Living Dead 2.0

by Radovick, Ronda

  Did he know, when he bought this property that, they would need it to actually save their lives? She wished that he was there, now. Renee said, “Okay. Stop. Everyone, I think that Rosa has a point.” Aidan said, “Renee. We don't know what is out there, yet. We don't even know what is on the other side of the treeline. You saw the scene on the road. That was an ambush. People are looting and robbing people. After they kill them.” She replied, “I know, Aidan. And, you are right, too. We have to be careful. Right now, we should see what we have here. Then, we get some food in our bellies. Then, we sit down and plan.” He said, “Okay. Fair enough.” With that, they all spread out. Renee found the chicken coup. Marcus had planned for it all. She wished that he was there with them. Aidan was already walking towards the back of the school. As he walked a ways into the woods, he heard gunshots. Alot of them. Back at Will's place, he and his daughters were counting their ammunition, and boarding up windows. He said, “Stella, I want half of everything in the kitchen. I want the other half here. We need to figure out how keep a stockpile in different places on the property. We don't know who tried to bait me and Keith. Or, how many of them that there are. I want you to place them in some containers that, they would not think any ammo would be hidden in. And, when you go outside bring your guns, and some ammo with you. From now on, be careful at all times. Remember, those dead things are all over the place, too. I am going to get out to Ms. Clea's. From now on, we go through the back of the property. We do not take the roads. I am going to lock the gate to our road.” They heard a voice on the radio, “ Will..You there?” It was Keith. He picked up the radio and spoke into it. “ Yep. What is going on, Keith?” He blurted out, “Will. Those things are all over. They are getting closer to the house. I am going to try to get in the car and lure them away. What's it like at your place?” Will said, “Right now, it's the same. How many do you see?” The voice came back, “ Looks like there is at least fifty.” They could hear gun shots. The Girls stopped what they were doing, and inched closer to their father. Stella said, “Dad. We should go help them.” Scarlett said, “Tell them to come up here.” Stella blurted out, “And, when those things get here? Then what? We go there, and we fight.” She turned back to her father. “Dad. It will take us a few minutes to get there down through the grove.” He said, “Okay. Scarlett, stay here and keep the doors locked. If anything or anyone comes here, shoot em.

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  You don't go outside. You shoot anything that moves. We will in, and out through the back.” Stella and her father grabbed their things. They each took two guns. One pistol, and one rifle. Stella, frantically piled ammo into a duffel bag. They rushed out through the back door. Scarlett watched them rush through the back of the property in the truck. She looked around the empty house. She went to the kitchen. As she pulled out what she needed to make dinner, she wondered why all of this had happened. She thought about Joey, her boyfriend. He had been M.I.A. for weeks, now. She took her cell phone out. She sent Joey a text message, then watched the screen on the phone to see if he would respond. She knew that he would not respond. She placed the phone down on the counter. She started to make dinner. At Ms. Clea's place, Will and Stella could hear the gun fire as they drove up the dirt road that ran along the creek that joined both of their properties. They came up to the back of the farm house. They could see Rose and Keith shooting at, and fighting off the zombies. Keith stabbed one in the eye. Granny was shooting from her window. Rose was pinned up against the side of the house by a big zombie. He was leaning down over her. His bloody teeth snapped. His head lunged closer to her face while he tried to bite her. All of the sudden, he was yanked backyards. A man that Rose did not know, stabbed the zombie through his his throat in an upwards direction. There was other gun fire coming from behind the house. He yelled, “Who else is here? Hurry, you should get inside.” He turned, and shot another zombie. More were coming. Will and Stella, came around from the back. They were shooting zombies, too. Aidan threw one zombie to the ground. Another, attacked him and tried to bite him on the shoulder. He struggled with it, stabbing him in the eye. The zombie fell dead. Rose, Yelled, “Keith!” She ran to the front of the house, she couldn't see him. They all heard more shots. They ran around to where the barn was. Keith stood there. He just shot the last one. Keith asked, “Who is he?” Aidan said, “I heard shots. When I came through the trees, I saw her fighting one of those things. It looked like it had her.” He held his hands up into the air, defensively. Will said, “Where did you come from?” Aidan turned to him. The man had his gun trained on him. He said, “Whoa. I heard shots, and followed them.” Will said, “Where were you at, that put you close enough to hear shots, unless you were trespassing?”

  “Hey Man...I came up here to help your friend. I am staying with my friend, back there.” He pointed to Renee's place. Will said, “My place is behind here. The only other land that borders this one, is an abandoned orchard.” Aidan said, “Right! The orchard! Renee's orchard.” Rose said, “ Who is Renee?” Aidan said, “ Renee Gallo. Her husband bought that place at some kind of auction.” Will put his gun down. He didn't know if he should trust this man. He knew that the old orchard had been sold. But had never seen, or met the new owners. “Who is with you?” Aidan answered, “Her family. Listen. I heard gun shots, and came up here. On our way out here, we saw a scene that looked an awful lot like some people were ambushed. I didn't know what I would find, but I figured someone might be in trouble.”

  Now, Granny had come outside. She said, “We should all sit down, and talk about this. I heard a while back, that the old Thompson Orchard was auctioned off. I think he is telling the truth. I saw him coming across the field. He killed seven of those things on his way in, before he helped Rose. Thieves don't risk their lives for others. They let others risk their lives, then sneak in and take for themselves.” They all listened to Granny. Will said, “What were you doing walking around out there? The orchard is at least a mile away.” Keith still had not said anything. They all watched Aidan, and Will. Stella asked, “ What is your name?” Aidan said, “I'm Aidan. Aidan Sandoval. My group. Well, we are at Renee's place. Our neighborhood was over run with these things.”

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  He pointed to one of the dead zombies laying on the ground. They all looked down at the dead. Will asked, “What do you know about the road block on Jasper Road?” Aidan was confused. “Jasper Road?” The road block that we passed was on the highway. And, it worked against the people in the cars before us. Poor bastards.” They all exchanged a concerned look with each other. Will looked spooked. Will said, “You came from the west?” Aidan said, “ Yeah. Why?” Will looked down. Stella asked Aidan,“ What did you find, where the ambush was?” Rose was watching the expression on Will's face, while she listened to Aidan speak. “Several cars that looked like the people had been robbed. There were several missing people. I'm assuming that they were taken, or killed. And, if they were killed, they turned. Alot of blood. Some belongings thrown all over the ground.” Will rubbed his chin, now. He was in deep thought. Rose cut in, “Mr. Neely, what is wrong?” Will glanced over at her. “His ambush happened miles from where the attempted ambush that Keith and I almost had to deal with happened. If these are the same people doing this, either they are moving real fast, they have a lot of people, or we have more than one group in the area robbing and killing people.” They all exchanged a concerned look. Aidan said, “Okay. Listen. I need to get back to my group. I have to warn them. Will suggested, “Okay. I believe you. I saw your tags. I was just trying to be careful. Why don't you let Keith and I give you a ride? We can meet your friends. Maybe, put our heads together.” Aidan didn't know if he should trust these people. But, they were local. And, they didn't seem to be the real threat. And, he understood why they were weary of him. He said, “Okay. I will have to radio them to come and unlock the gates. And, I appreciate it.” Will turned to the others, “You all stay here. We'll give Aidan, here, a ride home. When we get back, we'll deal with this mess.�
�� He pointed to the dead zombies laying all over. One more straggler zombie staggered up to the group. Rose stabbed it in the eye. It fell to the ground. Everyone watched, as she killed it without thinking.

  Imogen stood in front of the stove. She was cooking cabbage and pork chops. She did not know why she was making extra for Kyle. She didn't like that he followed her, but didn't feel right not sharing what she had with him. Just in case, he was out there with no way to eat. She finished cooking, then started to set the table. As she started to sit down, she heard a tap on the back door. She went to the door, and peeked out. It was Kyle. She opened the door and let him in. He said, “So. Are you going to shoot me?” She gestured for him to continue into the house. She said, “Maybe, I over re-acted yesterday. I haven't been myself, lately.” He stepped further inside. He said, “I understand. I am just checking. Just to make sure you're okay.” She said, “I'm okay. Thanks. There is some lunch. I have extra.” She pointed to the stove. He looked at the food sitting on the stove. “Go ahead. Sit.” She took a plate from the cabinet, then served him some of the pork and cabbage that she had made. “I hope that you like fried cabbage and pork chops.” She placed the plate, fork, and knife onto the table. He said, “Thanks.” He sat down.

  She asked, “Want some lemonade?” He said, “Sure.” She poured his drink, then sat down and took a drink of her water. She watched him eat his food. He scarfed it down. He was starving. She said, “There is more, if you want it. Help yourself.” He said, “This is good. Thank you.” She said, “You are welcome.” She started to eat her food. With the exception of Kyle getting another plate, they ate in silence. She picked at her food, then pushed her plate away. She went back to her list. Kyle studied her for a minute. “Is that a list?” She said, “Yes. It is.” He said, “You didn't eat very much. You should eat. Soon, it will be hard to get a hot meal.” She stopped what she was doing, and looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

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  He said, “It's only a matter of time before the power and water goes off. After that happens, everyone who is left, will have to go outside to collect water and hunt for meat.” She said, “I know.” A look of sorrow came over her face. Kyle studied her, for a minute. Imogen, “I think that we should get out of here, today.” She stared at him. “I have some things that I need to do. You can leave if you like.” He said, “You will not survive alone. Things are not the same any more.” She said, “Look, Kyle....I don't know if this is some kind of guilt trip, or something. But, what ever it is, you don't owe me anything. I don't know what I am going to do, but I know that I have to be careful. I just need to be alone. You should go stay with your friends.” She re-focused on her list. He shook his head back and forth, in disgust. He stood up, and walked into the living room. She went to the cabinets and started to count everything. After a few minutes, she went to see what he was doing. He was standing by the window. He was watching something outside... She understood why he was on edge. She knew that he meant no harm to her, but she wanted to be alone. She needed to get things together to get to the cabin. Should she ask him to go to the cabin? If he wanted to hurt her, he would have already done it. She walked back to her list. She sat down, thinking about what she should do. She whispered to herself, “I am a Doctor. I need to be willing to help others.” She laid the pen back down onto the table. She went back into the living room. “Kyle.” He turned to look at her. She said, “I am leaving. My parents have a cabin in the country. If you promise to not go all Commando on me. You are welcome to go, too. But, we need some guide lines for each other. And, you have to promise not to tell your friends. I don't trust them. They are dangerous.” He listened to her speak. He said, “Thank you. And, they are not my friends. They will be coming through here, eventually. We need to go soon. There is not much more time.” She replied, “I am trying to figure out how get everything I need into the truck. And, I am terrified to go out there, too.” He said, “What do you need to bring? You should pack your food, clothes, medicine, and blankets. We may mot be safe for very long at your place in the country, either. May have to up and leave, with no notice.” She studied him for a few seconds, “ What do you mean?”

  He said, “Imogen, you have already seen what the guys that I was with were doing. Now, I want you to imagine a much larger group of people, just like them. And, don't forget the dead. If we get ambushed, we are going to have to run, right then and there.” She said, “So, if there is us, there are others like us. We find them. I can trade medical advice for, I don't know, whatever...” He said, “Well. I agree that there have to be some good people left. But, as people become more desperate, they will do things that, they never did before.” She said, “Well, we just do the best that we can do, then.” He said, “Okay.”

  They sat down and put together the list of things they had room to bring with them. He had a couple of duffel bags with him. Imogen said, “Well, I was thinking that, maybe we can make two trips. As long as we can get there with no problems.” Kyle said, “Nope. Too dangerous. And, we won't be able to come up with the fuel.” She said, “If we don' bring as much as we can with us, we won't have it.”

  Kyle replied, “I might have an answer for that. But, I am not sure yet. We have to get there first.”

  Imogen asked, “What do you have planned?” He said, “Well, You said your place is outside of Newtown. Right?” She said, “Well, twenty miles, or so. Why?” He said, “Well. I know of a complex and warehouse, not too far from there. It's got everything. But, I will have to do some scouting, once we get there. I have to figure out if there are any threats there, and how many. But, if I can get us in there. We will have access to a large supply of what we need.”

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  She thought about what he was saying. “Do you think you can get in there, without any problems?” He said, “I need to get there and look around, first.” They packed the truck, and left for the cabin. As they traveled through the neighborhood. They saw no one, for blocks. It looked like a ghost town. Imogen drove, while Kyle looked around for zombies. He said, “Whoa! Slow down.” She came to a rolling stop. “Why?” He reached into his duffel bag, and pulled out a pair of field glasses. Looking through them, he said, “Turn here.” He pointed to the left. She asked, “Why?” He put the binoculars in front of her eyes. She could not believe what she saw. The whole street ahead, was blocked by zombies. There were hundreds. There were so many of them that, it looked like the whole city had turned, and was coming their way. She gasped, and turned in a panic. She was spooked, and speeding. Kyle blurted out, “Imogen, slow down!” She stopped the truck in the middle of the street. He was turned her way. She was breathing heavy. She stared at the steering wheel. He said, “Hey. It's okay. Just breathe. We can't freeze up. Okay? Do you want me to drive for a while?” She exhaled. Then said, “No. I am sorry. I didn't think that, there could be so many of those things in one place.” She looked his way. She noticed how blue that his eyes were. He said, “Are you okay to drive? ” She forced herself, to turn back towards the road ahead of them. She started to drive, again. Continuing to stare forward. Now, with a hint of defiance in her voice, she said, “I want you to teach me everything that you know, about survival.” He instantly replied, “You bet.”

  Keith said, “If we are going to bring him to his place, we need to go, now.” Rose said, “We can hold things down here, until you two get back. Stella, you and I have a lot of catching up to do, anyway. I'll get us something to drink, and we can sit up on the porch for a while.” Stella smiled, “Sure do.”

  Will, Aidan, and Keith climbed up into Will's truck. Keith sat in the back seat. They arrived at the gate to the orchard a few minutes later. Aidan spoke into the radio. “Chloe.... Renee.. Anyone on the radio?” A minute later, a young male voice came on. It was Jose, “Aidan? Is that you? Man! Where are you? Everyone is worried about you. Your Tia is really worried, You better get back, soon.” Aidan said, “I'm by the gate. Could you tell Chloe to come down and let me in? Either her, or Ren
ee, should have the keys.” Jose said, “Sure, Dude.” They all stepped out of the truck, while they waited for someone to come and unlock the gate. Will asked, “How bad was it? Where you all left from?” A look of sadness mixed with fear came over Aidan's face. He looked down, and shook his head in disbelief. “It's bad. It's like, a combination between the mid-east, and a bad horror movie.” Keith said, “I told you.” Will looked around, “How long did you serve?” Aidan said, “ Eight years. I had just come home... A couple of weeks before all of this.” Will added, “We need a way to keep better watch of the tree lines. Or, we'll all get caught by surprise, again.” Keith said, “ Yeah. I have another Idea. But, I want to talk to Rose about it, first.” Aidan and Will turned to him. Will asked, “What is it?” Just then, they heard a vehicle coming towards them on the other side of the gate. They all turned towards the gate. The truck stopped, then a woman stepped outside of the vehicle. Aidan said, “There is the new owner of the place.” He walked towards the gate. The other two followed him. The woman unlocked and opened the gate. Aidan pointed to Will. “Renee, this is Will, and this is Keith.” Will said, “Hello.” Keith said, “Hi.” Renee said, “Hello.” She looked over at Aidan. “Aidan? Making new friends, are you?” He said, “They are your neighbors, Renee. They own the property on the other side of yours. Those things were attacking them.”

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  She looked concerned. “Did anyone get....” Will said, “No. Thanks to your boy, here. He came out of nowhere, and did a bunch of them in.” She said, “Well. Why don't you come up to the house, and have something to drink?” They both declined. Keith said, “We need to get back. Thank you, though. Maybe tomorrow, we could have a meet and greet. Talk about watches.” Will said, “Yes, we have a bit of a mess to deal with, now. I noticed the radio that Aidan was using. Maybe, we could all get on a certain channel and talk a little. Ill be using channel three. We could chat in the mornings. If you all want to talk about anything.” Renee and Aidan exchanged an approving look. Aidan said, “That is a good plan. I'll make sure one of ours is turned on 7:00 A.M. But, e need to agree that we DO NOT talk location. Others could be listening. “ Will agreed, “ Yes. That is right.” Aidan said, “Thank you for the ride. I appreciate it. We'll talk in the morning, then.” They al shook hands. Will and Keith went to Will's truck. As they got in, they waved to Aidan and Renee. They sat there for a moment, and watched Renee and Aidan close and lock the gate. Keith asked, “Do you trust them?” Will said, “I don't know yet. I think they are telling the truth. But, traumatized people can be unpredictable.” Keith asked, “Do you think that we should be weary of them?” Will said, “ Not, completely. But, we should be cautious.” Keith said, “Will. If he had not showed up, one of us could have been killed, today.” Will said, “I know. Why do you think that, I didn't shoot him?” Keith turned to him, in surprise, “Really? Would you have killed him?” Will, started the truck. As he pulled away, he answered, “ Maybe not. But, we need to be ready for dangerous people. We especially, have to be ready for the next attempted ambush.” Keith replied, “You are right. So, how?” Will asked, “What do you mean, by that?” Keith said, “We are a few people, Will. Rose and Granny now have Tyler and Tessa to care for. How do we get ready for a group of criminals?” Will replied, “I'm thinking on it.”