Sundown Series (Book 1): Prepared

by Courtney Konstantin

  The commotion they heard was coming from the gate of the park and without speaking, they walked that direction. Both of them were checking around RV’s and being careful someone didn’t jump out to take a bite of them. Someone in the park was bleeding, and Alex was already sure the blood did not belong to the hand that touched the hood.

  A crowd of people blocked the front gate. They seemed to be straining to see down the street that lead to the main road, and to town. A vehicle sat outside the gate, effectively blocking any exit, and Alex did not like the look of that immediately. Alex searched for Margaret and saw her at her post, to the left of the gate, questioning a man that was talking very animatedly outside of the car. He was yelling about letting him in or they would all die, and that they were coming.

  Alex did not do chaos, so she walked to Margaret to get a better handle on the situation. Margaret saw her coming, and did not change her stance of holding the shotgun on the man. To add to the seriousness of her questions, Alex pulled her 9 mm and let it hang at her leg.

  “Are you saying you drew a horde this direction? A horde of infected?” Alex demanded. She saw Easton approach and stand behind her. At her mention of a horde, he went to the far fence and leaned out to see down the road. Alex was sure she heard him curse, and he ran back to the women.

  “East?” Alex prompted.

  “They’re coming. And they know there’s people here. They have a direction somehow,” Easton said quickly.

  “Margaret it’s time to go. Come with us. This fence will not hold up to a horde. And the people here can’t fight that many off,” Alex said to the older woman. The man outside the gate was crying now and in general panic. He ran to the fence and started to try to crawl over it. Margaret did not stop him, she was lost in her decision. But Alex needed his car gone, so she leveled her gun at the man.

  “No, you don’t come in without moving that car first. You are trapping us all right now,” Alex yelled. The man looked at Alex, and froze mid climb. He sized her up for a moment, but the way her eyes froze and hardened as she stared back scared him enough to run back to his car and start the engine.

  “OPEN THE GATE! LET THE CAR IN AND GET IT OUT OF THE WAY. AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, IF YOU AREN’T GOING TO FIGHT, HIDE!” Alex screamed at the crowd. That got people moving. Someone pulled the gate open to let the hysterical man in. As the gate closed the first infected could be seen without leaning out. His growl rose in level and seemed to be joined by the horde that followed his steps.

  “Margaret!” Alex yelled at the older woman, who seemed to be stuck in her spot. Alex holstered her gun, and grabbed her by the shoulders. The shotgun fell to the ground and Margaret started to shake.

  “Hell no, Margaret! Snap out of it. We are getting out of here. Do you hear me? Do you have a vehicle?” Margaret nodded weakly. Alex shook her hard once, and made her look into her eyes. The hardness of Alex’s eyes, softened slightly when she saw the fear in Margaret’s depths. A scream tore its way through the park, and Alex could see people fleeing from something inside the RV park. She looked at Easton.

  “East, can you handle that? Can you be careful?”

  “Yes.” And with that, he was off like a shot, bat held at a ready stance. Unlike the other people, Easton ran straight into whatever the fight was. Alex could hear him yelling at people to get away, and she felt her heart hammer at the idea of the teenager on his own. Turning back to Margaret, she saw that she was coming around.

  “Vehicle?” Alex asked again.

  “I have an old Bronco. Has a full tank.”

  “Get whatever you need to take. Put it into that Bronco. Get anyone you want to go with you, and be ready behind the wheel. Can you do that Margaret?” Alex said, staring straight into her eyes, not allowing her to look away. The growling and moaning was echoing toward the RV park, and they could see the people running all over the place. The infected were moving faster.

  “Yes, yes of course I can do that. I have bags ready to go. I just need to grab any food I haven’t packed. I will just bring Fred, my maintenance man, my friend. I’ll be here, at the gate in the truck. Go, go get your kids!” Margaret exclaimed, as life seemed to flow back into her. She pulled away from Alex and started running toward her small house.

  Alex ran straight for the area where she saw Easton disappear. She looked back just as the infected started down the RV park drive. She prayed the gate could hold them long enough for her to get Easton, the RV and get out of the park. Alex had already picked a weak spot in the fence, to the right of the gate. She was positive Margaret’s Bronco could take that fence out. She just hoped the rest of the people in the park were ready to flee when they were.

  As she ran, Alex yelled at panicking people to get into their vehicles, be ready to go. Some listened, and instantly changed their direction. Some seemed to be aimless, and at that moment Alex could not provide anything more to them. Rounding an RV, she found Easton consoling a man, the body of a woman at their feet. Ten feet away was another infected body, Alex recognized it as the wife that lied and said her husband hadn’t been bit.

  “East!” Alex cried, as she slid to a stop next to him. She grabbed his arm, and looked him over quickly.

  “I’m ok,” Easton said. “The woman from yesterday, attacked this man’s wife, killed her, so she changed quickly.”

  “I’m sorry,” Alex said to the crying man. He looked at Alex with such pain that she had to bite back her own tears. She needed to stay strong and get people moving to escape. “Sir, you need to get to your vehicle. The infected are here, and they will get in soon. You need to be ready to flee.”

  The man absently nodded and began to shuffle down the rows of RVs. Alex hoped he was headed in the right direction. She only saw the two bodies, no sign of the husband, the first infected into the park. Which only meant that he was somewhere else, finding a meal. And making more of the infected to come after the alive.

  “We have to go now Easton. Go to the RV, unhook everything fast,” Alex said.

  “What about all these people Alex?”

  “We can’t help them all,” Alex said quietly. Easton paused, and she knew he did not like that answer. Frankly neither did she. However, when it came to her family’s survival, she was going to have to get moving. Easton ran off toward their RV, and Alex decided to make a quick circle, see if she could find the husband infected. As she ran down the rows of RV’s she was hearing engines turning over, and she was grateful. At least some of the people were thinking clearly. But that also meant someone would probably go through the fence before she was ready.

  Alex turned to backtrack to her RV, when she heard a bloodcurdling scream one RV down. She sprinted toward the sound, and found the infected man biting into the leg of an older woman. She was frail as it was, but as soon as the inflected man fell on her, she was done for. The scream she had heard wasn’t the woman’s, she was already dead from what Alex could tell. Not worried about sound, Alex pulled her 9 mm and whistled at the infected.

  Black eyes swung to her, blood, skin and muscle fibers hung from his teeth. He sprayed blood as his growl picked up seeing fresh food. Alex didn’t allow him to move, but shot him in the center of the forehead. The sound of the gun was loud and it echoed between RV’s. Looking around, she didn’t see any other infected, but she knew the old woman would change soon. She pointed the gun at the woman, and was about to pull the trigger when an old man staggered into her path.

  “No!” He cried.

  “She’s dead already!” Alex exclaimed.

  “I know. But she’ll change. I’ll be with her, she’ll change,” the man stammered.

  “You want her to be one of those things? Things that EAT people? You can’t mean that. Move, so I can make sure she doesn’t turn into a monster,” Alex said impatiently. She took a deep breath and tried to see things from the man’s point of view. They had probably been married over 50 years. This woman was probably his life. As Alex thought of these things, her gun began to shake, and s
he lowered it.

  “I can’t let you shoot her in her beautiful face. Isn’t she gorgeous? Just like when she sleeps,” the man said, as he pushed her hair from her face. He delicately kissed her and laid his cheek against hers. Alex felt wetness on her face, and realized it was tears dripping from her chin. She did not know what to do. This woman would become a flesh-eating monster in less than 30 minutes. If her husband stayed, he would allow her to feast on him. The tears quickened on Alex’s face, and she scrubbed at them to clear her vision.

  “Just leave us, everyone is leaving. Just leave us,” the man was saying.

  “I….you know what is going to happen? You’ve seen those things?” Alex asked. She had to be sure. A part of her knew this man wasn’t thinking clearly, that had to be it. But she couldn’t force him to leave. And she would not shoot through him.

  “Yes. We’ve seen it all. I know what’s going to happen. We will be fine.” The man never looked up at Alex, his eyes glued to his wife’s face. He continued to stroke her hair as he murmured soft words to her.

  “I’m sorry…”Alex trailed off, and then she turned and ran from the scene, feeling like a fire was on her heels.

  Chapter 18

  Alex sprinted around RV’s, heading straight for her own beast. Tears were still slipping down her face, as she continued to see the old couple on the ground. She couldn’t stop herself from picturing the scene when the woman changed. The old man wanted his wife back, however he could get her. Alex choked on her grief, and slid to a stop at the door of her RV.

  Panic and chaos surrounded them. Screams rose from all over the park, and Alex fought the urge to investigate and help. She needed to get inside the safety of the RV, and get her family on the road, away from the horde. Away from the people ready to change in the park. Alex grabbed the door and yanked it open just as the engine of the RV turned over. Easton was at the driver’s seat, getting ready to go as soon as Alex stepped inside.

  “Go around to the front. Margaret is meeting us there,” Alex called to him. She turned to help Candace tie everything down that wasn’t already put away. The RV lurched as Easton stepped onto the gas, and Alex grabbed Candace to keep her from falling backward.

  “Thanks,” Candace breathed. Her face was full of fear and questions when she looked at Alex.

  Alex gave her a quick hug and whispered, “We’ll be ok.”

  Alex jumped into the passenger seat, leaving Candace to sit with the younger kids on the couch in the back. They had the window covering moved, and were watching the devastation unfolding around them. As they moved toward the front of the park, many other RV’s began to move around them. Alex pointed out the Bronco idling by the gate.

  “That’s them. Pull up near them, I’m going to give Margaret a walkie,” Alex told Easton. She held up the walkie talkies she had found on the RV. They seemed like the longer ranged ones and would work well to keep contact with Margaret during the emergency. Easton pulled the RV behind the Bronco, and Alex jumped out of the passenger door.

  Margaret rolled her window down when she saw Alex coming, and Alex was relieved to see the old Margaret sitting there. Her face was set in stone, and she looked prepared for battle. She was not the shell of a woman that Alex had seen earlier.

  “Walkies,” Alex said and handed one of the pair to Margaret. They both switched them to the same channel and did a quick test.

  “The fence seems weak on that side,” Alex said pointing. “I think the Bronco could get through it, with a running start.” Margaret looked at the spot Alex motioned to and nodded. As they spoke, the horde of infected continued to collect at the front gate, and the metal was beginning to buckle in.

  “Get a good start, we will be right behind you after you go through. Go right, so we can get out of town,” Alex said.

  “Sounds good. What about everyone else?” Margaret asked motioning to the other RV’s that were looking for an exit.

  “Hopefully they will follow us. If not, we can’t manage them all right now,” Alex said with a sad shake of her head.

  Once Margaret agreed, against her best judgement, Alex ran back to the RV. She climbed into the passenger seat and explained to Easton the plan. He agreed, eyes pointed out of the windshield, watching the Bronco go around the park, until it was facing the fence. They could hear the revving of the Bronco engine, and suddenly it took off for the fence. For a moment, it seemed everything froze in place. The infected were silent, the RV’s around them stopped moving. All they saw was the Bronco flying for the metal fence.

  The crash was loud, but the fence was no challenge for the truck. Easton was quick, as he put the RV into gear and followed right through the hole. Margaret was getting to the street, and the infected were splitting off, trying to cover all options for a meal. The truck moved slowly, giving the other RVs a chance to see which direction it was going. Once Easton brought the RV right behind the truck, Margaret hit the gas and took off down the highway away from her park, the place that had been her home.

  Fifteen minutes later, Margaret pulled off the highway and pulled into a gas station. Easton followed in the RV and stopped next to the truck. Two additional RVs had followed them out of the park, but they continued down the highway, different ideas of where was safe. Margaret got out of the bronco, shotgun in hand, and started pacing around the truck. The other door opened and her friend Fred jumped out.

  Fred tried to calm the upset Margaret, but she continued to brush off his advances, and continued her pacing. Telling Easton to keep his eyes peeled, and to see if there was any gas to siphon from the vehicles in the gas station, Alex jumped from the passenger seat again. Approaching Margaret, she waited for the older woman to walk toward her. She seemed surprised to see Alex, and she froze mid pace.

  “I know how it feels,” Alex started. “To not save everyone. To want to do more.”

  “They thought they were safe there,” Margaret said angrily.

  “They were for a while. Nowhere is that safe anymore Margaret. You offered more than most could have.”

  “We should have had a better plan. Something to do if that happened.”

  “Maybe. But you cannot plan for everything. You can just learn from what happens, and try to do it different later,” Alex said.

  “What will those people do now?” Margaret said, demanded, angry. Her anger lashed at Alex, though Alex knew it wasn’t because of her. The reality of the world was crashing down on the older woman, and she didn’t know how to handle it. Alex happened to be the closest target.

  “They will move on. They will find somewhere safe for the next leg of their trips. I’m afraid that’s what this life is now. Moving, and fighting,” Alex said.

  “What do we do?” Margaret asked. Her anger was diffusing and her mind was working to catch up.

  “We head to Montana,” Alex said. She looked around, noting the absence of infected. She could see Easton with Fred, getting gas out of the few cars that were in the parking lot. Easton wandered toward the gas station store, and looked into the windows. He motioned to Alex when he found her watching him.

  “I’m going to go help Easton. We will get on the road shortly. Drive during the day, park somewhere safe at night to sleep. How’s that sound for the start of a plan?” Alex said. Margaret nodded her head, and Alex reached over and squeezed her shoulder.

  Alex gave Easton a “one minute” motion with her hand and returned to the RV. She stepped inside to find the kids playing on their tablets, and Candace waiting for her. Alex kissed the kids heads, and Billie asked if she was all right. Alex convinced them both she was just fine, that they were going to be fine and on the road soon. Henry was especially interested in the fact that Margaret seemed to be joining the group.

  Turning to Candace Alex pulled out a few reusable shopping bags, handing them to her.

  “Could you make up a few sandwiches? Throw in a couple of bottles of water and snacks? I’ll give it to Margaret, so they have food while we’re on the road,” Alex said.


  “That’s really kind of you,” Candace said with a smile and she started pulling sandwich makings from boxes.

  “Well as the group grows, we have to take care of everyone. I’m so glad you can cook,” Alex said with a smile.

  “I will do everything I can,” Candace said solemnly.

  “I know. And I appreciate you,” Alex said as she opened the door again. “We’ll be ready to go after we check this store.”

  Easton was tapping on the glass of the gas station as Alex walked up checking her weapons. Fred stood next to Easton and watched Alex and her methodical way of moving.

  “What do you think?” Alex asked Easton.

  “It doesn’t look like anyone has looted here, I’m surprised,” Easton replied.

  “Not too many people stop along this highway. It’s a wonder that gas stations stayed open at all,” Fred interjected.

  “Well good news for us then. Doesn’t seem to have any infected inside?” Alex asked Easton.

  “Nope, no response,” Easton said.

  Alex motioned toward the door, and Easton followed. The door was locked. Alex pulled out her 9mm and glanced at Easton for his understanding. His bat was at a ready and he nodded to her. Using the gun, she hit the glass twice and it splintered at her feet. She immediately pointed the gun inside, waiting for anything to come at her. Nothing moved inside, and she couldn’t believe it.

  Alex and Easton entered the store slowly. The glass crunched loudly under their feet, making Alex sure that if there were infected inside they would have heard them by that point. Easton split off down one aisle and found the refrigerated sections still powered, running from the same power Margaret’s RV park was apparently. He immediately cracked open an energy drink and took a long drink, causing Alex to roll her eyes at him.

  Alex headed for the automotive area, finding additional gas containers. She took a few to Fred and asked him to get more gas, with Margaret watching his back. She entered back into the gas station to find Easton making his way to the storage area. Alex was hit with sudden panic as she remembered the mercantile and the infected inside.