Apocalypse Z (A Zombie Novel)

by Swanson, G. E.

  Tami shrieked and jumped back. Pouting, she tried to shake it off her hands and arms. Lisa held out the pipe and she took it. Lisa looked at the mess and said, “That’s it for today’s lesson. Next time, you’re doing it.”

  Lisa walked around to the front of the store, followed by Tami as she heaved. When they got there, she saw Jeff tossing empty five gallon water jugs out through the front door. After he had thrown out about a dozen of them, he and Dedee emerged from the store.

  Lisa picked one up. “What are you going to do with these?”

  “We’re going back to that farm house and fill them up. That way we’ll have water, just in case I can’t get the generator going.”

  Dedee held up a bottle of bubble bath. “We can take a bath tonight.” And she excitedly ran to the van and put it inside.

  Lisa glanced at Tami and said, “Good, some of us are past due for one.”

  He looked over and saw Tami covered in zombie pus. “What happened to you?”

  Still visibly shaken, she answered, “Lisa showed me how to kill a zombie.”

  After the empty bottles were loaded up, and filled up at the farm, they started back for the house. When they pulled up, Lisa and Jeff saw the bodies laying in the front yard. Jeff drove around the barn and the back of the house to make sure it was clear.

  When they stopped in front of the house, Jet was waiting outside for them. Before they went in, Jet told them that Todd and Amy had been attacked. One tried to eat Amy’s brain, but only got a mouthful of her hair thanks to Sheryl. But Todd had three fingers eaten off his hand by the other.

  Lisa rubbed her head after hearing the news. There was no doubt Todd had been infected and it was only a matter of time before he turned into one. Tears began to fill her eyes as she thought about what had to be done and how Amy would take it. Somberly, they went into the house. Todd had a blood-soaked bandage on his left hand. Both he and Amy were sitting at the table crying. Sheryl tried to hide it, but she, too, was emotional.

  Lisa went to Sheryl and looked down at her without saying a word. Sheryl wiped her tears and said, “I’m really sorry, Lisa. I know I was supposed to keep them safe and I screwed it up.”

  Lisa knelt down and put her hand on Sheryl’s. “I’m not blaming you. You fought and saved Amy. That’s worth something.” She looked down at the floor before she said, “Jeff, let’s go talk to your brother.

  They went into Mark’s room and closed the door behind them.

  Mark looked at them both. “You know what has to be done. We can’t have him turn and kill or infect any more of us.”

  Lisa rubbed her temples frantically with her fingertips. She took a deep breath and spoke. “I’ve known that kid his whole life. I can’t… There is no way I can do it.”

  Mark pointed to his wound. “I can’t even walk yet. Hell, I try to just stand up I get light-headed and fall down.”

  Jeff looked at them both in the eye and sighed. “Well, I guess it fuckin’ sucks to be me right now.” He shook his head as he said, “I don’t know how I’m going to do this.”

  Mark sighed. “I don’t know… Just take him for a walk and do it. Make it as easy on him as you can.”

  Jeff sat there for ten minutes thinking before he stood up. “This isn’t going to be any easier the longer I wait.” And he went over to the door.

  Lisa looked at Jeff with tears in her eyes. “I’ll make sure Amy stays in the house.”

  They both stepped out into the living room. Lisa sat down on the couch and Jeff went over to Todd. “C’mon, buddy, we need to go for a walk and talk.”

  Todd looked around the room as if someone would tell him what to do, but no one spoke. He got up and walked out the door with Jeff. Walking across the back yard and out into a field, Todd began to cry even more. “Jeff, I don’t want to die, man. I don’t want to die.”

  “Todd, we can’t let you stay here. You’ve been infected. Not too long from now, you’re going to turn into a zombie. We can’t have you bite or kill anyone else.”

  “But, Jeff, I won’t do that. I swear I won’t. I don’t want to turn into a zombie and I don’t want to leave.”

  Jeff pulled his pistol from the holster and pointed it at Todd. “Go now, Todd. Just walk away and don’t ever come back.”

  Todd slowly turned and started walking across the field. He took about ten steps and glanced back. Jeff raised his pistol again, pointed it at Todd, and said, “Go. Keep walking and don’t look back.”

  He turned back around and took a couple more steps. Jeff aimed and fired the shot. Todd’s head jerked as the bullet entered the back of his skull, his body flew forward, landing face-down in the soft dirt.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  The room was silent. Amy looked at everyone, but they all turned their gaze away or looked at the floor. Her voice cracked as she asked, “He’s not coming back. My brother’s not coming back, is he?” She continued to look around the room, but no one looked up. Even though it was expected, everyone flinched when they heard the shot from outside. She let out a loud cry as she jumped up, ran down the hallway, and into the bedroom slamming the door behind her.

  Dedee said as she got up, “I’ll go see if there’s anything I can do for her,”

  Lisa said, “No, stay here, Dedee. She needs to be alone right now. Let’s give her that.”

  Jeff came back in the house an hour later. Every one watched as he sat down at the kitchen table. Without looking at anyone, he said, “I got a shovel from the barn and buried him.”

  Jet grabbed a chair and sat next to him. She rubbed the back of his shoulders and softly said, “If you need to talk, I’m here.”

  Without looking up from the table, Jeff said, “I know he was infected and didn’t have much time, but all I could see was a scared nine-year-old kid. For a minute there, I actually thought about letting him… just walk away.”

  Jeff heard the front door open and saw Lisa going outside. When she came back a few minutes later, she had some of the things they had gathered earlier. Jeff and Jet got up and helped her bring the things in. When Jeff asked where she wanted the big jugs of water, she just pointed to a spot by the living room wall.

  Jet looked into the boxes and started pulling things out. Cans of soup, a variety of veggies, some candles, but when she came to the bubble bath, she looked over at Dedee. She grabbed a large pan from under the counter and started opening cans of vegetables, then mixing the contents into it.

  When they ate, appetites were small and there was little in the way of conversation. Lisa took some to Amy, but she turned it down. She tried to talk to her, but Amy responded to everything with a shrug as she lay in bed, facing the wall. Lisa finally set Amy’s food on the dresser and went back into the living room.

  IX

  Lisa stood in the doorway watching Mark. When he realized he wasn’t alone, he invited her in. Patting the edge of the bed, he said, “Have a seat.”

  Lisa sat down and looked at his wound. “It looks like its getting better.”

  Mark ran his hand over it. “Yeah, but I’m worried about Amy. How’s she handling the situation?”

  “She’s still in the bedroom. She didn’t eat last night and skipped breakfast this morning.” Lisa watched Mark as he stared up at the ceiling. The urge to lie down and hold him was overwhelming and she barely managed to maintain control.

  “If I wasn’t stuck in this damn bed, I could have saved him.”

  Lisa saw the anger in his eyes as he said it. “Mark, you don’t know that for sure.”

  He sat up and said, “Give me a hand; I’m getting out of this bed.”

  Mark slid over to the edge of the bed. She held onto his arm and helped him up and out into the living room. Lisa watched him grit his teeth every time he put weight on his leg. She wanted him back up and moving around, but started to think it might be a little too soon. Sheryl and Tami watched as she helped him over to the couch and sit down.

  Tami shot him a stern look and said, “You know, you sh
ould have waited at least one more day.”

  “No, today is the day. If no one wants to help me, then I’ll do it on my own.”

  Tami sighed. “Yeah, you already tried that and look what happened to you.”

  Lisa pursed her lips and asked Mark, “What is she talking about? What happened?”

  Mark lowered his eyes and remained silent. Lisa looked over at her. Tami flinched and took a small step back. With a firm tone, Lisa asked, “Tell me what happened!”

  Tami swallowed hard and said, “He fell.” She looked over at Mark. “It took everything I had to pick him up off the floor and get him back into the bed.”

  Lisa looked around at everyone. “And nobody bothered to tell me this?”

  Jeff was at the kitchen table and said, “Sorry, but I thought you knew.”

  “And when did this happen?”

  He turned in his chair. “Yesterday morning, just before I came to your room.”

  She gave Mark a hard look. She started to say something to him, but stopped. She asked Tami, “You picked him up by yourself? Why didn’t you get anyone to help you?”

  Tami took another small step away from Lisa before she answered. “Because everyone was asleep.”

  Lisa thought and felt some relief as the weight on her chest seemed to lessen a bit. She still didn’t completely trust Tami and there was a chance she might have feelings for Mark. Lisa was tempted to tell him, but there was still the chance he might reject her, and that fear kept her silent. Calmly, she said, “Tami, if you ever need any help with him, I want you to come and get me.” Making it sound more like an order, than a request.

  Tami nodded and said, “Okay.”

  Lisa sat on the couch next to Mark, but he didn’t look up. She finally spoke, “Please, don’t ever do anything like that again. Next time, ask for help and I’ll help you.”

  Mark sat there for a few minutes before he asked, “Alright, can you help me out to the barn?”

  Sheryl objected. “Not so fast. Before you go out in that dirty barn, I want to change your bandage and wrap it.”

  While Sheryl changed it and put a wrap over it, Lisa went through the clothes they had gotten the day before. She found a pair of jeans she thought might fit and gave them to him. After she helped Mark back into the bedroom to change, she waited outside the door. When he was ready, he called her back in so she could help him outside. She started to giggle when she saw him standing there. The jeans did fit around his waist, but they were too short and set four inches above his ankles.

  Lisa helped Mark out to the barn where he was going to work on a generator Jeff found under a tarp. When they got there, Jeff was finishing a small cross made of 2x4s. He looked up at them as they entered and set it off to the side, then followed Mark over to the generator. Lisa looked down as she walked by the cross and noticed he had painted Todd’s name on it.

  She sat on a bale of hay and watched them as they worked. Jeff started with the engine and Mark on the wiring. Lisa laid back on the bail and listened to Mark and Jeff talk to each other while they worked. Mark instructed Jeff on how to clean the carburetor and put it back together. They hoped to get it hooked up to the pump so they could at least have running water in the house.

  As they talked, she thought she heard a noise in the hayloft above her. She watched through the cracks of the boards for any kind of movement. It looked like there might have been a shadow up there, but she wasn’t sure. Staring at it for a while, she thought the shadow looked like it was moving.

  She looked over at Mark when he asked her to hand him an extension cord that was hanging on the wall. She stood up and brushed the loose straw from her back and her hair. When she glanced back up to the loft, she saw a blue-white eye looking between the boards down at her.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Jet stood by the window looking out back while she fidgeted with her sword and wondered where the zombies that attacked them yesterday had come from. She heard someone walk up behind her and saw a reflection in the glass. Turning, she saw Amy standing there. “Are you going to be okay?” she asked.

  Amy just said, “Yeah, I’m hungry.”

  Amy followed her to the kitchen and sat at the table. Jet warmed a can of vegetable beef soup on the stove and put it in a bowl. Amy watched as Jet set it on the table in front of her. She blew on it as she stirred it around and asked, “Jet, what am I supposed to do now? I don’t have any family left. My parents are gone and it was just me and Todd.” She sighed. “Now, it’s just me.”

  Jet realized she had asked that same question after her parents had taken her over to stay with Dedee and Lisa. She tried to explain it to Amy the same way Lisa did to her. “Well, Amy, you’re not by yourself. You have me, Dedee, Lisa, Mark, and Jeff just to name a few. We’re all your family now. We might not be related by blood, but we care about each other, help each other, and we’re there when you need us. Lisa, Dedee, and you are my sisters. I’m not alone and neither are you.”

  Dedee came in and sat down next to her. “That’s true. I consider you a sister. Don’t you remember the barbecues we had together? And remember why you came to our house that day your parents didn’t come home? You said it was because we were like family to you.”

  Amy sat there and thought. “Yeah, I remember that. Cause, you guys are like family.”

  Sheryl ran through the front door and into the kitchen. “Something’s wrong out there, I just heard Lisa screaming inside the barn.

  They jumped when they heard gunshots coming from outside. Jet grabbed her sword and Dedee her bat; then they started to run for the barn.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  “Shit!” Lisa said as she jumped back and drew her pistol. She pointed it up toward the hayloft. “There’s something up there. I just saw it looking at me.”

  Both Mark and Jeff instinctively drew theirs and pointed them the same direction. Mark asked, “What was it?”

  “It’s one of those zombies; I saw it looking down through the cracks.”

  “But I thought you and Jeff already cleared the barn?”

  “We did, bro, twice, and there wasn’t anything in here. I checked the loft myself.”

  Mark stretched to see up over the edge. “I can’t see anything. Are you sure you saw something?”

  “Damn it, Mark, I saw the stinkin’ eyeball looking right at me.” She returned her pistol to the holster. “Cover me, I’m going up.”

  “Wait! Jeff, go up with her. But give me a second to move closer to that ladder.” Using the workbench for support, Mark worked his way over. “Okay, now you can go.”

  Lisa started to climb the home made 2x4 ladder attached to the loft, cautiously taking it one step at a time. She would stop and listen for any sound or movement before taking the next step. Just before she got to the top, she stopped and whispered down, “When I get to the top, I’m going to peek over.”

  Before she could look back up, a hand reached out and grabbed onto her wrist. She screamed and tried to pull her arm away, but the grip was too tight. In the struggle, she lost her footing and hung in the air by her wrist. Jeff grabbed her legs and Mark took careful aim at the floor of the loft next to the ladder. With her right hand, Lisa pulled out her pistol and held it out around the ladder. Simultaneously, Lisa and Mark started to fire at the loft floor.

  As splinters from the wood planks fell, the hand let go of her wrist and drew back into the loft. Jeff was able to steady her enough so she landed on her feet. A dark black liquid began to pour down through some of the bullet holes onto the ground below. Lisa rubbed her wrist and said, “Damn that hurt!”

  The barn door swung open, Dedee and Jet ran in. Sheryl, Amy, and Tami followed. Jet looked around with her sword drawn back and ready as she asked, “What happened?”

  Lisa pointed up to the loft. “Zombie.”

  There were still sounds of movement from above as Lisa said, “Damn, is that thing gonna die or what?” She sighed. “I’ll go up and finish it off.” Taking the first step of the
ladder, she felt a pain shoot from her right ankle up to her hip. She cried out, “Shit!” and pulled herself against it. “I think I hurt my ankle when that thing dropped me.”

  Dedee and Sheryl helped her from the ladder and over to the bale of hay so Sheryl could look at her ankle. Sheryl saw it was starting to swell a little and had Tami go back to the house and bring her a wrap.

  Jeff said, “I’ll go up.”

  Jet put her hand on his shoulder. “Please, be careful.”

  He nodded and started up the ladder. He slowed just before the top and looked down. He saw Jet right next to the ladder, looking up at him, and she smiled. Amy and Dedee were watching and he could see the tension in their eyes. Slowly, he peeked over the edge onto the loft. It was there by the edge, about a foot from his face, and it hissed at him.

  He jerked back and almost fell from the ladder. He pulled himself back up and peeked over again. It hissed, but it didn’t move. It was flat on its belly with some serious gunshot wounds to its upper torso and neck. Jeff pulled his pistol and pointed it at the forehead. He fired and the round punched through the frontal part of the skull, jerking its head back. The weakened neck tore as it flipped over, the back of its head rested on its spine with its eyes looking up at the roof. Black pus flew from the neck and splashed on Jeff’s hand and pistol.

  “Crap!” He looked down at Jet and said, “Step back.” The goo flew from his hand as he flung it around. He looked at his pistol and said, “Damn! And I just cleaned it too.”

  Dedee and Sheryl helped Lisa into the house. Sheryl said she would have to stay in bed and off her ankle for the next two days. Jeff and Tami helped Mark into the house. By Sheryl’s instruction, he was to be put in the same room as Lisa, and that Dedee, Jet, and Amy would have to share Mark’s old room. When Lisa saw him being placed in the bed next to hers, she smiled and quietly thanked Sheryl. Sheryl whispered in her ear that she had two days and not to waste it.