“We have to help them Jacob,” announced Briana, as soon as she took in the sight.
I rolled my window down and drove closer. Some of the zombies turned toward us.
“I think we can do that.” We had to do, try something. “You’ll want to cover your ears.”
It’s awkward shooting right handed while sitting on the left side of a Jeep, but I managed to twist enough to get my arm mostly out the window. Then I began pulling the trigger of my .40 caliber Beretta automatic. I had two clips, each holding ten rounds. When the first was empty I handed it to Briana who began to refill it from a box in the ammo bag we kept handy.
My position was uncomfortable, and the blast of the gun was very loud, seemingly amplified inside the Jeep. I immediately decided that next time I would get out of the vehicle to fight. I should have done that to begin with – it would have prevented the ringing in my ears – but I hadn’t been prepared to take such a chance, yet. It seemed better to remain where I could simply press down on the pedal and drive away if need be.
At least the zombies were slow and predicable. They came right for me, and they were easy to hit. Even so, not every head shot did the job. Some of the things took two, the first either skipping along the skull or not striking the important part of the brain, whatever that was. And I quickly received assistance. Some men came running up and added to my fire. I was a bit startled at how recklessly they wasted their ammunition, often riddling the bodies with bullets, but at least they were careful with their aim. Nothing came near me or the people atop the truck. There was never a risk of anyone getting caught in a crossfire.
* * *
“Thanks for helping out,” said an elderly man. He slung his rifle across a narrow shoulder.
I cut the engine, rolled up the window, and got out. “My pleasure.”
Despite my words, I was feeling ill. This was the first time I put a zombie down. As a general rule, I don’t kill living things, aside from bugs – I fervently believe fire ants are demonic creatures that should be made extinct – and never hunt or fish. I do love eating the things, but given the choice I rather get my animals already dead, cleaned, and prepared from a grocery store. My shooting was always at the range, targeting pieces of paper. Damn zombies look too much like real people.
“I’m Edwin McAllister.”
“Jacob Thornton and Briana Mills,” I replied.
“Hello,” said Briana. She came around the Jeep and offered her hand, which the man shook warmly.
To the side, people were climbing down off the truck. It appeared they used a ladder to get up in the first place and then kicked it over, a good idea that was to be repeated in the future. That same folding ladder was now being used for their descent.
“How they get trapped?” I looked about. There were a lot of men present, all of them armed.
Edwin shook his head. “No idea. They were supposed to be out of harm’s way in the open here while we cleared out some houses. Thought the whole town was about free of the vermin.”
“They walk about, down the roads,” said Briana. “We passed plenty on our way here, some of them miles from anywhere.”
He groaned. “Blasted… Figures. Didn’t recognize any.”
I really, really did not like the idea of shooting zombies I knew in life. Fortunately, that shouldn’t be an issue. We were already far from home.
“So you’re going to stay here? Since you’ve been clearing out houses and the town I mean.”
Edwin looked me over carefully. “It’s our home, isn’t it then. We aren’t going anywhere. You’re welcome to stay the night or forever if you want. I don’t think anyone will mind, not after you helped us out, and we can always use good people.”
The old man was clearly more attached to the concept of home than either of us, but then I’d moved about a lot as a child, never developing a desire to stay in one place.
“Let’s stop here Jacob,” suggested Briana, “for a while.”
“For the day,” I clarified, “maybe several. We’re concerned about lasting long term you see and don’t want to rush into anything we might regret later.”
“Planning ahead. Good for that,” said Edwin, with an approving nod.
* * *
Briana and I were given a tiny one bedroom house to spend the night in and use as we saw fit. There was an attached garage, which was quite nice since it gave us a safe place to sort our supplies and rearrange things so they’d be easier to get to. We were informed the prior owner died of a heart attack during the zombie uprising and was buried later that day in the town cemetery. Edwin also confirmed that those who perished of natural causes did not reanimate. Only the infected became zombies.
Most of the first day was spent speaking with Edwin. Unlike the neighboring towns, Anadarko managed to survive the opening days of the zombie apocalypse. Through the actions of some quick thinking residents they’d established ad hoc safe zones, saving numerous lives, before proceeding to systematically kill the shamblers. Edwin, a former mayor and lifelong resident, had taken charge to the near universal agreement of his fellows. Using a small neighborhood for housing, they were keeping everyone safe and somewhat comfortable at night. During the day they had been leaving the children by the UPS truck so they could drive off if need be. That plan proving flawed, they decided to instead stick them on a roof, out of reach from the start.
The town’s small grocery store was fortified and secured, serving as their primary supply house. More food was moved to the town hall and a few of the houses they were using. Edwin explained that he was worried about a possible fire or other disaster and didn’t want all his eggs in a single basket. It made sense. There were also some old wells in and around the town, so they had groundwater to drink. It was probably safe, but they’d been boiling it just in case. Overall, my initial thoughts were favorable toward these people’s efforts.
“This,” began Briana, “is even hotter than your house.”
“I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’re likely right on that count.”
We were lying atop the double bed in the single bedroom of our allocated home. It was pitch black, although we each had a flashlight handy in case it was needed along with our guns. Still, there wasn’t much concern. The place seemed sturdy. The windows were partially boarded over, and both doors had been barricaded from the inside. The garage door was likewise locked down. If anyone sought to enter and do us harm, they would have difficulty making the attempt, but neither of us felt threatened.
“I don’t know if lying next to you in a sticky tank top, which is so sweaty I might as well be in a wet T-shirt contest, and teeny tiny shorts is a good idea,” she teased. “You might try something the minute I close my eyes.”
“It is too hot to touch another human being Briana.”
Beautiful or not, the weather was about as contrary to romance as one could get. Besides, I was fairly certain she was kidding.
“Yeah, but I can’t sleep like this.”
“It’ll cool off. Sun just went down, and it gets colder at night here than back in Denton, I think.”
“So not fair.”
I hated the temperature every bit as much as she, but I didn’t think fairness was a relevant factor. If it didn’t cool off quick however, we might sleep in the Jeep instead. At least it had air conditioning.
“What do you think about this place?” I asked.
Briana was quiet for a moment as she thought it over. “The people are nice enough. Edwin has a pretty good grasp on things. I like his daughter Stephanie as well.”
Stephanie was in charge of the children while their parents, or new guardians in too many cases, were working. She’d been quite grateful at having us help save them and even went so far as to make sure we had our own cherry pie, fresh baked, waiting for us in the house when we turned in for the night. We’d polished it off, even after having a rather large dinner. Who knew when we’d get another.
“They are good people,” I agreed, “
but I’m not certain about their long term sustainability. I need to think about it some more. Let me know if you see anything interesting, get any ideas or insights.”
“Sure thing,” she promised.
* * *
The next two days were much like the first. We helped the survivors any way we could and spoke with as many of them as possible. A great deal of time was also spent with Edwin. Lacking the strength of youth, or even that of a middle aged man, and being in questionable health to begin with, the majority of his efforts were directed at organization and planning. A part of this was to pick our brains for all the information we had concerning the area to the south.
I told him what I knew about the condition of North Texas, which wasn’t much. There was a band of survivors at Cabela’s on I-35W, north of Fort Worth of unknown size but probably between fifty and a hundred fifty people, maybe more. We knew of no other groups, although to be fair, Briana and I hadn’t been looking. There were people on the roads but not many and only one car had stopped to speak with us.
Our observations of zombies provided Edwin with more practical information. We could confirm that they wandered about continuously, never stopping. The things either shambled off in a direction, seemingly without any purpose or goal, or they milled about an area. This matched up with Edwin’s earlier comments about having cleared the town only to have more show up. The dead were beginning to spread out from the population centers.
As a result, Edwin established some patrols who checked the roads outside of town. He didn’t have the manpower for anything more. There were only thirty seven survivors in Anadarko, thirty nine if we decided to stay, which Edwin seemed confident would be the case. Briana had been quick to point out that we were very much undecided on this, but her words didn’t seem to get through. They did appear to be decent people. There was no violence, no wannabe petty tyrants, no insanity. A few were prone to complaining, but that was to be expected. Whiners were never in short supply.
His planning was interesting. With a grouping of small, well built houses as the center of things, Edwin arranged a system where everyone was able to maintain his privacy. The downside was that being spread out at night made it harder to react to an emergency, but watches were always kept on some of the roofs which mitigated this danger somewhat. It wasn’t as safe as a proper compound but definitely more comfortable.
A particular point of interest was learning more of Fort Sill.
“Jacob.”
I had been moving some pallets while Briana was off playing Frisbee with the children. She seemed to prefer babysitting to heavy labor. Can’t say that I blamed her.
“What can I do for you?”
Edwin sauntered up and gestured for me to join him on a stone bench resting beneath a nearby tree.
“Our team just got back from Fort Sill. They checked out Lawton as well.”
He’d said he was sending some people over to take a look, but I hadn’t expected them to return so soon.
“And?” I was very curious as to what had happened at the military base.
“You were right not to go in for a closer look, at least not fully prepared for the worst.”
“That bad?”
“Yep.” He scratched one bare forearm. His skin was leathery and wrinkled from too many years in the sun. “Sent three men, all with plenty of weapons, to take a look. They checked the town first. It was easier to get to. The place is full of the walkers, wandering about the roads, thousands of them, and it’s not too far from us.”
“Were they heading north toward you?” I specifically did not say us.
“Some, but most were just ambling down the streets. When they headed out, our people went south to draw them that way before going cross country and coming back.”
Four wheel drive was extremely useful in this new world.
“What about the base itself?”
He shook his head. “They made a stand, or tried to. The guys found an area around a building littered with bodies. There were tons of shell casings everywhere. Looks like the survivors holed up there. Plenty of cars all over too. The roads inside the base were more blocked and messed up than those outside. A whole lot headed there, had to be some from Oklahoma City, the outskirts at least, and probably Wichita Falls down south of the river. That’s nearby too.”
I nodded. “It’s an easy drive from Wichita Falls to Lawton.” I’d passed that way a few times myself when traveling to the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. I used to rock climb there.
“Didn’t find anyone to tell us what happened, and my boys aren’t exactly forensic experts, but their best guess is that people swarmed it before the surviving military folk could get organized or settled. So you had thousands and thousands of civilians heading there with who knows how many infected. They started changing and biting, and the zombies already there hadn’t been dealt with yet. Bad all around.”
“Any sign of the helicopter Briana saw?”
“None.” He looked about. “Where is the little gal? She’s usually right next to you.”
I smiled. “She’s playing with the kids.”
“I’d rather watch the tykes as well, less tiring in this heat. As to the helicopter, nothing at all. They didn’t stay long or go into any buildings, far too many zombies for that sort of risk, and there were a lot, mostly in the base proper but they’d started migrating outward. There were some hangars with open doors and helicopters inside. None of us have a clue how to use them, even if we could get to them. Some seemed to be missing, and the motor pool was pretty much empty. Not a single Humvee there, not where they’re normally parked.”
“So, you think the survivors made a run for it?”
“I do,” confirmed Edwin. “I think they loaded up whomever and whatever they could and left. No way to tell how many got away or where they went.”
“I hope no one goes there looking for a safe place.”
“I can’t see it happening. They would have gotten that same bad feeling you had soon enough and turned around. If not, they would have seen the zombies, a whole mess of them. It’s obvious that it’s lost.”
“Might be worth putting up some signs,” I suggested, “or spray painting a message on the sides of a van or truck saying stay out.”
“Good point that. I think I’ll have some guys see to it in a day or two. We were going to try to go back and see if we can recover weapons and ammunition.”
“I’d get MRE’s as well, if you can.”
“I served in Vietnam, was little more than a kid, and I remember how bad field rations were.”
“I’m pretty sure they’ve improved since then. Either way, no point in letting them go to waste. You’ll want them come winter.”
“This winter will be a tough one,” admitted Edwin. “We’ll have to start gathering wood in the fall to get ready. The houses all have fireplaces, so that’ll help with heating.”
“Getting the electricity running would be even better.”
He laughed. “I get that same comment at least twenty times a day from twenty different people. We’re looking into it. Might have air conditioning and lights someday.”
“Shame we can’t open up all the windows and try to get a decent breeze. That’d help in the meantime. Damn zombies.”
“Know what you mean Jacob. I fall asleep every night coated in sweat. Reminds me of the jungle, but at least the walking ones are stupid.”
“But determined, and they don’t give up and probably won’t ever go away.”
“They may not be rotting,” he began. Everyone was now firmly convinced that the zombies were in no way decaying, not past the first day or two which did little other than ensure they looked dead and maybe messed up their coordination even more. “Winter, ah, that’ll be different I think. It gets really cold here, and perhaps they’ll freeze up. If so, it will be easy to thin em out.”
“Would be nice,” I replied. All thoughts of eliminating the monstrous pests were pleasant.
“So are
you and Briana going to settle down with us?” he asked, shifting the subject. “We got another three last night who said they would join up.”
“Oh, from where?”
“These came in from the Oklahoma City area, a far out suburb. Their story was a bit like yours. They were pretty much next to the rural areas and had no trouble getting out and running. They stayed in the house longer than you, only left when they ran out of food. College kids renting a place.”
“That would explain having only a few days food on hand,” I laughed. “Good that they got out.”
“Had some disturbing stories though.”
“Such as?”
“Gangs rampaging about, really vicious ones. They saw one go by in the late afternoon, dragging some bodies behind their bikes. A few were zombies, but others were dead and had likely been alive before they were chained up.”
I swallowed hard. You just knew there was going to be somebody having that sort of twisted fun.
“And what about you? You going to stay as well?”
I looked Edwin in the eye. “Briana and I are moving on.”
“You talked to her about this?”
“Yes,” I replied, not liking his insinuations but understanding them. “She’s in total agreement.”
“You think you can do better somewhere else or you think we’re not going to last?”
“Edwin, I think this place is fine now, but I don’t see you making it past Christmas. I hope I’m wrong. I really do, but, no, I can’t see you lasting. And if you do make it to next year, I see you going hungry.”
“Lots of stores and houses to get food from and few mouths that need to be fed.”
“That’ll run out eventually. Hell, you know all the stored food in the world will run out or go bad at some point.” This was a core part of my beliefs about staying alive long term. “You have to plant crops. You have to grow your own. The climate here is lousy for that. Too little rain and too much heat in the summer.”
Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Sanctuary Page 6