her abdomen, slammed into the closing door. This caused Bobboo to yelp with surprise and fear. Caesar barked loudly at the woman, but he didn’t accomplish anything more than hurting everyone's ears. Kirk put his arm around the large dog to try to calm him while Bobby started the truck and backed out of the parking space. Amber sadly took one last look at the home they would never see again. She loved their camper, so many memories had been made inside that small place.
Made In Mexico | Book 1 | Day 1 Page 3