The Reanimates (Book 1): The Complex

by J. Rudolph

  "Alright kiddo, run up stairs with Liam. I'll get you as soon as this meeting is over." I wanted it to be over already. If it had been some sort of work meeting where I could call in sick I would have. I had a really bad feeling about this. I wondered if it had been someone other than Trent and our two security guys if I'd have felt better, though it wasn't as if there were any better options. Steven would fall apart out there, successfully killing everyone. Daniel was a single dad to really young kids so sending him out would just set up a big risk of too much distraction, especially since he saw what happened to Eric with his own eyes. He would not be able to focus like he needed to. Those were the only two adult men to go. Out of the adult women I couldn't fathom Tanya rolling with the chaos well, she liked the nice orderly precision of plants and domestic duties. It had shown in the old world. Her patio had always had a planter that bloomed perfectly and a raised garden table that you could see all sorts of different vegetables growing. Her house was neat as a pin all the time as well, which struck me as amazing with two teens in the house. Jody was a great planner and organizer which spoke well of her teaching days but there was nothing planned and organized about the zombies. Martha and Mercedes seriously lacked the physical abilities to move under a great deal of stress. Too bad zombies were immune to the sharp tongue that Martha had. This took out the adult women aside from myself.

  Damn, I thought, this really is the only way.

  "Morning everyone!" Jody sang out cheerfully. I wondered if my eyebrow was doing that same upward motion that I had commented on Drew doing. I worked hard at keeping my face neutral.

  "So, I know we have lots of things to talk about today but I had a question that I wanted to propose. I wanted to know if anyone had an objection to calling this the Council. Meetings of resource heads sounds like we should be on an episode of "Futurama" or something." I smiled at the reference. I thought it was great. "Does anyone object to the name change?" No one said a thing. "Well then," Jody smiled brightly, "welcome to our council meeting then. I'm going to go ahead and give Trent the floor then so he can talk about why we are all here. Trent?"

  Trent stood up to speak. He noticed all eyes were on him and looked a hair shy for half a second. "Hello everyone, I'm Trent," he began. I knew what was coming next. That's a great thing about knowing someone for years. "...and I'm an alcoholic." Yup. I was right. "Oh wait, wrong meeting. That's 9 PM, not AM right?" Even knowing that was what was coming I still giggled with the people in the room.

  "Well I guess it's serious time now. We're here today because as you all probably know, we, er, Joey, Tyreese, and I are going to go out on a run. We plan on going to a few places this time, but included in the run is going over to the new home improvement store and hopefully grabbing a few generators to keep lights on here." He looked over to Martha and then added "True we don't NEED electricity. It would help though to be able to see what's happening in case of the zombies show up on our door step. While we are out we also plan on getting more propane, gasoline, ammo and if we're lucky, more weapons, as well as water and food which are both, as we all know, a very precious commodity here. We wanted to ask everyone if their resource unit needed anything while we are out. Kinda like a shopping list I guess, but if it's an item that is obtainable we might as well get it. No fair asking for helicopters or alien abductions to get us far away from this whole mess cause I already called it."

  Mercedes threw out her request for the rapture then. I laughed.

  Tanya wore a huge smile and commented, "Seriously? If you're going to the home improvement, get seeds, any veggie they have available. Oh, and plant food."

  Trent smiled at Tanya and said that was an excellent idea. She smiled shyly.

  “Does anyone else need anything specific?” Trent asked. No one else spoke up. “OK then, we of course will be on the look out for things that strike us as that could be handy.

  “If it's alright by you, Martha, we would like to use the U-Haul that Eric had rented. It would make it so much easier to haul the most amount of stuff.” Martha rolled her eyes and nodded.

  Tyreese cleared his throat. “While we are out Cali said she'd take watch. If anyone can relieve her for breaks that would be awesome. We are going to be working on the theory about us leaving a smell so on our way back we're going to pour bleach on the road to see if we can throw those dead things off our trail. Even still, the moment we get back we are on high alert. Young kids need to be in their homes with the door shut and locked. Same goes for all the resource units, they need to be shut and locked. We don't want to have one of the dead stumbling in and find their way into a unit and have no one know until they go in to grab something and get themselves eaten. We are going to be leaving one unit unlocked though so we can secure our finds when we get back until we are sure that the risk isn't astronomical for a hit by the zombies. As soon as the stuff gets dropped off into the processing unit everyone needs to report to their areas that I'm going to assign after the meeting. This time, we are going to be ready for them.”

  I liked the idea of a plan very much. Assigned areas will help reduce confusion as to where people needed to go. It felt safer this way. I made myself continue to think about all the plus sides to this run and how comfort measures like a charged Kindle were going to be such a morale boost and we always need one of those.

  When the meeting came to a close Tyreese went around giving assigned areas to people. He also gave those of us that had a unit helper/float instructions where to be. I requested that Trisha remain in the medical unit to start first aide if someone came in during an attack needing a patch up. I don't know that Tyreese has ever looked at me with so much gratitude. I knew he wanted to keep his daughter out of the way, but since she was old enough to have been able to handle a weapon he was going to put her out there with the rest of us. My respect for him grew immensely in that moment. He wasn't going to just put us into situations that he wouldn't put his own family into. He obviously didn't want to put his baby girl out there like that but he wasn't going to sacrifice one of us just because we weren't blood tied. I know I was already seeing the people of the complex as my blood. It was nice to see others have that same feeling. If I'm being totally honest, having Trisha in the unit was more for me anyway. I didn't want the death of a kid on my shoulders. She was only 17 and she should have a long life ahead of her still.

  Trent came over with the rhino gun, showed me how to load it, and how to set up the sights. We decided it would be a waste of ammo in that moment to fire it so we practiced loading and unloading a couple times.

  The other guys all started to climb into the vehicles so I walked Trent over. Trent and Joey climbed into our truck while Tyreese took the U-Haul. I leaned into the open door on the truck to give Trent a kiss goodbye. He leaned close to my ear and said “It's not goodbye, hon. It's an I'll see you soon kiss. We have too much to do before it's good bye. Keep reminding yourself that all we're doing is running down to the hardware shop and picking up gas and groceries while we're out. You can tell yourself that because it's true, we're just getting some stuff. Hey, since you're on watch you could pop on that bikini top I like and work on that tan you've been wanting. Bring up your Kindle up there as well so you can read. Your to be read list hasn't really been worked on since this all started.

  “They say in scary movies that you never say 'I'll be right back' if you think you want to survive the movie, so I'm not going to. I think its not a jinx to say see ya soon, so that’s what I'll do. I'll see ya soon.”

  I wiped my tears on my sleeve. Trent started to say that they have tissues for that but he stopped himself, mostly because he didn't know if there were any tissues left. Just behind that thought was that Martha was Privy Council, and a box of tissues might be more trouble than it's worth. I hugged him and backed away from the truck to let them move. I noticed in that moment that it looked like Jody and Joey were having a similar conversation themselves and I made a mental note on that one to inquire further later.

 
I went upstairs, changed my top, grabbed the tanning oil spray as well as my Kindle and went up the ladder to take watch. DaWayne looked really tired, having worked the last several hours, so I sent him off to at least nap.

  I sat on the roof feeling the late morning sun on my skin. It would be a hot one today. I wish it had occurred to me how warm it got on watch because I'd have mentioned to Trent to pick up one of those kid blow up wading pools to put your feet in while up here. I almost turned to grab my cell to text him this idea when the silliness of that habit driven motion hit me.

  I wiggled around in the camp chair trying to get comfortable then pulled out my Kindle to decide on the next read. My personal library was filled with tales of zombies causing the end of the world. In this moment they were never less appealing. Something about living the story turned me off the genre, something about my husband being out there where the risk of becoming one of them took away the entertainment value. I hoped that this would go away, that I could enjoy them again at some point, but for right now, reading on the zombie apocalypse was not the right thing.

  Admittedly, I was in a funk. I had no idea how to pull out of it with one exception, and that was seeing the truck lumbering down the road and to see Trent behind the wheel laughing at Joey's stories. I pulled out the binoculars to see just how far I could see on the roads. The main road in front of the complex had several bends in it so visibility was somewhat limited. There were a couple random slopes in the area so the road dipped in and out of view. It struck me how these blind spots were going to be potentially problematic if we were to get unwelcome undead visitors from those areas. With the exceptions of the places that were blind it was all clear. I sat back down to read something and decided to pull up an old friend of a book, Stephen King's The Stand. It felt like a security blanket of sorts. I resisted the urge to turn on text to speech like I was so accustomed to in the past. I was more concerned than not about making the battery last and TTS was not battery friendly.

  I clicked through the pages for a bit with every page turn a reminder to look over the area. I listened to Liam and Abigail playing, then invariably arguing, together. I could hear Tesla barking playfully. I wondered why I didn't hear Drew in the mix. I walked to the edge to see if I could hear or see him in the common area. When I didn't a wave of nausea hit me. I could see into my apartment from this vantage point and it was empty. I couldn't see him anywhere. I was right on the edge of letting out a panicked scream when I heard a noise come from the ladder. I ran to the ladder to see Drew climbing up. Relief poured out of every pore. My son was fine.

  I thought that I would be disturbed that I had become this ultra-paranoid mom but I was strangely at ease with it. I was just happy to see him.

  "Hey kiddo. What brings you my way?" I grinned at him. I had quickly decided to never admit that I was on the edge of a panic attack a moment earlier. I offered my hand to help him over the edge and he took it.

  "Well mom, its lunch time, so I went over to Ms. Mercedes and we decided to make you a surprise. We made a picnic lunch for you and me. We made sandwiches." The look of pride was etched on his face. "I promised dad I would take care of you while he was gone." He added solemnly, clearly taking the responsibility very seriously.

  He opened the backpack and pulled out a light blanket and spread it out. We both sat on it pulling out the sandwiches and a couple colas. I couldn't remember a nicer picnic. A gentle breeze came through while we ate.

  “Mom? I've been thinking a lot about Tesla. She seems to make so many people happy when she is playing with them, then I start to feel bad because we are the only ones with a dog. I was wondering if it would be a good idea to see if people want to share her, kinda. What I'm thinking is I should make sure she's downstairs when we go to breakfast and let as many people play with her that Tesla will put up with until its bedtime. That way everyone can feel like they had a dog for the day. She likes her spot in my room for sleeping and I won't take that away from her, but since this place is safe she should be able to just run around and help. I'll make sure that she doesn't dig up the garden. What do you think?”

  I was taken aback by the sensitivity that he was showing. “Well, I think that you have a great idea. You're right. I bet that people would like to have a dog in their lives and Tesla only will go to people that treat her good. She seems to know when people are sad and helps them and she seems to know when people are mad about something and lets them be until they calm down. People like dogs. No one had one here before because that would have violated the lease. Not a problem anymore, huh.”

  When we finished our lunch he gathered up the trash and blanket and said that he needed to get back down the ladder. He had promised to help do some weeding in the garden. I was so proud of him. He was so mature in that moment. I watched him trek over to Tanya and get busy.

  Time passed on as the shadows moved to the side getting longer. I wondered how late it would be before they got back. I looked over the roads hoping to see a sign of them though they'd only been gone for about four hours. I knew that they would be later than that. Seeing nothing of noteworthiness, I resumed my book reading.

  A while later I did another check for the cars and came up short. Just as I was about to put down the binoculars though I spotted something in the distance. It was one lone figure, stumbling. It turned its head to face me. It was clearly a dead thing.

  "Flipping zombies." I muttered under my breath. I started to feel irritated over the intrusion. It was slow and alone. I went to grab my Luger to dispatch it before it got much closer when I saw the rhino gun. I let out a slight woot when it hit me I could use it instead.

  I carefully loaded the huge rifle. I loaded the .45 caliber bullet, clicked everything in place and put the butt to my shoulder. I used the scope to line up the zombie, let out a breath, and gently squeezed the trigger.

  I was not as prepared for the power of that gun as I thought I was. It kicked back into my shoulder with a thud and I lost my balance a bit. It almost knocked the breath out of me. When I recomposed myself I grabbed the binoculars to see if the shot had hit home. Not only had the shot landed right, it vaporized the head. There seemed to be no solid chunks left. I cheered.

  Below me I heard the others speaking and DaWayne called out asking if we were under attack. I realized they all were sounding rather nervous and that the sound of that gun firing had to have freaked them all out.

  "We're good. There was just one. Gave me an excuse to fire the rhino. It's all good."

  I felt kind of bad that they were startled like that.

  “Well, Cali, I took a great nap so if it's cool by you, I'm going to take a shower then eat a little something then I'll head on up to relieve you.”

  “Sure DaWayne, take your time.” I replied.

  “Uh, Cali? Don't shoot anything else with that gun. Sounded like a damn cannon and scared the crap outta me.” DaWayne admonished slightly.

  I chuckled. Really, what else was there to do?

  Return of the Guys

  I had just gotten back to the apartment after collecting Drew from the garden where he was still working hard when I heard DaWayne sing out that they were coming up the road. I went to slide my shoes back on when the alarm bell rang. I heard DaWayne yelling about something that I couldn't understand over the ringing.

  “Drew, stay here while I find out what the heck he's yelling about.”

  I ran down the stairs quickly. “DaWayne! What's the problem?” I yelled.

  “They're back and they brought company! Crapload!”

  I started to hear the sound of gunfire coming from the road. I was a little worried though it occurred to me it wasn't a lot of gunfire.

  “Everyone to your assigned areas, NOW!” I yelled. Daniel and I were racing towards the gate to let the guys in and to help keep the zombies at bay. We ran it open as they approached the drive. The truck was the first one in and I noticed that Joey wasn't in the cab with Trent like he was supposed to be. I could see Tyreese was alo
ne too when he made the turn and I wanted to be sick. We couldn't lose Joey, and visions of the return of Eric flooded my mind. They both pulled in towards the back. I was about to run the gate shut when I realized there was another set of headlights turning in. That didn't make sense. Only two cars left. I wondered if they found another person out there needing help. It took me a moment but I realized suddenly that it was Joey in the third vehicle. Not only was Joey safe, but the vehicle he was driving was a SpringForth Water truck.

  It was one of those large delivery trucks drawn by a fairly new model semi tractor. As he cleared the gate Daniel and I ran it shut and set up the spike strips. When we were done securing the gates, I went over to check out the truck. Our apartments parking lot was arranged in the shape of a lower cased 'h', the long part goes from the gate at the street all the way back to where it ends. The right side of the driveway has covered carports on this part of the 'h' and uncovered parking on the left. Between the laundry/mail room and office and the apartments are where the skinny part of the 'h' divides the lot, providing more parking but no carports. The 'h' continues its bend around to go past my building to end all the way in the back. Joey took the skinny part of the 'h' to make a three point turn which resulted in him getting this huge truck backed down the end of the longest part of the 'h', seated parallel to Mercedes' building, pointed forward to the gate. If it ever needed to be driven out we were golden. The guys jumped out of their vehicles with guns in hand and skipped to where we stood. They double checked the location of the zombies from the street to verify that they had a minute to talk. We had time. As a whole, zombies move fairly slow. What they lacked in speed they made up for in endurance. They kept trudging along. Daniel had a pair of binoculars down by the gate that I borrowed from him. They weren't as cool at the ones that stayed on the roof but they did the job. I watched, somewhat fascinated, as one tripped over its own feet. It didn't seem to faze the other zombies. The idea that there was one of their own down didn't matter, they just kept going, stepping on the fallen one. When there was a break in the pack the fallen one stood back up. It had gotten a few breaks from being trodden on, its arm jutted off in an odd angle that wasn’t there before the fall, its face abraded from the shoes that some of the zombies still wore as they walked across him.