Dead of Knight: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale

by Beard, Stephen J.

  “Go for Ryan.”

  “We need some help down here, buddy. And we need it fast.”

  “What’s wrong,” I asked, already moving.

  “The house is on fire.”

  I grabbed Mike, Sam and Lois and we got the bus rolling. Sam even thought to grab the fire extinguisher from the kitchen. Once we were on the Millers street, we could see that the fire extinguisher was not going to be any help. Black smoke was rising up above the houses.

  “I hope they’re alright,” said Lois. “They’re such nice people.”

  “When we get there, Sam, you and Lois go right to them and make sure they’re not hurt. Mike and I will provide security.”

  We could see the Millers standing by the road when we rounded the corner. Beth and Tony had their arms around each other. It would have been endearing except for the circumstances. They seemed uninjured. There were flames coming out of some of the windows and one spot on the roof of the house. There was nothing we could do to save it. Sam and Lois ran over to them. Mike and I got in the street to keep watch.

  “You guys okay?” she asked. “Are you hurt?” Beth was crying and couldn’t answer. Tony answered for both.

  “She’s not hurt. My arms and hands are burnt some though,” he said. There were a few armfuls of stuff at their feet.

  “I tried to save a few things,” he said absently. Lois went to work on his burns. They weren’t severe but second degree burns were no joke in the zombie apocalypse.

  “The most important thing is that you’re both safe,” said Lois.

  “Ryan.” I turned to see Mike pointing up the street in the direction we just came from. There were 4 zombies shambling in their direction, drawn by the noise of the fire and, no doubt, the commotion. I nodded then checked the other direction and found 2 more zombies coming from that direction. These two were a little farther away than the others.

  I stepped up next to Mike. He had already taken out 1 of the 4 zombies on that side. I fired and got the second one while Mike reloaded. Then he fired while reloaded and I reloaded and fired again. We were getting good at reloading quickly and firing accurately.

  “Behind us,” I said.

  We turned and found Sam already in the street. She had taken out the closest zombie and was reloading. Mike and I lowered our weapons and watched as she got a bead on the other one and fired. Head shot.

  “Way to go honey!” I shouted. I was proud of her. Mike was also impressed.

  “Nice shooting boss lady,” he said.

  She smiled but I could see her hands were shaking. I realized that this was one of the first times she’d been out of the house. I took her in my arms and held on to her. The fire was forcing us back into the street. I could see Tony take his wife’s hands in his and kiss her.

  “We need to go, Beth,” he said. “We’re safe and we carry our memories in our hearts.”

  Beth nodded almost imperceptibly and allowed Tony to lead her to the bus. Sam and Lois followed. Mike and I checked our surroundings and grabbed the small pile of stuff Tony had managed to get out. Then we boarded the bus and headed home.

  Everyone came into the garage and tried to help. Beth would only let Tony help her and he sat her gently down on the sofa and got her a bottle of water. Only then would he let Lois treat his burns. Karen and the kids came over but there was nothing to be done. Karen backed off but the kids stayed and sat at Beth’s feet. Soon, she managed to put a hand on each of their heads and smile softly down at them.

  “Thank you for helping,” she said softly.

  I pulled Sam aside in the kitchen.

  “Our inventory included supplies at their house, correct,” I asked.

  “Yeah, but I noted what was where. I’ll get it adjusted. Won’t take long.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “We will have to rearrange the sleeping situation,” said Sam.

  “Yeah, I know. Maybe the kids would be alright with sleeping bags for a few days?”

  “No,” she replied. “I think the kids would actually enjoy being in the sleeping bags for a few days.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Let’s do that and re-think it in a few days. Damn it. This was going to be a normal day for them.”

  “Did you find out what happened?”

  “No, they tell us when they’re ready. I’m not going to push.” I leaned up against the wall. “I really hate this shit, ya know.”

  “Not your fault.”

  “I know. It’s nobody’s fault. Except the son of a bitch that allowed the tainted vaccines out. I hope he’s a fucking zombie.”

  Mal and Tabby were excited to sleep in the sleeping bags for a few days. Especially since they’d be in the living room and that’s where the Christmas presents were. The kids also wanted to be the ones to tell Beth and Tony that they could take their room. Beth started to cry and that upset Mal but he realized that she wasn’t mad when she pulled him up on her lap and hugged him. Tabby got the same treatment. I was so proud of my kids. Even in this, what had to be the worst of times, they weren’t complaining or causing trouble. They were just being great kids.

  We made the best of dinner. It was lavish by our standards and Tony and Beth tried to be happy but I’m sure they were remembering Christmas’s at their house with their kids. And all of that was gone now.

  “It was the candles,” Tony threw out in the middle of a different conversation. “I left one in a stupid place. I think it caught a curtain on fire.” He looked at his wife. She was hearing this for the first time, too.

  “It’s alright, Tony,” she said. “I’ll miss some of that stuff but I’d miss you more. I’m just glad we’re safe. Thank you all for that.” She reached out for his hand and we all smiled.

  The rest of the dinner was announcing the new sleeping arrangements. I let the kids do that part. We also made plans for the replenishment of what supplies we lost at the Millers. The kids asked to be excused to go back to their toys. Who could blame them? As they got up from the table, each of them gave Beth and Tony a hug. So proud.

  Right as we were all ready to say good night and head off to bed the radio squawked to life.

  “Ryan, copy. Ryan.” Christ I’m popular.

  “Go for Ryan.”

  “It’s Tom. We need help.” I nodded to Mike and Tony and they started to gear up.

  “Talk to me Tom.”

  “They must’ve followed us. We were attacked about 30 minutes ago.” I dropped my head and then looked up at Sam who just looked shell shocked. Karen and Lois were standing behind her.

  “Sam, everyone gets a firearm. Handguns and AR’s. I want lookouts front and back. Spread out the shotguns. I want a few on each floor. Put them by the windows upstairs and the doors down here,” I said. She nodded and they went off to do what I wanted.

  “How’d you do, Tom?”

  “We lost another person, Barb’s brother. And two of us are injured including me. We barely made it out.”

  “You’re on the road? Where are you?”

  “We’re almost up to Main Rd.” I looked over at Mike and Tony. They both nodded.

  “Ambush,” said Tony. I nodded back.

  “Tom, we’ll meet you at the Stono Market again. Are they following you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  We grabbed the rest of our gear and loaded the Land Cruiser. I told Sam to blow all the candles out and use flashlights. Maybe the house would look unoccupied. We were at the Stono Market in 3 minutes. Just after we set up there were headlights in the distance.

  “Tom, flash your lights.” The lights flashed. “Good. Pull into the lot of the store across from the market and take up some defensive positions. Do you have any kids with you?”

  “One. My nephew.”

  Okay, keep him on the far side of that store. He’ll be out of the line of fire there. We’re in front of the market.”

  The minivan pulled into the lot across the street and stopped. We could hear Tom giving instructions.

  �
��In position,” he said.

  “Copy that,” I said. “Let’s wait a few to see if you’re being followed.”

  “Copy.”

  Just a heartbeat later I could see something moving down the street in the direction Tom had come from. It was in the middle of the road. No, on the left. Crap, it was dark. Then I realized… it was a vehicle weaving through the cars. Thank God for the moon.

  “Tom, keep your heads down. I can see movement down the street.”

  “Copy.”

  “Mike, can you see?”

  “I see a truck, maybe a pickup. There are five guys that I can see. Two on one side of the vehicle and three on the other side. Think they saw Tom pull off?”

  “That’s exactly what I think,” I replied. “But, they don’t know we’re here.”

  “They followed him with no headlights and I can’t see their brake lights,” said Tony.

  “Probably disabled them,” said Mike.

  “They saw the minivan pull off the road. These guys are coming to finish off these people.”

  “What’s your point, Tony?” I asked.

  “They’re not going to negotiate.” I sank my head down but then nodded.

  “Tom,” I whispered. “Turn your radio down.” I did the same. “There’s a vehicle coming. It’s about even with Johan Blvd. Maybe 100 yards down. We can only see it in the moonlight.” A few moments later, Tom responded.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I see it.”

  “When we fire, take out the ones on the left. There are three of them on that side. Decide who shoots at whom. I don’t want anyone getting away.”

  “Copy. On your signal.” I turned to my guys.

  “Mike, you’ve got the guy on the right. Tony, you’ve got the one next to him. I’ve got the driver. Got it?” They both nodded.

  The vehicle was getting closer. The guys were more visible. Each one carried a long rifle of some sort. A few more seconds.

  I raised my AR, sighted the driver and inhaled deeply. As I let my breath halfway out, I fired. Bang, bang, bang, bang. We weren’t letting them go.

  All around me, the noise was deafening. Mike and Tony were firing rapidly and I could see flashes from across the street. My ears rang and my night vision faded. I could barely see when the gunfire tapered off.

  When the smoke cleared and my night vision started to return I couldn’t see anything moving down the street. The truck had swerved off to our right and ended up in a ditch. The quiet seemed as deafening as the gunfire had been. I could barely hear Tom over the radio.

  “Ryan, copy. You guys alright?”

  “Yeah, we’re good. Any problems over on your side?”

  “No, we’re good. I didn’t see them get off a shot.”

  “We need to go up and take a look…”

  “Ryan,” said Tony. “Do you know what ‘bounding over watch’ is?”

  “No.”

  “Basically, it’s one group covering while the other group moves a little. Then you switch off.”

  “Like leapfrogging?” asked Mike.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ve seen it in movies,” I said. “Wanna try it?”

  “Well, I don’t want to go waltzing up there all of us in a line across.”

  I explained to Tom what we wanted and gave him minute to explain to his people. I also wanted him to leave his nephew and two adults to watch in that direction. When he responded, we moved up. Tom’s group moved first. They only went about 50 feet then dropped to a knee. When we saw that, we moved about 50 feet further and so on. The bounding over watch was good practice but the looters were dead. One guy was hit more than ten times and most of his head was gone. The front of the vehicle had at least 2 dozen holes in it which prompted me to check my mag. Yep, those holes came from my gun.

  “Hey, listen up. If you hadn’t thought about it, check you mags.” Tony smiled. It was the first thing he did when we stopped shooting. “And I need a lookout in the other direction.”

  Mike and Tom’s son, John moved off about 50 feet toward where the truck had come.

  I turned to Tom. He was standing with his wife, Barb and another person I didn’t recognize.

  “Let’s check their wallets and search the vehicle. We might learn something,” I said. Then I called Sam at the house and checked in so she didn’t worry. She heard the shooting.

  Only two of the looters had wallets and the addresses didn’t match. Nor did they match the address on the registration. Each looter had some ammo for their weapon and there were two additional weapons in the truck. We also found a radio but it had a hole in it. Shit.

  “Now what?” asked the guy I didn’t recognize.

  “Shit if I know.” I was looking around trying to figure out a plan. “Look, we can’t hide what happened here. There’s blood and oil and anti-freeze all over the place. I’m not even sure where most of that guy’s brain is.” I pointed in the general direction of one of the bodies. “I don’t think we can scare them off. They attacked your house without even knowing how many people were inside. They’re not gonna scare easily but I don’t know what else to say.”

  “How would you try to scare them off?” asked Tom.

  “Hang the bodies. Or, burn them more likely, it’s quicker. Write ‘Looters’ on the truck. I’m reaching here.”

  “They’ll come looking for us,” said Tony.

  “I think they’ll come looking for us anyway,” I replied. “But, maybe if we make them think that Tom’s group allied themselves with a larger, more powerful group. You know, someone not us. They might go looking for easier prey.”

  “Or, they’ll just want to find us more because we killed their people,” Barb offered.

  “It’s all I’ve got, Barb.”

  “We could go on the offensive,” said Tony. “Hit them while they’re loading their booty at Toms. They’d never expect that.”

  “There’s at least 20 people at our place even without these scumbags,” said Tom.

  “Shit,” said Tony. “And they probably have more at their house. Shit.”

  I paced for a minute or two, I don’t know. I lost track. Tony brought me back.

  “Ryan, we can’t stay here.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s make them think that we are a larger group than we are. I want at least ten more rounds into each of these bodies. And thirty more into the truck. Shoot the truck from both sides. But, be safe. No friendly fire.”

  It was very unpleasant to shoot the dead bodies form this close range. But, I kept reminding myself that these were the scumbags that had now killed 3 of Tom’s group; these were the scumbags who got Michael killed. It was over soon. But, it left a bad taste in my mouth; all this killing. It was senseless in the face of the other threat we all faced. The deed was soon over.

  “Tom, we live close by but we’re taking the scenic route. I don’t want to be followed. So, we’ll stop to look a couple of times.” Tom stuck his hand out and I took it.

  “Thank you again,” he said. “For saving our lives.”

  “You’re welcome. Now stay close and watch behind you. I really don’t want to be followed.”

  We drove in the opposite direction of the house in the Land Cruiser with Tom’s minivan right behind us. Tony checked in with house to let them know what was going on. I took the second right and immediately pulled over behind a house out of view of Main Rd. Then I shut off the engine. Tom did the same. Everyone got out except for Barb’s sister in law and her son. We walked back to the corner and took up positions to watch the road for looters and everywhere for zombies. After 15 minutes, I was satisfied that we weren’t being followed. Everyone piled back into the vehicles and we continued on our way. We went through the same routine once more a mile or so up the road. Still no one behind us. Good.

  Once we were safely inside the house, Tom’s group, or what was left of it now broke down. Who could blame them? It was certainly understandable after what they’d been through the past two days. We did our best t
o help. Lois tended their wounds. Sam made sure they had food and water. But, ultimately, we ended up just giving them as much space as we could.

  “Karen, I need a lookout watching the street tonight. Can you make sure that happens?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I’ll probably just do it myself. Don’t think I can sleep with all this going on anyway.”

  “Fine. Thank you.” I went to check in with Tom.

  “We have sleeping bags and the sofa. It’s the best I can do right now.”

  “I appreciate everything. We’re safe for now. We barely got out and we left everything behind. Your family is taking us in. That makes you guys’ heroes to us.”

  “No, just human,” I said. “Tomorrow we’ll clear out the house next door. Or, something. We’ll figure it out.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Get some rest.”

  I sat on the edge of the bed and worked on getting my gear off. Sam came over and out her hand on me. She could tell it had been bad. I couldn’t cry, though. I was out of tears for now.

  “How bad was it?”

  “The looters sent a vehicle to follow Tom’s group. Presumably to finish them off. The truck was running without headlights and the brake lights must’ve been disabled. They’ve obviously done this before and were ready to do it again. The truck saw Tom’s minivan pull over across from the Stono Market. They moved up to attack and we ambushed them.”

  “You mean you killed them?”

  “Yeah, Sam we killed them. Killed them dead. They would’ve done the same to us. Still might, if they find us.”

  “Will they find us?”

  “The truck and dead bodies are right up at the corner. Well, we couldn’t risk the time to move them. We think the group would have to go right by here to get to their base. We made it look like we were the bigger force. Maybe it’ll scare them off.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Sam. “I’m sorry it’s come to this.”

  “Me, too,” I said. “Just another day in a world gone mad.”

  Friday, December 26, 2014

  Lois took over the watch at sunup and Karen went to get some rest. Most everyone slept in a little after the excitement of the evening before. When the time was right, Barb and her sister in law, Pat helped make breakfast for everyone. With 15 people some had to sit on the floor or eat standing up. Mal and Tabby were making friends with Pat’s son, William who was between them in age. Tom stood up from the table and got everyone’s attention.