Amber looks at Adam with sadness in her eyes.
Adam looks at Amber, then looks at us as he slowly opens the door to try and lure Baby inside. As he steps outside into the backyard, he quickly steps back inside and locks the door. We all stand there looking at him with confusion. He turns towards Chase and me as he subtly shakes his head, then we hear the squeals. Amber rushes to her dad’s side as she tries to look out the arcadia door as she bursts into tears. Chase, A.J. and I walk towards the door as we see the Zombies beginning to roam around the yard and the closer to we got to the door, we notice about a half a dozen of them on the ground, devouring Baby.
Ana walks towards us as she glances outside, then looks at Adam, “How did they get into the backyard? It’s gated.”
Chase looks at her, “The dog was barking at them, they must have knocked the gate down.”
One of the Zombies looks towards the arcadia door, as we’re all standing there, then he turns and starts slowly walking in our direction. We all look at each other with concern in our eyes. Ana speaks up, “Oh, my God! What do we do?”
Adam whispers loudly, “Slowly and quietly back up.”
We all slowly and quietly back up towards the middle of the room, while we keep our eye on the Zombies on the other side of the arcadia door.
Ana looks at us with panic on her face, “What do we do?”
The Zombie reaches the arcadia door and begins banging against it.
Amber looks up at Adam, “Daddy?” She whispers.
Adam looks at Chase and me, then at Ana, “We need to get out of here. Everybody needs to grab a backpack and fill it up with what you need. You have two minutes, then we need to get out.”
Chase and I quickly grab the backpacks that we brought inside with us. Chase walks to the front window and peeks out. Then he walks back to Adam, “There’s a line of Zombies leading to your backyard. If we can all quickly and quietly sneak out the front door, we could probably all make it to the cars without getting noticed by the Zombies. We need to be quick and quiet, or the Zombies will take notice of us and come straight for us.”
Adam looks at Chase and nods. “I’m going to grab a few things, I’ll be down in a minute.”
Chase and I stand there, staring at the arcadia door as two more Zombies join the original Zombie, as they begin banging against the door too.
My heart begins to beat faster as my adrenaline begins flowing through my body with the thought of, if that arcadia door falls, I need to run fast as hell.
A.J. runs downstairs with his backpack. He looks at us, then looks at the arcadia door as he whispers, “Shit!”
Chase looks at him, “Be prepared to run.”
A.J. nods in agreement.
Adam runs downstairs with Ana following behind him. Chase and I look at Adam, “Where’s Amber?” I whisper to him.
He looks at me, “She isn’t down yet?”
I shake my head, “No.”
Adam glances at the arcadia door, “Shit!” Then he runs back upstairs.
Ana looks at us with concern, “How long do you think we have?”
Chase shakes his head, “Not long.”
Adam has Amber by her hand with her backpack and as they begin running down the stairs, the arcadia door begins to shatter! Chase looks at all of us as he yells, “Run!”
We all run towards the front door as Chase opens it and motions for all of us to run out ahead of him. Adam, Ana and Amber get into Adam’s car, while A.J. and I run towards Chase’s car. Chase shuts the front door as he runs towards his car. A Zombie broke free from the group and steps between Chase and his car, Chase stops and looks at us with an oh shit look on his face, as he turns around to run back towards the house. That’s when I grab a machete from the backseat and run towards the Zombie, I swing the machete and slice the Zombie’s head right off. I let out a scream “Yes!”
Chase stops running, as he turns around, looks at the Zombie, then back at me with disbelief on his face. He walks over to me, grabs my face and plants a kiss on my lips. Just then, Chase spins me around as he grabs the machete from my hands and slices off the head of a Zombie that was coming up right behind me. Then he looks at me, grabs my hand as we run to his car, he screams “Get in!” As the Zombies were all beginning to come towards us.
Chapter 14
Blake and Parker & Nina and Mandy
As Parker and I are driving along and see the two women running, Parker rolls down his window, “Do you ladies need a ride?”
The older lady looks at us with panic in her eyes as she stops running and grabs onto the younger girl’s arm. They both stop running and stare at us as if they’ve seen a ghost.
I stop the car as I get out, holding my hands up in surrender, “Are you ladies okay? I’m not going to hurt you.” I hold my hand out towards the older lady, “My name is Dr. Blake Ryan, and this is Parker Gibson. Do you need a ride? Are you hurt?”
The older lady looks around, as she puts her arms around the younger girl, “Um…my husband…”
I look around, “Your husband? Is he hurt? I can take you back to him and maybe I can help him.”
She breaks down crying, while the younger girl looks like she’s in shock. The older lady looks up at me with tear-filled eyes, “My husband…” She shakes her head, “He was just eaten…”
I look down, shaking my head, as I take a step towards her, “I’m so sorry. I really am. I just had that happen to my wife, my pregnant wife.”
She looks up at me, “Your pregnant wife, she was…”
I nod, “Yes.”
She wipes her tears, “I’m so sorry, that must have been awful.”
She looks at Parker, who is not the same color as me, then she looks back at me, “Is he your…”
“No, he’s not my son. I don’t have any children. His mother worked with me and well…my wife became a Zombie and ate his mother.” That sounded very strange as I heard myself say that.
The woman looks at me and nods, “Oh…that must’ve been horrific.” She looks around, then at the younger woman, then back at me, “Um…I’m Nina Bell and this is my daughter, Mandy.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Nina. Would the two of you like to tag along with Parker and me?”
She looks at Mandy, then nods, “Yes, that would be nice. Um…where are you guys headed?”
“North, maybe Canada. Don’t really know. We don’t have an actual destination in mind. Was there anywhere specific you wanted to go?”
Nina shakes her head, “Nope, not really.”
I open the back door as I let Nina and Mandy in. Then I shut the door and get back into the driver’s seat.
As I’m driving, we all sit in silence. We all look out our own window, taking in the events of the day. Remembering the important people in our lives that we lost today. We all lost someone special today. We’re all dealing with broken hearts tonight. I lost my wife, who was my best friend along with my unborn child.
Parker, he lost his mother who was the only parent he had left. She was his whole world.
Then Nina, she lost her husband, while her daughter, Mandy, lost her father.
We all lost someone close to us today. But, we’re strong and together we’re going to beat this Zombie thing. We’re going to fight back and we’re going to win. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
After a couple of hours of driving, I start to feel tired. I notice a rest area on the side of the road, I pull into the rest area parking lot. I turn as I look at my passengers, and they are all sleeping. Okay, I think I’ll just take a nap then. I push down the lock all doors button as I lean my head against the seat and I close my eyes.
I wake up to a banging noise. I open my eyes and turn around as I look into the eyes of a Zombie, knocking on my car window. I hear stirring in the backseat as I turn my car on, roll down my window a little, just enough for me to stick my scalpel through the Zombie’s forehead.
Nina leans forward, “What did you do?”
I turn around, “I stuck the scalpel through the Zombie’s forehead.”
She nods, then leans back in her seat.
I look around and I see more Zombies walking through the rest area parking lot, heading towards us. I put the car in drive as I speed away.
As we’re driving down the road, Parker and Mandy are still sleeping. Nina is sitting there staring out the window. Then I notice in the rearview mirror, she was looking at me curiously, “So, Blake, what kind of Doctor are you?"
“Emergency Room.”
She nods, “So, you pretty much know how to do anything?”
I chuckle as I nod, “Yes, I pretty much know how to do anything. I’m like the Mechanic that can do anything on any car. I don’t really specialize in any one certain area. Of course, there are things I didn’t really learn, such as brain surgery, although I do know a lot about the brain, but I don’t think I’d trust myself to perform brain surgery on anyone. Heart surgery, yes, I’ve done many emergency heart surgeries in the Emergency Room.”
She nods with understanding in her eyes.
I look at Nina in the rearview mirror. She’s a beautiful woman. Long, black, almost curly hair, hazel eyes. If I remember correctly, Mandy had the same eyes. It was kind of hard to tell in the dark. But, Mandy also has long, black wavy, curly hair. Nina looks like she’s about my age, give or take a couple of years. Of course, I’m a Doctor and was busy with school, so I didn’t start marriage and children till I was in my thirties, whereas, Nina must have started in her twenties. “So, Nina, what do you do?”
She looks at me with a smile, “Stay at home mom, I don’t work. I do volunteer my time for different charity organizations, I go to the gym and hang out with my friends. But I don’t have a paying job.”
“That was the same with my wife, she didn’t have to work.” Nina looks out the window, “So, what did your husband do?”
“He was an accountant for a big company.”
“He must have done well.”
“He did. He took very good care of my daughter and I. We had a good life.” She looks over at Parker, “So, his mom died? Where’s his dad?”
“His dad was killed in a car accident about five years ago. So, his mom went back to school to get her nursing degree to support him, and that’s how I met her. We worked together.”
She nods, “So sad that he’s lost both his parents at such a young, vulnerable age.”
“He’s a good kid. Strong, very strong.”
She looks at Mandy, then looks back at me, “I don’t know how strong Mandy is, her strength has never had to be tested. Hopefully she’s stronger than I think she is.”
I look back at Nina and smile, “I’m sure she will be. I’ll bet she’ll surprise you.” I wink at her.
She shrugs her shoulders, “Maybe, hopefully she does, though.”
As we’re driving, I notice an SUV on the side of the road, looks like a blown tire. I pull over and park behind it. I get out of Sally’s little red car, as I walk over to the SUV to take a look at it.
I hear a car door slam and I look behind me and I notice Nina walking towards me, looking at me curiously, “So, what are you doing?”
I look at her as I’m trying to think, “Um…I was just thinking that the car we’re in right now is a little small for four people. Plus, most of our supplies are in the truck, making it hard to get at. But, if we had this SUV, there’s more room for us to spread out a little, plus, our supplies will be accessible for whenever we need them.”
Nina looks at me as if I was crazy, “But…that’s not our SUV.”
I look around, “It’s an abandoned SUV.”
“But…what if someone comes back for it.”
“What if the owner of this SUV is now a Zombie?”
She looks at me as if she’s thinking about it. Then she nods in agreement, “You’re right. Let’s take it.”
I open the door and I notice that the keys are still in the ignition. I pull them out, turn around to face Nina, holding them in the air, “Jackpot!”
She smiles as she shakes her head, “You’re crazy, you know that.”
“Maybe a little.” I walk back to the back of the SUV as I open the rear door. As I open it up, I see weapons, food and water bottles. “Nina, come here.”
Nina walks to the back where I’m standing. I look at her with an ear to ear smile, “Double jackpot.”
Nina looks concerned, “You don’t think that somebody is going to come back for this?”
“What if that somebody is a Zombie now? Look around. Who would purposely leave their keys in the ignition? Right now, it’s survival time. The Zombies are out. This World is going to be about survival. We need a bigger vehicle for the four of us, the keys are in the ignition, and it has weapons, food and water, which we had none of that when we left. Now, we have it. It was meant to be.”
Nina nods, “You’re right. I’m just not in thinking mode yet.”
I put my hand on her shoulder, “It’s okay, you’re still taking all this in.”
Nina looks at me curiously, “How are you able to function so normally right now?”
“I’m a man and a Doctor, I’m in survival mode right now. When you work in an Emergency Room, you have to be able to react quickly in emergency situations. So, I’m used to thinking quickly. It just comes automatically.”
Nina nods, “Okay, understandable. Must be nice, I still feel like I’m in shock.”
“And that’s a normal reaction to some who watched their husband get eaten alive by a Zombie.”
Nina nods, “Thanks for putting that so blunt and gruesome.”
“Sometimes, you need to say things out loud to know that they actually happened and to be able to handle it emotionally. When you hide stuff, then they take longer to get over.”
“That actually makes a lot of sense.”
I scan the area to make sure that the owners of the SUV aren’t around. Then I look back at Nina, “Hey, I’m going to change this tire really quick and we’ll be on our way.”
After I was done changing the tire, I look at Nina and smile proudly, “All done, we’re ready to get back on the road.”
Nina smiles and nods, “I guess we should wake up Parker and Mandy and get them inside.”
Nina and I walk over to the car, I open the passenger door and wake Parker up and Nina goes to Mandy’s door and wakes her up. Parker and Mandy both look at us with confusion as we explain to them what we’re doing. They both agree it’s a good idea as they both get out of the car and walk over to our new SUV.
After we’re all comfortably inside the SUV, I look at everybody with a smile, “Everybody okay?” Everybody nods, “Okay, let’s continue going on our road trip then.” I say with a wink.
After we drove for a few miles, I see a gas station up ahead. “Hey, let’s see if it happens to be open so that maybe we can get gas, go pee and get some snacks.”
We pull into the parking lot and I drive around to get a feel for it. I see a broken window and several Zombies roaming around inside the store. My heart drops. Shit! I look at everyone in the car as we all have the same look on our faces.
Chapter 15
Harley and Isaac & Ryder and Kassi
I wake up the next morning to the sound of glass breaking. I open my eyes as I watch a Zombie beginning to climb through the window. I quickly sit up as I yell, “Zombie! Isaac! Ryder!”
Isaac, Ryder and Kassi all jump up…startled…from their sleep. We all stand up, grab our backpacks as we make our way towards the front door. We quickly open the door as all four of us run outside. Ryder grabs his motorcycle and we all push it as we try to rush out of the parking lot. As we’re running away, we look back at the gas station as we see a line of Zombies trying to climb inside the store. Once we’re far enough away, we slow down to a normal walk.
My heart begins beating again as I look at Isaac and say, “That was a close call.”
Isaac puts his arm around me and kisses me on my forehead, “Yes it
was. I’m sure glad that glass makes a loud noise when it hits a hard floor.” He replies with a chuckle.
Ryder looks at us, “Hey, look! There’s a car up there, well, actually there’s a couple of cars over there, take your pick.”
We look ahead and it looks like a couple of cars had an accident. We slowly approach the accident area as we scan the area for people or Zombies.
Isaac walks up to the nicer of the two cars and notices a Zombie in the driver’s seat. Isaac shakes his head, “Well, this one is already occupied.”
I walk up to the other one, but there’s nobody in there. “This one is empty.”
Ryder walks up to the car I’m looking at. He looks inside the glove box, “Look, there’s a flashlight in here.” He takes the flashlight and sticks it in his saddlebag. Then he looks in the backseat, “There’s a backpack in here and a case of water bottles.” He grabs some water bottles and sticks them in Kassi’s backpack. Then he looks for a switch to open the trunk. After he finds it, he opens the trunk, then walks around to look inside. “Oh yeah, it’s filled with food and some weapons! We’ve hit a gold mine, guys!”
Isaac and I walk around to the trunk, where Ryder is standing. We look inside and nod. Ryder looks over at us, “You two are taking this car, okay.”
Isaac looks at Ryder, “Um…there’s no keys inside. Whoever left this, took the keys with them.”
“It’s all good, Isaac. I’m going to teach you how to hotwire a car, then you’ll be able to do it whenever you need to, just in case I ever get eaten by a Zombie or something.” Ryder says as he bursts out laughing.
Isaac and I look at each other and laugh a little. Isaac steps forward, “Okay, Ryder. Even though I don’t completely agree with this hotwiring a car thing, I’ll let you teach me because of the situation going on in this World right now.”
Ryder smiles, “Okay, good. We’ve all got a job here. My job is to lead us all to Montana, and your job is to carry the supplies we need in your car.”
Zombie Havoc (Book 1): In The Beginning Page 11