Savannah's Only Zombie (Book 1): A New Death

by Josh Vasquez

  Jeremy smiled and nodded. He pulled the jeep up to the gate and Ben quietly jumped out. He pushed the gate open wide enough for the jeep to fit through and then once Jeremy was through, closed it back shut. He pulled the chain through the chain-link fence and wrapped it around the posts of the gate. He decided to leave it unlocked, in case they had to bug out in a hurry. Zombies should not be able to get the chain off.

  Jeremy parked the jeep in front of the warehouse and shut the engine off. He stepped out, grabbing the machete and Ben’s hatchet. He left the guns in the console. Don’t want to make too much noise. The whole area was shrouded in silence.

  As they walked up to the door to the warehouse, he handed the hatchet to Ben.

  “Better be safe than sorry,” he said.

  Ben nodded. They both took a deep breath before Jeremy pulled the door open. The lights were on. Somebody must have left in a hurry. The warehouse itself was pretty open. There were stacks of sheet metal and machinery scattered throughout. To the right as they walked in was a picnic table and a small office behind a window. Ben walked over to the window and peered inside.

  “What is this place?” Jeremy asked.

  “Mock Plumbing and Mechanical,” Ben said from the office. “It’s some sort of plumbing company.”

  He was holding up a business card. Jeremy continued to look around, taking in the place where they might be spending the night. A large pile of air duct sat next to one of the large loading doors. That must be what they make here. Duct for air systems and stuff. A large, flat-bed truck with metal gates down the side sat further down at the next loading door.

  “Hey, Ben, I think they make other stuff here too. There’s a huge pile of air duct over here, so maybe they do more than just plumbing,” he said across the warehouse.

  No answer.

  “Ben?”

  Silence. Jeremy turned around to see what was going on. There was Ben with his hands up. And a man. And a woman. They were both holding guns, the man’s shotgun pointed at Ben and the woman’s pistol pointed at Jeremy.

  “Looks like you boys are gonna have to find some other place to play tickle the pickle,” the man said with a crooked grin.

  Chapter Ten

  “Huh?” Jeremy said.

  “You know, tickle the pickle? Hide the salami? Look, however you guys need to express yourself, sexually, well that’s your choice,” the man asked.

  “What does that even mean?” Ben asked, slightly turning to see the man with the gun pointed to his back.

  “You guys are gay right? I’m not judging, to each his own…”

  “No!” Ben and Jeremy shouted at the same time. The guy laughed and the woman stepped forward.

  “You’re going to have to forgive Lexx here, he’s… well he’s stupid,” she said. “You two planning on stayin here? Cause we already had the place scoped out.”

  “Yeah, dibs,” Lexx said.

  Jeremy held his hands out in front of him.

  “Look, can you at least put the guns down? We’re not gonna cause any problems. We’re just tired and need a place to rest,” he said in the calmest voice he had.

  Ben shot him a look that clearly said, ‘What the hell are you doing?’

  “We don’t know what is going on out there,” Jeremy continued, ignoring Ben’s looks. “We already had enough run-ins with the zombies to-”

  “Zombies?” Lexx interrupted. “You think they’re zombies? Like in the movies?”

  He started laughing uncontrollably, putting his gun down. He bent over holding his stomach.

  “This kid thinks they’re zombies,” he choked out between laughs. “Tori, did you hear him?”

  She just shook her head, annoyed with her counterpart, and lowered her weapon. Her glare stayed on Jeremy though. Her bright green eyes cut right into him. The stare might have been worse than the pistol. She stood her ground. Lexx stood back up from laughing, wiping tears away from his eyes.

  “Woo. That’s rich kid. Whataya? Fifteen? Sixteen?” He asked, still chuckling to himself.

  “I’m nineteen,” Jeremy said, highly annoyed. “If they’re not zombies, then what are they?”

  Lexx cocked his head to the side and looked at Jeremy. He just glared at him for a few seconds.

  “You gettin’ smart with me?” he asked, still looking Jeremy in the eyes.

  Jeremy looked over at Ben and then at the woman.

  Is this guy for real? He thought.

  Lexx walked over to Jeremy, never losing eye contact. He got right in his face. He smelled of cheap cologne. The kind that came out of an aerosol can. It burned the nostrils.

  “They are obviously very sick people. Infected with some crazy virus. They ain’t zombies kid,” he said, very seriously. The man who was all chuckles a moment ago was now as serious as (insert something serious here). He turned and looked at Tori, pointing his thumb at Jeremy.

  “Can you believe this kid?” He muttered. “Fuckin’ zombies.”

  “Alright, this has been fun, but I think it’s time for you two to leave now,” the woman said.

  Jeremy took a step closer to them; they both raised their guns in response.

  “Whoa. Wait,” he started, holding his hands up. “Why can’t we both stay here tonight? We can all take turns with keeping watch, that way we all can get some sleep. We’re exhausted; I’m sure y’all are too. In the morning, we can go our separate ways. It’s a win-win for everybody.”

  Tori and Lexx both looked at each other. Lexx was shaking his head adamantly no. Tori pursed her lips together and glared at him. He nodded his head and mouthed, ‘ok.’

  “Deal,” She said. “But in the morning, you’re gone.”

  Jeremy held his hand out to shake. She grabbed it and gave him the firmest handshake he had ever received.

  “You two sure you don’t need to get your mommy’s permission first before you spend the night,” Lexx jeered.

  “Hey man,” Ben said. “The kid just lost his mom.”

  Jeremy had tensed up at the statement and not realized it until Ben spoke up. He shook his head, trying to fight back the emotions that were welling up inside of him.

  “Hey, sorry kid, I didn’t know,” Lexx backpedaled. “Like Tori said, I’m dumb.”

  “It’s cool man. You didn’t know.”

  “Listen,” Tori interrupted. “We were in the middle of checking the perimeter when we saw you two pull up. It looks like this place is pretty secure. However, we’re going to have to figure out some way to secure that front gate,” she said. “I don‘t really want to lock a padlock with no key.”

  Jeremy looked back to the truck.

  “What if we take that truck and park it in front of the gate?” He asked. “That way, we could still get out easily but it would stop them from getting in.”

  Tori looked at the truck and nodded.

  “That should work. Good idea,” she said, impressed.

  She looked at Lexx and he nodded. He went into the office and found the key box. He grabbed a handful of keys and made his way to the truck. The two of them seemed to have the same “telepathic” communication that Jeremy and Ben shared. Tori turned her attention to Ben.

  “So, what’s your name?” She asked.

  “Ben.”

  “Well, Ben,” she started. “Why don’t you go and check all the doors. Make sure they are all secure and locked. If the front one was unlocked, there’s a good chance the others might be too.”

  Ben nodded and walked off. Now it was just Jeremy and Tori. They both stared each other down for a minute; both of them sizing one another up. Jeremy struggled to look her in the eyes. He couldn’t help but to notice how beautiful the woman was. Now, then again, he might have been slightly biased since he had been mostly surrounded by dead chicks who have been trying to eat him, but no, Tori was easy on the eyes.

  She looked like a runner. Not the dead ones. Her body was tight and slender. She had the potential to kick Jeremy in half. Despite the fact that she had pro
bably been fighting for her life for the past couple hours, she was still well put together. Her scrunchy blonde hair was pulled back into a pony tail. She was wearing a loose-fitting Foo Fighters t-shirt and blue skinny jeans which had a few blood stains on them, but for the most part, she looked clean. Pristine almost.

  The truck roared to life across the warehouse. Jeremy snapped out of his daze. Tori walked outside to watch as Lexx parked the truck. Jeremy followed her out. Lexx pulled the truck out in front of the gate and parked it parallel with the fence. He had to climb out the passenger side door due to parking the truck so close to the gate and fence. After climbing under the truck, he closed the gate shut.

  “That should do it,” he said, walking back towards the building.

  The three of them walked back into the building to see Ben standing by the picnic table.

  “Hey,” he started. “In the back, there’s an area that is kinda closed off. Some sort of tool room. We could sleep in there, just in case any of those things get in the warehouse, we’d still have one last line of defense. Also, I found this foam insulation stuff we can use as beds.”

  “Good,” Tori said. She smiled for the first time.

  The four of them made their way back to the tool room. It was walled off by two large sets of shelves. A large iron gate marked “MOCK TOOL ROOM” was the only way in. The four of them walked in and Lexx shut the door behind them. Ben had already taken the foam insulation and torn it into four body length mats.

  “It ain’t a bed, but it’s better than nothing,” he said as he passed them out.

  Lexx began to move some stuff off one of the shelves, transforming it into a makeshift bunk bed. Tori did the same above him. Jeremy laid his down on a workbench and Ben just put his on the floor.

  “Did you see the bathroom too?” Ben asked after placing his mat down.

  “Yeah, does it work?” Lexx asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ll go check it out,” Ben replied.

  He walked out, closing the door behind him.

  “Hey, hit some of the lights off too. I got a lantern up on this shelf we could use for light instead,” Lexx called out.

  “Alright,” Ben yelled back.

  What was almost a bad situation just a few minutes ago; it now felt that both pairs felt comfortable with each other. Comfortable enough to sleep near each other. The fact that no one was trying to eat each other helped a bit too. When it came down to it, human is human. You’ll take what you can get.

  Tori jumped down from her shelf, grabbing both Jeremy and Lexx’s attention.

  “Sorry boys, but I have to do this,” she said, reaching her hand up into the back of her shirt. There was a faint click, and then she pulled her arms into her shirt one at a time until she reached up the front, and pulled out her bra. Lexx and Jeremy both just watched, jaws dropped.

  “Be free boobies,” she said, throwing her bra back on her shelf, rubbing her chest, and then climbing back up to her spot.

  “That was the coolest thing I have ever seen,” Lexx said.

  “Yeah, well wait til I drop a deuce later. You won’t think girls are so ‘cool’ then,” she shot back.

  “O-M-G. Will you marry me?” Lexx asked.

  “Not if you were the last man on earth.”

  “I wouldn’t say that too soon darlin,” Lexx said with a chuckle.

  The lights went off. Lexx turned his lantern on. The little thing put off some good light, for the most part the tool room was lit. Ben walked back in and lay down on his makeshift bed.

  “Did I miss anything?” Ben asked.

  “Only the coolest thing ever,” Lexx said.

  The three of them laughed, Ben sat up and gave them a puzzled look.

  “What happened?” He asked.

  “Uh, only Tori taking her bra off without taking her shirt off, nothing major,” Lexx said. “Tell him how awesome it was Jeremy.”

  Jeremy didn’t say anything for a minute. Tori sat up and looked over at him. He shrugged.

  “Ok, it was kinda cool,” he admitted.

  “Kinda cool? You sure you’re not gay, kid? That was freaking amazing,” Lexx rambled.

  Tori shot Jeremy a quick smile and lay back down. There was silence for a few minutes. Jeremy tried his best not to think about Tori taking her bra off. He was in plain sight of her and Lexx; he did not need to be pitching a tent where they could see him.

  “Anybody else feel like we’re at summer camp?” Lexx asked.

  “You just don’t shut up do you?” Ben asked back.

  “No, he doesn’t,” came Tori’s voice from her shelf.

  “Well, fine then, why doesn’t somebody else talk then? Jeremy how’s you end up with Benny boy here?” Lexx huffed.

  So, Jeremy told them. He told them about the grocery store. He told them about Ashley and Brian. And how they died. He paused after telling them about his mother. After a minute, he cleared his throat and told them about the Padre. He told them what the Padre said about what was going on. Lexx chuckled to himself up in his “bunk”. Jeremy continued and explained how the Padre sacrificed his life so that Jeremy could escape. He explained how much of a douche bag his father was. He ended with the rednecks, the fast zombies, and meeting Ben.

  “So, yeah, that’s how I got here,” Jeremy said.

  There was silence for a few minutes as the other soaked in his story.

  “Ok. Well I’ll go next then,” said Ben. He sat up on his bed and began to talk.

  Chapter Eleven

  “I was visiting my grandmother in the hospital. My adopted grandmother. You see, I’m adopted. My parents are uh… white. So you can imagine the looks I was getting visiting this elderly white woman.

  ‘Why is this young black man coming to see this old white lady?’

  Can you believe that? I know we’re in the south, but for race to still be such a big issue, it just doesn’t make sense. It’s 2013 people, c’mon. I guess having our first black president didn’t change anything like people hoped, not that I voted for that clown.

  Anyways, she was in the hospital recovering from a pretty minor procedure. She didn’t come out of it too well, so they put her into a medically induced coma so that she could heal properly. She’d been in there three days so far. Between me and my parents, we always made sure somebody stopped in to check on her.

  I had just gotten off work and was stopping by to see her. I replaced her flowers with some new ones I grabbed from the gift shop on my way up. She always loved flowers. She had a garden of her own that she tended to up until her surgery last week. She had me out in that garden so many summers of my childhood. I’ve been making sure to stop by her house to water her garden too.

  I didn’t stay long because a nurse came into the room to give my grandmother’s roommate a sponge bath. The elderly woman gave me a wink as she began to slip off the top of her hospital gown. I’m gonna be honest, I’ve seen a lot of scary stuff in the past twenty-four hours, but I’m still gonna put that in the top five.”

  Everyone chuckled.

  “As I was walking out,” Ben continued. “I noticed the hospital seemed really busy. I couldn’t tell you what ‘normal’ hospital busy looks like, but it was a lot more busy than when I walked in. Phones were ringing, names were being paged over the intercom, and nurses scurried back and forth all over the place. Hell, looking back on it now, I think I knew something had gone wrong. It’s funny how we just refuse to believe that sometimes things go south.

  When I finally made it outside, I noticed that the emergency room loading area was slammed with ambulances and cars. Paramedics and doctors were frantically trying to get everyone inside and treated, but there were just too many of them. Doctors began treating patients right there. I heard mothers wailing, husbands shouting, and doctors barking orders. It was complete chaos. My first thought was there had been a terrorist attack.

  Can you believe that? It’s been over a decade since the towers fell and that’s still my first thought. Seems fair
enough though, especially with the way our government fumbled over the embassy attack. Anytime some big disaster happens, that thought is there creeping up in the back of our minds. I quickly realized that this was no terrorist attack once I took a good look at the wounded.

  The majority of the wounds all seemed very minor. Scratches, cuts, small wounds. It sent shivers down my spine. Why all this fuss for something that some alcohol pads and a bandage could fix? It wasn’t adding up. This was something more than some cuts and bruises. I mean, I’m no doctor, but I could tell by the doctor’s faces that this was serious situation. Every single one of them had the same look on their face that said, ‘This doesn’t make sense.’ Every single one.

  It was then that I saw the first of those things. What are we calling them? Zombies?”

  Lexx cleared his throat.

  “Sick people,” Ben added.

  Lexx nodded affirmation.

  “At the time I didn’t think anything about it, whatever they’re called,” Ben continued. “It just seemed really strange that in the midst of all this chaos, this one woman stood there in a daze, motionless. Her eyes were dull and grey. Her hair disheveled, like she had just gotten out of bed. She was dressed like it too. A tank top, no bra, and those short shorts that have the writing on the back. You know the ones I’m talking about? The ones that trick you into reading it and then you realize you’ve been staring at the girl’s butt for a minute. If she hadn’t been dead, she would have been pretty cute. Is that weird? Can I say that out loud or are you judging me? I’m feeling judged. I didn’t know, ok?

  She stood there like a statue. Not moving, not even blinking. A nurse finally ran up to her and tried to see if she could dress the wound on her right forearm. It was a small, round mark. It looked like a bite mark. Her eyes followed the nurse’s face, still never blinking, just staring. The nurse went to put a bandage on the bite and the girl moaned in response. That was the first time I heard ‘the moan.’ I don’t think I’ll ever forget it too. There was a pain and agony in it that shook me to my core.

  The nurse tried her best to calm her patient down, but was rewarded with a mouthful of teeth to the face. One bite, two bites, three bites before two doctors tackled her to the ground. It was too late though, as blood poured from the nurse’s face. She fell to her knees as she coughed and spurted. Blood was steadily flowing into the hole where her nose had been. The woman was choking to death on her own blood.