The Z Strain

by Matthew Isaiah Crawford

  Nick couldn’t help but to think that if there were any chances of securing this property that it would make one hell of a nice place to hold up. But he looks to the front of the house. Through the living room there is an immense glass window covering the majority of the front of the house. ‘No way to secure that’ Nick thought to himself. He moved through the house, one room at a time, keeping his shotgun ready. He cleared the 1st floor, moving to the basement, he checked the bedroom and living room finding no one. He did however note was appeared to be a gun cabinet in the back corner of the downstairs living room, he told himself to check as soon as he was done clearing the house.

  Walking up the stairs he reached the upstairs hallway, abruptly stopping at the top of the steps. He heard something. He listened intently trying to make out what it was. Moving even slower he crept into the first bedroom. If he had to guess, he would say it was a spare bedroom. There were no pictures or any other kind of personal items on the dresser. The bed was made with hospital quality, and looked unslept in.

  He turned and checked the bedroom across the hall, this appeared to be the master suite. It was also empty. There was pink plush carpet and king-sized bed was neatly made with white silk sheets, and a plush comforter on top. There was a picture of a husband, wife, an older daughter, and a small boy. Up the hall, the bathroom was also clear. Though he did look at the large clean white porcelain tub with envy. His odor was already becoming personally offensive.

  There were two rooms at the end of the hall. Nick checked the left first. It appeared to belong to a teenage girl. It was wall to wall pictures of teenage boys, music and movie posters. It was also empty.

  The last bedroom belonged to a young boy. There was a pile of Lego’s next to a blue dresser with power ranger stickers. The small bed is made up with Star Wars sheets and an x-wing fighter hangs from the ceiling over the bed. He stands for a long moment listening carefully but heard nothing. Nick turned and began to walk away when he heard a creak from behind him. He looked over his shoulder, and that’s when he saw it. The shape of a small head peeking out from the bottom of the closet under a poster of Optimus Prime.

  “Hey there.” Nick said. The figure didn’t move.

  “You need some help?” Still no movement.

  “Well, hi. My name’s Nick. I. . . . I’m not going to hurt you. You want to come out?” Nothing.

  “Okay, well, I’m going downstairs to look for supplies. There isn’t anyone else here but us, so it’s safe here. For now.” Nick added. He turned down the hallway and continued downstairs. First he went into the kitchen and checked the fridge, most of the food had already been removed, there wasn’t much left other than condiments.

  He closed the refrigerator door and began checking the cupboards. He found about a dozen cans that he added to his duffle before stopping, remembering that he may possibly have to run. He didn’t want to add too much weight. Then he remembered the gun case in the basement, so he headed back towards the staircase when he saw a young boy about eight years old standing on the stairs. He is wearing a blue and white pajama set with a picture of a dinosaur on the front. His hair is ruffled, particularly on the right side, as though he had just woken up.

  “Who are you, and where’s my mom and dad?” Nick looked the boy in the eye.

  “Well, my name is Nick, and I’m sorry buddy, but I just got here, and I didn’t see anyone else in the house. Do you think your parents would have left?”

  “They woke me up last night, they were yelling at one of the neighbors out in the front yard. They were scaring me, so I hid in the closet. Then I fell asleep in the closet.”

  “What’s your name son?”

  “William, but everyone calls me Billy.”

  “Okay Billy, have you seen anything going on outside the last couple days?”

  “Not really, but my parents sure were upset about the people outside. They’ve been fighting for two days. My father had said something about finding high ground.”

  “And when was the last time you saw your parents?”

  “They were here last night when I went to bed.”

  “Well Billy, there’s some stuff going on outside, some really scary stuff.”

  “Like dragons?” Billy asked excited.

  “No. Not dragons. Have you ever heard the word zombie?”

  “Yea, like Night of the Living Dead?” Billy perked up, all of a sudden very excited about the conversation.

  “Yea, only faster.”

  “So, like the ones in Dawn of the Dead? That one’s my favorite, my mom doesn’t like me to watch that kind of stuff, but my dad says watching it is okay as long as he’s with me. There’s only one or two PG parts.” Billy exclaimed all in one breath, he was still really amped up.

  “Uh, yea, I think. Well, just so we understand each other, zombie apocalypse outside, most people dead or infected. You good with all that?” Nick gave a thumbs up. It made Billy smile.

  “Oh, well, I’m not very fast, and my dad only let me fire the little rifle a couple times. I’m not very good at it.”

  “That’s okay Billy, do you want to go with me?” Nick asked looking around the room.

  “My parents told me never to go anywhere with a stranger, what if they come back?” All the excitement had drained from his face.

  “Well, it’s up to you, I wouldn’t force you to go, but your parents aren’t here, and I have no idea if they’re coming back.” Nick took a seat on edge of the sofa. “So, I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you go pack a bag? Get some clothes, maybe some food or water? Think on it for a bit, it’s a big decision to make. You can stay here by yourself hoping your parents will show up. Or you can take your chances out there with me. It’s entirely up to you. But I’ll tell you what?”

  “What?”

  “I sure would like the company.” Nick said.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I don’t really know. I was heading north; the power is already out here. Canada’s power grid is mostly hydroelectric.”

  “Hydroeclectic?”

  “Hydroelectric, it means that running water is generating electricity.”

  “Oh. So, the lights are on in Canada?”

  “Yea. That’s what I’m hoping at least. That’s if we can get there. My truck died out on the highway. That’s why I’m in your neighborhood.” Nick’s mind wandered back to the tasks in front of him, finding a vehicle and making it back out on the road.

  “We’re going to make it.” Billy said confidently.

  “We? So, does that mean you’re coming with me?” Nick asked with a smile.

  “Yea, unless my parents come back before we leave.” Billy started walking down the stairs.

  “Of course.” Nick said.

  “I think I should probably stay with a grown up.”

  “Cool.” Nick smiled and patted him on the arm. “You’re a pretty smart kid Billy, I think I’m going to like having you around.” Billy smiled again. “Go get dressed, and pack that bag, I’m going to go look around downstairs.” Nick said getting to his feet, he started towards the steps leading downstairs. Billy headed for the stairs going up.

  “The key is up on top.” Billy said as he disappeared from sight. Nick stopped and looked up the stairs not seeing anyone.

  “Key?”

  “Yea, to the gun cabinet. My dad keeps the key up on top. We’re going to want some of those.” Billy said almost sarcastically.

  “Yea, we’re probably going to need to do that.” A ping of doubt and regret shot through Nick, realizing that he’s going to take this helpless child out into the world. It made him think about his girls again. It made him think about the decision his wife had made. He had been trying to keep his mind focused on keeping himself alive, but his thoughts were constantly invaded with visions of his family. A vision of the three mounds under white sheets in the basement. The tiny little white mounds covering the corpses of his beloved daughters. By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs he was wiping t
he tears from his eyes.

  The basement was dark, Nick pulled a small flashlight from his pack and flipped it on. He walked directly to the gun cabinet and reached up onto the top. Finding the key near the center he opened the doors. Inside most of what he was looking at was antiques that by appearance, probably would not fire. He pulled what appeared to be a hunting rifle from the left side, he pulled open the top drawer to look for ammunition and found a pleasant surprise. The drawer was packed full of ammunition, most of which was for the rifle he was holding, looking around the room he walked over to the closet and opened the door. On the ground he grabbed a blue backpack and returned to the gun cabinet. He placed about a dozen boxes of ammunition in to the backpack before testing the weight. The bag was heavy on his shoulders, and when he added the back duffle, he was already carrying he knew that running for any significant distance would be challenging.

  He removed a box of shells and a few cans of food. He checked the weight again on his shoulders, which felt better. He picked up the duffle and turned to walk out of the room before stopping in his tracks and looking up near the top of the stairs.

  Mounted over the stairwell was a beautifully ornate Japanese sword.

  “That won’t run out of bullets.” Nick said with a smile, pulling the sword off the wall. The sheath is a worn black leather with red inlays. He pulls the blade out and tests the blade against his thumbnail, it was razor sharp. He pushed the blade back into the sheath and slid it between his back and backpack. As he began back up the stairs, he could hear little feet upstairs running through the hallway and down the stairs. Before he made it halfway up, Billy was leaping over the railing from the last two steps and landing triumphantly at the top of the steps.

  “You ready?” Nick asked. He noted that Billy was wearing a shiny plastic backpack with a picture of the Blue Power Ranger on it. Nick made a mental note to find him a more functional backpack.

  “Almost. . . Two things. . . In the garage.” He was panting, out of breath. Billy led the way through the dining room, past the kitchen, through a charcoal colored door that led into the garage.

  Walking through the door, Nick could hear Billy messing with something on the shelves but couldn’t really see in the darkness. Suddenly a light clicked on, and the garage was illuminated. Billy held a big red flashlight. Nick could see a silver Range Rover parked in the garage. The vehicle looked to be packed and ready to go. There was what appeared to be camping gear along with several large red jugs presumably gasoline.

  “Oh, Billy, thank you.” Nick said.

  “Don’t forget this.” Billy opened up a black refrigerator tucked back in the corner. He pulled out what appeared to be a ten-pound bag of beef jerky.

  “Billy, this may be the best presents anyone has ever given me.” Nick said ruffling his hair. Billy looked up at him and smiled.

  “Yea, like I said, my dad was getting ready to move us to high ground.”

  “Did he say where he had planned to go?”

  “We have a cabin at the lake. He said we would be safer there.”

  “Do you know how to get there?”

  “No.”

  “Well, I guess we just stick with plan A.” Nick said. He opened the back door and threw in his backpack and new weapons. “We ready to go then?”

  “Yep.” Billy was already bounding around to the other side of the vehicle, the light dancing round the ceiling of the garage.

  “Well, let’s load up.”

  4:20 PM Sunday, August 18th

  East of Tipton Iowa

  Gary, Nancy, Joel, and Robert were ordered to their knees. They were each handcuffed or zip-tied, blindfolded before being raised to their feet, and led into the rows of corn. After about ten minutes after walking into the cornfield the children spun them around a few times and then proceeded to march them further into the cornfield. Gary felt a hand grab hold of his arm.

  “Step down.” A little boy’s voice said. Though he was told there was a down step, Gary still nearly fell. Once again, they were ordered to their knees. Their bindings were removed.

  “Do not move until you hear the door close.” The same boy directed. A few seconds later they heard the door click shut, and a bolt thrown.

  Gary removed his blindfold and looked around the room. He saw that they were in some kind of coal cellar. There was a chute at the far end of the room. Behind a decorative iron grate, you can see a slide that presumably led outside the house. There was a large iron furnace in the corner, and other than a few bags of fertilizer, there wasn’t anything else in the dingy basement. The walls were plain brick, and the floor was unfinished. The others had their blindfolds off, Nancy was also inspecting their new home. The boys went and sat on the bags of fertilizer talking quietly.

  Gary spent a few minutes examining the chute. The old distressed wood was only covering the cement behind it. There was no way to tell how thick it was, Gary presumed several feet. He couldn’t help but to listen in on Joel and Robert seated on the bags of fertilizer. Gary overheard enough to know that they were talking about how scared they were about their current predicament. Gary meandered across the basement looking for any other possible exit points. Nancy was sitting by herself on the other side of the room with her head between her knees.

  Gary began examining the door they entered from. There was something on the other side holding it closed, something heavy. And while he couldn’t see it, he had heard a bolt of some kind being latched on the outside.

  “Well, I don’t see any way to get out.” Gary said exasperated.

  “Don’t think they’d lock us in here if there was an easy way out.” Nancy commented without raising her eyes from the dirt.

  “No, I suppose not.” Gary agreed. He turned around just as Nancy was raising her eyes from the ground. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments. Gary’s heart jumped up into his throat and he looked away quickly. He walked to the other side of the room and plopped down on the pile of fertilizer bags next to Joel and Robert.

  “Where would we go if we could?” asked Robert. “We don’t even know where we are.”

  “Away from here. These fucking kids scare the hell out of me.” Said Nancy from across the room.

  “Yea, this is definitely not where we want to be.” Gary pushed himself off the fertilizer and paced around the room. Joel walked over towards the door. There was a slight crack on the right side, he was able to see a sliver of daylight.

  “We might be able to see them coming and them jump em.” Joel suggested.

  “There were nearly thirty kids that I saw on the side of the road. We’d get ourselves killed.” Robert exclaimed.

  “I guess we just sit tight then. We don’t know what they want yet.” Sighed Gary.

  “I don’t know, after what they did to Andrew.” Nancy said.

  “We don’t know anything about what that interaction was like. We do know that Andrew was an asshole.” Said Gary. They all nodded in agreement.

  “I say we make a run for it then.” Robert injected.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea either.” Gary looked over at Robert who was leaning against the wall. When was the last time you went running?” Robert shrugged. “Can you run a mile?”

  “Probably.” Said Robert shrugging.

  “Do you think they can?” Asked Gary.

  “Probably.”

  “I know I could at their age.” Gary said. “I could run for miles and miles.”

  “You’re right, I just hate being stuck here.” Robert said.

  “None of us do. But we can’t do anything to change that at the moment. So, we wait, and we see where this takes us.” Said Gary leaning back and closing his eyes.

  “Alright dad.” Nancy snickered.

  “Funny.”

  “Sorry, that just really sounded like something my father would have said.” Nancy explained. Gary couldn’t tell with eyes were closed, but Nancy was blushing.

  “Sounds like a wise man. Gary replied with a smile.
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  6:41 PM

  Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.

  The Westin Crew had been taking shifts throughout the afternoon watching the boats in the river. It was really quite ingenious what they were doing. They were luring all of the undead towards a bridge that they had destroyed. They demolished about a fifteen-foot section of the middle of the bridge. Then they pull a large containership underneath the hole, dangle some bait. In this case it was a woman, a screamer, from atop a pole. The undead walk to her and fall into the open hold in the ship in droves. When the hold reaches its capacity the doors are closed, the ship moves away, and within a minute or two another ship takes its place. This has happened three times since they’ve been watching. Margaret was taking her turn at the railing. The others were inside continuing the debate on whether or not they should signal the boat. Mark and John are against it. Herb and Jackie want to signal them. Margaret is the only one left on the fence.

  She heard footsteps coming from behind her and turned to see Mark walking up to her. The sun setting behind him. He was walking towards Margaret who was leaning against the railing watching the show on the river.

  “I suppose you’re coming up here to talk me out of signaling the boat. Herb was just up here telling me that we had to signal them or else we are all probably going to die. That it may be the military, and even if they’re not, that they probably have supplies.