“How do we get down?”
“That’s the part I haven’t figured out.”
“I ain’t trying to bash your plan, but that’s an important part.”
“Will the zombies be waiting for us, or will they be killed, or will the fire even kill them?”
Bill stood up and leaned his gun on the ground.
“Seems to me we don’t have many options, but we need to find some rope or a ladder if we are going to get down. I’m going downstairs to see what I can find.”
From the roof, Bill went through a door that led down into the second floor of the store. It was more of a loft that covered about thirty percent of the store’s footprint. It had shelves with oil filters and air filters on them. There were cobwebs all over, and Bill thought it was used for extra storage, and there were a few, dented metal filing cabinets.
Bill could hear the zombies pounding and ramming the front door. A heavy soda vending machine barricaded the door; he was confident they weren’t getting in.
He opened the cabinets hoping to find something useful. No luck, only old files. He grabbed a file, and it looked like old financial records. Bill dumped the file on to the floor. He made a mental note that they could burn the paper to destroy the zombies.
A thought popped into Bill’s mind. Now, he had killed a significant number of zombies, but he wondered if they ever slept. He hoped that they might all get tuckered out and take a nap. Probably wishful thinking.
Bill left the loft and walked down to the first floor and came to the area behind the register counter. It had tall shelves filled with oil filters, timing belts, motor oil, etc. He knew the motor oil would come in handy.
A sense of nostalgia waved over Bill. He loved going into the auto parts store in Coos Bay to get parts for his engine. One of his best friends, Randy, worked there, and since the whole zombie thing started, he wasn’t sure if Randy survived.
Bill stroked his beard as he surveyed the store. He went up to the counter, which had several computers and registers. On the counter was a display that had lighters. Perfect. Bill shoved a hand full of lighters into his pocket.
The aisles of parts and supplies for the customers had sections for different car parts, but he walked by some tie-down straps. The type of strap someone could use on a truck or flatbed to secure a load. Bingo.
They could extend the straps as far as they could go, and use them like rope and shimmy down from the roof. Their exit strategy was coming together.
Bill burst out of the door onto the roof with a bearded smile.
“Teddy, I got us covered.”
He walked over to Theodore and put the straps down on the ground. They were still in their plastic packaging.
“With the amount of oil they have down there, this place will be burning up real fast,” Bill said as he dumped the lighters onto the ground. “I was thinking, do you think the zombies sleep?”
Theodore looked at the violent zombie hoard that was frantically trying to force their way into the building and eat them.
“Interesting. If we look at the evidence we have, I’d say no. We have never seen a zombie do anything resembling sleeping or relaxing. However, we’ve never been around a zombie for 24 hours, so we can’t say with a 100 percent certainty.”
“I guess it doesn’t matter. We got to burn the place down.”
Theodore laid back down on the ground and closed his eyes.
“Bill now would be a good time to get some sleep.”
“I know Teddy, but I can’t stop thinking about all of the things I miss.”
“What do you miss?”
“I miss going to the bar and seeing my buddies and playing some pool, throwing back a few cold ones. I kind of miss going to work. Do you miss anything, Teddy?”
“I’ll have to think about that for a few minutes.”
Ten minutes later, Bill was looking at the plane. It felt like it was a million miles away.
“There is little I miss because I worked hard to build a life of isolation, but I do miss going to the Momiji restaurant for sushi on Tuesdays. I was a regular and they all knew me. It was my one pipeline into the community. Right or wrong, my life focused on my inventions and my introverted nature was nurtured, but they had good sushi and it was cheap. I can taste the rice, avocado, salmon, cucumber, and seaweed, hitting my mouth right now.”
Theodore still had his eyes closed. Bill decided to lay down too.
Theodore was up and looked at his watch and nudged Bill, who was still asleep.
“Bill, time to wake up. I think the plane has a full charge by now.”
Bill’s eyes flickered open.
“Okay, Teddy. Give me a few minutes.”
“I’m going to locate a bathroom.”
A few minutes later, Theodore returned, and Bill was up and at em.
“You ready?” Theodore said.
“Now or never.”
Together they left the roof and went to the loft. Bill grabbed a lot of paper from the filing cabinet and threw it off the loft. It smashed onto the ground of the first floor. Theodore followed suit and Bill took some crinkled up paper and put it in his pocket.
Then, they moved to the first floor. Bill and Theodore began taking plastic bottles of oil off the shelf, opening the cap and pouring it onto the floor and they made sure to leave an area of the floor clear for them to run back upstairs. Outside of that, the place was a sopping mess of oil.
Bill let out a little laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Theodore asked.
“Nothing. Just wondering if the zombies will slip and fall on all this oil.”
“I’m a little more concerned with getting to the plane in one piece and flying out of this hell hole.”
Bill laughed.
“Come on. You don’t think it would be funny to see zombies fall all over themselves in here.”
“Focus. Let’s focus, Bill.”
Bill mumbled to himself, “I think it’s funny.”
Theodore dumped a container oil out and looked at Bill.
“Do you want the honors of letting the zombies in?”
“Sure. You run on upstairs, I will finish this off.”
Theodore nodded and walked down the one clean part of the floor. Bill counted in his mind, giving Theodore enough time to get upstairs and prepare the straps.
Enough time passed to satisfy the lumberjack, and he walked to the front door. They barricaded the door together, but now the task of undoing it fell on Bill’s large shoulders.
The soda machine lied over sideways, blocking the door. He could hear the zombies smashing into the front door. With his blood pumping, Bill grabbed one end of the soda machine and slid it and then crouched down and pushed forward, and the door was clear. It was still locked, which wouldn’t last long as it would get bashed, but to speed up the process, he unlocked and ran like he just robbed a convenience store. He pulled a lighter out of his pocket.
As he ran down the clear path avoiding oil on the floor, he turned to see the door explode open with a sea of zombies flooding in. He turned his head back and slipped. The lighter fell out of his hand and splashed into the amber oil.
He got to his feet quicker than Bruce Lee could have. The lighter was useless. As the dam broke and zombies began running in, they started slipping on the oil and falling. The thought only lasted a tenth of a second, but Bill laughed. It is the small things in life.
Bill dug his right hand in his pocket and grabbed another lighter, and with his left hand, he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. He lit it and threw it down on the oil. He prayed that it would catch fire.
Sure enough, the flame on the paper held, and it caught the oil on fire. The flame was small at first, and it began to grow like a forest fire. At the stairs, Bill glanced back and saw most of the zombies slipping and sliding, but a few kept going. The flame was taking over the store.
He hurried up to the roof, and once on the roof, he saw that Theodore had tied one end of each strap
around a static vent. Bill asked himself if it was strong enough.
“You should have seen it, Teddy. The zombies were falling all over the place,” Bill shouted.
Theodore ran to the edge and looked down toward the front door and saw the pack of zombies dwindling.
“Bill, how long do you think we have before the building collapses?”
“Ten to fifteen minutes, probably.”
“Do you think the zombies will go up the stairs?”
“Probably not.”
“Let’s wait as long as we can.”
Less than a minute later, and a few zombies came through the door onto the roof. They were on fire. Bill noticed first. He picked up his rifle and POP. POP. Down went two of the zombies. Bill’s gun had a rifle strap, so he put the strap over his shoulder, and the gun was on his back. Theodore’s gun didn’t have a strap, and Bill noticed Theodore looking at the gun.
“Teddy got to go. Leave the gun,” Bill said.
The zombies ran over, and Bill grabbed his strap and gave its tug to make sure that the static vent would hold it. It felt strong enough. He climbed over the two-foot wall and began repelling down the side of the building. Theodore was right behind him.
The zombies had disappeared from the back of the building where they landed. Theodore and Bill’s hands grew red and felt like they had touched a hot stove, but they made it. It felt good as Bill’s work boots hit solid ground.
Bill got his rifle into his right hand, in case he needed to shoot. They ran as fast as they could toward the plane. The zombies seemed to all be in the building. Bill was surprised they all fit inside.
He looked back, and the flame of the building was thirty feet tall, and black smoke floated up. The roof started to cave; the building began to collapse. The stench of dead zombies filled the air and smelled like burnt flesh and rotten meat.
They were out of breath when they arrived at the plane. Bill and Theodore got in, and Theodore couldn’t hit the controls quick enough. The battery had a 98 percent charge. Usually a stickler for the rules, Theodore got the propeller going as fast as he could. A few straggler zombies around the area had drifted over toward them. They had a clear path on the road ahead with no cars.
They were ready, and they began moving forward at 10 mph, then 20 mph, then at 70 mph, and the plane began to lift off the ground.
Bill looked over his left shoulder and saw the auto parts store was nothing but flames. He patted Theodore on the back.
“Woohooo. We did it, buddy.”
Not that they were in the familiar confines of the plane and gaining altitude, all the muscles in Theodore’s face relaxed.
“Oh god, that was close. Did you realize what you did?”
“No, what?”
“You got on the plane without even thinking about your fear of flying.”
“That’s because I didn’t want to get eaten by zombies.”
“That sounds like progress to me. Flying is safer than fighting zombies.”
“Maybe.”
Once they reached a cruising altitude of 6,000 feet, Theodore grabbed his sat phone.
“Bill, why don’t you take over the controls while I give Gavin a call to update him.”
“Copy that, Captain.”
8
Gavin and Katie
Gavin walked into the greenhouse. Katie was on her hands and knees, pulling weeds. No matter how hard one tries, weeds always find their way into a garden.
“Katie. Do you need me to teach you how to garden?” Gavin said as he smirked.
Katie put the weeds she pulled into a blue bucket. She took her gloves off and wiped the sweat off her forehead. A few specks of dirt stayed on her face. It took some time, but Katie started to figure Gavin out.
“Oh, and I guess you are here to teach me,” Katie said.
“Even though I’m busy, yes, I could teach you.”
“I think I’m good. Did you come out here to measure the plants? Dont forget, make sure you brag about your plants.”
“That’s a good idea, but no, I came out here to tell you that my dad just called. They are safe and had to make an emergency landing in Crescent City because of the inverter. They plan on flying to somewhere before dark and spending the night, let the plane charge up more in the morning, and be on their way. They are hoping for an old airport that no people or zombies are at, or just an isolated stretch of highway.”
“Whew. Glad they are safe.”
“They’ll be fine. Come on; I want to show you something.”
“I don’t know. I think I might stay here. There are more weeds I want to pull.”
“Oh come on, don’t be a stick in the mud.”
“What is so cool that you have to show me?”
“Well, if I tell you right now, that ruins the surprise. It will only take a few minutes, trust me.”
Katie stood up.
“Fine. Let’s make it quick.”
Gavin and Katie walked out of the greenhouse. Katie didn’t want to show it, but she was very interested.
Katie asked, “Are you going to give me a hint?”
“Nope. No clue for you.”
They walked toward the forest of tall Douglas Fir trees.
Gavin glanced at Katie, and she still had a little bit of dirt on her face. He really liked it. They were now in the forest, which had underbrush and ferns. The tall fir and pine trees let little light come in.
Katie saw something ahead as Gavin grinned ear to ear. It was a wood structure about twenty feet off the ground.
Katie motioned ahead.
“Is that what you wanted to show me?”
“Yup.”
As they got closer, Katie could see a tree fort was built in a triangle shape and connected to three different trees. A kid didn’t make it. It had four by fours bolted into the trees, and a wooden ladder nailed to one of the trees.
Gavin motioned for Katie to climb up the ladder.
“Ladies first.”
“Aren’t you being the gentleman.”
Gavin gave a crooked smile.
“I do what I can.”
Katie climbed up the ladder, and she couldn’t help but wonder how many other girls Gavin brought out here. She expected there to be a mattress on the floor with scented candles burning.
She came to the base of the building, and it had a trap door of sorts—a square piece of wood on a hinge. Katie pushed up and climbed into the fort. Once Gavin was inside, he closed the floor door so no one could fall to the ground.
“Gavin, this is amazing,” Katie said.
With a triangle footprint, the place was about 60 square feet with an eight-foot ceiling. The room had no mattress but did have two cots. Katie walked over and looked out the one window that had a view of the forest. She saw a squirrel running up the bark of a tree. The room also had a desk with an old ham radio on it.
“This place is beautiful. Not what I was expecting,” Katie said.
“What were you expecting?”
“Not this. I thought—”
“You thought this was my love shack, right?”
Katie’s cheeks burned red with embarrassment, and she wanted to change the subject.
“Oh, wow. The ham radio is cool, but isn’t the forest a bad place to have it?”
“Not exactly. We have the antenna for it on top of the tallest tree, and we have a battery system to power the radio, but it doesn’t get used very often. The glory years out here were my teenage years. My buddies would come to spend the night; we would try to find someone to talk to on the radio, other amateur radio operators.”
“Did you guys ever have any luck reaching anyone? My grandpa had a ham radio, and I’m a little bit of an expert.”
“To be honest, we never used it much. We only talked to an old guy that went by Hammerhead.”
Katie erupted into laughter.
“That was my grandpa. Makes sense since he lived next door. Should we see if we can get it to work?”
“Gi
ve it a shot, but I’d be surprised if the battery has any juice.”
Katie walked over to the radio, which was a black rectangular box with knobs and dials with a microphone plugged in and resting on top.
She turned the switch on, but nothing happened.
“No surprise, I guess. The battery is dead. We should really try to get it going. We might be able to talk to someone and get some news.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
Gavin took his large right hand and wiped the dirt off Katie’s forehead. She jumped back a few steps.
“You had some dirt on your face. I was just getting it off.”
Katie relaxed.
Gavin went in for a kiss. Before his lips hit hers, she moved her face to the left, and he kissed her cheek. Katie was attracted to Gavin but was undecided how she felt about it all.
9
Back in the Air
The Solar Plane was on a ribbon of Highway 101. There were no zombies, people, cars, or houses in sight. Theodore was asleep in the pilot seat as Bill watched the area around the plane like a hawk. Quiet can transform into chaos in an instant, so Bill was always careful. The road had mountains filled with sequoia trees on both sides of the road. The morning sun glimmered over the trees ushering in a new day.
The serenity was nice. The average person could soak in the beauty of the forest, not Bill. He would imagine himself cruising the timber, calculating how many square feet could be harvested from the forest. The old-growth Redwoods he had his eyeballs on were larger and more ancient than anything he had ever cut down. Not once in his life did Bill ever feel bad about cutting a tree down. You can replant trees, and the timber he cut would go off to be made into paper or houses. He had different feelings about these ancient trees. They were old and seemed to have wisdom, and it would be a shame to cut them down. There are plenty of younger trees with a shorter life span. That idea made Bill feel better.
Once Theodore was up, and they made sure the battery was charged at 100 percent, they prepped for take off. Theodore even got out and did a pre-trip inspection. Everything was good.
A Post Apocalyptic Virus Story (Book 2): Surviving The Virus [L.A. Rescue Mission] Page 3