“I’m sorry dude…I can hardly believe that this shit has happened; one minute things are fine—the next the whole world has gone to shit…” Noah stated as he stared down at the floor.
“I’m not going to let this consume me—nor will I let it destroy me; Angie would want me to go on, and that is what I am going to do…I’m going to complete this task and find a way to restore the world—even if I have to kill every single last one of those dead and rotting sons of bitches.” I stated firmly as I clenched my fists.
“Not to rain on your parade, but I don’t think there’s enough bullets in the world to do that.” Noah answered with a distant look.
“Maybe not, but I will see this through—to the end.” I answered staring blankly out the windshield at the rain.
“I know that I’m not Angie…but I’ll be here for you and I love you very much, Chaz.” Jennifer stated as she hung her head in sorrow.
“I know baby—I love you too; I’m thankful that I still have you as I know that you could have been killed right along with her.” I answered as I brought Jennifer into my arms.
“She won’t be forgotten.” Melody stated as she stood near the window looking out at the pouring down rain.
“Where are we right now?” I asked after a few minutes of silence.
“We’re stopped in the Wilson Funeral Home parking lot…we’re in Ringgold.” My dad answered as he poured himself some coffee from the small coffee maker that was securely strapped down to one of the small lab tables nearby.
“Well…let’s go—we can’t waste any time; who knows when we’ll run into trouble again.” I stated as I sat down on the seats behind the driver’s seat.
I sat there racking my brain on the events that had taken place the last several hours—the split second right before our car had hit whatever it was that had been in the road and everything had turned to shit; that’s when I looked up at my dad who was walking toward the door to the lab truck to get back into his and my mom’s own truck.
“What did we hit?” I asked looking up at my dad as he slowly stopped and turned to face me.
“Well…from what we could tell you hit a tombstone…that caused Angie to hydroplane and lose control of the car.” My dad answered grimly.
“Why the hell was there a tombstone in the middle of the damn road?” I asked with an angry puzzled look.
“Who knows…I guess it’s something that we’ll never really know.” My dad answered as he turned to leave.
Noah started the engine of the lab truck and once again we started out on the road toward the center of town and after a few minutes we started going down a steep slope area where there were a lot of what appeared to be apartments and such and Noah had turned his head for a split second to look at the map and get a swig of his coffee when something suddenly ran out in front of us and made a light thud sound on the front of the lab truck; Noah immediately slammed on the brakes and came to a screeching halt.
“What the hell did we hit?” Christina asked as she strained to see out the windshield.
“I dunno…I wonder if it was a deer or something.” Noah answered as he wiped the spilt coffee off the front of his shirt and grabbed his sawn off shotgun.
He opened the side door and I followed him with my M16, I was putting my weight on my heel as my ankle was hurting something awful; Christina flipped a switch and the bright light on the top of the lab truck came on and allowed us to see exactly what it was that we had hit—it appeared to be a young woman; whether or not she was a survivor or another zombie was unknown.
“She’s got blood on her shirt—watch out!” I shouted as I aimed my M16 at her head and waited as she slowly started to move and sit up.
“Don’t shoot!”
“She’s not a zombie!” A male voice rang out from off to the right.
Another figure came into the light—this one appeared to be a blonde-headed young guy no more than 21 or 22 years of age and he was dressed in what looked like military clothing; the girl that had ran out in front of us had reddish color hair and was dressed in fishnet hose, a blue jean mini-skirt and a pink shirt and she appeared to be slightly injured.
“Go—it’s after us!” The young guy shouted as he pushed past Noah and I after helping the girl to her feet.
“Who’s after you?” Noah asked with a puzzled look.
“Him!” The young guy shouted pointing off to the right at the edge of the road where to our disgust and amazement was a middle aged man with long blonde hair; he was completely naked and looked to have a major neck wound on his left side that had probably turned him into what he was—his left leg was also almost completely torn off and he was using his right one trying to get up enough leverage to sprint toward us.
“Oh my god…” Noah exclaimed as he ducked back into the truck as I followed after making sure the two young adults had made it inside and the door was sealed.
We sped away from the naked man leaving him to stumble and fall in the road as Kira swerved to avoid him on her motorcycle followed by Melvin and all the others until we were well away from him.
“Who the hell was that naked man?” Noah bellowed with a traumatized look on his face.
“That was our neighbor—Shaun Roberts…he busted into our apartment and started coming after us; we figured that he was one of those zombie things that have overrun everywhere else in this country.” The young guy answered as he clung to one of the seats near the back of the lab area.
“Try world—I’m starting to seriously doubt that there’s anywhere left at all that’s not infested with those fuckers.” Noah answered as he kept his eyes on the road ahead.
“Damn…I knew this shit was bad but I had no idea it was to this degree.” The young guy answered staring out one of the windows with a shocked expression.
“You okay?”
“Who are you two anyway?” I asked as I limped over to check on the girl.
“F-Fine…just feel a little like road kill right now.” She answered slowly as she rose her shirt up above her navel revealing a large bruise that was now forming.
“I’m sorry that we hit you back there—we weren’t exactly expecting to run into other survivors.” I stated as Jennifer helped me sit down in a nearby seat due to the pain in my ankle.
“It wasn’t your fault…my name is Sheila Finnen…that’s Billy Finnen.” She answered after a minute of silence.
“Nice to meet you—my name is Chaz Watkins, this is my girlfriend Jennifer Anderson and these people are all my friends and family.” I quietly introduced as I motioned at the others in the lab truck who were around in various spots.
“There’s a medical supply—we really should stop and see about getting something for your ankle.” My dad said as his voice suddenly boomed over the CB radio.
“Okay—we’re on it.” Noah answered after he turned to glance my way.
I nodded in agreement as we stopped at the medical supply building and all got out, I used the butt of my M16 to break the window glass and to help me walk into the store; once we were inside Kira and Melvin stood guard while Noah, Cedric and a few of the others scouted around for valuable supplies for the road ahead. I found an ankle cast and put my foot into it as soon as I found it; then I grabbed a crutch and used it to help me walk. Once we had what we needed we split for fear that we would attract an army of dead-heads; we drove north and after a while we started seeing more and more signs of what had been formally civilized areas.
Houses and apartments along the way we were going were either burning or had already long burned to the ground and we had to take it slow because there were a lot of wrecked vehicles in the roadway here and there and even the occasional dead and decaying body sprawled out in the middle of the road for us to smash. I started seeing a lot of what looked like parking lights and it was then that we came upon what had once been a shopping mall; zombies were h
ere and there around the mostly empty parking lot but there weren’t many of them and most of the power to the mall appeared to be still functional.
“Looks like a mall…what do you guys think we should do?” I asked as we all got out of our vehicles and stood in a circle with our backs up against the lab truck to keep the undead from seeing us.
“Seems like a good opportunity to maybe acquire some new supplies—ammo and other necessities; we might not get another chance as good as this one if we pass it up.” Cedric stated as he glanced all around the area cautiously.
“Okay…but everyone better be prepared for what we could possibly run into in there—stay in groups of four or five and keep radio contact at all times.” I instructed as I slapped a new clip into my M16 and started toward the doors to the mall using my crutch with Jennifer and everyone else close behind me.
As we got closer to the doors several zombies noticed us and started running toward us—I swiftly bashed them to the side with the butt of my assault rifle and then the others behind me took them out with small arms fire; once we were inside Melvin, Cedric, my dad and mom stood guard near the doors with their weapons ready as the rest of us spread out to investigate and gather supplies. My group consisted of myself, Jennifer, Billy, Sheila and Kira—we went into a large clothing shop to see what they had in the way of gear while the other few groups led by Noah and Christina searched around a nearby cluster of shops including one that sold guns and ammo; I found a leather biker jacket and immediately traded in my old worn and tattered t-shirt, then I found some leather pants that fit nicely and I traded them too—Jennifer found herself a similar outfit as well and she stayed close to me keeping her hand on mine. Once we were in our new outfits I rummaged through the office of the store and found a first aid kit—I used that to fix up my cuts and scrapes that hadn’t been tended to before as well as Jennifer’s. I overheard Kira and Sheila talking nearby as they looked through a clothing rack obviously intended for young adults and Billy came up to me and started showing me pieces of clothing that he had picked up.
“So…how long have you two been together?” I asked as I glanced back and forth between his face and that of Sheila as she and Kira laughed and chattered.
“Four or five years now…I think.” Billy answered with a tone that showed he had little interest in such matters.
“Really…she’s really pretty…if you don’t mind me saying so.” I stated as I glanced back toward Sheila.
“Yes, she is.” Jennifer agreed with a smile.
“Yeah—she gets it from our mom…and why would I care if you find my sister hot?” Billy suddenly stated with a weird look on his face as he started fiddling with the chain to a wallet he had found.
“Oh?”
“She’s your sister huh…I didn’t know that—I just figured you two were together.” I stated looking down at the floor in deep thought.
“Eww…that’s gross dude.” Billy answered as he walked away toward the fitting room.
Jennifer and I stood there thinking and listening to the two girls talk for another minute or so when suddenly we heard a gunshot which immediately brought us back to when and where we were; we frantically searched the area for the source of the gunshot and after a minute or so we met up in the sporting goods isle with Sheila, Kira and Billy—who were standing over the body of what appeared to be a security officer who had turned into a zombie.
“What’s this shit?” I asked raising my right eyebrow as I hobbled into the area with my crutch in one hand—my M16 in the other as Jennifer followed close behind me.
“Damned dead-head tried to bite my nuts!” Billy shouted in an aggravated tone.
“Maybe it was lonely.” Sheila joked as her and Kira walked back toward the women’s department.
“Shut up!” Billy shouted after them.
“You DID shoot it in the head…didn’t you?” I asked as I looked from Billy down to the body of the zombie security guard on the floor.
“Uh…no…why?” Billy asked with a puzzled look.
The zombie suddenly grabbed his foot and started trying to bite at him—luckily for Billy he was still wearing the thick army-issued combat boots and the zombie’s teeth were not so good at biting into them.
“Damn it—get the fuck off my duds!” Billy shouted as he kicked the zombie in the head sending it rolling across the floor a few feet away.
I aimed my M16 at its head as it started getting back on its feet and opened fire—I shot the thing in the head at least six or seven times and sent it flying backward through a display of basketballs and tennis rackets.
“Whoa…what happened?” Kira asked as her and Sheila rounded the corner and stopped.
“Shoot them in the head Billy—that’s the only way to kill them.” I stated as I slapped a new ammo clip into my rifle.
“So…what’s you guy’s story—what have y’all been doing this whole time during this shit?” Billy asked as he walked beside of me and Jennifer as I headed back toward the front of the store.
“Surviving…staying on the road and staying alive; we’ve lost some important people along the way but that’s part of life I guess…it’s not over; not by a long shot—we’ve still got to try and make it to New York City.” I answered grimly as I walked through the doors leaving the store we had been in.
“Well—we sure did a number on this place.” Kira stated as she and Sheila followed closely behind us.
“We’ve got an Antitoxin Sample that we retrieved from a lab deep below the Oklahoma City Hospital…they were developing the T.H.C.A.I.A Toxin to create zombies and destroy the world…Bowman…he’s done a lot of damage.” I stated in a distant tone as I was thinking back on the things that had happened and the information we had learned.
“Sounds like you’ve been through hell and back to try and make sense of all this shit…if you’re fighting to put an end to all this then you can count on me to help you.” Billy stated as he held out his hand to me to shake.
I took his hand and shook it and just as we were turning to head back to where the others were, we heard Kira shout and I turned to see a male zombie wearing a dirty plaid shirt, jeans and a Tennessee Vols hat stumbling out of a nearby doorway and coming toward Sheila—who seemed to be both enraged and petrified at the same time; she was stumbling back a pace at a time and the male zombie seemed to me like it had been an acquaintance—and not the good kind either.
I noticed a bloody splotch on the male zombie’s pants right where its knee was and the cloth was ripped away enough for me to see that a bullet had hit the area and was probably why this one wasn’t charging at Sheila like any of the others would have.
“Sheila!” I shouted as I took out a .45 caliber Desert Eagle handgun from the pouch on my hip and tossed it to her.
She managed catch it and once she did—she aimed it at the steadily advancing male zombie’s head and fired; the bullet struck it in the head knocking off the hat and blowing an enormous cloud of blood and brains out the back of its head at the same time. Its body fell to the floor of the mall and oozed blood—but Sheila kept shooting until her gun clicked once, twice and then a third time before she realized that she had no more bullets. I slowly and carefully took the empty gun from her hands and slapped a new clip into it before cocking it and putting the safety back on.
“I fucking hate you!” Sheila shouted as she kicked at the lifeless zombie male’s body before hocking a large loogie onto him.
To my shock, Sheila toppled over and fainted right there as the others came running to the scene; hours later we were on the road headed north—we had just stopped moments before on the side of the highway at a lonely cemetery that was on the top of a small hill nestled in some maple trees. There I had helped dig a six-foot-deep hole and lain my wife Angie’s body down to rest; saying my last goodbyes hadn’t been easy but with Jennifer at my side I got through it and after we buried
her we left and moved on passing through Morehead, Kentucky and we were running low on fuel for not only the lab truck but most of the other vehicles as well. Sheila woke with a start in the passenger seat of the lab truck beside of me and she gazed around at the surroundings like she was on an alien world; after a minute or so she remembered what had happened and she regained composure.
“Are you okay?” I asked as she sat up in her seat.
“Y-yeah…I can’t believe I passed out like that though.” Sheila answered as she gazed down at the floor of the truck.
“If you don’t mind me asking—who had that person been that became the zombie you killed?” I asked as I turned to face her.
“M-My father…Stanley Lee Brown…he molested me as a child and he was never punished for what he done…I hate him…he put me through hell.” Sheila answered in a distant voice as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
“I am very sorry to hear that…but you should feel happy—you just single handedly made him pay for his crimes playing the role as the judge, jury and the executioner.” I stated as I patted her shoulder comfortingly.
“What’s your story Chaz…what’s all this traveling stuff about—I mean, I have heard something about an Antitoxin Sample or something but I don’t know the details.” Sheila answered as she scooted a little bit closer to me.
“If I told you this whole thing started out as innocent and as oblivious to the situation of the world—you probably would be shocked…” I stated as I started to recall everything that had happened.
As I told the story of everything that had happened—the zombie outbreak, the Entity, the nuclear fallout of Chattanooga, and everything else—Sheila listened to my story with the utmost of interest and it was difficult when I came to the more recent events—like talking about when Angie had been killed in the car wreck and I had been left all alone; but I managed to tell her everything that I knew of before finally coming out of the trance like state of mind that I had been in the entire time.
[HGB] Humanity Gone Bad: The Dead Chronicles Page 20