Zombie Civilization: Exodus (Zombie Civilization Saga Book 2)

by Steven Ehrman

  “Did you hear that?” asked Billy.

  “I didn’t hear anything.”

  “Wait,” Billy held up his hand. “There it is.

  Harley looked out on the ice where Billy was pointing and now he did hear something. It was a groaning sound, like two logs rubbing together. It began to grow and then they heard a giant crack. The ice was breaking under the weight of the zombie pack. Billy watched in amazement as a small piece of ice gave way about fifty feet offshore taking down dozens of undead monsters. It began to grow. Slowly at first, and then in seconds a huge crack opened and the ice began disappearing under the feet of the zombies. In a matter of seconds almost the entire army slid beneath the icy waters. Billy heard Jude cheering behind him. For the second time that day Billy felt tears in his eyes. Only the zombies nearest to the shore had not gone down. There were only about fifteen or so of them and they could certainly handle that. Jude had run up and was jumping up and down next to Billy.

  “We’re saved, buddy. It’s a miracle and man did we deserve one!” he shouted.

  Billy grinned, but continued to put down the survivors of the zombie pack. Not one made it to shore as he and Harley did mop up duty. As the last one fell Billy let his rifle fall to his side and felt the tension drain from his shoulders. They had made it. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He heard Jude next to him speak in a voice devoid of hope.

  “My God, the woods,” Jude said.

  Harley and Billy turned just in time to see the zombies burst through the trees and under brush, heading straight for them.

  Chapter Six

  “We’re cut off!” screamed Jude.

  “We don’t want to get caught with our backs to the water!” shouted Harley, as more and more zombies emerged from the trees. Shots rang out from all three men at the first wave of attackers. There were not nearly as many of the dead coming from the woods as there had been coming across the ice from the marina, but they were much closer. From each side of the beach zombies appeared.

  They must have come in from the other side, thought Billy. Some of them had come through the woods directly and others had worked their way around the shoreline.

  “We need to make it to the shelter house while we still have a path,” Billy shouted.

  At that all three began sprinting for the doorway of the cabin-like structure. They were nearly out of ammunition and staying outside was not an option. Jude was nearest the shelter house and he ran for the door. A zombie suddenly appeared around the corner of the shelter house and was between Jude and his sanctuary. Jude tried to save one of his remaining bullets and swung his rifle by the barrel and smashed the zombie’s head in. Jude made the door and turned, determined to hold the entrance at all costs until his friends could make it. A group of zombies had interspersed themselves in between Harley and Billy. With a roar the two fired off several rounds and charged them.

  Billy had thrown his empty rifle down and was firing his pistol, taking out one after another. One of the dead grabbed him from behind and was clawing at Billy’s face. He pointed the gun over his shoulder and shot wildly. He ran for the door and managed to make it past another zombie, crushing his skull in the process. As he reached the door he turned and saw Harley surrounded by a pack of zombies. Harley had slung his rifle over his shoulder and was swinging his axe back and forth separating heads from shoulders with each arc. It was impossible to take a shot to help him from the doorway without taking a long chance on hitting Harley.

  More zombies were coming from the woods and were threatening to get inside the cabin.

  “If they get in here we’re dead!” screamed Jude. “They’ll swarm us and that’s it.”

  “Harley, come on, man!” shouted Billy. “Hurry! We can’t hold.”

  Harley broke free from the pack surrounding him by smashing a hole straight through their lines. He ran like the devil for the door when he was tripped up by a zombie that had been shot, but not killed. By the time he was on his feet again he was completely cut off from his friends. More zombies began to close on the door, but Billy held it open and continued to shoot. There were dozens within twenty feet of the door and Harley was completely surrounded. For just a moment Harley and Billy’s eyes met through the melee. Billy had no more tears left, but he felt dread for his friend. He drew a bead on Harley’s head and pulled the trigger of his gun. It clicked and nothing happened. He was out of ammunition. He took a step towards his friend and called out.

  “Harley!”

  “Close the door, you fool. Close it!” Harley shouted.

  The dead were closing in on the door to the shelter house. Some of them were only a yard away when Jude managed to drag Billy inside. Jude threw himself against the door and tried to drop the iron bar they had salvaged on shore into place. They had bolted hooks onto the door and onto either side of the door to make a primitive locking system. Jude had almost managed it, when there was a battering at the door that nearly knocked him down. He kept his feet, but the dead were pushing from the other side, desperate to gain entrance.

  “Help me, Billy, for Gods sake.”

  A dazed Billy was still mourning Harley, but came out of his reverie when he saw the battle Jude was engaged in. There were scaly fingers on the inside of the door and the monsters from without were gaining strength. The door was not wide, so only so many of the dead could be in a position to push. That helped the men as Billy took over trying to slam the door shut while Jude hacked away at any limbs coming through. It was a seemingly endless battle and many times Billy thought they were about to be overrun, when they suddenly managed to completely shut the door. Jude dropped the iron bar in with a thud. They fell back exhausted on the concrete floor. Jude and Billy exchanged glances. They were safe. For now.

  ****************

  Billy saw the flesh being torn from Harley’s body as the dead sated their never-ending appetite for flesh. Harley’s screams of agony echoed off the water and the trees. Billy cupped his hands to his ears to drown out the noise. Even that was not enough and he found himself screaming as well. The blood in his head throbbed at his temples and he could hear his pulse thumping and pounding. Pound…pounding…pounding. He felt a hand touch his arm and he screamed even louder.

  “My God, Billy, are you all right?” asked a concerned Jude.

  Billy looked around and saw they were alone in the refuge. A dull light filled the interior of the shelter house from the fire they had built. The air was noticeably warmer. The weather was breaking. A day too late, but it was warming nonetheless. Billy could hear the dull pounding of the dead outside beating on the wooden frame he and his friends had constructed. The shelter house was built with six by six beams and they had covered those with thick planks and two by fours. It would hold, but where could they go?

  “I’m fine, buddy,” said Billy. “Just had a nightmare that’s all.”

  “I can’t imagine why you would have one of those.”

  Billy grinned ruefully, but immediately remembered his dream. If Harley hadn’t had so many around him the zombies may have killed all of them. He sacrificed himself for us, thought Billy. Harley was the best hunter, the best shooter, and the strongest physically of the group. Billy felt terribly small with just him and Jude. He glanced at his friend and saw the concern in his face. Jude needed him and he could not look weak in front of him.

  “What time is it, Jude?”

  “I don’t know, but I think it’s probably close up to dawn. I feel the sun coming up don’t you?”

  Billy couldn’t, but he nodded yes. Sun was ever the hope of man. Maybe they could figure something out today.

  “How long do you think they’ll wait for us?” asked Jude.

  “Forever, man. They know we’re here and they aren’t going anywhere until they find something else to eat. And there’s something else we should consider. Can you feel the change in the weather?”

  Jude cocked his head like he was listening for something.

  “Yeah, I think
so. It’s getting warmer. Well, heck, Billy, it’s gonna be spring soon and when the ice melts we’ll be safe again, wont we?”

  “Don’t you get it? When the ice melts, if we’re still here and they’re still out there, we will all be trapped on this island together.”

  Billy was grim and Jude looked as if he was going to cry.

  “Well, then we’ll just have to kill them, Billy. We have those openings we left in the wall.”

  Jude pointed at the gun ports Harley had insisted upon when they were enclosing the shelter house. They were about eight feet off the ground and were about one foot wide by one foot high. Too small for a zombie to get through, but plenty of room to fire off as many rounds as they wanted. They were nailed shut to keep out the cold, but they could open them again with a crowbar if needed.

  “How many rounds do we have left, Jude?”

  “I’m not sure, but I guess around fifty between both of us. We used up a ton in yesterdays fight.”

  “Okay, we have fifty rounds and I’ll bet there were three times that many monsters out there when we shut the door and God knows how many now. We ain’t gonna be able to shoot our way out of this, my friend. We need a distraction of some sort and maybe we can burst through their lines to the boat. After that who knows, but first lets get one of the ports open and take a look.

  “Before I do any work I need something to eat,” said Jude with a grin.

  “Alright, man. I don’t want you feeling like an oppressed worker. What have we got?”

  “Well, we have a choice between dried fish and dried meat of some sort. I’m gonna guess its venison, but only Harley would know.”

  At the mention of Harley’s name a pall was cast on the two. Both keenly felt the loss of Harley. Jude went about doling out the strips of meat and began munching on his Spartan breakfast. Billy did the same in an absentminded manner.

  “Do you think he made it, Billy?” Jude finally asked.

  Billy continued eating without looking up at Jude.

  “No, I don’t think he did. He was surrounded. He needed a miracle and I didn’t give him one.”

  “Don’t blame yourself, Billy. Harley was a fighter and he went the way he wanted to go and he helped save us. He’s a hero.”

  “Maybe so,” said Billy.

  As he got up from the picnic table, he knocked a metal canteen off onto the concrete floor. The canteen made a loud clattering as it hit. It sounded very loud and ricocheted off the enclosed walls. The pounding on the walls increased almost immediately. The dead didn’t sleep, thought Billy, but you could get their attention when they heard any kind of sound close by. The dropped canteen just reminded the dead that a meal was inside and they renewed their assault on the structure.

  “Well, we woke them up anyway, so let’s get that cover off the gun port.”

  Jude agreed and he dug the crowbar out of their tools and he and Billy pulled a picnic table over to the wall. Jude went to work on the nails with enthusiasm and soon ripped the wood off and tossed it aside. It was fully daylight now and the sun streamed in through the opening. Jude craned his neck to look out. He stared straight ahead for a few seconds and then turned from left to right. He seemed transfixed by the view.

  “What do you see?” Billy said irritably.

  Jude looked down at him with a blank expression. Slowly a grin spread across his face and there was a definite twinkle in his eye.

  It slowly dawned on Billy where Jude was going with this.

  “Don’t say it,” he warned.

  “I’ve got to,” Jude said.

  “Fine do it.”

  “Set me up again.”

  “Alright, just get it over with,” said Billy with a sigh. “What do you see?”

  “I see dead people.”

  Chapter Seven

  Billy and Jude stared at each other for just a moment and then they both burst out laughing. They had been living in the shadow of death for so long it had lost a bit of its dread, but then Billy remembered Harley had been left outside and he grew somber.

  “What do you really see, Jude? Leave the jokes aside.”

  “Skipper, all I see are the dead,” Jude said, as he jumped off the table. “Take a look for yourself.”

  With a grunt Billy climbed up and took a post at the gun port. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised, but he was. The view from the front down to the beach was alive with the dead. Some were pressed up against the walls of the structure while others were milling about in their customary swaying motion. Just from his limited viewpoint it looked like hundreds of zombies. What were they to do, he thought? Harley saved us and sacrificed himself for this. Billy could tell Jude was getting restless and he kneeled down on the table and faced him.

  “Well, you saw what I saw, buddy.”

  “I know, coach, but you’ll figure something out right?”

  Billy jumped down off the table and clapped Jude on the shoulder. Jude’s almost childlike belief in his leadership made him feel a little more confident. He walked over to the fireplace in thought.

  “We’ve only got two hopes. One is that something else distracts them away from us while there is still an ice bridge to the shore. If it melts and they are trapped here, we’re screwed.”

  “But we saw most of them go down in the lake. Where did these come from?”

  “The shore on the wooded side is closer. I think the ice must have held from there to the island. I know it looked like most of the zombies were gathered on the beach, but they must have been lurking in the woods too. Maybe they were hunting for food or maybe it was just instinct, I don’t know, but they’re here. I can tell it is a lot warmer today, so that means it may only be a matter of hours, at most days, to get them off the island.”

  “I don’t see how, Billy. What’s our second option?”

  “The only other plan is to kill them without using all our ammunition. That means clubs, spears, arrows, whatever.”

  “I’ll just run down to the sporting goods store and pick up that stuff.”

  “That would be super. You do that,” said Billy. “It doesn’t look good, man.”

  Jude looked downcast and stared at his boots. Billy always comes through in the end, he thought. Sure we could have left earlier, but we might have gotten chopped on the road. Billy will come through again. At least he hoped Billy would come through. Jude realized Billy was speaking again.

  “I think it’s only fair to point out a couple of other options that I am not in favor of,” he said.

  “Worse than the other options?”

  “You be the judge,” Billy said. “We can stay in here until we starve or we can head for the undiscovered country.”

  “I don’t want to starve to death, sarge,” said Jude. “What’s the undiscovered country?”

  “It’s death, my friend. We can shoot ourselves in the head to make certain that we don’t become undead monsters ourselves. Hamlet said ‘To be or not to be’ and we’ll have to face that too. Don’t worry, we have time to decide.”

  ****************

  Over the next several days the cold snap broke completely. Billy figured that it was back in the forties at least. The ice had melted off of the lake and that was a good thing, however, the zombies surrounding them were now trapped with them and they were not going anywhere anytime soon.

  “What do you want for breakfast, Billy?” asked Jude in a pleasant voice.

  Billy thought about it for a moment.

  “I’ll take two eggs over easy, short stack of pancakes, bacon, marmalade, and coffee.”

  “Dried fish strips it is,” announced Jude.

  Billy stoically accepted his morning meal and he and his friend ate in silence. Or at least near silence. The meal was accompanied by the low growling from outside and the heavy footsteps of a small army of undead monsters.

  During the night Billy had awoken from a nightmare. That was typical these days. He knew Jude was having them too, but by unspoken agreement they had not spoken of them
to each other. What was the point? They were the same nightmare over and over. The zombies breaking in to the structure and then being devoured alive. This particular nightmare was unsettling because it had Holland and Harley as zombies attacking him. Unable to go back to sleep, Billy had climbed the picnic table to look out the makeshift window to see what could be seen. It had been a clear night with a moon out. The ground surrounding the shelter house was covered with a forest of zombies. Did they ever lay down, he thought? It was eerie to watch them, as most were complete statues, not moving at all. In fact, they looked like a stand of stunted trees with no leaves and then one spotted him. It pointed with a dull shriek and suddenly the group was awoken. A ripple ran through the crowd and they surged forward attacking the door. With a grimace, Billy had jumped down from the window. Amazingly Jude slept through it and Billy spent the rest of the night in a see saw between hazy sleep and woken dread.

  “What’s the plan for the day?” asked Jude chomping on his breakfast.

  Billy was jolted out of his remembrance.

  “Plan? Same old, same old I guess.”

  Jude seemed exasperated by the reply.

  “Buddy, we can’t just sit here. How much longer do you think the food can hold out? Another week, maybe, and that’s it. We got plenty of water, but we can’t gnaw wood. We need a plan and I don’t want to hear about suicide again. You’re the coach. Draw up a play.”

  Jude loved his sports metaphors, thought Billy, but maybe he was right. Billy had hoped something would draw the dead away from the island before the ice had melted, but that had not happened. It was a long shot anyway and now they were stuck. A germ of an idea had been growing in him.

  “Okay, man, I get it. There is one chance that might work,” said Billy slowly.

  “A chance is more than we have now. Whatever it is, I’ll take it.”

  “Well, here it is. It’s the good old-fashioned direct approach. We make a break for the pontoon boat. It’s just possible that if we hit them hard and fast we can break through them to the beach. We start the boat up and head for the shore and then for the SUV. Easy as pie.”