I nod, “Thank you.”
As the sun goes all the way down, and it’s very dark outside and we can’t see very far ahead of us, we hear a ‘POP’, then THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, as the car veers a little to the left…bumpy. Isaac pulls over, “SHIT! he yells in a defeated voice.
I look at him and I’m not sure if I want to burst out laughing or burst out crying.
Isaac looks at me with wondering eyes, “I hope you have a spare tire.”
I look at him with a smirk, “I hope so too. And I hope you know how to change a tire.”
“I’ve changed a few tires in my time.” He announces proudly.
I smile at him. “Um…would you like me to hold the flashlight?”
“Yes, and a knife, or a baseball bat, whatever you feel more confident with.”
“I’ll hold a baseball bat in my hand and a knife in my belt.”
“That sounds perfect.”
We both get out of the car, in the eerie pitch-black darkness, as I hold the flashlight for Isaac to open my trunk to get the spare tire out. He looks at the jack curiously, “Hmmm…we could totally use this as a weapon.”
I look at him and laugh, “Is that what we’re to be doing now? Looking for weapons everywhere we go?”
He looks at me and nods, “Yeah, probably.”
I shake my head laughing as he jacks up the car and begins the process of changing the tire. I look around for Zombies, as I see one coming towards us. Shit! I’ve never killed a Zombie before! I’ve never killed anything before! Except a cat. I accidently ran over a cat once. God rest that sweet soul. I look down at Isaac as I whisper loudly, “Isaac! Isaac! There’s a Zombie coming!”
Isaac looks up at me, “What?”
“There’s a Zombie coming!” I whisper a little louder.
Isaac stands up and gets his knife ready. As the Zombie approaches us, Isaac walks up to it and stabs it in the head. I seriously have no idea how he does that. It’s freaking me out a little. I’m not sure that I’ll be able to do that with confidence. If I got that close to one, I’d probably die. Just saying.
After Isaac kills the Zombie, if that’s what it’s called, aren’t Zombies already dead? Hmm…food for thought. Anyway, Isaac gets back down on the ground to continue trying to change the tire.
I stand there, holding the flashlight, while on the lookout for more Zombies. As I’m standing there, I feel something coming up behind me…I turn around and there’s a Zombie about three feet away from me! I take off running and screaming as Isaac gets up and stabs the Zombie in the head with the knife. Then he comes running after me, screaming my name, “HARLEY! HARLEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?”
I stop running and turn around. I hear Isaac running behind me, “Harley? Where are you going?”
I stand there, breathing heavy, trying to get my heart beating again. “I…heard…something…and…when…I…turned…around…Zombie.” I try to say, but I’m too out of breath to talk.
Isaac starts laughing as he grabs me and hugs me, “Okay, that’s funny. Now, let’s go back.” He grabs my hand and tries to pull me, but I resist.
I shake my head, “I’m not going back.”
He looks at me confused, “What do you mean, you’re not going back?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m traumatized from that spot. We need to get some help. I can’t stand there and fight Zombies in the dark while you change a tire. Let’s go down the road and see if we can get someone to bring us back to my SUV and help you change the tire.”
“Harley, I was almost done.”
I shake my head, “Babe, it’s dark and I almost got eaten alive by a Zombie. I can’t stand in the dark while you change a tire. Maybe we can find a place to stay till daylight or something.”
Isaac looks at me with defeat in his eyes, “Fine, we’ll wait till daylight.” He puts his arm around me as we walk together down the dark road.
Up ahead we see lights, I point towards a gas station, “Look, Isaac! There’s a gas station!”
Isaac smiles as he grabs my hand, come on, let’s go!”
As we approach the gas station, there’s a couple of Zombies in the parking lot. We run up to the door, but the door is locked. We look inside, and we see a man and a woman inside the store. So, we begin pounding on the door.
Chapter 8
Ryder and Kassi
I hold onto Kassi for a few minutes as she calms down. Then I gaze into her eyes, “Are you okay, though?”
She nods, “Yeah, I’m okay. I was just freaked out because you were out there, and I couldn’t call you and I didn’t know what was going on.”
I put my index finger to her mouth, “Shhh…it’s okay now. We’re together and we’re going to figure out what our next move is.”
Kassi nods, “Okay. I trust you, Ryder.”
I’m glad she has so much confidence in me, because personally, I have no idea what I’m doing. “Okay, now…let’s figure out our next move.” I say as I take her hand and walk towards the kitchen. I stand there for a moment, looking around the room.
Kassi stares at me, “What are you doing?”
“I’m thinking. I’m trying to figure out if this is a safe place to be, or if we should go to higher ground, or a sturdier building.” Then it comes to me, “My parents ranch! Yeah! That’s where we’ll go!”
Kassi looks at me dumbfounded, “Your parent’s ranch?”
“Yeah! My parents have a ranch with good, sturdy fences all around their acres and acres of property and they have a huge house, with a basement! It’s perfect! Plus, my dad has an arsenal of weapons. It’s completely perfect and safe!”
Kassi continues looking at me dumbfounded, “So…where is this ranch?”
“Montana.”
“Montana? As in the state Montana?”
“Yeah…there’s only one Montana I know about.”
“Yeah, I know. But how are we going to get there?”
I simply reply, “My motorcycle.”
She gets a freaked out look in her eyes, “Are you crazy? There’s Zombies everywhere now! You think that we’ll be able to make it to Montana on your motorcycle with Zombies roaming around everywhere?”
“Yes, why not? With the motorcycle I can take back-roads, off-roads, I can maneuver easily around the Zombies. It’ll be cake.”
She gets an unsure look in her eyes, “I don’t know…I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
“It’ll be fine, Kassi, I promise. I’m experienced with the motorcycle, I know how to handle it. All you have to do is kick back and tightly hold onto me.”
“I don’t like this idea, Ryder.”
“Well, do you have a better idea?”
She shakes her head, “Actually, I don’t have any ideas.”
“Well, then, this is the best idea we’ve come up with.” I say with satisfaction. “I’ll pack my saddle bags and you pack a backpack and we’ll head out.”
She looks at me with hesitation as she walks into our bedroom. I follow her as I begin packing my saddlebags. She takes a backpack out of the closet and starts filling it with clothes and necessities. When we’re both packed, she looks at me with sadness, “I hope this works.”
I nod, “It will. We should be in Montana in a few days. It might be a little slower than normal with Zombies and traffic, even though I am planning on taking back-roads. But we’ll get there. I’ve driven the route many times, I almost know it like the back of my hand.”
She nods, “Okay. I trust you.”
I walk up to her and put my hands on her face as I gaze into her eyes, “Good. I’m glad you trust me because I would never do anything that would hurt you or put you in any danger. I’m doing this for us and the safety of our future.”
She nods in agreement, “I know.”
I lean in and plant a kiss on her lips. When I’m done, I look at her with an ear to ear smile, “You ready?”
She nods, “Yes.”
I look around, “We need some weapons.” I grab a couple
of knives, the biggest ones I could find, and my two guns. And I stick two knives in her backpack and a knife and the two guns in mine. “There, we should be set.” I say with satisfaction.
I take Kassi’s hand as I gaze into her eyes, “Let’s do this.” I slowly open the front door and peek out before we step out. I slowly take a step outside. I look at Kassi as I hold my index finger to my mouth, “Shhh…I’m just going to make sure that there aren’t any Zombies between here and my motorcycle, okay?” Kassi nods her head.
I slowly walk down the stairs, trying to look under the stairs because I don’t want a Zombie hand grabbing my feet, or Kassi’s feet. I hold my knife in my hand, ready to stab one if they get too close to me. Once I’m at the bottom of the stairs, I look up at Kassi as I give her a thumb’s up that it’s safe.
She’s flies down the stairs and I laugh at her because she has such a panicked look on her face. Once she’s at the bottom, I put my arms around her and give her a hug, “You are so freaking cute, you know that, Kass?”
She playfully hits me, “Shut up, Ryder, it’s not funny.”
“Oh, yes, it is.” I wink at her and give her a kiss on the lips. “Now let’s get the heck out of here, okay.”
As we pull out onto the main road, we notice that it’s all backed up, but thankfully, I have a motorcycle, so I’m able to maneuver around the cars, such as driving in between cars, driving on the sidewalk. Of course, people in the cars weren’t very happy with me, I kept getting yelled at and got the finger many times. But personally, I think that they were just jealous. Anyway, we managed to finally get out of town and onto the open road.
As we’re driving along a back-road, heading north on our way to Montana, we come across a herd of Zombies in the middle of the road. I feel Kassi tighten her hold around my waist as she buries her head in my back. I turn my head towards her as I tell, “Hold on, Kass!” I manage to drive off-road and around the Zombies. After we pass them, Kassi and I both scream out, “Whoo hoo!” As we continue our journey northbound.
As it starts getting dark, I turn towards Kassi, “Hey, I don’t feel comfortable driving in the dark, so let’s find someplace to spend the night.”
Kassi gets close to my ear as she responds, “Yes, that sounds great.”
I notice a gas station up ahead, “Hey, there’s a gas station, maybe they’ll know how far away the next hotel is.”
I we pull up into the parking lot of the gas station. I park my motorcycle at the gas pump, I’ll need gas before we leave. We walk towards the door as I scan the parking lot for Zombies. I do notice one on the opposite side of where we are right now. I reach for the door, open it and walk inside as Kassi follows close behind me. I look around for someone working, but I don’t notice anyone, “Hello!” I yell.
Kassi and I look around, but we don’t see anyone. I look at Kassi, “I’m going to use the restroom.”
Kassi nods, “Yeah, I need to go too.”
We both head into separate restrooms. As I’m getting ready to relieve myself, I hear Kassi screaming. I quickly rezip my zipper as I run into the girl’s restroom. I notice Kassi holding the stall door shut as a Zombie is inside the stall. I totally want to burst out laughing right now, but instead I grab Kassi’s arm and pull her aside as I slowly open the stall door and stab the Zombie in the forehead.
Kassi stands against the bathroom wall, hunched over, with her hands over her face. I walk over to her, take her hands off her face and pull her into me, “Hey, you okay?”
She buries her head in my chest and bursts into tears, “No, I’m not okay.”
I kiss the top of her head as I begin laughing. She looks up at me with tear-filled eyes as she looks at me with horror, “Why are you laughing?”
I shake my head, “I really have no idea why I’m laughing. It’s just funny.”
She looks at me confused, “What’s funny? How I almost died just trying to go to the bathroom?”
I nod, “Yeah, pretty much.”
She hits me in the chest, and I don’t think it was a playful hit, “You are such an asshole!”
“But you still love me.” I say with a wink.
“That’s up for debate at the moment.” She looks around, “Is it safe for me to go pee now?”
I look around, “Yeah, it looks like it. Do you want me to stand here while you pee so that you feel safe?”
She shakes her head, “No, I should be good.”
I look at her with a sheepish grin, “Okay, I’m going to use the men’s restroom then.” I walk out of the girl’s bathroom and into the men’s restroom.
After I’m done using the men’s restroom, Kassi is already outside the men’s restroom door, waiting for me. She looks at me with wondering eyes, “Where is everybody? Doesn’t anybody work here?”
I scan the store as I walk around to check things out. I walk over to the front door to lock it and secure the place and I shake my head, “I don’t know. I’m thinking the Zombie in the girl’s restroom may have been the store clerk. I’m not sure, but I don’t see anybody else here.”
Kassi shrugs her shoulders, “So, what do we do? Does that mean we can’t get gas or food?”
I smile at her, “We take. What else are we supposed to do?”
“You mean…steal?”
I shrug my shoulders, “How else are we going to get gas and food?”
“Wait for someone else to come?”
“Who, Kassi? Who’s going to come?”
Kassi looks around, “I don’t know. But, I don’t want to get in trouble for stealing.”
“Kass, it’s the fucking Zombie Apocalypse, who’s going to arrest you?”
Kassi looks at me hesitantly, “Fine. We’ll steal.”
“That’s my girl.” I say with a cheesy grin.
As we’re looking around for some food to snack on, we hear banging on the door. We both look towards the door as we see a man and woman outside the door, banging on it. Kassi looks at me curiously, “Should we let them in?”
Chapter 9
Candi, Chase & Adam
Chase just stands there staring at me, I repeat what I had said, “Chase, this is the Zombie Apocalypse.”
Chase snaps out of it, “Yeah, I heard what you said, I’m just trying to compute it.”
I look around the room, “Well, what do we do now?”
Chase begins pacing the floor, “I’m not sure. But we need to do something. If the television and phones don’t work, then the electricity may also go out soon, then the water and the next thing you know, nothing will work. Or…something could just be blocking the signals temporary and everything will come back up in a few hours. Or…maybe the government is trying to scare us or something.”
I watch him as he paces the floor while talking to himself. “Chase.”
Chase stops and looks at me, “What?”
“What do we do? Should we just hold up here together until it passes. Lock the doors and windows.”
Chase shakes his head, “I’m thinking.”
I sit down on the couch and watch him as he thinks.
Chase walks over to the window and looks out the window. “Hmmm.”
I stand up and walk towards the window, “Oh, my God! Is that a Zombie?”
Chase nods, “Yep, looks like it.”
“Do you think that Zombies can climb stairs?”
Chase shakes his head, “I’m not sure.”
“Well, what do we do?”
“Well, we’ll need a lot of water and food, we don’t know how long this will last.”
I nod in agreement, “True.”
“And, we need weapons. Guns, knives, maybe a machete.”
I look at him like he’s gone crazy, “A machete?”
“Yes, a machete. Machetes kick ass. I could slice a Zombie head right off with that one.”
“Okay…”
“There’s a pawn shop down the road from my store. Maybe we could head over there and see if they have a machete.” Then he stops, “Yeah
, let’s go on an adventure. Pack up a few things, we’ll head over to my store, grab a bunch of food, load up the car with gas, head over to the pawn shop and see if they have a couple of guns and machetes, then we’ll head out on a Zombie killing adventure.”
I just stare at him with deer in headlight eyes, “Have you gone mad?”
He shakes his head as he bursts out laughing, “No! I think this would be fun. We could be the Zombie Killers. Chase and Candi, the Zombie Killers. We could drive around the United States and try to kill all the Zombies and save the World!”
I seriously, just sit there and stare at him like he’s lost his freaking mind. “Are you being serious right now?”
He steps over to me and gazes into my eyes, “Candi, we could save the world, one Zombie at a time. We will be famous.”
He’s kind of starting to worry me a little bit. I don’t know what kind of adventure he wants to take, but I don’t think that he’s thinking very clearly. “Um…Chase, listen, that sounds like an awful lot of fun and all, but I really don’t think that you and I, are equipped or trained well enough to save the World from Zombies.”
“We could try. We’ll get two machetes and we’ll drive around the World, slicing their heads off. At least come with me and try, Candi. It’ll be a bonding experience.”
“Wow, you make it sound so appealing that way.” I burst out laughing.
“So, will you come with me?”
“For entertainment purposes only.” I reply with a wink.
Chase plants a kiss on my lips, “Thanks Candi! This is going to be fun. Seriously, it’s going to be a bonding experience for the two of us.”
“Whatever you say. My cell phone may not have service, but I can still take pictures and videos with it, just saying.” I wink at him.
“Something to show our future grandchildren.” He says with a wink.
“Ha, ha, ha.”
“Pack your stuff, we’re going on an adventure.”
“Are we bringing the three baseball bats?”
“Of course, all weapons are allowed.”
“Okay.” I grab the bats and stick them on the kitchen table. Then I go into my room, while Chase heads over to his apartment, and I grab a suitcase and backpack and throw clothes and necessities into them.
Zombie Havoc (Book 1): In The Beginning Page 7