Sundown Series (Book 1): Prepared

by Konstantin, Courtney

  The second infected was within her shot range, and she adjusted her aim and let off her shot. She was satisfied as the dead became truly dead and fell to the asphalt. Picking her next destination, she decided to head to Gary’s. She knew he lived alone, and since she knew he was already dead, his place should be a safe bet. Alex ran down the landscapes, staying in the shadows of the houses as much as possible. She didn’t see any other infected as she arrived at Gary’s door. His door was partially opened, and there was blood all over the porch.

  Preparing herself for a fight, Alex put her 9 mm back into the holster and grabbed out her bowie again. She pushed the door open with her foot and was immediately greeted with the smell of decaying flesh. There was an infected inside. She slowly stepped inside, checking all the dark areas, until she heard a banging in the kitchen.

  “Hey!” Alex called, trying to draw the infected to her, instead of her stumbling into an attack. Her tactic worked, as she was instantly greeted by a large, fat, balding infected that was once a man. Alex took a step back, waiting for the eventual attack. She couldn’t handle such a large body in a fight. The infected was uncoordinated and the attack was easy to sidestep. She wasted no time dispatching him.

  With the house cleared, Alex began to search for useful items. As she stepped into what she assumed was Gary’s study she gasped. The room had wall-to-wall glass cases. Each was filled with guns and ammo. She walked to the desk in the middle and picked up a framed photo. It was a photo of a group of younger men, all in military fatigues, obviously in the middle of a warzone. She looked closely and could recognize one young face that was Gary. He was a veteran. A well prepared veteran.

  As Alex tried to figure out a way to take all of the weapons with her, she walked into Gary’s bathroom. He had a large cabinet, full of prescription medications. She found large bottles of vitamins and Advil, looked to have been purchased at Costco. Alex threw all of the pill bottles into her backpack. Gary was a regular pharmacy for pain meds; Vicodin and Oxycodone were just a few. She knew those would come in handy.

  Alex headed back to the front door, still trying to decide what to do with the weapons. Standing near the door, watching the street, Alex glanced over at the keyring holder, and it dawned on her. Grabbing the keys, she ran outside and around the side of the house. There sat Gary’s RV. For the first time in two days, Alex really smiled.

  Chapter 7

  The Winnebago RV was about the most beautiful thing Alex had ever seen, and that was not speaking about the way it actually looked. It was an older model, nothing shiny and new. However, after seeing the inside of his house, Alex had a feeling the RV was in perfect running order. She circled the body of the vehicle and found two containers of gas on a rack on the back. Each seemed to be full, with 10 gallons apiece. That would not get this vehicle far for a long run, but it would be helpful in a pinch.

  Using the keys she found, Alex cautiously opened the side door, leading the interior of the RV. It was spacious to say the least, with one large bed over the driver’s area, a table, a couch, a TV, a kitchen and a bathroom behind a closed door. The kitchen had a full sized refrigerator, which made Alex smile again. She checked the different drawers and cabinets, finding a few provisions, but nothing much. She did find a large vehicle hazard kit, equipped with flares, jumper cables, gloves, hazard cones and a first aid kit.

  Sliding into the driver’s seat, she put the key into the ignition and held her breath. The RV turned over smoothly and rumbled to life immediately. A quick check of the gauges also showed a full tank of gas, which Alex almost squealed with joy over. Deciding that was testing enough, she shut the RV off, and then waited. Nothing stirred nearby, and Alex decided it was time to go.

  Alex ran back into Gary’s house and grabbed the box of dried goods she did find, and ran them back to the RV. She slid the box well under the kitchen table, planning for all of the supplies that would need to fit into the RV. Going back into the house, Alex again surveyed the gun cabinets. The first thing to catch her attention was the additional 9 mm rounds and shotgun shells. Those would go with what she already had. She found the keys to the cabinets, and started unlocking the ones she wanted access to.

  In the end, Alex took four additional guns that she knew how to use. A second shotgun, a rifle, a small .22 handgun, and an AR-15. She also packed all of the ammo she found for all of those weapons. She stored all of the weapons in the RV, in a high cabinet away from where the kids could reach. Alex looked the cabinets over again, she felt guilt over leaving any of it. Nevertheless, in the end, some of the weapons were very exotic, and she would not find ammo for them later. She also found a number of knives, in a variety of shapes and sizes, so she packed all of those.

  Once everything she found in Gary’s house was stored in the RV, she turned the beast on again and pulled out of his driveway. She saw the curtains twitch again in a couple of homes, but she just moved on and continued with her work. They would be heading out fairly soon, leaving the neighborhood behind them for now. When she got to her house, she decided she needed to back the RV into the driveway for a quick departure. Taking a number of tries, she finally backed the RV back and over her desertscape, lining the side door with her front door.

  The RV effectively blocking the front door from any attack, Alex jumped out and ran up to the front door to unlock it. She grabbed the bags and boxes she had downstairs and started loading. Going into her survival closet, she grabbed all of the plastic totes she had full of canned and dried goods. Those were loaded as well as the solar generator going into the back, and the other solar battery packs that had been charging. Lastly were the clothes she had packed for her and the children, their personal items, and the bug out bags.

  After she had everything loaded, she locked up the RV, and then went into the house, locking the front door for good measure. She ran upstairs and knocked on the bedroom door. Billie was waiting at the door, and unlocked it immediately.

  “I heard you downstairs Mommy, what’s going on?” Billie asked immediately.

  “I found a RV, and we’re taking that out of town. I’ve loaded everything up. Except the two most important things,” Alex said with a smile. This comment brought smiles from the kids. She got them both dressed in their sturdiest clothes, and then instructed them to grab as many toys as one bag she had would hold. She also grabbed the blu ray player from her room and as many of the movies she could throw into the bag. Alex was determined to keep the kids happy and occupied during the traveling. Dealing with bored kids on a normal basis was a chore, during a plague, it seemed to be a little more than that.

  Alex took all of the items downstairs, and walked the kids to the RV. Opening the door Henry excitedly climbed in and started looking around. Billie was a little more wary, but she listened to her mother. They both sat at the table, among many boxes and bags of supplies.

  “I’ll be right back. I’m locking the door ok?” Alex said. Billie nodded and went back to looking around. Alex had a last minute thought and she could not leave without one more thing. At the sliding glass door the backyard, Alex paused and took a deep breath. She looked out to make sure nothing was lurking, and was glad to see it was empty. She went out, and crossed to the bodies of her husband and friend.

  “I needed to say goodbye,” Alex whispered. Then she crouched and looked for Blake’s hand under the rug. She didn’t want to see his face again, she knew she would fall apart. Finding his left hand, she pulled his wedding ring from his finger. She cleaned the blood from it, before slipping it onto the chain she wore around her neck.

  “Goodbye my friend,” Alex said to Lucy. “Goodbye Blake. I love you. I’m going to go and protect our children now.” A single tear fell from her cheek onto the ground. “I hope you are somewhere beautiful.” Sniffing back the rest of her heartbreak, she turned and went back to the sliding door. She locked it, though she wasn’t sure why. Alex had a feeling, they would not be back.

  Back at the RV, Alex slid into the driver’s sea
t. She turned the RV on, happy again with its smooth catch. She situated a shotgun near her left leg, and her 9 mm was in a cup holder. The bowie knife was still on her thigh, and it would stay there. Looking into the back of the RV, she could see the kids watch her with curiosity. The real trials were ahead. Alex just hoped she had prepared herself well enough.

  Pulling out of their neighborhood, things seemed quiet. Too quiet in Alex’s mind. She had expected more movement. In the distance she could see infected, with their telltale uncoordinated movements. The real scene unfolded as she got the RV to the nearest main street. Cars were crashed everywhere, some still smoking from being on fire. Alex slowed the RV as she surveyed the area, making the best plan of action. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but more of a presence from local government at least.

  Alex prepared to pull the RV onto the freeway that would take them North from Las Vegas, but she stomped on the brakes suddenly as they reached the on ramp. The ramp was blocked by what was a heavily barricaded military post. Alex could see Humvee trucks, with large caliber guns on the top. And she could see blood, a lot of blood, and bullet holes in the surrounding vehicles. Looking into the nearest vehicle, she could see an infected stuck inside the car, clawing at the windows with already bloody fingers, trying to get out at the moving vehicle next to it.

  Her blood froze in her heart as she realized there were people in almost every car. At least what used to be people, now they were infected. Alex realized quickly they were not all trapped in their vehicles. Slowly infected started appearing from behind cars, or from open doors of cars, where they were feasting on the previous inhabitants. The sound of the RV brought all of their attention around, to what they believed was a fresh meal.

  Alex looked back at Billie and Henry, and found they were both staring out the RV windows, fear etched on their faces. Billie reached over and pulled Henry to her across the couch they sat on. She held him to her tightly and watched as an infected started to pound on the side of the RV. Alex shook herself, getting her mind moving again. She needed to get off the ramp, and now.

  Throwing the RV into reverse, she slowly made her way off the ramp. Her panic made her want to stomp down on the gas pedal and get them out as fast as possible. However, reversing the beast of an RV was not something Alex was talented at. She needed to take it as careful as possible, or lose them all over the edge. The infected scrambled after them, doing what they could to follow the RV. When Alex looked back at them, she saw a number of the figures wore military fatigues.

  “They weren’t ready, god damn it,” Alex mumbled to herself. The large caliber weapons and multiple military personnel didn’t hold up against a horde of infected. And that’s what was following them off the ramp, what Alex would call a horde. There was at least 50 infected trying to get to the RV. Luckily, they were slow and messed up enough that the RV’s slow speed kept them out of reach.

  Alex hit something, and then the RV bumped over something, and kept on rolling. After a moment, Alex was able to see the infected they had ran over. The head was not harmed, so the limbs that were not broken continued to try to get the RV. Alex swallowed down the bile that rose in her throat. She checked her mirrors again to see if there was anything else behind her, and luckily she saw the end of the ramp and she headed straight for a clear section to get back onto the main road.

  As they drove down the main road that followed the freeway, Alex saw a number of the same types of barricades on the freeway. Suddenly she had a realization about the military presence she was seeing, or what was left of it. They were preventing people from getting on the freeway. They were stopping anyone from leaving the city. The government was trying to trap people in Las Vegas to die! All of the main means of escape were blocked, at least on the side of town Alex was looking at.

  She stopped the RV in the middle of the road at put her head to the steering wheel. She had a number of options, all of them involved getting out of the RV, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that with the kids inside. As she thought, she didn’t see the group of infected coming down the side street she was stopped by. They seemed to come out of every nook and cranny there was around the buildings.

  “Mommy!” Billie cried, just as the banging on the RV started. Alex’s head flew up and she looked in her mirrors. The undead people were surrounding them. She needed to make a decision on their direction, but she wasn’t going to be able to do it in the city. Nothing was safe in a city the size of Las Vegas. There was nowhere she could go that wouldn’t have the chance of the infected. The pounding continued on the RV as Alex started forward again.

  Alex turned the RV down a side street, keeping her eyes out for other groups of survivors. She believed there had to be some around, this plague could not have wiped out everyone at once. But every turn she made, she was confronted with infected feasting on dead bodies. Las Vegas was on fire everywhere she turned, homes burned, businesses smoldered. As they drove, Alex heard gunshots and even a far off explosion rocked the RV.

  “Mommy?” Henry was at her elbow. “Can we sit up here with you? We’re scared.”

  “You’re scared. I’m fine,” Billie interjected.

  Alex looked at her babies and thought about how this devastation must be scaring them. In her life, she was always prepared for something like this. She wasn’t ever sure Mitch’s predictions would come to pass, but now that they had, she wasn’t completely shocked. Alex was filled with determination, which helped put a cap on the welling fear she had the rest of the time.

  “Of course. You guys squeeze together up here, and put the seat belt across you both. But if I say move to the back, you need to do it fast ok?” Alex said to them as she concentrated on the road. The kids slipped into the seat and snapped their seat belt in. Billie had her arm around her brother protectively, putting on a brave face for him. Alex could appreciate the way she cared for him.

  Still not sure of which direction to go, Alex pulled into a large parking lot to get away from major visibility. When she looked at the stores in the area, she saw there was a large Best Buy at the end. The windows and doors at the front were all busted. There were boxed electronics everywhere, vehicles parked askew across the parking lot. The looting must have started early. The visibility of blood and bodies told Alex the looters were taken by surprise by the infected, and did not get away with their spoils.

  Not much moved in the parking lot, and Alex waited before turning to the kids. They both looked up at her expectantly. The faces of angels, which never knew hardship in the world before now. Alex reached over and took each of their hands in her own. She kissed their little fingers and looked into their eyes one at a time. Billie, with her blue eyes so like Blake’s. And Henry with dark chocolate eyes like her own. Their fear made her heart hurt, but she knew in the end she would have to toughen them to how life seemed to be changing, teach them as she had been taught.

  “Mommy has to make a decision. The city is very full of the infected. You saw them. The military was here, but I think they are infected too. So they can’t help us, do you understand? We’re on our own,” Alex said.

  “Where is everyone else?” Henry asked.

  “They’re dead!” Billie shot at her brother.

  “Billie,” Alex scolded. “There is no reason to scare him. However, yes, so far everyone we’ve seen has been infected, or dead. So I’m not sure if there are others honey.”

  This comment made Henry sad, and he looked down at his lap. Alex squeezed his hand in her own, and his grip tightened as if he never wanted to let go. Alex knew if she could hold his hand forever, that’s what she would do. But there wasn’t time.

  “We’ve been driving for about an hour. I haven’t seen anyone else. And I think we need to find a safe place to wait for a little while,” Alex said. Both of the kids nodded their agreement.

  Alex turned back to the wheel, and pulled the RV out of the disastrous parking lot. Down the street, she saw a large sign for a Costco. This made her pause, and she dr
ove for the sign. They could always use more water, or paper products. And Costco’s warehouse would be the perfect place to get that. When she got close, she thought she saw people, alive people, and she pulled into the parking lot to talk to them. With her hand on her 9 mm, she pulled slowly toward the crowd. And she stopped in shock at what she was seeing.

  The Costco was full of people from what she could see. Breathing, heart beating, alive people. Alex’s heart started to hammer in her chest. Those people that came to Costco probably for the same reason she pulled in were fighting for their lives against a horde of infected. The need for a fresh meal made the infected ignore the RV as they pulled in. She pulled the RV to the left of the horde, and watched for a moment. She could see this group was losing ground, and they needed help. Alex looked over at the kids, they were both watching the scene unfold and Billie’s hand was pressed against the glass, as if she wanted to reach out to the people.

  Alex looked back at the people and made a decision. She left the RV running, but put it in park and pressed down the parking brake. Getting out of the driver’s seat, she pulled the rifle down, from where she had stored it above the kitchen table. The kids followed her into the body of the RV, and watched her.

  “Mommy, what are you going to do?” Billie asked, as she watched Alex load the rifle. She placed the remaining ammo she had in a bag that she slung over her shoulder, messenger bag style.

  “Billie, something your Gramps always told me, this world wouldn’t be worth saving after something like this, if we as people didn’t care for each other. He never wanted me to trust just any stranger, but he didn’t want me to turn my back on people either. I’m going to help those people get away from those infected,” Alex explained as she moved through the RV.

  Alex moved the kids to the back of the RV again. Billie held onto Henry for dear life the whole time. She grabbed his stuffed bunny and handed it to him as he began to cry.