I turned toward home and saw my wife standing on the balcony. She had seen the whole thing too. She looked numb. She didn’t see me. She turned and walked back inside. I hoped her mental state was stable enough for the sake of the kids.
I looked down at the dogs and smiled. They seemed genuinely happy. They were outside with their master doing good work. I praised them and threw them each a half a granola bar. They seemed to like it.
I rode around listlessly for over an hour before feeding the animals yet again. I was getting bored. Again, I never realized how mind numbingly dull guard work was, and it had only just begun.
After I finished, I walked inside and kissed my wife. She had a pot of coffee brewing for us. It was odd because she never made coffee. She was always going out for it. I guess she learned her lesson. She handed me a cup and kissed me. It was a nice change.
She looked annoyed. I thought I did something wrong again. She talked quickly “Our friends are idiots. Even after watching the TV and listening to the radio, they can’t get their heads out of their asses. They insist they’re fine. I want to strangle them all. And what’s worse they were treating me like I’m the dumbass.”
I was obviously amused at her ‘plight’. She threw a dish towel at me. I got up and walked to the fridge getting some leftover food. “We have to assume that the power is going to go off real soon. We’re going to lose all the cold storage we have. Let’s defrost and eat everything that is spoilable over the next couple of days.”
She started to freak out, “What do you mean? You have more generators than you know what do with. We can’t lose this stuff.” She was pissed at the thought of losing everything in her new Subzero.
“Those generators are for our heat and air, our water pumps and purification, simple light at night, and a deep freeze unit. We’re not off the grid despite the generators and solar power. Life is going to change whether we like it or not. Get used to it.”
She sighed at my attitude as if I was to blame. I could see her seething in her ‘woe is me’ posture. She went upstairs to check on the kids as I gorged myself on chicken. I gobbled down every last bite, and then I heard the dogs barking. They were obviously upset about something.
I made sure that I had my guns ready and loaded and headed into the garage. The front, back, and side doors were now locked and barred along with the windows. Everything had to go through the garage.
I opened the garage door after thoroughly checking the outside and walked out to see the previous car sitting just outside the front gate. The woman inside was crying from the back seat, screaming at the top of her lungs. She was obviously holding an infant in her arms who was also squalling.
I moved quickly at a run toward the commotion. There was a Zombie on the top of the car who was kicking his leg down onto the rear window. It had made a hole in the window and was trying to expand it. It was obviously smarter than it looked.
The one I was really worried about was the Zombie on the hood. It had his entire head and one arm already in the car and was working its way inside. I saw it snarling and drooling. It was cutting up his face pretty bad as it made his way inside. It didn’t seem to care. It was fixated on this woman and her daughter.
I got to the gate and scanned to make sure there were no other hidden Zeds. There weren’t. I quickly front-sighted the one on the rear of the car. I put a bullet through his upper neck. It spun him off the car backward. Surprisingly, I still heard sound coming from its mouth. It had ceased all movement below the neck. I had obviously shot through its spinal cord. Unfortunately, that didn’t finish it off. I had to shoot through its temple. I lined it up slowly and took my time. That shot did the trick.
I was pleased. I moved on the next target which was now impossible. The thing was already in the car up to both its shoulders, and it was increasing its speed. The woman inside was frightened beyond belief. I’ve never heard such terror in my life. I opened the gate slightly and went outside. I scanned for more Zeds. I had to constantly remind myself of that until it became second nature. I couldn’t afford even a scratch from one of these infectious organisms. I also had to remind myself that they weren’t people anymore. They were simply a disease at this point.
I walked over to the car and tried to figure out an angle to kill it. There was none. This sucked. The screaming didn’t help my thinking any either. I walked to the back door and tried to open it. It didn’t work. The door was fused from the accidents this woman had obviously caused.
I screamed at her to get down all the way. She didn’t listen to me. She was still fixated on the Zed. I pulled out my collapsible baton and smashed it against the window. The glass broke into a thousand pieces. The baton was obviously harder than the Zed’s hands. I moved forward and grabbed the kid right out of her hands. She screamed until she realized that I wasn’t going to eat the kid. I was trying to save her.
After she handed the child over to me, she collapsed backward onto the rear seat. She moved back as far as she could as the beast continued forward toward her. I saw the thing slobber over the headrest as it moved toward her. It smashed its teeth forcefully down onto each other. Its eyes were dead. There was no doubt in my mind that the thing had nothing going on inside its brain other than the need to feed.
As I was looking down into the car, I felt the child yanked forcefully from my grip. I spun and pulled the pistol up at the next Zombie. Except it wasn’t a zombie, it was my wife. She had come to help, and I almost put a round through her head. I hyperventilated at that. I almost killed my wife. Holy shit!
Jen yelled at me. “Kill that thing!” She ran back through the gate with the kid.
I suddenly remembered about the Zombie in the car behind me. I turned and put the pistol in the car. I put a bullet through its ear. Gore sprayed out the other side of the head onto the opposite window. The noise suddenly stopped.
I looked down at the window and saw the woman collapsed on the seat holding herself. I walked around the other side of the car and tried to open the car door. I couldn’t do it. I was about to smash the window, and then I saw that it was locked. I knocked on the window and startled the woman. I pointed at the lock several times. She seemed clueless. Finally she grasped the concept and unlocked it.
I pulled on the door, and the woman spilled out of her seat onto the ground. She retched out everything in her stomach and then continued to thrash on the ground. I picked her up and she threw herself away from me. She ended up back on the ground. She looked up at me and saw that I looked human. She stood and ran in through the gate into my front yard.
I suddenly realized I just let her into my home. I ran after her as fast as I could. I was about to raise my pistol and aim at her when I saw that my two dogs had cornered her against a bush. They looked ready to attack her. I was actually pleased at this. She looked like she was out of her mind again, and I was actually pleased at my dogs. What the fuck was I becoming?
I closed the gate and made sure the compound was secured. I returned and pointed my gun at the woman’s head. I wanted the woman to know that I could definitely kill her.
I heard my wife running toward me from behind. She screamed, “What the fuck are you doing? She’s alive you idiot!” She tried to get herself and the little girl between us.
I moved sideways and prevented them from getting between us and ruining my target. I spoke slowly and forcefully. “Honey, I have no idea if she’s been bitten. She could potentially turn into one of these things and kill us all. We have to examine her.”
I saw my wife’s horrified look. She realized that everyone was a potential threat. “How do we do that?”
I made it up on the fly. I was just winging it. I looked at the woman and screamed at her, “Strip naked right now.” She went to protest and I decocked the pistol at her. She had no idea that I just made the P226 safer. All she heard was a click.
She took off her top and her jeans and left her bra and underwear on. She looked at us defiantly with her hands on her hips.
My wife screamed at her angrily, “Strip or I’ll shoot you myself.” And she sounded like she meant it.
I looked over at my wife. I actually took my sight off of my target because Jen had just shocked me. I guess you don’t mess with a mother’s family. Things had definitely changed.
I heard my wife move away across the lawn and then return dragging something. I watched the woman strip. I had to admit that the dirty lady in front of me was very attractive. I put that thought right out of my head immediately. It was a disgusting thing to think as I was pointing a gun at her head.
My wife finally came back and stepped in front of me which annoyed me for a second. Then the hose she was dragging started up and sprayed water all over the woman. My wife was hosing off the grime looking for any marks. I had to admit that she was brilliant. I hadn’t thought of that.
She had the woman twist and turn until every last square inch of her body was clean. She then stepped forward and looked at the woman up close.
Finally Jen said, “She’s free of any wounds. She looks clean.”
I holstered the gun and turned and faced away from this dripping naked girl.
“Jen, can you get her some clothes? I’m going up to get the baby and check her too.”
Jen led her up the grass and called back to me, “The baby is in the bath. Maria is bathing her.”
I thought about it a second and then ran into the house. I had not considered a scary baby Zombie before this, but I had to begrudgingly admit that it could exist. I had to make sure the kids were safe. I ran through the garage and into the house. I heard the kids in the master bathroom. I ran in there and found them all cooing and smiling at the child. The girl was smiling in return.
I moved past them and picked up the soaking soapy child. I dried her off and checked every square inch of her. She was safe- skinny but safe. She appeared to be about a year old with a few teeth and big brown eyes. I sighed in relief. I handed her off to Maria and hoped that we still had old clothes that could fit the poor girl.
I walked out to the kitchen and found my wife feeding our new guest, who was shoving food into her mouth as quickly as possible.
“John, this is Traci with an I.” Jen smiled at me. This was one of her pet peeves. “She is the little girl’s babysitter.”
The girl mumbled the name “Heidi.” Tears started in the girl’s eyes. “I’m just her babysitter.” She sat there crying quietly.
I looked the girl over for a second. She was dressed in my wife’s old jeans and t- shirt. She was thin as a rail. Her hair was soaked, and she looked scared. She couldn’t have been more than seventeen years old. She had just grown up very quickly.
I walked outside to check on things yet again. It seemed quiet for the moment. The dogs came by and wagged their tails. I petted, and complimented them, and fed them. They seemed pleased with themselves. I definitely was happy about them. They had cornered that poor girl without any direction. I was never a dog person before. Now I was in love with these shepherds.
I walked to the front gate and looked out at the crappy blue Chevy. It was an absolute mess. And what was worse was the fact that there was now a headless Zombie’s feet sticking out the front windshield. I puffed out my lips and sighed. I had to get rid of it, but I couldn’t take the chance of touching any bodily fluid.
I walked back inside and got on the ATV. I drove forward and through the now opened gate. I pulled out my pistol, did a quick scan, and sighed relief. I wasn’t in the mood for any more drama.
I extended the winch cable of the ATV onto the rear bumper and hooked it up to the car. I slipped the car into neutral without touching anything that was wet. I was pleased at this. What I was not pleased at was the dead Zombie behind the rear tires. I had to physically move it out of the way. There was no way to do this without getting messy. Shit.
I went back inside and grabbed a hoe. I repeated the entire security process yet again and made my way back to the body. I tried rolling it over with the hoe without success. I tried hooking it up to the guy’s belt. Nothing, no movement. I was dreading what I had to do.
I went to the ATV and put on the faceshield that I stole from the hospital. It was basically a hospital mask with a plastic shield over the eyes to protect against splashes. I went back to the body and got behind the oozing head. I put the hoe up as far as I could and swung straight down into its ribs. It embedded itself in there all the way up to the hilt. I pulled on the handle and started it moving away. It slid on the dirt with a slime trail behind it. I hoped for rain because there was no fucking way I was washing it.
Once away, I hopped on the ATV and activated the winch. It went taut, and I pulled the car downhill. It was actually easy.
I took it all the way down to the street and noticed several Zeds milling around looking for someone to do. They turned toward me and growled when they finally saw me. I disengaged the ATV from the car and drove back home quickly. I made it to the outside of the gate and looked back. There were three of them making their way toward me. Fuck me. At least they were a block away.
I drove the ATV inside the gate and secured it. I would have to take care of them. I went to pull out my pistol and thought better of it. I needed to check out my other weapons. I ran into the garage and grabbed a Sig 5.56 rifle and an air rifle. I was actually excited to try out my new toys.
I got behind the ATV and sighted through the bars of the front gate. I sighted the front Zed and pulled the trigger. I saw a blood spray immediately, and the thing collapsed in a heap mid-driveway. These bodies were going to start piling up. I was going to have to figure out a better way to get rid of them. When I brought the first one down, I attracted three new ones. That wasn’t good.
I put my Sig away and pulled out my air rifle. I loaded up the special hollow point pellets that I bought on the internet. I quickly sighted the Zed that was 25 yards away. I pulled the trigger and hit the iron bar of the gate. I swore at my stupidity. That was a terrible shot. I resighted and pulled the trigger. I saw it go right into the thing’s forehead. It took a step forward and then dropped. There was no exit wound.
I considered what I just saw, and I realized that it was a success. Actually, it was better than that. Since there was no exit wound, there was less gore to clean. That was good.
I sighted the last one. It hit mid-left cheek. It also went down. There was no need for another shot. That was really good. I had tens of thousands of pellets. I could now save my real ammo. I thought about it and realized I had to play with the distance on the air rifles to get the best penetration. The range on these things was very limited, but at least they were very effective out to 25 yards. I would have to keep that in mind.
For the moment I left the bodies in the driveway. They weren’t going anywhere. I went back inside to see what was going on. My wife was hugging Traci with an ‘I’ on the couch. Jen quickly nodded a ‘no’ look to me so I went to check on the kids. They were annoying the now clean little girl with their antics. They were going out of their way to cheer her up after what she had been through. The little girl was giggling. I kissed them all on the forehead. They were good kids.
I went and grabbed more food. All this stuff was making me very hungry. It didn’t help that I had dropped twenty pounds in the last month because of my stress. I guess my body wanted the fat and muscle back.
My wife walked into the kitchen and sat down at the breakfast bar. Traci was sleeping on the couch. Her eyes were red-rimmed from all the crying. I ate while she talked.
“Traci was babysitting for little Heidi last night. She fell asleep on the couch with the girl. Around 3:00 in the morning her mom came home. Mom was drunk off her ass, which according to Traci was her normal state.” I saw my wife roll her eyes. “The mom was staggering and bleeding from her left arm. Traci was going to get a bandage for her, but the woman waved her off and went right to bed. She didn’t bother with her child. She was obviously really out of it, so Traci decided to stick around and sleep there
overnight which had obviously happened before.” My wife was pouring on the contempt.
Jen continued, “Around 6:00 am she heard growls and screams from the other room. Traci thought that the mom was vomiting. She went to help and found the woman snarling at her. The woman lunged at her and luckily tripped over her clothes. Traci thought the woman was on some heavy duty drug like coke or meth. She ran out of the room and panicked. She didn’t want to call the cops on the mom, so she got Heidi and left in a hurry. When she reached her car, she saw a couple of people acting just like the mom. She got the hell out of there and had been driving around up until the time she found us.”
I walked over and hugged my wife. The story was horrible. The woman had obviously turned during the night and was going to kill her sitter and her daughter in the worst possible way. I was sure that the story was about to be played out over and over again throughout the world in the next couple of days- with a much worse outcome than this.
My wife looked at me. “She is extremely worried that we’re going to send them away. I told them she is welcome to stay as long as she wants. There is no way we’re going to send them out to fend for themselves, right?” She was hopeful.
I smiled at her. “No way are they going anywhere. I thought we’d be accepting lots of people into our armed camp. She’s the first. No sweat.” I was pleased with myself.
My wife saw this immediately and got annoyed. “You’re really full of yourself right now, aren’t you?” She punched me in the chest. I backed away laughing. She hit me gently again and again and then came up and hugged me. She was happy that we were keeping those two girls safe, but she wasn’t about to let my ego get the best of me. She was too late with that. I was a surgeon after all.
I grabbed her and gave her a deep kiss which she seemed to enjoy. I went back outside. I started whistling I was so happy and secure. I fed the animals, took care of the property, and made my way back to the front gate.
There, I started to get a little nervous. I looked down the drive and saw those three bodies starting to rot and swell. Insects were starting to gather. I couldn’t let them fester and get diseased. Even from outside the gate, these things could hurt us. Insects were great at transmitting diseases. Shit.
My Last Testament Page 5