by Oliver, Nick
“She’s right,” Nick defended. “If Sarah is alive, you’re not going to be able to find her without light, and she wouldn’t want you getting killed being stupid. We’ll get a fresh start in the morning.”
I stopped with my hand on the doorknob. I looked out the window between the boards and saw the numerous Zombies still outside. I let out a sigh and turned around, “Okay, but we do it my way.”
We started cataloguing what we had: food, water, weapons, ammo, anything useful, and making a list of what we needed. If we were going into town we might as well get the things we needed while there. I headed into the garage to see what I could find, and found a familiar sight, my old Ford Ranger, in all its faded glory. I couldn’t help but smile.
“What?” I heard Nick’s voice from behind me. “Did you think we’d just abandon her?”
I ran my hand down the body, noticing a few dents and bumps that were new, “How long did it take you to get her started?”
“Felt like an hour,” he sighed, “and I didn’t get it started, Roxie had to do it.”
I would have laughed, but Sarah was still weighing heavy on my mind. I patted Nick on the back, and pulled him in for a hug, “Thanks man.”
“Oh, don’t think we did it for you,” he added sarcastically. “Roxie’s car got totaled on the highway, and mine got blocked in at the school,” he shrugged. “Wasn’t like we had much of a choice.”
“Thanks,” I responded with my own sarcasm. “Glad to know you were thinking of me when you stole my truck.”
“The term is acquisitioned,” he smirked. “We acquisitioned your truck.”
I went back inside to see how Roxie was doing checking the bedrooms upstairs. About halfway up the stairs I heard a familiar sniffling. I looked back down the stairs and saw that Nick was wandering around my truck, obviously avoiding the issue. I rolled my eyes with a sigh, “Looks like things haven’t changed that much.”
The door was slightly ajar, so I pushed it open. She must have heard me, because she exclaimed rather quickly, “I told you I’m fine.”
“Well I missed that memo,” I answered, knowing she thought she was saying it to Nick. She turned her head enough to see it was me.
“Sorry, just having another one of those stupid girl moments.” She wiped her tears on her sleeve, and looked down at a picture of us and our parents in front of the Castle at Disney World. We couldn’t have been more than seven or eight years old. Roxie had a wide smile, revealing her missing front teeth.
“Are you still crying about that?” I asked, she gave me a perplexed look as I sat down next to her on the floor and put my arm around her shoulders. She didn’t understand what I meant, “I thought they grew back?” I gestured to her lack of teeth in the photo.
She laughed for a moment, but then went back to crying almost instantly, putting her head on my chest, “Things are never going to be the same again, are they?”
I thought about lying, telling her that there was a chance this would all blow over, but I knew that wasn’t true, and she was smart enough to know it as well, no matter how emotional she was right now. “No,” I admitted, “I don’t think they will.”
We sat there for about twenty minutes before she was able to compose herself. “Come on,” she changed the subject. “We should probably go to bed. It’s already late enough. If we are going to get an early start we’d need to get some sleep.”
I went downstairs to the foldout couch in the living room, and Nick eventually went upstairs after another half hour in the garage. It was almost midnight when I heard them start arguing. I got up and got my pistol and bat ready. I wasn’t going to sit around here when Sarah was out there alone. I wrote a note telling them what I was doing, and that Sarah and I would be back either tomorrow or the next day.
I thought they’d finally gone to bed when they blew out their candle, but as soon as I made my way toward the back door they were at it again. It was almost two o’clock in the morning before they finally went to sleep. I waited another twenty minutes or so, just to make sure they were really asleep, before I snuck out the back.
The backyard was clear of any Zombies that I could see. They must have all been out front, so I moved pretty quickly to the shed where Nick’s uncle kept his dirt bikes and four-wheelers. I made sure the tank was full in the four-wheeler I was taking, and started pushing it toward the front of the house. I couldn’t start it this close without waking up Nick or Roxie.
I gave the house a wide berth, because I knew that the one’s out front would be on my ass quick, as soon as they saw me. Sure enough, once I saw them it didn’t take long for them to take notice of me. Only a few came toward me at first, then I got an idea. I picked up a few rocks and chucked them at the remaining crowd, getting their attention away from the house. “Come on you dead bastards,” I taunted them to follow me.
They were getting close, so I pushed the four-wheeler as fast as I could to keep away from them. Once I got on the road it was a lot easier to push on the compacted dirt. I waited until I was about a quarter mile away from the house before I fired up the engine. I didn’t go too fast, because I wanted the zombies to follow me away from the house for a little bit, but once I reached the highway I would leave them in the dust.
Chapter Twelve: Sarah
7:00 AM, July 5
It was dark most of the way, broken down cars were everywhere. Luckily I could go along the sides of the road to avoid most of the congestion. The sun had just come up about half hour ago when I got off the highway onto the street leading to Sarah’s house. I saw a few Zombies on the way over, but none that I couldn’t avoid.
The area around the house was quiet. There was a big smoldered black circle in the front yard. It was filled with hundreds of blackened bones, and I couldn’t even tell how many bodies contributed to the pile. Dried blood was all over the front porch, even on the little table and chair where Sarah’s dad used to sit. Spent shotgun shells were on the ground about every three or four feet.
The front door wasn't closed all the way. It would swing closed by itself, but would never close entirely, and you had to slam it to close it all the way. The blood trails went inside, where I found more shotgun shells and big brown circles on the floor where blood had pooled. There was a crazy shootout here, and it wasn’t quick. There was enough blood splatter on the walls to have come from an army.
Browned bloody footprints led to the kitchen. At this point I saw handprints and smudges all over the swinging kitchen door. On the other side a couple empty boxes of shotgun shells was on the ground. I knelt down and picked one up. Bloody fingerprints covered it. The glass on the kitchen door was busted in, and so were the windows. More of the Zombies must have been trying to break in through the back. The footprints led upstairs.
There were bloody smudges on the walls the whole way up the stairwell, and bloody handprints on the railing. I almost tripped going up on even more shotgun shells and another empty box.
The door to Sarah’s room was closed, I almost went inside, but the footprints didn’t lead inside, so I left it for now, and went to her dad’s room. Blood was all over the ground outside of it, so much so that the bottoms of my boots stuck to it when I walked on it. Holes small and large were all over the wall opposite of his door. He’d been using different rounds in his shotgun, buckshot and birdshot. The door itself was barely intact, the hinges were hanging, and wood chips were everywhere. Inside the room on the floor there were five or six empty boxes and dozens of shells everywhere.
I’d been in this room before. When Sarah and I were kids we used to played hide and seek and would hide in here. After Sarah’s mom died and her dad went off the deep end, the only thing on that he kept on the dresser had been a picture of her mom. The dresser was empty right now, but I had a feeling I knew where it was.
I saw the slumped form sitting in the rocker next to the bed. A spray of blood was on the wall and ceiling behind it. I felt broken glass on the ground under my boots when I got close.
It came from a picture frame that was next to his feet. I picked up the picture of Sarah’s mom and saw a bit of blood on it. I put it in my bag with care, Sarah would want it. His shotgun was leaning against the wall. It’d seen better days, and from the number of spent shells I’d seen since walking in I wasn’t surprised. A .357 Magnum was on the other side of the rocker. I figured he owned another gun, but I’d never seen it before today. When I picked it up I saw the bandage on his arm, with a circular red stain in the center. I couldn't help but shed a tear. This man was practically another father to me, and he didn’t deserve to go out like this.
It took me almost an hour to get him downstairs. I thought about digging the grave, but realized Sarah should be there when his body was buried. It was her right to see his funeral, and if she didn’t, she’d resent me forever. I went in the garage and found a heavy tarp to wrap his body in, and left him in the garage. I felt like I needed to say something, but all I did was nod and thank him for everything he did for me. I saw his compound bow sitting on the work bench with a bundle of arrows. I grabbed it before closing the door and locking it, just in case anything tried to get in.
I made sure to pack Jerry’s .357 and shotgun on the four-wheeler before I left. I didn’t find any shotgun ammo except for the two that were left in it, but found two boxes of .357 magnum rounds. The bow was what I was most excited about. Killing the Zombies silently could definitely come in handy.
It was one o’clock pm when I left her house. My eyes were still damp, but I shook it off, I had to find her, that’s what her dad would want, and it’s what I wanted.
The last place Nick and Roxie saw Sarah was the High School, so if I was going to find any clues it would be there.
It’d been just over a week since the carnage happened there, but it looked like it had been months. Bodies littered the streets more than anywhere I’d seen so far and it only got worse the closer I got to the school. I started to get a bit discouraged. I didn’t know what I was expecting to find out here, any clues would have been washed away by now. It had rained at least once since that night, the blood stains that should be everywhere were washed and smudged in places.
I parked the four-wheeler one street from the school. I didn’t want to be trying to start it while surrounded, I’d rather get a running start if I could. I kept my pistol holstered on my hip, held my bat in my hands, and left everything else on the four-wheeler.
I tried to put myself in her shoes. With a sea of people, and losing sight of the people she was with, her first instinct would be to get out of the chaos, away from the danger.
She hadn’t been to her house, or back to my house. There was no trace of her attempting to leave some kind of sign for anyone to know where she’d be, or any attempt to fortify them to stay.
The parking lots were a nightmare. Cars were jammed in bumper to bumper, with barely enough room to get out of said cars. There was no way she’d try to escape through a death trap like that. I picked up a rock and tossed it at the school in frustration. I aimed for a window, but heard a metal clang ring out, not shattering, or a thump of hitting the brick wall instead.
A few lingering Zombies looked up at the school after hearing the sound and started shuffling toward it. At first I was surprised, and then I remembered the school was a hurricane shelter. The shutters had probably been down since the place was designated as a shelter.
It barely looked like a school anymore, emergency and military vehicles were everywhere. Crates, tents, and other supplies made it look more like something out of an old war film. The bodies everywhere only reinforced that image.
It took me a while to navigate my way into the school itself, but once I did I noticed that there were actually only a few bodies inside the school itself. The few that were there were horribly ripped apart, practically only skeletons. It looked like the Zombies that overran the shelter fed on what they could, but once the food spread outside they followed it out.
If it happened fast enough, Sarah could have holed up somewhere nearby then come back to the school once it was safe. It was still the most fortified building for miles.
I checked as many rooms as I could, knocking and calling her name if a door was locked. A few times I would get an answer, but it was always a gasping moan, some scratching or knocking back. Some people who were infected must not have made it out in time.
I left the building learning nothing about where Sarah was. I checked a few of the police vehicles for weapons or ammo, but they were picked clean for the most part. I only found a few shotgun shells, but I didn’t have enough time to check all the vehicles.
I was on my way back to the four-wheeler when I noticed a familiar truck. It had a cheesy set of flame decals behind the front tires. I’d recognize Rodger’s truck any day of the week. I’d wanted to do damage to that truck for years, and even though it was already wrapped around a pole, I needed to let off some steam.
I smashed the taillights first, then the headlights, and was about to take out the passenger side mirror when I saw a shoe on the ground. It caught my attention because it looked familiar, then it hit me, Sarah owned the exact same pair of shoes. I picked it up and about jumped for joy when I saw the faded letters written on the inside of the tongue. Her name never looked so good written down. It had splatters of blood on it, but that was no surprise, there was blood on everything out here.
I took a look around at my surroundings. I was a bit too focused on releasing stress to notice that all the noise I was making caught the attention of the local Zombies, and they were all congregating on my location. I was a bit out of breath, but it didn’t take much to jog back to the four-wheeler. I only had to take out one Zombie that was too close for comfort. I put her shoe into my backpack and sped off toward Rodger’s house as fast as I could.
I didn’t know if she was still there, I didn’t know if Rodger was still alive, but if he was, he might be the last one to have seen her.
The sun had set on the way over, but enough was enough. Nothing was going to stop me now. I parked the four-wheeler about half a mile away, tucked off the side of the road. I had plenty of weapons to choose from at this point, but decided to go simple. My bat was effective but I had to carry it in my hand, so I chose a machete I found at Nick’s uncle’s house instead, since it had a sheath that attached to my belt. I also chose the 9mm over the .357 for the same reason. The compound bow was an obvious choice. I had eight arrows to work with and about 20 rounds of 9mm ammo in two clips.
The road to his house was creepy enough without it being so dark. The trees and foliage hadn’t been maintained here for a long time. The road was cracked and covered in potholes. I turned down the clay driveway. It was pretty dark. I could barely see anymore, but didn’t want to risk using the flashlight I brought, I didn’t want them to know I was coming.
There were plenty of dead bodies around the yard. Most of them were littered with bullet holes. It must have taken Rodger and his friends a while to figure out head shots.
There were four trucks parked near the garage. It was separate from the rest of the house, and it didn’t look like anyone was inside them, or the garage. The house on the other hand had lights on. There were curtains up, but I could still see a faint glow around them. All the first floor windows were boarded up, so I went around back, hoping to find a weakness. The back door had a small window on it, and it was covered poorly by a piece of plywood.
I went back to the garage and found a hammer. On the way back I thought I heard a door slam from inside the house. I froze and looked up at the windows. I heard a female voice screaming, then a male voice yelling back. A shadow moved across one of the windows fast, followed by another. My heart was racing. I moved as quickly as I could without being too loud back to the back door.
Before I popped the board off I peeked in through the boards on a windows near the door, it didn’t look like anyone was there, so they must have all be upstairs.
I popped the board off, smashed the window, and unlo
cked the door. I could hear aggravated yelling upstairs as I stepped inside, and then heard two sets of footsteps coming down stairs. I ran to the opposite corner from the door, and drew the bow string back.
“Must be another walker,” I heard one of them say from the next room. Two figures came in. I shot the first one with the bow. The arrow went through his head and stuck in the wall on the opposite side. I didn’t have time to draw another arrow, so I dropped the bow, drew my machete and stuck it halfway through his head before he could shoot me. He turned to look at me, it was dark, but his eyes had a greenish tint for half a second. As he twitched and fell, he squeezed the trigger on his rifle and fired off a round, but it went into the floor.
It took me a second to realize what happened since it went so fast. I noticed that the first one was James, and the one with my machete halfway through his head was Dave. I’d known those guys since I was a kid. We never got along sure, but this was different than the guys in the warehouse. They had names, they had lives that I knew. I looked at their eyes but only saw green. I shook it off, it wasn’t important now.
I walked slowly through the doorway and strung another arrow, ready for someone else to come down the stairs to my right. I tried not to make a sound, knowing whoever was left upstairs didn't know I was here, or that Dave and James were dead. I got to the bottom of the stairs and waited, I didn't want to be stuck on the low ground. I waited about fifteen minutes, probably the longest fifteen minutes of my life, until I heard someone talking from upstairs.
I only heard two voices, but I couldn’t tell who they were. I drew the bow, ready to fire, when I saw the guy coming at me. He was big. I fired as soon as I had a shot, but I heard a yelp, and then a gunshot. I dove and rolled to my right, toward a couch as soon as I heard the shot, but the pain registered as I was in mid roll. He had shot me in the left shoulder. I dove over a couch, and looked at the quiver, only one arrow left, the others had fallen out when I rolled. I set the bow down.