by Nord, K. C.
"It's hard to imagine Mom being scared of anything."
Grandma smiled, "if anything, you're much tougher than Riley was in the beginning."
Really?" I asked in surprise.
"Oh yes, the world that Riley grew up in was a lot easier than this one. Of course, there were dangers because nothing is totally safe, but overall it was so much easier. Mainly her only worries in life were about making good grades in school and whether or not the cute boy in class liked her or someone else."
"Wow, I can't even imagine."
"I know. Now, our lives seemed so silly and frivolous, but it was all that we knew at the time. Your grandpa and I spent a lot of our time working hard to make a better life for your mom, but he especially sacrificed a lot of valuable family time to do so. Now, I wish that we had done more things together as a family and not worried so much about the money. Because you can't get that time back, once it's gone, it's gone."
I reached out and patted her hand, " You still miss him, don't you?"
"Every single day, I just wish that I knew what happened to him, but I guess not everyone gets closure."
CHAPTER FOUR
We left early the next morning after Grandma dispatched the zombie, who was still walking back and forth between the door to the garage and the end of the driveway. Afterward, we burned his body out by the Red Rocket sign, where he died. Before we left, I made a little makeshift memorial of a cross made from a couple of old boards decorated with a couple of license plates.
It was sad that nobody would ever know his name, but I couldn't help but think that the person that he once had been was probably happy that his body could now finally rest in peace. Unfortunately, we didn't always have the time to burn or bury the bodies, but we did what we could, and somehow with this one, I just felt that he deserved some kind of a memorial.
Whenever possible, Grandma preferred to burn the bodies in order to destroy the virus. Otherwise, it's possible that the soil and groundwater could possibly become contaminated. I sensed that there was more to her story, but she didn't seem to want to discuss it further, so I let it go. At least for now, but anyone who knows me also knows that I can be a little bit like a bulldog when it comes to letting things go.
After playing around with the radio for a while, I was able to get a station to come in. And we enjoyed some of the country music that Lucas always liked, and After a while, I noticed him tapping his toes in time to the music. The so-called DJ, some guy calling himself Trevor, was just a little annoying as he spent a lot of time between songs complaining about his situation. It seemed that his ex-girlfriend was now a zombie, and he was convinced that she wanted him dead.
Grandma seemed to think that he was pretty funny, but I got the idea that he was serious. But either way, listening to him did help to pass a boring afternoon of just sitting in the pickup.
Late that afternoon, we ended up having to drive through the town of Butterfield Mississippi. Grandma usually likes to take a safer route and avoid the larger cities, but unfortunately, the bridge on the east side of town was out, and she didn't know any other way to Mary's house.
Eighteen years ago, Butterfield had been a thriving college town with a population of 50,000. But, like most towns and cities, they had been hard hit by the apocalypse, and the whole area was now a large ghost town with probably only a handful of people left in the surrounding area around the abandoned town.
We drove through a residential area, taking care to avoid the more congested city streets where you could find yourself trapped by old cars and trucks littering the streets.
It seemed to me that the city was the worst possible place to be when the virus started, and I wondered aloud how so many people seemed to be taken by surprise with it?
Grandma sighed, "Well, when the virus first started, everyone thought it was just some new type of flu. Or at least that's what they were telling us."
"You mean the government?" I questioned.
"Yes, the government and the news media. Anyway, to make a long story short, they told everyone to self-quarantine for a couple of weeks. And then before we knew what was going on, martial law was declared, and nobody was allowed to leave their homes."
"That's just crazy!" I breathed.
" They could have warned people and at least given them a chance to escape the cities before things got bad. But, that was our government for you, first and foremost they only looked out for their own interests, no matter which party was in power at the time."
"What happened next?"
"We were taken by surprise, and most people were unprepared. So it wasn't long before people started running out of food and supplies, which meant that they had to leave their houses or starve. This, of course, allowed the virus to spread even faster."
I shuddered, "It sounds so horrible."
She reached out and patted my hand. "It was unbelievably so. And it's been a long battle, but I do believe that it's one that we're going to win."
"I hope so," I replied, looking out the window at the passing houses.
Driving through towns like this always gave me an eerie feeling. Everything looked like it was just abandoned in an instant. After a while, I caught myself staring at the empty windows as we passed, almost expecting to see someone looking back at me. I shivered, and the hair on the back of my neck rose as I imagined that the ghosts of the town's former inhabitants were still here and watching me from inside the houses.
At one point, we had to stop and move some tree limbs, probably downed by last night's storm out of the road. Grandma and I both were a little on edge, and she kept her shotgun close at hand, but everything seemed quiet and peaceful. I noticed an old rusted tricycle overturned by the driveway of what had once been a cute little house with white shutters on the windows. Now the roof was sagging and half-collapsed from a tree falling on it, and most of the windows in front were shattered. The yard was overgrown and covered in weeds and vines with a few broken, dirty toys scattered around. It made me wonder about the people who had once lived here, and whether they had made it out alive or became victims either to the virus or zombies. I hoped that they had made it out of the city before things had gotten bad. But, the odds probably weren't in their favor considering that they were under martial law at the time.
Glancing back as we pulled away, I saw a small figure standing by a swing that was still attached to an old broken down swing set in the backyard.
" Grandma."
"I see it," she replied grimly and put the truck into park before grabbing her shotgun from the gun rack behind us.
"I'm coming with you; there could be more of them around," I announced firmly, and surprisingly enough, she didn't argue with me about it.
"Make sure the truck is locked, and the windows are rolled up, I don't know what might happen if one of them gets a hold of your brother again." She called back to me.
Once we reached the backyard, I saw that I was right, and there were two more zombies plus the one on the swing. The first one, probably the mom, was taken out easily with one blast of Grandma's shotgun as she rushed us the moment we reached the corner of the house.
While Grandma was busy with the second zombie, a male and considerably larger than the first, I concentrated on the smallest one standing beside the swing. A young girl, probably around four or five years old, was still wearing the dirty, tattered remains of a pink dress and clutching an old dirty, raggedy doll. To me, this one was probably the most horrifying. To see what had once been a young child turned into a vicious feral beast was so sad.
I hesitated for a moment, and unbelievably fast, she launched herself at me with an unearthly shriek. I quickly sidestepped and unable to stop; she stumbled forward, landing in the sandbox. She sat for a moment in the sand, and I think that for a moment she forgot what she was doing until her head swiveled around and she saw me standing there. This time I didn't hesitate and quickly fired a shot into her brain, freeing her once and for all from the atrocity that she had become.
"You did good, Kaley," Grandma said from behind me. " I know that it wasn't easy; the young ones are especially hard to deal with because it's so tragic to see what they've become."
"She still had her doll. Do you think that she knew or had any awareness of what was going on?"
"No, I don't. That little girl has probably been dead for close to eighteen years now. From what we observed with the zombie back at the Red Rocket Gas N Go and now this one. I am starting to think that maybe they can retain a few superficial memories or habits, but at no time have I ever noticed any awareness or intelligence."
"But, you've never noticed anything like this before?"
"No, and I've killed a lot of zombies in the last eighteen years," Grandma said and slipped her shotgun into the scabbard on her back.
"So something could be changing."
Grandma shrugged, "it's possible; there's still so much that we don't know about the virus."
"This world is just so messed up," I replied flatly and turned to walk back to the truck when I noticed that the truck doors were open and Lucas was no longer inside.
"Oh no," I breathed and broke into a run when I saw him standing there holding the other gun from the truck's gun rack.
I ran over and gave him a huge hug, and just for a moment, he hugged me in return, and I had my brother back. But in an instant, he was gone again, leaving a distant stranger in his place.
Disappointed, I stepped back and looked wordlessly at Grandma.
She gave me a huge smile and a pat on the back before reaching out to take the gun from Lucas, " Don't look so disappointed, Honey. Lucas was trying to help us, that's a good sign, and I just know that Celeste is going to help us get him back."
A LITTLE WHILE LATER, we pulled up in front of a charming but slightly shabby old Victorian-style farmhouse with peeling yellow paint.
All smiles, Mary, a sweet and motherly woman, and her fourteen-year-old granddaughter Sarah met us at the front door, and we were instantly enveloped with the aroma of fried chicken and fresh-baked bread.
"I was so worried when you didn't show up yesterday. But I figured that the storm might have slowed you down a little."
"That and a few other things," Grandma replied.
"Well, you're here now, and that is all that matters, so come on inside supper is almost ready," she said and laughed when, as if on cue, my stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly.
"Oh, you have a cat." She reached out to pet Tucker who was looking around wide-eyed. " I have a bowl of fresh milk and some left-overs for this little guy in the kitchen. I hope that he doesn't mind my dogs. They all do well with cats, but we can always put them outside for a while if he does."
"I'm not sure we just found him yesterday," I replied and sat Tucker down, where he immediately ran over to the bowl of food that Mary sat down for him.
"Cats are a lot more adaptable than most people think," Mary remarked as he calmly set about eating his meal and completely ignoring the three large rottweilers, sleeping in their beds in front of the fireplace.
"And they're always looking for their next meal," I said with a laugh.
Just then, I noticed that Lucas had sat down on the floor beside Moose, the half-grown pup, and was now petting the dog. Quietly I nudged Grandma and Mary drawing their attention to him.
"He seems to have an affinity for animals," Mary remarked softly.
" And they for him," I replied. "
After dinner, Grandma and Mary went into the living room to catch up on all the news and talk about times and people from before I was born. After a bit, I grew bored with all of the talking, and Sarah showed me her Grandma's library where we spent the rest of the evening. She liked reading almost as much as I did, and it was nice to spend time with someone who had a lot of the same interests as me.
CHAPTER FIVE
One minute I was in a deep, peaceful sleep, and in the next, I abruptly found myself wide awake from the loud blast of a shotgun that was followed by the sound of breaking glass downstairs and dogs barking. Leaping from the bed, I grabbed my gun from the nightstand and ran to the landing, where I simply stared in shock at the nightmarish scene below.
The sun was just starting to rise, and in the dimly lit living room, I saw that one of the front windows was halfway busted out, and a horde of zombies was pouring in through the shattered glass. The glass was ripping to shreds their rotting flesh and exposing the bones underneath the flesh, muscles, and tendons. But they didn't even seem to notice as they mindlessly poured in through the window.
It was like something from a horrific nightmare. But, as inventive as my mind was, I doubted that it could have come up with something so detailed. The whole scene reminded me of one of those old religious books with pictures of demons crawling out of hell to wage war on the human world. And at this moment, I could very well believe that hell did, in fact, exist.
"What the hell happened?" I heard Grandma shout behind me. But, I didn't bother answering as I raised my gun and carefully began firing, making sure to aim for the head.
"This will work better for long-range," Mary said and handed me a shotgun, which I gratefully accepted before holstering my handgun. My body was flooded with adrenaline and everything that happened around me during the next few moments felt almost surreal.
"This is just like shooting fish in a barrel," Grandma laughed from her spot at the railing overlooking the living room, and looking at her sparkling eyes and laughing face, I couldn't help thinking that she looked more alive than I had ever seen her.
"It's just like the good old days," Mary replied with a grin as she fired off another shot.
I was aware that Lucas had come out of his room but didn't pay him any attention until he calmly slipped my handgun from my holster and started firing at the horde.
" I need more ammo," I called to Mary after firing my last shot and turned to see that one of the zombies had managed to find his way to the top of the stairs.
Acting more on instinct than anything else, I whirled around and grabbed one of the decorative swords from off the wall, all the while hoping that it was real and not just ornamental. Taking one step forward, I swung the sword with as much force as I could muster, managing to neatly sever his head on the first try. The body toppled sideways over the rail as the head rolled across the landing only stopped when it lodged against the railing. I looked down and almost gagged when I saw that its cloudy blue eyes were staring accusingly at me.
"Hey, there's no time for getting sick, you can do that after all of the Z's have been taken care of," Mary said and handed me a box of ammo.
"I think that was the last one," Sarah called as she fired another shot, hitting a large zombie right in the center of the forehead as it was climbing through the broken window.
"Well, this is going to be one hell of a mess to clean up," Grandma remarked, surveying the trashed living room and stairs that was literally covered in blood, guts, and dead zombies.
"Clean-up is the worst." I shuddered and handed Mary back her still bloody sword.
"Keep it, we still need to secure the barn and outbuildings," she ordered when I started to hand over the shotgun as well.
We went out the back way, which was thankfully free of zombies, dead or otherwise, and spread out to secure the rest of Mary's property. Sarah stayed back at the house with Lucas, and Grandma and Mary took the outbuildings on the west side of the property, which left Moose and me to check out the barn. At eight months old, Moose was still a pup at heart, but like all animals, he had a strong aversion to the undead.
Once inside the barn, everything looked relatively normal, and Moose, who didn't seem unduly concerned, sniffed around a little before lying down in a patch of sunshine by the open door. But I checked everything out to be sure. I had just finished up with the feed storage room when Moose, who was staring out the back door into the trees, stood up and started barking.
I couldn't see anything out there and thought that he probably was b
arking at a squirrel or some other small animal. But it had to be checked out, and you never know there might still be a stray zombie wandering around.
I sighed and picked up the rifle, "Let's go, boy."
Moose started to get more agitated and appeared to be excited as well as apprehensive as we approached the trees, so I suspected that it probably wasn't a squirrel that had set him off. I hesitated at the edge of the forest and considered going back for reinforcements. I didn't like the idea of going into the heavily forested area alone, for one being, I didn't know the region, and with all of the trees, it would be a lot easier for someone or something to get the jump on me. I reached out to grab his collar when he suddenly started barking loudly and ran into the trees.
"Dammit!" I yelled and crashed in behind him, knowing that all of the noise he was making would attract any stray zombie in our vicinity. Mary loved that pup, and the last thing that I wanted was for something to happen to him while he was in my care. But, damn, he sure could run fast.
I was starting to wheeze by the time that I caught up with Moose, and wouldn't you know it; he was just sitting there in an open area in the forest as if nothing had happened.
I dropped to my knees beside him, " What are you doing, dragging me all the way out here, you silly dog." I said between gasping breaths.
Moose gave me a sloppy dog kiss on the face with a funny little bark before staring out into the trees with a puzzled look. I patted him on the head and looked around the clearing but didn't notice anything out of order.
I stood up and hooked his leash onto his collar to make sure that I didn't have any more problems with him running away. "Well boy, whatever you were chasing, it's long gone now, so let's go on back. I don't know about you, but it's way past my breakfast."
I know that it was probably just my imagination, but the whole way back to the barn, I had the uneasy feeling that someone was watching us. Right, when we reached the edge of the trees, I caught a flash of something from the corner of my eye, but when I turned, there was nothing there.