The Living Saga (Book 1): Surviving
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“That’s the thing,” replied Denise, “almost. What about when we run out of what we need? And what about things that we need now that we don’t have?”
Everyone fell silent thinking about what else there was. “We can go out and get -” Charlie started but was cut short.
“You most certainly cannot,” Eliza said. “It’s dangerous out there. There were so many people in this building, and school was even shut down that day. What do you think the store will be like?”
“Well, we know a little bit more now and I think we can get away with a short trip to a small store to steal some things. It's not like they will miss them anyway.”
Eliza started to argue again, but this time, it was her turn to be cut off by her youngest son. “I’ve been thinking about that and have an idea. I need to see about it first, but I think we can make it work. But not today. I haven’t slept in a while and I’m pretty tired. Everyone just needs to get a list of what they need,” Cedric paused, “and a second list of what they want.” With that, he turned around and walked to a corner where he got into his sleeping bag and pulled it over his head. Through the cloth, he could still hear the argument going, but before he could determine any part of it, he was asleep.
Ross stood frozen with his back against the wall. He suddenly wished he had taken the other way around the building instead. He slowly shuffled his feet as he was contemplating on whether to run or not. The infected took this as their cue that prey was escaping. The five of them simultaneously started running at full speed toward him. He raised his gun and started firing at them, but only one fell. After he had emptied his magazine completely, he dropped the gun in his pocket and started to run toward the car.
The commotion had roused the other three infected to his presence and they were now in pursuit. As soon as he was close enough, Ross swung the golf club and felt the crunch as the head met the skull of the man to the right. He swiftly ran around them, but a hand clenched to his shirt and pulled back, he swung his club again. The second fell but the blow had knocked the head of the golf club off. He rammed the stump of the club into the eye socket of the third infected, a woman who was already missing half her face, and she crumbled to Ross’s feet.
He only had time to register that the other five were almost at him now. He turned and ran as fast as he could, pulling the keyless remote from his pocket. He pressed the unlock button at least six times, making sure that the car got the command. Ross grabbed the door handle and pulled, but felt something smash into his arm, crumpling his wrist and fingers. He didn’t have time to look, he just started running again, knowing he had failed.
Every time his feet hit the ground, it jarred his wrist and sent fresh spasms of pain shooting through his arm, but he did not stop running. He made it to the neighboring store, Wal-Mart, and ran through the open front door. He knew that there had to be more infected in here, but he was hoping he could find some way to escape.
Once inside, Ross noticed that a scissor-lift had been left halfway down the first aisle. He put on a second burst of speed, not caring about the new infected that came running at the sound of his shoes hitting the linoleum. He reached the lift and propelled himself up the short metal ladder and over the guardrail. Ross roughly turned the key and slammed his hand against the lift control so hard that the plastic lever cracked. The lift began its ascent with a grinding, whirring noise.
He looked over the edges to make sure that he was safe from the infected before he collapsed. This was not an ideal place to be. The basket was not long enough to stretch out, but at least he was out of reach.
He could feel his heart pounding rapidly as he thought about his current predicament. How stupid can I get! He told himself in his head, I’ll just stroll out to the car in a zombie infested area and calmly drive it to the back door. Idiot!
Ross waited until he was calmed down before standing back up and looking over the edge again. Seeing the infected below him, it reminded him vaguely of being stuck on the top bay of the stockroom at work. He tried to stay calm as he thought of a plan to get out of here. When he grabbed the rail, a sharp pain shot through his arm again and he realized he had hurt it when one of the infected ran into it.
Ross grimaced as he felt along his wrist and fresh pain seared through him. He wondered if it was broke. He found some duct tape in the toolbox strapped to the side of the rails and wrapped it upside down around his wrist and hand. He then wrapped one more layer right side up. He didn’t want it to stick to his skin, and he hoped it would provide at least some protection.
He started to drive the scissor lift toward the front door but realized that the only way he could get out was to lower it all the way, which would make it easy for the infected to get him. He then adopted a new course and drove it into the grocery aisle. He was able to lower it enough that he could grab food from the top shelf, but this was a very limited selection.
He sat back down, eating his meal of freshly squandered bread and a two liter of root beer he was able to get and stared at the door. Ross sighed as he glanced through the railing down at the floor to see that the infected had not left him yet. He closed his eyes and laid his head back.
Cedric woke up only a few hours later to a warm, slimy thing combing over his face. He opened his eyes to see Cisco’s narrow face right next to his, licking him. He immediately pushed the dog away and sat up. Until recently, Cisco had spent most of his time asleep. Cedric wondered if it was Benadryl induced to keep the barking down in such a high-stress situation. Cisco jumped in Cedric’s lap. He scratched the dog behind the ears as he talked to Charlie.
Cedric questioned his older brother about the body that was in one of the classrooms and Charlie had told him that he and Ben had taken it outside.
Most of the people were still sitting around in the classroom, and the rest were in the kitchen that joined to it through a small doorway. After a short, cold meal, Cedric grabbed Charlie’s elbow and motioned him to follow. They walked through the kitchen and grabbed Ben and Jack. Cedric lead the way to the shop where Charlie’s truck was parked. He quickly explained the plan he had mentioned earlier that day before he went to sleep. He thought that they could use the metal in the shop, and the welders, to reinforce the trucks. They could easily drive straight through a hoard of the infected without any real damage to the vehicle.
“We are not ruining my truck by turning it into a tank,” Charlie shouted when his younger brother finished explaining his plans.
Cedric only stared at his brother for a moment before replying, “What about what you did to your house?” He knew that his brother liked his truck more than the house, but he still wondered why his brother wouldn’t even consider doing this.
Charlie just got red in the face but didn’t say anything so Cedric continued, “Your truck is the largest. We can make it the best so that we can just drive through the front door of any store and quickly hop out and get the things we need. It’s the safest way.”
Charlie didn’t seem that convinced, mainly because it was his truck they were altering, but agreed after a little more coaxing from Cedric and Jack.
Again, though, Ben did not like the idea at all, and Cedric wondered if it was because it was his idea. Ever since Cedric had opened the gate to save Adam’s life, Ben had mostly ignored what he had to say. Cedric knew that if it were up to Ben, they would all still be in Charlie’s house.
When Cedric started gathering the kinds of metal he needed to work, Ben stalked away back toward the kitchen muttering about stupid children.
It took them the rest of the day to format the truck, and then the Jeep with metal. They reinforced the bumpers, put guards going around the tires and bars over all the glass. Jack even constructed a domed cage to go over the bed of the truck, so if needed, someone could even safely ride back there.
When they were done with their work, Cedric thought this must look a lot what a truck would have looked like in medieval times. It was too late for them to go that day, so they went b
ack to the classroom where their things were.
Cedric went over what they intended to do while Ben shook his head. From the reactions he got and the questions the others asked, he realized that Ben must have told them the plan in such a way that it made it sound stupid and reckless. He didn’t care though because everyone knew that they needed supplies and that no one else could think of a better way to get them.
The next morning Cedric woke up and saw that Charlie and Jack were already eating their breakfast, so he joined them. Nobody said much as they ate, and when they were done they began getting their gear on. Cedric put on a pair of overalls, welding jacket, safety glasses and a dust mask he had gotten from the shop. He then slid the holster to his pistol on his belt, and his metal pipe right next to it. Last he slung a shotgun over his shoulder. The welding jacket and overalls were thick so they would help protect him from bites on his limbs, and the glasses and mask would help to keep the infection from contaminating him. The news reports said that the infection wasn’t airborne, but Cedric didn’t want body fluids splashing in his mouth or eyes.
When he came out of the classroom he had changed in, he saw that Jack and Charlie were similarly dressed, even though they were the ones who would be driving. They all three kept shifting their stares at each other until Jack said, “Well, who ya gonna call?”
“Welcome to Tennessee,” Hank read aloud as he passed the sign. “Never thought I would be happier to see this.” He plucked a pack of cigarillos from his shirt pocket and put one in his mouth. He was exhausted. Except for the one incident, he only left his truck twice a day. Once about noon to fill up his gas, and once before dark. He had thought that he wouldn’t have enough fuel at first. But he did manage to find a couple of abandoned cars in a parking lot. He managed to siphon gas from them to refuel his truck and spare gas tanks.
He only slept about three hours a night and the physical fatigue was beginning to carve into his features. His eyes were beginning to sink in and his skin was starting to look dry and wrinkled. He noticed the changes in the rearview but didn’t linger on them for long.
Hank calculated his distance out before looking at his clock on the dashboard. “Let’s see. It's four a.m. now. I should be there before noon,” he said, yawning through the last part.
Ross groaned as he looked over the side of the scissor lift again and saw that the infected were still there. In fact, there were now more of them. He sat back down and felt the twinge of pain go through his arm. After a few hours of being up in the lift, he had to remove the tape because his arm was swelling. He then saw his arm now had a large bluish red bruise covering it and his two middle fingers.
He had wanted to tape it back up but couldn’t. Ross had managed to live in the scissor lift for three days now and was worried he would be here for a while more. The pain was past unbearable and to the point of insanity. He had no way to get out of the lift safely because wherever he drove it, the infected would follow. It drove slow enough that it just bumped them out of his way without harming them.
Ross had just closed his eyes again when he heard a thunderous boom come from the front door. He shot up in the lift to see that a truck, decked out in armor, was barreling through the store. It was followed by a Jeep that was likewise clad in armor. He smiled and waved his good arm shouting at the arrival.
“Just give it some gas and hold on to your ass,” Charlie said to himself as he floored the accelerator in the parking lot. He was aimed straight at the front door of Wal-Mart. Cedric grabbed the handle above his head and prepared for the impact. At the last second before the truck crashed through the doorway, they both closed their eyes.
A few seconds later Cedric opened his to see dust and debris flying all around the truck as it barreled through the aisle, plowing everything it met from its path. Then the sickening crunch he had heard a few nights previous started again as the truck met the infected humans. The men and women were thoughtlessly running in front of the truck.
“What the?” Charlie asked as he slowed the truck leaning forward. He gazed out of the windshield to something above.
Cedric too leaned forward and saw that a man was waving and shouting at them. He couldn’t hear him over the roar of the diesel engine, though.
A few feet from the lift the man was on, Charlie stopped the truck, “What do ya think Ced?” he asked but Cedric was already climbing out with his shotgun raised.
He ran around the front of the truck firing slug after slug at the infected humans that stood before him. When he was out of shells, he slammed the butt of the gun into the head of one and the barrel into another. He abandoned his gun sliding it through the bars of the cage that surrounded the truck bed and drew his pipe.
He began shouting as he delivered blow after blow to the infected. There were more than he had first thought, but it was too late for him to turn around to get back into the truck. Somewhere to his left, he heard a rifle begin firing and knew that Jack was helping the best he could, the plan was that neither Jack nor Charlie left the truck: no matter what, they were the drivers.
After what seemed to Cedric like hours, though it was only a few minutes, he struck the last infected human that was there. His arms felt like they were covered in lead and his back ached from the fighting, but he didn’t drop his guard. It was another few minutes before he felt safe enough to look at the man in the lift and say, “Have you been bitten?”
Ross stood in the lift, watching as the boy below him hammered at the infected. Ross was awed by the boy’s ferocity fighting these things. It was something Ross knew he didn’t have. When he had struck the last one down, he looked up and asked a question. Ross responded, “No, I haven’t. I’ve been up here for three days.”
He cranked the engine of the lift to life and began lowering it. When he climbed out of the basket he saw that the boy had drawn a pistol from his belt and held it half raised toward him. “I promise, I am fine. I need help, though, I think I broke my arm.”
Ross saw the boys eyes drift over his arm and said, “My name’s Ross. Thanks.”
The boy nodded once, “I’m Cedric. Get in the truck, no the back cage,” he amended as Ross began walking around the front. Cedric smiled, “It’s nothing against you, just a precaution.”
Ross agreed and said, “I know. Better safe than sorry.”
Once Ross had climbed in, the small hatchway glass slid open to expose the cab slightly and a voice came through that said, “My name’s Charlie, I’m Cedric’s brother.”
“Ross,” was all he responded then thought for a minute before muttering his thanks again.
Cedric ran through the aisle they were at gathering food and then tossed it into the back of the Jeep. He repeated this again and was going back for a third time when he heard a car horn tap once. He spun around quickly plucking his pipe from his belt and ran to the passenger side of the Jeep. Once he was in, the two vehicles took off. Cedric turned to see one of the infected where they had just been.
They repeated this process in many different departments of the store, gathering everything they could from the list and once the Jeep was full, they began tossing supplies into the truck bed.
On the last trip, Ross stopped Cedric and asked, “do you have somewhere to stay?”
“Yes,” Cedric replied.
“Is it fairly safe? Do you have room for a couple more?” He pressed.
“Where are they?” Cedric asked as he looked around, half expecting to see someone.
“Next door. At Walgreen’s. Two friends of mine. Can we get them?”
Cedric stopped and thought for a second before saying, “If there is a safe way to get them, then tell Charlie.”
As Cedric went back to the Jeep, he saw Ross leaning close to the hatch talking. After a moment Charlie’s voice came in over the CB, “What do ya think Ced?”
Cedric got back on the CB and said, “If his idea seems safe, then we should help them.”
“Okay, just follow my lead,” Charlie responded.
Ross banged on the hard glass with his good hand and shouted, “Sue, Danny, can you hear me? It’s Ross!”
After a few moments, he heard Sue shout back, “Ross, are you okay? I’ll go open the door, bang on it if it's clear out there too.”
“No, wait. Get a bag and fill it with medicine that we might need. Then get our things and meet me at the back door. I’ll bang on it in about five minutes when it's safe. I have a way out.”
Again, it was a few moments before she responded but then Sue’s voice came back, “okay, five minutes.”
Ross jumped back into the cage and clasped it shut. Charlie started to drive away and Jack followed behind him. They made their way around the entire parking lot four times before returning. The lot was still empty.
This time at a side entrance to the store, Ross jumped out and banged on the door. It flew open and Sue hugged him, bumping his arm hard. Ross jumped back, a low pained groan coming from his throat. Sue looked at his arm and said, “I’m so sorry. I thought you were dead or worse. I’m so glad you’re ok.” She then took in the truck and the Jeep.
Ross grabbed a bag at her feet with his good hand and tossed it into the back while saying, “C’mon, we need to hurry.” They got their things loaded and then climbed in. Once the gate was locked again, the truck took off.
“What happened to you?” Danny asked once they were back on the road.
“I had to run for it,” he said as the truck hit a pothole in the road. Then Ross gave his account of what happened: everything from the point he stepped out of the doorway to the when he banged on the glass of the pharmacy. Sue gasped at almost everything in the story.