By the time she returned, holding two steaming mugs, she was the old mom again. They drank their tea and made small talk for a little while.
IT WAS IN THE MIDDLE of the afternoon when the sound of the phone ringing shattered the silence. Dale vaulted himself off the couch and hurried over. The phone was sitting on the kitchen counter, a few feet away from its charger cradle. He picked up as the second ring died down.
“Hello?”
“Hello. Is this” –a short pause– “last name Moore?” The last name was spelled out phonetically, so it sounded like ‘emm-oh-oh-are-eeh’. The background noise was that of a large vehicle.
“Yes.”
“I am confirming the evacuation for a Claire and a Dale.”
“Yes!”
“It says here there may also be a Tom and others. Are there any others with you?”
Dale’s smile faded as he reluctantly answered. “No.”
“Ok. My name is Corporal Garcia, we are on our way to your location. Can you verify your address?” Dale supplied the Corporal with their address.
“Keep the phone near you and get close to your front door. I will call again when we are getting close, which will be in about five minutes. You need to stay indoors until we have reached you!”
“Ok. Thank you.”
“Hang tight, we will be there soon.” With that the line went dead.
With a smile, Dale turned to his mom.
“They will be here in five min–”
“CRASH!” The sound of a window smashing spun Dale around. There was a zombie, right outside the back door, and she...
No. It.
It had just smashed one of the narrow windows beside the back door. The window was too narrow for the zombie to walk through, but it reached inside with a badly sliced up arm.
Dale turned to his mom and thrust the phone into her hands, while grabbing his bat off the ground. “Mom hang on to that. Grab your bat too. I need you to go stand by the front door.”
“But Dale!”
“Hey.” He gave his mom a confident smile. “I got this.”
Dale felt anything but confident though. He stepped through the kitchen and closer to the back door – and saw that the situation was a lot worse than he feared. There was not one, but three zombies at the back door. Dale guessed that one of them must have been close enough to hear the ringing of the phone and the other two must have followed it.
As soon as the initial zombie saw Dale, it doubled its aggression. It stuck its head through the narrow window to get to him. Dale was momentarily stunned, as the zombie paid no mind to the damage it was doing to itself. The sharp edges of glass along the jamb were sawing through cheek and neck, but the zombie paid it no mind as it continued to clack its teeth together. The other two zombies became more agitated as well and started hitting the door.
Dale raised his bat. There would be no easier opportunity for Dale as the zombie was pretty much stuck with its head and one arm through the window. He loaded up for a big overhead swing but hit the ceiling in the kitchen in his back swing, sending plaster down all around him. He heard his mother yelp from the direction of the front door,
“Sorry mom! I put a hole in the ceiling!” He called out as he adjusted his swing. His aim was true, and he connected with the ear and jaw of the zombie with a loud ‘CLINK’ of the aluminum bat. The zombie was unperturbed, but her jaw was clearly shattered. It continued to try to open and close its mouth. The sound of bones grinding was one of the grossest things Dale had ever heard. Dale quickly swung again. This time connecting with the top of the zombie’s head. It seemed to have little effect.
Dale then wound up for a mighty swing. As he followed through on the swing, he connected with the temple area of the zombie. The zombie’s head snapped sharply with the blow.
Dale’s first thought was that Darren would have been proud of that swing.
He surveyed the damage he had done. The skull of the zombie had a large dent in it. The zombie had stopped moving its arms, but its jaw continued to move, and its eyes tracked Dale.
I must have broken its neck.
The other zombies continued to pound on the door, but it was holding for now.
Dale quickly backed up out of the kitchen. Once out of the kitchen he turned and quickly stepped to the front door, where his mother was waiting. She had the phone in one hand and had the bat cradled to her body with her other arm. She looked scared out of her wits.
“I got one, mom. But there are two more out there. Maybe if they can’t see me, they will stop.”
Claire nodded, although Dale wondered if she comprehended what he had said.
At first, it appeared that Dale’s tactic might work. For the next thirty seconds they could only hear a few knocks against the back door. These sounded like they were half-hearted attempts. However, the zombies at the back door did not stop their assault. After a nervous couple of minutes, the first sound of wood cracking came from the kitchen. They were breaking through.
Dale indicated for his mother to stay at the door and took a step towards the kitchen.
Just then the phone rang. It startled Claire so much, that she screamed and dropped the phone. She quickly gathered the phone up, but her scream had driven the zombies at the back door into a frenzy. As Dale looked around the corner of the hallway into the kitchen, he saw the door fly open as a zombie had lunged into it. The weakened portal had finally given.
The zombie had crashed to the ground just inside the doorway. A second zombie looked inside, saw Dale, and immediately launched itself towards its prey. It tripped over the first zombie in its haste, going down hard and without any intent to catch its fall. It hit the ground chin first, smashing its bottom jaw. A spray of blood and a handful of teeth skittered across the tile floor.
“We have to go now, Mom!” Dale called over his shoulder as he raised his bat menacingly and backing up.
Claire was still at the front door. She was yelling into the phone. In one motion, he snatched the phone out of his mother’s hand and tossed it into the living room.
Dale locked eyes with his mom. “We have to go. Now.” He delivered the words forcefully yet calmly. He could hear the zombies getting back to their feet in the kitchen.
Claire was in a daze. The fear and violence were too much for her.
Dale pulled her away and opened the door. He quickly pushed open the screen door and grabbed his mom by the arm, pushing her out onto the front porch. He quickly stepped out after her, blinking as the bright afternoon nearly blinded him.
Dale was dismayed at what he saw when his eyes adjusted. Several zombies were rushing at them. He barely noticed the school bus parked out front.
Dale entered auto-pilot. He stepped off the porch, keeping his mom behind him. He took a mighty swing at the first zombie that reached them, connecting with upper arm and shoulder and sending the zombie reeling off balance into his parent’s flower bed.
Sorry, mom. Dale thought. His parents took a lot of pride in that front lawn, and here he was, ruining it. He could imagine his dad frowning and shaking his head.
Dale caught another zombie on the back swing, but the zombie somehow managed to catch Dale’s wrist. Because of this, he couldn’t swing the bat back to defend himself. A third zombie bodily launched itself into Dale and brought him down as his mom screamed behind him.
A chick. A hot chick. Dale almost saw the humor of the situation. Here he was, at the end of the world, and finally girls were throwing themselves at him.
As he hit the ground, he felt an excruciating pain in his right arm. He heard his own bone snap as the combination of weight and impact snapped his forearm sickeningly back on itself.
He felt his body slammed into again, as another zombie piled on to him. Dale tried to defend himself with only his left arm, but his blows had no effect.
Dale knew he was done for. He struggled but he was pinned. Fists slammed into him. Then he felt something tear in his neck, followed by an odd sensation. He fe
lt the warm wash of blood spilling from his neck and coldness creeping into his body. Oddly enough, he did not feel pain.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion for Dale. All he could see above him were his attackers. They struggled with each other as much as they were fighting him. He felt strangely detached from the events. He watched the arms and heads move out of his line of sight, and then he saw his mother standing there, hugging her bat.
Dale smiled up at her. “It’s ok. I love you.” He tried to say. Then the moment was gone, and Dale felt a sharp pain before everything faded.
Claire saw her son. Then her view of her son’s face was obscured by his attackers and Claire’s vision focused instead on the bat held in front of her. With a scream, she swung the bat at the back of one of her son’s attackers. Two soldiers stepped in, pulled her away from the scene and towards a waiting school bus.
Chapter Fifty-one
Rays of sunshine surrounded Claire like a halo. She had finished her story a few seconds ago and stood there with her back to the window, looking at her audience but not really seeing them.
Nancy got out of her chair and stood up. She walked over to Claire with a kind smile. When she got to Claire, she reached out, offering her hands. Claire placed her hands in Nancy’s and the older woman looked at Claire with a sad, sincere look.
“I’m sorry for your loss. Sounds like Dale was a wonderful son. But Claire, don’t give up. Dale was right. Maybe Tom is still out there. Maybe Darren and Sheila are with him, and they’re riding this thing out, just like we are.”
Claire lowered her face and shook her head. “He would have called...” She felt somebody grab her forearm and looked down to see Maria standing there, looking up at her with tearful eyes. Shelley came up behind Maria. She put a hand on Maria’s shoulder and smiled sadly at Claire.
Sarah had also come close. She stepped around Nancy and put her arm around Claire’s back. She waited for the other woman to look at her before she spoke. “Maybe they went to that cottage. Besides, they can’t call you because they wouldn’t know where you are. Look. I don’t know if they’re alive or not but do know that I can’t let you give up, Claire. None of us can afford to...”
Claire looked at the other woman, her eyes betraying her hopelessness. The fight had gone out of her. She appreciated the kind sentiments of the females around her and smiled at each of them.
Maria pulled on Claire’s sleeve, drawing the older woman’s attention. “Missus Moore?”
“Yes, Maria.” Claire’s voice was little more than a whisper.
“Your son; Dale, was very brave. He sacrificed himself for you.”
Claire nodded silently as fresh tears started to form.
“No Missus Moore. No more tears. Listen to me. Your son, he said that you were the strongest person he knew. He also said that there would be other people that need you.”
Claire listened to the girl, slightly shocked at her forcefulness.
“Well, these ladies here. They need you. And me. I need you.” Her bottom lip started to tremble.
“I lost my little baby brother. My papa. My mama.” A solitary tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m very sad.” More tears came with that admission. “But I know they are all in heaven. And that they want me to live. Maybe to get revenge. Maybe not. I’m sad, but I’m also angry, you know?”
Claire was about to speak but Maria shushed her. She had more to say.
“You can be sad and angry too. But you can’t give up. You are strong. We” –she indicated the other women around Claire– “need you to be strong again.”
“Oh dear!” Was all Claire could say, and she hugged Maria tight. The ladies all hugged, each one deep in their own thoughts but united in the need for support.
Claire was the first to break off the group hug. Her eyes were dry.
“Thanks.” She said with a wry smile. “I didn’t think it would help me at all, but...” Her eyes opened just a bit wider as realization dawned upon her “But I feel” –she frowned as she looked for the right words– “that I needed this.”
She looked up and for the first time noticed that several more people had gathered in the doorway of the classroom. She spotted Rachel and Joe, holding each other tightly, standing just inside and to the right of the door. Mel stood to the left of the door and framed by the door itself stood Jack and Emily.
Claire walked to the door with a small smile.
“Oh, you poor thing!” Rachel declared and swept her up in a hug. “I’m so sorry!” Claire returned the hug. “It’s ok. Thanks, Rachel.” Rachel continuing to cry as they separated.
Joe hugged the grey-haired lady tenderly. “Maria is right, you know. We all need you. We all need each other.”
It was hugs all around after that. Claire hugged Mel and Emily, followed by a slightly awkward hug from Jack. Claire noticed out of the corner of her eye that everybody else was hugging as well. Even Emily and Rachel hugged with a few lukewarm words for each other.
Claire walked out into the hallway and down the stairs, followed by her entourage. She walked into the cafeteria, where a conversation was quickly hushed as all eyes turned to her.
Claire walked up to the freshly hung volunteer lists. She picked up a marker and wrote her name on the list with ‘kitchen’ written on it. She turned and faced the rest of the group.
“I’m ready to help out now...”
Chapter Fifty-two
People were in for a surprise as they arrived for supper that evening. Claire had created a meal with help from Rachel and Sarah. She had prepared three meat loaves, one of which was gluten free for Jack’s sake. Along with the meat loaf, the group was treated to pan-fried vegetables and potatoes. For dessert, Claire had taken the last bread and produced a bread pudding that everybody agreed was delicious.
Every person in the group took a moment to thank Claire for her contribution, and for the first time since they had arrived at the Ren, Claire truly smiled.
That evening there was more good news. Emily had established contact with somebody on the radio. Word spread quickly, and everybody got to the media room to listen in. Everybody except for Patrick and Rosa, that is. Apparently, Patrick was suffering from a migraine headache.
A solitary person named Phil Mitchell was locked in his place on the edge of town. He had been operating his radio for fifteen minutes a day, every evening from seven-thirty to seven forty-five. It was lucky that Emily was scanning just that frequency at just that time.
Phil said that he was doing fine. He lived in a relatively rural location and had only seen several zombies. Phil said that he was able to pick off several zombies quietly, thanks to his crossbow.
“Them zombies just stand around. It’s a turkey shoot! Though I got to admit, I didn’t make every shot.” Phil had run out of arrows for his crossbow and was smart enough to avoid using his rifle.
Phil said that he had been in contact with a few of his ham operator buddies, and a couple of them had been shooting the undead. He heard back from one of them the next morning, saying that his house was surrounded by dozens of undead. He never heard back from the other one.
“You see it’s the noise that attracts them.” Phil said.
He was located about fifteen miles away. After an internal discussion, the location of the school was shared with Phil. Phil thanked them for their invitation to come over but declined.
“I ain’t ever gonna make it over to y’all. Besides, I need nothing. I got plenty of food and water. It’s the ‘lectricity I’m worried about losing. All y’all got a generator I can borrow?” He asked with a good-natured chuckle.
Phil went on to share more news with the group. He had been listening in on military communications and gathered some ’intel’, as he called it.
“If ya haven’t heard, we’re outnumbered about a hundred to one! I heard from another Ham operator, who had heard from somebody out west, that the air force tried to carpet bomb some of the cities out there. The guy never told me what cit
ies... Man, we’re lucky that we’re too small! Otherwise they mighta bombed our assess too!”
“I also heard about the ground troops out there. Man, those boys make me proud! From what I heard; those guys were droppin’ like flies themselves, but they sure laid an ass whoopin’ on them undead! Yeah, the army sure did a bang-up job. Them boys were taking names and kickin’ ass allright! Wooohooo!”
The fifteen minutes were over very quickly. Phil promised to be on the air again the next day and every day after that, at the same time and frequency, ‘until my batteries run dry, y’all.’
And with a ‘Happy Halloween, y’all!’ He was gone. Most of the group had not even realized that it was Halloween. There would be no trick-or-treating tonight.
One hot topic for discussion after the conversation with Phil, was the electricity.
“It’s going to shut off at some point.” Craig said. “So, we should get that solar array up and running sooner than later. Who knows how to do that?”
Nobody responded. After a moment, Ern flat out stated that he had ‘no idea how that fancy new techno stuff works.’ Eventually and reluctantly, Jack raised his hand.
“I kind of know.” He said with a grimace and a shrug.
Nancy offered some good advice. “We’re in a school.” She stated. “Why don’t we check the library – maybe there are some books on it?”
Several people agreed to go search the library in the morning. Not now though, as it was nearly time to connect with the Willemtown group.
The tension in the group was high. Would they be there to answer?
Joe set the frequency and spoke into the mic. “This is Romeo Echo November calling Willemtown, how do you read, over.”
The only sound that could be heard on the speaker was the light static of radio waves.
“This is Romeo Echo November calling Willemtown, Michelle, are you there? Over.”
Still nothing. Joe looked around at the others, concern etched on his face. He turned back to the radio and repeated his call once more. When there was still no response, he started fidgeting with the dials. “Maybe the frequency is off...” He tried several other frequencies and kept trying over the course of the next fifteen minutes. But it was to no avail.
Apocalypsis Immortuos | Book 1 | Syndrome Page 37