Kellie's Diary (Books 1-3): Decay of Innocence

by Thomas Jenner

  I looked to my side and I saw Dan shooting at a bunch of the zombies, then he grabbed his knife and started stabbing at them! It looked like he was screaming, and it was kind of scary. I've never seen him like that before. Dan's actually a nice man, you know, when he's not arguing with Mike. He just kept on going after the zombies! I was worried that he'd get bit, and that we'd be attacked too. He wouldn't stop, even though it looked like they just kept coming.

  Then a lot farther away in between the trees, I saw smoke in the sky. I wasn't sure what it was from, but it didn't seem all that far from us.

  Then we stopped. Sarah tapped me and turned me to look through the trees, and when I did, I couldn't believe it. There was a bus running over a bunch of the zombies! Which meant that the road was close by! The bus wasn't going too fast, probably because there were so many zombies. Someone climbed out the top and started waving at us, and it looked like they were yelling but I couldn’t hear them. All I know is that Dan looked like he was going even faster!

  Sarah started shooting at the zombies too. I was hearing it that time because it was close by, and it sort of shook the inside of my ears whenever it fired, but it wasn't hurting as bad as I thought it would.

  I'm not sure how long it took, but after a long time of Sarah and Dan killing the zombies, we were getting closer to the bus, and I realized it was OUR bus, the one from home! I saw Jack standing on top of it and he was shooting down zombies. There were still a ton of them, there was no way we could get them all. When we got closer we finally were able to get inside. Sarah put me down on one of the seats and started talking to the others in there.

  Then Lydia ran up to me! She was crying and then she hugged me really tight. I was so happy she was safe! We hugged for a while, then she ran to the back area and came back with Mr. Floppy! It's weird, but that was the happiest I'd been in a while.

  There weren't a whole lot of people in the bus. There was me, Lydia, Sarah, Dan, Howard, Jack and Misty. Sarah brought me over to Misty and started talking to her and pointing at my ears. Misty nodded and pulled me away to another part of the bus and she started cleaning my face and ears. It hurt a little, but when she was done, I started hearing a little more! Misty tested by covering one of my ears and then talking, and then switching. My left ear is getting better, but I still don't hear anything on the right. I looked behind me, and it I saw the other adults arguing about something.

  Misty tried to check inside my ears to see how bad they're hurt, but she couldn't tell that well because she didn't have the right stuff, it was all back home. I still can't hear anything in the right side, and she said that sometimes it can take weeks or months to get better! She said there is a chance that it might be permanent. I really hope not.

  The bus was moving by then. I found Sarah and told her that I could hear better in my left ear now, and she smiled a little and said she was glad. I asked her if we were going home, but she looked sad again and said that we didn't have a home to go to anymore. When I told her I didn't understand, she said she'd explain later and that I should try to get some sleep.

  I spent the rest of the day trying to rest. I could hear a little bit of some of the others talking, and from what I can figure out, someone started a fire in the town, and somehow a bunch of zombies got in. No one knows who did it or how it happened. Mike and a few other people stayed behind, but they tried to get him to leave too. They didn't find Rita either, but they think she stayed with Mike.

  Our home is gone, Barbie. We can't ever go back there. I didn't have much stuff anyway, but now it's almost nothing. This is the second home I've had to leave. I guess...... well, I don't really know how I feel about it. I just hope that Lydia is going to be okay. I don't know how much she understands about having to stay moving for this kind of stuff. She was really little the first time the zombies came, and she once told me that she still doesn't remember what happened, just that she lived in the town for a long time before I got there. The town was all she knew. She barely remembers Jennifer, but she kind of remembers Mom and Dad. It's weird, I haven't thought about them in a while either.

  I finally went to sleep, and I woke up not too long ago. I didn't see any zombies anymore. Jack was driving and Sarah was in the front passenger seat. Right now we're in a parking lot, because Jack said a little while ago that we were running low on gas, so we stopped here to see if the cars around have any gas left in them.

  I can't believe all this trouble that's happening. It got really bad in just a little bit of time, and I think everyone here knows that. It feels really uncomfortable right now. No one's talking much, and we're all just kind of staying by ourselves. Now I'm really starting to think this was my fault. I think back at everything that's happened and it keeps going back in time to earlier stuff I did.

  If I hadn't been so tired, Sarah wouldn't have had to carry me around trying to get away from the house. I wouldn't have gotten tired if I'd fallen asleep instead of running away from Bag-Man all night. I wouldn't have even been at that house if I wasn't running around the forest looking for Lydia. She wouldn't have run away if Kitty wasn't thrown over the fence. Max wouldn't have done that if I'd have just saved Tommy like I should have. If I stopped them before they went through that fence, then no one would have gotten hurt or in trouble... or if I would have just told on them from the beginning, then maybe someone could have fixed the fence.

  Maybe it would have been better if I never came to the town. I feel like all I've done is cause problems for other people. Sarah shouldn't have to be stuck with me. I feel bad enough that she had to take care of Lydia before I was ever there. Lydia might have been fine without me. I feel like no matter where I go I either have bad luck or other people get hurt.

  Maybe he was right about all those things he said back at the mall, maybe I am a bad person. Whenever I'm around people, bad things happen. The others probably don't care anyway. I was better off by myself, trying to stay alive at my home. At least no one else was getting hurt or dying because I did something wrong. What if my family really DID go back home? They're probably long gone by now. All my notes said I was going to Oregon. But I'm nowhere near there.

  But this means that me and Lydia are probably the only kids left from the town. Lydia is still asleep, and I'm not going to bother her right now. If she can sleep, I'll let her. She has Mr. Floppy with her, it looks like they're becoming good friends. I guess they have to. We'll probably never find Kitty now, so I think it's good that she

  Chapter 37

  Zombies showed up while we were getting gas, and we have no idea where they came from! We looked around and we didn't see any zombies! I just don't understand how they come out of nowhere when it looks safe. I should know by now that nowhere is safe anymore, but I guess I just keep hoping that this time will be different.

  Some of the zombies even got inside the bus! One of them got really close to Lydia, and I was the closest to her. I shot the zombie, but it happened so fast I didn't even realize I did it until after it fell down. Howard and Sarah helped kill the ones that were in the bus, but then they had to try to get rid of the bodies without the zombies outside getting them!

  Jack and Misty were trying to get back from the cars on the other side of the parking lot, but they looked like they were stuck there! Dan and Howard went to go help them and Sarah stayed with me and Lydia in the bus. We kept the door closed and locked until the others got back.

  Sarah opened the top door of the bus and went out to the roof, then I heard her shooting. I felt like I needed to help, but I didn't want to leave Lydia alone so I stayed right near where the roof opening was. I looked out the front window and I didn't see Dan or Howard anymore, they just went right into the horde! I don't know how much time passed, but I kept hearing guns and a lot of yelling.

  Then there was a loud banging on the door, and I heard Jack screaming to let him in! Sarah told him to hold on, she put her head back inside the roof door and said she was going to shoot a bunch of zombies, and that when she said t
he word “go,” I needed to open the bus door and let in the others. She said she really needed to trust me right now, and that I had to listen really carefully for her. I said I could do it. I was really scared, but I wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt. I couldn't let Sarah down.

  I told Lydia to stay right where she was, and she said okay, so I went to the bus door. I saw all the zombies through the window, and then I saw Jack, Misty, Dan and Howard shooting and stabbing at them to keep them away. They were getting closer to the bus, so I was getting ready for Sarah to say “go.” I was trying to keep an eye of all of them, and at the same time trying really hard to listen for Sarah. I could hear her voice talking, but she wasn't saying the word yet.

  Then I didn't see Misty anymore! Howard yelled for her, then I heard her scream really loud, then it stopped. I think they got her.

  But then I heard it – Sarah yelled “GO!” I pulled the bus door open and Jack ran inside first, then he helped in Howard. Dan got in last, and I asked where Misty was, even though I already knew. He helped me close the door, and he said that she didn't make it.

  Jack got into the driver seat and Sarah came back down from the top of the bus. Jack said they got enough gas to get us far enough away, so he started it up and we started driving.

  It's been a while now, and we haven't seen any zombies since we left that parking lot. But something else happened. We didn't know it until after we left, but Howard got bit. He was bleeding from his leg, and when Dan checked him out, he had a bite mark on the back of his leg.

  I hate this, Barbie. I hate watching my friends die. Howard's a really cool guy, he tells lots of jokes and he was always really helpful back at home, even though he was kind of tough sometimes. Howard kept saying that we had to let him go, because he knew what was going to happen and he didn't want to put us in danger when he turned. Sarah doesn't want to just let him go, but what can we do for him? We all know that once you're bit, it's over. I mean... Tommy got bit, he was turning and everyone knew it. I guess I don't understand why they're hanging on until the last minute. She just said that she doesn't want to give up on him. I don't understand, but

  It feels like we're slowing down now, Jack says we're pulling over. We'll talk more later.

  Chapter 38

  We're safe for now, I hope. Jack pulled us into this tiny shopping place, it has a bunch of little stores all lined up. We all went inside this bar, it had a bunch of bottles of beer and other things in there. We were in there for a while trying to find supplies, but then zombies tried to get in! Jack and Dan got the door locked and closed. It's a pretty big and heavy door, so they think it will hold for a while until we figure out what to do.

  We met 2 new people here. They said their names were Kyle and Roger, and they were trying to find stuff to use in there too. It was mostly Sarah and Dan talking to them, Howard and Jack are looking for stuff, and I'm keeping an eye on Lydia at one of the tables. I can hear a little bit of what they're talking about. Kyle and Roger say they're part of a community that lives on a train. They say the train goes all over the place, and there's a bunch of people that live on it when they travel. When they stopped here, they went to go looking for supplies but ran into zombies, and that's how they ended up in here. They said their train is waiting for them to get back.

  Howard isn't doing that great. He's walking funny and he looks really tired. But he's still in a good mood, I think. He doesn't look mad or anything, he's just walking around the bar not saying anything, looking at everything. I have no idea what he's trying to find.

  The others are all talking still. They're still talking about this community train, and Sarah is asking if we can go too. I heard one of them say no, but it was kind of mumbled when he kept talking, I think he may just be talking quieter. But I don't think they want us to go with them. I think the idea of going around on a train sounds pretty cool, but what's going to happen to our bus? Are we ever going to get back to it?

  With all the zombies out there, it's going to be hard to get back out there. Jack said there's a back door on the other side of the bar, and he went out there and there isn't many zombies back there, so we could escape if we needed to. He told the others, and I think that the new people don't like the idea much. Sarah is trying to get them to do it, because going out the front door is going to kill us. They keep saying how we're all trapped there.

  Yeah, I know Barbie, and if I had any ideas of what to do, I'd tell them. I know we can't stay here forever. That door is strong, but it may not stay up forever. Once the zombies see you, they'll keep going for you forever, unless they find something else closer to them to eat. They're not smart, but they don't stop either.

  I'll talk in a little bit, Lydia wants to talk to me about something.

  Chapter 39

  I'm having a hard time writing right now, I'm sitting on the train. You know, the train that those two guys said they came from. The adults are talking and Lydia is just sitting quiet with Mr. Floppy.

  We got out of that bar just in time. Right when Lydia was telling me something that Mr. Floppy did, I heard something coming from the door. All the grown ups took their guns out and pointed at the door. There was a bunch of pounding from the other side, which meant there were zombies out there. Jack and Howard pushed themselves against the front door, and the rest of us all started moving to the back door to get out. Then Howard said something to Jack that I couldn't hear very well. Howard walked away, went to the bar, grabbed a couple bottles of alcohol and started pouring it everywhere! All over the tables, chairs, counters, even the walls and floor! He took one of the gas cans that Roger was holding and he spilled that all over the place too! Roger got mad at him, but Dan held him back.

  Sarah went to talk to Howard, and he started shaking his head and pointing at the back door. When I got closer, I heard Howard say something about “playing the bait.” I don't really know what that means, but then he was yelling at Sarah to get everyone out of there. Then he told Jack to run when he gave the word. Dan came up too and said that he wasn't leaving anyone behind! Howard was telling us to leave him there!

  Howard said that he wasn't going anywhere with a bite on his leg, that he was going to die anyway, and that wanted to “take the zombies with him.” I ran up to him and yelled at him that I wasn't going to leave him, but he just shook his head and told me to take care of Lydia. Sarah pulled me away and said it was time to go. I didn't want to! Sarah told me we had to go, so I grabbed Lydia's hand and took her to the back door. When we all got outside I heard Howard yell “go” and then a minute later Jack came out the back door. Then we heard shooting from inside. Dan closed the back door and I kept hearing the gun.

  We started running through the back alley behind all the stores, then there was an opening between the buildings. We got through, and when we looked back out to the parking lot we found the bus, but there were way too many zombies around to try and get to it. Roger and Kyle said they could lead us to the train, but we had to run for a bit. There were still zombies around, but we were able to stay away as long as we were going faster.

  Then we started hearing all these loud booms behind us, and I felt the ground shaking a little. We all looked, and we saw fire and smoke coming from the bar! That's what Howard was doing... he wanted to get all the zombies inside so he could blow them up.

  But then Kyle grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Lydia, and then Roger picked up Lydia! I started screaming and so did Lydia, and then they turned us around and I saw them take out their guns. They pointed them at Sarah, Jack and Dan!!

  They stopped running, but Kyle and Roger kept pulling us back... Barbie, I was starting to think that this was going to be the mall all over again, but this time it would be Lydia too! But I couldn't do anything! I wanted to get my gun, but I don't know what I would have done with it. Maybe they would have tried to take it from me!

  Sarah asked what they were doing, and Roger said they were taking us on the train, and that they were leaving them behind for the zomb
ies! Lydia started to cry, and then that made me mad. I was still scared, but then I was getting mad too, because they were going to hurt Lydia.

  Then Sarah, Jack and Dan pulled out their guns too! None of us were moving anymore, but when I looked behind Jack, I saw more zombies coming up! They were still kind of far, but it wasn't going to take long for them to catch up.

  Kyle said that they were keeping us with them, and that they'd kill them if they tried to follow us! Sarah started cussing at them and telling them they had to let us go, or they'd shoot them! But me and Lydia were both in between them! I was thinking that one of us might get shot too. Kyle and Roger started pulling us back again.

  But then Dan shot twice. The shots were probably in the same second, it was real fast! Lydia and I both fell over, and so did Kyle and Roger. Except they didn't get up. I went to help Lydia up, and when I got to her, I saw that they both had blood coming out of their heads. I looked at Dan, and he walked over to help me and Lydia get our bags. He said we needed to get running again because the zombies were catching up.

  He shot them so fast! I didn't know you could fire a gun that many times in just a second. Dan must be really good to be able to do that. But I was kind of wondering why he had to shoot them, they weren't zombies! I've never seen him shoot a real person before! Even though Kyle and Roger scared us, they didn't have to die.