Total Apoc Trilogy (Book 1): The Horde Rises

by Gallier, TW

  We really didn't have a choice in the matter. Zombies immediately attacked us after we broke into our friends' apartments and stole their zombie kits. We didn't even have time to think about what else we might need.

  "Maybe we can loot some abandoned houses on the way," I said. "It shouldn't be too hard to find extra clothes that fit."

  "Cool," Ralph said. "I've always wanted to be a looter. I feel so badass."

  He sounded way too miserable for those words. Most pathetic joke ever. I didn't have the will to ping him on it, either. Olivia just sighed.

  "We should try to get some sleep," I said. "I'll take first watch."

  "You're a good man," Ralph said. "I don't care what Olivia says about you."

  That made us all grin. Maybe we'd make it after all.

  "The sleeping bags are all sealed in plastic bags, so they should be dry," Olivia said. "And warm." She looked at me, and then Ralph, before gnawing on her lip a moment. "We… Um, should hang our clothes around the fire to dry while we sleep."

  "Are you going to get naked and – " Ralph started, perking up.

  "Dammit. I knew you'd go there," she interrupted him. "Get it out of your head, moron. We're fighting for our lives here. If I sleep with one of you, I have to sleep with both of you to keep the peace. It's not going to happen."

  "So much for my fantasy of a threesome," I teased, wagging my brows. "But you're right."

  "I agree one hundred percent," Ralph said. "It would be so unfair that you got to have twice as much sex as us."

  "Well, now that you put it that way," Olivia said. "Not."

  Ralph and I chuckled. Nothing sounded sweeter than our pre-apocalypse banter. We had a new spin on it now, but it was still the same subject matter. She was smiling. Ralph was grinning. I felt all happy inside.

  Then I looked around at the dark forest surrounding us, and it all went away. I stood up with the AR15 and looked around, listening intently. Zombies didn't make much noise. Moans and groans mostly, and not much of that, either. There wasn't anything subtle about them, so we'd probably hear them crashing through the woods. Of course, it might be too late by that time.

  "On watch, I think we shouldn't spend all of our time by the fire," I said. "We're pretty close to the beach on both sides of the island, so I think we can see if any zombies managed to swim over to attack us."

  "Thanks for that, Mr. Buzzkill," Ralph said, sobering up.

  Olivia and Ralph found some fallen branches and carved sharp ends to stick into the ground around the fire. They put enough around the fire to hold all of our clothes to dry. Ralph took off his shirt, draped it over a branch, and then looked at Olivia. Her eyes widened.

  "I'm going to wash the blood out of mine first," she whispered. "Will you guard me, Kyle?"

  "Sure."

  Ralph decided it was a good idea, so grabbed his shirt and we went to the closest beach. I watched as they waded out into the water. Olivia tried to wash her clothes while wearing them, but she quickly gave up and pulled off her shirt. In the darkness, it looked like she was wearing a bikini top, but I was sure it was a bra. To his credit, Ralph only glanced at her.

  "Aren't you going to wash your clothes?" Olivia asked me.

  "Yes, after my time on watch ends," I answered. "I don't want to get my clothes any wetter right now."

  They both stripped to their underwear and washed the blood out as best they could. It was hard to tell how successful they were in the dark. After about five minutes they gave up and came splashing back to shore with their dripping clothes wadded in their arms. We returned to the campfire.

  "That water is freezing," Ralph complained, teeth chattering.

  They wrung out their clothes as best they could and draped them over the branches. I went over and checked the other side of the island while they did so. The coast was clear, literally. When I returned Ralph was zipped up in his sleeping bag on the east side of the fire, with Olivia on the west side. Her sleeping bag wasn't zipped up and she was staring at me as I entered the camp. Ralph looked like he was already asleep.

  "I wish I could fall asleep as fast as him," I whispered.

  "Me, too," she said. "Do me a favor?"

  "Sure."

  "Hang these up to dry for me."

  Her sleeping bag opened a little and one hand came out. Her bra and panties were in that hand. Thanks to the firelight, I got a great view of one perfect breast. My breath caught, and I felt tingly all over. I tried my best to remain outwardly cool, not wanting to embarrass her. Stepping up close, I bent down to take her wet underwear, and got an even better look at her nipple. A very erect nipple.

  "No problem," I said without my voice squeaking. Our eyes met and held for a long second. I felt that gaze in my bones. She broke eye contact with a bemused look. "M-My pleasure."

  "Um-hmmm," she said, a tiny smile flirting with the corners of her mouth. "Thanks. For everything."

  Not sure what that meant, but she had me shaking for another reason. It was going to be a long night.

  Chapter 12

  Ralph and I got up with the sun. Olivia stood last watch. We were dry. Our clothes were dry and warm. Yet it was remarkably cold for a summer morning. Maybe it was from being on an island and the humidity. We built the fire back up before digging out some rations and eating.

  "We seriously need new clothes," Olivia said.

  "You'd think red would hide blood stains," I said, picking at my red polo. The blood stains weren't so much red as dark brown. "But no."

  Our attempt at washing clothes in the river hadn't helped much. All of our clothes were stained with blood. Ralph's Zombie Hunter t-shirt was mostly black, so we couldn't see much staining. His khaki shorts, like my khaki trousers, were another issue. Even Olivia's jeans were pretty messed up. Of the three of us, Ralph was the least concerned.

  "At least the walkers are mostly gone," Olivia said. "I counted eight on the western side when I checked a few minutes ago."

  Ralph and I both had to check that out. The zombies still milling around were watching the island from the spot we'd crossed over from. The other shore was empty of walkers, but Olivia said she'd watched a few small groups of zombies walking southward. I recalled seeing something similar during my last watch.

  "Why are they all heading south?" Ralph asked.

  I was worrying about the same thing. All of the zombies heading in the same direction as us couldn't be good. I'd much rather be going somewhere they didn't want to be. That place looked like north now.

  "Maybe they're going to the beach," I said, grinning at him. "I hear South Texas is beautiful this time of year."

  "Mmm, I love Padre Island," Olivia whispered. "Don't even try to spoil my memories of it with zombies." She stuffed the rest of her turkey loaf into her mouth. "I've been thinking about it a lot. I think they're going to Emory."

  "Why do you think that?"

  "Lots and lots of live people to kill," she said. "We saw how obsessed they are with killing anything alive."

  That idea implied they could communicate somehow. How else would they know there were living people in Emory? Our chances of survival diminished as their intelligence rose. I wanted them to be as dumb as dirt.

  "How smart do you think they are?" I asked. "Can they think well enough to make plans? Like lay an ambush? This also implies they can communicate."

  Their eyes widened with the question. Ralph and Olivia glanced at me, then at each other, and then looked off into space as they contemplated the question and its ramifications. One of the zombies let out a long, soulful groan off in the middle distance. All I'd heard from them so far were inarticulate noises, but that didn't mean they didn't communicate.

  Gunfire erupted upriver. I jumped to my feet, heart hammering. Memories of Ted and friends filled my thoughts. I felt guilt at my feelings of fear and desire to keep them away. I wasn't sure if I'd rather the zombies get them or not.

  Without a word, we grabbed our weapons and moved to the treeline. The gunfire star
ted up again. There had to be more than one of them. I heard at least two distinct types of automatic weapons.

  "They have machine guns," Olivia said, voice drenched in fear.

  We moved swiftly, while remaining crouched and inside the treeline. Avoiding the original campsite, we crawled up to the very tip of the island's upstream end. Even though the gunfire sounded to the west of the river, I scanned the eastern shore, too. Sounds could echo.

  "There," Ralph whispered, pointing to the eastern shore. "At the bend."

  I saw him. It was a man in all camo.

  "Is he a soldier?" Olivia asked.

  "Maybe," I said. Camo didn't necessarily mean soldier. Those could be his hunting clothes. Or he could be some prepper chased out of his secret lair. Then another camo-clothed guy joined him on the beach. More gunfire started inside the woods. "Damn. How many are there?"

  Just the two of them outgunned us. Worse, they were heading downriver. Towards us. If they understood that zombies avoided crossing water, then our island was their destination. It was a no-brainer, even if they didn't know.

  "What are we going to do if they try to cross over?" I asked.

  "Try?" Olivia replied, lifting a brow.

  "Yeah. Try," Ralph said, steel in his voice. "We light them up in the water. They will kill us for our shit."

  Olivia and I stared into each other's eyes for a long moment. I could see my dread mirrored in her eyes and expression. Killing zombies was one thing, but killing another survivor was just wrong. Yet, Ralph might be right. How could you know who was good at heart, and who was evil? Or who was desperate enough to kill indiscriminately?

  Had we become that desperate?

  "There's another one," Ralph whispered, starting to sound stressed.

  Olivia nudged me in the side. She pointed to the opposite shore. Zombies were coming out of the woods in droves, going right up to the water line and watching the battle. They milled around, acting like all they wanted to do was cross over and join the chase. None of them took even a single step into the water.

  The same thing was happening across the river, except those zombies emerged from the trees and turned towards the gunmen. Seeing how many zombies there were on both sides of the river sucked the air out of my lungs. All hoped died. I never imagined there could be so many.

  Looking downstream, I noticed there were no zombies on the other side of the stream that emptied into the river just south of the island. Water might be a barrier, but there should still be some over there. What was keeping them away?

  "Whoa!" Ralph cried.

  I turned to find one of the three men fighting hand-to-hand with zombies. They piled on him in nothing flat. They were holding onto his arms and legs, biting him over and over. My heart sank when he was dragged down. He quickly vanished under a pile of them.

  "Oh god," Olivia whispered, hand over mouth and eyes overflowing with tears.

  The lead gunman threw his rifle away. The man behind him used his to bash zombies away. They veered closer to the water as more zombies downstream of them appeared on the thin beach. I noticed the lead man kept looking towards our island.

  "I think they are out of ammo," I said.

  I felt safer knowing they'd arrive unarmed. Still, Ted and company were unarmed and took us out. Those guys looked even more competent and dangerous.

  "Run, run, run," Olivia whispered urgently.

  The lead man waded out into the water about a hundred yards upstream of us. The walkers heading for him all turned towards the last one. He was swinging his rifle like crazy, now surrounded and blocked from escape into the water. It looked like he knew he was a goner.

  "Oh no!" Olivia squeaked.

  He'd dropped the rifle. I thought he was just giving up, but then he pulled a pistol from a hip holster, pressed it under his jaw, and pulled the trigger. The top of his head exploded and he dropped straight down.

  "Saved his last round for that," Ralph said, nodding. "Good idea."

  The zombies attacking him immediately fell to their knees beside him as they ripped at his clothes. We watched in horror as they stripped away his clothes, and then his flesh. They ate him. Just devoured him.

  "I think I'm going to be sick," I muttered, stomach rolling and head dizzy.

  Ralph and Olivia looked just as sick. Then I noticed the zombies atop the first guy to fall were dispersing. He looked whole and dead when they got off, yet none of them were trying to eat him.

  "What's wrong with him that's keeping them from…," Olivia started to ask.

  He began to writhe and buck. Then he sat up. He was too far away to see any detail, but I knew. I'd seen them biting him. Confirmation that being bitten turned you into a zombie just made my blood run cold.

  "Here comes company," I said, noticing the last of the gunmen start to swim out into deeper water. He was on the side of the river furthest from the island. We were only about the one third mark from the western shore. So he'd have to swim twice as far as we did, plus he was rather far upriver.

  "I don't think he's going to make it," Ralph said.

  He was right. Even at that distance I could see the man was struggling to keep his head above water. It had to be his military camouflage. All those clothes soaked through had to be weighing him down. Plus, his boots must've made it impossible to effectively kick. The only reason I'd made it across was by using my pack as a float.

  "Oh," Olivia groaned miserably. "I can't watch."

  She turned away, but stayed with us. I didn't want to watch either, but couldn't tear my eyes away. He bobbed, splashed, and bobbed a few more times. I glanced toward both shores, noticing the zombies watching and pacing him. Looking for a meal?

  "He's not coming back up," Ralph said.

  I watched the water where I'd last seen him. Nothing. Conflicting emotions washed through me. Relief. Guilt. We did nothing to help him. Yet, what could we seriously have done? At the same time, I was contemplating shooting him if he reached the island.

  "Now we know," I whispered, still afraid the zombies could hear us from so far away. "We can be turned into zombies."

  "But are they really alive?" Olivia asked. "I think they are. They ate the guy who killed himself, so it's possible to be dead and not rise as a zombie."

  "True, but he shot himself in the head. Head shots kill zombies," Ralph said.

  "Exactly," I said. "It kills them. That implies they are alive to begin with."

  That meant the radio was correct. They were infected with something. Zombies were the result of biological warfare.

  "As horrible as it is," Ralph said. "There's a certain diabolical genius to it, as well. Nukes pretty much kill a limited area outright, with a lot of the casualties coming later from radiation poisoning. But the zombie virus, for lack of a better term, spreads the death and destruction. They ensure many times as many people were destroyed this way."

  "Glad it makes you so fucking happy," Olivia said, eyes narrowing.

  "No, no," I jumped in. Knowing Ralph, he'd see her statement as an invitation to continue. "It's just Ralph's way. He looks at all sides, all of the ramifications of disasters. That's what makes him such a great gaming programmer. He's not justifying what happened or saying he likes it."

  That didn't seem to mollify her at all. I understood her. She needed to get it out of her system. I was filled with fear and rage and uncertainty, too. But we couldn't fight amongst ourselves. We were all we had.

  "I noticed a possible way to escape this island."

  That got both of their attentions. I smiled. It wasn't a sure thing, but any chance was better than none. But we were programmers. Problem solvers. We could figure it out.

  Still, the prospect of leaving the relative safety of that island to cross zombie-infested territory scared me to death. Even thinking about it made my heart race and stomach churn. Our little island was the pan, and everything else was the fire.

  Chapter 13

  The zombies dispersed after they picked that poor guy's bon
es clean. Even the last ones still watching our island left the area. Or so it seemed. None of us were confident enough to test it. We stayed hidden in the woods, safely on our island.

  Time passed excruciatingly slowly. After emptying our packs, we cleaned all of the blood and mud off everything. After loading all of the magazines we had left, after losing about half of them along the way, we worked out a better way to put our stuff back in the packs. Essentially, the remaining boxes of ammo went on top for ease of access. Olivia's shotgun shells were divided between her and Ralph, since they had the same gauge guns. We even lightened our load by discarding ammo for weapons we failed to find and bring.

  Since we were running out of ammo, Ralph suggested we practice using our machetes more. Easier said than done. Originally he thought we should machete fight each other. Since zombies didn't use any weapons, Olivia shot that idea down. It did sound dangerous for no good reason, but we did spent some time over the next three days hacking on bushes and trees to get a feel for them and build up our hacking muscles.

  "We've used up half our ammo, and eaten even more of our food," I told them at breakfast on the fourth day on the island. "I think it's time we head out again and look for abandoned houses to loot for food and weapons."

  My friends agreed. I sensed relief now that we were planning to leave. I felt both relieved and apprehensive. We were halfway home, and managed to do pretty well so far. But more than ninety percent of that distance was done in the safety of a vehicle. We didn't fare so well after the EMP took out our transportation.

  During our time on the island, we'd spent most of it watching zombies passing by on the opposite shores. There were a lot of them and every single one of them was heading south. Ralph tagged it the Great Zombie Migration.

  We did note that they came in waves. Ralph theorized each wave was another town or city upriver of us. The time between waves was the walking time between the towns. The stragglers between them being the farmers and others living out in the country. Neither Olivia nor I could find any fault in his argument, but we disagreed anyway just to aggravate him.