Jenny stood up with a thoughtful look on her face before smiling and nodding vigorously. “Yes! We can get all the batteries we need at Raymore’s hardware store.”
Her smile faded. “Well, we can get them when we’ve cleared that area.” She looked at Charlie apologetically. “Sorry, wasn’t thinking.”
Charlie stood up and patted her shoulder. “No problem, we’ll just have to make that a priority today, we have to contact Dave as soon as possible.”
As they both stood there staring at the disabled radio Charlie asked, “By the way, I didn’t see Jake this morning? How’s he doing?”
“Better, but he still needs to take it easy. Myra, Gordon’s wife, said she’d check in on him. She said Gordon wouldn’t be going out today, he’s running a fever and the scratches on his face won’t stop seeping...she didn’t say it, but I could tell she’s worried about him. If Jake were better he could look in on him, but all we could do was give her some of the antibiotics that Jake’s taking.”
Charlie nodded sympathetically and started to speak when he spotted Darrell coming down the stairs. “Morning Darrell,” he said with a wave of his hand. Darrell smiled and hurried over to them, clutching a rifle in one hand.
“I see Dexter got the radio, did you talk to Dave yet?”
“I don’t think the batteries are working, can’t get the damn thing to even fire up.”
“Want me to check around and see if anyone has batteries?” Darrell offered.
Jenny shook her head and chimed in. “It’s doubtful; we probably used them all up in the shelter.”
As Jenny explained to Darrell their plan to acquire more batteries, Charlie strolled over to the front door and peered out. Over thirty people were lined up loosely on the lawn. Dexter was busy prowling up and down checking everyone’s weapons. Darrell and Jenny joined him at the door.
“I take it there have been no more zombie sightings since yesterday,” he said as his gaze swept further out past the group in the yard.
“Nope,” Darrell said. “It’s kinda weird really. When we were shooting at them, we took out several and the rest disappeared somewhere.”
“Yeah, it is weird,” Charlie remarked thoughtfully. “I’m beginning to agree with the idea that these things are able to think, at least a little bit, and that’s got me worried. We began to experience the same thing over in Ambrose.”
“It’s got everyone worried,” Darrell said. “We were talking about it this morning.”
Charlie noted that Dexter had finished his inspection and nodded in that direction. “Well, let’s go tell Dexter that we have a small change in plans. We gotta get over to that hardware store for batteries before we do anything else.”
“Ok,” Darrell sighed. “But he’s not going to like that.”
“You’re telling me,” Charlie agreed as he marched out the door toward Dexter the drill sergeant.
****
Later that afternoon Charlie held a box full of batteries in his hand, but he wasn’t happy. The radio would have to wait. Gordon had disappeared and Myra was dead. They had decided to go into the business area and check the buildings there first so they could get the batteries and other supplies they desperately needed. While they were checking out the various stores and shops, mayhem had broken out at the apartment building.
Upon their return, they found most of the people who had stayed behind, including Jake, huddled together on the first floor. Myra and Gordon had the apartment right next to where Charlie, Jenny, and Jake were staying and Jake said he was awakened by Myra screaming.
“It sounded like the place was being torn apart,” he whispered. “By the time I was able to get up and get to the door, it got really quiet, so I stopped and listened for a minute. I heard the door open and it slammed against the wall so I looked through the peep hole.” He shuddered and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them wide and looking up at the sea of faces surrounding him. “I saw Gordon, only it wasn’t him anymore. He was covered in blood and I swear he was growling like a dog. I waited for a while longer to make sure he was gone then I went across the hall and got Mr. Jantz to go with me.” He looked at Jenny with tears in his eyes. “He tore her apart, he killed Myra!”
As he put his head in his hands, Jenny leaned over to comfort him. Charlie turned away feeling sick to his stomach. Gordon hadn’t been bitten, but he’d been scratched and that opened a whole new can of worms, Charlie thought morosely. He felt as though they were flying blind, they didn’t really know what the zombies could do and what all could cause a person to turn.
Dexter swore under his breath and began giving out orders. “Ok, we’re doubling up the guards and anyone who goes into town will be checked for any wounds before being allowed back inside,” he said forcefully. “If someone is scratched or bitten, they will be immediately quarantined and watched constantly.”
Charlie wandered over to the radio and fiddled absently with the dials. He was beginning to have serious doubts again about what they were attempting to do. Sure, the zombies hadn’t caused too much trouble yet, but if one zombie could take out two people, that didn’t put the odds in their favor.
Charlie slowly realized Dexter was calling his name and turned.
“You and me are taking first shift tonight on the roof, is that ok with you?”
“Sure, whatever you say,” Charlie said faintly. He glanced at Jenny and his heart began to pound. He had to keep it together for her sake, he realized. They had to keep going, keep pressing forward; if they gave up they would all die. He didn’t want anything to happen to Jenny, and that gave him the surge of strength he needed.
“I’ll get my gun.”
****
Once again, the night passed uneventfully, which thoroughly unnerved Charlie. He sat up on the roof with Dexter until they were relieved; Jenny had dinner waiting for him when he came in around midnight. While he ate by candlelight, they talked in hushed voices so they wouldn’t disturb Jake.
“I was talking to Jake today,” Jenny said in a low voice as she sipped a mug of cocoa. “He said a shipment of medicine came in right before the infection hit and we need to go get it.”
“No problem,” Charlie said as he concentrated on the food before him. “Where do we need to go?”
“The post office. He said it’s in a room, more like a vault really, where anything really important is kept under lock and key. There’s also a refrigerator in there that should be stocked with antibiotics and diabetes medication, that’s what he needs the most. He said people are depending on that medicine.”
"Wouldn't all that medicine be spoiled by now?"
"I asked Jake the same thing and he believes most of it will be fine."
Charlie nodded as he chewed, then a sudden realization dawned on him. He managed to swallow before replying. “We might have a problem.”
Jenny gave him a confused look. “How so?”
“Tell me, where is this room?”
“There’s a basement, it’s down there.”
Charlie took a long swig of water before asking, “You said it’s more like a vault, can you describe it?”
“It looks like the kind of door you’d see in a bank,” she replied slowly. “What kind of problem do we have, Dad?”
Charlie leaned back in his chair and looked at her sadly. “From what you’ve told me, I don’t think we can get through that door with a hand grenade.”
Jenny frowned. “Wouldn’t that be overkill? We just need the key and I bet we can find one in the post office.”
“We already found the key.”
“Really?” Jenny said, her face lighting up. “So who has it?”
Charlie gave her a solemn look. “Gordon.”
****
Dexter was furious. He stomped, he roared, and he uttered one expletive after another. While Charlie leaned against the wall in the lobby and waited for him to calm down, he glanced over at Jenny and Darrell. Their faces were expressionless, but he knew they were also quiet
ly waiting so they could decide what to do.
Dexter finally whirled on Charlie, veins bulging at his temple and breathing heavily. “So what’re we gonna do?” he shouted in Charlie’s face.
Charlie flinched at the smell of garlic on Dexter’s breath. Trying to keep his face as calm as possible he replied, “We find Gordon and get the key.”
“Damn! I knew you were gonna say that! And how the hell are we gonna do that?”
“The only thing we can do is hunt him down. We need to take the zombies out right? So let’s do just that. We’ll hunt them down, find out where they are. We know Gordon has to be around here somewhere and the town’s not that big, we’ve already secured the main business part of town so it shouldn’t take us that long.”
Dexter rubbed his temples in frustration and Charlie could tell he was trying to think. “Ok. We know they’re avoiding us. From what we’ve learned, once they know we can take them out, they disappear. We saw it happen at Hudson Place and now here.”
At Charlie’s nod, he continued, “If you were a zombie, where would you go?”
The question caught Charlie off guard. “I-I don’t know exactly,” he stammered. “If they’re grouping together, they need a place big enough to hold them all. This town had a little over eight hundred people in it. Let’s say two to three hundred are dead, I’m talking really dead. We may have some survivors and let’s say that total is one hundred folks, including those that were in the shelter. Some zombies may have wandered away.” Charlie shrugged. “I’m just guessing but we might have around three to four hundred or so zombies out there.”
“That’s still too many,” Dexter growled. “We need some real fire power if we’re looking at those kinds of numbers.”
“I think I know what we can do,” said a voice from behind them. They all turned to see Travis grinning impishly at them as he sat on the stairs.
After hours of discussion and planning, it was decided. They would go out the next day to find Gordon. Charlie knew it was going to be extremely dangerous, but they had no other choice. Meanwhile, Charlie was determined to contact Dave.
Evening was fast approaching and after a quick dinner, he sat down before the radio and quickly replaced the batteries. To his delight, the radio fired to life and he quickly dialed in the frequency.
With Jenny, Darrell, and several others watching over his shoulder, he keyed up the mike. “Hudson Place, this is Charlie from Shady Oaks, over?”
Everyone held their breath in anticipation, but there was no response. “Hudson Place, this is Charlie from Shady Oaks, over?” he said again in a louder voice.
“Charlie! This is Jeff from Hudson Place! Am I glad to hear from you!”
Charlie grinned broadly. “Jeff, good to hear your voice! Is Dave around?”
There was a bit of static, and then Jeff’s voice came through. “He’s upstairs; can you wait while I get him? I don't have my walkie with me so I'll have to run up there.”
“Sure, but try to hurry. Hey Jeff, it’s good to hear your voice, buddy.”
Charlie could hear the happiness in Jeff’s voice as he replied, “You too! We were worried about you guys!”
“We’re fine, and Jenny’s right here beside me,” Charlie said as he grinned up at his daughter.
“That’s wonderful! I’m going to run and get Dave so give me a few minutes, ok?”
“You got it, we’re not going anywhere,” Charlie chuckled as he sat back to wait for Dave.
Chapter 13
“Charlie, this is Dave, over?” Dave glanced over his shoulder with a grin, Mick, Matt, and Jeff were right behind him and out in the hall he could see Cindy and Lilly standing with the others.
“Dave! This is Charlie, sorry we didn’t contact you sooner but we had battery problems.”
“We’re just glad to hear from you,” Dave responded. “So how’s it going?”
As Charlie filled Dave in on the situation in Shady Oaks, Mick frowned to himself. He didn’t like the idea of them going out to hunt down this mayor-turned-zombie person, but he realized they didn’t have any choice. Their plan seemed solid enough, but going up against hundreds of zombies didn’t sound too good.
Before signing off, Dave told Charlie what had been going on, including the news of their new guests, and promised that they would go over what Charlie had told them and let him know if they could think of anything to help them out.
Once Dave promised to contact them the following morning, he signed off and turned around. “I wish we were there to help them,” he said with a worried look on his face. “I’m afraid what they’re going to attempt is nearly impossible and extremely dangerous.”
“It is, but what choice do they have?” Mick asked. “Sounds like they’re ready to have it out with those things and get on with their plans.”
Dave turned off the radio and stood to face them. “Yeah, I can’t blame them one bit. If I were in that situation I’d probably do the same thing.”
He motioned toward the door. “Let’s go upstairs and talk this out, maybe we can figure out something that will help them.”
While Cindy, Sarah, and Megan were overseeing that the children had their baths, brushed their teeth, and were tucked into bed for the night, the rest of them sat once again around the table.
Dave eyed Jacob and Mark for a moment. “All of you want to go to Harris, right?”
At their nods he continued. “I’m thinking that the folks in Shady Oaks can use all the help they can get. Would you be willing to go down there tomorrow and help them out? They’re not going out until after they talk to us tomorrow and I could send you over there in one of the spare SUV's. If you help them out, I’m sure they’d return the favor and help you find your family over in Harris.”
“I would go in a heartbeat,” Jacob replied. “But I’d like to leave Amy and Melissa here until it’s safe for them.”
“Same for Reggie,” Mark stated. “I’d like for him to stay here for the time being, too.”
“Agreed,” Dave said quickly. “I completely understand. It’s just that I have a feeling that they will need all the help we can give them.”
“We want to go too.”
Mick’s head jerked around to stare at Sean sitting at the end of the table. Sean and Scott were both nodding. Sean glanced at Mick for a moment before turning his attention back to Dave.
“We have a few ideas of our own, we’ve seen the arsenal you have downstairs and we think we know of a way to take care of those zombie bastards.”
As his sons glanced at each other and winked, Mick felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew they were growing bored with sitting around and taking pot shots at the occasional creature that stumbled their way. They’d all realized the zombies could learn and were at least as smart as the dogs who now for the most part avoided Hudson Place. He could object to their going, he was deathly afraid for them, but he knew his sons and realized that they had already made their decision.
Mick felt Dave’s gaze upon him and threw up his hands in resignation. “I can’t talk them out of it,” he said simply. “When they make up their mind that’s pretty much it.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dave’s nod. “It’s settled then. First thing tomorrow we’ll send them out to Shady Oaks and let Charlie know when to expect them.”
While his sons slapped each other on the back and began to talk rapidly in excited voices, Mick rose slowly from his chair. Feeling every bit his age and then some, he went in search of Cindy to break the news to her.
****
At noon the next day, everyone once again stood in the open garage door waving goodbye. Dave talked to Charlie and filled him in. Sean and Scott spent most of the previous evening preparing and saying goodbye to their wives.
Mick, Dave, and Jacob loaded the vehicle with all the munitions the boys requested, and Mick had to admit what they were planning could work. Mark had his hands full with Reggie, who was insisting that he should come along. M
ark finally turned to Dave in frustration and together they managed to convince Reggie to stay for the time being. Reggie stood a little apart from the group, trying his best to make it obvious that he wasn’t happy about the decision.
Everyone said their goodbyes, and as the vehicle disappeared from view, Parker glanced at Reggie and thought rapidly of what to say to make him feel better. They slowly followed the rest of the group upstairs. “You know,” Parker said in a low voice. “They need us here, more than ever now. We’re the ones going to have to take up the slack and you know what that means?” At Reggie’s curious glance, Parker continued. “We get to be the ones who take most of the watches and we can take out any zombie that’s stupid enough to wander over here.”
Zombified (Book 1): Hudson Place Page 10