by J. W. Vohs
David had given strict orders for silence, but he hadn’t considered the possibility of the kids seeing zombies trying to eat their favorite neighborhood dog. Both of the children began screaming, “Chewy!” at the top of their lungs. The zombies needed about a tenth of a second to switch their focus from the dog to the humans, and they were at the fence before David could push past Vickie and get between the monsters and the kids. The creatures reached out to grab the screaming youngsters, and David yelled at the top of his lungs, “Noooo!” just as both of the zombies crumpled to the grass. He looked up in shock to see Christy standing in her shooting stance with the .22 pointing steadily at the flesh-eaters as she planted two more bullets in their brains to make sure they stayed down.
Vickie and Sal recovered from their shock and reached down to pick up and comfort their children. David stepped to them and placed a hand on Vickie’s shoulder, pushing her forward as he warned, “We have to keep moving. All that noise is going to attract some unwanted attention.”
The kids weren’t screaming anymore but they were still crying for Chewy, who was still trying to jump the fence and whining for somebody to save him. David just shrugged with confusion until Christy commanded in a sharp whisper, “For God’s sake, grab that poor dog!”
David reached over and whispered, “C’mon Chewy. Come here boy.” The traumatized pooch leapt into his arms and began panting with an expression that looked an awfully lot like a smile, and David had to “shush” the kids as they began to cheer over the rescue. Christy finally got them all moving again, and not a moment too soon as another shuffling zombie appeared on the path about thirty yards behind them. They trotted toward Jim and Trudy’s backyard as quickly as possible with all of the baggage, the kids, and the canine they were carrying. David pushed them all through the gate before he calmly walked back to the trailing flesh-eater and clubbed it in the head with his mace.
If Christy’s parents were displeased with the arrival of the Martinez family they hid it well. Trudy fussed over Vickie and the children while Jim shook Sal’s hand and helped them bring in the packs and suitcases. With a four-bedroom house they had enough room for their guests and their kids, but after everything they’d been through over the past twenty-four hours Vickie insisted on keeping the entire family together in the guest bedroom. Jim had been cooking defrosted steaks on his grill all afternoon on the screened-in porch, and Trudy had used a camping stove to prepare a big pot of macaroni and cheese. With all the smoke from Cleveland burning, Christy’s parents weren’t worried that preparing dinner would attract any undue attention. Everyone had their fill during the meal, which the adults washed down with lukewarm beer taken from the now-useless garage fridge.
By the time everyone had finished eating it was apparent to all that the kids were ready to go to bed, and Vickie took the two boys and their new dog up to the bedroom where she eventually fell asleep with her still-frightened children. Sal and David spent the rest of the evening helping Jim cook and store the warming meat from the freezer, while Christy and Trudy took inventory of all food, water, and medical supplies by flashlight and candles. At ten-o-clock a guard schedule was established for the night and everyone decided to try to reset their biological clocks to the available sunlight in their newly powerless world. Being early June meant that they would have plenty of light and little worry about heating concerns, but David suspected that more than a few summer days would bring weather that would turn the barricaded house into an oven.
As the days passed, a routine was developed by the two families learning to live together in a house they couldn’t leave. Vickie taught the kids to play quietly, and the little dog that David had rescued learned to keep his mouth shut as well. All food that could be dried, salted, or smoked was prepared and stored. Rain barrels were set up in the backyard and on the roof, while a hose was run under the automatic cover on the absent neighbor’s pool to provide enough water for months. Several trips had been made back to the Martinez home and all of the supplies they’d left that first night had been retrieved. These tasks had been at the top of the list they’d all agreed to the first night following the rescue, and now they were faced with more dangerous objectives that would require further trips from the house.
The entire area was covered in smoke for over a week until a strong westerly wind cleared the skies above Westlake. That night Christy and David used a hole they had cut into the roof from the attic to quietly climb out onto the shingles and take a look around. The first thing they noticed was darkness like they’d never before witnessed. The only light was from the stars, and the only way to describe them in the sky of the new world was spectacular.
Christy cuddled up to David and exclaimed, “I’ve never seen the stars like this!”
“Me neither,” David agreed. “Jack had told me that in the mountains of Afghanistan he’d seen the night sky with no ambient light around for dozens of miles. He said that it would take your breath away.”
“Makes me romantic,” Christy murmured as she snuggled closer under David’s arm.
He kissed the top of her head before tilting her face upward so he could kiss her lips, thankful that he’d thought up the idea of finding a little privacy on the roof. Just as his lips touched hers they both jumped as Jim whispered, “Why don’t you two get a room!”
The guilty-looking couple moved a few inches apart and Christy quietly scolded, “I’m gonna tell Mom that you startled us on purpose!”
“Go ahead, honey-bunches, she was the one who told me to check up on you two!”
David knew the moment was lost, so he let out a deep sigh and asked, “What’s going on?”
Jim triumphantly displayed a set of night-vision goggles and excitedly explained, “Bought these last year. Told Trudy they were for camping but secretly I got ‘em in case there ever was some sort of apocalypse like they were always warning about on Doomsday Preppers. This is the expensive pair; I have a cheaper model in the basement that works about as good as these.”
David whispered appreciatively, “Damn, you thought of everything, didn’t you?”
Jim smiled, “Nope, not even close! Don’t have your armor or weapons; hell, don’t even have a gun with a suppressor on it. But I did figure that night vision might come in handy if the grid ever crashed.”
Christy was looking at David with tight lips and narrowed eyes as she pointed at the NVGs. “What do you need those for?”
David looked at her with exaggerated innocence and declared, “Nothing. I have no idea why your dad brought these up here.”
Jim ducked his head through the opening as he mumbled, “I gotta go,” but Christy reached through and grabbed one of his ears in a firm grip before he could make his escape.
“Daddy, what are you two scheming up now?”
David spoke up for his beleaguered father-in-law, “We were just discussing the possibility of making a few supply-gathering trips, just to pick up things at the top of our priorities list. We also should consider checking out the neighborhood, just to get a handle on who is where and what kind of shape they’re in . . .”
Christy kept her grip on her dad’s ear with her left hand as she reached up to grab David’s shirt and pull him close with her right. When she had both of her men’s faces within inches of her own she snarled, “I shoot better than you two, I’m in better shape than you two, and I’m smarter than either of you! If anyone is leaving this house for any reason I am going to be part of the little adventure! Do you two stooges understand?”
They both nodded their comprehension as Jim whined, “Ok, honey, just don’t rip my ear off!”
She let go of her dad and cast an accusing glare on David. “When are you gonna get it through your thick skull that we are a team? Me and you? We fought our way out here, and I dropped both of those zombies you were gaping at when we found the dog before you even reached for a weapon! You and I know one another better than anyone else in the world, and nobody has the armor and weapons I have. WE STICK TOGET
HER!”
David grew serious, “All right, baby. I know I’m probably coming off as a little sexist by trying to keep you out of danger, but I just feel protective of you.”
Her face softened a bit as she took his hand and explained, “I know, sweetie, and I love that about you. But the world just did a one-eighty, and we all need to do everything and anything it takes to survive. Nobody needs a lawyer anymore, and I sure can’t cook worth a damn. I think I’ve proven that I can fight zombies pretty well, and you and Daddy are just going to have to live with the fact that in this new world I’m a soldier!”
David nodded as he shared a long look with Jim. He turned his attention back to Christy and began, “Sooner or later we’re gonna have to go searching for gear and supplies for our journey to Indiana. Everyone needs armor and weapons like ours, and we need more camping equipment and dried food. Hell, we need all kinds of stuff! Tomorrow we’ll sit down with everyone and identify some places where we can begin searching for what we need, and then you and I will decide on how to do it as safely as possible.”
Again Jim whined, “Now can I go?”
But suddenly Christy held up her hand for silence and whispered, “Did you hear that?”
David was looking down the street and after a moment of trying to see through the darkness he remembered the NVGs in his hand and strapped them to his head. His eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the greenish hue of the optics, but then he saw two people trying to open a window on the front porch of a house three doors down, on the opposite side of the street from Jim and Trudy’s home. He began to whisper a description of the scene unfolding before him.
“Two people are trying to get into a house across the street. Looks like a man and a teenager. They have on packs and are carrying long guns. The man has really short hair, and he’s trying to open a window with a pry-bar. Hold on, the kid is holding a night-vision scope and keeping watch. Heck, that might even be their house and they lost the keys as they travelled home.”
Jim asked for the NVGs and took a quick look. “No, they don’t live there. That’s the Seifert’s place and they were in California visiting family when the outbreak started. Wait a minute . . . they did have a son who was a cop south of Cleveland! That might be him!”
Christy also took a look and a few seconds later explained, “Well, they made it in. I don’t see that they were followed either, so they must have figured some things out over the past week.”
She took off the glasses and asked, “So what do we do now?”
David replied, “We wait till tomorrow and carefully try to contact them. We haven’t seen any live people doing anything more than passing through around here, and if they’re taking up residence they need to know that we’re here and not a threat.”
Jim agreed, “Yeah, we need to let them know we’re here. How about one of you provide the security and I’ll go down and knock on the door about noon?”
David shook his head, “That plan sucks! We don’t know if those people are friendly or dangerous, plus I don’t want you exposing yourself like that in broad daylight. Any zombies walking along will see you and start their damn moaning and the next thing you know the neighborhood will be crawling with the things.”
Christy interrupted the two, “Hey, why don’t we wrap up a note around a candy bar or something and toss it up against the front door while it’s still dark? Make a little thud, just to get their attention. Then we skedaddle back here and let them make the next move.”
Jim nodded, “That’s actually a pretty good idea. Either of you got a throwing arm?”
David smirked, “I was a pitcher and left fielder for a really good high school baseball team.”
Jim replied, “All right, as soon as we can write a letter of introduction you and Christy will go down there and throw our message up on the porch. You should go through the back gate and work your way over between the houses instead of just crossing the street in the open. Sound good to you two?”
David knew enough not to protest Christy’s involvement, and he had to admit that nobody else in the house was as steady as she was when faced with the zombies. “All right, Christy watches my back while I get the note on the porch.”
Christy approved, “Sounds good. Now let’s get off the roof and write to our new pen pals!”
After informing Sal, Vickie, and Trudy of the arrival of new people in the neighborhood, David and Christy began gearing up while Jim wrote a brief note of introduction from the small group of survivors. He explained how they had come to be together following the outbreak, and briefly mentioned the fact that fighting and healing were among the skills they possessed. He concluded with the suggestion of a meeting between the two parties, and said that if they wanted to establish contact they should reply to the note and set up a meeting time and place.
Trudy wrapped the message around a Snickers bar and secured it with a rubber band, then handed it to David as he stood waiting near the back door with Christy in tow. After one last look through the window and an all-clear report from Sal at his observation post, the couple quickly walked across the back yard and through the gate. Again they moved along the path between the fences, Christy wearing the NVGs and leading the way to the backyard where they’d rescued Chewy. The chain-link fence was easier to climb over than the surrounding wooden structures, plus they could see that the yard was clear before entering it.
After moving to the front of the house they stopped in the shadows of a tulip tree, where they carefully observed the street for about five minutes before proceeding toward the house where the two people had broken in just an hour earlier. When they reached the steps, David moved around Christy and tossed the candy bar against the front door where it struck the wood with a hollow ‘thump’ before falling to the porch floor. With no background noise but the gentle breeze rustling the leaves of nearby trees, the sound seemed to echo off of the surrounding houses as the two armored messengers quickly returned to their hiding place across the street.
Christy used the NVGs to watch the house for the next ten minutes, but after no sign that anyone was going to open the door and retrieve the message David insisted that they return to the relative safety of her parents’ home. Soon they were back inside, stripping off their outerwear and explaining the rather boring details of their mission to everybody. After a few minutes of speculating about the various reasons why nobody had come to the door, they all decided to give the new neighbors some time while everyone returned to their normal routine of living in the post-apocalyptic world. David managed to get a decent night’s sleep, and in the morning Sal told him that just before dawn one of the people down the street had cracked open the front door and grabbed the message wrapped around the valuable treat.
CHAPTER 5
David had kept watch on the Seifert house for three hours before he saw any sign of the people who’d entered the night before and picked up their message at sunrise. Someone moved aside the curtain in the second story window facing his position, and he lifted a pair of binoculars to get a better view of what was happening inside. He saw a man looking right at him with his own optics, which he found a bit unnerving until the other guy waved at him and flashed a thumb’s-up. David waved back for a few seconds and then gave an elaborate shrug in an effort to ask, “What now?” The man pointed behind himself and then held up one finger. Then he slapped his hand against his own chest and held up two fingers. David smiled and set the binoculars down, then he held up seven fingers before pointing to himself and adjusting to eight. As soon as he picked up the glasses again he could see the man making motions signaling that he was coming over to introduce himself, and David waved him over while giving a charade performance mimicking eating and drinking. Finally the man smiled and gave another thumbs up before setting down his binoculars and flashing all of his fingers in what David assumed was a sign saying that they would be over in ten minutes.
As soon as the man left the window David ran downstairs to tell everyone to expect compa
ny. Jim continued watching the neighborhood from the window, quietly calling down that the new residents were at the back gate. David looked out to see the man with a teenaged boy behind him, continuously scanning his surroundings while periodically looking up toward the back door as if awaiting a signal before advancing further into the yard. Christy finally opened the door and waved them in with a welcoming smile. They came trotting up with their guns lowered and the man whispered, “You want us to leave our weapons out here?”
Christy shook her head and quietly urged, “You guys just get in here!”
Jim came up to the short-haired man and said, “I’ve seen you around before. You’re Roger Seifert’s son, a police officer near Cleveland.”
The man smiled and held out his hand, “Jerry Seifert. This is my son, Luke.”
Everyone introduced themselves and Trudy finally asked, “Are you kids hungry? I can whip something up for you.”
Jerry smiled and answered, “Actually, we’ve been eating since we got to Mom and Dad’s place over there. Yesterday though, we would have certainly taken you up on the offer!”
David asked, “So you guys have been on the road since the outbreak started? Did you come out of Cleveland?”
“Well, actually we’re from Garfield Heights, that’s where I was on the police force, and we followed 480 around the metro area so no, we didn’t come through Cleveland. We did watch it burn for three days.”