by Ben McElyea
“There could be a way crazy people or the dead can get inside.”
“You’re always about some defense.”
“Why shouldn’t I be in a time like this?”
“You’re really good at this.”
“Good at what?”
“Surviving the apocalypse.”
“I doubt anyone is good at surviving the apocalypse. Everyone still alive is suffering. So many people have died. I find it hard to believe a lot of people are left. I’m sure there are pockets of people scattered all over the world. I’m surprised we’ve seen as many people as we have.”
“Never underestimate humanity.”
“Do you think humanity will survive this?”
“I think there’s a chance.”
“I agree. I think humanity has a small chance of surviving this epidemic. What do you think?”
“I believe we have a chance, just not a good one.”
“I thought so, too.”
“We’ve done well so far.”
“No we haven’t.”
“Oh, yeah. I almost forgot.”
“How can you forget about what we did?”
“I don’t dwell on it. What’s done is done. We aren’t going to talk about it.”
“We need to get the barricades set up.”
Jake and Dan spent an hour blocking everything. They made extra barricades in case if zombies or people broke through or went over the fence. They used counters, shelves, tables, the refrigerator, washing machine, dryer, dressers, and chairs. They walked outside and walked around. Jake had figured out what everyone was doing. Four were chopping wood, three were planting and watering crops, three were patrolling the perimeter, an old lady was sewing, and four people were building a tall wall within the fence with the chopped wood. It was nearly finished.
The old woman was Nancy. She was feeble. She used a walker to get around. Being seventy-six years old, there wasn’t much she could do but make blankets and clothing.
The four young adults building were Chris, Angela, Courtney, and Adam. Chris was married to Angela and Courtney was married to Adam. Sam followed the two brothers almost everywhere. Jake and his brother were accepted by the builders.
The four middle aged men and women chopping wood didn’t like the new additions to the community. Bill, Tonya, Jack, and Megan didn’t say anything to Jake or Dan. They glared before continuing their work.
The ones farming were Larry, his wife Helen, and Eric. Eric seemed strange. Every now and again, he’d give an odd twitch. Jake believed he was mentally unstable.
The three patrolling the perimeter were two sisters and their older cousin. Brandon watched over Melissa and Amber like a father would his daughter. He told Jake and Dan to stay away from them.
Aaron and Nick stayed with their parents. After seeing so much violence and monsters, it was no surprise they said nothing.
Larry knocked on Jake and Dan’s front door that evening.
“Is everything alright?” Jake asked.
“You’re going with me on a scavenging run. We’re going to explore a neighborhood a half mile from here. We haven’t been there yet. It is likely we will encounter the dead. What weapons do the two of you have?”
“We have nine millimeter pistols and a machete.”
“How much ammo do you have for the pistols?”
“Not enough to win a big firefight or fend off more than fifteen zombies. We miss sometimes. We haven’t been to the shooting range in years.”
“I’ll give each of you some.”
“Thank you,” said Dan.
“You’re both very welcome. Tomorrow you’ll both begin to do your part. Early in the morning, I’ll bang on this door to wake y’all up.”
“Okay.”
Jake and Dan spent the rest of the day drinking water, eating the rest of the food they had, and resting. They received the best sleep they’d had since the epidemic started.
“I don’t think these people are bad,” Dan said to Jake.
“Keep your wits about you. This comfortability could be temporary. Anything can happen.”
“I know.”
22
The next morning, Larry woke them with a knock on the door.
“Come on, you two. It’s time to go scavenging.”
“How many people are going?” Jake asked.
“Me, you, your brother, and Eric.”
“Are we ready to leave now?”
“Let’s get Eric and go.”
Jake, Dan, Larry, and Eric left and reached an area past the outskirts of the city. Eric constantly looked all around him.
“No need to be paranoid,” Larry said to everyone. “They’re slow and stupid. As long as you’re not afraid, you’ll do fine.”
“I doubt I’ll ever get used to this,” Dan said to himself.
“You have to get used to it. You really need to adapt to it quickly. The sooner you do, the better off you’ll be. You’ll live longer if you’re not afraid.”
“How does someone live like this without being afraid?”
“Like I said, you have to get used to it. If you’re scared for too long, you’ll wear yourself out. Stay close to me and Eric. Don’t get separated. Take anything you find that might be considered as useful.”
They finally reached the neighborhood. Zombies wandered up and down the street. Jake and Dan stared as Eric slew them one by one with a hatchet.
“Behind you!” Larry yelled.
The two brothers looked behind them. They were so focused on what Eric was doing they weren’t paying attention to their surroundings. Jake gashed through two zombies’ heads before running to Eric and Larry.
“We’re going to have to use our firearms,” Larry said calmly. “There are far too many of them.”
“That’ll attract more of them,” said Jake as he readied his pistol.
“Yeah, but we’ll be out of here before those that are attracted by the sound show up. If you have to, wait until they’re close enough to get a good shot. Don’t be afraid. As long as they don’t touch you, you’re fine. We don’t know if being touched by them will give you the disease. Get ready to fire.”
They waited for the zombies to get close before firing. Jake shot six in the head. He only missed once. Dan shot six as well. Larry shot over fifteen of them. Eric decapitated the ones that got too close.
“Cease fire!” Larry yelled over and over until Jake and Dan stopped pulling the trigger. “There are more zombies than I thought. Conserve your ammo. Let Eric do his thing.”
Eric pulled his machete from its sheath. It had a hunter’s knife firmly duct taped the end. He fought like a warrior from a movie. He disposed of twenty-one of them.
“Eric,” Larry said as Eric casually walked towards the group. “Please deal with the stragglers. We don’t need them sneaking up on us.”
Eric walked off behind some houses and came back with a smile on his face.
“Great job,” Larry said with a smile. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Without me, you’d die.”
“That’s true.”
“I’m getting better at this. My family would be proud.”
“Yes, they would be. Jake, Dan, come with me and Eric. We’ll stay together while we search each house.”
The four found lots of food, water, and other useful items. Batteries, gasoline, guns, ammunition, and medical supplies.
“I’m glad we got a load of stuff,” Larry said as he and the others made their way back to the community. “Everyone will be happy to see we didn’t come back empty handed. We’ll have to come back for what we couldn’t carry.”
“There will be a lot more zombies there when we go back,” said Dan.
“You’re right. There will be.”
“How many zombies do you think there are in this area?”
“More than you think. No matter how many of them we get rid of, there will always be more. No more talking until we get back unless it’s someth
ing important. There’s bound to be at least a few more of them between here and home. We need to concentrate.”
Larry was right. There were more of them. A lot more of them. They had just run into a horde of the undead.
“They’re everywhere,” Dan said nervously.
“They’re the ones who heard the gunshot,” Jake replied. “We can’t deal with that many.”
“We can’t let them see us,” Larry said as he led everyone in a different direction. “We’ll have to take a big detour. Follow me. Hopefully, we’ll make it back before sundown.”
They walked for two extra miles to avoid the undead. They missed most of the horde but still encountered lots of them. Eric, Larry, Dan, and Jake were fatigued. As tired as they were, they picked up the pace.
“It’ll be dark soon,” said Larry. “We need to make it home soon.”
23
They didn’t make it back before the sun went down. Moving slowly and quietly, they listened for anything. It was agreed upon that it’d be a horrible idea to keep moving with a lack of light. They rested in a doublewide trailer on the side of the road less than half a mile from home. A barricade was put up before everyone sat in the dark near the front door. No one made much sound. All felt very unsure of their safety. No one slept.
Everyone felt better when the sun began to come up. Whispering converted to low toned talking.
“We need to hurry,” Larry said as he lifted his two heavy sacks of goods and supplies. “The next time we go scavenging, we’re taking the truck through the lawns and woods.”
“We’d still have to move a lot of vehicles,” Jake said before taking a deep breath.
“It’ll be worth it. We’ll just get in the cars, put them in neutral, and push them out of the way.”
“What about the alarms?”
“We’ll think of something.”
“I think it’d be a better idea to just bring more people so we can bring back more supplies.”
“We can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Well, we’ll see what can be done about it. Most of the people back home are too afraid to venture out. The woodcutters are frightened to death when they go outside the fence.”
“They keep watch while they do it, don’t they?”
“They have one person keep watch as the others chop and gather wood. They’re still paranoid. I don’t blame them, though. We and the guards are the strongest of them all.”
“No one but us and the guards are confident enough to go outside the fence?”
“That’s correct. For the longest amount of time, nearly everyone stayed in their homes. Some of us came outside and associated with the others. There was only one zombie inside the fence.”
“I saw the blood stain in the bathroom of the house you gave us.”
“It was Marvin, my hunting buddy.”
“Oh.”
“Let’s go.”
“I’m right behind you.”
“Eric, please watch our backs.”
Bill untied the ropes keeping the gate closed and allowed the scavenging team in.
“We thought the four of you were dead,” Bill said with a surprised expression on his face.
“We had a setback,” Larry said with confidence. “We found a lot of stuff. We’ll have to go back tomorrow to get the rest of it.”
“You need to take the wheelbarrows with you next time.”
“They’re too heavy to lug around for a long period of time.”
Jake and the other survivors gathered in the middle of the street with what he and the other scavengers brought back.
“You know the drill,” Larry said with a voice of authority. “Eric, please divide everything as fairly as you can.”
“I’m on it.”
Eric divided the food, water, and supplies as evenly as possible. Everyone was happy with the scavenging team’s success. Things were put away before work continued. The next day, Jake, Eric, Bill, Dan, and Larry went to retrieve what they couldn’t carry. The team was caught off guard around a corner of a house by six zombies. Eric blamed himself for not seeing them. The four had to push them back with their melee weapons to create distance between them for a panicked series of gunshots. They carried a load of supplies back home. Like before, Eric divided everything equally.
“We’ll need to find another place to scavenge,” Jake said to Larry.
“You’re right. We’ll have to go further next time.”
“How much further?”
“There are a lot of small houses on the side of the road a mile from the neighborhood we just came from.”
“Are the houses close to anything?”
“A middle school.”
“We need to stay away from there.”
“No kidding.”
“I think we should try somewhere else. That area will be way more populated than this one. There will be too many zombies there.”
“We’ll be well equipped. We’ll be taking the truck. It’ll take longer to use the truck, but we’ll be able to transport supplies more effectively. We can do it.”
“No, we can’t.”
“If you’re not going to help scavenge, you and your brother can leave.”
“Fine. We’ll go.”
“I’ll come get you two tomorrow.”
“Dan and I are going to ride in the bed of the truck.”
“That’s fine with me. Bill, Eric, and Brandon will sit with me.”
For the next few weeks, the same houses in the neighborhoods near the school were looted. To say the least, the sight of so many undead children was terrible. There were close calls, but the scavenging team believed it was worth it. During the fourth trip, the truck was surrounded before they could push through the undead. There were hundreds of them. The six were lucky enough to have made it back to the truck before they were devoured. They drove past and through some of them before the two front wheels got stuck on a pile of twitching corpses. Dan panicked for a moment before destroying the heads of one zombie after another with his brother.
The gunshots attracted more and more undead. Luckily, there was enough ammunition to take out all of them. When all three hundred twenty-nine zombies were neutralized, Jake and Dan took a short breather.
“We have to move all the bodies out from beneath the truck,” said Jake. “We always need to have a means of escaping. I’m sure more of those things are headed this way.”
They dragged the bodies by the shoes out of the way of the truck and proceeded into the first house. There were nine of them in the living room. Larry hosed half of them down with a semi-automatic shotgun. Jake, Eric, and Dan helped each other destroy the heads of the five on the left. They found nothing of use.
“Those zombies were once a group of survivors working together,” Larry said. “Look at all the backpacks.”
“What do you think happened?” Dan asked.
“I saw several bullet wounds on their bodies. It looked like they had been murdered.”
“I wonder if the killers are still alive.”
“I don’t want to find out. Let’s go to the next house.”
Nothing was in the second, third, or fourth house. What they found in the fifth house made the trouble worthwhile. Canned goods, noodles, jars of pickles, canned soda, powdered lemonade mix, knives, candy, and a baseball bat were found.
“This is what we came for,” Larry said. “Let’s get this stuff back home.”
Everyone stared blankly at the findings in the middle of the street. After it was divided, people looked displeased.
“People are starting to get greedy,” Jake thought.
“That was close,” Dan said to Jake as they put everything in one of the cabinets.
“I know. We’re doing fine, though.”
“It was such a close call!”
“It’s going to happen from time to time. It’s a good thing Larry gave us so much ammo. Thank God for the gun nuts.”
“I don’t want to sca
venge anymore.”
“You don’t have a choice. You have to do your part. Besides, I need you out there.”
“Who guards?”
“Out of all the people who take turns patrolling the fence, Bill and Amber are the best. Melissa and Jack are apathetic.”
“Why don’t they put one of the better guards with one of the lesser ones?”
“I could say something about it, but Brandon would probably get mad.”
“Who cares if someone gets mad? It’s our safety we’re talking about.”
“I don’t feel like dealing with it.”
“I guess I can’t blame you. I’d rather not get shot by one of these people over something stupid.”
“We’re having to go pretty far to get supplies now.”
“We’re fine for now. Let’s get some rest.”
“We killed hundreds of those things.”
“Yeah, we did.”
“I’ll never get used to how bad they smell.”
“Smells like awfully putrid garbage.”
“Much worse than that, bro. We need to get some rest. I want to lie down.”
Jake and Dan were about to fall asleep when they heard a gunshot.
“That didn’t come from far away,” Jake said as he and Dan rose up from the mattress and ran out the front door.
Jake and Dan followed Bill to Brandon’s house. The front door was open. The three ran inside to see Eric with a pistol in his hand. Brandon lay dead on the living room floor.
24
“What have you done?!” Bill yelled.
“He was a zombie,” Eric answered. “He bit Amber. She’s infected.”
Bill looked at Brandon’s lifeless body. A torn piece of his shirt was ripped and revealed a scratch. The skin around it was a dark purple color.
“Eric’s right,” Jake said aloud as everyone except Nancy arrived at the scene. “Brandon was scratched by one of the zombies. He must have been scratched in that first house. Not telling us about it just costed us an extra person.”
“I’m still alive,” said Amber.
“You won’t be for long. I’m just telling the truth.”
“I don’t wanna die!”
“It’s too late for you.”
“There might be a way for her to survive,” said Larry.
“How do I survive the bite, Larry? Hurry, tell me what to do. I’ll do whatever it takes. Tell me!”