[HGB] Humanity Gone Bad: The Dead Chronicles

by Watkins, Charles

  We walked into the front yard and were glad to see that her Ford Mustang was still sitting there from back before we had left the first time to go on the trip out to Shawnee, Oklahoma; Remy and Mace walked beside of Angie while holding her right hand as well as each other’s hand as Angie held Ember in her left arm—I kept my M16 ready as I led the way up to the front door as Jennifer clung to me. I opened it slowly and we stepped inside—everything was still the same as we had left it and the entire place was clean, Angie and I went into my old bedroom and plopped down on the bed while Jennifer sat down in a chair in the living room like she was tired—being there brought back memories of our wedding night and we were soon kissing in a playful way when the door suddenly opened and Noah and Melvin cleared their throats.

  “Sorry to disturb anything—we finished scouting around and there weren’t any zombies anywhere—traces of them, but there wasn’t anything recent.” Noah stated as he stashed his shotgun in the pack on his back.

  “That’s good—at least we’ll be able to stay here for a while and rest maybe.” Angie said as she snuggled up next to me.

  “We’ll look around a little bit more; we’re probably going to have to go find some motor homes or something so everyone will have a place to sleep.” Melvin added as they left to go back outside.

  Soon after, my mom, dad and sister came into the house and started settling in, Jennifer came into our bedroom and sat down looking like she wasn’t feeling good; Angie put Remy and Mace into their own crib and then she put Ember down in the smaller crib we had bought ahead of time after we were married and soon they were asleep—I checked on Jennifer’s chest wound and was shocked to see that it was starting to look infected. I looked on it with dread remembering what happened in the past with everyone who had been bitten or scratched in the least little way, how those people had had to have been destroyed upon turning; I didn’t want to have to kill Jennifer—Angie and I had gotten close to her and we had shared some intimate moments with her and I loved her deeply. My thoughts came down to one simple solution, I would get Jennifer to come with me to the lab truck and I would use a sterile syringe to get a little bit of the Antitoxin Sample 3 and I would inject it directly into Jennifer’s bloodstream; it sounded like a long shot when I explained it to both Angie and Jennifer herself but when it was all said and done they knew that it would be the only way to be sure. I left our bedroom with Jennifer following me and I left our house and walked up the where we had parked the lab truck and I opened the door and climbed inside helping Jennifer inside as well, I then went to the lab area where there were scientific as well as medical equipment and I grabbed a package labeled sterile syringe and tore it open taking out the needle; I then took the Antitoxin Sample 3 from my bag and opened the top of the lid sticking the needle down into the clear liquid sucking about a regular sized dose of 10cc’s into the syringe. I then took a deep breath and used an alcohol pad to wipe the skin off near her wound and I carefully pinched the skin then stuck the needle in as far as it would go and injected the liquid. The shot seemed to have only hurt Jennifer a little and after it had been injected I bandaged it and we left the lab truck heading back to the house, my hand found hers as we went back into our bedroom where Angie was waiting; we soon after made love a few times—both to Angie and Jennifer before drifting off into deep thought—it seemed like maybe the long bloody nightmare that we had all been going through for so long had maybe finally come to an end, Angie, Jennifer and I slept for around eight hours and woke up the next day; we made love again just before getting out of bed and dressing. We then went outside where everyone was gathered after waking up Remy and Ember and taking them with us.

  “The lovebirds are finally awake!” Melvin teased as Angie and I both sat down at the picnic table side by side with Jennifer close by.

  We grinned and got plates of what my mom was serving for breakfast.

  “Are you okay Jennifer—yesterday I noticed that you didn’t look so good.” Noah asked raising his right eyebrow.

  “Yes—Chaz saved me…I thought for sure that by now I would have turned from that wound that I received from the Entity yesterday but now I feel much better.” Jennifer answered glancing at me with a smile.

  “Um…explain?” Melvin answered with a skeptical look.

  “I used a small amount of the Antitoxin Sample 3 that we found and injected it directly into her bloodstream; the notes about it being a direct cure against the T.H.C.A.I.A Toxin were obviously true.” I answered glancing around at the others.

  “Well—that’s great news, now if we can only get that sample to someone who can use it we’ll be okay.” Christina stated with a smile.

  “What’s our next plan?” Kira asked sipping a cup of coffee.

  “Well, I figure we might as well rest up here for a while—we’ve been on the road for a long time and it’s been a very dangerous and costly trip.” I answered as I took a bite of my fried eggs.

  “That’s a good idea, but we shouldn’t stay too long—we don’t know when more zombies will come around again.” My dad stated as he sipped on his coffee.

  “Here’s the way we’ll do this when we get ready to leave: Noah, you and Christina as well as anyone else who wants to ride with you can drive the lab truck; Angie, Jennifer and I with our kids will be in our Mustang.” I instructed as I grabbed a notebook and started drawing a travel formation with a pen.

  “I’m tired of the truck; I want to ride in a normal vehicle.” Kira said in an aggravated tone.

  “All of the neighbors around here are more than likely long dead, I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to borrow a few of their vehicles.” I answered looking up at her briefly.

  “You mean steal.” Melvin cut in.

  “No—stealing them would be what we were doing if the neighbors were still alive and if this whole nightmare had never took place. We are simply borrowing them for the time being so we can better assist in what we need to do.” I explained glancing at him with an annoyed look.

  “Right—let’s go looking around the neighborhood and see what we can find.” Cedric stated getting up from his seat.

  “Be careful and don’t take too long—bring whatever you find back here and everyone meet back here in an hour.” I instructed as I sat the notebook down.

  Several of the others left to look for vehicles while the rest of us stayed and sat around the front yard in various places with our weapons not far off in case we needed them; around an hour later, the others returned with several different kinds of vehicles and parked them in the driveway.

  “What’s our next move?” Noah asked as he leaned against the lab truck.

  “We’re going to Manhattan.” I answered as I got to my feet with Angie and Jennifer by my side.

  “You mean New York City?” Kira asked in astonishment.

  “That’s right—now that the Entity is destroyed our main goal is finding a doctor or scientist who can use that antitoxin sample we have to create a cure for the zombie plague.” I answered as I took the Antitoxin Sample out of my pocket to once again gaze at it.

  “That does sound like a good next move, but what if Long island is just as dead as the rest of this country?” Melvin asked with a dark look.

  “Then we’ll move on, to Newark—wherever we need to go to find someone.” I responded as I grabbed my gear and started putting it into mine and Angie’s Mustang before coming back to sit at the table.

  “Hey…now that I think of it—there used to be a big pharmaceutical company not far from where I lived in Brooklyn; if we’re going to find anyone, it would most likely be there.” Noah stated in deep thought.

  “Then that’s our next destination—Brooklyn, New York.” I stated getting up from the table.

  “When are we leaving?” Christina asked as she clung to Noah.

  “In two days—that’ll give us enough time to get prepared for another road trip.” I answ
ered as I glanced around at the group.

  “What did you guys find for vehicles?” My dad asked with a curious expression on his face.

  “Two FXSTB Night Train motorcycles.” Melvin answered with a smile.

  “Is that all?” I asked looking toward him and then back toward where the vehicles were parked.

  “Yeah—there were other vehicles but they were smashed, these two babies were the only things not damaged.” Melvin stated as he patted the handlebar of the one closet to him.

  “I wanna ride this one.” Kira said sitting on the seat of the second bike.

  “Right—I got this one for myself.” Melvin answered sitting on the other one.

  “The rest of us will ride in the lab truck.” My uncle Joe stated as he tossed his paper plate into the nearby garbage can.

  “Okay—you two are going to have to be very careful when we start getting swamped within groups of zombies.” I stated turning toward Melvin and Kira.

  “Chill dude, we’ll be fine.” Melvin said slapping a clip into a sub machine gun he was holding.

  “Right, those damned bastards aren’t even getting close to me.” Kira added as she slung an AK-47 assault rifle over her right shoulder and putting a new clip into a large caliber handgun she had in a holster on her thigh.

  “Lock n’ load ‘eh?” Noah joked as he playfully elbowed her in the side.

  Everyone retired to wherever it was that they were sleeping and we all got some sleep, the next morning came fast and we were woken to the sound of gunfire; Angie Jennifer and I ran outside with our weapons in hand to see Noah, Melvin, Kira and Cedric fighting off a group of zombies that were coming up out of the edge of the woods. We ran over and assisted them in suppressing gunfire and after another few seconds, all the zombies were dead and lying in pools of their own gore.

  “I think that it might be a good idea for us to leave a little earlier then we planned to.” Noah stated turning to Angie, Jennifer and I.

  “Right—get everything together and tell the others, we’re moving out.” I instructed as I took hold of Angie’s right hand and Jennifer’s left one.

  They went to get things ready as I looked back at the bodies and the woods where they had come from.

  “This is turning out to be one hell of a day.” I said as Angie, Jennifer and I returned to our room to pack up our last few remaining things and get them into our Mustang.

  After around half an hour of packing and loading we were ready to move out, I made a last adjustment by securing the row bar into place in our Mustang; after that, I led the way out and away from home and onto the road. Melvin and Kira were beside of our car on their motorcycles, while Noah and everyone else followed in the lab truck except for my parents who were in their own truck behind them—it didn’t take us long to get past Lafayette using the bypass highway that went around the town; Angie, Jennifer and I led the way all the way to Fort Oglethorpe and then we stopped in the middle of the roadway and we got out to show the others our route.

  “Okay—we can’t get near Chattanooga due to the radiation from the explosion, so we’re going to go through Ringgold and then on up through North Carolina—the same route we used to take when going to the Great Smokey Mountains.” I stated as I lay the road atlas on the top of our car.

  “Sounds good, let’s do it.” Noah stated as he glanced down at us from the driver’s side window of the lab truck.

  Turning on the main highway out of Fort Oglethorpe, we traveled east toward the town of Ringgold; the roadway along the way seemed to be littered with just about everything you could imagine—from cars, trucks, SUV’s—there was even one point where we had to find a way around a wrecked semi that had been transporting a doublewide mobile home. The mobile home was turned over onto its side mostly smashed and several other vehicles looked to have crashed either into it or been crushed by it when it had tipped over; we were nearing the onramp to the interstate not far from the city limits of Ringgold when it started to rain very heavily—the rain was coming down in sheets and it was almost impossible to see, so I slowed down and came to a stop underneath the overpass of the interstate and waited as the rest of my convoy caught up with us.

  “This damned rain is really coming down—everyone be careful.” I warned as I rolled down my window to talk to Noah and the others as they got close.

  “Chaz—come here; I need your help with the map for a minute.” Noah called from the driver’s side window of the lab truck.

  “I’ll be right back babes.” I said to Angie and Jennifer as I opened my door and ran over to talk to Noah for a minute.

  “You see this road—well, does it go straight through Ringgold or what?” Noah asked as he pointed at the map with his right index finger while holding a small flashlight in his other hand.

  “Just follow us—we know this area well; that way you won’t have to stress on where to go.” I answered patting his arm as I turned to head back toward our Mustang.

  That was when I stepped on what I thought at the time was an oil spot and slipped; with my arms flailing in the air I fell to the pavement with a loud thud. Angie and Jennifer as well as several of the others came running to me while Kira and a few of the others kept watch with their weapons ready as what looked like zombies started moving our way in the distance. Angie checked my foot and ankle and with just the least little touch I screamed out in pain—my ankle was no doubt broken.

  “Damn it…son of a bitch…why did this have to happen now?!” I shouted in pain and anger as my dad and Noah as well as Angie and Jennifer helped me to the passenger side of the car and into the seat.

  “We’re going to have to find something to set that ankle so it will heal—maybe there’s a store in Ringgold that carries medical supplies.” My dad stated before he jogged back to his and my mom’s truck.

  “I’ll drive baby—I’ll try to be careful in this rain.” Angie stated as she gave me a little kiss on the mouth before starting out again.

  Once we left the overpass we were back in the torrents of rain that were pummeling the windshield and the car; I myself couldn’t even see ahead through the rain—I didn’t even know how Angie was making it. We were just about to the end of the road when our car suddenly struck something that was in the road—right before my eyes I saw the world around me tilt then flip at least two or three times till all I heard was Angie and Jennifer screaming, breaking glass and the screeching of tires behind us as the others in my group came to an immediate stop. Once the world around me had stopped spinning I checked Angie, but she looked to have been killed instantly—the top part of our convertible top was crunched in and despite the row bar being in place it had not made any difference; blood was everywhere and the kids still strapped into their car seats in the back seat were screaming, I checked on Jennifer and she was okay except for a deep gash on the side of her head that was quickly causing her red hair to turn a crimson color.

  I managed to help Jennifer gather the kids and crawl out of the shattered windshield and then I stumbled around to Angie’s side of the car—I tore at the door trying to open it, but it would not budge, I even drew my bowie knife from the sheath at my waist and struck the point and the blade against the metal of the door trying to pry it open; nothing worked and just seconds after I had started to use the knife its blade broke after I had lodged it into the crack of the door. Noah and all of the others came running and seen the grim situation that had somehow befallen us, my dad as well as Cedric worked on getting the door to the car open—all I could do was fall to my ass on the wet pavement and sob as Jennifer wrapped her arms around me crying as well. I felt so helpless—so petty and small—the whole world around my eyes was spinning and I fell back onto the roadway unconscious.

  Hours later I woke to find myself lying on a cot in the back of the lab truck, most of my friends and family were either around me or not far off.

  “You’re awake…than
k God.” My dad stated as he got up to check on my superficial wounds that I had sustained.

  “What happened…is she okay?” I gasped as I fought my thirst parched throat to spit out the few words.

  In the back of my mind I already knew the answer to that question but for some reason I was still hanging onto the foolish hope that maybe—just maybe, it had all been a bad dream.

  “I’m sorry Chaz…Angie didn’t make it…she was dead when we finally managed to get the car door open and we almost didn’t make it out of that area in time because hundreds of zombies showed up and started chasing after us right after you passed out.” My dad answered in a grim, depressed tone.

  “Where…where is her body?”

  “What about Jennifer and our kids?” I asked as I sat up on the cot after my mom had given me a cup of water to drink.

  “Her body is in the very back of this truck—Jennifer and the kids are okay; just a little shaken up.” My dad answered as he motioned to the front of the truck.

  Jennifer came into the room and helped me get up with some effort and I hobbled back to where they had put Angie’s body—I slowly uncovered it and gazed at it with an almost glazed over look; it all seemed like a nightmare, but no matter how hard I slapped or punched myself I didn’t wake up. Everything in front of me was almost surreal—like it wasn’t really there or wasn’t really happening and for a few seconds I questioned whether or not I was even alive any longer; how could this have happened? After all the days, months and years we had spent on the road surviving this nightmare why had it all suddenly came down to this? I bent down and kissed her forehead and held her hand for a few minutes before coming out of the state of mind that I was in; I had been crying and the tears were all over my face and dripping down on hers making the blood moist and damp.

  “I’m sorry…” I said as I covered her back up and Jennifer and I walked back to the front of the lab truck where Noah was sitting looking blank in the driver’s seat.