Life In Death (Book 1): Surviving Death (The Struggle)

by Holmes, Ethan

  She wiped more tears from her eyes and her nose.

  “I don’t think that’s a healthy way to look at that. Once he turned, he was no longer your dad. He may have looked like it, but it wasn’t him anymore.”

  “I guess so. I just miss my family.”

  He put his hand on her shoulder. “I know. Tell me a bit about your dad. What did he do for a living?”

  “Um. He worked in the mill for most of his life. When he retired, he work as a handyman in his spare time.” She chuckled. “Retired life didn’t sit too well with him. He wasn’t happy unless he was working. My mom and dad retired at about the same time. My mom was ok with the retired life and would always drag him to social events that he really didn’t want to go to. He wasn’t big on people. Never really cared for them.”

  “He did seem like the nice, gruff type,” Frank said.

  She chuckled again. “He was. My mom was the outgoing, Suzie homemaker type. They were complete opposites but they made it work. Dad did anything he could to make her happy. He went to those social events, barbeques with friends of hers, anything she wanted to do. That doesn’t mean that he wasn’t his grumpy self while he did it though. I asked him once why he kept doing it. He said that if it puts a smile on her face then it is a small price to pay. It’s weird though. He wasn’t that way with you. He seemed almost delighted to meet you. I’ve never seen that. He wasn’t even like that with Derek, ever.”

  “Maybe he noticed that I was one of his own grumpy kind.”

  She chuckled again. “Maybe. Or maybe he saw that you put yourself through hell to save us, even though you didn’t know us.”

  “Maybe.”

  Sam breathed deep, trying to compose herself a bit better then wiped her face.

  “Well, that was horrible. That was the first time I’ve told the whole story.”

  “I’m glad we could get it out in the open. What you’ve been through was horrible but I think your beginning to heal. Otherwise I don’t think you would have been able to talk about it in its entirety.”

  Sam thought about it. She wasn’t hysterical or even crying that much. She was sad but calm.

  “Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Yeah. I guess I would. I figured I would be more freaked out but I feel better. You were right,” she said.

  “I’m glad I could help. Let’s give it a couple of days and we can talk again. Ok?”

  “Ok. That sounds good. Thanks Frank. I really appreciate all this.”

  “You are very welcome, Sam.”

  Sam looked at her watch and saw how late it was. “Wow, it’s almost eleven. I should probably go to bed.”

  She got up and started to walk back into the house.

  “Good night, Frank.”

  “Sweet dreams.”

  Anna met Sam at the door. Anna had two cups of coffee, bringing one to Frank.

  “Sleep tight, Sam.”

  “I hope so. Have a good night.”

  “Hey, sweet heart. Where have you been,” Frank asked.

  “I saw that you were out here with Sam so I figured I would give you guys some time to talk. How did it go?”

  “I think it went well. Only time will tell.”

  “That’s good. I hope she can at least sleep tonight.”

  “Yeah. She seemed better than she was last night. She actually came to me to talk this time.”

  “Good. I’m glad she’s finally opening up to you.”

  “Yeah,” Frank said.

  He realized that he was exhausted. He looked down at his steaming coffee, it smelled delicious. He took a sip. “Hmm. That’s good. Thank you for the coffee.”

  “You’re welcome. I made some for Kim and Steve too.”

  “Good,” he took her hand. “This is nice. We should do this more often.”

  She took a sip of her coffee. “Definitely. We should make this a monthly thing.”

  “Not a bad idea.”

  The next morning, the night watch was in the kitchen, joined by Tommy and Natalie. Natalie and Anna were preparing breakfast.

  “So, how is everyone doing?” Frank asked.

  “I think everyone is feeling a bit better. This vacation thing was a good idea. How are you guys doing,” Tommy asked.

  “Tired, but I’m feeling pretty good. Guys,” Frank asked, motioning to the others.

  Anna turned around. “Same here. I think we’re doing pretty well.”

  “What she said,” Steve said.

  “I can’t complain. Last night was pretty nice,” Kim said.

  “Steve, Anna brought up a good idea last night. What do you think about making this a regular thing? Maybe like once a month,” Frank said.

  “I have no problem with it as long as we can swing it and get everything done,” Steve said.

  “A regularly scheduled vacation? The zombie apocalypse is getting better and better,” Tommy said.

  “True. I wish you guys would let someone else take over for the night watches though. You guys deserve a break too,” Natalie said.

  “Actually, I’m really liking this. Frank and I have been enjoying the time alone. If you and Tommy want a night just to have some time alone, feel free,” Anna said.

  Natalie looked at Tommy. “Could we?”

  “That’s up to Frank. I definitely wouldn’t mind,” Tommy said. He looked at Frank with puppy dog eyes and his bottom lip stuck out. “Pwetty pwease?”

  Frank sighed. “Stop being weird. If that’s what it takes to get you to stop talking like that then you can take tomorrow night.”

  “Woo-hoo,” Tommy said.

  The group laughed.

  “I guess that settles that. For the next time we have off we can look for volunteers. I’m sure some of the others wouldn’t mind taking a night,” Steve said.

  “No sense in not asking. I think everyone has enjoyed the time off. We should definitely do it again,” Frank said.

  Later that day, Frank woke to the sound of the kids playing in the hall.

  ‘Good sound to wake up to,’ he thought.

  He looked at Anna, she was sound asleep on his chest. He kissed her forehead. She groaned and forced her eyes open.

  “Morning, sweetie,” Frank whispered.

  “Hmm… Morning. What’s that noise,” she said through a yawn.

  “I think the kids are playing in the hall,” Frank said. He checked his watch. “It’s four o’clock. Ready to get up?”

  She threw her arm over him. “No. Five more minutes.”

  Frank smiled and pulled her closer. “I was hoping you would say that.”

  “Hmm. Make it ten,” Anna said then rolled over on top of him.

  Ten minutes turned into thirty. Finally, when they got up for the day, the girls were still playing in the hallway.

  “What are you girls up to,” Frank asked.

  “Barbie is car shopping,” Susan said.

  Frank knelt down to them. “Really? What is she looking for?”

  “She’s looking for a Ford, Daddy,” Isabelle said.

  “She is? She’s a smart girl,” Frank said.

  Anna watch him interact with the girls and couldn’t help but smile.

  “Uh huh. She wants a conv… conver…” Isabelle couldn’t remember how to say it.

  “A convertible, huh,” Frank said.

  “Yeah! She wants to have no roof on the top,” Isabelle said.

  “That will be a nice car,” Frank said.

  “We can’t find one, though. Everything they have has a roof on it,” Susan said. She handed Frank one of her cars. “We like this one. Can we make this into a convertible?”

  Frank took the plastic car. “I don’t see why we can’t give it a shot. Give me a little while and Barbie will have her convertible.”

  “Thank you, Daddy,” Isabelle said.

  “Thank you, Mr. Frank,” Susan said.

  “You’re welcome ladies,” Frank said. He stood up walked away.

  ‘How the hell and I going to make this into
a convertible? Maybe Jesse can help me with this,’ he thought.

  Anna followed him to the kitchen and made coffee for the two of them. Frank sat at the table and stared at the car. Tommy leaned over to him.

  “You know if you wanted a new pink car, I think we can find one from a makeup saleswoman,” Tommy said with a snicker.

  “Ha, ha. Very funny. Anyone seen Jesse?”

  “I think he’s in the barn organizing tools,” Tommy said.

  “Organizing tools,” Frank asked.

  “Hey, you clean weapons to relax. He organizes tools,” Anna said.

  “True. Ok. Got to see a guy about a convertible,” Frank said.

  “See a guy about a what? Are we getting a new car,” Tommy asked but Frank was already out the door. Anna explained it to Tommy.

  “Awe. He’s so sweet. Those girls have him wrapped around their fingers,” Tommy said.

  “Yeah. He said that it’s the way it should be,” Anna said.

  Frank walked to the barn and found Jesse fiddling with the tool boxes. He talked to himself.

  “This goes here. The plainer goes there,” Jesse mumbled to himself.

  Frank smiled. “Hey, Jesse. You got a minute?”

  Jesse turned around. “Sure, Frank. What do you have there?”

  Frank handed him the toy car. “Well, I got roped into turning this into a convertible. Think you have the tools I can use to do this?”

  Jesse smiled. “That shouldn’t too bad of a job. A razor blade knife and a blowtorch should do the trick. Just got to be careful not to get the blade too hot. It will burn the plastic. I can do this in 5 minutes, give or take.”

  “Really? I can do it myself if you’re busy.”

  “I’m out here organizing tools. Believe me, I’m not busy. This gives me something to do. Not really happy unless I’m working.”

  “I really appreciate it.”

  “Hey, I owe you one. I think this is the least I can do,” Jesse said.

  He took out a marker and drew lines on the roof of the toy car where he planned to cut. He took the toy car to the workbench and lit his blow torch. He warmed up his razor blade in the heat of the blowtorch, examining the car at the same time. Once his blade was heated he began to slice through the plastic. Frank watched as he cut through the toy car with the precision of a surgeon. When the roof was free he used a heated spackle knife and smoothed out the edges. Jesse blew on the car until it was cool to the touch and handed it back to Frank. Frank inspected the car. You couldn’t tell that it wasn’t a convertible before Jesse touched it.

  “This is some fine work, Jesse. You have a real gift for this,” Frank said.

  “Thank you. I like work like this. If the girls need something else, let me know,” he said.

  Frank took the car back to the girls. He handed the car to Isabelle.

  “Daddy! You did it,” she said.

  “Nope. You can thank Mr. Jesse for this. Be sure to when you see him, ok?” Frank said.

  “Ok, Daddy,” she said.

  Tommy came up stairs. “Hey Frank! Want to go hunting?”

  Frank turned around. “Yeah, sure. Who all is going?”

  “Jim and Craig said that they want to go.”

  “Cool. Let me get my gear on and I will be down stairs.”

  He turned back to Isabelle, reached down and kissed her on the forehead.

  “Bye, ladies. Have fun.”

  “Be careful, Daddy.”

  “Bye, Mr. Frank.”

  Frank put on his gear and walked into the kitchen. Anna turned to him and gave him a hug and kiss.

  “You boys be careful out there, ok.”

  “We will.” He kissed her again.

  That night, after getting no kills, Frank and Anna was sitting on the front porch, sipping on their coffee. Tommy came out on the porch, eating some leftovers. Frank looked back at him.

  “How are those collard greens?”

  “Pretty damn good. I will probably regret this later but I don’t care,” Tommy said before spooning a mound of greens into his mouth.

  “I feel sorry for Natalie. Having to sleep with you after you eat that,” Frank said.

  Tommy chuckled. “I feel sorry for her too.”

  Frank heard something in the wood line. He stood up and motioned for them to be quiet. He heard the crunching of twigs and shuffling of leaves. It was footsteps, a lot of footsteps.

  “Get inside and get your gear on, now. Wake everyone up, while you’re at it. This is going to get bad. Be as quiet as possible,” he said, calmly.

  The two went back into the house and lowered the barricade bar in place, securing the door.

  Frank ran to the back of the house.

  “Steve, Kim. We have a horde coming. Get in the house,” he whispered.

  They ran back into the house and barricaded that door as well. Most of the group came downstairs. Anna handed him his rifle and vest, which he immediately put on.

  “Ok, guys,” he whispered. “Keep the noise down and maybe they will pass us by.”

  The group nodded. Frank crept over to the boarded window and peeled back the curtains. The yard was full of Biters now. Still walking toward the house. One walked up onto the porch. It searched for something to eat, sniffing the air.

  ‘Could it smell us?’ Frank wondered.

  It walked along the length of the porch, following the rest of the horde. It fell off the porch, got up and walked toward the back of the house. More of them came out of the wood line. There didn’t seem to be an end to them. Anna crept up next to him and looked over his shoulder.

  “God…” Anna whispered.

  This was the largest horde they’ve seen yet. Frank’s count was up to two hundred and thirteen Biters so far and that’s just the ones he was able to see. There was no end in sight.

  “Go to the back windows and make sure they keep going. Be careful,” he whispered.

  Anna crept along through the crowd to the back window. She peeked through the curtains. They seemed to be continuing to walk in the same direction. One passed by the window.

  ‘Why was it not following the others,’ she thought.

  It walked up to the back door and started to press on it, trying to get it to open. Anna crept into the kitchen and motioned for Jim to follow her. She positioned herself in front of the door with Jim next to her. Both of their weapons pointed at the door. Just in case. She could see the Biters silhouette through the curtains on the door’s window. It started to pat the door. Anna started praying. She clicked the safety of on her rifle. Frank was still watching the horde coming out of the wood line. Their numbers were beginning to thin. Frank turned to everyone and started creeping to the kitchen.

  “Sit tight,” he said, calmly.

  He went into the kitchen and saw the silhouette and Anna training her weapon on the door. Jim was still there and Tommy had joined them. The Biter was still tapping on the door.

  “Shit…” Frank said.

  ‘It can’t know that anyone is in here. It would be banging on the door if that were the case. Turn around, damn you!’

  As if Frank had mind control, the Biter turned and started to head away from the door. He sighed in relief. Anna lowered her weapon and her head sunk. It seemed that the crisis was over. He went back to check the front yard. There were still a couple stragglers coming from the wood line. He watched them carefully as they passed by his line of sight. No more were seen in the front yard. He went to the windows on the left side of the house. None to be seen. He checked the opposite side. The two stragglers were still meandering their way through the yard but still traveled in the direction of the horde. He watched as they passed him into the backyard. Frank when into the kitchen and peaked out of the window and watched as they moved through the yard and left the property. Frank turned around and sat on the floor, leaning on the wall.

  ‘This was close,’ he thought.

  Anna crept into the room. Frank gave her the thumbs up. She sighed in relief. Frank got
up as quietly as he could and headed back to the front room. He checked the front yard again. There were no Biters in sight. He went back to the group.

  “Looks like we’re clear,” he whispered. “Night watch, we stay inside tonight. The rest of you can go back to bed. Tomorrow, we will need to clear the area.”

  They all started to go back upstairs and to the basement, their respective beds.

  Anna, Steve, and Kim stayed behind.

  “That was a close call…” Steve said.

  “Yeah. We need to do something about these hordes…” Frank said.

  “Got anything in mind,” Anna asked.

  Frank thought about it. They have weaknesses. They’re slow, stupid, and are attracted to sound. There are many ways to use this but what was the safest way? He thought about what they had available. It hit him. He turned to Anna and smiled.

  “Quiz time. What’s the easiest way make napalm?”

  “Gasoline and Styrofoam… You’re not thinking of firebombing them are you,” Anna asked.

  “That’s exactly what I’m thinking of. We can set up a trap. Grab some big speakers from the music store and go to that big parking lot over by the Hilton with some generators. If we crank it up loud enough, we can draw in every Biter for miles. Once we get enough, we can blow them straight to crispy critter hell,” Frank said.

  “I’m kind of liking this plan. The set up will be a dangerous game to play, though,” Anna said, always willing to blow something up.

  “It think if we pull security then we can get it set up quick enough,” Frank said.

  “This sounds pretty dangerous. Are you sure that we can do this,” Kim asked.

  Frank smiled. “I have never been surer. We will pull Tommy in and come up with a game plan tomorrow after we clear the area. We will need to do this after it rains. We don’t want to cause a forest fire.”