Chronicles of the Undead | Book 1 | Urban Gridlock

by Hernandez, Jaime

  If Frank would have had even the slightest inclination of the extent of their nightmares, he would have woken them without hesitation. As it was, both men fought their demons as they slept.

  Chapter 36

  Day 3

  The endless horde was slowly filing past both the Wright’s house and Anna’s. A few hundred had passed but they just kept coming. Michelle had ordered everyone into the garage and grabbed both sets of keys on her way. Damon and Joey stayed at the front of the garage, peering through the windows set about three-quarters of the way up into the door. The windows were tinted, but the boys were easily able to see through them. The darkened glass kept their quiet movements hidden from the dead as they trudged by.

  Michelle’s reasoning was that if any of the zombies showed interest in the house, they wouldn’t have to hurry for a place to hide and risk the dead seeing or hearing them. The attached garage even gave them a remote possibility of escape if the dead were to overtake the house. The truck and car, both loaded with supplies, could be driven from the garage. Driving right into the horde of zombies would guarantee their demise, but her idea was to turn right out of the garage and into the privacy fence behind the Wright’s house. She hoped they could drive through the yard to the rear of the fence, drive through that one as well then keep going until they were away from the horde.

  Of course, she had no intention of actually doing any of that. Not while Lucia and especially Camille were unaccounted for. Lucia could find safety in Anna’s house if she hadn’t already. But they had no idea where Camille was or whether or not she was even alive. Michelle had been forced to make some quick decisions to keep the rest of the group safe and looking around the inside of the garage reaffirmed her opinion that it was their best option for the moment.

  Not knowing what Lucia had done after dropping from the tree was driving Michelle crazy. For all she knew, her daughter could be cowering on the ground beneath the branches. The only thing that kept her calm was the fact that the horde hadn’t shown any interest in Anna’s property. From their limited vantage point, she was pretty sure that the dead hadn’t reached the brick wall in Anna’s front yard.

  It was as if the zombies were on a mission, staggering and shuffling straight down the pavement in front of them, following the center line of the street as a guideline. The houses to the sides seemed of no interest to them. Then Michelle realized that if the dead were indeed on a mission, that mission had become Camille. From everything she’d seen so far, the zombies wandered aimlessly and totally unaware of their surroundings until something grabbed their attention. Then they became focused on a specific sound or movement and remained focused unless something else drew their attention away from it.

  She was deathly afraid that Camille had already met her demise. As a mother, she knew that the unknown itself was the worst thing that a parent could deal with. Not knowing was worse than knowing, even if knowing meant that the worst had happened. Only a fellow parent could understand what Anna was going through right now.

  Anna was tough as nails. The veterans at the hospital loved her because she gave as good as she got. She was beautiful with her long dark hair and green eyes and she playfully pushed back when they flirted with her or made comments about her appearance. She was stubborn as hell and didn’t take bullshit from anyone. She was slow to trust but once you got past that wall, she was the best friend anyone could wish for. All of that combined with a mother’s love, she would do anything to protect her children. She was a Mama Bear that no one dared to fuck with.

  Unfortunately, zombies didn’t care about any of those traits. They felt no fear. They held no thoughts in their diseased brains. They didn’t feel pain. They made no movements to protect themselves when faced with imminent danger. They didn’t even think of food as a meal. They were driven by an instinctual desire to feed on living flesh, nothing more, nothing less. This left the usually unflappable Anna with no weapons in her mental arsenal to use against the dead to try to save her daughter.

  Her heart ached as it never had before. She quite literally felt pain in her heart as her mind raced with thoughts of Camille. She felt immense pride in her daughter and her strength of character for risking her own life to save the lives of everyone else. At the same time, she wanted to yell and scream at her for doing something so foolish. She hadn’t shed a single tear for Camille because she had to remain strong for her son. Her anguish was apparent on her face, but she wouldn’t allow herself to break down, not yet and not in front of Damon.

  Anna walked to the front of the garage to watch as the horde continued their slow, shambling walk down her street. The smell emanating from the zombies was noxious, unlike anything she’d ever been unfortunate enough to smell in her lifetime. The smell permeated through the air and into the garage. She struggled not to gag and put her hand over her nose and mouth.

  She looked away from the parade of the dead and her eyes settled on Damon. She read the look on his face for what it was. A combination of fear, determination and pure hatred were set on his features. She knew that he wanted nothing more than to eviscerate every last zombie on the street outside. When the horde finally passed, she wasn’t sure that she would be able to stop him from going out on his own to search for his sister.

  Damon glared at the stumbling dead as they passed by. He held each and every one of them responsible for his sister’s ‘absence’. He held out hope that she had been able to gain enough ground on them to get out of their sight just long enough to find a place to hide. Camille hadn’t just gone the cheerleading route in middle school; she had also been a track star. She was so fast that she could even outrun him.

  Damon was mentally preparing a plan to search for her after the marching horde eventually came to an end. He was also putting together a minimal checklist of supplies that he intended to take with him. Guns, ammo, more guns, more ammo and a few other things. He’d bring water and a small amount of food. He didn’t need to eat, but Camille might need something once he’d found her. He’d carry two knives so there was one within easy reach of either hand. Maybe a flashlight. Mostly he wanted weapons and water. Anything else he needed could either wait or could be found in one of the abundance of houses that now sat empty.

  Joey watched the endless horde as it walked by at an achingly slow pace. He kept stealing glances at his friend, worried about what Damon might do. Joey was worried about his own sister, but Lucia was safe right now. Alone and probably terrified, but safe nonetheless.

  When the last of the horde finally passed from sight, Joey was certain that Damon would take off in search of his sister. He understood because he would do the same thing for Lucia; for any of them for that matter. But Damon’s judgment was clouded with emotion and he would be a danger to himself if he took off alone.

  For Joey, the solution was simple. He would go with Damon to find Camille. Their moms would refuse and insist that they stay in the relative safety of the house, but regardless of how much both women could scare the crap out of them or chew them a new one when they’d done something wrong, neither mom would be able to stop them from leaving. So Joey started his own mental battle plan.

  Emily watched from the sidelines as each family member struggled to cope with their thoughts of Lucia and Camille as the zombies endlessly marched by outside. She didn’t think she’d ever seen such love among people before, family or not. She was grateful to be a part of the group and was ready to do whatever was needed to help. She realized that she’d grown to care deeply for them in such a short amount of time, because she knew without a doubt that she was willing to risk her own life to save one of theirs. Such was the strength of the love within the two families that an outsider would feel so compelled.

  Chapter 37

  Day 3

  Frank reluctantly woke Vince to take the next watch. It had been two hours and he wanted to wait longer, but he felt like he was going to fall asleep standing up. Vince hadn’t minded and offered Frank his bed.

  “Thanks
, Vince,” Frank said sleepily. “I appreciate it. There’s no way I was going to fit on that recliner.”

  “You got it, man,” Vince replied. “Get some sleep. You’re going to need it before we hit the road again.” Frank fell asleep a moment after hitting the pillow.

  Vince quietly walked around his house, stopping to take a look out each window. He was glad to see that none of the dead had migrated to his back yard. Looking out the front, he saw about a dozen zombies shuffling around in the middle of the street. They weren’t focused on anything and definitely were unaware of them being in the house. He’d keep checking on them every fifteen minutes or so.

  Max and Junior were still out cold on the couches in the living room. They were both tossing and turning and occasionally mumbled something unintelligible. Vince sat in his recliner and turned the TV on with the volume muted. There were a half dozen shows that he enjoyed enough to DVR, so he figured he’d try playing them in hopes of seeing news that might have aired in their place.

  There was plenty of news to watch. Some of it was of footage he’d seen back when he’d still been in the bar. There was a lot that he hadn’t seen before. He started watching a news program that had played late in the evening the night before, which would have been the second night of the outbreak. To his surprise, he saw the Seal of the President of the United States against an unfamiliar background. For about thirty seconds nothing happened. Vince unmuted the TV but kept the volume low. Another thirty seconds or so passed with unknown voices being picked up in the background.

  To his surprise, the vice president stepped up to the podium. He looked pale, tired and ragged but wore a button down shirt and loosened tie. His graying hair was slightly disheveled.

  “Good evening, my fellow Americans… good evening to anyone out there who’s watching this broadcast,” The vice president spoke off the cuff, certainly not reading a prepared speech or looking at a teleprompter. “I know it’s not a good evening. A terrible fate has befallen our country, our entire world. World leaders and country borders are no longer relevant… this virus, this lethal virus, has taken down most of our world in a matter of days. Most, if not all governments are non-existent. There’s no longer any us versus them, wars no longer exist. Militaries around the world have been decimated by the dead. Despite our best efforts, the FEMA centers have been overrun and Red Cross efforts around globe have been overwhelmed by zombies. I can’t offer you safety or shelter or guarantees. All we have left is a fight to save humanity, to fight to overcome the dead that have overwhelmed the world over. I don’t have answers, but I do offer hope. Hope that each and every one of us will work together to help thy neighbor, to fight the zombies, to survive. Hope that humanity will come together for what truly is the greater good, the survival of the human race. I believe that together, we can prevent our extinction. I ask that you all fight, for yourselves and for the survival of mankind. I wish you all luck in the days, weeks and months to come. I ask that God hear our prayers. May God be with us all,” he concluded. As he turned away from the makeshift podium, Vince, as well as every other viewer who had watched the broadcast, saw a stark white bandage on the left hand of the vice president.

  Vince let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He sat there for a moment, shocked by the speech he’d heard and the bandage he’d seen. He knew that the vice president had to have died long before Vince had watched his address. He sat stunned for a moment then forced himself to get up and do a window check.

  Outside, the number of zombies in the street had increased slightly but for no apparent reason. As he watched them, he felt more than heard something unknown, almost a vibration of some sort. The dead slowly turned their heads toward the south. They seemed to have sensed whatever it was that Vince was picking up on. They began to move achingly slow in the direction their faces were now focused upon.

  Vince desperately wanted to know what was happening, so much so that he fully intended to walk out his front door in hopes of getting a better view once the zombies finished lumbering down his street and out of sight. Whatever it was or whatever was happening was something he’d never experienced before. He thought that perhaps it was a mild earthquake, but not only did it not stop it actually grew stronger. He turned the deadbolt, which made a surprisingly loud sound as it snapped out of the lock, preparing to open the door and step outside.

  Max was surrounded by zombies. He swung his hammer and thrust his screwdriver to near exhaustion. For every one that he killed, it seemed that two took its place. He couldn’t find the other guys and looked desperately to his left and his right, his heart nearly hammering out of his chest. From the squelching of an eyeball burst open like a watermelon, the crunching of bones as a skull shattered stark white shards into a spongey brain, the wet, slapping sound of innards falling to form a pile on the pavement, to the snapping sound of teeth meeting as jaws opened and closed, Max’s heavily assaulted senses were overwhelmed. The others were gone, and the dead had Max nearly surrounded. He pulled out his handgun and began firing at the zombies closest to him. He reached into his pocket to ready another magazine, but his pocket was empty. He continued firing until he heard the hollow, unmistakable sound of the chamber hitting empty.

  Max sat up suddenly, looked around and tried to pull himself from the remnants of his nightmare that had felt so real. He shook his head and let his eyes wander the unfamiliar room then remembered that he was at Vince’s house. He jumped up when he realized that the sound of the empty gun in his dream was triggered by Vince unlocking the deadbolt on the front door.

  “What the fuck, man?” Max rushed to Vince. “What do you think you’re doing?” No matter what Vince had felt had warranted opening the door and going outside, they had agreed to do everything in pairs. No one was to go off on their own. Junior began to stir on the couch as Max turned the deadbolt back in place.

  “There’s something going on out there. I can feel it, almost like an earthquake,” Vince started. “There were zombies in the street, but they were all attracted to the sound or vibration or whatever and they followed it. I was just going to go out front to see if I could see anything.”

  Max considered what Vince had said and realized that he was feeling it himself. He looked out the window of the door to see a few of the dead leaving various houses on the street and headed in the same general direction. Max pointed at them and said, “You can’t just go out there. Those zombies could have surrounded you.”

  “I want to find some higher ground, see what’s going on,” Vince insisted.

  “Alright, do you have a ladder? We can go on up to the roof,” Max replied. Vince nodded and slowed down to think things through. Junior was just waking up from his own nightmares and sat up to see Max and Vince talking with intense expressions on their faces.

  “What’s going on?” Junior asked. He got up and looked out the front window but saw nothing but an empty street in front of him.

  “Do you feel that?” Vince said in answer. The floor seemed to be vibrating ever so slightly.

  “What the hell? Earthquake?” Junior asked. He’d never felt an earthquake in his life. The sensation was strange and off putting.

  “It can’t be an earthquake. It’s been going on for way too long. We’re going to take a ladder to the roof of the house to see if we can see anything,” Max said. Junior nodded and went to wake Frank. Having everyone up and about, ready to make a move if needed seemed like the smartest thing to do until they figured out what was going on.

  Max and Vince put on their heavy clothing and gloves for the extra protection they offered from bites. As they got their bags together, Frank came out of the bedroom wide awake and ready to go. Junior topped off their bags with bottled water from Vince’s fridge then they all stood ready to leave if that was what circumstances dictated.

  A quick scan of the backyard showed it was free of the dead. Frank and Junior carried the twelve foot ladder from the attached garage, through the house, and out the back
door into the yard. Frank braced it; then waved his arm motioning for Vince to climb up. Vince made quick work of the ladder stepping from one rung to the next until he was chest level with the gutters. He pulled himself up onto the roof then climbed to its highest peak above the crawlspace just below.

  He gasped and froze in place. In the distance he was just barely able to make out the intersection they’d crossed before going over the highway bridge and into his neighborhood. The road was generally full of traffic and ran from downtown all the way out into the far suburbs. It was too far away to make out any details, but there was clear movement.

  Max was halfway up the ladder when Vince leaned over the side. “There are binoculars in the garage on the rear top shelf with the camping gear. Send one of the guys to get them, okay?” Max leaned over the side and passed the message on to Frank. Max finished climbing to the top and hoisted himself over the side. He carefully walked over to where Vince stood with a look of pure amazement on his face.

  Before Max could ask, Junior was on the roof with Frank right behind him. Vince accepted the binoculars from Frank and as he adjusted the sight, his mouth fell open. He passed the binoculars onto Max and the others. In moments they all stood mouths agape.

  The vibration they felt, the movement barely visible to the naked eye all came into focus. There was what could only be described as a horde of zombies. There were hundreds of thousands of them within sight. Strangely, they were all traveling from far out in the suburbs on an easterly path headed toward downtown. They traveled via one road, packed together like sardines in a can, and funneled straight ahead toward the east.