Safe Zone

by Chesla, Gary

  6:00 AM

  Shaun began to wake up as the urgent need to go to the bathroom made it too uncomfortable to sleep any longer.

  He opened his eyes and was surprised to see the light of the early morning sky. He was also surprised to see the tree leaves and branches that hung twenty feet over his head.

  The urgency of his need to go to the bathroom pushed aside the disappointment of not being in his bedroom to the back of his mind.

  He quickly crawled out from under his blanket and headed for the closest spot behind one of the large boulders that surrounded the group, shaking his head as he saw Doug and Lisa huddled together under their blanket sound asleep.

  Shaun was behind the boulder relieving himself, he was feeling more comfortable by the second. He felt good as he listened to the splashing sound as the urine ran over the leaves at the base of the stone.

  Shaun thought. “This is sick.” Then he laughed quietly.

  As he finished and was about to go back to his blanket, his mind no longer occupied by his recent discomfort, the splashing sound now gone, his mind began to become aware again of his surroundings.

  The splashing sound was being replaced by the other surrounding sounds his mind had ignored as he got up.

  He now became aware of one sound in particular and he froze as he listened.

  A low groaning sound now had his attention as it began to get louder.

  Shaun rushed back over to where Megan was sleeping. He knelt down next to her and gently shook her.

  “Meg, wake up.” Shaun urgently whispered.

  Megan opened her eyes and looked up at Shaun. She began to smile but quickly began to look serious as she studied Shaun’s face.

  “What’s wrong?” She whispered.

  “Get up and get ready to move. Something is happening. I don’t know for sure what, yet. But get ready.” Shaun whispered.

  Shaun ran over to where Doug and Lisa were sleeping.

  Shaun shook Doug. “Doug, wake up!”

  Doug opened his eyes. After a few seconds he realized he had fallen asleep. He started to apologize, but Shaun held his fingers up to his lips.

  “Doug, something is going on. Wake Lisa and make sure both of you stay quiet. Just get up and get ready to travel.”

  Shaun moved back to Megan. He stood next to her and listened. Megan stood next to him.

  “It sounds like it is coming from the other side of the river, maybe up on Route 30.” She whispered.

  Doug and Lisa walked over. Lisa looked frightened as she listened to the sounds.

  “It sounds like it is coming from over on 30. Stay here and keep your eyes on the hillside behind us. I’m going to get a closer look at Route 30 and the river. We have to figure out what is going on before it gets too close.” Shaun said.

  “Megan moved next to him.” I’m staying with you. “You know what happen the last time I let you go off by yourself?”

  “OK.” Shaun said and began to lead Megan to the edge of the tree line.

  They listened as Shaun pushed the branches out of his face so he could see the river. He and Megan looked at the river bank. It looked clear on their side of the river, but as they looked up at Route 30 they moved back further behind the branches. Hundreds of the dead were staggering along on the highway going towards Ligonier.

  The front of the horde was scattered out over about fifty feet. The mob of dead that followed became much more dense the further back you looked. Their first guess of hundreds was a gross underestimate.

  Shaun briefly thought about looking to see if the dead that had left its arm on the window of the house was up on the highway, but that quickly left his thoughts. Most of the dead were missing body parts. They always seemed to be losing something. He figured if he went up on Route 30 after the horde had passed through, he would easily be able to find enough body parts lying around to build his own zombie. Not that he would want to do that, but you live long enough in this nightmare, you start to have these sick thoughts running through your mind from time to time. Shaun guessed it was just his minds way of handling the overload to keep from going insane.

  Megan whispered interrupting his wondering thought. “What do think?”

  “Go get Doug and Lisa and have them come over here. Tell them to bring their packs and blankets and sit right here behind us.”

  “OK.” Then Megan left as Shaun continued to study the horde of dead up on Route 30.

  Doug, Lisa and Megan walked up behind Shaun.

  Shaun turned as Doug asked. “Are we going to move out?”

  “No. I think we should just stay put until they pass by.” Shaun answered. “I think we should stay here. If we try to keep going towards Ligonier and they spot us moving, they might all start coming in our direction.”

  “We could go further up on the hill. They couldn’t see us up there.” Doug said.

  “It’s possible, but I don’t think we should chance it. What if we ran into more of them up that way? Then we would have the dead on both sides. I think we should wait them out.” Shaun answered.

  “Why can’t we just go? They can’t get us, they are on the other side of the water.” Lisa said.

  “But if they know we are over here the river won’t stop them. They will walk right through the river.” Megan said. “We’ve seen them do it before.”

  “Most parts of the river up this way don’t look to be too deep. The dead don’t do too well when there are fast moving currents. They tend to get washed down stream, but here the water seems shallow and slow moving.” Shaun added.

  Doug nodded at Lisa. “Shaun told me yesterday about seeing the dead wade in one side of the river and come out the other side.”

  “They don’t need to breathe. I don’t think they even knew they were in water. I don’t think they know much of anything except that they want the living.” Shaun added. “So we can’t rely a whole lot on the river for protection.”

  “What if they are over there all day?” Lisa asked.

  “If we don’t want them chasing us, I think we just try to wait.” Shaun replied.

  “By the book?” Doug smiled.

  “If there was a book, it would say be quiet and patient and wait them out.” Shaun smiled. “Why don’t you and Lisa sit here behind me and keep an eye on the woods behind us. Meg and I will watch across the river.”

  They had been watching the dead over on Route 30 for about an hour when something caught Shaun’s eye. He stared. It couldn’t be? “Hey Meg, look at this.”

  “Look at what?” Megan asked leaning in close to Shaun to see what he had been looking at.

  “Directly across from us. The one in the red dress.” Shaun said.

  Megan studied the zombie in the red dress. She was shuffling down the middle of the highway. Megan’s view was blocked briefly as a few others of the dead staggered past the one in the red dress. “I can’t see real well, but that looks like the dress I had hanging in my closet.”

  “I certainly hope so.” Shaun smiled.

  Megan smiled. “Do you think the dead got that group of bikers that burnt our house down?”

  “It would be nice wouldn’t it?” Shaun smiled. Poetic justice. But I don’t think the dead got them. At least not all of them. I think the biker chics were probably fighting over your dresses and someone clubbed this one over the head.”

  Megan smiled.

  “They hit her so hard it killed her. Later on, she came back as one of the dead and started to stagger along with the rest of them. She looks to be in too good of shape to have been killed by one of the dead. They would have torn her apart.” Shaun laughed. “I would have enjoyed seeing that.”

  “I think you’re starting to get sadistic in your old age.” Megan chuckled.

  “You would think I was completely off my rocker if you knew what I was thinking before.” Shaun smiled.

  “Do I want to know what you were thinking about?” Megan grinned at him.

  “I guess I better tell you before that mind of
yours starts to make me out to be a zombie pervert.” Shaun smiled.

  Megan smiled. Her smile faded as she looked at Shaun with a disgusted look on her face.

  Shaun laughed. “I was thinking if we waited until they were gone, I could probably go over there and find enough body parts to make my own zombie. Sick, right?”

  Megan grimaced and then laughed. “As long as she wasn’t wearing my dress.”

  “What makes you think my zombie would be a she?” Shaun asked smiling.

  “Maybe I heard you talking in your sleep?” Megan grinned.

  “Talk about sick, Meg!” Shaun shivered.

  Shaun and Megan’s conversation was thankfully interrupted by at tapping on Shaun’s back.

  He turned to see Lisa tapping his back. His and Megan’s smile disappeared when he saw the look of terror on Lisa’s face.

  Shaun looked back up in the woods and saw four horribly deformed dead walking down in their direction. Lisa struggled to her feet and stared.

  Two of the dead let out a deafening cry.

  Megan looked at Shaun. He slowly turned to look at the procession of dead across the river on the highway. They had stopped after hearing the zombie cries and were all beginning to turn in his direction.

  The dead creature standing in the woods behind them let out another unearthly cry. The dead on the highway started to slowly move towards the river.

  “Shit!” Shaun said out loud. “Come on, we have to get out of here.”

  Shaun jumped to his feet and pulled Megan up.

  He helped her put on her back pack and then slid his pack onto his back.

  “We are we going to go?” Lisa shrieked.

  Shaun looked up past the ones in the woods that had cried out alerting the dead across the river that they were here. More heads appeared over the hillside coming their way. Then more heads appeared. More than he could count.

  “We can’t go back the way we came. We can’t cross the river. We have to keep going up stream and try to out run them before they start to close in on us.”

  Shaun grabbed Megan’s hand and pulled. They started down the tree line, trying to stay out of sight of the dead across the river up on the highway.

  “The dead don’t think and try to outsmart you. They will all head for where that dead bastard screamed out. If we can get farther upstream, maybe they will all go to where we were. It might buy us enough time to get away.” Shaun said quietly.

  They moved quickly trying not to make any more noise than they had to.

  Through the trees they saw the dead start to wade out into the water behind them. Some of the more fragile dead fell in the water and began to get washed down stream. The sturdier of the horde continued to wade deeper into the water.

  “Keep going. They’re coming.” Shaun whispered loudly.

  The number of dead coming down the hill behind them was growing. Some staggered into trees as others tripped over rocks or branches and fell to the ground to be trampled by the dead coming behind them.

  Shaun and Megan kept leading the way upstream. Climbing over fallen trees, through muddy trenches and over barriers of boulders slowed them down.

  The obstacles would also cause the dead chasing behind them to have even more problems than they were having moving around the trees and uneven terrain. But it would also give the dead crossing the river more time to catch up.

  Shaun ran and pulled Megan. They were getting tired. The dead never got tired.

  Shaun leaned down and rested his hands on his knees. He surveyed the area. They were putting some distance between themselves and the dead chasing them form the woods above. The dead crossing the river were gaining. The only good thing Shaun could see, was they were starting to reach the front of the horde, which was not as dense as the horde back where they had started their escape. That meant fewer of them would be crossing the river up ahead. They would stand a better chance if they had to fight off the creatures the further they went.

  Shaun turned and said. “Grab something to use for a club the first chance you get. We might have to fight off of few of them up ahead.”

  Shaun stopped running and bent down and picked up a small but sturdy branch. “Meg, take this. It looks like it is a good size for you.”

  Megan reached over and took the club out of Shaun’s hand as he started to pull her forward again.

  They ran another few hundred feet before Shaun stopped and picked up a branch that he could use for a club.

  He glanced back at Doug and Lisa. Doug had found a branch for himself, but Lisa was still being pulled along looking scared to death.

  “Doug will just have to take care of her.” Shaun thought. He had his own problems to worry about.

  As they ran, Shaun spotted three staggering forms behind the low hanging branches thirty feet ahead of them. They must have come out of the river and were coming in his direction.

  “Stay behind me.” Shaun said to Megan.

  Shaun ran ahead and came around the side of the branches. He brought his club down hard on the head of the closest of the dead creatures.

  Megan took out the next closest creature as Shaun started for the third one.

  Before he could raise his club, the creature let out a blood chilling cry. It was opening its mouth to cry out again. Its black teeth looked horrendous. Black slimy blood ran down it’s chin as it stared at Shaun with the sunken dead lifeless eyes that barely stayed in the creatures boney sockets.

  It let out another cry, shortened by Shaun’s club splitting its skull open, destroying the creature’s ability to move.

  Shaun quickly looked back to be sure Megan was OK. He leaned over to catch his breath as the answering cries of the dead began to echo around him.

  The sounds were coming from all directions.

  Shaun stood to see more dead faces begin to appear on the hill above him to his left. More cries came from the dead chasing behind them. Cries came from the dead crossing the river in their direction and from up on Route 30. Even worse, cries were coming from the trees ahead of them, which had been their only escape route.

  Doug and Lisa had caught up to Shaun and Megan as all the groaning began to surround them.

  “Shit, now where do we go?” Doug shouted.

  He had to shout to be heard as the drone of cries around them was becoming deafening.

  Shaun looked around.

  “Everyone hold hands so we stay together.” Shaun said as he took Megan’s hand. “We are going to cross the river here.”

  Lisa’s eyes grew even wider as they waded into the water. The water was up to the top of their shoulders before it began to recede. Fortunately the water began to become more and more shallow.

  The water was now between their knees and waists. They were nearing the river bank on the other side when three more of the dead appeared on the shore coming in their direction.

  Shaun released Megan’s hand. “You guys get out of the water. I’ll go hold them off as long as I can. Don’t take forever.”

  Shaun waded as fast as he could to head off the dead before they could get in the water. He swung his club and broke the legs of the first one to reach him. He ran off to the side and came around behind, bringing his club down onto the head of the last zombie.

  He turned in time to see Megan bring her club down on the head of the last standing dead creature. Doug was finishing off the first of the dead that Shaun had disabled as he came out of the river.

  The sound of the dead was all around them. Megan looked back to see a dozen of the dead wade into the water to follow them. They were chest deep in the river. Two of the dead slipped and were slowly washed down stream. The rest continued their efforts to get at Megan and the group.

  Megan ran up next to Shaun. Doug and Lisa ran up to Shaun, looking at him for direction.

  Shaun turned and looked at the Old Sleepy Hollow Inn that sat back off the river behind him, the place he had spotted from the other side of the river.

  “We’re going up to the
Inn.”

  “All the windows are smashed and the door looks like it has been caved in. How can we hide in there? We could get trapped in there.” Doug said.

  “We’re being surrounded. Come on. I think we can make this work.” Shaun shouted and began to pull Megan behind him.

  They ran up to the old abandoned Inn and went inside. The place had been trashed.

  “Look for a door or stairs, some way we can get upstairs.” Shaun shouted as they all started frantically opening doors and looking around corners.

  “Over here!” Megan shouted as she spotted the small staircase around the corner from the bar.

  They all ran up the stairs.

  “Start looking in the rooms up here for some kind of trap door in the ceiling.” Shaun called out as the sounds of the dead began to flood into the ground floor of the Inn.

  They had examined all the rooms. “I don’t see anything like a door in any of the ceilings.” Megan called out.

  “Check the closets.” Shaun shouted.

  The second closet door Shaun opened, he saw what he was looking for. “Over here.”

  The others ran over to him looking nervous as the noise on the first floor was getting louder as the dead began falling over the tables and chairs that had littered the dining area.

  Shaun looked around and found a chair. He dragged the chair over to the closet. He stood on the chair and reached up to the small trap door in the ceiling. He pushed on the door and felt it rise. He took his club and pressed it against the door, then heaved the door up into the attic.

  “Doug, I’ll help you up first. Then as I lift the girls you can pull them up.” Shaun shouted.

  Doug came over to Shaun. Shaun gripped his hands together. Doug put his foot on Shaun’s hands and jumped as Shaun lifted. Doug rose up into the attic.

  When Doug was in the attic, he turned and looked down the opening.

  Shaun had Lisa get on his shoulders, then he stood on the chair so Doug could pull her up.