walkers
The Beginning
Zelda Davis-Lindsey
This book is a work of fiction. All characters, names and events are a work of my imagination. Most of the places in the book are real and placed here from my travels as an over the road truck driver.
No portion of the book, whether in print or electronic format, may be duplicated or transmitted without written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.
All Rights reserved
© 2012 Zelda Davis-Lindsey
Self Published in the United States by Zelda Davis-Lindsey
Cover Design Hope Edwards
Dedicated to my family for without their love and support this book would have remained only in my memory.
CHAPTER 1
The zombie froze the same time I did, not five feet away. My heart was racing and my mind kept repeating "Crap, crap, crap". The stench rising from it brought bile to my throat and rotted flesh hung in strips from its stinking body. It was a female, as one breast was visible; swaying heavily each time it moved. Tilting its head, it leaned toward me a bit and sniffed. I would've been offended if I hadn't been so damned scared. It tilted its head back and forth, gave a little snort, turned and shuffled away.
Just like that.
I glanced down at myself as if I could see what offended it. Nope, wasn't me. I haven't had a bath in a bit but I sprayed myself with some Scent be Gone used by hunters to conceal their scent while hunting, so that must of been the reason. It ambled away, listing sharply to one side, bumping repeatedly into the building until it rounded the corner of the building and disappeared.
Walkers have been with us about 6 months now. There were hundreds of stories circulating about what caused them but I don't think anyone really knew. The religious leaders had a field day with it saying it was the wrath of God. But I knew God was a gentle, caring and loving God and He would never put this on his people.
I stood there, knowing I needed to move but was unable to get my body to do more than breathe. I finally braced my hand against the hot, brick building and dragged great, big breaths of humid East Texas air into my lungs until my mind cleared enough to tell me to move. I started to stumble past the front of the building when I heard a soft "whoosh" to my left. I slowly turned my head toward to the noise and stared in stunned disbelief as the door opened... automatically. I could feel the cool air that rushed out and was drawn almost magically into the store.
It was a pet store. One of those that provided designer suits and glitzy what-not’s for your pet It was a strange store for this little Texas town but you never what you're gonna find anymore. It was not my choice of buildings to look for supplies, but what the hell; I was here so I might as well look. I had to carry a backpack in order to leave my gun arm free. Truth be told I don't use a gun, I use a cross-bow because it's a lot quieter. It took me several weeks to get the hang of it cause of the "thunk" it made when it went into a walkers head. However, the ick factor was way off the shudder scale. I tried to ignore it but damn, it was what it was...a quiet way to kill and not attract a herd of walkers when you needed to kill only one. I tried to pull the arrow out a walkers head once but when the brains started to come out also... well, it just didn't work for me. Needless to say I go through a lot of arrows. I had a quiver of arrows attached to each thigh and the bow has a holder built in that holds eight arrows. An infrared camera hung off my belt which allowed me to see heat signatures of the walkers in the dark and in buildings. All the added weight is probably why I've lost so much weight and slimmed down finally.
Muscles took over for the fat and I felt like I'd sweat off five pounds a day in the heat and humidity. It took the world going to hell for me to start looking good and now there wasn't anyone to care. That's the story of my life. I took out the infrared camera and scanned the area. I was alone, at least in the front of the store. I walked over to the checkout counter and collapsed on the top bag of a stack of 50 pound bags of dog food. The cool air made the sweat on my skin congeal and my short, red hair to stick to my forehead. I sighed at the thought of a hot shower, again, as I tugged at the back of my tee shirt to free it from my sweat soaked skin. Some dreams just keep returning.
Taking a deep breath, I got up and began to rummage under the counter for batteries. We never had enough batteries, everything we had needed every size of batteries. For some reason, we had trouble find D cells. I found one of those foot long flashlights and was busy tucking it in my backpack when I heard the soft rush of the door again and dropped down behind the counter. That's when it hit me...electricity!! Automatic doors! Air conditioning! What was I thinking? The sound of footsteps slowly approached the counter then stopped; a male voice from above me said
"Don't ya think we ought to do something about those doors? No telling what might walk in off the street." Smart ass.
I looked up a saw the silhouette of a man with a backpack on or least I hoped that what it was. He was backlit and looked like a big black man-shaped blob. With my luck it was the Hunch Back of Notre Dame, since my luck had been running on the crappy side for a few months.
"Shit, I mean crap" I said, "Who the hell are you?"
I noticed I was still a little shaky from the encounter on the street or I would've thought about turning off the doors myself. It's not like I'm brain dead like the rest of the town, just a bit unnerved. Really!! I began to look around the counter area for something that looked like a switch or whatever it took to turn off the doors when the sound of a car alarm started going off about a block away. We looked quickly at each other, then, like we'd been shot in the butt, frantically began to look for the off switch to the doors before they opened and admitted a herd of walkers. After a harried moment of looking, the black blob sprinted to the back of the store and a few moments later the air conditioning went quiet. He'd shut off the main switch. He started back to the front of the store then stopped abruptly and put his finger to his lips and motioned to the door. I ducked behind a display of cat toys as a walker scuffled past the door toward to the alarm. The doors remained closed. Soon a procession of walkers slowly made their way past the store and down the street towards the noise.
They liked noise, the louder the better; gun shots, door slams, breaking glass, car alarms and here they come. Mouths gaping, arms swinging, eyes unblinking and shuffling along. I saw a couple or em run once but mostly they just shuffle. Bright and shining were next on their list of likes. Flares, flashlights, headlights, fires and reflections, yelled lunch for the undead. I've seen a herd of walkers gathered around wind chimes for days. Yep, wind chimes were a real crowd pleaser for sure. I vowed to never own another one.
As I waited for the procession of the dead to wander down the street to eat the car (just kidding), I secretly examined my new friend. Just a bit taller than my 5'7', his muscular form carried a backpack over one shoulder. I couldn't carry one that way, it kept slipping off. His long, wavy, dark colored hair was sweaty and stuck to his forehead. He smelled sweaty and male. Yep, I was interested. I went back to searching for batteries, flashlights (you never seem to have enough flashlights) and finally found a switch marked "doors”. Motioning to my new best friend, he disappeared into the back and cool sweet air filtered back on. I swiftly flipped the switch to the "off" position and crossed my fingers. Then I worked my way to the back of the store. He was standing near a window and motioned me over to him. We saw a group of about 30 walkers milling around the screeching car bumping it repeatedly. Don't ask
"Names Mason" he whispered, "I thought you'd bought it back there."
"Yea, me to," I replied quietly, "I'm J.D'.
I'd been chased from one end of this town to the o
ther. It allowed me to figure out the lay of the land and where most of the stores were located also. I set up experiments with smells to see what drew them, like dead animals (nope, they had to be kicking), perfume (stuck up their noses, Elizabeth Taylor would have been pissed) and cooked meat opposed to raw, no response. I lost a lot of weight, nearly wet myself a few times and learned where my gag reflex was located, repeatedly.
Mason moved comfortably as someone who was confident with himself as well he should be. I thought about peeking into his mind but just because you're a telepath doesn't mean you should go around willy nilly reading people’s minds. When I was small and still learning, I received a lot of information I still can't get rid of. Sometimes, if someone is a strong sender you get stuff anyway. It just happens. I did find out I can't read the walkers, nothing there I guess.
"What did you come in here for?" he asked.
"What did you come here for" I asked at the same time.
"You first" we both said.
I held up a hand to quiet him and motioned him away from the window. Before I could say anything a low buzzing sound came from my backpack. Holding up my finger in the universal sign of "just a minute", I started digging through my pack for my walkie and said quietly, "I'm fine, wait a minute".
To Mason I said "The others would have heard the car alarm and are wondering if I'm ok, so I need to take this. If you're one of "The Three Musketeers" that's have been chasing us for the past month, then you should know we change the codes regularly.
Understood?"
He frowned slightly, definitely not understanding, and finally said "Go for it", and walked back to the front of the store while I walked over to a display of dog collars and pressed the mike button.
"The tree has lost its leaves" then smiled and said "Mercy has a brand new shoe". In other words, I'm on my way back and I have a surprise for you so be ready. If I had to take Mason back with me, then the others won't be surprised by him and would be waiting armed and ready. We'd been followed and harassed for over a month by three fools on motorcycles. The three numbskulls rode around on Harley's and wore black. There are so many things wrong with this picture I don't know where to start. Harley's are loud so the fools were usually followed by procession walkers. The black clothes well, really? In Texas? In July? I'm surprised they've survived as long as they have but not surprised they are after us. We have food and arms....something they want but are too lazy to get on their own. I mean really, it's free. Just go get it. Sheesh! I don't know if Mason is involved but it's best to be prepared. I also wasn't sure how dangerous these nutcases were so we were very careful.
"Well as much as I hate to leave this wonderful cool store, I need to get back. You are welcome to join us if you're not part of the Stupid Squad or trying to rob us. We don't play fair, though so be warned. You try anything, you will die. Understood?"
"Perfectly." His smile lit up the world, and then he turned toward the door and came face to face with a walker. Sure there was a door between them but it doesn't lessen the heart attack any less.
"Shit" he muttered, then stumbled back into a display of dental products for pets.
We both headed for the back of the building at a run while the walker beat on the front door. Mason paused long enough to shut down the electricity. I gave a thumbs up at the action. If we don't get air conditioning, they don't either. At the back door I loaded my bow while Mason checked the alley. We slowly crept out and when he started to turn left I tapped his shoulder, making him jump a foot and motioned to the right. He blushed, then shrugged and headed that direction. Near the street there was a dumpster we hid behind while I indicated to him with hand signals that we needed to go right for two blocks then left at the next block. He gave thumbs up, looked around the dumpster and ran to the corner of the building, looking both ways he motioned me up to him and we began the exciting but uneventful trip back to the library. When we got to there, I stopped him and pointed at the fire escape stairs. Grabbing a bent pipe I reached up, snagged the bottom stair and pulled it down to us. He ran up the stairs and when I got to the landing, I pulled the stair back up and secured them with a piece of chain so it couldn't be pulled back down.
When we got to the roof, I led him to the roof hatch, bent down and knocked three times. Metal on metal indicated it was being unlocked and then it opened and a small figure appeared
“Hurry" they said. "The Stupid Squad is coming"
We hurried down the ladder and just before I closed the hatch I heard the unmistakable sound of motorcycles. Shaking my head I locked the hatch and followed Mason as he was led back to the library reading room. He stopped in the doorway so I quietly said "Excuse me”, and gently pushed past him into the room. The library’s reading room was at the center of the building. Stacks of books filled rooms on three sides with the checkout desk and reference room in front. Each of the doors were locked for safety but the librarian's office was to the rear of the reading room with an attached bath on one side and a door closed on a stairway leading upstairs. It was our way in and out of the building unseen. The reading room itself boasted three large sofas, and fireplace. We slept on the sofas and could use lanterns with the doors closed. I had a stack of plastic tubs filled with books on Medicine, gardening, sewing, raising livestock, first aid, computer science etc.
I went out every day and collected every arrow or shaft and tip I could find along with cases of MRE's (meals ready to eat) from the local Army/Navy store. I had tried the local Wal-Mart store but as usual it was crowded but not with the living. I ended up at the mom and pop stores and convenience stores. Bottle water, medical supplies and drugs and antibiotics were also on the list. The survival books told me what to do and I had been very busy.
Once I figured I knew as much as I needed (or wanted) to about walkers, I spent most of my time closeted in the library reading survival books and magazines. There was even a "Zombie Survival Guide" printed before the walkers appeared. I bet reality was a shock for him. I made lists and checked them twice.
I shared the library with my sister, Lacy. She's 16 and fulfilling every horror story I had ever heard about teenagers. She's was pretty, doe eyed, cheerleader back home. Our mom, dad and Lacy were living in Florida when the virus hit. I was keeping Lacy company for them while they were on vacation in Italy. On the return trip the pilot died in flight. We'd made it to East Texas on our way to Montana when our pickup truck died. I had plans to get a new truck from the local dealership on the other side of town but then thought a RV would be a better way to go. I mean, I don't have to be picky anymore right? Might as well go for it, she was having a hard time of it with mom and dad dying and zombies trying to eat her. Tall and gangly like most girls her age she somehow made it work for her. She has a high forehead and square chin, thanks to dad, but the button nose, supple lips and big brown eyes were all mom. It worked well for her although there wasn't anyone for her to flirt with it anymore. We were coping and trying to remain upright in the process. So far, so good.
"Everyone this is Mason. He' a cool head in an emergency, doesn't argue and has a weird sense of humor. Mason, the gang. I need to change clothes. Lacy, I need to talk to you.”
Leaving the room I walked into the office then into the bathroom. Turning on the battery powered lantern, I started disrobing and reached for the baby wipes. Cleaning off the Scent Be Gone and a lot of the sweat, I changed into new clothes (we didn't have a washer and dryer) and smiled at the cute teenage in the mirror.
"Man, that is one fine piece of man-flesh if I've ever seen one" she sighed, then put down the toilet lid and sat on it. "Where did you find him and can I have him?
"You have never seen "a fine piece of man flesh" in your life and no you can't have him. He isn't a toy no matter how badly you want to play with him."
"Wow, big surprise there." she started playing with the fringe of her shirt. "Before you ask, Duke is monitoring the Leathernecks and he said they went on by. What did you bring back other than the god of a
ll gods?"
After running a brush through my short hair, I turned toward the sink and fished out two bottles of water and started back to the office with Lacy following closely.
"I found two more flashlights, D cell batteries, and a huge box of candy bars. It is hotter than Hades out there and getting hotter so I don't know what kind of condition they're in."
Walking into the reading room, I handed a bottle of water to Mason who was sitting comfortably on the couch with one leg crossed at the knee and his arms slung across the back. He smiled, opened the bottle and took a deep drink. Saluting me with the bottle he glanced around the room and then examined Lacy a little too closely.
"This is Lacey. She's 16 years old and my sister. Any questions?" The room was quiet as everyone watched the stranger.
"They all related to you or just her?"
"Just her. Duke over there is our tech officer. The pretty lady next to him is Sarah, his wife. She was a corporate lawyer in Atlanta before the walkers and a damned fine cook. Hiding behind her is Mandy. She doesn't have much to say. We found her hiding in a storage shed. Howard, our mechanic and truck driver is getting things ready so we can leave in the morning. He should be back soon."
Mandy peeked from around Sarah, smiled at Mason and quickly hid again. She was a dirty little thing when we found her. How she managed to survive as long as she had surprised all of us. Skinny and smelling to high heaven, we were delighted to find a blond haired, blue eyed little girl under all that grime. She slept for two days after we finally filled her belly. She had attached herself to Sarah and Duke and they seemed fine with it. Duke and Sarah was a happy encounter, although he nearly scared the crap out of me. He was hiding inside a dryer at an appliance store. Since he's a little person he couldn't see over the appliances when he heard me coming so he hid. When I walked by he knocked on the glass till he got my attention, then grinned like a Cheshire cat when I bent to look inside. He is also crazy about Hawaiian shirts. He brought Sarah back to the library to meet us and we've been together ever since.
Walkers (Book 1): The Beginning Page 1