by Oliver, Nick
“Yeah,” I agreed. I really didn’t want to listen to them making up in their bedroom, “Let’s go down and work on my truck for a bit. I could use the help.”
“Sounds like fun,” Sarah smiled grabbing my hand as we walked.
We took the long way around to avoid bumping into Nick and Roxie. I noticed the sky was getting dark, but it wasn’t the sun setting. Storm clouds filled the horizon to the east.
“That doesn’t look too good,” Sarah commented, squeezing my hand slightly. “Maybe we should go back upstairs to the safe room.”
I considered it, but decided against it. “Nah, it won’t be that bad, just a little wind and rain.” I said mostly so Sarah wouldn’t worry. “If it starts to get rough we’ll head back upstairs.”
When we got to the auto garage we got to work. “Okay, I already did most of the heavy lifting last night, so all that’s left is connecting the smaller components like the alternator, air conditioner, power steering pump, and the radiator,” I told Sarah as I opened the hood of my truck. “After that, we just needed to put in the wires, pulleys, and hoses that connect them all together and then fill it with the fluids it needs.”
She tied her hair up into a ponytail and grabbed a pair of gloves, “Sounds easy enough. Let’s do it.”
I did most of the work. Sarah knew a little bit about cars from her dad, but not enough for the complete rebuild we were doing. She mostly just handed me tools, and read from the mechanics for dummies manual whenever we needed help.
It started to rain after a few hours, but we left the rolling door facing the courtyard open because the rain wasn’t blowing in.
I just finished bolting in the power steering pump when the wind picked up. The wind howled louder then the moans the undead constantly made. Sarah walked over to the door opening, “It’s getting pretty bad out there. Should I shut the door?”
“Yeah, might as well. If the wind shifts we could get soaked.” I set down the ratchet I was using and grabbed the serpentine belt. “We’re getting pretty close to finishing this. After I put this belt on we just need to fill it up with oil, coolant, gas, and then fire it up and see what happens.”
“You think it’ll run?” Sarah asked as she grabbed the chain to close the rolling door. “I mean you have done a lot of work on this thing.”
“It’ll run,” I responded confidently. “I’ve replaced everything that was malfunctioning and then some, once we fill her up she’ll be as good as new.”
Sarah ran her hand along the side of the truck, “It could probably use a new paint job to match.”
I shook my head as I poured the engine oil into the engine. I’d sprayed the truck with flat black primer to cover the scratches and chips made by the undead hoard, but hadn’t quite got around to putting on the next coat, “I think the stealth look can be helpful if we have to travel at night.”
“Or maybe you’re just lazy,” she rolled her eyes with a smirk.
“That too,” I admitted. Before I could say anything else the rolling doors shook something awful. Sarah and I shot each other a look, the wind speed was picking up again.
Sarah walked over to the window next to the rolling doors and peeked outside, “It’s getting worse out there. I think we should go back up stairs, this storm looks like it’s going to last for a while,”
I put the last quart of oil in the truck, and then looked up at Sarah. “As soon as I fill up the radiator with coolant and give the truck a test fire we’ll go back up to the safe room.”
I unscrewed the cap to a jug of antifreeze coolant to pour into the radiator. Sarah continued to look out the window with a slightly concerned look on her face, “How much longer is that going to take?”
I emptied the first jug and then grabbed another. “Five minutes tops, don’t worry, it’s just a storm.”
Thunder shook the building. I was so surprised that I nearly dropped the antifreeze jug. Sarah let out a quick shriek and shot me a look.
“Okay,” I was convinced. “One minute.” I finished pouring the rest of the antifreeze into the radiator and then walked over to Sarah who was still by the window. I opened the door next to the rolling door and the wind flung it all the way open. Rain poured in like a waterfall.
“Fuck!” I cursed running into the downpour. Sarah followed me out. I had to yell just for her to hear me, “We need to get back upstairs!”
“No shit!” she cursed back, shielding her eyes from the rain with her arm.
We ran as fast as we could through the courtyard, leaves and small branches were flying around, most likely broken off the trees in the courtyard. I couldn’t help but wonder how the undead outside were handling the crazy weather.
Once we reached the stairwell we were out of the rain. We were so wet it looked like we just got done swimming.
“Let’s get inside and change before one of us gets sick.” Sarah said, wringing the water out of her hair.
10:00 PM, December 11
We went right inside and changed our clothes. Nick and Roxie were already in bed. It was more likely that they never got back out of bed after having their alone time while Sarah and I worked on my truck.
Sarah wanted to add the new food Roxie and I brought back from our run to the supply inventory before we forgot, so she was doing that in the kitchen. I was lying on the couch just relaxing.
I’d almost fallen asleep when thunder shook the building. I opened my eyes to a lightening flash. Sarah stood in the doorway, the lightening illuminating her silhouette for a moment. She was wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt, her normal sleeping attire, but for some reason it seemed a bit too clean, almost like she was trying to look good before going to bed. But it was most likely just because of the rain we had to run through earlier.
“Why aren’t you in bed?” she asked.
“Just enjoying the sounds of the storm,” I answered truthfully. “How about you?”
“You always did enjoy the simple things in life,” she chuckled as she walked toward the couch. “I’m not in bed because you’re not there.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” I asked, speaking before thinking about what she really meant.
“Clueless as always,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “Why exactly are you listening to a storm?”
I put my arm around her shoulders as she sat down next to me on the couch. “What do you hear?” I answered her question with another question.
It took her a second to answer, and even when she did, she didn’t sound like she completely understood the question, “The rain, the wind, and the thunder?”
“Yeah, and what don’t you hear?” While admittedly, this question would seem to be the harder one, it took her about half the time to answer this one.
“No moans!” she answered almost too enthusiastically. “I didn’t even notice it until now, but I have felt a little relaxed since the storm started.”
“I know right?” she leaned in a bit closer, resting her head on my shoulders. “I’ve always enjoyed the sound of a storm, even before it drowned out the sounds of the undead.”
She looked up at me, her eyes tired, but interested, “What is your favorite part of a storm?”
Even though I knew the answer it still took me a second to put it into words. “The rain. It’s comforting, that steady music that helps you to relax, even if it can be annoying sometimes. What about you?”
She smirked a bit, “I think for me it’s the thunder. Powerful, protecting, and somehow always manages to take you by surprise.”
Right after she said that thunder echoed through the building. After a while we laid down on the couch, her in front of me, with my arm wrapped around her.
We laid there for about an hour before she eventually fell asleep. Her breathing pushed my arm up and down in a slow rhythmic pattern.
"Sometimes, I catch myself thinking I'm better off now than I was six months ago." I said softly.
As far as I could tell she didn't wake up. I didn't intend to w
ake her up to talk, but saying the words to her even while sleeping made myself feel better.
"I don't have to worry about money, working for a douche bag nineteen year old with an assistant manager name tag, or how I'm going to afford my next meal." I paused for a moment, letting out a sigh. "Well that last one still kinda applies but that's not the point. But then I remember all those things out there were people, they had lives, families, friends. I look at them, and it reminds me how fragile our lives are. My parents are most likely dead, as well as everyone I've ever known except for you, Roxie and Nick, and yet, I feel like somehow I'm better off. I feel like for the first time in my life I finally have a purpose. I look at you and I see a positive future. I see us getting through this somehow. My life actually means something now.
Sarah didn't respond. Her breathing didn't change. For a second I thought I even heard her snore. I laid there for what felt like hours, just staring at her and listening to the storm. Finally, I fell asleep. After the long day I’d had, I definitely needed it.
2:00 AM, December 12
A loud crash startled me awake. Sarah must have heard it too, because she jumped off the couch almost immediately.
“What was that?” she asked, hiding behind me as I stood up.
“I have no idea,” I answered, looking at the window. It was too dark for me to see anything so I rubbed my eyes so that they would focus a little bit. A flash of lightning illuminated a silhouette right outside the window. It was a body with an arm severed near the elbow.
“Oh my god!” Sarah exclaimed, “They got in! What are we going to do?”
It took me a minute to process what was happening. I rubbed my eyes again. It was definitely one of them, stumbling around right outside the window.
“Go get Nick. We need to check the perimeter, and see how many there are.” I looked over at Sarah. She was breathing heavily, almost to the point of hyperventilation.
“Its pitch black out there,” She grabbed my arm, “You’re going to get killed if you go out there.”
I put my arm on her shoulder and gestured with my head to the window. “The storm shutters on the second floor aren’t shut. That one may not have realized we’re in here, but if they do, that glass isn’t going to hold them for long.”
Sarah sniffled and shook her head, “It’s not safe.”
“We’re not safe like this,” I reminded her. “If we don’t shut those shutters they’ll get in here and then none of us will be safe. Now go tell Nick to come out here, and lock yourself and Roxie in our room with some guns.”
I didn’t wait for Sarah to move, I walked around her to get my bat and rifle. My bat was leaning next to the gun rack. A machete was right next to it. I grabbed them both and left the gun. It would be damn near impossible to aim in the storm anyway.
Sarah wasn’t in the living room anymore. She must have gone to get Nick because he and Roxie came running from their room. Roxie had her rifle and was loading rounds into it.
“Nick we need to go around and shut the storm shutters.” I tossed him the machete, then walked up to Roxie, “Roxie stay here with Sarah and lock yourselves in your bedroom till we get back.”
“What!?” Roxie asked, clearly upset. “Why am I locked up in here? I can help you guys out there!”
Nick was about to argue when I cut him off. “No, stay here.”
“I am just as good with a gun as any of you,” she argued loudly. “You need me out there covering your asses.”
“I need you to stay here,” I yelled back. “I need you to keep Sarah safe while we’re out there. Can you handle that?”
She didn’t like it, that was for sure. It was all over her face, but she nodded, “Fine, I’ll keep her safe.”
“Good,” I started walking toward the door leading outside. “Nick we do this quick and easy. We’ll do a circle, shutting all the storm shutters and then come back inside.”
“You got it.” He pulled the machete out of its sheath, “How do you think they got in the perimeter?”
“I’m sure we’ll find out once we get out there” I put on my gloves to grip my bat better, and then put my hat on. “Okay, let’s do this.”
Rain hit my arm so fast and hard it felt like I was getting pelted by gravel. The wind was so strong I had to hold onto my hat just to keep it from flying off.
“This is crazy!” Nick was yelling but I could still barely hear him. “This is some storm!”
“This isn’t just some storm!” I yelled back, putting the key into first storm shutter to drop it, “This is a damned hurricane!”
The wind was blowing so hard it made Nick lose his footing. He grabbed onto the handrail just in time to keep himself from falling over completely. “This isn’t going to be easy!”
“No shit! I yelled back, pulling the key out for the first storm shutter. “We have five more of these to close.”
“Only five?” Nick yelled, regaining his footing. “There are a lot more windows then that!”
All of the sudden a large mass flew between us and smacked into the storm shutter I just closed. I thought it was a branch until it moved. It reached up and tried to grab my leg. I kicked its hand away and swung my bat down on its head. “You really want to try to close every second floor storm shutter in this weather? It’s raining zombies for fuck’s sake!”
Nick looked over the balcony. “You’re right, let’s do this quick.”
The winds picked up again and almost knocked me over. I grabbed onto the handrail next to Nick and handed him the key to shut the shutters. “Go shut the shutters that are around our safe room, leave the rest.”
He wiped water off his face only for it to be replaced a moment later, “Where are you going?”
“I need to check on the buses,” I yelled, wiping the water off my face only for the bandage on my forehead to come off with it. “If the winds are this strong they might get knocked over.”
“Don’t do anything stupid!” he yelled. “Just look, and then get the hell out of there. No hero stuff!”
“You know me,” I smirked then ran off toward the cafeteria. The two buses there filling up the walkway were easily our weakest point of defense. I had to grab onto the handrail over a dozen times to keep from falling over. The wind speed was insane.
The undead outside were having even more trouble than I was with the wind. They were plenty clumsy on their own. With strong winds the ones not packed against the building were either just knocked over, or rolling along the ground being blown like leaves and twigs.
There were a few more undead that must have been blown up onto the balcony by the wind. I took care of two of them easily enough, but as I was about to swing at the third the wind knocked us both off our feet.
It reached up and grabbed my head. I struggled and pulled my head out of its grip, but it still clutched my hat. My bat was to my left so I reached over and grabbed it, only to see the zombie chewing on my hat when I went to crush its skull.
I set the bat back down and grabbed my hat, trying to pull it out of the zombie’s mouth. It was bearing its teeth and snarling it must have tasted my sweat in the hat or something. I punched it in the cheek to try to loosen its grip but it didn’t work. I punched it a few more times until it did.
I put my hat back on then smashed its skull in with the side of my bat. “Never touch the hat!” I yelled.
I stumbled to my feet and continued on. As I rounded the corner the weather seemed to get worse. I had to hang onto the rail the entire time just to keep from falling over.
When I finally reached the point where I could see the two buses I saw one of them was on its side. It must have been the wind, which was blowing in from the east still, and the bus was pushed in toward the west. Most of the undead were in the front of the school, but there were still at least a hundred behind these two buses waiting to get inside the school.
Whenever the undead pushed those buses in too far, we would use the truck for supply runs to push it back into place. I looked do
wn and saw there was enough space for them to squeeze through, and they already were with the wind behind them.
I looked over the edge of the balcony and saw the roof of the bus that wasn’t knocked over. The stairwell was on the other side of the school and with this weather it would take me forever to get back there. After taking a few deep breaths I hopped over the rail and onto the roof of the bus.
As soon as my feet hit the roof they slid out from under me. My body hit the bus hard and I lost my grip on my bat as I started sliding down the wrong side of the bus toward the sea of undead. As I reached frantically for anything to stop myself from sliding off my hat blew off my head toward the courtyard. My legs were dangling off the side of the bus when I finally grabbed onto a yellow light on the roof.
“Shit!” I cursed. I could feel them grabbing at my feet trying to pull me down. Luckily the rain was keeping them from getting a good grip. I pulled myself up, just barely.
There were already dozens of zombies inside the courtyard. I slid down the side of the bus facing the courtyard as carefully as I could and landed in a puddle with a splash. I scrambled to my feet as the zombies near the buses started closing in on me. The wind was still strong but the buses were shielding me from it. I couldn’t find my bat. It must have fallen off the other side of the bus.
I didn’t have time to find another weapon. The zombies were still pouring through the space between the buses, so I ran as fast as I could toward the auto garage. I shoved a few of them out of the way on the way there nearly falling myself, but I kept my footing.
The rolling door was still closed so I opened the door next to it and went inside. The truck we used for supply runs was still half filled with bags full of food, and every second counted.
I looked over at my truck that was only recently reassembled. “Baby if I ever needed you to start on the first time, it’s now.”
I pulled open the rolling door and hooked the chain to keep it open. Rain started blowing in almost immediately. The keys to my truck were on a table covered in tools. I grabbed them and got in my truck. I took a deep breath before I turned the key, but when I did the deep hum of the engine rumbling to life filled the cabin. It was quite honestly the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard.