by Kirk Allmond
When we reached the Lawson farm, our nearest neighbor, I pushed through a wire fence, and bounced out onto a dirt road that would bring me to my family property. I followed the dirt road back to Route 15, made a right, and an almost immediate right into the driveway.
As I drove up the half-mile driveway, I flicked my lights as I have done every time I’ve come home for the last fifteen years. We circled around in front of the mansion, built in the early 1700's, now turned into a bed and breakfast, and pulled onto the parking area. The lights were on and my mother was standing on the ancient brick sidewalk holding her shotgun. I reached back and unbuckled Max, and pulled the sleeping child between the front seats so I could exit the truck with him. My mother practically ran to us, wrapped the two of us in a giant hug, and kissed us each on the cheek.
“Victor,” my mother said, “Thank god you’re all okay. Where is Candi?”
Tears welled up as I fought to get the words out “She was killed, mom. She was shot just outside of Frederick, Maryland at a road block.”
My mother started crying, I started crying, and Max, still mostly asleep patted both of us on the shoulders. After a moment, I felt the presence of Leo and John, and pulled away from the family hug.
“Mom, this is Leo, and this is John. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them. They need a safe place to stay; I promised them that I would deliver that.”
My mother stepped up and hugged Leo, then John, and said, “Hi, I’m Sharon, pleased to meet you. Thank you for whatever you did to keep my son and grandson safe on the way here.”
“Pleased to meet you Missus Tookes,” said John.
“Ma’am, it’s a fine family you have. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.” responded Leo.
“Mom, did you have any Inn guests?”
“Just one couple, they’re still here, they’re down in Madison Cottage,” she said, referring to one of the free standing rooms, “but they said they were leaving any time now. They’re headed south to be with their family.”
“We need to get you moved up here as well. I need everyone in the main house, until we can fortify the top of the hill. I’ll start that work in the morning. Mom, have you spoken to the others? Where are Marshall and Renee?”
“Marshall’s on his way. He was in Tennessee this week, and Renee is heading up with the kids and Eddie from Atlanta. Let’s go get Max in bed.”
We walked inside the beautifully appointed bed and breakfast, through the commercial kitchen. John, Leo, and Mom stopped off in the small dining room; I carried Max upstairs to the master bedroom suite. I laid him down in the full size bed under a quilt, and kissed him goodnight.
“Max, we’re at Gramma’s house, we’re safe here. If you wake up, I’m right down stairs. I love you; you were such a good boy today, thank you for being so good.”
“I love you, Daddy, I’m sleepy. Where’s my binky?”
“It’s right here in your bag.” I said handing him his blue pacifier. “Okay, buddy, go to sleep, I love you!” I kissed him on the cheek, gave him a hug, and walked out of the room. What kind of child wouldn’t have nightmares after today? How would he ever be normal? How would I ever give him a childhood? I walked down the stairs, and into the small dining room.
“John, Leo, I think I owe you a bit of an explanation.” I related the entire story for my mother, Leo, and John. We ate dinner while we talked and got to know each other. We laughed at how normal the day started, we cried at the story of Candi’s death, and we began to get worried as we put the pieces together.
When we were done, I asked Leo to tell me her story. We all leaned towards her as she began to speak.
“I guess the most important part is how I got bitten,” she said.
“I was bent over the bathroom sink to wash my hands. When I lifted my head up, I jumped at the sudden appearance of a disheveled looking woman. Her blonde hair was frizzy, her clothes were all crooked and she was staring at me through the mirror with a crazed look on her face,” Leo said.
Leo’s accent was very thick and hard to trace. It was definitely Australian, but there was a tone of something else I couldn’t place. “Leo, where are you from? I can’t place your accent. I don’t mean to interrupt you, but I’m going to be terribly distracted until I figure it out,” I said. I felt like a jerk for asking, but between her strange wording and the way she pronounced things I really was having a hard time concentrating.
“I lived in Sparta until I was eight,” Leo said. “Until my parents moved us to Sydney, I didn’t speak a word of English. Anyways, I smiled at the crazy looking blonde and tried to apologize for my reaction, but she stood there unfazed, smirking at me. That’s when I noticed a huge cut on her neck. Blood was slowly oozing out of it, turning her yellow t-shirt a scarlet red. The blood had somewhat coagulated, leaving a maroon colored gelatinous lump clinging to the wound. Every time she moved, it jiggled.”
“Oh, gross,” said Mrs. Tookes.
“It was disgusting,” Leo continued. “But I was more worried about how she was even standing. I spun around, reaching to comfort her. I was just about to call for help, when she took hold of my arm forcing my shoulder backwards, pulling my hand towards her. She bit deep into my forearm just above my wrist.” Leo paused, remembering the incident.
“Shit, Leo. I can’t imagine – don’t want to imagine how much that hurt,” I said.
Leo grimaced. “The pain was excruciating. Her teeth pierced through the layers of skin deep into the muscle. It was unlike any kind of pain I had ever felt in my life. I pushed myself sideways; my shoulder felt like it was inches from dislocating, but I managed to bend my elbow and she let go, tearing a small chunk from my arm. She came at me with full power and we locked with each other. She pushed towards me; I tried to push her back away from me. She was very strong; the best I could do was to hold my ground,” she said.
My mother looked upset by all this. She was wringing her hands and had a very slight frown on her face. She was trying to remain stoic, but she hadn’t experienced any of this type of horror. She’d been safely locked down on the farm during the outbreak. She hadn’t ever seen anyone get bitten. Sure, she’d seen news reports, but hearing a firsthand account had left her visibly shaken. I remembered how upset I was when I watched the one on the gurney bite that EMT’s throat out. Bile rose in my throat remembering that experience, remembering the terror and ultimately my determination to get to Max and see him to safety.
Leo continued her story, “Suddenly, I felt my body twitch several times. My arm felt hot. Not just from the blood that gushed all over it; the heat went all the way up my arm into my chest. I remember that my eyesight blurred for a few seconds. At the time, I figured it was from the physical exertion, but after a few seconds, my vision was back. Everything seemed sharper than ever before.”
“Just like me,” said John softly.
“A sudden surge of energy filled me,” said Leo. “I thought it was the adrenaline finally kicking in, but now I know better. The blonde woman’s face was covered with my blood. That sight made me mad. I remember being so angry with her. I concentrated all my will, summoning every bit of strength I could muster and grabbed her by her jaw. Her eyes widened at the pressure. I don’t think she understood what had happened to me any more than I did. With one swift movement, I pushed her to the side, driving her head into the ceramic hand drier mounted onto the wall. The force of the impact destroyed the drier, smashing it into pieces. She fell to the ground, her skull split open from the force of the collision. A pool of blood bloomed on the white tiles underneath her. After just a second, she pulled her arms under her body and got to her feet, the look in her cloudy eyes wild and vengeful.”
“Wait. She wasn’t dead?” asked my mother.
“No,” said Leo. “And that’s when it dawned on me. It felt unbelievable, but it made perfect sense. I had been an avid fan for years. She was a zombie and she wasn’t going to go down easy. She leaped towards me, but I somehow managed to avoid
her. I ran, swerving past her, hoping she would lose sight of me. I had no weapon to finish her off with, but the door was easily accessible now, so I ran for it. I ran faster than I’d ever run before. I was out the door before she even realized where I went.”
“Leo, I’m amazed you survived,” I said. “What brought you to the States in the first place?”
“It was meant to be a well-earned break for me, away from the everyday bullshit, meeting new friends, experiencing American culture, the people, and their way of life. I got that, plus some! John and I, although we lived in different states, we had been planning for this trip for over a year. Our American connection and best mate, Kyle Anderson, had invited us to stay at his place for two weeks. He had organized activities where we could test our combat, survival and shooting knowledge all in the name of fun. We all knew each other through our favorite survivalist website. Our trip was to culminate with a big gathering of American people from the site.”
“You were a survivalist before all this? I wish I’d been more prepared. I mean, I’d often thought about what would happen if zombies walked the earth, but I never expected it to really happen,” I said.
“We all wrote articles on various survival topics. John and Kyle were both pretty entertaining characters. We spent a lot of time chatting online. I couldn’t have picked two more compatible mates. John and Kyle were both the same build, sported the same short hair; they’re both witty and fast with their jokes. Sometimes, I wondered if the two of them were twins separated at birth.”
John smiled. He had kind of a glossed over look, as if he was thinking about his friend Kyle.
“I flew in from Sydney,” Leo said. “Kyle picked me up at Dulles airport since his house wasn’t far from there. As we drove, I got a quick glimpse of an American town for the first time in my life through the car window.”
“How did it compare to Sydney?” Mom asked her.
“The suburbs looked similar to back home, but the atmosphere was completely different. Maybe it was being in an unfamiliar territory that made it exciting. John had already arrived a day earlier; he was crashed on the couch when we got there. I practically had to kick him so he would wake up and greet me, which he did with a wisecrack comment as always. To this day, I don’t believe I have ever been able to beat him with a smarter comeback, but the day will come and I will drink to it.”
Leo grinned at John as she spoke. John appeared lost in his own thoughts, so she continued. “We spent two days catching up, laying back at Kyle’s drinking and laughing; then it was time for some adventure. I packed my kukri and my batons in my pack along with some water, a couple of shirts and something to munch on, and the three of us took off in Kyle’s huge, black, four door ute.”
“A ute?” I asked. “What is a ute?”
“You yanks call ‘em pickups, mate. We call ‘em ‘utility trucks’, or ‘utes’,” replied John.
“It was about nine in the morning, so we decided to stop in Leesburg for breakfast before driving to wherever Kyle was going to take us. He’d kept it secret for some reason. I wish he had lent his secret to us, I will never know where we were heading that day,” Leo said sadly. “The boys made the usual jokes between mouthfuls of chocolate chip pancakes and orange juice. I noticed two men across the road wrestling in a lane. They were stumbling, and I assumed they were drunk, or they were playfully ‘fighting’ with each other. I thought I saw one of them bite the other on the shoulder, but I wasn’t paying much attention as I made my way to the bathroom to clean up from breakfast.”
“The same bathroom where you were bitten?” Mom asked.
“Yes ma’am. I wish I had stayed at the table. Luckily enough, at least for John and I, the tides have turned and the events that took place that day have worked out to our advantage. When I escaped from the bathroom, I ran outside to where the boys were sitting at our outdoor breakfast table. They both stopped to look up at me, noticing the panicked expression written all over my face before realizing that I was bleeding.”
“John asked me what the hell happened, but I didn’t want to stop to discuss it, so I just shouted ‘We have to go NOW!’ I was walking quickly, anxious to get away from the restaurant. I needed to get back to the safety of the SUV, where I could dress my arm wound. The boys followed quickly, leaving some coin on the table before vaulting the small fence surrounding the outdoor eating area. John ran up to me to stop me, asking ‘What’s going on? Why are you bleeding?’ I was kind of surprised neither of them had heard the cries coming from the bathroom when that zombie bit right through my arm.”
“It was loud in the restaurant, and we were sitting outside with cars whizzing past us,” John said defensively.
“I explained that it was a zombie; that no, I was not kidding and no I am not delusional. I remember saying ‘I cracked the bitch’s head open and she stood as if I slightly bumped her with a twig’. The two of them looked at each other then they looked at me. Kyle said they should get me to the hospital, but I refused. They insisted, until another shrieking cry was heard. We all looked at a woman outside the restaurant, pointing her finger across the road.”
“What happened across the road?” Mom asked.
“When we looked where she was pointing, we saw a man stumbling towards her. He could hardly walk; his right thighbone was sticking out of his flesh. His left arm was missing. Several people advanced towards him to help him, the first man to get to him was bitten on the neck when he got too close. The Samaritan screamed and clutched his neck, but fell to the ground within just a couple of seconds. From the volume of blood on his chest, it looked like he was down for the count.”
Leo had a sad expression on her face, despite her somewhat cavalier nature in describing the situation. It seemed to me like she was putting on some bravado.
“The boys turned around to face me, I nodded at them, they understood right there and then that this was not some sort of joke. Kyle made some joke, his attempt to disarm the situation, as he leapt into his truck. John sat in the front, every now and then turning back to look at me and then exchanging worried glances between them. I knew what they were thinking. They knew I’d been bitten.”
“We were both certain one of us was going to have to shoot you,” said John. “I figured it would have to be me, since I’ve known you longer than Kyle, but I would have had a hard time with it, mate.”
“I’m glad you didn’t have to. Kyle passed me a first aid kit he kept in his glove box; I rinsed my wound with some antiseptic and wrapped a bandage around it tightly. It wasn’t bleeding as much, but I didn’t want it to get infected, and it was pretty gross looking. When I was finished taking care of my arm, I wrapped my hair up in a bun to make sure it was out of the way, then I sat back looking out the window as I told them the story of my encounter in the bathroom.”
Recalling the story of that Day was obviously difficult for Leo. She paused for a minute to collect herself, before continuing. “The ride to Chantilly was not nearly as attractive as it was an hour before. It seemed that the infection was spreading fast and soon enough, we came to a standstill. Cars were parked one behind the other and people were out of their vehicles wandering around aimlessly, which lead to them being attacked by zombies. We were forced to abandon the ute and continue on foot.”
The strain on Leo was growing; it was starting to show in her voice. She paused for another second and took a drink from her glass. We were all sitting riveted, listening to her tale.
She put down her glass and continued. “Kyle took a pistol from the glove box and handed it to John before walking around to the back of the truck. He opened the cover on the back and pulled out a black case, which he opened with a key from his key ring. Inside the case were a short black rifle and several boxes of bullets. He stuffed the bullets into a backpack, and then slung the pack and his rifle over his shoulder. I took my kukri out of the backpack, looped it around my belt, and placed the batons in the loops I had made in the back of my jacket. Wearing our backpacks,
Johnny took us through backstreets around Leesburg, until we turned left into a suburban street.”
“It was the only way we could go,” said John, mirroring Leo’s sadness on his face.
Leo continued, “We stood there, frozen solid. There were at least nine zombies standing in a group outside a house. They must have heard our footsteps because they simultaneously turned to face us. We turned to head back down the way we came; but only our escape was short lived. Five or six more shambled around the corner, as if they’d been following us. I instinctively took my kukri out of its sheath, John raised his pistol, and Kyle shouldered his rifle. John and I stood back to back, each facing opposite directions. Kyle covered both of us, swinging his rifle north, where I was facing south where John was aiming.”
Leo took another sip of her water, and leaned back in her chair, her arms behind her head as she spoke. “The five behind us moved like hunters, spreading themselves out systematically. I had a moment to study them while they closed the distance. If it weren’t for body parts missing and disfigurements on their bodies we wouldn’t have guessed they were zombies. The other group, the group of nine, was slower. The larger group was moving in a pack, stumbling around, slowly but surely coming our way. I heard John fire a shot and watched as one of the faster zombies dropped, his brains staining the concrete. ‘Holy shit,’ I thought to myself. ‘He just shot someone!’ Followed by, ‘Someone, or something that is going to eat us’.”
Fear was apparent on Leo’s face as she spoke, “The adrenaline kicked in again and suddenly everything around me became much clearer, it felt like the zombies all slowed down, as if they were walking through molasses. One of the faster moving zombies jumped right at me, my kukri slashed upwards as he landed, almost acting on its own. I split his head completely in half. It happened so quickly; I almost didn’t even realize it was done. I remember John staring at me, probably wondering how I managed to kill it so easily.”