Living Dead 2.0

by Radovick, Ronda

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  We lock them up. If we have to run from the front, we turn around right over the sidewalk. If we need to get out and go the other way, we run right through the alley way. This was a medical office. There are beds here. We can use them, for now.” They moved the vehicles, and locked everything up. They went inside. As they entered the front part of the office, Mary saw a sign that read; URGENT CARE, PLEASE RING THE BELL FOR A TRIAGE PROFESSIONAL. She looked around, there was a waiting room to one side. She walked over to the seating area, and sat down. She felt exhausted. Jessie bent down in front of her, and looked up into her eyes. “Hey. We are going to be okay. I am going to look around and see if the store's here are cleared. If they are, we can go collect everything we need. We get a good nights sleep, and tomorrow head out to the country. There is bound to be an empty house outside of town that we can use for a while. This building is secure. If another large horde somes through here, we'll wait it out inside here.” Her eyes were all teared up. He kissed her on the forehead and stood up. He said, “Matt. Can you stay here, and keep watch? I am going to check out the area. Try to see if the rest of the area is safe. If it is, we can all go collect what we need and come back here for the night. We have half of the day, before dark. That's enough time to get some supplies, for now.” Matt said, “Yes.” Matt looked worried. Jessie tried to comfort his young friend. He said, “Matt. We will be okay. Try not to worry. Keep the door locked, until I get back.” Matt said, “Okay, Jess.”

  Jessie left, going to the grocery store, first. He knocked on the window. He heard snarling and growling. He turned around. He saw a lone zombie staggering towards him. He took his knife, and stabbed it in the eye. It fell to the ground. He stared at it, for a minute. He became so angry that, he lost control. He started to kick the zombie in the head. Then, he stomped on it's shoulder and face, repeatedly. He said, “Die! You son of a bitch!” He stopped, and looked down at it. It was just a mass of rotting- flesh, and bloody, bones. He looked around. He saw nothing. It looked like a ghost town. Trash blew around every time there was a gust of wind. He went back to the grocery store. He knocked on the window, again. He opened the door. It was unlocked. He walked inside. He tip-toed around the store. A snarling-she-zombie jumped out at him, from behind a counter. He grabbed her by the hair, stabbing her in the temple. She went limp. He studied her, for a moment. She had a bite on her arm. “She must have come in here to hide, and gotten surprised by one. Which means, there are more.” He crept along side a shelved wall, filled with various canned food. He came to the end of the wall, where the store front became an open area. He looked around. Everything was in place. It was completely untouched. He knew that there had to be at least one more zombie here. The woman had a bite on her arm. He moved around the store. He came to the stock room. He peeked inside. He saw it on the floor. He inched his way into the room, it looked up at him. It dropped the human arm that it was chewing on, to stand up and stumble towards him. It tried to grab him, with teeth snapping. Jessie grabbed it and stabbed it in the eye. It went down. He looked around the room. It had been turned into a makeshift bedroom. There was a partially eaten body laying on the floor. In the corner was another dead zombie with a knife, still sticking out of it's temple. It was a a female. There was blood all over the room. The woman must have been the last one bitten, before she ran out of the room to hide. Then, after the zombie infection set in, she died and turned. He thought about it, and had to shake off the goosebumps that came up on his arms. He went through the rest of the place, for two hours. It was clear, now. He went back to the office. He knocked on the door. Matt let him in. He and Mary were anticipating some good news. He said, “The grocery store is clear. There are a few dead ones in there. I killed them. But, we can get food and water. Then, I'll go to the department store, see if it's safe.

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  If it is, we can get some clean clothes, and blankets. Or, what ever else that we can find there that we can use. We need to get going.” They all went to the grocery store. They crept through the store. Each one filled a bag with some canned food and snacks. Jessie took a cart and filled it with gallons of drinking water. He said, “There is a bathroom in the office. We can wash up with some of this. We need to save most of the water in the RV, so that if we have it if we need to leave in a hurry, again. We'll load up on more supplies, before we go.”They carried their food and water back to the office. Jessie and Matt each, pushed two carts down the side walk. Once they placed everything inside the office, they headed across the street, to the empty department store. Jessie said, “Let me go in, first.” He knocked on the window. Nothing came at it. He put his hands around his eyes, then peeked through the glass. He said, “It looks empty.” He tried to open the door. It was locked. He said, “Matt, stay here with Mary.” He walked to the back of the store. There was a chain link fence. It was locked with a thick chain and lock. He looked around. He jumped up onto the fence and climbed over. Once inside, he walked over to some loading docks. There were a couple of trucks there. He walked up the ramp leading to the doors. He made it to the door, and tried to open it. It was also locked up. He noticed that one of the smaller trucks was backed up to a dock. The dock door was open. He bolted for it. He climbed onto the ledge, then squeezed through the opening between the truck and dock door. He looked around. He walked through the storage area, until he found some doors. Once inside the store, he looked around for zombies. It was all clear. He found the managers office. He rifled through a desk. No keys. He went to the home improvement isle. He took a crow bar and headed for the doors. He took the crow bar and pried open the doors. It was a struggle, but he did it without breaking the glass. He opened the doors for Matt and Mary to come in. He said, “It looks clear. But, we still need to be careful. We stay within sight of each other. Get anything that you see that we need. Flash lights, camping stuff, clothes, blankets. Stuff that we need. If either of you see anything for self defense let me know. Take a cart, we have about, an hour of sun light left.” They carefully went through the store, taking the things that they needed. Once finished, the pushed their carts across the street. At one point, the dead came rushing up to them. Jessie left his cart, and tabbed the first in the eye. The second, he tripped, then stabbed in the temple. The third, he struggled with, then stabbed up through the throat. He went back to his cart. “ Come on. Tomorrow, we stock the RV.” After going back inside the office, then locking up, they washed up. They ate canned food that Mary heated on the camping stove. Jessie took a can of spray paint and painted the glass doors black. This would give them cover, if they used any candles or flash lights when it was dark. There were rooms in the back, with hospital beds in them. This office that they found had been an urgent care facility. They were all tired, and scared. Jessie said, “You both, go grab a bed in the back. I am going to stay up a while. We get up in the morning and look around, some more. We are going to stock the RV with blankets, medicine, canned food and water, too. I will try to get to the top of that four story building down the block. I'll see what I can see from there. If it all looks good, we can stay here for a while. If I see any of those things coming, then we leave out.” Matt said, “Do you think that we are safe now?” Jessie said, “We are locked in tight. Keep the windows covered and the noise down. I want to sit for a minute. Have to think about what to do next. We can stay here for awhile. Unless, those things come in numbers. We have a long day ahead tomorrow, go get some rest.” Matt hesitated. He looked like he felt guilty about something. Jessie asked, “What is it, Kid?” Matt replied, “When we were trying to get out of the house, I went in my room and took my picture of my family.” Jessie said, “ That was smart .That is the most important thing that you have. That picture.”

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  Matt pulled a picture out of his pocket. He said, “I saw this on the table. When I first grabbed it, I was so scared. I was trying to get out so fast that, I...I dropped it, and broke your frame.” Matt handed Jessie a picture of him and Mary. He took it out of
Matt's hand. Jessie stared at the picture. He wanted to hug Matt. But, did not want to freak him out. “Thank you, Kid. Mary will like this.” Matt looked confused. Jessie asked, “What is it?” Matt answered,” You aren't mad? I broke your frame.” Jssie smiled, “ Kid. It's what's in the frame that's important. You saw that. If not for your quick thinking, we would not have this picture. No, I am not mad.” Matt smiled, “ Thanks Jess.” Jessie put his arm around Matt's shoulders, and gave him a brotherly half-hug. They both heard Mary's voice, from across the room. “You're not mad about what?” Jessie held up the picture. “Matt here, saved our picture. Thought we'd be mad, because the frame was cracked in the escape process.” She walked over to where they were standing. She took the picture, and looked at it. She started to cry. She grabbed Matt, and hugged him. “Thank you, Matt.” He said, “It's okay, Mary. I thought that you would want to bring it with. Sorry about the frame.” She smiled, then said, “It's okay. Thank you, for bringing this. Thank you.” She continued, “We should all get some rest. Matt shook his head, in agreement. I'll take the second room. He pointed to the second visible doorway. Then, turned and walked to the doorway. When he made it to the door, he turned back to them, saying, “Good-night.” Mary and Jessie both said, “Good-night, Matt.” As soon as he closed the door, Mary turned to Jessie. “She looked into his eyes. She waited for him to say something. She could not hold it back, anymore. Her eyes teared up. He hugged her. “What are we going to do?” She cried into his chest. He said, “If it stays quiet here, we can stay for awhile. Until, I can look for a better place. If we think it's getting to dangerous to stay, we are going to load up on supplies, and get out of here. We find a place on high ground. We go from there. There has to be empty houses, or some kind of buildings out there. Look at this place. It's a Doctors office. But, it is secure. We have to keep the noise down. Especially, at night.” She wiped her eyes. “I don't think that we can make it.” He said, “Don't talk like that. We are going to make it. I promise.” She argued, “No.” She shook her head back and forth. “We won't. Everyone is gone! We don't even know what happened. We are just... here. And, poor Matt. He lost his whole family.” She started to cry, again. He tried to comfort her, again. “Babe, we will make it. We have to find a place to stay that is out of sight. Then, we build from there. I am going to look around, in the morning. Going to see if I can find us some radios, and some supplies. It may be safer to stay here, for now. When the time is right, we go.Okay?” She asked, “Where? Where can we find a place? Don't you think that others are already in what ever safe places are left?” He said, “There are not many people left, period. I have been thinking about a place out in the country, on high ground. But, I don't know if it is safe, yet. We will find a place. We will.” He took her face in his hands, “You go get some sleep. We have to scout tomorrow. And, we need to have our heads straight to do it.” She said, “Don't stay here all night.” He said, “I won't. I am just trying to get an idea of what it is like at night, here. You go to bed.” He kissed her on the forehead. She kissed him. “I love you.” He said, “I love you back. Now, go on.” She smiled and went to the room across the hall from Matt's room. She closed the door. Jessie stood there, in front of the window. He stared at a tall, four-story building down the block. He had decided that tomorrow, he would get to the top of that building. But, first he needed to find them some radios. They had left theirs behind at Ray and Amy's house. Tomorrow, he would map out the area, find more supplies, and plan when to leave, and where to go. He watched the street view from between the blinds. There was an occasional zombie here and there, but otherwise, the place was empty.

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  Rachel sat in her window, holding the gun in her hand. “Mommy, are the monsters back?” She half-turned, “No. Baby. Are you hungry?” Rachel and Emma had been held up in her farmhouse, for months now. She started seeing one or two zombies stagger up on the property, every couple of days. She boarded up the lower windows, except for, a slot to see and shoot through. She left the bay window uncovered. It was positioned high above outer ground, and gave her a multi-view of the front part of the land. She was fortunate that, Jake had fenced in sections of the property before he disappeared. Especially, her garden. He did it to keep the deer out. She had a system. She would take them out with an axe or knife, if there was one or two. She mostly used Jake's long dagger. She soon realized that, the dagger had just enough length for her to stab the dead, while keeping their snapping teeth from biting her. Emma said, “Yes, Mommy.” In the beginning, Emma was so traumatized by the dead that, she didn't come out of the house for weeks. After she saw how her mother took them out, she felt more at ease. Rachel knew that they would eventually run out of things. They were already out of some things. She often pondered, how she would venture out for needed supplies? She could not take Emma away from the house. It would be too dangerous for her. Rachel sat there, looking and waiting. She had been out in the garden, earlier. She saw it moving around in the field. She was waiting for it to get close enough, so that, she could kill it and drag it to where she burned them. She stood up, then walked into the kitchen. “French fries, today?” Emma said, “Yay! Will you make me some caramel apples, later?” Rachel bent down, and kissed Emma on the forehead, “Yes I will, Sugar. Now, you go play in your room until your lunch is ready.” Emma turned, and hurried into her bedroom. Rachel peeked out through the slats. She had a couple of months worth of canned food. She had to keep the dead away from the chickens and the other animals. It was getting harder. She thought about slaughtering a few more chickens. If she could prepare, and can a certain amount every week, they would be okay, for a while. She was thinking of going to old Mr Swartz' farm and attempting to bring a cow back to slaughter. That would give her and Emma meat for a year. She had never slaughtered a cow by herself. And she could not leave Emma. She wiped the idea from her mind. She finished making Emma's favorite, french fries and cucumbers. The little girl sat at the dining room table, and ate her lunch. Rachel knew that they would be okay, as long as those things stayed away. She could only kill one or two at a time. The garden area was fenced in. For now, that food supply was safe. She had to figure out a way to get enough meat for the winter and can it. She could not get the Swartz farm animals out of her head. She knew that Mr. Swartz was gone. He had turned, then come up on her one day, while she was tending the garden. She was grateful that she was on high ground. She watched her daughter eat. She was so innocent. There was no way that she would survive one of the dead getting it's boney decrepit hands on her little body. Rachel knew that, she had to protect her daughter. She planned to start getting ready for winter. She had to find a way to close off the property. She had to go out and find meat for the winter. But how? Emma said, “All done, Momma.” Emma held her plate up for her mother to see. “Oh. You did good, Sugar. It looks like you get some caramel apples tonight.” She stood up and took the plate. She went to the sink and washed it. She thought that she heard gun shots. She said, “Emma, Honey. Go on in your room and get you coloring book and crayons. Okay?” Little Emma stood up. “Okay Momma.” She went to her room. Rachel rushed to the window. There was a woman being chased by a mob of zombies at the end of her driveway. She said, “Honey. Stay in your room.” She grabbed the dagger, a hand gun, and a rifle. As she exited the house, to the yard, she saw the woman's struggle move to the field, to the front of her property. They were now, closer to the highway.

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  Matt watched Jessie walk down the street from the window. As Jessie came to the end of a building, a zombie came at him, growling and grabbing. He grabbed it by the shoulder, stabbed it through it's throat, and upwards in to it's brain. It fell dead. He kept walking. He was scanning the street as he came closer to the four story building. Suddenly, he saw it. A sporting good store. He also saw a group of zombies standing in front of it. He stopped. He rushed between two buildings. He looked up and down the gangway to make sure that no dead were sneaking up behind him. He peeked around the corn
er and counted the dead. There were fourteen of them. He thought about it. “If I keep moving around, I can take one or two out at a time.” He drew in a deep breath, and exhaled. “Okay. Do this Jessie.” He walked out from the corner of the building. He pulled out his knife. He was ready to take them all on. He took the first three out, easily. He turned, and saw more coming. When they came closer, he jumped from side to side. The nearest zombie snarled and growled at him, as it followed him each time he changed direction. It's bloodshot eyes followed him, as he moved from side to side. It grabbed for him and he swung around, stabbing it in the temple. He pulled the knife out of the dead zombies' temple, just in time to grab another, and throw him to the ground. Another, came for him. He struggled with it for a few seconds, then stabbed it in the eye. He turned, the others were starting to circle him. He pulled out his hatchet and swung it, landing it in the temple of one. He kicked one down, then stabbed another one in the eye. They fell in a pile. After a few more, he had two more to go. He was getting ready to swing. Suddenly, he tripped over a leg of one that lay in the pile of dead zombies. He went down. Both bloody zombies came for him. They piled on top of him snapping their teeth.One came within an inch of biting his nose. It was fighting him. He pushed back on the bloody, stiff, snarling zombies. They both had the scent of a sewer. He struggled to push them both back far enough to keep the closest one from eating his face. His arm was caught under one of them. He could not pull it up. He had the knife in his hand. He tried to push himself sideways with one leg, to loosen their weight on his arm. They both growled at him. The zombie on top, tried to reach for him around the body of the bottom zombie. Jessie focused on the leathery, face, and his dead eyes, as the zombie stared at him. The creepy zombie-man growled, and snapped his teeth. Suddenly, he heard a gunshot. The zombie on top, went limp. Then, another shot. The bottom zombie also went limp. Jessie looked up, then saw Matt, and Mary standing over him. They both were aiming. Mary ran to him. Frantically, she asked, “Jessie! Were you bit?” He lay back, gasping for air. He pushed them off of him. Matt turned around, and bent over. He started gagging, then vomited onto the ground. Jessie pushed the dead bodies off of him, then sat up. He rolled to his side, and jumped to his feet. “I told you two, to stay inside.” Mary said, “We were trying to help you! They were going to kill you! You should not be here alone,” Jessie ordered, “Mary. Go back inside.” He turned to Matt, who was trying to overcome the disgust that he felt. He continued, “Matt. You go with Mary back to the Doctors office. Don't come back out, until I am done.” Matt said, “You were supposed to come back, if the dead ones were out here. What are you doing?” Jessie pointed to the Sporting good store. “There might be supplies in there that we can use. That is, what I am doing.” They both turned, and looked up at the sign that ran across the top of the Sporting goods store. “Now.... Will you guys go back, and get inside. Just watch for me. Just in case, I have to run away from a mob of flesh eating zombies. Please?” They exchanged a look. Mary said, “No. We will come with you. It will be easier to gather extra supplies, and carry it back.” He looked around. “Okay. But, any sign of trouble, we all run back.”