I didn’t. It was what I’d been waiting for all along. I grabbed the Indian War club from the dash and ran at them. I yelled out to “DUCK!” and swung at the thing. It didn’t care that I was screaming. All it saw was a meal in my wife and was fixated solely on her. It completely ignored me. Unfortunately, so did my wife. I had to swing down over her head and make contact with the top of its head, weakly. It finally noticed me but didn’t let go of Jen. It had her in a death grip and wasn’t letting go. I pulled her by the hair and bent her head back and away from it. I swung one handed again and again feeling crunch after crunch of its skull. Finally, it collapsed in a heap at her feet. I thought it’d be easier to crush someone’s skull.
I let go of Jen’s head and looked around immediately. I saw several guys coming at me. I realized something right there and then. This was fun. All my nerves were gone. I felt calmer than I had since this horrifying tragedy began. I was finally enjoying myself after weeks of fear. My sweat disappeared, and I felt incredibly focused.
I moved faster than I thought possible. I lunged toward these beasts that were lumbering toward us and swung at them. I made contact with arms, legs, and chests. It barely slowed them down. Only when the swing was solid did they fall to the ground. They didn’t stay there long. They got up immediately and came at us snarling. I guessed the movies were right. I had to go for the brain.
Luckily, I was much faster than they were. I swung for the heads and pushed them back. Then I pulled out my pistol and aimed at their heads. A proper shot to the head was very satisfying. The first time I did it, the Zed dropped hard straight down as if gravity simply increased right under its feet. Then I did it again and missed. I would have blamed my wife for her screams disrupting a perfectly good sight picture, but that wasn’t fair to her. The truth was that my adrenaline was working overtime and was giving me incredible strength. It also caused me to have micro-tremors in my hand that was throwing off my aim.
I calmed down by breathing slowly, in four seconds out four seconds, and shot between breaths. It worked great. I put them down hard. I was pleased with myself. Luckily though, the Zeds were only three to five feet in front of me. This helped quite a bit. I found out the hard way that a moving head shot was brutally hard when you’re amped.
When I saw the last Zed’s head explode gore back onto the street, I looked around and saw that there were no more targets. I got back into my car after getting my Indian War Club and turned on the ignition. I looked over at my wife who had managed to get back into the car on her own somehow despite the fear. She was a flipping wreck. Her hair was everywhere, her clothes were torn, and her makeup looked like Gene Simmons’ after an all-night bender. I wanted to laugh, but that would have been incredibly stupid. She would have never forgiven me.
I leaned over and gave her a kiss. She flinched back a second, surprised. Then she gave me a weak smile. I drove off.
I had to get home, back to safety. I scanned the side of the road for any more of these creatures. There were a few people wandering around. I wanted to warn them to get back inside. Then I noticed they were walking with a shuffling gait. I looked into their cold dead eyes and saw nothing. They had reverted back to their primal reptilian state. They were on the prowl for food, and their food was us. I shuddered involuntarily. It was way past time to get out of there.
I drove home as quickly as possible. As I pulled in, I saw a guy standing at the gate looking in to the property. I stopped and got out of the car with my pistol ready. I screamed at him to turn around. He ignored me. I looked down through the fence and saw one of my German Shepherds Mac barking and snarling at him. It was keeping its distance from the guy. I could tell the dog was simultaneously angry and scared shitless. Mac didn’t know what to do with him. I saw my kids in the front balcony of the house staring down at the scene. All four were there looking down at us. My oldest had my three year old in her arms and was soothing her. Maria was a good kid. She was comforting them despite her own terror at the situation.
I moved to the side of the guy. He had his arm through the bar and was trying desperately to reach for the dog. I finally understood why he didn’t look at me. His face was ghastly white, abrasions criss-crossed his cheeks, and there was fluid dripping from his chin. It was no longer a he- it had been turned. The Zed was fixated on the dog as its next meal. I shuddered hoping that he hadn’t touched the dog. I quickly glanced at the dog and made sure he was fine. I didn’t see any ostensible marks on the shepherd in my quick scan. I hoped the dog was smart enough to stay back.
I moved back to the car and grabbed my cell phone after having a quick look around to make sure there were no more of the things around us. I shot my hand straight into the air and waved it at my daughter. I dialed the house number.
My daughter moved inside with the other kids. After five rings she picked up the phone.
“Daddy, I’m so scared. What is that thing? It isn’t human. It’s after Mac. What are we going to do? I’m so scared. What do I do now? How do I get you in the house? Oh my god! Daddy?” She spoke rapid fire, terrified of stopping.
I stayed very calm like I always did during full codes in the hospital. “Don’t sweat it, hon. I fully prepared for this, remember?”
I heard a quick giggle on the other end and then she screamed, “Oh my God Dad, you were right. You were right!” She was sobbing the words at me. “You were right. Everybody thought you were crazy, but you knew? Shit!”
I would have yelled at her for swearing normally, but I guess she earned the right. I also felt very relieved that I was right at that situation too. My biggest fear would have been to have prepared everything and then nothing would have happened. I would have earned a trip to the loony bin for sure.
“Honey, take the kids downstairs away from the windows. I have to take care of this thing, and I don’t need the kids to see what I’m going to do.” I paused for a second to let that sink into her thought processes.
Then I heard, “Daddy, I love you. We’re going downstairs.” I heard her voice soothing the kids, and then I heard footsteps. “Okay, we’re in the kitchen.” And then she hung up.
I handed the phone to my wife who had her head in her hands. She didn’t seem to be dealing with this too well.
I moved forward and kept the pistol aimed at the Zed’s head. I took better aim about five feet away from it. I put two rounds in the back of its head. I had always wanted to do a double tap. It partially went down. Its arm was still caught between the rails of the gate.
I looked around, scanning for any other targets. There were none. I was starting to get worried. After all the gunfire, there should have been cops swarming the area. I still didn’t see any drivers around the town below us.
I looked down at the body and took a clinical interest. Dead and without most of a head, it looked like any other dead body I examined over the years. It was macroscopically without any abnormalities except for the mouth. It looked like the thing had chewed clean through both its upper and lower lips. Its mouth looked ragged without the lips. I flipped it over relieving the pressure off its outstretched arm. It plopped down onto the ground wetly.
I saw the guy was wearing overalls with the name of the shutter installers. I guess he had finished his job installing the hurricanes and stuck around. Thank God it wasn’t stuck inside the gate. Just then I almost freaked out. What if one of the workers was still inside?
I yanked on its leg as hard as I could. I rolled it away from the gate and grabbed my pistol from the holster. I scanned the interior as quickly as possible. There was nothing.
“Mac inside!” I screamed at the dog who immediately ran toward the garage. I opened the gate and drove quickly away from the front entrance. I made sure the gate was secured behind me and drove to the garage. I pulled in and got out of the car immediately. I moved to the driveway scanning and aiming at everything I looked at. I had to be vigilant. The thought of one of those things inside the compound scared the shit out of me.
“Mac to me. Jen get inside and take care of the kids. They’re freaking out right now. They need you to comfort them.” I saw her nod. She was still out of her fucking mind. “I’ll need you to comfort me too later in your own special way.” I leered at her trying to make her laugh. I saw her old self for a second in her eyes thinking of a smart ass retort. She said nothing instead. Jen wasn’t mentally back from the evil place in which she had hidden herself yet, but she did start moving inside. At least I got that from her.
I closed the garage door and put the remote in my pocket. I walked around the house two times the second one at a run just in case something was moving on the exact opposite end as me. The house was safe.
I then walked the entire perimeter. It was undisturbed. All the workers were gone, and there were no more Zeds. I moved to the ATV and drove it around just looking around outside. I saw absolutely no movement from the surrounding town.
I always loved the view from my home. I could see the entire town elevated from the hill upon which my house stood. It was as if the town was already under quarantine. A chill went through me. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I went back inside the house. I washed my hands and face in the utility sink and then took off my clothes. I put them right in the washer in hot and added a ton of chlorine bleach. I hoped I didn’t have any Zed gore on me. I didn’t want any of it on me or in the house. I left my boots outside. I washed up yet again and went inside the house in my underwear.
My family literally attacked me with hugs. I was swarmed with kids and my wife who pushed me down to the ground. They were all crying and laughing. I was shocked at first by the love. I had just realized how much I missed them. It made me cry which set them off too. I felt better right now than I felt the entire month. It was awesome. Then I remembered I was still in my underwear and ran to the washer. I put on a pair of shorts and a green Led Zeppelin t-shirt. I went back and hugged them all individually and together.
My wife spoke up, “All right kids just like we practiced.”
“I’m sorry Daddy, you were right. You were right all along. Please forgive us.” All of them were so sincere. It actually brought me to tears. It was great to feel part of the family again.
I looked up at my wife. She spoke loudly and clearly. “Please forgive me. I should have known you weren’t nuts. You were always the sanest man I know. I’ll make it up to you.” Then I saw her leer at me. She was back. She made me laugh. I hugged them all again. This went on for several minutes. I felt so relieved.
Finally, I disentangled myself. I ran to the TV and turned on CNN. It had a panel of Infectious Disease experts commenting on America’s Martial Law. I thought ‘what the fuck’ to myself. I didn’t think the politicians had the guts at this stage of the game. I thought it would take a lot longer. It must have been a lot worse than I thought already.
I looked at my wife and then at the kids. “Kids, why don’t you go play the Wii upstairs?” They all took off up the stairs before I could say another word. They loved their video games.
When they were out of ear shot, I looked at my wife. “Honey, they’ve already declared martial law. This is really bad. The outbreaks must be widespread. Even the cops are off the streets. There are no National Guardsmen outside. They’re instructing people to stay inside. This is nuts.”
My wife looked at me with confusion. “I thought you were preparing for this?”
I smiled at her. “Oh yeah, we’re safe.” I saw her sigh and release the tension. I continued, “It’s our friends I’m worried about. They’re all trapped in their homes, safe I hope, but for how much longer? They have no safeguards. I bet none of them have any weapons other than run of the mill baseball bats. And when is the last time any of them actually swung one? How much food do they have? We’ve got to get them over here.”
She looked horrified. She just realized that they were all trapped. “Holy shit.” She whispered it and then looked at me. “You tried to warn all of them!” She said it as if all those people were just plain stupid, and then she blushed. “I guess you warned me too.” She looked down again. She was about to start crying again.
I stood and hugged her. “Yup you owe me big and trust me I’m going to collect tonight.” She laughed.
Still giggling, “Oh yeah, it’s going to be Christmas and your birthday all rolled into one. It’s the least I can do.” She looked mischievously and then she looked down. “You do forgive me right?”
I kissed her on the lips. “Of course. You know that I would have found you nuts too if you did those things, and I would have cancelled the credit cards before you got too far.” She punched me on the arm. She knew I would have too.
She looked at me. “What do we do now?”
“We survive and live another day. But first I need you to call everyone on my list and try to get them here. They’re not going to survive on their own.” I looked grim.
She looked at me. “Are you trying to punish me by forcing me to make these phone calls?”
“No, I have to set up the outside guns on the balconies. Besides, they didn’t believe me before, why should they believe me now?”
“Because you were right.” She said it with venom. She was getting mad. It made me laugh. She gave me a dirty look.
“Hindsight is 20:20, eh is that it?” I turned and walked away whistling happily. Zombies were at my door and were attacking this country, and I was genuinely happy. I finally figured out that I was truly sane. I was just as worried as my wife that I was truly going nuts before this. Now I knew in my heart that I had not imagined it all like some delusional schizophrenic. And I felt great about it!
I moved upstairs and brought out all my balcony weapons. I had brought .22 caliber rifles with accurized barrels. I brought out the Remingtons and put them outside along with boxes of hollow point ammo. I also put out the night vision equipment and some quick energy bars. Every balcony received the supplies. I had prepared for this contingency. The thought made me smile again.
After I was finished, I went to talk to the kids. I found them all dancing around the Wii. The scene made me laugh. They were awesome kids. I had them hit pause, and I sat down.
“Kids, bad things are happening outside. There are a lot of bad people wandering around hurting people.” I saw my five-year old son Matthew gulp in fear. My Maria looked at her feet and started quietly crying. My ten-year old son looked defiant. Michael was always tough until he crumbled. I could see him mentally calculating how to best fight these undeads. I had to nip this in the bud.
“We are fully prepared. We have tons of supplies. We have tons of weapons. We are going to win. Don’t sweat it. The only problem is that you guys are going to be stuck inside until we can finally finish this. I’m sorry.” I saw the look of disappointment in their eyes, but I could see that they understood.
“I’m going to protect all of you guys. I’m not going to leave you. Nothing is going to happen to you.” I gave them my happiest and calmest smile. They all smiled back. It was great that they were smiling and not running from me like they would have over the past month. I still wasn’t sure why my normally calm and confident smile caused so many people to run in terror. Oh well, it was now over.
I stood up and hugged them all. They went right back to playing their video games. The dancing began almost immediately. I heard Elvis’ ‘Viva Las Vegas’ as I exited the room.
I walked outside to plug in my generators. It was only a matter of time before the power went out. I checked the equipment and the propane and was prepared for the time when this country would return to the pre electricity 18th century.
I moved around the perimeter for yet another check. I had a sick feeling I would be doing this for the next several years. For the moment, I was still having fun.
I heard a crash from the bottom of the hill. The sheep started bleating behind me, and a rooster started crowing. They were getting annoyed by the crashing noise. I moved to the front gate and saw a car driving in circles. It kept starting and
stopping. Then I saw it crash into a stop sign. It promptly backed away at top speed.
I grabbed the binoculars from my pack and focused on the scene. The windows were up on the car. I saw a woman in the front seat screaming in terror. I wondered what was occurring and then I focused on the hood. There was a Zed punching the windshield repeatedly causing the cracks to broaden. It was spitting and drooling all over it as it clinged to a windshield wiper. It was obviously trying to get inside the car to get her, as the woman tried to get the thing off as quickly as possible.
I pulled out my rifle and sighted in on the vehicle. There was no way I could pull this shot off correctly. She was moving the car as fast as she could all while zigging and zagging. I doubted a real sniper could have pulled off the shot.
I watched as the woman sped up and moved down the road at sixty miles an hour. The Zombie pulled his right hand to hit the windshield one more time. Its left hand must have pulled too hard on the windshield wiper. It came off the car suddenly and caused the thing to topple backward off the hood of the car onto its neck. It simply stood up with its neck at an angle and moved away. It didn’t seem to notice that it was no longer on the car searching for a meal. That simple non-act caused me to shudder. There was no sadness or joy in the thing. It was not evil. It was simply undead and hungry. It drove the menace of the thing into me once and for all. I would have to destroy each and every threat completely one at a time. It was lucky for me there were only 7 billion people on this Earth that were potential Zombies. Any more, and I’d be scared.
I looked down the block as the woman drove away as fast as she could go in the now damaged car. I heard grinding. I hoped she would be all right.
My Last Testament Page 4