by Gallier, TW
At the same time I wanted to live. I wanted Olivia and Ralph to live. I wanted my family to live and prosper. I wanted a life of happiness, love, children, and security. The prospects of that happening were dim, and fading fast.
"Now I know he's not all right," Olivia said.
"No, he's fine," I said. "I understand. But we have to be careful. We've been running around half-cocked up until now. It's time to get serious."
I didn't want to go into that town. I really didn't want Olivia to endanger herself. Ralph was different. I thought he wanted to go find zombies to kill. The anger was building inside him faster than inside me. Fear still gripped me. Maybe I thought I had something to live for? Maybe Ralph was just braver than me?
"Let's get closer, maybe get the lay of the land," I said. "Then we can rest a bit before doing anything rash." Olivia's eyes widened and she shook her head. "I think we'll find a car at a gas station on the highway. But if not, we'll go into the town tonight."
Chapter 5
"The gas station on the right is a burned out mess," Olivia said, peering through her binoculars.
We were on our bellies atop a nearby hill. Olivia was to my left and Ralph to my right. Our packs sat on the ground behind us, but we kept our weapons on the ground before us. A zombie could show up at anytime, anywhere.
My job was specifically to look for living or dead moving around on the highway and side road. Ralph was to study one of the two gas stations for possible vehicles and zombies, while Olivia checked out the other. So far so good after about fifteen minutes. Even so, knowing we were about to sneak over to one of those gas stations sent chills down my spine and made me all tingly.
Olivia's station was dark. Ralph's station was lit up like a lighthouse. It was a beacon of hope. Or death. Were zombies attracted to light? To me it meant life, people, and hope. At least at first. It didn't take long to realize there was no life over there.
"I don't see anyone at the other gas station," Ralph said. "Looks safe enough to me."
We spent the rest of the day and half the night resting, eating, just recharging our batteries. Two slept while one stood guard, ate, searched for more information on our smartphones. My battery was almost dead. Of course, all three of us forgot to bring our chargers, not that we had a plug to charge them on. Still, every so often we all tried unsuccessfully to get family on the phone.
"I'm not seeing any movement," I said.
It was one thing to react to adversity, and a whole nother to plan and execute a dangerous raid. I wasn't a soldier. I was a computer geek; a programmer by day, a gamer boy by night.
"Dudes, you have to promise me," Olivia whispered. "Don't let the walkers have me. If I'm caught, you have to kill me. Shoot me. Cut off my head. Anything. Just, please, don't let me become a zombie."
That was the single most horrific thing I'd ever heard in my life. I couldn't speak or even think. My brain shut down for a second. My mind refused to accept it could happen. Not to Olivia. Not to Ralph. My eyes started burning, hands shaking.
"Don't worry," Ralph said. "I'll pop a cap in your ass."
"Thanks, but try to aim a little higher, dude," she said, sounding relieved. "I'll return the favor if needed."
I pressed my overheated face into the cool grass.
"I guess Kyle never thought about it," Ralph said. "Wake up to reality, dude, it's a zombie world now."
I didn't want to think about it. I didn't have to think about it. So I stood up.
"Grab your shit," I said. "Let's do this."
After about twelve hours of rest, I thought my pack would feel lighter. I was wrong. If anything, it felt even heavier. How did soldiers do it day in and day out? On top of that, soldiers had to fight other soldiers while lugging bigger packs than we were carrying. Funny thing, I used to fantasize about being a badass soldier in a war. Totally thought I could do it.
We crossed the highway first thing, as far from town as possible. I figured if there were any zombies on watch that they'd be closer to town. Moving along the treeline, I kept my eyes forward. Olivia kept watch to our left, in case zombies attacked out of the woods. Ralph kept watch to the right and behind us. We learned that tactic playing Zombie Hunter.
We made good time, despite moving slowly. I had everyone drop their packs along the tree line when we reached the gas station. There was the possibility of losing the packs if we were attacked by zombies, but we'd be able to move faster and find a new vehicle if not encumbered. We had to trust ourselves and believe we could come back for them.
We went in like commandos. Or as close as two computer geeks and a nerdy girl could. I had my finger on the trigger of the AR15, crouched over, eyes darting all around. There were no movements of anything other than trees swaying in the breeze. Olivia followed close behind me with her sawed-off shotgun. Ralph brought up the rear with his crossbow in hand, and his Uzi slung across his back. All three of us brought a machete, pistols, and binoculars. It might be night, but we could still see remarkably well through them.
Since one gas station was a smoldering ruin, there was only one station to check. We started by circling around behind it to ensure there were no surprises there. Ralph crawled to the store windows and peeked in to look for others, living or dead.
"Two dead women inside," he reported. "And lots of blood everywhere."
It was a chain gas station with a small store and had four vehicles at the pumps, not counting the motorcycle. I ruled the subcompact car out right away, since it was too small for the three of us and our packs. That left us with a pickup and a pair of four-door sedans, so I checked the pickup, and my friends each checked a sedan.
"No keys in the truck," I whispered.
"Nada," Ralph said.
"I got nothing," Olivia said.
Ralph checked the subcompact, while I started looking around for dead bodies off in the shadows and bushes. There were no bodies outside. Olivia led the way into the store. We found the two women torn to pieces inside. Going through their purses, we found their keys. None of the keys were for a brand vehicle out front.
"The car owners were probably turned into zombies and wandered off with the keys," Ralph said. "This sucks."
My heart skipped a beat when I spotted something we really needed. I yanked off a smartphone charger from the display rack.
"Chargers," I said, pulling my phone out. Going behind the counter, I ripped it out of the packaging and plugged the charger in. I then plugged in my smartphone. "Quick, grab a charger and plug your phone in."
"We don't have time to charge our phones," Olivia replied.
Ralph grabbed a charger and quickly had his phone charging. I grinned at her, which kind of ticked her off.
"Listen," I said. "We can charge our phones while we go look for a car in the town. It might not be much charge, but something is better than nothing."
"What if someone steals our phones while…" she started to say, and stopped when we both turned oh really stares at her.
Olivia turned bright red. She scowled and grumbled, but took a charger and plugged in her phone. None of us liked to be wrong, much less admit it. I was just glad the store had chargers for all three phones, since each of us carried a different brand.
"Let's get this over with," I said, heading out the door.
The town was on the gas station side of the highway, about half a mile from the highway. We couldn't see it from the gas station, but there was a glow above to show us its location.
Moving in crouches along the tree line, we rounded the bend and saw the small town spread out before us. There was a one block downtown, so old the street was made of red brick. Street lights were on in downtown, and some of the small wood frame houses lining the nearest streets had lit porch lights, too. The town was much better lit than I'd anticipated.
"Damn, I appreciate all the light, but doesn't that just make it easier for the walkers to spot us?" Ralph echoed my thoughts.
"Look, just past downtown," Olivia whispered, dro
pping to one knee.
A small group of zombies stumbled through an intersection. It was the most disturbing group of them yet, since it appeared to be a mother and father with two preteen boys. Just soul-sickening. Another zombie stumbled out of the smashed display window of a hardware store. That's when I noticed three zombies kneeling and eating something to our right, about a block away. I lifted the binoculars to see what they were eating, though I feared I already knew. It was a small dog or cat they'd caught. I couldn't tell which, but there was a lot of blood and fur on the ground before them.
"I think the whole town has been turned," Ralph said. "I'm not sure it's safe to go in there."
"If we don't, we have to keep lugging those packs," I said.
"I'm with Ralph on this one," Olivia said. "I don't want to go in there. It's too dangerous."
Gunfire erupted. Pap-pap-pap. Pap-pap-pap.
We all threw ourselves flat on the ground.
Pap. Pap-pap.
As one, the zombies in view all threw themselves towards the sound of gunfire. I watched them, noticing some moved better than others. None of them ran very fast, but they never hesitated, either. Did they tire? I doubted it. Why would the undead get tired? Of course, the radio called them "infected" so maybe they were still alive. I knew one thing, bullets only slowed them down, so pain wasn't much of an issue for them.
"This is our chance to get out of here," Olivia urged.
"No, this is our chance to dart in and find a vehicle while they are all off chasing the gunman," I countered. I looked at Ralph. "Don't you agree?"
"Fucking A," he said. "Screw carrying a pack all day."
Pap. Pap. Pap-pap-pap-pap. It sounded further away.
"You bastards are going to get me killed," she muttered. "I'm ready."
I led the way. We fell into our usual formation without word or thought. As soon as we entered the town I felt super exposed. Like, look at me, look at me! Olivia let out the tiniest of groans. Thankfully Ralph didn't take the opportunity to dig her.
"There's a minivan," Ralph said.
Stopping, I looked to where he was pointing. It was an open garage way in the back behind a small older home. There was little chance the owner left the keys in the ignition, so that meant we had to break into the house and look around.
"You realize if anyone's in that house they will shoot us in the face," Olivia piped in.
"We have to go in," I said. "That's the reason we're here."
"Let's check the door," Ralph said. "I doubt the door is locked if the owner is a zombie now."
Maybe. Maybe not. It really depended on when and where they were turned. Still, we had to go in. So Ralph went up and tested the front door. It was locked. He rattled the doorknob, while we listened for anyone moving inside. Nothing. So we snuck around back and I tried that door. It was locked, but the upper half of the door were nine little glass windows.
"Stand aside. I'm going to break the glass to unlock the door," I whispered.
Ralph and Olivia moved about five feet back. I crouched to one side, pulled my machete, and knocked out the glass. The sound was atrocious in my ear, but not nearly as scary as the machinegun fire that suddenly ripped the lower half of that door to shreds.
"Go away!" a man shouted from inside.
He didn't have to tell us twice. We took off like rabbits. Looking at us, you'd never think we could run that fast.
"We have to get out of here," Olivia said, huffing and puffing. "The zombies will be coming to check it out."
"Shit, shit, shit," Ralph said, looking around with crazy eyes.
Looking around for zombies, I spotted a cop car with the driver's side door open. The lights were still on. Slapping them each in the arm, I pointed and grinned. We took off running. It was across the street, much closer to downtown. The black and white squad car was also in a well-lit area.
"Walkers!" Ralph cried.
I looked right. Three big men were lumbering our way. They looked the most like zombies of any I'd seen so far. Covered in dark, dried blood, they came at us with wild, crazy eyes and mouths open. They didn't extend their hands out at us, like in the movies and video games, but they struggled to walk and run, looking ungainly.
"Five more to the left," Olivia whispered. "Holy crap, they're all little kids!"
A German Shepherd ran between us and the three men. They stopped and turned towards the dog. Even the little kids turned toward the running dog. When the dog circled and started barking, the zombies turned to face him, following him around.
"Easily distracted," Ralph said.
"Good to know," I added. And then four more zombies came around the cop car and were upon us. "Walkers!"
The machete was still in my right hand, while I held the AR15 by its handle in the left. Hacking at the first zombie, I took off one hand and then half of his head. Hot blood splattered all over me as he collapsed and died. Ralph shot another with his crossbow.
Ka-boom!
The nearest zombie's head exploded with that shot from Olivia's shotgun. She immediately ejected the spent cartridge and aimed at the last of the four.
Ka-boom!
"I gotta get me a shotgun!" Ralph cried.
"Holy crap, Olivia," I said, gawking at her. "You're an Amazon warrior!" I saw more zombies coming at us behind her. "In the car!"
Both Olivia and I went for the driver's seat. She got there first, but I shoved her over to the passenger side. Slamming the door, I hit the door lock button seconds before the first zombies reached us. They beat on the roof and windows, making the vehicle rock and rattle.
"Engine's running!" Olivia screamed. "Go! Go!"
The rear driver's side window shattered. Ralph opened up with his Uzi.
Ratta-tat-tat-tat-tat! Right in my ear. Hot brass spewed into the front seat as I put it in reverse and hit the gas. I must've run over a dozen zombies. Roughest ride ever, bouncing all three of us all around. Spinning the wheel, I threw it in Drive, and burned rubber getting out of there. I mowed down two more walkers, a blonde teenage girl and an old man.
"Wahoo!" both Olivia and Ralph cried.
"Time to get our packs and phones, and get the hell out of Dodge," I said. I noticed the gas gauge showed half a tank. "And some gas."
"And then we go home?" Olivia asked.
"Then we go home."
Chapter 6
First thing upon reaching the gas station, Olivia started pumping gas while Ralph and I fetched the packs. Then I took a guard position on the road, while Ralph went into the store to loot some food and retrieve our phones.
"They're coming," I shouted.
"Ralph! Did you hear that?" Olivia called. "Walkers on the way!"
I saw him wave at her as he headed towards our charging phones. So we didn't get much charge, but maybe we'd find an old abandoned house or something to charge them up some more. Anything's better than nothing.
I watched the walkers coming towards us. Some moved better than others. The first zombie looked like a thirty-something African-American nurse in bloody baby blue scrubs. She reminded me of my mother, who was also a nurse. It was a fucked-up end for a woman who'd dedicated her life to helping others.
The nurse was way out front of the others. I was already dreading shooting her, but moved my finger to the trigger. The safety was already off. Then a rabbit darted across the street behind her, but in front of the others following. Every zombie turned to look at the rabbit. Even the nurse, who never saw it, stopped and turned around.
"What the fuck? How did she know?"
That said something. I wasn't sure what, though. Hive mentality? Were all zombies "connected" mentally? Telepathy? Was there more going on inside their heads than was obvious?
"Tank's full," Olivia said. "Ralph, time to go!"
Our packs were already in the trunk. The police car had a 12-gauge shotgun and two boxes of ammo in the trunk that Ralph claimed. He came out with plastic bags loaded with munchies, mostly chips, cupcakes, and candy. I watc
hed him dump those bags in the open trunk, before running back inside for four cases of sodas.
"No beer?" Olivia said.
"No," he said. "I could use a beer right now."
I was glad. While I didn't drink, those two could suck down a six-pack in nothing flat. The last thing I needed was them drunk and useless in a fight. Olivia got real aggressive when she was drunk. At least Ralph just sat there and grinned when he was drunk.
Ralph finished before the undead nurse reached us. I felt relief, but worried that she might be better off if I killed her. With a sigh, I turned and ran back to the cop car and slid behind the wheel.
Ralph jumped into the seat beside me.
"Hey!" Olivia cried.
"Your turn to ride in back, girlie."
"I'll girlie you, pig," she grumbled, but got in the backseat.
I didn't say anything. We constantly competed on everything, trying to one up each other and taunting the others when we did. Some things never changed, and honestly I didn't want them to. It gave me a sense of normality.
"Turn on the radio," I said as we pulled away from the pump. The nurse surged forward. I watched her in the rearview mirror as I gunned it and rolled up on the blacktop. She stumbled to a stop, staring at us as we escaped. I thought it interesting to see them all stopped. "I think the walkers are smarter than they seem."
Ralph stopped trying to find a station broadcasting and gave me a dirty look.
"Well, aren't you full of fun information," Olivia replied. "What makes you say that?"
"Back at the gas station, I watched a rabbit run across the road."
"Wow, that changes everything!" Ralph said.
"Ha ha, you're not funny," I said, giving him a dirty look. "Listen, moron. There was a zombie way ahead of the others. When the rabbit ran across the road in front of the other walkers, they all instantly stopped to look at the rabbit. The one out front also stopped, turned around, and looked at the rabbit."
"So, maybe they like eating rabbit more than people," Olivia said.