It took an hour, most of that in a heavy drizzle – it had been raining on and off all day – to get them free. Michael sat with Cherie in her truck, so they managed to stay dry. The rest of us ended up wet and covered in mud. Poor Mary had the worst of it, standing atop a wrecked church van so she could alert us to any approaching danger. The general attitude of the party deteriorated along with the weather. Julie wouldn’t speak with Lizzy or Lois, other than to call them perverts – yes, the name calling had begun – nor would she talk to me.
Complicating everything further were the omnipresent zombies. Twice I had to stop what I was doing to shoot groups that targeted us. Fortunately, the numbers were manageable, and they had been spread out. The gunshots did get their attention, bringing yet more our way, but we managed to free the SUV and were gone before it became too dangerous.
Around that same time, the siphoning of gasoline became an issue. Lizzy decided to emulate Mary and would stand atop a vehicle to keep watch. Julie took offense to this strategy and declared, loudly, that the “crazy, sinful dyke” – her exact words – was risking everyone’s life by displaying herself so wantonly. Julie was starting to break down. She was becoming more irate and irrational by the hour, and it didn’t take long before no one was speaking to her, aside from her family.
Then there was Cherie. With Briana staying close to me at all times – I found that quite annoying by the way – and my lack of interest in her, Cherie had shifted her attention to Simon. She spoke with him regularly, generally when Julie was asleep or sitting with Michael. Anytime one of us drifted close enough to hear, the conversation turned out to be something innocent. Still, Briana was certain Cherie wanted to steal him away.
“He’s not exactly property,” I told her.
“The next best thing,” she argued. “You don’t break up other peoples’ relationships.”
“It takes two.”
She snorted and jerked on her hair, twisting it about before dropping her hands in her lap.
“Want to watch a movie?”
Our favored leisure activity had become common knowledge almost immediately. Not being the sharing sort – and I did have a lot of personal things on the hard drive – I had promised Michael and Mary that we’d find them some laptops or a portable DVD player of their own so they could watch movies as well. I wasn’t certain when this would happen, but we were going to have to take the chance and really search a town sooner or later. Everyone wanted something, and Lizzy in particular still needed clothing.
“No distracting me. I’d rather complain about Cherie.”
“Whatever makes you happy,” I sighed, staring out the windshield at the darkness. We were parked in a field, a few hundred yards from the highway.
“You really don’t want to talk about her, do you?”
“Not particularly Briana.”
“Fine then.” She slumped down in her seat. “She’s such a bitch.”
So much for getting off that topic.
“Julie’s going to find out and probably shoot her.”
“Julie has no gun,” I pointed out. “Simon carries it.”
“She’s raving nuts.”
“True, and getting worse.”
“Exactly,” said Briana. “So, if Simon gets tired of Julie being crazy, he may drift away and go to Cherie. Then we get a crazy and angry Julie, more than already. I’ll bet she wants to carry a gun then. Probably use it too.”
“Well… I think we should do what we can to ensure Julie is never armed.” So much drama, and while she had an excellent reason to be upset considering the death of her daughter, now was not the time for a mental breakdown. “Try to keep an eye on her, when you can. She hates you less than most of us.”
* * *
The beginning of the twentieth day found our little group nearing the outskirts of Dalton, Nebraska, about sixty or so miles south of the national forest. Almost three weeks to do what, under normal circumstances, should have been a single, long day’s drive. It’s funny how that sticks in my mind. You’d think the fact the dead were walking about trying to eat the living or that the world seemed to be largely devoid of the breathing would be at the forefront. Perhaps the lack of electricity and all the luxuries we were used to would be a better gauge of our decline. But no, the fact it seems to take forever to get anywhere is what I focused on.
“Jacob, check it out.”
I led the way. Lizzy was no longer permitted to take point.
“By the bend up ahead, is that a police car?”
I saw what Briana meant and slowed as we drew near. “Looks like a police van. Maybe there’ll be something useful we can take.”
I stopped, and the others followed suit.
“What’s going on?” asked Lizzy.
“Briana spotted it. Might be worth examining.”
Lizzy took a good look at the van. It hadn’t crashed, and there were no skid marks. Whoever had been driving may have pulled off intentionally.
“Doors are closed,” she said, “think anyone’s inside?”
“One way to find out.” I drew my pistol and started down with Lizzy at my side.
“Be careful,” called Lois.
“I’m always careful,” protested Lizzy.
“Yeah, right,” added Mary.
Grumbling, she grabbed the back handle and jerked it open. My gun was ready, but nothing came out.
“Wow,” whispered Lizzy.
I nodded. This was the jackpot.
“Briana!”
She was on the road keeping a look out for zombies.
“What?”
“We don’t have a shortage of guns anymore.”
“Really? How many are there?”
“Dozens!” yelled Lizzy.
Some of the weapons were stored in racks bolted to the inside walls of the van with others packed away in boxes. We took all of them. The pistols were 9mm automatics, each with a spare clip. First thing I did with these was to offer one to the others. Julie refused – I had to include her, despite my concerns, to avoid giving offense and causing even greater conflict – and Michael was deemed too young by his parents. Mary got one though. Having gone shooting with Lizzy in the past, she already knew how to operate the weapon.
There were also several 12 gauge pump shotguns. They were the pistol grip combat variety, which was a shame since I thought they’d be better used for hunting. Still, each car now had one. Unfortunately, there were no rifles. I’d have loved to find a scoped sniper rifle, which would be ideal for shooting large game or zombies, but I didn’t voice any complaints. The firearms we found, along with the cases of ammunition, were more than any of us could have hoped to stumble across.
The bulletproof vests were discussed at length before we decided to take a few. Briana and I each selected one and stashed them in the Jeep. Lizzy took one as well. There were none that would fit Mary comfortably – she was too tiny – and the others didn’t see the need. To be fair, I wasn’t sure if they’d be of any practical value myself, but they didn’t take up very much space and could be dumped if they turned out to be worthless.
The short range radios were of the greatest immediate use. They used normal batteries, and the instructional pamphlets listed an effective range of five miles. That was ideal for keeping in touch while driving. No more stopping just because someone wanted to ask a question.
We didn’t bother with the nightsticks. They lacked the weight necessary to really crack open a zombie skull. The flashlights, knives, and other little things were useful however, and divvied up between everyone. Simon handed Michael a large, steel Maglite. It was heavy, and quite bright when turned on, but other than as a toy to keep him occupied, it didn’t really contribute to the boy’s safety.
* * *
“Have you noticed,” asked Briana, “how our luck goes in extremes?”
“A bit.”
I could see what Briana was getting at. She’d had horrible luck with her mother and brother but then good luck in mee
ting me. Lois and Mary likewise had bad luck with their parents but good luck with Lizzy saving them and excellent luck with the trio joining us. We all had horrible luck with Juliette’s death but then excellent luck finding this cache. It wasn’t that simple of course, but a superficial pattern seemed to exist.
“I want to see if there are any shops in Dalton,” said Lizzy, over the radio. “This place is small, and with the new guns I say we finally try to loot like we’ve been talking about.”
“I agree,” added Cherie, “provided it’s not overrun by zombies.”
“What about you Simon?” asked Briana. She was operating our radio.
“Hang on,” he said. There was a long pause. “If there’s a drug store, we want to stop and get some medicine, stomach stuff and pain pills mostly, and Julie would like some feminine products.”
“Me as well,” added Cherie.
“Yeah,” said Lizzy, “that would be really, really nice. That time of the month will be rolling around.”
I shook my head, and Briana laughed.
“Don’t you like this conversation?”
“Sweetie, have you ever met a man who liked this sort of discussion?”
Later that night Briana pointed out that this was the first time I called her sweetie.
“Not a one,” she agreed, “but we do need some things. Well, not need as in needing to survive, but it will be unpleasant otherwise.”
“Understandable. Okay, tell everyone we’ll give it a shot. If it looks iffy, we’ll keep going, but tell em not to worry about that. We’re close enough to the forest that we can come back later.”
Briana dutifully relayed the information. The maps indicated that Dalton was really tiny, so this was probably the ideal place for our first attempt at organized looting.
“You lead the way Jacob,” suggested Lizzy. “We’ll follow along.”
“No problem,” replied Briana, speaking for me.
I slowly drove up the highway. There were zombies around, but not enough to worry me unduly. I then took a side street that held some stores. Finding a clear spot, I spun around so I was facing the highway – this was to make it easier to get out of town quickly, if need be – and parked in the middle of the road.
“They’re coming to get us,” intoned Lizzy.
“Not too many,” I said. “I think this is doable.”
Lizzy stepped up to what had once been a policeman and whacked him on the side of the head with a tire iron. The blow knocked the zombie over, and a second, more solid strike killed it.
“That’d be easier,” commented Cherie, “if you weren’t so short.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m tall enough.”
“As long as you don’t run into a zombie basketball player,” said Mary.
“If you do,” I added, “I’ll see about finding you a step ladder.”
“I hate all of you,” declared Lizzy. There were traces of a smile on her face though, faint ones. It could have been my imagination.
“Hey!” exclaimed Julie. “Another police officer, a live one.”
We looked to where she was pointing. There was a man in a uniform, standing inside a small diner across from us, waving. We immediately headed that way with Lizzy taking out another zombie, again with her tire iron. We were now fairly certain that getting sprayed with zombie guts would not cause infection.
The police officer fumbled with the lock and had the door open by the time we reached him. Moving inside, he secured it again.
“More zombies are coming,” said Briana. “We’ll have to fight them to get out.”
“Nah,” remarked Lizzy, “We go out the back door and leave them here banging the glass. That works better.”
“The back opens to some additional parking,” muttered the man. He suddenly collapsed.
“You okay?” I asked, hurrying to help him into a seat.
He held up a bandaged hand. “Got bit. I know what it means. I have another day at most.” He looked over at Lizzy. “Saw you kill Parker. He was my partner, for near ten years.”
“I didn’t mean anything personal…”
The officer interrupted. “Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t want to be walking about like that. A favor you did him.” He began to cough. Now that we were really looking, it was clear the infection was raging through his body.
“We found a police van just south of town. That yours?” I asked.
He nodded. “Ran out of gas. Parker pulled off, and we hoofed it here. We had been trying to move supplies from our station to the safe zone.”
“A safe zone?” asked Julie. She was clinging tightly to Michael, as usual. “Where is it?”
“Gone. Was in Bridgeport, but we got news that the survivors were being moved by buses to Cheyenne over in Wyoming. By then we’d already been delayed a few days.”
“So is Cheyenne safe?” pressed Julie.
“No, they weren’t staying there. The plan was to move everyone to some ranches out in the countryside. I don’t know where exactly. Our communications were iffy at that point.”
“Wyoming is a big place,” I said, “with lots and lots of ranches.”
“Good luck finding it,” he concluded, still coughing.
“We’re going to set up in the Nebraska National Forest ourselves.” I’m not sure why I felt the need to explain our plans to this stranger.
“But shouldn’t we look for the others?” asked Julie. Simon was nodding as well.
“We’ll try to find them, definitely, but we can’t spend months driving down each and every back road looking. We need to get stuff ready to make it through the winter safely.”
“But…”
“He’s right,” said Lizzy.
Julie’s face went purple at being cut off, and by a filthy lesbian at that.
“I think Jacob’s right too,” added Briana. “We get set up, and then we can look. Besides, we have to pass by Bridgeport anyway. Maybe they left some signs or notes or something.”
Zombies were now banging on the windows and the glass door.
“Don’t worry about them,” said the police officer. “They did that before. Whoever built this place put in really thick glass. They haven’t been able to crack it.”
Julie hugged Michael tighter and moved well away from the front.
“We got mobbed while on foot,” the man continued. “Parker went down quick. I made it here and locked myself in. Good enough place to die, I guess.”
“Anything we can do for you?” I really hoped he wouldn’t ask me to end it for him. I wasn’t sure if I could do a mercy killing.
“No.” He shook his head. “Well, something to eat would be nice. There’s food in the back, lots of it. I haven’t had much energy…” He shut his eyes and leaned back in his chair. “God, this sucks.”
“Briana,” I prompted.
She nodded and went to see what she could whip up. Mary tagged along. In the meantime, we collected what little information the man could provide. The only really good news was that many of the farms and ranches were still operating, their numbers bolstered by survivors from nearby towns. These scattered enclaves should be largely self-sufficient, but, being isolated, finding them would be a challenge.
* * *
Following the meal, we said our farewells. The police officer thanked us and said he’d stay by the front windows to try and distract the zombies while we escaped through the rear of the building.
Before going, we loaded up the canned and dry goods, everything we could manage, onto a wheeled cart. Lois, with Mary helping to make sure nothing fell off, pushed this to our vehicles. We left it there and moved toward the shops, splitting into two groups. Lizzy, Lois, and Mary went for a small clothing store to get what they needed. Simon, Julie, and Cherie headed for the drugstore to stock up on medicine and get the specialty items our very gender lopsided group required. Michael stayed put inside the Bransons’ SUV with the doors locked. Briana and I got to play guard, keeping an eye on the vehicles a
nd making certain the way out was kept clear.
“I hope they don’t take long,” said Briana. “I’m not feeling very comfortable with this.”
Logically, a small number of zombies, spread out and in clear sight, was easy to deal with. Watching them shamble toward you, their mouths opening and closing in anticipation of learning what you tasted like, something you couldn’t help but notice, was quite disconcerting. I agreed with her sentiments completely.
“I think I’m going to shoot them out there, instead of waiting for them to come closer.”
“The shots will attract more,” said Briana.
“I think they all know where we are already. We’ve been making lots of noise.”
“Want help?”
Most were coming from a single direction.
“No, I think I’m good.” I put my .40 caliber back in the holster and retrieved one of the extra 9mm pistols we had in the Jeep. “Keep an eye out in case any come up from behind.”
Briana nodded, visibly relaxing. Despite having shot zombies before, she really hated taking them down.
“Pay attention to Michael as well.” I waved at the kid as I walked past his window. “Don’t want him getting into trouble.”
I thought of Laura’s story concerning how Justin did things, along with our past experiences, and I stopped when they were fifteen feet away, guaranteeing an easy target. It turned out to be a simple process. Coming from one direction, one or two at a time, there was no challenge and little risk.
“Some over here,” called Briana.
I darted back to the vehicles to get the three that had appeared on the opposite side of the street.
“Lizzy stuck her head out the door when she heard the shots,” added Briana, “but went back in when I gave her a thumbs up. Julie ran out to save Michael or something, not that he was in real danger.”
I glanced at the SUV to see Julie sitting inside with Michael. “She should have just stayed with him in the first place or taken him inside. I don’t think she can deal with being apart.”
Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Sanctuary Page 15