Contents
Title
Copyright
Dedication
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eightteen
Keep Reading
Other Books by Author
About the Author
People Are Not Your Friends #1
William R Rohn
People Are Not Your Friends #1 is copyright © 2017 by William R Rohn.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or deceased, is coincidental and not intended by the author. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.
Published by:
LAB PC INC
P.O. Box 161191
Fort Worth, TX 76161
Cover Designed by Dolmon.
All Cover Images Used under license.
To Pamela who always believed and to all those who lent a hand.
One
Megan didn't see it until she rounded the corner. But she was going almost full out. There was nothing she could do but try to bring the bat up between her and the zombie. She collided with it hard. It went down and she tumbled over it.
Her knee scraped against the pavement. She felt the cloth of her sweat pants tear. Pain shot through her leg. A few cans tumbled out of her backpack, she needed a better one. But she couldn't stop. She got up and ran. Every step pain shot through her leg. But the men were still coming.
She heard them round the corner. They stopped to beat the zombie down.
"Run baby girl, run!" called one of them laughing. "We gonna catch up with you soon enough."
"Man that girl can run," said another.
Megan hit the door of a pass through. It should be safe, unless of course some asshole had left the other end open and the zombies had come in. Two weeks into the end of the world and people were already stupid. The real problem was now the ones who had been smart enough to stay in, were running out of food. That of course meant there was new meat on the street, for both the zombies and the resulting marauder gangs.
She passed through the building and out the other side. She was almost home, but she had to be sure that no one was watching where she went. If they came when she was asleep she wouldn't survive. Becoming a zombie was bad, but it was better than what some of the gangs were doing to you.
Megan didn't think she could survive to much longer on her own. She didn't believe that her mom and little sister were coming back. Her mom had went to pick up her little sister from soccer practice and never come back. Of course a lot of people hadn't come back that day. She had tried to convince them to stay home, but they wouldn't hide from the virus or the creatures it left in its wake.
At least the power still was on. She didn't expect it to be on much longer. It wasn't on everywhere anymore. Transformers and power lines had been destroyed in fires and accidents. Phones and the Internet still worked, which made it even scarier. No one should see some of the horrors that were posted there. Now the gangs used it to show off and there wasn't any police left to stop them.
She didn't see anyone watching her, so she ran the maze of houses and backyards that she hoped prevented anyone from seeing where she went. She needed to cook some food before it got dark. You didn't use lights. Lights drew things to you that were best to avoid.
Her neighbors were gone. Most people with a vehicle had left before it got really bad. From what she found on the Internet it was worse out there when you didn't have shelter and nowhere to hide. The government relief effort had broken down after the first week. Now it was everyone for themselves.
She unlocked her back door. She heard Yippers bark. At least that should mean that there were no zombies inside. She opened the door and went quickly inside, locking the door behind her. Yippers jumped up on her leg.
"Good boy Yips," said Megan. "You keep all the zombies away today?"
She reached down and petted the small little dog. It was some kind of terrier, wiener dog mix. Yippers would also probably be eaten by the first zombie it encounter. Yippers didn't seem to have a lick of sense. But the dog was all she had right now and sometimes a friendly face went a long way.
Two
Carlos had just finished putting on the new alternator onto the van. The new designs had sure screwed things up. You had to move the radiator to even get at it. It had taken him nearly all day. He sure hoped that nothing else was needed. It was time to go. The marauders had been close several times, but they had been distracted by zombies or chasing other survivors.
Once the electricity went down it was going to get really bad here. Right now you could even move at night as long as some idiot hadn't shot out the street lamps. But more and more things were breaking everyday. Soon the grid was bound to give out. His brother Ramon had a place about an hour away. An hour on a normal day, by car. But there were no normal days anymore. He wasn't sure which roads were clear and which weren't.
But people were searching house to house now. So traveling was safer than risking the marauders. You could handle a zombie or two, but a gang of thugs with guns? The problem was of course that the survivors were now stepping on each other. It was only a matter of time before someone decided that there might be something useful here. He needed to be gone.
Someone banged on the garage door. Shit, he wasn't ready to go yet. He went to the door and waited. Maybe they would just go away.
"Hey Carlo is that you in there?"
"Manny?"
"Yeah, let me in."
Carlo rolled up the garage door about a foot and a half and Manny crawled through. Manny used to work here with him at the garage, before all this. He didn't look so good.
"You okay?"
"Do you have any food?"
"Not much," said Carlo. "There are some snacks left in the machine, but there is nothing good left."
"Anything is better than nothing. The marauders have been keeping me away from the stores."
"I thought you were going to join up?"
"The guys I was going to go with all got capped by another gang. The other gang didn't seem to be in a recruiting mood."
"It's going to get worse out there. I'm going to my brothers."
"Is he still there?"
"He was a few days ago. I haven't been able to get through lately."
"Maybe I can come with you."
"Sure man. No problem. You wouldn't happen to know where we can get supplies around here would you? My brother is a lot more likely to let us stay if we don't come empty handed."
"There are a lot of stores to choose from. We just have to find one that isn't home to a gang."
"That is going to be the hard part. Maybe we should just try a convenience store on the way there. Not as many can stay in one of those without being seen."
"That sounds like the best thing to do. When are you going?"
"It is probably best to leave in the morning. In case we run into trouble."
"I got to go get my wife and son," said Manny.
"Sure no problem. There is plenty of room in the van. We just need to bring more supplies if we bring more people."
"I can't leave them behind."
/> "I know man. I wasn't thinking. Get here by seven. If you aren't here by eight I have to leave."
"No problem Carlo. You are a real life saver."
"Only if we make it."
"If we make it to your brother I know we will be alright. He was a real bad ass when he hung around here. He will be able to keep us safe if anyone can."
"I hope so."
"I'll see you tomorrow."
Carlo shook Manny's hand. Then he lifted the door up so that Manny could slip back outside. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. Carlo had a bad feeling about it. But it was a choice of make the trip or try to forage around here, because his supplies were almost gone. Tomorrow would solve that for him one way or another.
Three
Megan was in the middle of her shower, her hair full of shampoo, when the water gave out. Shit. Now she was going to have to waste some water she had stored in the bathtub to get this shit out of her hair. At least she had been smart enough to think of that.
The bigger problem was everyone else. Water is one of the few things you can't do without for long without dying. That meant things were about to get real bad for those who hadn't made at least a few basic preparations. Like filling the tub with water.
It confirmed to her that it was time to be getting out of here before it was too late. But there wasn't anything for her to do at the moment. She needed to decide where to go. She didn't know anybody out there that was alive. No one answered their phones. Not only that, you only wanted to go to someone or somewhere if you thought it was going to enhance your chance of survival. She didn't know anyone like that. No one who had been prepared. Her dad was the closest thing to it, but she couldn't get a hold of him. So who knew where he would be.
The ones that were trusting out in the world, had most likely been killed by those willing to play upon peoples emotions to let them get close. Then they just killed them and took what they needed. If you were still alive, it was because you were cautious. You knew that the real danger out there was not the zombies, it was people. Desperate people.
Zombies were easy to keep out. But people? They would use whatever means necessary to insure their survival. Even if it meant killing you. Megan had seen it. She had watched the marauders pulling people out of cars. Been horrified that there was nothing she could do even if she had wanted to. The marauders had killed them or fed them to the zombies, which seemed even worse.
But she needed to stop thinking like this. One thing at a time. Right now she just needed to get this shit out of her hair. She toweled off and re-bandaged her knee. Then she put on some shorts and a t-shirt with a smiley face. You didn't want to get caught naked when you had to leave fast.
She got a large bowl from the kitchen and went into the other bathroom. She scooped out a bowl of water and took it to the sink. That was when she heard the vehicle coming up the street. Megan dunked her head in the bowl and quickly got as much of the shampoo out as she could. If she was lucky the vehicle would just go on by. Best not to even look out the window at it. They were always watching for survivors.
Megan heard the vehicle stop close by. She toweled her hair dry rapidly. She went for her bat. Yippers barked, but she reached down and petted him. He sat silent. She could hear them exit the vehicle and begin moving around.
The smart thing to do would have been to grab a few things and get out the back. Megan moved as quickly and quietly as she could to her room. She grabbed some sweatpants and put them on. The quick movements shot pain throughout her knee. Then socks and shoes. She grabbed the matching top and put it on.
She heard the door shake. It was locked, but it wouldn't stop them for long. She went to the kitchen and grabbed the little food she had and a water bottle.
The doorbell rang. Shit did they know she was here? Yippers barked again. Megan bent down and gave him a pat on the head. The door shook.
"Julia!" came the shout at the door.
Who would be here to see her mother? It sounded like a man. Maybe she should answer.
"Julia! Megan! Are you in there?"
Well they definitely knew her family. But was that good or bad? Yippers let out another bark. Great. Megan went towards the door.
"Who is out there?" she yelled.
"Megan? It's your dad."
"Dad? What are you doing here?"
"I came for you, your mom and your sister. Open up."
Megan looked out the window. It was him. Him and some other guy. They were in a jacked up pickup. Great, that was really inconspicuous.
She opened the door. "What the fuck dad?"
"Is that any way to greet your father?"
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to get you. Where is your mother and sister?"
"I don't know. They weren't here when it all went to shit."
"You been here alone?" said the other man.
"Who are you?"
"That's Hank. Where were they?"
"Soccer practice."
"So why are you still here?"
"I had to see if they were coming back."
"If they haven't made it, they aren't coming," said Hank. "It's bad out there."
She looked over at her father. "Where are we going?"
"We'll find someplace."
"You don't have a place?" That was just great.
"We been coming here."
"We should get going then before the marauders come," said Megan.
"We been driving for a week. We need to rest," said Hank.
"Rest for how long?"
"Just until morning," said Dad.
"You need to hide that," said Megan nodding to the truck. "They will come around if that's here."
"Let them come," said Hank patting his shotgun. "We ain't taking no shit from anyone."
"At least park it up the street," said Megan.
"We can't keep an eye on it up the street," said Dad.
"It will attract trouble."
"We can handle any trouble," said Hank. "Don't you worry yourself little girl."
Four
Carlos had the van ready to go. He had been siphoning gas from nearby vehicles and had a full tank, plus a couple of gallons in plastic containers. It was 7:45am and Manny still wasn't here. He didn't want to leave him behind, but there wasn't too many options.
He had a 9mm Smith and Wesson tucked under the seat, but he didn't have an extra clip. He did have the rest of the box of 50 9mm shells.
Eight o'clock rolled around. No Manny. Crap! He needed to get on the road. Otherwise he was going to be stuck here another day. He rolled up the door, drove the van outside and then closed the door. You never knew if you were gone for good or would have to come back. Better safe than sorry.
He looked for Manny, but didn't see anyone except a few zombies. They weren't close enough to take notice of him yet. He couldn't wait any longer.
Carlos got into the van and pulled it out onto the road. He drove slowly, you were never sure what was around the next corner. Plus there were a lot of cars and junk just left in the road.
Two intersections down he looked down the road and saw a group of people trying to get past about ten zombies. He knew he shouldn't, but he turned down the street and went towards them. As he got close he could see that it was Manny.
Carlos reached under the seat and pulled the gun out. Other than that all he really had was a tire iron. It wasn't hard to take out one or two zombies, but ten could be troublesome.
He drove past the first zombie. It turned towards him and he shot it in the head from three feet away. It dropped. But the noise drew the others. Carlos stopped the van. He left it running, but got out, grabbing up the tire iron in his free hand.
Carlos shot two more zombies before it started to get crowded. He started to move sideways in order to lead them further from the van.
"Manny get to the van!" called Carlos.
"We will try," said Manny. He was wielding a machete. His son was staying back, but his wife was limping.
&n
bsp; Carlos dashed forward and caught a male zombie in the side of the head with the tire iron. He heard bones crunch. It staggered, but he had to hit it again for it to go down.
There were four more still chasing him and two on Manny. The four that were left were now too clumped up to risk the tire iron. He moved quickly to the side so that he had a clear line of fire away from Manny and the van.
Carlos fired four shots, but only two of the zombies went down. He saw that Manny had finished off one of his. Down the street Carlos saw more zombies coming out. They needed to get out of here fast.
He moved in close and shot the first zombie point blank in the head. Then he swung the tire iron at the second and put it down.
Carlos saw Manny helping his wife towards the van. He ran back to the van and opened the sliding side door so that they could get her inside it. He helped get her into the van. Manny and the boy got in after her and closed the door.
He got into the drivers seat and pressed the gas pedal down. They took off back up the street and turned back towards his brothers.
"What happened?" said Carlos.
"We ran into a problem," said Manny.
"Was she bit?"
"Yes," said Manny. "Do not worry I will handle it."
"We still need to hit a store for supplies."
"She will stay in the van with Manny Jr."
"Okay, do what you can," said Carlos. "There a first aid kit and some water back there."
"Thanks for not leaving us Carlos."
"You are just lucky that you were on the way."
Carlos knew that this was bad. He hadn't heard of anyone surviving a bite for long, though everyone seemed to think that their loved ones would be different. This was going to end badly, he just needed to make sure it didn't end badly for him.
Five
Josh looked out the peep hole in the door. God it was that chick again. Katy could be her name. Why was she back already? He had given her a baggie of weed just yesterday, hadn't he?
People Are Not Your Friends (Book 1) Page 1