Surviving Day By Day (Book 1): So it Begins

by Allensworth, Audra

  Dad then bit down even harder on poor Mary when he had finished with Mom and with their screams traveling through the room the decision had to be made.

  Lifting her gun and locking her dad within her sight she whispered, “I love you Daddy”…

  Then not even thinking twice after firing her weapon she honed in on her mom and then Mary hitting all three of them dead center in the chest.

  But even with the chest wound her dad jumped up and started making his way over to Beth, moaning loudly in the process. Quickly she took a deep breath and aimed straight at her Dad’s head then fired.

  Stanley’s body hit the floor with a thud and her mom started to move. As soon as Beth noticed the movements she side stepped over the body of her dad, she than shot her mom point blank in the head. Mary had not moved yet but Beth didn’t even stop to think, she moved the gun over to Mary’s forehead then pulled the trigger.

  With the sun now up Beth was quietly getting prepared to leave her parents’ house. Knowing that her emergency kit was out in the trunk of her car she wasn’t too nervous about that. Wanting to make sure that she had a sufficient amount of bottled water and some food was what she really focused on. After making her way downstairs to grab a good size tote Beth walked over to the refrigerator where she knew her dad always kept a twenty four case of bottled water. Dad would always stock up especially with Mary living with them she always liked having a nice cold bottle of water with one of her straws.

  How the little things that brought her big sister comfort, would now be means of survival for Beth. Quickly she put the case out in the garage beside two others, when she walked back to the door she noticed there were some canned jellies and jams along with some beans and peaches oh the storage shelves. Mom had always loved canning. Many a day went by when Beth was little, that she would sit outside on the porch swing snapping home grown green beans getting them ready for Mom. But the best thing in the whole entire world was Mom’s black raspberry jelly! Beth memories continued to filter through her mind as she snatched up a few jars, adding them to the tote.

  She and Mary’s fingers would get stained from the berries when they would go down past the fields to the woods where the patches grew. For hours they both would pick the berries. That was before Mary got really sick. Mary would always look after Beth but when Mary got very ill, that was when Beth had to grow up quickly. That was the hardest part, watching Mary get sick as the time marched on and Beth continued to grow older.

  At some point in time Beth took on the responsibility of being the older sister. When she got her job and moved out, her mission was to cure Mary, while Mom and Dad stayed home to take care of her. When the tote was filled and the lid was put back on Beth sat down on the floor and began to cry.

  The memories were like a raging river now; here she sat with her family dead upstairs. She was trying to make sense of everything but with the state world was in she knew that this might be some way of God stepping in and putting his foot down. Then as soon as she thought like that she shook her head and smiled sarcastically, “Beth! That is the biggest bunch of horse shit you’ve ever thought of!!

  The reason it got to this point was of how lazy and ignorant this world got!!”

  Beth had an uncanny way of snapping herself back into reality. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Beth got her barrings, stood up and picked up the tote. She set it beside the water, then made her way up the stairs.

  Still moving quietly through the house Beth put everything that she thought she needed out in the garage. She had some blankets, toiletries, extra clothes, Dad’s collection of bowie knives and a few other keep sakes that she couldn’t leave behind. When she was finished she went back into the room where her family laid. One by one Beth placed them side by side on the bed and covered each of them with a blanket. The tears began to fall when she got to Mary. Beth couldn’t look at her face, the thought of seeing the bullet hole would cause her to lose it and now was not the time to be doing that. She had to keep her composure.

  Just then something triggered a memory and that was ‘puppy’. Mary had a favorite stuffed animal that she always kept with her especially when she got sick and that was ‘puppy’. That little tan dog with big brown floppy ears was always with Mary and Beth then turned to go to Mary’s room to find it. When she did find it, she picked it up and made her way back to where Mary was. Softly she placed puppy in her sister’s hands, “Sissy, here is your puppy and he has been looking all over for you…..”

  Taking a very deep breath what Beth uttered next was the last words she would ever say to Mary. Slowly she continued with her voice breaking, “Puppy, it’s your job now to look after Sissy. You… take care of her.”

  Just then the sun rays pierced though the windows and there was no time like the present. Beth knew it was time to go. Once she had left the bedroom Beth never looked back. Looking out the window she could she a few of the ‘subjects’ slowly walking the streets. There were none located by her car. Quickly she reached into her pocket and grabbed her keys, headed out the door, she backed the car into the driveway. She darted back in the house and out to the garage hitting the opener. She put the keys in her mouth after she pressed the automatic button to open the trunk. Time was of the essence she picked up the tote with a few of the supplies stacked neatly on top of it. There would have to be at least one more trip to be made back to get the rest because she couldn’t carry all of it.

  As soon as she was out by her car the ‘subjects’ saw her and started making their way to her. Throwing the tote in, she ran quickly back to the garage, got the last of the supplies. She made one last trip; Beth hit the garage door button and ran underneath it as it lowered. She was sure no one would disturb her families resting place.

  The ‘subjects’ were now about twenty feet to her car and picking up speed. She slammed trunk and darted to the driver’s door. When she was inside one of the ‘subjects’ began pounding on the window, Beth quickly hit the door locks. Before she even knew she was doing it, the car roared to life and she sped off. Beth didn’t even remember putting the key into the ignition.

  Pulling herself together she looked into the rear view mirror and she saw more and more of them walking around aimlessly. Then she refocused her attention to straight ahead and there seemed to be a lot more here, then there were by her home. One by one she drove by them fast as if they were standing still but in fact they were moving right towards her, reaching out to grab the car as it passed.

  The only thing that Beth knew was that for the time being she was on the road, car was full of gas, supplies were in the trunk and her Beretta was at her side. Once she got through Paducah she headed north on I-24. Several explosions could be seen off in the distance both in front of her and in her rear view mirror. There was quite a bit of traffic that was heading out of the city, mostly stalled, abandoned or wrecked vehicles, but not much at all going in. Beth decided that before she got too much farther that she would have to stop off somewhere; figure out where to get a few gas cans and find some gas to fill them or she wasn’t going to be going much farther. It amazed her that in a few short weeks of her arriving at her parents that the outside world had deteriorated so much.

  After being on the road for a couple hours, she had made it through Metropolis Beth decided to pull into a gas station which looked abandoned. When the car was stopped she quickly surveyed the place and saw only a few infected subjects roaming the streets up ahead. Grabbing her Beretta she opened the door and made sure to leave it opened in case she had to get out of there quickly. These subjects did not seem to be in any hurry to get to her but all the same, were coming her way. So Beth took a quick scan to see if she could see something that may suit her needs and just when she was about to give up and head back to the car Beth saw a bright red ten gallon gas can sitting at the corner of the building.

  The subjects were getting closer by the minute and this left no time for her to try to syphon gas out of cars but she could at least get the gas can. Runnin
g over she picked it up and much to her surprise it felt like there was at least half full. Turning to head back to the car one of the subjects had caught her off guard.

  There he was about five feet from her and she knew that she had to do something. Remembering what happened earlier with her family, Beth did not care anymore. This subject was limping horribly and had huge chunk taken out of the right side of his face. His right eye was hanging out of its socket and he looked like he had been dead for at least a week or more. Not even thinking and acting on primal instinct Beth raised her right arm with her firearm in hand. The safety was off and with a hair trigger pull she shot the subject dead center in the head.

  The gun shot must have been a dinner bell, because now more subjects were headed in her direction. Quickly reaching down to pick up the gas can Beth then ran over to her car door which she had left open for just this reason. She placed the gas can in her passenger seat after she got in and shut the door. Turning the key Beth sped off once more with at least a dozen of the subjects crowding her vehicle.

  Beth stayed on I-24 going west and thought that going through Cape Girardeau would be ten times as worse than Metropolis was. Before she got into the Cape Beth pulled off the side of the road needing to go to the bathroom but what was more she had to put the gas can in the trunk, the fumes were giving her a headache. She had left the windows down but if she had to go through anywhere populated they would need to be rolled up and passing out due to gas fumes was not on her list of things to do.

  When she had the car parked Beth got out and the fresh air really felt good to breathe in. No subjects were in sight and she reached inside the car to pop the trunk. After she put the gas can inside, Beth rearranged everything and got a bottle of water out of the tote. Beth did not want to go too far from the car, so she decided to go to pop a squat right by the car. Relieving herself outside was really uncomfortable but quite refreshing all at the same time. “Guys have got it easy!!! All they have to do is shake it once or twice…..lucky bastards”, she said out loud to herself trying to make light of the situation.

  When she was finished she sat on the trunk and opened the bottle of water taking a long drink. The coolness of it trickling down her throat did feel good. So much had happened and now here she was on the verge of heading into the Cape and only time would tell what she would run into once she got into the city.

  Chapter 6 - Alden:

  Alden drove for three hours as Tonto laid in the back of the club cab. There was only static on the radio as it scanned through the channels. Occasionally it would pick up a Civil Service Announcement telling people to “stay in their homes and remain calm.” Alden smiled and spoke to the radio, “okay Uncle Sam, whatever you say... fucking assholes.”

  Reaching over he turned it off. Tonto sat up and jumped into the front seat, his tail swatting Alden in the face. “Damn it dog, get over on your side of the truck and sit the fuck down.”

  Tonto sat as Alden reached over and rubbed him behind his ears. Tonto turned and looked out the window then over to Alden. A small whimper came out of him. Looking over Alden smiled, “Yeah Buddy I think you right, I need to take a break too.”

  Slowing down he had kept his eyes out for deadheads. He pulled into a scenic overlook. Stopping the truck he looked around. There was a mountain to his right, the road in front and behind was clear. As far as he could tell the only way to get to them without him seeing them was up this cliff and he didn’t think even a deadhead would try to climb that.

  Alden relieved himself over the cliff as Tonto found several rocks to mark. Walking back to the truck he opened the cooler and pulled out a small can of Dinty Moore stew. Opening it he pulled out the small can of Sterno and the little stove. It took only a few minutes and the stew was starting to simmer. As it cooked he retrieved Tonto’s bowls and filled one with dog food and the other with water. Setting the water bowl down Tonto lapped at it furiously the slowed and looked up at him. “Yeah buddy don’t worry I haven’t forgot about you.”

  Putting on a heavy work glove he covered the Sterno and took the Can off the stove stirring it and pouring some of the juice onto Tonto’s food. Then set his dog’s bowl down.

  Reaching back in the truck he pulled an old blanket canteen from the floor, he sat down next to his dog, reaching in his front pocket he took out a Swiss army knife. Flipping out the spoon tool he began to stir and eat. The sky was cloudy with patches of deep blue above his head. The air smelled of cedar and pine trees, looking off across the wide open expanse in front of him he thought of the beauty it held. The whole world in front of him calm serene and peaceful. The tops of the trees swaying in the breeze below; the sun shining it rays in beams through open areas of the clouds. The sunrays coming down almost like water falls from the skies. He sighed as he ate; Tonto finished his food and went to roaming. Marking more rocks he hadn’t hit. Alden laughed at him, “Damn boy you’d think you want all the other animals to think you’d own the whole mountain.”

  Finishing his meal he got up, poured water over the spoon and wiped it off with a paper towel, packing everything back in the truck.

  Stepping away he snapped his fingers. Tonto stopped and turned to him and Alden pointed to his own feet. Tonto trotted over to him. “Let’s take a hike I need to stretch my legs but you need to stay right with me. I don’t expect any trouble but then again, I didn’t expect there to be any trouble over there in Pakistan the night I went for a short walk.”

  His mind wandered back a few years, as he remembered when some foolish terrorists had targeted him for a kidnapping. He walked less than 3 clicks from their camp when two jumped out from behind some rocks. They had the hood on him before he knew it. But blinding him and not binding him was their first mistake. Alden bent over as they pulled the hood on making them believe he was scared, when in fact he was pulling the 14inch survival knife from its leg sheath. As they jerked him up he swung fast; even blinded he knew from the blood on his hands he had caught the first across his throat. Alden turned and spun grabbing the second man’s arm twisting it he pulled him to the ground and stabbed him in what he thought was his back.

  His free hand pulled the hood off just in time to see the sandals of the other three terrorists coming to the aide of their comrade. Alden rolled to his right barely noticing that it wasn’t the man’s back but rather his face Alden had repeatedly stabbed. As the three approached he grabbed a hand full of sand and threw it the face of the closet one, then jumping to his feet he round kicked the second and drove the knife directly into the chest of the third.

  Alden grabbed the first and with one quick move snapped his neck. The last one lay on the ground trying to pull out a pistol; he was struggling to breathe from where the Alden had hit his chest. The bright red blood coming from his lips told Alden he had smashed a couple of ribs. Alden Kicked him square on his jaw hearing the sickening crunch as it broke into several pieces and the terrorists head snapped back. Alden’s final move was a simple stomp on the man’s throat crushing his windpipe.

  The sound of rocks tumbling brought him back to the present. Alden had realized he’d walked out of sight of the truck and Tonto had turned back that way and was growling. Alden pulled the 45 from it’s holster and started to move swiftly but quietly back to the truck. It took about ten minutes but as they came back around the mountain he could see what Tonto had heard and smelled. Deadheads, trying to climb over the top of the cliff, But they were causing their own problems clawing over each other they seemed to disappear then climb back up again. Each one pulling the other back down, Alden laughed at this site, “Look at them dumb asses, good thing they can’t think or act as a team.”

  Walking over he waited till one of them put his head over the edge then Alden gave it a swift boot to the face and watched as it fell backwards and tumbled down the mountain. There were four total and he repeated it for each one. Looking at Tonto as he motioned him to get in the truck he laughed, “You know what’s sad, boy. If they don’t break their stupid
heads open on the way down, the only thing they’ll be able to do is crawl, if that.”

  Getting back in he looked to Tonto, “Ya know boy, a warning bark might have been nice a little sooner. I just thank the Goddess and Gods that the rocks came down and your ears perked up.”

  Rubbing Tonto’s head the dog just shook and then jumped into the cab laying down on his blanket. As Alden drove down the mountain the road switched back several times. At the first switchback on the side were two of the deadheads Alden had kicked off the cliff. They were struggling to even move. One was trying to push with its broken feet, its legs turned completely around in a grotesque fashion. Slowing down and stopping to watch Alden cocked the 45 and got out, walking around the front of the truck. The deadhead with the broken legs raised it’s head snarling and drooling, it had only a couple of teeth left in it’s bloody, smashed mouth. Alden pulled his combat knife out and stabbed the deadhead right into the base of his skull.

  Turning he watched as the other attempted to move towards Alden, his left arm was a mass of torn flesh and bone it dragged along his side. His legs were not any better than his partners, a twisted and broken mass of shit. Placing his foot on the back of the deadhead he gave him the same treatment as his brother. Walking back to his truck Tonto was growling but not looking toward Alden but rather out the other way.

  Moving slowly Alden snapped his fingers, Tonto turned and Alden made a lay down motion with his hand. Tonto obeyed but was still growling; as he reached the truck he saw what had upset Tonto.

  There was a small band of people walking up the mountain road carrying a small cart. The man in front waved and yelled, “HELLLLOOOO”

  Alden moved his fingers to his lips in a shushing motion and moved cautiously towards the group with his hand held tight to the 45.