Zombie Dawn

by J. A. Crowley

  “I agree,” Kate said. “Think about it. There are almost ten thousand people in our town and another fifty thousand within twenty miles. Based on what we saw today, most of them are probably infected. There are no police, fire, or medical people to help us or, if they survived, they are holed up and waiting for help just like we are. We need to assume the worst. We need to protect ourselves first. I think more of these things will be coming.”

  “But what about the others?” asked Mary. “Maybe there are other survivors out there. We have to help them. We have to find out about the rest of our families and friends.”

  “That’s true,” said Bill, “but we can only help them if we stay alive. Our first priority has to be to protect this group. When we’re stable here, we can help others—but not before then.”

  Tyler chimed in: “I don’t care about all of that, I want to see if my parents are okay.”

  Bill handled that one: “There’s no way we can get to them down the Cape. We just have to wait and see. They’re smart and resourceful. I’m sure they’re fine.” Tyler and Cody sulked a bit, but there was simply nothing we could do.

  We all took a moment to think about our loved ones. There was simply no way to tell if they were dead, infected, or had survived. We feared that most of them were dead. I don't know what was worse—the feeling of loss or not knowing.

  It was getting late and I wanted people to get some rest, so I offered Sean and me for the first watch and sent the rest to get some sleep. I told everyone to sleep up in the attic, to stay together, and to keep their weapons handy. The kids dragged mattresses and sleeping bags up and set everyone up with beds. Kate had found our emergency fire ladders and set them up at the east window. We could use them to climb down to the garage roof and from there swing down to the ground. We decided on two hour watches: me and Sean; Mike and Bill; Kate, Mom, and Bobbie; and Mary, Tyler and Cody. Mom and Mary insisted on taking their turns so I worked them into the schedule. That’s as far as we got for emergency planning that night.

  During our shift, Sean and I moved around frequently and simply listened and watched. Molly stayed with us. We hoped that she’d bark if she heard anything. She was clearly tense and on alert but stayed quiet.

  The street light was still on, and we could see a large fire off to the west miles away. There were many distant sirens and lots of gunshots. We each had a flashlight but we kept them off since we didn’t know if the creatures were attracted by light. When I had that thought, I ran up to the attic and asked Kate to cover the windows so light wouldn’t be visible from outside. “Already did it!” she said proudly. “We just have one small candle going--but I didn’t want any of those things to see it. By the way, Tyler and Cody are sharp little kids—they brought up the fire extinguisher from the kitchen in case we have a fire.”

  “That’s great, but I wonder if we should stay in the attic. We could get trapped up here, and I didn’t think about fire.”

  “I know, but I like our chances better up here than in the basement. I really feel trapped down there.”

  “Do you think everyone can handle the ladder?”

  “I don’t know, but maybe we’ll have a drill tomorrow. Let’s talk about it tomorrow, I need some sleep.”

  I returned to the second floor when I heard Sean call quietly to me. “Dad, I see something.” I went to the front window and looked out. I saw three people coming down our driveway. One had a flashlight and another had a rifle or shotgun.

  “When did you first see them?”

  “Actually, I heard them, Molly was growling. I think they were calling to us.”

  “What did it sound like?”

  “I heard the word ‘help.”

  “That’s interesting, I haven’t heard infecteds talking. They only moan. I don’t even know if they can talk. Maybe I’ll go out and talk with them.”

  “Dad, that’s not smart. They could be zombies or they could already be bitten. What if they attack you?”

  “Good point, Sean. How do you think we should handle it?”

  “Let’s talk to them and see what they say and how they act. If they look okay, we’ll lock them in the garage but not let them into the house. Then, we can check them in the morning and see if they are still okay.”

  “Sean, you’re brilliant. We’ll quarantine them for a bit to make sure they’re okay. They’ll be safe in the garage until then.”

  I opened the front door and pointed my .45 at the group, who by then were within ten feet of the porch. “Please put your weapons down. We mean you no harm but we will defend ourselves. Turn out that light and speak softly. Who are you and what do you want?”

  “I’m Steve and this is my wife, Julie, and my son, Jake. We live about two miles from here on Chestnut Street. We were attacked by our neighbors and they killed my daughter when she tried to help. By the time we saw what was happening it was too late. I saw my daughter’s throat ripped apart, and she died. Five minutes later, she got back up and started moaning like the rest of them. The rest of us ran away and hid in a ditch filled with water. I don’t think they could smell us in there and they wandered off after a while. We kept moving and came looking for our friend, Dave Snow. He lives on this street and always talked about how many guns and supplies he kept for emergencies. He told us we could come stay with them in any emergencies, so here we are. His house is locked up and empty. This gun is empty, by the way.”

  “Are any of them following you?” I asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Julie responded. “A few followed us for a bit, but we stayed as quiet as we could. An ambulance went by with its siren on and they all ran after it.”

  “Are any of you injured? Did they touch or bite you?”

  “No,” said Steve. “We haven’t been within ten feet of any of them. Nor do we want to be.”

  “Okay, here’s the deal. Put your rifle on the ground and go quietly to the back of the garage. I’ll let you in the fence and into the garage. I’ll get you some food and water and you can stay in the garage until the morning when we can see you in the light. If you try to get into the house, you will be shot. If you make any loud noises, you may attract the zombies. Do you understand?”

  They agreed to those terms. I had to cut the zip tie on the fence gate to let them through, then put them in the garage. I replaced the zip tie and went back through the garage, covering them the whole time with my .45.

  “Stay in here and be quiet. Try to get some sleep. If you hear anything, knock quietly on the kitchen door. It’s barricaded, so you won’t be able to get in but we’ll check it out.”

  When I got back into the house, Sean was waiting for me. “I had you covered, Dad.”

  “Thanks, Sean. You're a good kid. Let’s go get some sleep.”

  We woke up the next shift, told them about our guests in the garage, and hit the sack. I slept like a baby.

  Chapter Five: Day Two

  The next day was Sunday. We all woke up around 6:00 a.m. Steve, Julie, and Jake seemed okay so we let them in and introduced them to everyone. Steve and Julie were about forty and Jake was nineteen. We figured they’d come in handy. Steve’s rifle was a .22 so we had plenty of ammo for it, but I didn’t give it back to him since we needed to get to know him better before we could trust him with a gun.

  Electricity was still on and we decided to make coffee and breakfast—bacon, eggs, and pancakes. We realized that we had not eaten at all the day before and everyone was starving.

  “Okay, everyone, here’s today’s agenda,” I announced after breakfast. “Bill and I are going next door to Mom and Dad’s house. We’ll bring back anything that we can use. Dad had some handguns and a couple of rifles over there, too.”

  “He did,” said Mom. “He just bought a bunch of bullets for them, too. He keeps them in the closet in our bedroom. The combination on the gun safe is the same as our phone number.”

  “Everyone else will stay here, lay low, and watch the house. Bobbie, you check the internet and the ce
ll phones. Sean, go with Cody and Tyler over to the shed and bring in there everything inside. Kate and Mike, watch them carefully and cover them.”

  Naturally, I had cleared the plan with Kate before I announced it. She and Mike had agreed to keep a close eye on the newcomers and check them out.

  Bill and I had decided to drive next door, even though my folk’s house was only fifty yards to the west of us. We intended to bring all of the useful items back, and we wanted to be able to move if we were attacked. Also, the path next door was narrow and surrounded by dense growth. We didn’t want to be surprised without time to react.

  Fortunately, my wife had just leased a Prius. I thought it was a ridiculous car, but it would give us the ability to drive silently on battery power as long as we moved slowly—and were able to keep it charged. Mike and Kate covered Bill and I while we opened the garage door and backed out. We glided silently out to the cul de sac and up my parent’s driveway. We didn’t see anyone at all. I think this was because our street was somewhat isolated; we were almost a half mile on each side to the next street.

  When we got to my parent’s house, I walked in the front door with Bill covering me. We went from room to room like a couple of cops on a bad TV show; we actually chuckled about it a couple of times. I almost pissed my pants laughing when Bill tried to fire at his reflection in a mirror. Fortunately, his safety was on. We “cleared” the entire house; it was empty.

  We started in the basement; not much down there. We did grab my Dad’s crowbar and his ax. We checked the attic; pretty much old clothes and junk up there. I remembered that my Dad had bought a couple of cutlasses at an auction and looked around for them. They were nice, and I thought they’d be a good weapon against the zombies. I found them, and Bill and I strapped them on, chuckling as we saw each other. That was it for the attic.

  The kitchen and pantry were full of food. We grabbed everything, loading up their coolers with everything from the fridge and freezer and throwing the rest into trash bags. We found three cases of bottled water and a few two gallon jugs, which we grabbed. We grabbed a few items that Mom had asked us to get, then opened Dad’s gun safe. This was a jackpot. He had a new 9 millimeter Smith & Wesson with a holster, five magazines and 500 rounds of ammo. I found his old .38, two boxes of shells, and a shoulder holster. His Ithaca 12 gauge pump and his scoped .30-06 were also in there, each with over 100 rounds. Way in the back, I found a new scoped Ruger Mini 14 in .223 with five magazines and 500 rounds of ammo. I didn’t even know he had that one! I guess he was stocking up, too.

  We threw everything, including Dad’s police scanner, in the Prius and started to head back. At the last minute, I decided to check the shed. We grabbed a couple of full gas cans, a few empty 5 gallon buckets, a roll of chicken wire, and a roll of fence wire, and returned to my house.

  When we returned, we learned that Bobbie had gotten through to her friend Mariana on her cell phone. Mariana lived about five miles away in an apartment complex in the center of town. The call was brief, but it sounded like Mariana and her brother Santos were okay, hiding in a basement storage room, but scared. They had seen hundreds of zombies in town. No word about their family or anyone else, though, before the call cut off.

  I was not too fond of Mariana, and I really had a problem with Santos. He was a punk and a lowlife and just gave off a bad feeling. Santos was pretty well known in our small town as a petty thief, but with aspirations of greatness. I’d heard things about Santos torturing animals and maybe dealing drugs to kids. He gave Kate and me the creeps and I’d ordered Bobbie to stay away from him.

  Mariana seemed like a sweet kid, but she kind of grated on me. Behind her sweet exterior was, I thought, constant calculation and manipulation. I can’t say that I was happy to have Bobbie spend time with her. I didn’t want her to rub off on my little sweetie. But, I couldn’t completely dictate who she would become friends with, either, so we just kept a close eye on the situation.

  Bobbie had also briefly gotten onto the internet. Naturally, she had gone directly to YouTube, which was full of videos of zombie attacks and videos made by survivors. One video made in Manhattan showed thousands of zombies in Times Square. They were killing everyone in sight. I saw a family of tourists torn apart in about five seconds. According to the narration, Manhattan was pretty much wiped out. The woman who made the video was locked in her safe room and was monitoring zombies ransacking her apartment. She ended her video with her address and said that she had supplies for three days. She was screwed and she knew it.

  Bobbie had also checked her email account on Google. She had gotten emails from my brother, who said he was okay, and a few other relatives and friends. Her connection cut out before she could read all the emails.

  Chapter Six: The Snows

  It was about noon, so Bill and I decided to check out the Snow household. Since they were gone, we decided it was okay, under the circumstances, to “borrow” whatever we found. We compensated for the theft, in our minds, by agreeing to return everything to them when they got back.

  We emptied the Prius into the garage and went back out. Before we left, I told Mike to grab Dad’s 9 millimeter, holster, and magazines. He was psyched.

  I grabbed the Mini 14 and some magazines and Bill took the .38 and a pocket full of refills; he still had the 12 gauge.

  We immediately ran into trouble at the Snow house, which was closest to the main road, across from the Dillons. As we approached, we saw a pack of about twenty zombies on the Dillon’s lawn and more were in the house. Our options were to run or continue with our mission. The zombies looked slow and stupid so we decided to continue.

  Sean had set us up with radios and had agreed to monitor them from home. We called him on the radio and he was right there. I was going to ask to speak to Kate but decided that Sean could handle it. We told him to tell everyone that they were about to hear shooting and that it would be us. I told him to tell Mike, Sean, Cody, and Tyler to get up in the upstairs windows and get ready for some incoming zombies.

  Bill was driving. We agreed that he’d drive along as slowly as he could, while I stood on the passenger side door frame, with the Mini 14 on the roof, and picked the zombies off. He was to stay behind the wheel unless a zombie came within ten yards, then he’d unload with the 12 gauge. Handguns were to be a last resort. I knew that they’d come running when they heard shots so I asked Bill to back up to where we were about 75 yards away and move as slowly as we could along the street. If they got within 40 yards, Bill would reverse back towards my house.

  The plan worked perfectly. Dad had sighted the Mini in for 100 yards. I began shooting slowly, about one shot every other second, aiming for noses and temples. My first five shots were perfect, with five clean kills. The zombies began to move towards us and I emptied my twenty round magazine, taking another ten down. It was starting to seem pretty easy, although zombies continued to pour out of the Dillon house.

  I quickly reloaded when I was shocked to see three zombies practically sprinting towards me, much faster than I had ever seen zombies move before. I freaked out a bit and had trouble lining them up in the scope but fortunately they were coming right at me and I was able to drop them with three shots apiece before they got too close. I made a mental note to tell everyone that teen zombies were much quicker than adults or kid zombies.

  I pounded on the roof, and Bill began reversing to give me more room, as a horde of zombies was now shambling at more normal speed down the middle of the street. I had sixty rounds left and I quick-counted about forty zombies. Some of them looked familiar. At least two were in police uniforms, not a good sign. I began dropping them methodically with the Mini and was able to drop all of them with the last of the .223 ammo. All I had left was thirty two rounds for my .45 in four magazines. For the first time I wondered how many there were and if we'd ever have enough ammo.

  Bill and I decided to wait for a few minutes to see if any more zombies were attracted by the sound. After five minutes, we figured t
hat we were okay, and returned to the Snow house. We circled the house and all appeared to be in order. The front door was locked, so I used the crowbar to pry it open. Bill went in first and must not have been paying attention because he was immediately grabbed by a huge zombie just inside the door. Bill screamed as the zombie tore into his throat. Blood sprayed all over the place. It was clearly a killing bite and blood was pouring out in gouts. Bill couldn’t make sound anymore but I saw him mouth the words “kill me.” I shot the zombie and did what Bill wanted.

  The zombie was Jared Snow, the starting left tackle on the high school football team. The kid was huge. I guess he hadn’t gone to New York with the rest of the family.

  That made me wonder who else hadn’t joined Dave on the trip. I decided to wait a few minutes and see if I heard any sounds. The house was completely silent for several minutes, so I entered. I checked the street before I went in; it was completely empty. I closed the door behind me and pushed Jared’s body in front of it to block anyone else from entering. I figured that I could bust out a window if I had to escape, but I didn’t want any nasties behind me.

  I didn’t know the Snows very well and had to look around for awhile. I decided to scout only and return with help to remove any goodies. The Snows had a huge pantry loaded with canned goods and supplies, including fifty-pound bags of rice and lots of sugar, flour, salt and baking supplies. They had an entire closet full of 5 gallon jugs of Poland Spring, about 12 of them, plus a dispenser. In the basement, they had more water and supplies, including hundreds of cans of baked beans and Campbell’s soup. They had a large cabinet of vegetables that they’d canned themselves and put up in Mason jars.

  Also down in the basement, Dave had a huge gun safe, which I could not get into. I decided to look in the master bedroom. The Snows had clearly left in a rush, and had left a smaller gun safe open. The safe was empty, except for a few papers—including the combination for the basement safe.