Knight of the Dead (Book 4): Realm

by Smorynski, Ron

  Duanne felt a calming peace suddenly lift off the heated rage that was trying to take him over. He felt a strange cooling. He looked through his darkened visor at Ronan's tilted helm, knowing that the man was trying to reconcile what happened and why.

  Duanne spoke, "We may have left too soon."

  Dad looked up, an escape from guilt suddenly surged, giving him someone else to blame, someone else to be angry at. It was their fault, not his. He wavered in the thought, then growled. He growled not at Duanne, but at the evil that surged within, wanting him to feel dominant and righteous.

  He shook out of it and patted Duanne, feeling peace trying to return. And it did. He felt it wash over him, cooling him and calming him.

  "It's okay man. We both, whatever, damn."

  "All plans go to shit once you implement them," Duanne sighed.

  Dad chuckled calmly.

  "I didn't hear your bike man?" Duanne asked.

  Dad shook out of it. “Got crushed by a large one. I’ll tell you more about it later. I guess Sean still hasn’t been rescued?”

  “No,” Duanne responded. "At least not by us."

  "Oh yeah, oh, okay... we got this."

  They drove down La Brea past meandering weak rotting zombies. The mini-van slowly and quietly moved along. They got close and saw atop the rooftop a sign waving. It read, "Road Clear But No One?"

  Duanne told Ronan who nodded.

  "Hope they see us now," Dad said.

  "The sign just went down. They must be writing an update," Duanne said, looking up through his passenger window as Dad continued driving slowly down to the Target shopping center.

  "It says, 'See Van Coming'," Duanne said. "That's us. They see us now."

  Dad nodded as they got closer.

  42. Diary

  It was wonderful to see Sean again, up close. To hug that guy! And kind of funny. He, the Asian guy, brought out an Asian family. Duanne and I had a funny look, even in our helmets! Hah.

  Sean looked coy. He was like... uh they're Filipino. Oh okay. Hah.

  But a family nonetheless, another saved. We drove back with them in the electric van with a bunch of rice and a rice cooker. Okay, okay. It was a joy, something unusual in this new world. I'm writing now, in peace, with my family, with my wife. My Lena, she's getting married soon. Hah. It's kind of hard though. Every joyous thing I think about, with my Lena, my little Lena, now becoming her own, every joyous thing, is still gut wrenching, heart breaking in this new world order.

  I did not want this world for her, for them. For them to have this nightmare of a world was crushing. My God, please bring peace back. I think she's okay, I think. She has Marcus. They are brave together. But for how long in this world of horrible zombies? How long?

  But for how long do any of us have? Was that ever known in the past life? Did I ever know how long I would have with my wife? My joyous wife? I did not. We just expected it to be... a lifetime.

  Still, my Lena is getting married.

  And my Charlotte is stronger and well, soldiery. Her psyche is that way now. I always knew somehow that she was some little super hero. I guess watching all those old Batman cartoons and her wanting to be Wonder Woman when she was three had something to do with it. Instead of Barbies, she had bullet proof bracers and a magical rope. But more than that, she had a grit to her, a face of determination when we play acted. It was the cutest little face of grit.

  And I let her. And now, she is that super woman...

  Funny thing happened. Charlotte raised the yellow flag, the warning flag, the awareness flag, that zombies were near enough to cause an alarm. It wasn't the red flag, which is an all out attack. It was the, hey everyone be quiet, let's go check it out flag. And with a cutout made by the kids, Jake raised the "N", which meant northside.

  So there was a zombie or something on the northside. Then Jake raised a cut out "G". Okay, that meant there was a ghoul, a smart one.

  Charlotte had her scope on it. She spotted it and was looking for a clear shot. She wanted to hit in in the head, one shot, one kill. She could tell it was a ghoul, because it was aware of her. It ducked. She and Jake freaked about it.

  The other kids were playing. Julio ran down to them to let them know. They all came up. Each took a side of the building, looking to see if anything was happening. Sofia, Carl, Maggy and some of the new kids. They knew their job. The whole area was clear of zombies, at least the dumb ones.

  We had many talks about the zombies. I told them that they were getting smarter, demonic, mutating, evolving, whatever. Micro evolving of course. Still zombie kinds. Whatever! We all snickered at our beliefs and disbeliefs. In hindsight, I'm writing about this scary moment. In hindsight! Cuz it's funny. And we gotta take as much fun and joy as we can in this Hell.

  So they all know that there are smart ones, ghouls and maybe some big ole Mutant ones. Anyway, she had a bead on it, ready to kill it, but it was too smart. It was all dark and rotted with blackened blood and dirt. It scrambled closer and closer, then it waved some cloth. But Charlotte and Jake ignored that.

  I was down working with Nick on the bikes and mini-van. We were figuring out a way to charge it. Well, Nick and Ray were. I was just chilling. Duanne and I, we were just tired. We had done some morning training.

  Juanita came to us to tell us there was a yellow flag, N, and G.

  N? Oh yeah, northside. What's G, oh yeah... ghoul.

  Sean was showing the Philipino family around. Thankfully, they were anxious to help out. They were just full of smiles. I was kind of hoping it was infectious and would affect the downtrodden other survivors. It seemed to.

  Stu was anxious to get the newcomers up and running, trained. I was glad. But I think what he was really anxious for was a wife. That's okay. Children are the future.

  Cory and Lisa went out, fully armored. They were on duty as it were. Tom was out there. He was always on duty. He was on the southside though. He got on his trusty quiet bicycle and rode over.

  I just didn't feel like being bothered. I was like - they can handle it.

  The perimeter around the fortress had been clear for days. Maybe a week? The cars and dumpsters blocking it off worked. And Tom had plenty of potential smokers ready. He kept an eye on it all, like he was, I dunno, some hermit or monk or something. I can't figure out his peace or what. And, I didn't want to ask, cuz it's working.

  My wife came in wondering why I wasn't suiting up. Oh, I said, they can handle it. She gave me that look. Man. Funny in hindsight.

  In the classroom, which we turned into a garage of sorts, the van was parked right outside as we were getting it charged up. At least Ray and Nick were. They were also preparing me a new bike, at least something until I could get another bad ass Harley warhorse. I gotta get another one of those. And I have not forgotten about that Harley shop a few blocks down on Santa Monica. Steve mentioned going there before. Ooh, I hope he doesn't get there before I do. Now that made me anxious. I wonder how he is doing? I'll have to go by sometime and check on him. Gives me chills thinking about it.

  Well, Nick was adding scabbards to the bikes. Maybe he should put some blades sticking out of the wheels like those old gladiator chariots. Hah.

  But back to that ghoul. Man. You have to take your joys while you can. Should I ruin it now? The cloth waving ghoul rushed to hiding spots as it crept closer, as Jake and Charlotte gritted their teeth trying to get a shot. Finally, Jake shot and missed. Charlotte looked at him annoyed. Jake couldn't help but crack us up at his description of her 'look'.

  The ghoul stood up and waved its dirty rag frantically. That's when Charlotte knew. She knew it was Howie. She kicked Jake from firing again. "It's Howie!"

  "Howie? They got Howie? He's a ghoul!" Jake cried. "Figures he's a ghoul."

  "No stupid, its Howie... Howie! Howie!" Charlotte huffed. "He's made it back."

  Turns out, Howie took The Horde on the same path I told them about on my epic chase on the school bus, where I crashed into that giant pit. Howie
took them that way, drove the Hummer right over. It flipped and careened over the rebar and splatted onto that giant rotting burnt pile of zombies. The Horde then added more zombies to their dead, crushed, rotting, burned brethren.

  Howie drove through the sludge, crashing and sliding and finally rolling over and over till he got to the bottom. He got so covered in zombie rot they couldn't tell he was human. He joked or maybe he was serious. We all just laughed, especially when he said he couldn't tell if he was human or zombie either. He just rambled through the dark, knowing what I did. He just kept going. And finally, he made it out of the tunnel at Hollywood and Highland. From there, he walked right through the massive horde that I left there. They didn’t recognize him as still human. We couldn't stop snickering and laughing. Is there hope now? Are we figuring it out?

  Wow.

  It was so great to have him back. He was so frail, stinky, and shaking. Katrina took care of him. It appeared Katrina likes older men, not too old, just older and brave.

  She said, "Thank you Howie."

  "What?"

  "Ronan isn't the only one to beat the big Horde," she said.

  "Oh, oh yeah," Howie realized. She then kissed his dirty face.

  We all stared at his wide eyes. Duanne stared a long time.

  Oh, Randall. Hah, I forgot to mention his return. Probably because it was easy for him, now that he had done it a few times. He just coasted back on his motorcycle, slipped right on in our area with no zombies alerted.

  Things are looking up. I hope. I hope to God, pray to God, am grateful to God. Please God, give us peace and life and civilization again. Please give us America again.

  Randall and Beth told us, they think she is pregnant. It was joyous news, a bit emotional, but joyous nonetheless.

  Having my wife, having Amanda around, and even having Eva there was good. I felt they were some sort of backbone to all of this. I envisioned them being there as Beth gave birth. They were there to bring life back to us, to nurture and care for us. I needed that. In all my fighting and fury, I needed them. My wife completed me. Amanda and Eva and yes, even Cherry and Melany were all needed.

  I noticed my wife, Cherry, and Melany, were sort of the whitey richy Hollywood types. I dunno. They didn't flaunt it as such, but in the armor room, they sat together and chatted as they worked. And I always saw Amanda, the Hispanic woman, in her corner working on weapons, looking at me a little annoyed. She was with Amador's wife. What is her name? Maria! Yes, Amanda trying to chat with her in Spanish and broken English.

  And me, catching my wife's eye and glancing toward Amanda. And my wife knowing I would have this goofy talk with her about cliques, even now. Yes... it's funny. And I'm glad it exists. I'm glad we are all different, and can be different, even in this hellish world. And it is annoying, silly, and what makes us different.

  But by God, hope was returning. And we had new survivors. I still haven't taken stock of them. There was the older ones, with Robert and Ellie, farming in all the different places. At first I didn't think they were much help. Robert got them to sweep or pull weeds. Anything. But then I realized, that was exactly the help we, I needed. To see the old ladies giggle and sweep, then gulp as I came by, then me smile and joke with them. What a wonderful way to start the day. And a clean walkway too. I love those old frail busy body ladies.

  Benjamin would be alone soon. Ruth did not look like she would last long in this world. She was bedridden. Benjamin spent a lot of time with her. The women visited regularly. He still charged phones but became less focused on the radio. That was okay. I felt it was time for her to pass, and perhaps him. At least they were in peace, even though they knew all of their family were gone. They were sure of it.

  I prayed for them as best as I could. I prayed most definitely that as Jews, God would continue to take care of them. I wasn't sure of it all. Were Jews who did not accept Christ condemned? I suppose. But something in there, in Romans 11, gave me this hope, that being God's chosen, Israel, suffering and the focus of so much hate, conspiracies, wars, holocausts, even so, foretold in the Bible, that it meant something. But God's ways are his, and his alone.

  And I knew that Benjamin loved God.

  I see a future now. A chance. Here. We have a perimeter. We have capable warriors. We know their ways and how they react. The demons that is, unleashed. They seem to still be mutating. I know we must prepare for them. We must build up our defenses. Ray has a lot of plans. Nick and he are excited about what they can do.

  I still have to rescue others. And now, with Randall and Sean back, we can do it. Duanne is a badass. Cory and Marcus, Stu, Tom, are all quite capable. Amador is as well.

  There's also a few more capable ones from the new rescues. They just need to keep training and regaining strength. And they are.

  Lena, Lisa, with Marcus and Stu are working on them. Cory is there too. He's anxious to go out. I'm a little concerned about his 'anxious' warrior attitude.

  I do not know what's coming up. I know we have this realm, this fortress in this area. We are slowly expanding out, and have some roads now too. I could probably open it up to get to Steve, see how he's doing.

  I have no idea if Steve survived, if he is building a community there. Could his belief system work in this hell hole? Whatever that belief system is? Not that I know if even a Christian belief system could work in a zombie hellhole, but, it's working so far.

  One day, I will have to see for myself. About Steve...

  And then there are the other communities we saw in the hills. We should try to connect with them too. That way there are more areas for survivors to thrive and not battle for the limited resources in each area. I just want to get the armor that Duanne, Ray and Howie mentioned and some Harleys before we go connect with anyone. We'll see.

  But for now, my future is here, with my wife, my Lena, my Charlotte. With Lisa and Cory, with Duanne and Howie. With Katrina and her little Sophia. With the family of Randall, Beth, their unborn child, and Carl and Maggy. With little brave Amy. With running around Julio and Juanita. With Amador and his wife, what's her name? Maria! With Melany, Ray & Cherry. With Nick & Tom.

  Oh yeah, with my future son-in-law, Marcus. He'll be a warrior, a stout warrior.

  I... I..., I can't get too prideful, too arrogant. This world isn't open to assurances. I can't let this sudden joy in what we are doing make me forget that death lurks everywhere, that evil lurks to take anyone of these away from us. Horribly. Nightmarish.

  I can't forget that. I must keep my armor ready. I must keep my armor strong and fixed and my swords sharp. I must keep my strength and health. I must keep my mind focused and my heart strong. I must know that whatever happens, that I must continue to fight. I must be ready and able.

  And I must pray to God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

  43.

  The goathead stood watching from a distance. It saw the rooftop and the girl with her rifle. It saw the man there. It saw the dumpsters and cars blocking the path before it. It stood still and watched in its dark silhouette. It stood amidst debris and piled cars. It was tall in a tattered robe. It had some sort of goat head, like a skull, dried and atrophied, like some zombie goat beast.

  It stood looking from a far distance through palm trees, piled cars along Sunset, and silent buildings.

  The girl aimed her rifle toward it, sensing something.

  But it was gone.