Over the next several hours they worked to board up the windows and secure the doors of the farmhouse and it was nearing dark when sounds of the assailants could be heard on the wind and Charles knew that without a shadow of doubt that the infected creatures were drawing close to their location.
“We need to try and stay as quiet as we can, I’ve noticed that any kind of noise draws them in…I just hope that we can survive through the night.” Charles stated as he brought both Zoey and Nicole close.
The three of them settled in and done their best to keep quiet as the sounds of the undead got closer and closer—around midnight someone started pounding on the outside of the kitchen door in a frantic way which woke them and Charles was about to investigate but that was when whoever it was, was attacked by what sounded like a mass of infected and his dying screams echoed around the walls of the house.
A week or so later Zoey started to get sick in the mornings and she found a pregnancy test inside of the upstairs medicine cabinet and decided to take it to see if it would explain her condition and she soon after found out that she was pregnant—her and Charles would be parents in the coming months; the undead had been more widespread around them as of late and so far the fortifications that they had put up around the farmhouse were holding. She glanced as Nicole came into the bathroom with a concerned look on her face.
“Have you seen Charles lately?” Nicole asked with a hint of worry in her tone.
“I saw him about an hour ago—he was talking about making a run to the nearest store to try and gather some supplies.” Zoey answered turning to her.
“I hope that he is okay—it sounds like a storm is coming up…” Nicole stated as she went to the nearest window to look out on the yard around the house.
Miles away Charles was toting a large bag of food items that he had found—he had mostly evaded the infected and was almost home, that was when he heard a woman’s scream come from the farmhouse over the rise of the nearby hill and he picked up running toward it knowing that whatever was happening he had to save his girlfriends from meeting the same fate that so many others had met; he got to the wooden fence and that was when he seen Nicole running from a group of reanimates that were after her, she ran to the nearby shed and that was when she looked up and seen Charles running toward her and it was that split moment when one of the creatures sank its teeth into her throat. Nicole screamed in agony as more of the undead joined in and Charles arrived at the scene screaming obscenities as he opened fire on the mass of creatures putting rounds in their heads but when he got to Nicole it was too late—she was dying as her throat had been torn out and multiple parts of her body were covered with deep bites as her body twitched and spurted blood. Zoey arrived behind Charles and cried out in horror at the sight of what had happened and Charles done what he knew he had to—he pointed the barrel of his assault rifle at her head and watched as her eyes opened and focused on him and Zoey; they were a pasty-white color as she had already died and turned into one of the same creatures.
“Forgive me…” Charles stated as he pulled the trigger putting several rounds in her head which caused her to cease moving.
Zoey buried her head in his shirt as tears streamed down her face and Charles held her close knowing that it was just the two of them now, that was when he got her calmed down enough to inquire on what had happened.
“S-She was concerned about you and we heard a noise out on the porch…she rushed downstairs and unbarred the door thinking that it was you…but it was those things and they started after her before I hardly knew what was happening.” Zoey answered in a choked-up tone.
“It wasn’t your fault—it’s just damned lucky that it wasn’t both of you…I don’t know what I would have done if you had been killed too.” Charles stated looking off into the distance.
A short time later after they both had regained their composure, they dug a deep hole nearby and buried Nicole’s body placing a makeshift wooden cross at the head of her grave and they returned to the house as the day was quickly waning; as night approached they both huddled near the small fireplace that was in the upstairs den and they listened as the sounds of the undead once again got closer and closer—they soon after curled up together and managed to dose off to sleep only to be woken later that night by a loud splintering sound as breaking glass and wood followed.
“Fuck—it sounds like a whole mass of those things just busted through the front door!” Charles stated frantically as he reached for his weapon.
Horrible screams sounded as what seemed like six or seven of them hit the outside of the door to the den where the two of them had been sleeping and the impact of the force behind the creatures nearly knocked Charles on his ass—Zoey quickly ran to his side and added her weight against the door as the undead on the other side started beating on it causing the locks to rattle wildly.
“We’ve got to get out of here—this place isn’t safe anymore!” Zoey shouted in a terrorized tone as her eyes met Charles’ eyes.
“Wait just a second…” He shouted as he quickly dashed to the side and dragged the nearby heavy bookshelf over to the door.
Zoey helped him push it against the door which seemed to hold for the time being but they both knew that it wouldn’t hold forever—Charles ran to the nearby window and used the butt of his assault rifle to smash the glass allowing the two of them to climb out onto the roof of the porch; the front yard was only half-filled with the undead as most of them had surged into the house behind them, Charles aimed at several of the ones that were in their path of escape and he put rounds in their heads as he helped Zoey to the ground. Shortly after the two of them were able to slip away as the undead seemed more interested in breaking into the house where they had been—days passed into weeks and before they both had even really realized it they had made it south into Oklahoma and they managed to make it to an abandoned gas station that was blocked off and barricaded on the ground floor, they were forced to climb up the side of the building and then down into the inside area via an open roof hatch. The inside of the gas station was a mess and it looked like someone else had been hiding there not long before but had since fled for one reason or another; there was however what appeared to be an abundance of food that was remarkably still good—Charles checked the basement and found a generator that was still operational and he understood why. He went back up to the main part of the store where Zoey wrapped her arms around him lovingly—they shared a kiss and then they unpacked what little gear that they were able to bring with them and settled in.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you this—but with Nicole’s death and all the running we’ve had to do as of late…” Zoey stated as she lay in his arms.
“Tell me what?” Charles asked glancing at her.
“I’m pregnant…” Zoey answered after a few seconds of hesitation had passed.
“Really…?”
“That’s great—I just hope that I can protect the both of you in the coming months…I still can’t believe what happened to Nicole, not to mention the others who didn’t make it out of Wichita.” Charles answered with a smile before his expression shifted to that of deep thought.
“All we can do is hope that they’re all in a better place now…I just don’t know what to believe in anymore…I don’t understand how this could all be allowed to happen.” Zoey stated in a melancholy tone.
The two kissed and retired to their sleeping bag to sleep—the months seemed to pass by in a blur and by May 14th of 2001 Zoey went into labor giving birth to a healthy baby boy after around 36 hours of labor that she and Charles named Andy—the two had started to get used to the way that things had become in the world around them and they only went outside of their hiding place inside of the abandoned gas station when it was absolutely necessary; they would hear shouting and gunfire from time to time and they knew that there were other survivors out in the world around them but both Charles and Zoey knew th
at they couldn’t exactly trust anyone else—not when it had become a kill or be killed type of world. They continued their routine for what seemed like several years at least until one day Charles came to a decision that involved their future.
“Babe…things need to change, we need a change—we need to find a place where there are other people and more supplies to go around…we have been living in this abandoned gas station now for the better part of four and a half years and I don’t know about you but I want to see what else we can find for ourselves and for Andy.” Charles stated as he turned to glance at Zoey who was sitting nearby with their son Andy who was already 4 years old.
“I know baby…I know that we need to move along—this place has kept us safe, but it’s also kept us isolated and alone…I don’t want our son to grow up not knowing at least a little of what the outside world is like.” Zoey answered getting to her feet while picking Andy us as well.
“I found this camera in a store that I searched through the other day for supplies—it’s the kind that produces an instant picture—you just have to wait a few minutes for it to fully develop.” Charles stated as he walked over to them with the camera in hand.
“Let’s take another picture like we did when Andy was 2 months old…so that one day we can look back and hopefully laugh at how stupid these times have been.” Zoey stated smiling.
Charles proceeded to set the camera on a timer and he placed it on the top of the nearby wooden crate before rushing over to stand beside of Zoey as she held Andy in her arms—the camera clicked and then flashed as it produced a picture from the bottom slit; they waited until the picture had developed and then looked over it before Zoey placed it into her pocket. Shortly after the couple gathered up their things and their son and left the old gas station that had served as their home for so long and they headed into the downtown area of Oklahoma City to search for a better place to stay as well as other possible survivors—recent rainfall had flooded certain areas of the street and burned out, wrecked cars and other vehicles could be seen sticking out of the high waters; some places also bore what looked like explosion damage from when the military had tried to fight off the armies of undead years before. Charles and Zoey crept along the edge of the buildings with Andy close and they came to a deep drop off where the roadway had collapsed and was filled with stagnant rain water as well as bodies of victims that had only partially rotted—Charles led the way up onto a piece of metal that had been stretched across the span of water and he helped Zoey up onto it as she held Andy close to her; seconds later the two were startled by several horrible screams as a group of infected spotted them and started sprinting toward them—Charles opened fire on them killing a few but that was when Zoey lost her footing on the wet metal and fell off into the water below. Andy was crying and Charles quickly jumped into the water and assisted Zoey and their son to the opposite side of the depression only to see that their ordeal had attracted another larger group of the undead and they would soon be upon them—that was when Charles spotted a storm drain a few feet away and he knew that it may be their only chance of escaping.
“Hang onto me—we’ve got to get away from these fucking things!” Charles shouted as he swam over to the storm drain grating and opened it with some trouble before waiting as Zoey swam into it with Andy before following.
They were met with a long tunnel that was no doubt part of the sewer system and it was dark and covered in cobwebs—Charles took the lead with his flashlight in one hand and his rifle in his other while Zoey followed with Andy in her arms; After several long minutes of traveling through what seemed like a tomb they arrived at a sewer access ladder that no doubt went up into one of the buildings above.
“Stay close to me—we can’t afford to be separated.” Charles advised as he turned to Zoey and Andy who were both shivering from swimming in the cold water.
Zoey nodded as she held tightly to Andy while clutching her large caliber revolver shakily in her free hand.
Charles carefully opened the hatch at the top of the ladder and then directed her to follow—once they were inside of the building above they looked around to see that it was what had been a restaurant; chairs and other pieces of broken furniture were scattered around and it looked like a lot of people had died there years before as traces of corpses were here and there as well as empty shell casings.
“Let’s see if the kitchen in this place has anything that we can use.” Charles stated as he led the way toward what had been the kitchen back in the day.
They pushed the door to the kitchen open with some effort and looked around—the kitchen was in an even bigger mess than the rest of the place so it seemed and they were having trouble getting around the obstructions just so they could search for supplies; that was when a loud clattering sound got their attention as three zombies appeared on the other end of the room—they were the slow moving type and they were knocking off things causing noise to echo throughout the building. Charles knowing that he had to silence them before they brought a horde down on them strolled forward quickly picking up a large knife from the nearby countertop that looked almost like a machete and he swung it at the first zombie’ head decapitating it as its blood sprayed all over the side of Charles’ dirty, brown jacket and shirt underneath—the second zombie seen him and screamed the horrible scream before lunging toward him meeting the same fate as the blade of the large knife severed its head from the rest of its body; the third one was almost on Charles before he could hardly finish killing the second and it was mere inches from biting Charles when a gunshot sounded from behind him, he turned and seen that Zoey had saved his life but at great cost.
“Thanks baby—we better hurry though, more of those dead and rotting sons of bitches will be coming for us soon.” Charles stated as he tossed the broken knife aside and embraced her.
They soon after found the pantry and started loading canned goods and other things that they could find into their bags and that was when a loud clattering sound from the restaurant outside got their attention—Charles glanced to the right and seen a steel door that more than likely led to the street outside, he rushed to it with Zoey and Andy close behind and he pried the door open turning to smile at his family; that was when Zoey cried out in horror as a large figure appeared in front of Charles—that of what had been a burly man in life but was now another zombie. Before Charles could prepare the zombie grabbed hold of his right arm and bit into his flesh going all the way to the bone causing Charles’ blood to spray across the area as he cried out in pain, Zoey fired her revolver again killing the creature before turning to Charles who slowly shook his head with a defeated look.
“It’s too late…we both know all too well what happens to a person when they are bitten…” Charles stated as a tear streaked down his face.
“I’m not losing you—there’s got to be something somewhere that slows the infection down, maybe even stops it; we’re close to that big hospital…let’s get there and see if we can’t find medicine!” Zoey stated in a determined tone as she took the lead as Charles followed.
The streets were full of the undead and Zoey done all she could do to stay out of sight as well as make sure that not only Andy was quiet but Charles as well—they stopped and hunkered down near a wrecked bus not far from the entrance to the Oklahoma City Memorial Hospital and Zoey glanced back and seen that Charles was bleeding bad, he wrapped an old bandanna around his wound and handed her an old empty glass bottle; Zoey nodded as she knew what he wanted her to do. With a good toss she threw the bottle across the area where it shattered on the street getting the attention of the nearby zombies long enough for the three of them to slip inside of the hospital and bar the doors shut—they made their way upstairs through the halls encountering zombies here and there that they shot down at close range until they made it to the third floor to room #337 where they kicked the door open and searched to see if it was safe which it was. Zoey helped Charles down onto the h
ospital bed and dove into the nearby medical supply cart which had been left there unattended and she soon after found rolled gauze, antiseptic ointment, bandages and threaded needles—Charles lay back and waited as she worked to mend his wound and after it was mended and bandaged up she gave him a shot of Penicillin which she hoped would stop the infection from not only spreading but also killing him.
“Hopefully that will stop the infection and you’ll be okay…you’ve got to be okay…I can’t do this on my own.” Zoey stated in a hopeful yet bewildered tone as she sat down on the edge of the bed bringing Andy close.
“I hope that I can keep on living by your side…but I don’t know…something feels really wrong…” Charles stated almost two hours later as Zoey sat nearby with Andy.
“You’ve got to fight it, babe…just think of something else…in a few weeks it’ll be Christmas.” Zoey stated as she got up and walked over to stand beside of the bed.
Charles smiled weakly and it looked like he was lost in deep thought before he spoke up again.
“Last time I looked at the calendar that we were keeping it was November 26, 2005…hard to imagine…”
“Do you still have the picture…?” Charles asked suddenly.
Zoey reached into her pants pocket feeling around for several seconds and then she got a panicked look on her face that soon became one of despair.
“I must have lost it when I fell into that water…the only one that I still have is the one of us when Andy was still a baby…” Zoey answered in a wounded tone.
“It’ll have to do—if things go south and I don’t make it for some reason…you keep going and you survive…promise me.” Charles stated with some trouble as he took hold of her left hand.
“You’re not going to die…” Zoey answered as tears started to well up in her eyes.
“Still…promise me.” Charles continued in an insisting tone.
[HGB] Humanity Gone Bad: The Dead Chronicles Page 104