Dead, We Are

by Jimmy Bird

  I can honestly say that without any resentment. He bought us some time. I was usually an upbeat type of person, but the longer we survived the harder it became. It was getting hard to argue against the common phrase "We were screwed!" We were up the proverbial creek without a paddle and to make matters worse, we had to abandon our home.

  I lowered my head in defeat and turned around. We needed to leave before more zombies showed up. I lifted my head and took one step before stopping dead in my tracks. What was my daughter still doing in the Warehouse? She was supposed to be waiting in our escape vehicle, ready to leave. My sister must have seen the angered look on my face because she quickly stepped in front of me.

  She told me that there was a reason my daughter was still inside. Zombies were roaming around outside, especially around the vehicles. She stated that was the reason Bobby went out to the small parking lot, to get us. There were too many of the zombies outside of shipping and he needed our help.

  Before I could even begin to reply, something began banging on the door that led to the small parking lot. I froze in place as I heard moaning, a lot of moaning. We needed to get out of there.

  With my spear in hand, I ran towards my daughter with Danny and Bobby hot on my heels. I stopped in front of her and asked if she was okay. She looked up at me and told me that she was but was scared. I told her that it was okay because I was scared too.

  I looked at our small remaining group and asked if we were ready. Before anyone could say anything, the zombies started pouring in through the back door we had just left. How the hell did they get in? It didn't matter because we were gone.

  I told Seth and Austin to protect my daughter as I pushed on the main parking lot door, where our escape vehicles were located. With my spear in hand, I jumped down the steps towards the zombies. Danny was right behind me. I knew that if we could catch them off guard then we would have a chance to escape without any more incidents.

  Danny and I took out the first ten zombies without any problems. Lucky for us, most of them were facing the other way. Unfortunately for us, our fortune ran out. It seemed that more zombies were within the fence then we initially estimated, a lot more. I didn't take the time to count them, but it looked more like an angry mob of over fifty coming towards us.

  I didn't get it. We had set up the escape vehicles just weeks before and there weren't that many at the time. I could only think of two possibilities for what we were seeing. Either someone was trying to trap us or we hadn't cleaned out the area as good as we initially thought. Ultimately, it didn't matter. At least not in the grand scheme of things because no matter how you looked at it, if we didn't leave the Warehouse then we were dead.

  Since we were now down a few more people then originally planned, my sister and Bobby decided to consolidate vehicles. They grabbed everything that the could and put it in one vehicle. Once the kids were inside they yelled for me and Danny to get in.

  Danny and I slowly backpedaled toward the SUV because we wanted to keep our eyes on the immediate threat making their way towards us. We were trying to be as observant and cautious as we could possibly be.

  We had almost made it to the SUV whenever the door we had just came out of burst open. The zombies fell down the steps like dominoes. It seemed like the ones in the back were pushing the ones in front. It didn't stop them from moving when they hit the ground though, they just kept coming.

  Feeling like we had overstayed our welcome, Danny and I jumped into the rear passenger sides of the SUV as it took off. I was surprised to see my sister behind the steering wheel, especially since the start of the apocalypse. If you remember, her car she had gotten surrounded and ever since then she had refused to drive. Now that I think about it, I don't think that I've ever seen her leave the Warehouse grounds. She wouldn't tell me why and I was pretty sure that wasn't the proper time to ask. I personally think that she might of had some kind of panic attack or anxiety when everything happened, but I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.

  Whatever her reasoning was, she was now behind the wheel and wasn't playing around. The main gate was still closed and had stayed shut ever since the battle. Speaking of the battle, you could still see the bodies of the dead "reservists" and our friends. Their bodies were still in the exact positions where they had died. They looked like they were still decomposing and a little chewed on. It was truly a nasty sight.

  My sister had stopped at the gate waiting for one of us to get out and open it. I looked back at the mob that was getting closer and told her that we didn't have time to open it. So, she did the next best thing and rammed it.

  The gate was stronger then I had thought. It bowed in, but the hinges did not break loose. I told my sister to back up and get a good running start. I looked back again at the mob that was getting closer and told her to hurry.

  She put it in reverse and quickly backed up around ten feet. It just so happened that it was as far as she could backup because the of the mob of zombies. As soon as the first zombie touched the rear window we yelled for her to go. She stepped on the gas and hit the gate doing around 30 mph. The gate busted free from the top hinges, but did not break completely free from the bottom. The bottom of the gate was still latched on, it's braces were bent completely over. The front tires went over the bottom the gate with ease, most likely from its momentum. The back tires however, weren't so lucky.

  I guess the way the gate went down caused it's braces to get wedged under the SUV's back tires and frame. The front tires of the SUV had hit the braces like a speed bump and popped up a little bit, clearing that part of the gate. We were stuck. No, we were screwed. We could hear the rear tires barely touching the metal, but it wasn't enough to grip.

  I figured that if I got out and pushed hard enough for the tires to get traction then the others could escape to safety. It seemed that Danny was thinking the same thing. We were the only two healthy enough adults who stood a chance of pushing the SUV to safety. We didn't even consider Seth or Austin for the job. The young ones were our future and whoever went outside to push was pretty much signing their own death warrant.

  Without hesitation, I reached out for the door handle. All the adults seemed to have been thinking the same thing, they knew what I was thinking. It was my turn to sacrifice myself for my family and friends.

  They refused to let me do it. My sister made sure the locks were down so I couldn't get out. Luckily, I didn't have to. During the time we took arguing about getting unstuck, the zombie horde had arrived to save the day. No, I'm not joking.

  You see, it happened just like it did with the shipping steps when we were leaving. The first wave of zombies hit the back of the SUV. The zombies in the back pushed the zombies in front. It was almost like a giant zombie mosh pit the way they pushed us forward. They pushed the SUV with enough force that they almost gave us whiplash.

  My sister pushed down on the gas just as soon as it felt like the vehicle made contact with the top of the gate. We knew right away that we were no longer stuck on the gate brace. With her foot on the gas pedal, we went from being stuck on the gate to driving on the battle damaged road. She turned the corner to drive up the street and to our freedom.

  I looked back at all the zombies stumbling over the gate and each other. I knew that we were lucky just to make it out alive. I followed the river of zombies back to its source. There were more of them inside the Warehouse then I had thought.

  Even when we turned onto twenty-ninth street, I continued watching the Warehouse. Thoughts of what we had tried to accomplish and what had actually happened kept playing around in my head. We had failed miserably, as a society and as a community.

  Before I realized it, the Warehouse had become smaller and smaller through the rear mirror. After staring at the river of zombies chasing after us, a single zombie caught my attention. He stood out more then the others. I watched as he stumbled out of the small parking lot. I couldn't be a hundred percent sure, but the zombie looked a lot like Ruff. Especially, sinc
e I could have sworn that I saw his metal hand. Still, it was really hard to tell. Maybe it was because I wanted it to be him, his sacrifice was still fresh in my mind.

  The creature, did look a lot like him. Actually, now that I think about it all of the zombies began to look familiar. When the zombie was almost out of sight, I made a silent promise that when we made it to our new safe haven then I would return to take care of him. I refused to leave Ruff in his zombie state.

  With my promise hanging in my thoughts, I turned around in an attempt to look to the future. I was hoping that I could use it as a metaphor for things to come. Well, I hoped it was a metaphor for positive things to come anyway.

  It was decided in those few months before that we would go to my father-n-law's land out in the country, nicknamed the Sanctuary. As I said before, he had twenty acres on the outskirts of Moore, located somewhere between Moore and Norman. No, I'm not going to give you the exact address.

  Since we had a smaller number of people now, we figured that it was the safest place to stay. Besides, his land was completely fenced in with barb wire. Anything that tried to get in would cut themselves up. As an added bonus, he also had one of those old horse style ranch gates. It was made of heavy duty steel that was like eight feet long and around six feet tall. Of course, the downside was its size. If you needed to shut the gate quickly, it just wasn't happening. Overall, I thought our new home would work out nicely. At least, for the moment.

  17 DAY 255, MY FINAL ENTRY

  I made good on my promise to return a few weeks later, only it wasn't exactly how I had planned it. Actually, we had attempted a few previous unsuccessful trips that might have effected our current situation. No matter what happened here today, this would be our one and only return to the Warehouse. Again, it was not our choice. Something happened at my father-n-law's land and we had to leave rather quickly. We now have to leave the city and it looks like the only safe place that I could think of is far away from here.

  That's right you heard me, a long trip. You see, it didn't work out at my father-n-law's place. Actually, that's not entirely true. It was working out until we ran into some trouble and was forced to abandon it. I guess we could have tried to fight for the place, but with such a small number of people to defend it, we would have died. It was the kind of trouble that we didn't foresee when we choose to go there. Before I go into too much detail, here's what happened.

  Before our previous drive back to the Warehouse, we devised a plan and prioritized the many different things that we needed to do. I would like to say that our first and foremost priority was to Ruff. We knew that it could mean a long hide and seek hunt, but we needed to find him and end his suffering. I knew that it was the least we could do for him.

  After taking care of our fallen brother, we needed to find supplies. It just so happens that Moore had two super centers and four grocery stores within a five mile radius of each other. It also has a sporting goods store, a farming supply type of store, and two do-it-yourself home projects type of stores. Yes, as long as we're careful, we could fully stock up on canned food, cooking supplies, planting seeds, building supplies, and even weapons. With that much land we figured that we could plant vegetables, but all that had to wait because we had a mission to accomplish.

  Unfortunately, we never made it back to the Warehouse. This would be our first time back. In fact, it took us over three and a half hours to get back to the Warehouse from my father-n-law's land. While driving, no one said much outside of the planning. I think that we were all just ready to get it over with. It was agreed that Danny would drive. I used the silence to reflect on all that had happened since we abandoned the Warehouse and started writing this manuscript.

  I would like to start off by saying that before the apocalypse, the travel time from my father-n-law's house to the Warehouse was usually around forty minutes. Basically, the travel time depended on the traffic and time of day. I would like to point out that since it all depended on traffic, you would think that it would be a lot faster now that most people were either dead or zombies. Unfortunately, we all know that its not the case.

  While it was true that there were now less people on the road, it didn't mean that we didn't have to deal with different types of obstacles. There were abandoned or damaged cars everywhere, especially out in the rural country area where there are only two lane streets. Plus the zombie hordes were everywhere. It was like they were a pack of wild animals with no alpha leader, but somehow shared a common brain. I know that it's hard to think of them like that, but if you look at all the facts, it seems true.

  Before I get to far ahead of myself, I want to go back to the time we left the Warehouse. It started after shortly after we arrived at my father-n-law's house. Unfortunately, we found it abandoned.

  To be honest with you, I kind of figured that no one would be here. Especially, since I know the kind of person he was and I honestly couldn't remember the last time I had talked to him. It might have been a few weeks before the world fell apart. Since he was a machinist, we had been talking about creating a custom piece for my motorcycle. Nothing important, it was just something to work on in our own spare time. Unfortunately, we never got around to doing it.

  Sorry, I got off the subject. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, now I remember. You see, he loved his grandchildren so much that he probably made his way towards Moore just to check on them. He probably wanted to make sure that they were alright.

  My brother-n-law also lived in Moore, actually just a few miles from us. I'm thinking that if my father-n-law couldn't get a hold of either one of his children by phone then he most likely ventured out in the mess to check on us.

  We waited around for a day before we raided his tool shed. I wanted to see if he would come back before we went through his things. We didn't see any signs of him staying there, but it didn't feel right being at his house without him there. Know what I mean?

  Anyway, we ended up using his shovels and tractor to dig a ditch around his property. Just inside the fence line. It was a defensive plan for whatever managed to work its way past the fence, would then find themselves in a deep ditch. The plan was to dig the ditch over six feet deep and four feet wide. It took us nearly a week of digging to just get a half block dug up. With all the rocks and stumps in the ground, not to mention all the trips to Moore took time.

  At the bottom of the ditch, we planned on placing post that stuck a few feet out of the ground (we got the idea from movies). The post were going to have double layers of barbed wire wrapped around them. So that whatever did make its way into the ditch would get their legs either tangled or chewed up by the barbed wire.

  If they did manage to make it past the post then they would have to climb a six foot sixty degree angled wall of Oklahoma red clay. Anyone from Oklahoma knows that the red clay from here sucks. When it's wet, it's even worse then trying to walk or crawl through thick mud and when it's dry it's like hard textured glass.

  Next, we planned on placing another fence on the inside of the property, just a few feet past the ditch. The fence wasn't going to be anything special, it was just going to be four feet in height. So whoever did manage to crawl out of the ditch would tear their hands up trying to reach for something to grab a hold of. We figured that if that wasn't enough to stop whatever came through then we could always add more.

  We also started working on ideas for a hidden alternative escape routes through the rear fence if the main gate ever got blocked. Until our defenses were built, we figured that we could position our SUV near the rear exit out of the house. If trouble ever made it past the fence then we had a quick getaway exit planned.

  As a precautionary measure, we took turns routinely doing perimeter checks. We walked the fence in pairs, every two to three hours. We wanted to make sure that we had plenty of warning if something ever did get inside the fence.

  On our previous failed attempt to reach the Warehouse, Danny and I decided that we were going to take a detour, a long way back to our new home.
We figured that we could check out a couple of places to search for supplies. We figured that if we hit up the stores on our way back to Moore then we would definitely find some supplies. We knew that supplies were getting scarce and we would run out eventually, it was just a matter of time. Before that though, we figured the same "long way around" strategy could be used on our way to the Warehouse. We hoped that it would give us a greater chance of finding supplies.

  The Warehouse is located just a few miles south of downtown Oklahoma City and we had to go further south to get to the Moore area. On that particular day we slowly made our way to the southwest side of the city until we saw a sign for another supercenter store. This one was located just off the highway I-240 and to top it off, there were a few sporting goods stores close by. We knew that with any luck, they would still have supplies in them.

  The surrounding roads were awful, with most of the major roads either blocked off or narrowed down by abandoned cars. We slowly made our way down Western Avenue when we came across an abandoned truck parked in the middle of the street. It was perpendicular between two other cars.

  The truck looked in pretty good shape with minimum body damage and had almost no blood on it. The glass looked clean in a way that we hadn't seen in almost a year. Well, not since before the apocalypse. It was one of those rare sights.

  It was was also the reason we became instantly suspicious, thinking that it might have been some kind a trap. No vehicle could have been that clean and in that good of shape for a year. Let me just cut to the chase, it was a trap.

  Danny had been driving at the time while I played the lookout. My job was to keep an eye out for zombies and suspicious looking people. We didn't want to end up trapped, with no way out, sort of like the trap that was in front of us. Luckily, I spotted it before we got too close.