People Are Not Your Friends [Book 2]

by William R. Rohn

  That's when the shooting started. It wasn't close. Probably over by the fire. But it was loud enough to start dragging some zombies in that direction. It was always more dangerous when the zombies were moving.

  "Keep your eyes open," said Josh. "The zombies are on the move."

  "Maybe it will be easier on tomorrows trip," said Carlos.

  "Let's finish today's trip first," said Megan.

  Josh smiled. She was way too practical for a woman and way too handy with a bat too.

  They kept moving. Now they had the option of letting the zombies pass and then proceeding. This is what they usually did, since they were needing breaks a lot more frequently anyways.

  The gunfire had been quiet for a while. Then it started up again. Josh tried to keep them moving. It would be best if they were back before dark.

  A few minutes later he heard the vehicle approaching. It was coming fast. He ducked down next to the wall in the alleyway. The others hid also. A few seconds later a pickup flew by. About twenty seconds later an SUV went past.

  He couldn't tell if they were together or chasing each other, but they needed to keep moving. He got up and started moving again.

  After they had crossed the street, he heard gunfire in the direction the vehicles had gone. Luckily it wasn't in the direction that they were going.

  "What do you think that's about?" said Megan.

  "Turf war," said Josh. "Now that the power and water is out. There are a lot of places that are much better than others."

  "Such as?" said Megan.

  "Those next to water," said Josh. "A pond or river. Short term anything with a generator. Then anything with food."

  "Why is generator only short term?" said Carlos.

  "Because the fuel will run out or go bad," said Josh. "If you secured some fuel it could last for a long time. But you still need water and food. Food should be fairly easy for a few more months. Lots of stuff scattered around. But once you pick everything clean near you, then you need to travel farther away. People need to start setting up renewable food sources, but most aren't thinking that far ahead. Plus it makes you vulnerable."

  "Why is that?" said Megan.

  "You are tied to your food source. Most of them aren't very mobile. Plus any kind of animals need water and food too," said Josh.

  "And any kind of visible set up draws the marauders," said Carlos.

  "Exactly," said Josh. "If you try to do the right thing too early, you advertise to those that don't that you have something of value. Unfortunately more people have to die off before it is safe to start preparing for the future."

  "That is pretty grim," said Megan.

  "Think of it this way," said Josh. "Everybody tried to flee the city. Now they are out there without shelter or food. Becoming hungry and desperate. When they become desperate enough, they will take what they need from those that have it. They will destroy crops and the farmers who grow them. That will provide some food for this year, but there won't be many still around to plant next year. Most won't be able to plant but a fraction of their acreage because they won't have fuel for their tractors and machinery. Their animals will have been killed by people needing food. No one is really thinking much past their next meal."

  "So what is your plan?" said Carlos.

  "Seeds," said Josh. "I got seeds to plant when the time is right."

  "So you are going to become a vegetarian?" said Megan. "That doesn't seem like you."

  "I will become what I need to be to survive," said Josh.

  "Have you even grown crops before?" said Carlos.

  "Just cash crops," said Josh. "But it is all the same. I got some hydroponic stores picked out. Nobody will be looting them. But when the time is right I will go pick up some equipment and start growing food."

  "How long do you think?" said Megan.

  "Probably around winter time. Most people who aren't somewhat prepared will have died off or been killed by then. Plus once it starts to get cold you'll be able to tell whose nearby by the fires they use to keep warm," said Josh.

  "What about those that don't use fire?" said Carlos.

  "There will be some stragglers," said Josh. "But the main worries you will have are the bands. It is unlikely that they will have the discipline to not light fires, bundle up and live with the cold."

  "How do you survive until then?" said Megan.

  "You do whatever you have to do. Right now is the most dangerous time," said Josh.

  "What about the zombies?" said Megan.

  "They aren't that dangerous. A fence will keep them away. It is the people you have to worry about. You can't be careless, but something is going to have to go way wrong for you to die to a zombie at this point. That usually happens because you are running or hiding from the real threat. The living," said Josh.

  "I see your point," said Carlos. "But it doesn't sound good for humans."

  "We survived bad times before," said Josh. "But it will be quite some time before we get back to this."

  "Was this our downfall?" said Megan.

  "Hard to say," said Josh. "But our technology led to the virus being able to get to every continent in the world really fast."

  Josh heard a vehicle approaching. "Get down," he said.

  They ducked behind a dumpster. A pickup went slowly by on the street. Armed men were in back and they were looking for something or someone. There was one man tied to a pole in the back of the truck.

  "Oh my god," said Megan.

  "What?" said Josh.

  "That's my dad," said Megan.

  "Is he looking for you?" said Carlos.

  "No, he's the one tied to the pole," said Megan.

  "Nothing we can do," said Josh.

  "But he's my dad!," said Megan.

  "We need to get back," said Josh. "We can't stalk anybody loaded down like this. If he lasted this long, he can last a little longer."

  "Are they after us?" said Megan.

  "I don't think so," said Josh.

  "Someone survived from the other side of that fight," said Carlos. "They are trying to finish them off."

  "How do you know?" said Megan.

  "Losers don't go looking for those who just kicked their ass. Not out in the open like that. They want a fight, because they think they got the upper hand," said Carlos.

  "We need to move," said Josh. He started down the alley towards the street. "If they don't find what they are looking for, they will come back."

  "I doubt that there is only one vehicle looking," said Carlos.

  "All the more reason to get back as fast as we can. We are exposed out here," said Josh.

  "Fine," said Megan. "But then I'm going after my dad."

  "Do what you want," said Josh. He knew she was just being emotional, but having an argument over it now wouldn't be very smart. They needed to get inside.

  Josh was just approaching the road when the SUV flew by down the street. He hoped they might have gotten lucky, but the squeal of brakes came just a few seconds later.

  "Go, go," said Josh as he ran back up the alley.

  Josh got out of sight in the first crossway he came to. The others had followed him. He looked back down the alley. They were getting out of the SUV. There were at least four of them. Three had gotten out. One was still driving the SUV and coming slowly up behind them.

  Josh set down his bag of food and readied his shotgun. Megan did the same.

  "Can't we run?" whispered Megan.

  Josh shook his head. "Not with the food," whispered Josh. "Take it and go. I'll slow them down and catch up."

  "You sure?" said Megan.

  "It is the only way," said Josh.

  They left him there. The marauders were being very cautious. Maybe they could have just run. But it was too late for that now. He needed them to be fairly close, so that he was unlikely to miss. If he could hit at least two, they probably wouldn't pursue. That was his plan anyways. Now he just had to convince the marauders to stick to it.

  Josh was crou
ched low against the corner. Legs were good targets. Less likely to have armor, though these buffoons probably didn't have any. They sounded close.

  Josh peered around the corner, leading with his shotgun. The first one was only thirty feet away. Josh shot. The man's legs flew out from under him and he went down. He pumped in another round and shot the second man as he dove towards cover. Josh couldn't tell if the man had been hit, but he was already pumping in another round and aiming towards the third.

  The third man disappeared behind cover. Josh changed his aim to the SUV's windshield on the drivers side and fired. The glass filled with a pattern of holes. Josh ducked back around the corner.

  It was time to leave. Bullets started to hit around the corner. He couldn't tell how many he had taken out, but at least two were firing back. He sprinted down the alley. It felt easy without the weight of the bag. Now he had to catch up with them and hope they didn't shoot him accidentally.

  Eleven

  The burgers tasted extremely good. Marcus didn't think he had ever tasted anything so good. He knew that these kind of moments may not happen again for a long time. Without power the meat that was left was going to rot fast.

  He had stopped after three multi-patty, heavy on the cheese burgers. Luckily the truck plugged most of the hole and the zombies didn't seem to be able to figure out how to get through.

  Barry had killed one that had crawled under the truck, but now that body helped plug that entrance. But there were a lot of zombies at the windows. This wasn't a safe place to stay, even if the marauders weren't coming. Marcus doubted that they would just let their losses go and forget about it. They would come and it would be in force. But there would be a lot of warning. They would have to shoot the zombies as they came, so as to not risk getting swarmed like the last vehicle had.

  Marcus went back and got the purse. He looked through it. Keys, there was a set of keys. BMW, nice. He clicked the lock button and heard it chirp.

  "Barry did you hear that?"

  "Yeah. What is going on?" said Barry.

  "I found keys," said Marcus. "It is a BMW. You go look out that side. I'll look out this side."

  They moved into position. He saw Lisa looking out also. He pressed the lock button. He heard it beep again, but he didn't see anything.

  "You see it?" said Marcus.

  "No," said Barry.

  "It is in the laundromat two buildings down," said Lisa.

  "You see it?" said Marcus moving over to where she stood.

  "Not exactly, but that is where the dead are going," said Lisa.

  He could see the dead moving. "Shit, now what are we going to do?" said Marcus.

  "You can wait until they find something else to attract them," said Lisa. "Or make another distraction."

  "How are we suppose to do that?" said Barry.

  "Well we got fire," said Lisa. "There are plenty of vehicles out there that would burn. That usually gets their attention for a while."

  "So we take some grease, put it in a container, light it and throw it on a car," said Marcus.

  "Will that even work?" said Barry.

  "Well," said Lisa. "It will definitely work if you add some gasoline."

  "How do we get out to it?" said Marcus. He looked at Lisa.

  "Well I can't do it, but one of you could get in and out of the drive-thru window," said Lisa.

  "Then when they move over there we go out through the hole the truck created," said Marcus.

  "You can," said Lisa. "I'm going out the door. I have the keys."

  "Or we could do that," said Barry smiling.

  "So I can come with you?" said Lisa.

  "BMW should be big enough," said Marcus. "The marauders will be looking for us."

  "I'm not fast enough to make it out of here on my own," said Lisa. "There is no water and the food will only be good for another day or two max. We should probably take some with us."

  "Now that is a good idea," said Marcus. "Cook up what you can. That will last a little while. Then we will take what we can find that is still frozen. We may be able to find a cooler or something to keep it good for a few days once we get out."

  The plan came together fairly well. They loaded food up into the carry-out bags. Then Barry slipped out the drive-thru window, lit the homemade firebomb and threw it on a car. It burst into flame.

  Barry killed one zombie that came for him with the butt of the shotgun and then climbed back into the drive-thru window. It was nearly dark, so the flames shooting up from the car drew zombies towards it from all over.

  When it cleared up, they went out the door. Lisa locked it behind them.

  "Why did you do that?" said Marcus.

  "You never know," said Lisa.

  They went down a few buildings and found the laundromat. Marcus clicked the open button on the keys. He saw the lights and heard the beeps from a few cars down.

  Marcus opened the door and got in. Barry got in the passenger side. Marcus turned the key. It started. Gotta love BMW. That's when he heard the wheezing.

  He heard Lisa open the back door.

  "Oh shit," said Lisa.

  Marcus turned and saw the baby, strapped in its car seat. It moved and was reaching towards him. Lisa reached in and released the baby seat. Then she dragged it out and tossed it down on the pavement. Marcus watched her as she swung the hammer down. There was a sickening crunch. Then she turned and got into the car.

  "Fuck zombie babies!" she said.

  "Was it bitten?" said Marcus.

  "Don't know, don't care," said Lisa.

  "That is fucked up," said Barry.

  "Yes," said Lisa. "Let's go. No zombie baby is messing up my chance to escape."

  "I'm with her," said Barry.

  Marcus backed up and then took off down the street. The only problem was that there wasn't anyplace they could go that he knew they would be safe.

  Twelve

  These guys seemed alright to Lisa. They hadn't raped her yet. She wasn't sure if she should be happy about that or insulted by it. She was a little overweight, but she wasn't that bad. They both seemed desirable. Could they still have girlfriends?

  Jeez, she had to stop thinking about this crap. They needed to find someplace safe. She looked out the window, but there wasn't much around. At least that looked safe.

  "So you guys lost your place?" said Lisa.

  "Seventh Street Boys attacked us this morning when we were on the road," said Barry. "By the time we got away and got back they had already set fire to our hangout."

  "That sucks," said Lisa. "Any idea where to go?"

  "No," said Marcus. "You?"

  "I been trapped at Zippy's for two weeks," said Lisa. "I had an apartment with some friends, but I wouldn't think it would be safe."

  "They still there?" said Barry.

  "I don't think so," said Lisa. "I got a call through a few days in. They said they were leaving."

  "They wouldn't come get you?" said Marcus.

  "They were taking some evacuation bus," said Lisa.

  "So they went to the camps and left you. That must suck," said Barry.

  "They said that they would tell them where I was," said Lisa. "But nobody came."

  The car jerked to a stop. Lisa looked out the front and saw two vehicles go whipping by three streets up. Shit they were still out in force. How many of them could there be?

  She looked over and down the street. There was a lube shop. Was it Mike's Lube? She had a hard time reading the sign. It had mostly metal doors. And there was no one around it.

  "What about that lube shop?" said Lisa.

  Barry looked over at it. "Why would we want to go there?" he said.

  "I don't know," said Lisa. "There are metal doors mostly. No real reason for anyone to check inside. No food or water."

  Marcus looked at it. "It could work," he said. "We need to get off the street before it gets dark. We hide out for the night and we can find someplace else tomorrow."

  "Fine," said Barry. "But th
ere ain't going to be any beds either."

  They pulled around back to hide the car. Then they got out and walked around the front. Lisa picked up the bags of food.

  "What you bringing that for?" said Barry.

  "So I don't have to come back for it," said Lisa.

  She walked past him. The front glass door was locked. There didn't seem to be anyone inside.

  Barry was about to break the glass on the door. "Wait!," said Lisa. "At least try the other doors first. If we break that it will let them know that someone has been here."

  "They are locked," said Barry.

  "Have you checked?" said Lisa.

  "You're a little pushy aren't you," said Barry.

  "I like to feel safe," said Lisa. "A broken door won't make me feel that way."

  "Fine," said Barry.

  He and Marcus went and checked. The first door rolled up.

  "Holy shit," said Barry. "Who would have guessed?"

  It stopped about a foot and a half up.

  "You going to be able to make it?" said Barry.

  "I'll manage," said Lisa.

  They went in first. She shoved the food bags under the door and then got down on all fours. God she needed to loose a little weight. She ducked down and pulled herself as far under as she could. Luckily the cement inside was smooth and she could pull herself along it.

  The first thing she noticed was the stuff. It wasn't scattered around, but it didn't belong in a lube shop either. Not much, just some clothes and the tools that weren't put away.

  "Someone's been here," said Lisa.

  "But they ain't here now," said Barry.

  "We need to stay hidden," said Marcus. "They ain't here now and we don't know if they are coming back."

  Thirteen

  Megan followed Carlos. She only had a vague direction that the shop was in. She hoped that Carlos had a better idea. They had heard the gunfire a few minutes back, but hadn't stopped. She hoped that Josh alright.

  "How much farther?" said Megan.