SUBURBAN JUNGLE: A Post Apocalyptic Zombie Survival Thriller (Chronicles of the Undead: Book 2)

by Jaime Hernandez

  When everyone hurried to crowd around Frank, Max breathed a sigh of relief. No one was injured. He grabbed Anna’s hand and pulled Camille in close. Anna was shaking with rage, thinking of how her family had just been in mortal jeopardy at the hands of a bunch of assholes.

  “I saw them,” Frank said quietly. “They’re about two houses down on a side street off to the right. It looked like a dozen or so guys firing shotguns up into the air and maybe at the house. A few pickups were in the street and on the lawn. That’s about all I was able to see.”

  “We figured we’d better pull over somewhere out of sight before they get back on the road,” Junior said. “I don’t think they saw us, and they couldn’t have heard us over all of that gunfire. We should stay here until they’re gone, hermano.”

  Max just shook his head. His adrenaline was running high, and his anger nearly matched it. “Good thinking. We’ll stay put until they’re well on their way.”

  “What the hell is wrong with these people?” Anna seethed. Looting was one thing because everyone needed supplies. Shooting things up and setting fires was something else, and she wasn’t having it. Max watched as her temper boiled and was about to say something when Michelle spoke up.

  “Those fuckers try anything, and I’m shooting every last damn one of them in the head,” Michelle fumed. She held Lucia close, overcome with emotion.

  Emily and Maggie listened in but didn’t say much. They were as upset as everyone else but didn’t voice their anger. Instead, they both stared in the direction of the side street where the guys were still firing weapons and making a shitload of noise.

  “They’re going to draw in a lot of the dead,” Frank said. “It could help us since we’re headed in the opposite direction.”

  “Or it could fuck us if all of the dead in the neighborhood head that way. We could find dozens or even hundreds of zombies coming down the street,” Max said.

  “You smell that?” Junior asked. The hint of smoke was in the air. “I don’t see flames yet, but I think they just set the house on fire.”

  Max’s shoulders slumped as he looked toward where the house sat, just out of sight from their position. They stood around watching and waiting for a few minutes before the smoke grew thicker and flames were visible in the air. The sound of multiple car doors slamming shut signaled that the group was getting ready to leave, so everyone hunched down to make themselves less visible. Even if the assholes drove right past them, they wouldn’t see them unless they knew where to look.

  Seconds later, three brand new pickups and an SUV came tearing down the main street. There were guys in the beds of all three trucks, so there had to be at least two dozen men altogether. They sped right past the group and turned south onto the next main road.

  “Looks like they hit up a dealership,” Junior commented offhand.

  “At least they’re headed south,” Max said. “We’re not heading south in any way for any reason. Everything we need is to the north.”

  “Seems like they’re moving around a lot,” Frank said worriedly. “Avon, Bay, Westlake… no rhyme or reason to their madness.”

  “South is good,” Emily chimed in. “It means we know they’re out of the way for now. We can get back to our plans.”

  “Well, they’re gone now, and they’re far enough away that they won’t hear us on the road,” Anna said. “Let’s get going.”

  They got back into their trucks and resumed their route. Handfuls of zombies were popping up everywhere, no doubt in response to all of the noise the idiots had made, but they were able to make their left turn at the next intersection. From there, it was a straight shot, barring any detours. The two-lane road was mainly lined with small businesses and shops. It didn’t turn residential until about half a mile past the tractor place. None of them had driven down Dover since the whole thing started nearly a week ago, so they weren’t sure what to expect. There were small pockets of zombies, but otherwise, the area seemed almost deserted. Only a handful of wrecked or abandoned cars filled the street. It was almost like the area had been empty when the zombies had first started.

  “There are quite a few assisted and independent living places around here, just behind a lot of these storefronts. That’s a lot of immobile people,” Maggie told Max. “Maybe that’s why we aren’t seeing much here. Those places are probably full of zombies that can’t get around.”

  Max passed a small bakery, a neighborhood coffee shop, a dentist’s office, a candy store, a barbershop, a handful of boutiques, and two of the four bars that stood in the tiny suburb. It was eerie seeing the area abandoned and looking like an old ghost town. The place had always had a small-town feel about it, and the storefronts were designed to accentuate that motif. He wondered if maybe the dead who had been here had followed the horde out a few days ago. The area had the fewest number of zombies of any place he’d seen so far.

  “Well, whatever it is, it can only work to our advantage,” Max said. “This supply run could end up being a lot easier than we expected.”

  He drove across a set of railroad tracks then made a sharp right turn into the parking lot of “Tractor, Farm & Outdoor Supplies.” He chuckled to himself upon reading the sign. No wonder none of them could remember the name of the place. It was a little odd and didn’t accurately describe the type of store it actually was. The place definitely didn’t sell tractors.

  The others pulled in behind him, and they all parked close to the side door, which was actually the main entrance to the building.

  “This is pretty creepy,” Anna said with a shiver as she looked around. “Where are all of the zombies?”

  “There’s definitely something strange about it,” Michelle said. “Isn’t there a big church down the road? About a mile or so before the lake, I think. Maybe everyone went there when it started.”

  “If they did, I sure as hell hope they stay there,” Max said. “Let’s get going and do what we came here to do.”

  With no zombies anywhere within sight, they decided to all go inside the store together. If it needed clearing, it was safer to do it with numbers. Frank opened the door, and Junior listened for a moment. Not hearing a sound, he called out, “Here zombie, zombie, come on boys, good zombie, zombie, come here,” to see if anything started moving inside the store.

  Camille and Lucille had to stifle their giggles at hearing Junior calling out to the zombies. Everyone else wore a smirk or a smile, which lightened the mood. “I think we’re all clear,” Junior said with a shit-eating grin. Fighting laughter, they all made their way inside the store, which appeared clean and empty. There were no streaks of blood, no sounds of shuffling footsteps or raspy voices, and no foul smells. Knowing better than to take anything for granted, they still took the time to clear the store aisle by aisle then checked the office, restrooms, and the large storage and receiving room at the back. The place was empty.

  “Let’s start shopping,” Max said with a grin. “We’ll rotate one person on the main door just to be safe. Camille, you’ve got first watch.”

  The men headed over to the generators first and found a pretty good selection. While a generator was going to be very useful, it was also going to be noisy. They took some time to compare several portables and one stationary. Any generator that was going to be of much use was going to be heavy. Between the guys, they could manage well enough with what was available. The store had huge flat pallet-like carts to load large items, so they started filling a few. They took several smaller portables and two of the largest on the shelf. Most used gas, but they chose two that were propane operated after noticing the giant cage of propane bottles outside. If they were settling in for the long haul, it made sense to stock up on both gas and propane.

  “Let’s get these loaded up and then break into the propane. We’ll take them all,” Max said. Between the generators and the propane, they had enough supplies to fill two of the truck beds. “Is it clear out there, Camille?” Max asked.

  “I haven’t seen a single zomb
ie,” she answered. “I can keep watch outside while you guys load everything. Let everyone else keep shopping.”

  “Thanks, baby girl,” Max said to his daughter.

  While the men did their thing, Michelle, Anna, Emily, Maggie, and Lucia searched the store for other items on their list. “Lucia, here’s everyone’s sizes. Gather up some clothes, shoes, and gloves for everyone,” Michelle said as she handed her a piece of paper. “Get extras of everything for Frank,” Michelle added, smiling as she thought of how he had fit into Max’s sweatpants.

  Michelle tore the remaining list in half, keeping one for her and Anna and giving the other to Emily and Maggie. “Okay, we’re looking for water purifier tablets, prepackaged food, water bottles, and a cooking stove for starters,” Michelle told Anna. Anna grabbed every single bottle of water purifying tablets and every single prepackaged and freeze-dried food on the shelves. Michelle looked through the water bottles and grabbed a case of twenty-four, awkwardly setting it onto her pallet cart. There was only one cooking stove on the shelf, so she added it to her growing pile.

  Emily and Maggie went off with their list. They quickly found heavy-duty flashlights, batteries, emergency blankets, and ponchos. “Oh, look,” Emily started. “Stormproof matches! They’re not on the list, but we might need these later.”

  “Take all of them,” Maggie said. “Those could be invaluable if we have to relocate.”

  Anna and Michelle started looking at tents. “I honestly have no fucking clue what to get here,” Michelle said.

  “Me either,” Anna laughed. “Let’s just grab enough to sleep at least twelve people. If it’s not what the guys want, they can switch them out. I’m guessing tents that sleep two to four people?”

  “That’s probably about right. Hell, we have to grab sleeping bags, too,” Michelle said. “Do we get them for summer and fall temperatures, or do we want the ones rated for the cold?”

  “Let’s grab lightweight and extreme cold. If we have to leave the house, we’re only going to be able to take so many supplies with us, and that’s two dozen sleeping bags right there,” Anna said. She was starting to realize that their list was unrealistically long but figured they should keep on shopping until they ran out of room in the trucks.

  “Ooh, binoculars,” Michelle exclaimed. “Grab several of those.” Anna added them to one of their pallet carts.

  At the other end of the store, Emily and Maggie were looking at radios. “I don’t know the first thing about them,” Emily said. Maggie shook her head; she was feeling lost just looking at them. “Maybe Frank and Junior should pick through them.”

  “Sounds good,” Maggie said. “Anything else?”

  “All-weather backpacks,” Emily answered. “Probably over by the tents.” They went looking and found a small selection of heavy-duty packs. After looking through them for a moment, they added a dozen to their pallet.

  The men came back inside after all of their heavy lifting was done. They’d filled one truck and more than half of the second one. Looking at all of the supplies the women had found, they weren’t sure they could fit much more.

  “You start loading all of this stuff up. Pack it as tightly as you can, and you can fill the backseat of the white truck. It has the biggest extended cab,” Max said. “We’ve gotta check out the solar stuff.”

  “And the radios,” Emily added. “We had no idea what to grab.”

  Frank and Junior went over to the small selection of radios and knew exactly what they needed. Unsure of what batteries the women had grabbed, they went ahead and cleared the rest of the batteries from the shelf. Max started looking for solar panels but didn’t find any. It didn’t appear that the store carried them, so they would have to work on that another day at a different place.

  Lucia suddenly appeared at the door with her pallet full of clothes, gloves, and boots. They took up a lot more space than expected but could be rolled up and jammed into any open spaces in the trucks. The boots all fit in half of the backseat of the red truck. Looking at the silver truck, she figured that she, Camille, and her mom could easily fit in the backseat together so they could put more supplies in the red truck.

  Seeing that they could squeeze a few more things in, Max added zip ties and some rope. With that, they were fully loaded. He couldn’t believe that they’d found most of what they had been looking for in one trip.

  “We’re done here,” Max said, and everyone loaded into the trucks. It had taken them several hours to get to the store, partly because of the idiots with the guns, and they’d spent well over two hours shopping. Everyone was tired, hungry, and eager to get back on the road. During their entire shopping trip, not a single zombie had shown up. Max was relieved but also unnerved. It just didn’t make any sense.

  Chapter 31

  Day 6

  His curiosity piqued, Max decided to head north down Dover rather than go back the way they came. He planned to head west at the first light, which hung over a mini intersection. He’d grabbed a pair of binoculars to keep with him when they’d loaded all of the supplies at the tractor place, and as they crested a slight incline in the road, he looked ahead with the binoculars.

  “Holy shit,” he said. There was a decent-sized automotive shop and used car sales lot up ahead with a chain-link fence surrounding not only the building but the entire lot. Presumably, it was to deter would-be thieves from stealing cars. The entire lot was packed full of zombies who seemed to be standing around, not focused on anything. “What in the name of fuck?” he said aloud as he stared. His eyes were drawn to the front gate of the lot, which was secured with a heavy chain. Someone was rounding up zombies, but the how and why didn’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t they just kill the dead rather than gathering them all together like that? He couldn’t understand why the zombies hadn’t knocked the fence down yet, and then he realized it was probably because nothing had captured their attention. Somehow, they were lured into the confines of the fence, and then their captors must have left. Max cringed when he thought of what was probably used to lure the dead. Only a living meal would have held their focus long enough for someone to chain up the gate and leave them there. They made no effort to push through the fence, and unless something else grabbed their attention, they would probably shuffle around the parking lot indefinitely. That could all change quickly if they saw or heard Max and the others in the trucks. The sheer number of confined bodies could take down the fence in seconds, unleashing a mini-horde into the town.

  “We’ve gotta get out of here before we draw any attention to ourselves,” Max told Maggie. He handed her the binoculars so she could get a better view just before he turned left to head west and away from the town. He glanced at Maggie and saw that she was shaking.

  “I can’t think of a good reason that anyone would be gathering the dead like that,” Maggie said with a hint of fear in her voice. “I just don’t know what to make of it, and that scares the hell out of me.”

  “I don’t know how they’re going about it either,” Max said. “It would take a lot of work to try to capture them and close them in like that. Why take that kind of risk?” He lit a cigarette and drove in silence for a few minutes as he and Maggie were both left alone in their thoughts. He wondered where the rest of the town went and if more zombies were rounded up in the area. There were more than 100,000 homes and countless businesses to scavenge in the local suburbs. Max vowed to avoid returning to that town. Everything about it felt wrong.

  He drove along carefully and had to slow to edge his way around another car accident that took up more than half of the road. With all of the supplies they had in the back of the trucks, they couldn’t afford to hit anything. He managed to weave around the accident then dodged a few zombies in the road that had been behind the wrecked cars. By the time the zombies moved enough to block the road, all three trucks were past them.

  The drive home was going faster than the trip out there due to all of the zombies that were trapped. The further they got from Dover
, the more of the dead they came across. Max sighed in frustration as he was forced to make more detours the closer they got to home. As he slowly navigated a nearly blocked-off intersection, he noticed the beverage store on the corner had been shot up. The glass doors of the store had been shattered, and the walls were full of bullet holes. Max hoped that it was the same group of dumbasses that were already causing trouble and not a whole other group.

  Since the shit hit the fan, he and his family had been focused solely on reuniting and surviving. He could only imagine that there had to be others like them hiding out in their own homes or local businesses. He’d found Maggie that way, and Camille had found refuge with the kind couple in the mansion on the lake. On the other end of the spectrum, there were the idiots shooting things up and setting fires. Or people like Bill. He shook his head at the thought of the sociopathic rapist from the gas station a couple of days ago. With most of the population dead, he desperately hoped that more of the good than the bad had survived.

  Max kept checking his rearview mirror to make sure the others were following him without a problem. They passed a few more shot-up buildings and houses before reaching the next turnoff toward his home. He was a little worried about what he saw because there were no dead on the ground. It wasn’t self-defense and collateral damage; it was simply destruction, apparently for the fun of it. One house in his neighborhood had already been burned down. He hoped that nothing else would happen. The fires and things they had seen were spread out over a few suburbs, so he hoped the odds were in their favor. He sure as hell wasn’t about to give up the safety of his home because of a bunch of assholes.