They both moved to leave after breakfast, and only stopped when they realized I was doing the dishes before leaving.
“Hey, why don’t you leave those for somebody else? I mean, it is the end of the world. Is anybody really going to care if the dishes are done?” Abby remarked snidely.
“Just because it's the end of the world, doesn't mean we shouldn't tidy up after ourselves. Besides, we’ll hopefully get to use the same kitchen tomorrow. Do you want to eat off plates that already have food caked on them?” I pointed out as I laid the few dishes on the drying rack and pulled the plug on the water.
“I guess…if you say so.” Abby rolled her eyes at me. “It just seems like a waste of time, but if that's what you want to do then knock yourself out.”
“What did you have for plans today?” I asked casually, knowing it wasn't going to be anything productive.
“I planned to go back to the dorm and check out more of Abby's assets.” Jeff leered at Abby. “You're welcome to join us if you want,” he offered, missing the way Abby's eyes widened in surprise.
“Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to go do some scavenging and see if I can find any other humans that might be alive.” I didn't ask if they wanted to join me because I was really hoped they wouldn't.
“You don't know what you're missing out on, baby.” Jeff put his arm around Abby as his hand reached down to squeeze her ass.
“Yeah, I'm good. I guess I'll see you tomorrow.” I started to walk away when Abby stopped the couple's progress back to the dorm.
“Tomorrow? Aren't you going to fix lunch and dinner?” The dismay on Abby's face and having to fend for herself was humorous.
“If I eat lunch or dinner, it will be something cold or from a can so that we can save our resources to last as long as possible.”
“Oh, I guess that makes good sense.” Abby started walking toward the dorm again, taking Jeff with her.
“See you later.”
After my encounter with Jeff and Abby, it made me realize there might be people out there who were alive but weren't exactly friendly, so I needed to be extra careful.
The only thing that I had with me was my empty backpack and the bat as a weapon. I assumed that most of the stores in the area would have already been scavenged, but there was still the factor that the mayor had warned people to stay home, which may have accounted for the fact that the streets were empty.
The campus wasn't located near any neighborhoods or shopping centers, and the nearest grocery store was a good five-mile walk. Buses normally ran between campus and the more populated areas of town. While I didn't plan to walk all the way to a grocery store, it seemed like a good idea to check out the area around the campus and see what we were facing.
One side of campus faced a large park which ran along the river until it hit the business district; the homeless community had been between the park and the river. The second side of campus was mostly parking overlooking the river, leaving the other two directions as the only way to connect with civilization.
I chose the side in the opposite direction of the convenience store, closer to the downtown area where most of the buildings would be empty, but there were a few hotels and restaurants sprinkled throughout that I was hoping would be a good bet.
It was nice to be out and walking, but if I did find somewhere that had food, I would need to borrow a vehicle to bring stuff back to campus. Or if Abby and Jeff proved difficult, I could always escape and leave them to fend for themselves, which considering the fact they couldn’t even cook food meant they might not last very long on their own.
Since the beginning of this illness, I'd come to realize that I enjoyed being around people much more than I’d previous thought. Even though I wasn't attached to any one person, just the connection of seeing others and knowing they were around was comforting compared to this emptiness that seemed to surround the once busy town.
The streets and buildings had taken on the eerie emptiness that most people associated with an abandoned ghost town. Curious to see if I would have to break in, I tried a few doors along the way. I had learned something from Jeff and Abby after all. It appeared in their haste to leave and make it home to their families; many buildings had been left open or were unlocked. This was going to make scavenging and our survival a much easier task, but I was worried what I would find inside some of the buildings.
The first several blocks contained large buildings that housed government offices, lawyers, and banks. And while there might be some food hidden in a vending machine or two, they were not my primary targets. I remembered there were two hotels on the same block farther up the street, so I continued walking toward them while making sure there was no one else around me.
The sign for the hotel could be seen from campus, but that didn't do me much good from the ground level. What had seemed like only a few blocks away was in reality closer to ten or fifteen minutes, and even though I was in fairly good shape—softball season had just ended—the two weeks of hiding out had already weakened my stamina.
I kept hearing noises as birds were scared away by my approach, but the street was still void of normal human sounds. The revolving doors of the hotel finally appeared and I waited outside to see if there was any movement, but other than the doors, there appeared to be no signs of life.
Instead of using the large doors, I tried one on the side instead, and was relieved when it opened easily. The electricity appeared to be on, but someone had taken the time to actually close down and clean up before they left. All the chairs in the bar area had been turned upside down and left on the tops of the tables. The trash cans had been emptied, but what they had neglected to do was lock up all the liquor bottles. This was one place I would not tell Jeff and Abby about. I went a little farther into the kitchen area and found their food situation to be about the same as the school’s; most of the fresh items such as vegetables and dairy were going bad, but other items that had been kept in the freezer would stay fresh a little longer.
Out of habit, I pulled the phone from my pocket to check and see what time it was. It was only a little after noon. I made my way back to the check-in desk and moved the mouse around to see if the computer would still power up.
When I typed check-in and checkout into the search bar, a list showed that most of the rooms had been empty and cleaned on the date the mayor had declared the city under a quarantine. There were five rooms that had occupants that had not been checked out, and I was curious if they were still in them. Three of them were located on the third floor, two were on the top floor. I went behind the kitchen looking for the laundry room, which would be near the maid’s area. Sure enough, all the key cards and badges were located in the cabinets near the time clock. I took the badge keys and jumped on the service elevator, heading straight to the top floor.
Really, I had no need to see if there were still people in the rooms, but as they say, curiosity killed the cat, and I could definitely use some excitement.
The elevator dinged, alerting anyone who was listening that I had arrived on their floor. Instead of trying the two rooms that should have been occupied, I decided to test the key card on the room across the hall. I swiped it in the door and the little green light came on, so I pushed the button and door inward to an empty room.
Now it was time to see if there was anyone left in the two rooms on this floor.
I knocked, announcing my presence to anyone left inside. There was a shuffling noise in the room, as if something had been thrown against the door. Dreading what the sound meant, I knocked again, hoping that someone would answer. This time, a growl could be heard through the door as something continued to thump against it.
The computer had only mentioned one occupant, so I decided to take my chances and slid the card into the key slot. Whatever was on the other side of the door was extremely heavy, because it didn't open immediately. I shoved harder, and fingers appeared at eye level, gripping the door and no longer shoving against it. I pushed again, and th
e walking corpse almost became my dance partner, but I was able to move aside as it continued past me with its forward momentum.
I held up the bat and took a swing, connecting with this person's midsection, which didn't slow it down. Instead, it bounced off the wall and back in my direction. The person was almost 6’3 in comparison to my smaller 5’3 frame, so this time I swung the bat for his knees, knocking him to the ground. Now his head was almost even for my last swing.
Connecting the bat with his head, there was a crunch as the momentum forced his head to the side, causing the bones in his neck to break. Watching him fall, it seemed as if it were a slow-motion replay until he landed on his side with a sickening squish.
I leaned back against the wall and took a few breaths to steady myself. Then I stood up and walked around his body, noticing the obvious signs of illness, where his nose had started to bleed openly, causing his death. The tips of his hands were bloodied and scratched, as if he had tried to claw his way out of the room. The worst part was the smell that filled the hallway from his dead and decaying flesh. It would seem that he had been dead for most of the two weeks. He had probably already been sick when those in the hotel had closed up and left.
A thumping noise started in the other room I had come to check out, probably attracted to the sound of my knocking. I had no reason to open a second door, considering I was pretty sure I would find another sample of decaying flesh.
I’d seen enough horror movies to know that I would be the one everyone watching would be screaming at not do it. I wanted to live, so there was no reason to open that second door.
“What are those things in all the horror movies that always try to bite you?” I asked, bored of watching movies all day, but I hoped they knew what I was talking about.
“Vampires?” Abby supplied helpfully.
“No, vampires only try to bite you on the neck, and they are normally able to communicate with you in an intelligent manner. These are those other things, the ones that always try to eat people’s brains,” I tried to explain, but considering I always covered my eyes during the scary parts, I guess my brain had blocked out the rest of the movie’s plots as well.
“Do you mean zombies?” Jeff asked, his arms wrapped around Abby.
“Yes, those are the ones. These dead people look like infected zombie things.” I snapped my fingers, excited that I’d figured out what to call those things. “ZITs.”
“Oh, I hate those. Did it just pop up on your face?” Abby sympathized.
Sometime I wondered how this girl survived in the real world being this stupid.
“No, ZITs, those things should be called zombie infected things. ZITs. Not pimples.” I tried to let my frustration filter into my voice.
“Ugh, what is it with you and these ZIT things? Can’t you think about anything else for a change? We’re watching movies and chilling, when all you can do is name them,” Abby groaned.
I could see her point, but we needed to think of ways out of this situation instead of wasting our time.
“Look, we can only stay here in this little cocoon for a small amount of time. If there are other people out there, we should be trying to find them and work together.”
“We’re not going to help other people who might get us sick. Besides, this is just a scare to keep people inside while the government conducts weird experiments. Other people are just hiding out like us, so there’s no need to go out hunting them. Plus, if we share our supplies, they won’t last as long.” Jeff took another drag off his cigarette.
“My supplies.” I wanted to scream at him.
Why had I ever thought that coming back to these two was a good idea? Maybe because they would have seen me on campus and it was the safest place to hide.
“I guess I’ll go do some scouting then. Don’t go falling off the couch and hurt yourself.” Sarcasm was a weapon I’d learned to use in foster care.
These two idiots still hadn’t figured out that I had a stash of supplies that I wasn’t about to share with them. When I scouted, it was more about escaping the two before I killed them.
When I’d gone to the downtown area, I’d found a few radios that the hotel’s security team had used, and I’d been monitoring them for any activity.
I’d been hearing chatter from the military, but they weren’t close enough that I could make contact yet. What I hadn’t done was tell Jeff and Abby that we might have help coming.
Stacy
I’d been really worried before Angie finally called me after that first day. She had sounded so tired, which meant the problem wasn’t going away.
We had our breakfast, and Dillion was begging to go outside. Since we had a privacy fence, I couldn’t see the harm in letting him. I took my phone outside with me, just in case Angie had a chance to call back. We hadn’t gotten a phone call from her in over a week. She’d only had a minute here and there to text before they’d put her to work again.
We had been outside for about an hour, when there was a crash in the back alley. Remembering the incidents from the grocery store, I motioned for Dillion to go ahead and come inside.
Feeling nervous and a bit on edge, I led Dillion upstairs to the playroom where I turned on a video so that he could watch quietly, and I could keep an eye out from his window.
A pickup truck had ran into someone’s back fence a few houses up, and several neighbors had come out of their homes to try and help. I watched in horror as the driver began attacking those helping him after they opened his truck door. Within minutes, all four of the people who came to his aid were dead and had begun walking around aimlessly in the alley.
If this was any indication of how the virus was spreading, then our neighborhood was going to be overflowing with dead people.
The sound of a gun going off startled me, and I looked back out the window to see the truck driver laying on the ground. A second shot went off, and one of the other newly dead dropped to the ground as well. I looked at the surrounding houses to see where the gunshots were coming from, and discovered there was someone in the house across from me on the second floor, aiming for one of the other dead people.
I don’t think that I could have done that, but it was a relief to know that those zombie things weren’t going to be knocking on our back door anytime soon. Three more shots rang out, and then it was over.
“What are those noises, Stacy?” Dillion asked, coming over and trying to look out the window.
“Someone was just doing a little target practice. Nothing for you to worry about.” Thankfully, he was only seven and couldn’t tell when I was stretching the truth.
Angela finally called later that afternoon and was able to talk to Dillion for a few minutes, but she explained that we might not hear from her again for a week or two.
The next few days dragged on endlessly. Knowing that it was no longer safe to go outside, it became a lot more difficult to keep Dillion engaged in the house. We had played every type of card game and board game that Angie had in the closet. We’d even tried to play a few video games, but I just couldn’t get the hang of it.
There was only one thing left to do, so once I got Dillion settled for the night, I turned the monitor on so that I could hear if he woke up. I was unsure if the neighbor across the street was still watching over everything, or if they had abandoned their house. He seemed like the only person who might actually know what was going on, so I went out the back gate, closed it behind me, and walked down the block around the corner, trying to figure out which house it was.
“What are you looking for, miss?” The guy I’d seen in the window was sitting on the front porch in a chair, casually enjoying the evening.
“Actually, I was coming over here to find out who you were. Since I saw you take those people out, I was hoping you might know something about what’s going on out there in other parts of the city.” I walked up into his yard, and stopped just short of his porch steps.
“Well, I was injured a couple months ago and sent home to re
cuperate from the army. They’ve kept most of the information quiet, so there’s not much to go on at the moment.”
“Aren’t they helping? The news channels aren’t saying anything that’s news anymore. It’s just the same things over and over again.”
“Where are my manners? Would you like to come up and sit with me for a while? I’m Darren, by the way,” he offered.
“I wish I could, but I have Dillion asleep over at the house. I don’t want him to wake up and come looking for me,” I apologized, waving the monitor in my hand.
“Here, I’ll walk you back, but it’s safer if we go through the house than around the block.” Darren got up to lead the way through his house.
“So if you don’t mind me asking, what did you do in the army? You’re pretty good with that rifle. Sorry, my brother’s in the army as well, and would be completely embarrassed that I don’t know what type of gun that is.”
“Not anything fancy, really. All of my military issued guns are on base. They don’t normally let you take those home while you’re on medical leave.” Darren shut the door gently behind him.
“I’ve been Dillion’s nanny for over two years now, and I don’t remember seeing you over here. When did you move in?”
“I bought the house for my mom, but she passed away from cancer last year. I’ve tried to stay away as much as possible, and other than a weekend here and there, I’ve managed to accomplish that until they sent me home two months ago.”
We had reached my back gate, but I didn’t want to lose the only adult interaction I’d had in the past several days.
“Would you like to come in? Or we could sit on the back patio for a while.” I immediately regretted the offer. “I’m sorry, you probably have better things to do.”
“No, I’d really enjoy that. It’s been a while since a good-looking lady wanted to spend time with me.” He held the gate open and walked to join me on the patio.
“Stacy, what are you studying in school?”
Against Zombies Box Set, Vol. 1 | Books 1-4 Page 31