We pulled up to the small dinner and noticed the decayed were still wondering around. I pulled out my handgun and looked over at Ricky. “Let’s clean this place up.” I said. Ricky nodded and we jumped down from the truck. A female decayed staggered over to me and swung her arms violently. I aimed my gun and shot her in the head. She fell to the ground and I fired another shot between her eyes.
...We will keep on the back roads and keep the hunt going...
I shook my head and heard the voice over my truck radio call out. Ricky shot a decayed in the face and ran over to me. “Was that the radio?” He asked. I climbed in the truck and turned up the volume. “Ricky finish off the other decayed, I’ll listen.” I said.
…Well, I still find it funny; we are going to upload the new virus before we loose satellite capability…. Those damn zombies will be a challenge then… (Laughter)…. Give us a few minutes and it will be done…
I grabbed the receiver. “Who the hell is this? You are the one responsible for this mess… You son of a bitch!” I yelled. I heard Ricky fire a shot at the other decayed and he got back in and sat in his seat. I motioned for him to be silent and we waited.
… (Laughter)…Well hello stranger, are you having fun with this zombie mess? We are. Just wait and see what happens next… (Static)…
“Hey! Stop doing this shit, people are in danger! Hello?” I yelled into the receiver. “Damn!” I threw the receiver down and shook my head. Ricky put his hand on my shoulder. “Let’s just focus man; the kids will need water soon.” He said calmly. I sat there for a moment and stared down at the receiver. He was right; nothing good comes from anger. I shut my door and started the truck. We drove around town and looked for the decayed. We would roll down our windows and shot them down. We spent an hour killing off any decayed we spotted and the streets were eventually cleared.
I pulled up to the gas station and tried using the pumps; it would not pump. “Damn! The electricity is all dead and this thing won’t work.” I said in frustration. Ricky walked over to a few manhole covers near the pump and knelt down. I ran over to him and noticed he had opened the diesel cover. I ran up to the store and slowly walked in. I looked around and could not find any hoses. I grabbed some food and cigarettes and filled a few bags. I ran back outside and loaded the bags in the truck. I walked back to Ricky and shook my head. “I couldn’t find any hoses in there; we may need to check in another store.” I said. I looked over at the air pump and noticed the hose tied to its side. “Bingo!” I laughed. Ricky gave me an odd look and I ran over to the air tank and pulled my hunting knife from its holder. I un-wrapped the hose and cut off each end. I ran over, handed Ricky an end, and dropped it onto the ground.
I started the truck and pulled up closer to Ricky and the hose. I turned off the truck and jumped back out. I opened the fuel tank and Ricky gave me a thumb up. I put the hose in my mouth and tried getting the gas to come up. A tried a few times and had no success. I dropped the hose and shook my head. “We need to find a hand pump.” I said. He walked over to the truck and looked at me. “I noticed a hardware store down the street.” He said. We drove off and headed to the shop. I pulled up and took the keys out.
…Boom… Virus loaded… I just wanted to say to my friends out there; have fun….
I shook my head and grabbed the receiver. “You son of a bitch, we will find you!” I yelled. I dropped it back down and Ricky and I walked up to the store window and peered in. We noticed movement in the back of the store and I motioned for Ricky to open the door. I pointed my gun at the back of the store and Ricky swung the door open. I walked up cautiously and my hand started slightly shaking; I hated not seeing who was back there. “Hello.” I called out. Ricky walked up and pointed his gun too.
After a few seconds, a man slowly walked out with his hands in the air; he must have noticed the gun pointing at him and was smart enough to use caution. “Don’t shoot! I am alive!” He said. I kept my gun pointed and watched him come out the shadows and stop a few feet in front of us. “My family and I don’t have anything, please don’t hurt us!” He cried.
I noticed he was thin and rather pale. His messy blonde hair looked like a rats nest and he had an unpleasant odor coming from him. I kept the gun on pointed at him and put my right hand out. “Shh, I’m not going to hurt you.” I said calmly. He wiped a few tears from his eyes and looked at me with his pale eyes. “Please help us; we have been eating nothing but old crumbs in this damn place.” He said sadly. I put my gun back into my vest and Ricky did the same. “How many do you have?” Ricky asked.
The man motioned for us to follow and he walked to the back of the store. Ricky and I followed and I reached up and held the handle of my gun; just in case it was a trap. I walked into an old office and noticed a thin woman covered in dirt holding a baby in her arms. Her eyes looked tired and tear covered. I put my arms out and slowly walked up to her. “It’s okay, we have food and shelter.” I said reassuringly.
I heard the baby start crying and she lowered her shirt and started nursing it. I knelt down in front of her and and smiled. “What’s your baby’s name?” I asked. She looked at me. “My name is Sandra and this is my baby girl Ruth.” She said. I put my hand on her shoulder. “Let’s get you guys to the church and cook you a hot meal.” I said. The woman started crying and her husband helped her and the baby up. “What’s your name?” I asked the man. He helped his wife out of the office and looked back at me. “Ted.” He said in an exhausted voice.
I handed Ricky an empty backpack. “Find a pump and fill that thing up with flashlights and batteries, I’ll take them to the truck.” Ricky ran off and got the supplies.
We drove back to the gas station and managed to get the pump working. I held the hose up to the tank and Ricky started pumping. Ted and Sandra watched curiously out the window as we topped off the last tank. I opened one of the side compartments on the cab and tossed in the pump and hose. I was getting ready to jump back in the truck when I heard a car driving down the road. “Ricky, car!” I yelled.
Ricky and I hid on the side of the truck and noticed an old brown truck drive erratically down the street and smack into a pole. The bumper smashed and smoke rose from the crushed hood. I looked closer and noticed the man behind the steering wheel was biting it. I could hear him grunting and his left eye was missing; the dried up black blood showed it was an old wound. He violently opened his door and looked around. He noticed our large truck and started limping towards us.
...I hope you like the new upgrades… I figure zombies have the right to drive...
I heard the voice call out on the radio and I pointed my gun at the decayed and fired a few shots; hitting him in the neck and chest. I got closer and Ricky shot him in the head. The man fell onto the ground and we jumped back in the truck. “What the hell was that?” Ted cried out from the cab. I shook my head and we drove back to the church and got everyone settled in.
Chapter Fourteen
The days slowly past and we got comfortable in our new home. Ricky, Ted and I reinforced the doors and windows of the church and spent days in neighboring towns getting water and supplies. We got efficient with siphoning fuel and filled a couple of chemical drums with the lifesaving liquid. We winter had faded and the spring was coming into full bloom. The man on the radio had taunted us for a few days but eventually grew silent. He told us the latest upgrades and new challenges we would face in this new world. Nevertheless, there was one thing on our side, time. The decayed would eventually fall too the ever-growing seasons and rot away, it would just take awhile.
Nearly a month had past and we started barricading the town with cars and other loose items we could find. I painted over the town sign and named it Johnville as a sort of joke.
I carried in a few cases of water and set them on the counter next to Claire. I stood behind her and kissed her neck. “How was the trip?” She asked. Ricky walked in the kitchen, set down another few cases of water, and looked at Claire. “We found a few more bags of soil
for the garden.” He said. Claire smiled and hugged Ricky. “Thank you, I was hoping you would remember. The garden is doing great and the rain from last night will help.” She said kindly and went back to cooking the girls’ oatmeal.
I gave her a kiss and ran back out to the truck. Ricky joined me and we carried the three bags of soil to the back of the church. We set them down and Sandra came over and helped pour them onto the ground. “Thank you guys.” She said. I looked over and noticed Ruth sitting in her car seat and playing with a plastic keyring. I walked over and waved at her. “Hello Ruth, what are you doing?” I asked. She laughed and flung the keys around. I turned and looked at Sandra. “You got you gun?” I asked. She pointed to her handgun tucked behind her belt and smiled. “I sure do.” She said proudly. I smiled and Ricky and I went back to the truck.
I lit a cigarette and Ricky did the same. I looked at the alley and took a drag from the full flavored smoke. “I’m glad we haven’t seen anymore decayed here since last week.” I said, remembering the time when we found another decayed driving around erratically. Ricky laughed and took a drag of his cigarette. “Stupid bastards think they can live like us.” He said. I nodded and Ricky started to grow quite. I realized after few minutes that he was in deep thought. I looked at him curiously. “What on your mind?” I asked. He shook his head and tossed his cigarette on the ground. “I can’t say nothing man.” He said. I raised an eyebrow and stood in front of him. “What is it Ricky, we can’t go around with crap in our head. You know that kind of shit holds us back.” I said with slight anger. He shook his head and just blurted it out. “Claire is pregnant.”
I was in shock. Claire and I were using condoms and taking every precaution we could. I would die for her, but it just did not seem the right time. I heard Ruth crying in the distance and Sandra trying to calm her down by singing. Was I really going to be a father?
I walked into the kitchen where Claire was washing a few of the girls’ clothes. I walked over and stood next to her. “You could have told me.” She dropped the shirt into the bucket of water and looked at me. “I’m sorry John; I just didn’t want that one your mind right now. You and Ricky do all of those runs and I just didn’t feel it was the time to tell you.” She said with worry. I hugged her tightly and rested my chin on her shoulder. “I hope it’s a boy.” I said proudly. I leaned back and looked at her. “Ricky and I were going to get more fuel later, I will grab you some vitamins and maybe start cleaning the clinic.” I said. She kissed me and I ran back outside. Ricky turned around and looked at me. “Let’s go.” I said. We jumped in the truck and headed off for the next town.
We drove about an hour and pulled into the small city; I knew it was far more dangerous with a cities population but we needed bigger stores. I ran over a few decayed and pulled up to the large retail store and parked. We did not waste any time, we jumped out and shot down the half a dozen decayed that ran toward us; yes they could now run. A few of them carried primitive weapons and tried using them on us.
We managed to get in the store and turn our flashlights on. The heavy smell of rotting food and the decayed filled our lungs and we started coughing. I looked over at Ricky. “Let’s get too hardware and grab some fumigators.” I said. He nodded and we ran down a few isles.
I noticed a decayed standing at the far end of the hardware isle and holding a lead pipe. He tilted his head to the side a growled at us; thick black liquid poured out onto the floor as he suddenly ran towards us. He swung the pipe and hit Ricky on the arm and he dropped his gun. I aimed at his head and fired a couple of shots; he fell on the floor and with a heavy thud. Ricky picked his gun up. “Damn that shit hurt.” He winced. I shined my flashlight down on his arm. “Can you move it?” He moved his arm around and looked up at me. “I will be alright.” He said.
We found some fumigators and tossed a few in our backpacks. We both put one on and inhaled deeply and it helped with the smell. We continued down the isles and found medicine. We shoved as many vitamins, flu medicine and other random bandages and things to treat wounds in the bag. I put the backpack on, we ran over to the baby section of the store, and I grabbed a shopping cart that was lying on its side and rolled down the isle. We shoved diapers and formula in the cart and I noticed the bottles at the end. I walked over and an obese decayed suddenly ran out of the dark and swung its fat arms at me; meat and bone were exposed all over his body. I ran back and fell on the floor. Ricky ran up and shot him in the face; black blood exploded around him and he fell to the side. Ricky reached his hand out and helped me to my feet. “Thanks man.” I said through the mask and it made my voice sound muffled.
I walked around the decayed man on the floor and grabbed several bottles. We got baby supplies for Ruth a few days after they arrived at our church but we would obviously need more. I tossed them into the cart and pushed it back to the front of the store. We went outside and started loading the truck.
“What do guys think your doing?” A voice suddenly yelled out. Ricky and I looked at the parking lot and noticed a couple of military trucks and a few men pointing their guns out the windows. We ducked behind the truck and knelt down. I looked at Ricky. “I’m going to fire a few shots, so they don’t think we are just some unarmed victims.” I whispered.
I pulled out my semi automatic, pointed it to my left, and fired a few shots. “Shit they got guns!” One of the men yelled. I heard commotion, I peeked around the truck to see what was happening; their appeared to be about five of them, and they were now hiding behind their vehicles. “Woo hoooo!” One of the men yelled. “Now were having some fun boys!”
I slowly stood up and quietly opened the passenger door of my truck and crawled in. I grabbed my grenade belt and crawled back out. I hid behind the large front tires and sat down. I heard sudden gunshots and metal being struck. Ricky crawled onto his stomach and took his hunting rifle out of his backpack. He peered into the scope and I pulled one of the grenades out of the belt. Ricky fired a shot. “Got one!” He whispered. I hated having to go through all of this, but I started thinking about my unborn child, pulled the pin from the grenade, and stood up. I threw it as hard as I could and it rolled under one of their trucks. I ducked back down just in time as a few gunshots fired. I heard the violent explosion tear into the vehicles.
Ricky and I threw the last few items in the truck. “Help! Oh my god!” A man cried out from the exploded vehicles. We got in the truck and started to back up. I drove out of the parking lot and noticed a large group of decayed heading towards the men and their vehicles. I got back onto the road and Ricky and I drove home in silence.
Ricky and I unloaded everything into the church and gave Sandra some of the baby supplies. She thanked us and went into her and Ted’s bedroom. I walked in my room and noticed Claire putting the girls to bed. I gave both of the girls a kiss and helped Claire cover them up. I really did not say much and kept replaying the man crying for help at the parking lot. This world has turned dark and I had to find the light. I layed down with Claire and placed my ear to her stomach; this was my light.
The following day I was walking around town with Ricky and checking on our barricades. I looked at him as we headed towards the east entrance to town. “I can’t wait until the killings stop man, let us live in peace. I have a kid coming and I need to make this world as safe as possible.” I said. Ricky kept his head down as he walked. “Maybe it’s it, you know? The end of the world and we just keep resisting it.” He said. I stopped him with my hand. “Don’t say that shit man, it is the end when we say it is.” He nodded his head and took in a deep breath. “You’re right. We can’t loose this, not now.” He said with confidence.
I heard a car suddenly honk in the distance and realized it was coming from one of the barricades. Ricky and I ran over and noticed a small blue car parked a few feet away from our makeshift wall. We hid behind a car in the middle of the street. “What do you want?” I yelled. I looked past the window of the car I was behind and watched a woman get out of the driver
side and wave her hands in the air. “Cover me.” I said to Ricky.
I jumped out and pointed the gun at the woman’s head as I made my way to her. I got close to the barricade and stopped. She swallowed hard and noticed the gun pointing at her. “Please don’t shoot. My father and I need help.” She pleaded. I looked at her car and noticed and older man with gray hair, a sleep or dead. I looked back at the woman. “You have any weapons?” I asked. She shook her head and I looked back at Ricky. “We’re clear!” I yelled.
Ricky ran over with his gun still pointing and he stood beside me. “What’s going on?” He asked. I looked at him and then back to the old man in the car. “She said her father is sick and they need help.” I explained. Ricky lowered his gun and relaxed his posture. The woman started crying, we moved a few of the items to the side, and she drove through. We set the barricade back up and guided her to the church. When we got there, we helped her bring her father in and laid him down on one of the church pews. Claire and Sandra came over and I explained the situation. They got medicine and damp rags and started to tend to the old man.
I walked back to the kitchen and noticed Ricky hugging the crying woman. I went back outside and sat on the ground with my back against the wall. I stared off and started thinking about the man that had talked on the radio a while back. He and his sick twisted people were the ones responsible for this mess. Ricky and I put everything together and realized he was in the town of Ark City, Kansas. I heard one of his men say that in the background and I replayed that a million times in my head. A part of me wanted to head down there and find this group, but not now. I may not be living a great life but it is my life and I planned to stay alive.
Ricky walked out and sat down next to me. “That girls name is Jasmine. She said they lived with a small group of survivors at a hospital in Howard, that’s just northwest of here.” He said. I crossed my arms and listened contently to him. “She said that they wanted to check out Fort Carson, it’s a little over an hour and a half from here.” I started remembering the military base back at the town we stayed at and the fact that we never visited it; there was just too much stuff happening at the time. “Let’s do it. Let’s go get the survivors and bring them back here. After that we can start organizing a plan.” I said.
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