Zombified (Book 1): Hudson Place

by Char Robinson

  They crossed the street and were halfway up the grassy yard before Dexter and the other men with him opened fire. Charlie could see the wisdom in Dexter waiting, the sound of gunfire could draw more of the zombies to them, but by then they’d be safely inside. Practically dragging Jake, he finally made it to the door and stepped inside with Jenny right on his heels.

  ****

  An hour and a half later, Charlie was sitting with Dexter, Darrell, Gordon, and a few others in one of the second floor apartments. After getting everyone fed and settled into their respective apartments for the night, they were discussing their next moves. Charlie noticed that someone had boarded up the basement, which he thought was a good idea, considering what had occurred down there.

  Before securing it though, Dexter told Charlie they’d found some old storm shutters and they’d used those to board up the bottom floor windows. The doors had been re-hung and reinforced. Charlie was quite impressed; they’d done a lot of work in a short amount of time.

  Gordon was writing down all the suggestions and ideas. He glanced up at the group of men. “Ok, this is what we have so far,” he said while absently running a hand over the bandage on his cheek. Charlie thought Gordon didn’t look so good, his skin had a pasty sheen and his bandage already needed changing. “After breakfast tomorrow, we go out in groups of two and start checking all the surrounding homes. We’ll keep in touch with the walkies, and if there’s anything one group can’t handle, the other group will come in to help.” He looked up from the paper. “Does that sound right so far?”

  At their nods he continued. “Each group should be able to do a block a day. We’re not only looking for zombies, but for people who may be trapped in their homes, so be careful and don’t get trigger-happy.” He looked over the paper again. “We’ve estimated it will take us anywhere from two weeks to a month to clean up the town, it all depends on how many zombies or wild dogs we run into, and any other factors we haven’t taken into consideration.”

  “Sounds about right,” Dexter said as he leaned back in his chair, belched, and patted his fleshy stomach. “Then we need to get Smitty to work on those turbines and windmills he was telling us about. Once we have electricity without having to run a lot of generators we’ll be in a lot better shape. At least we don’t have to worry about the water situation yet.”

  Charlie had been surprised to find out the water was still flowing, Gordon told them that the town got its water from an aquifer two miles up on the mountain and that it was a gravity-fed system. The water plant itself was directly below the mountain.

  Smitty was retired but had once been the town’s engineer, he was certain he could scrounge up the material to get several turbines and windmills going to produce enough electricity for their needs. In the meantime, they would look for generators and the fuel needed to run them. For the first time since arriving in Shady Oaks, he was optimistic that their plan would actually work.

  “One thing that we need to do tomorrow is get the rest of the guns and ammo out of our SUV,” Dexter chimed in. “And we need to contact Dave and fill him in.”

  “Ok, that should probably get top priority,” Gordon said, scribbling more notes onto his paper. “Then we’ll start the searches.” He looked up. “I think that’s it, we ready to call it quits for the night?”

  Everyone stood up and taking that as his answer, Gordon excused himself. Charlie turned on his flashlight and followed close behind; he was beyond tired but wanted to check on Jenny first. They were sharing an apartment upstairs with Jake, they had one bedroom and he had the spare.

  When he entered the apartment, he saw Jenny sitting by herself on a love seat; the moon was bright enough outside that he could turn off his flashlight and still see her. She was looking out the window, but turned her head and smiled at him.

  “Everything get worked out?” she said softly.

  “Yeah, think so,” he said wearily as he sank down next to her and rubbed his tired eyes.

  “You know I’m going out tomorrow.”

  Charlie sighed. “I know, and I’m not going to try to talk you out of it, we’re going to need all the help we can get. But you’ll be in my group so I can keep an eye on you.”

  Jenny chuckled softly. “I figured that out for myself already. Don’t worry Dad, I know how to handle myself - remember I was taught by the best.”

  “I’m glad you think that, I hope you’re right. Just be careful, that’s all I ask.” Charlie gave her a quick hug and stood up. “I’m off to bed, you staying up?”

  Jenny nodded. “For a bit. I just finished taking a shower and I need to let my hair dry a little more. Besides, I’m enjoying being out of that shelter.”

  “Can’t blame you for that,” Charlie said as he bent down and planted a kiss on her cheek. He could smell the fresh flowery scent of her shampoo. “Night sweetheart.”

  “Goodnight...and thanks again Dad...for coming for us.”

  Charlie waved a hand in the air as he made his way to his room. “See you in the morning.”

  Chapter 11

  Mick winced as the group outside the door resumed their banging. Tapping his foot impatiently, he had decided to go in search of Dave when he saw him coming down the stairs. He hurried over to meet him.

  Putting a finger to his lips, he whispered, “There are five people outside wanting in. Four men and a woman, they look like they’ve really been through it.”

  “I took a look at them before I came down,” Dave whispered back. “We really don’t have the room, but we can’t leave them out there, can we?”

  “What will we do with them?”

  “There are enough cots; I think we can set them up down here.” Dave looked around the room. “We can send them to Shady Oaks as soon as we hear from Charlie.”

  “What if they don’t want to go to Shady Oaks?” Mick asked with a frown on his face.

  Dave started to reply, but the banging began again on the other side of the door and this time they could hear frantic shouting. When they heard gunshots from upstairs, Mick knew they had no other choice.

  Dave strode over to the door, undid the locks and almost lost his balance as the door flew open and everyone outside poured through. Slamming it shut, he quickly relocked the door and turned to face his new guests.

  As Mick looked at them, he knew they weren’t the tough looking group he’d first thought. In actuality, the five people, although filthy and armed to the teeth, turned very frightened faces toward Mick and Dave.

  One of the men stepped forward and held out his hand. As Dave stepped forward and shook it he said, “Thank you for letting us in, that was close. I’m Jason Hill and this is my wife Amy.” Amy glanced at them for a moment and gave a slight nod before turning her attention back to her husband. Jason beckoned one of the men in his group forward and placed an arm around his shoulders. “This is my son Todd and that gal over there is his wife Melissa.”

  Mick was surprised. Melissa was of medium height and slender, her dark hair was cut so short he’d mistaken her for a man when he’d looked down at them from the balcony. Both of them smiled and stepped back toward Amy.

  Jason turned toward the last two and said, “This is Mark Chapman and his son Reggie, we met up with them a couple of nights ago.”

  Mark and Reggie nodded in their direction. “Thanks for lettin’ us in,” Mark said in a soft but deep voice. “We’ve seen your strobes for a couple of nights now and they come on at different times, so we were hoping there were people here.”

  “You were right about that,” Dave replied, still looking them over.

  “So you’ve been close by?” Mick asked.

  Jason nodded. “We’ve been trying to get out of town. We need to get to Harris where the rest of our family lives. When we met Mark and Reggie, they decided to go with us. We were making pretty good time until we ran into a mess of those zombies. We managed to hide out in a building over by the stuff that’s on fire.”

  “You came from over there? H
ave any idea what happened?” Dave asked.

  Mark gave a small, slightly embarrassed grin, his teeth flashing bright white in his dark and rugged face. “Yeah, we happened.”

  Mick’s eyes widened with surprise. “You happened? You mean you caused all that?” As his gaze flickered back and forth across the group, they nodded solemnly.

  “It got out of hand,” Jason said with a slight shrug. “We were trapped. We decided to start a fire, hoping it would distract the zombies so we could head over here.”

  “We threw some flares into a dumpster full of trash,” Reggie chimed in. “They caught all right, we didn’t realize it would get out of control, but it did.”

  “We didn’t know there was stuff over there that would cause those explosions, we were already on the run when the first one blew,” Jason said with a shake of his head. “All night we kept running from one building to another and ended up with several zombies hot on our tail. It’s been a real fight to get here, I’m sure glad there was someone here to open that door.”

  The sound of gunfire sounded from above again and as the group looked upward, Dave said, “I’m betting that would be Sean and Scott. Let’s go upstairs and we’ll introduce you to everyone.”

  Dave led the way with Mick bringing up the rear. Mick stared at Reggie’s broad back as they climbed the stairs. He was thinking about Harris, where Jason said they were heading. Harris was about four miles from Shady Oaks and even smaller, more of a village than a town by his reckoning. If Darrell and Dexter were able to get back in a few days, then Dexter could take the Hill’s and their two friends back with him when they returned to Shady Oaks. Which was a good thing because Dave was worried about their supplies and if they kept bringing in folks, they’d run out a lot sooner. He’d told Mick they had about nine months’ worth, but if they could funnel all the survivors that came their way to Shady Oaks and beyond, then they should be fine for awhile. A lot seemed to be riding on the success of Shady Oaks, Mick hadn’t realized before just how much.

  ****

  The day was spent getting to know the newcomers. After lunch, a quick tour, showers, and fresh clothing, the adults sat around one of the dining room tables sipping tea and coffee as the new members of their group told their stories.

  Jason and Amy both worked at the hospital; she as a registered nurse and Jason was in administration. They’d seen firsthand what was happening and left before the situation had gotten completely out of control.

  After picking up their son and daughter-in-law, they went back home, planning to leave for Harris first thing the next morning. When they saw what was happening on TV, they realized it would be safer to stay where they were for the time being. Their home was surrounded by sturdy wrought iron fencing and the main drive could only be accessed through the matching gate, so they didn’t think anyone could get in. No one or nothing did for several days.

  Jason described how they’d barely made it out in their Hummer. There were so many zombies that they simply crawled and climbed over one another until they were over the fence and into the yard. Fortunately, their Hummer was in the garage and as Jason hit the garage door opener, Amy activated the gate. They went tearing down the driveway, hitting several zombies on the way out. They thought they were home free, but then they made a huge mistake. They tried to go through downtown and their way out was blocked by several cars. When they tried to back up, there was a horde of zombies behind them, effectively trapping them where they were. So they ditched the Hummer and ran for their lives. Just when they thought they couldn’t go on any longer, they heard someone call out to them. Reggie had spotted them and pretty much saved their lives.

  Mark picked up the story from there. They got the Hill’s into their condo without a moment to spare. Mark and Reggie lived alone, Reggie’s mother had died when he was only four, and the two of them were more like best friends than father and son. Mark worked for the Ambrose police department and he had a good idea of what was going on. He had Reggie board up the windows while he was on patrol. The second day of infection, officers started disappearing, at first it was thought they had deserted until one of their own came tearing into the police station...only he wasn’t alive anymore. After that, word came for all officers to go home and take care of their families, the situation was beyond salvaging.

  They spent most of their time fortifying their home and shooting any zombies that came their way. The day the Hill’s arrived, what Mark described as a boat load of zombies managed to sniff them out. Their sheer numbers forced the group out and they ended up running with only the clothes on their backs and the few firearms Mark had. They’d been moving from one place to another ever since, until they came upon Hudson Place.

  As they talked, Mick glanced over at Reggie. He was sitting with Parker and Brooke playing a video game at the other end of the room. When Parker and Reggie spotted each other, both boys broke out in huge grins. They knew each other from soccer, both of they played on the same team for a couple of years. Mick was glad, he was sure Reggie was a lot more comfortable now that there was someone here he knew and could interact with. Heaven knew the kid had been through so much, it was time he had a break and could be a kid again.

  Mick was also grateful to Dave, they had been spared so much and he was acutely aware that there were probably other survivors out in the city who were still fighting for their lives.

  Megan rose from the table and began plugging in lamps, only then did Mick notice it was starting to get dark. Everyone else took that as a signal to get up and Dave announced he was going to start dinner. Cindy and Lilly decided to go downstairs to gather some blankets and pillows together for the cots that had been set up on the first floor. Before anyone had taken more than a few steps, Jeff burst through the door.

  “Charlie!” he gasped breathlessly, a huge smile on his face. “He’s on the radio!”

  Chapter 12

  Charlie wanted desperately to stay in bed, his head buried under the pillow, but Jenny wouldn’t let him. When she’d finally threatened to pour water on his head he let out a loud exaggerated groan and rolled his eyes at her, which caused her to laugh and gave Charlie a warm feeling inside.

  “Dexter is already rarin’ to go Dad,” she said as she waved a finger in his direction. “You have about ten minutes to shower, get dressed, and grab something to eat.”

  He groaned loudly again and threw his pillow at her. Jenny caught it and threw it back at him, hitting him with enough force that his head bounced back and smacked the wall.

  “Ow!” he cried loudly in mock pain, rubbing the back of his head and glancing at her out of one eye to see her reaction. She just stood there and stared at him. “Oh, you’re a cold one,” Charlie chided jokingly with a lopsided grin.

  “And you’re a lazy one,” she retorted back. “Ten minutes,” she said airily as she left the room, slamming the door behind her.

  Charlie chuckled, still rubbing his head. It did hurt a little and he made a face at the closed door. He jumped into the shower then hurriedly dressed. He was grateful that the town’s water supply for the time being was plentiful. The water was hot because the water heater was hooked up to natural gas, another bonus. The minute he stepped out of the bedroom, Jenny grabbed him by one hand while slapping a chocolate candy bar in the other.

  “Yum, breakfast I’m guessing,” he teased as they hurried down the stairs together.

  “You’re lucky to get it,” she grinned. “I was saving that.”

  “Oooh, I’ll savor it then.”

  “Funny, Dad.”

  “I thought so,” Charlie quipped as they reached the bottom of the stairs and headed outside. He almost collided with Dexter and Travis coming in carrying the ham radio between them.

  Dexter frowned as he eyed Charlie. “About time you got up. We need to contact Dave, think you can do that while I get everyone ready to go?”

  Charlie nodded. “Sure, I’ll get right on it.”

  He followed Dexter over to where a tab
le had been set up and sat in a chair Travis brought over for him. He turned on the radio. Nothing happened. He stared at it for a moment before turning toward Dexter. “We did put fresh batteries in this before we left, right?”

  Dexter turned toward him and nodded. “Saw Dave put them in. What’s wrong?”

  “It’s not coming on.” Charlie said simply. He turned back to the radio and spun it around. “Maybe the batteries are in wrong. Don’t worry about it. Go on ahead, I’ll figure this out.”

  Dexter grunted in reply and went outside where Charlie could hear him shouting commands. He felt someone leaning over his shoulder and looked up to see Jenny beside him.

  “Is there something I can do?”

  Charlie popped the back open and checked the batteries. They were in their proper places. “Not sure sweetheart. Looks like we may need some new batteries, do you know where we can get more?”