Dead Evolution

by Tim Moon

  “That could be risky for us,” Charlotte said.

  “Possibly,” Ben said with a nod. “Anything that can slow them down or get them off their feet is going to be an advantage for us. Unless we find out otherwise, we can assume the runners are as dumb as the slow ones. From what I’ve seen, they charge through any obstacles. If we use the jump ropes from the school, they don’t necessarily need to be hidden. They’re easy enough for us to see and should be strong enough to trip them up.” Ben knew this was the best way to even the fight. “As long as we slow them down, they’ll be as easy to kill as any other zombie.”

  “Can we go back to calling them infected? Zombie sounds so weird,” Charlotte said. “It’s so… Hollywood.”

  “Zombie, zombie, zombie,” Oliver said.

  Everyone stopped and looked at him. Oliver’s eyes widened at the sudden attention and he slumped down in his seat. Ben smiled and leaned forward.

  “Zombie, zombie, zombie,” Ben added in a spooky voice.

  The brief moment of tension dissipated, and they all chuckled at the playful boy.

  “You guys suck,” Charlotte said, joking. She leaned over and tickled Oliver who tried desperately to fight her off. His giggling brought a wide grin to Ben’s face.

  Leaning back, Ben savored the last bite of his stew. “To get back on point. We have a whole lot of work to do. No doubt about it, but we’re moving forward towards a brighter future.”

  His mom smiled at him and patted his arm.

  Anuhea raised her glass. “To a brighter future.”

  18

  The time had come to improve their defenses and take stock of every house in the neighborhood. After a quick breakfast, Ben, Charlotte and Anuhea started by moving vehicles to block off the street behind their house in the same way their street was blocked. Rolling cars into place took the first few hours, but it was time well spent for the added protection.

  With that complete, they rolled even more vehicles out, partially to block the streets running north-south along the flanks of their safe zone. They left enough room for them to drive through the barriers. The added roadblocks would help slow down and bottleneck any large groups of infected to the far side of the street, away from their walls.

  “We have one major weakness,” Anuhea said.

  “What’s that?” Charlotte asked.

  Ben raised an eyebrow at Anuhea.

  “On guard duty, we can only see a limited area. With these other cars out here, anyone passing by will know someone put them out here on purpose. I figure most would get curious and want to investigate.” Anuhea rubbed her chin and looked in the direction of their home. She twirled a finger in a circle over her head. “The only way we can watch all around the neighborhood is from the roof.”

  She was right. At this point, a group of survivors could easily infiltrate from most directions since the window that their guard table sat behind faced south. They were completely blind to anything coming from the north side.

  “No one wants to sit on a cold, slippery roof at night though,” Ben said, thinking out loud. He tilted his head to the side, staring back at the house. “We will have to make something. Even a basic platform with a simple roof should be enough; with just enough space to crouch down or sit inside. Almost like a guard tower at a prison, you know?”

  “I love the creative thinking, but you’re overlooking a critical step. How do we build this platform on the roof without attracting every infected within a mile?” Chadwick asked. “Banging nails and sawing wood is loud. And if things go bonkers with other survivors, anyone inside this guard tower is going to be an easy target.”

  “Most of it could be built in a garage to reduce noise. Then we just piece it together on the roof,” Anuhea said.

  “If we use screws then we don’t have to hammer nails and make a bunch of noise.” Ben played it out in his mind. “The master bedroom window overlooks the front porch. If we climb out there, we can get on the awning. From there, we can attach, or build, a small ladder to reach the top part of the roof.”

  “I think I remember seeing a ladder back when we were clearing houses. How tall does it need to be?” Anuhea asked.

  “Maybe six to eight-feet-tall.”

  “I’ll go check,” she said, jogging away to find the ladder.

  “Great,” Ben said. “I’ll look for wood and other shit to make this happen. Do you two mind helping my mom collect supplies?”

  “That’s fine with me.” Chadwick nodded and turned to leave.

  “You should go sit down, let your leg rest. I’ll go help Nancy,” Charlotte said to Chadwick.

  He waved away her advice. “I’m fine.”

  “How about you take guard duty? You really do need to rest. Your leg needs time to heal.” Charlotte’s tone was firm, and she gave him that look of hers.

  Ben called it nurse mode when she wasn’t in ear shot.

  Chadwick seemed to deflate with a heavy sigh before turning towards the house. Charlotte flashed Ben a quick grin and then left to help Nancy and Oliver.

  Over the next few days, they went through the neighborhood collecting a huge supply of food, water, juice, and soda. Their work also produced a few baseball bats, a hockey stick, a hatchet and even a longsword based on a design from a popular fantasy show. The pommel featured a white wolf’s head. It felt heavy, and sturdy.

  “This is sweet,” Ben said, giving it a few test swings outside. “Perfect for silent kills. It has good reach too.”

  “Knock yourself out,” Charlotte said. “Consider it an early Christmas gift.”

  “Thanks.” Ben was grateful that no one else wanted the sword. Sharpening the blade would take some time. Totally worth it, he thought.

  Anuhea found the perfect ladder. It leaned at a sharp angle, from the awning over the front porch to the top section of roof. The tile was too wet for Ben to trust it, so he decided they would need to get some bolts to attach it in place. Having it stand loose was dangerous and they might need to climb up or down quickly, depending on the situation. Raiding a hardware store was added to their to-do list.

  Chadwick suggested using the wood from shelving units, bed frames, and tables to reinforce their house, a genius idea that they implemented right away. They thought about using some of the same scavenged wood for the rooftop outpost, but Ben was worried that a jury-rigged platform wouldn’t hold up as well. He wanted to get wood from the hardware store since they had to go there anyway.

  After the food and other goodies were taken, Ben and Anuhea began to scavenge wood. Nancy and Chadwick used that to board up the windows and reinforce the doors in the house. The added protection would be great for slowing down the infected. Thankfully, Chadwick thought to leave some small gaps between the boards they put across the windows, so they could still see outside. The highest parts of the windows were left uncovered because the infected couldn’t reach that high and they still needed sunlight for illumination.

  Most days it rained, but everyone’s mood remained surprisingly bright. Ben chalked it up to having a clear purpose beyond simply surviving. Hard work and a sense of accomplishment was a salve they all enjoyed.

  After some trial and error, Charlotte developed a good system for transporting items back home. She had found and emptied a collection of brightly colored plastic storage bins which they would fill with light stuff such as towels, toilet paper, soap, and other little supplies. Canned and dry food went into a nice set of large rolling suitcases. The plastic wheels made an annoying grinding noise against the pavement, but the convenience factor for the heavy loads outweighed the risk.

  Every day they had to deal with infected. Luckily, it was always small groups or lone stragglers. Ben finished transporting a suitcase full of food and walked back outside. He spotted a pair of infected near the wall. They had spotted him too and began reaching over the cars in his direction, even though they were at least a hundred feet away. Ben strolled up and climbed on top of the vehicle barrier to dispatch them, eager t
o use his new sword.

  The closest zombie was a portly man with a bad comb-over that flopped wildly in the wind. His fingers clawed at the air as Ben stood just out of reach, thanks to the zombie’s large belly and short arms. Ben looked down at him with a flicker of pity, wondering who this man had been in life. The other zombie growled and staggered towards them. Ben lifted the sword and brought it down hard in an overhead chop that cleaved into the top of his skull. The infected man froze, and a small waterfall of inky blood cascaded down his forehead from the split in his skull. Then the body collapsed. The sudden shift in weight wrenched the sword out of Ben’s hand and he nearly toppled off the car. His arms windmilled in the air before he caught his balance enough to take a step and leap over the body. The pavement jolted his bones, but he managed to avoid injury. Seeing the second zombie closing the distance, he reached down to free the blade.

  The stupid thing was stuck. The zombie shuffled closer, growling. A dribble of spit oozed out of its mouth as Ben fought to get the sword out of the fat man’s head. Fearing he might have to use his pistol, Ben retreated several steps and drew his Bowie knife. Dispatching the second man was quick. It stumbled over the outstretched arm of its fallen comrade. Ben lunged forward and put the blade right into its temple with a crunch of bone.

  Ben yanked the knife out and stepped back. He hunched over with his hands on his knees, panting. He would have to aim for softer targets such as the neck or make short thrusts into the face. Trying to split the skull didn’t work so well. If he hadn’t been careful, he could have ended up in a bad situation. Thank goodness there were only two of them.

  Stepping on the zombie’s chest, Ben pried the blade loose and after wiping it clean with a cloth, he slid it back into its scabbard and walked back to rejoin the others. Chadwick, Nancy and Oliver had finished going through a house and were in the process of packing it up to move. He joined them.

  “Look at all this stuff and we haven’t even left our block,” Ben said, beaming at the stacks of food by the front door. Other useful items such as matches, candles, medicine and a baseball bat had also been collected. “I’m going to do a quick walk-through.”

  Strolling through the house, Ben double-checked to see if anything useful had been missed by accident. He noted the mattresses, which would allow Chadwick to get off the couch and Ben off the floor since Charlotte was using his bedroom.

  The house had a decent collection of spy and mystery novels and a sweet leather reclining chair, but none of that had to be moved to their house. Ben went to the garage and grinned at the treasures he found. Two fishing poles with a large, well-stocked tackle box, a net, a canoe hanging in the rafters, and a variety of tools. He also spotted a gas grill and, more importantly, several propane canisters to fuel it.

  The tools in the corner of the garage included several types of rakes, a garden hoe, and a pitch fork, along with a spade and a shovel. The shovel gave him an idea since they were already planning to set booby-traps. Now they had the tools to make some of them a reality.

  Just as he dropped the tools off in their garage, his mom called for a break and went to prepare snacks for everyone. Ben started up the gas stove in their garage to heat water while Anuhea ground coffee beans. Charlotte inspected Chadwick’s leg.

  “When I was in Korea, my boss had these instant coffee packets in the office. I had tried instant coffee here before, but those Korean brands were on a whole other level,” Ben said. “I’d love to have some of those right now.”

  “I’m more of a tea man myself.” Chadwick winced as Charlotte prodded around the bullet hole. “How does it look?”

  “It looks okay. We need to get you some more antibiotic cream and maybe antibiotic pills.” Charlotte turned to Ben. “Did you find any of those when you were out?”

  Ben shrugged. “I did get some cream at BigMart. When it comes to pills, I don’t really know what to look for. Anuhea might have done better. She grabbed all kinds of random stuff.”

  “I should have gone with you,” Charlotte said.

  Ben nodded. “Next time.”

  Anuhea stood up suddenly. “Where’s Oliver?”

  They took turns looking at each other.

  “I’m sure he’s inside. I’ll go check.” Ben turned off the stove. “The water’s ready.”

  He strolled through the dining room, living room and then ran into his mom.

  “Have you seen Oliver?”

  “No, dear. Why?”

  “No one else has seen him either,” he said, walking towards the stairs. When he got there, he hollered the boy’s name. No response. Ben climbed the stairs. “Oliver, this isn’t a joke. Where are you, buddy?”

  A quick search revealed that Oliver wasn’t upstairs either. Before Ben went back downstairs, he stopped at the guard table to look out the window. His heart nearly leapt out of his chest. Oliver was in the street.

  “Shit! He’s outside,” Ben shouted as he ducked out from under the window covering and ran downstairs. “He’s outside.”

  Charlotte and Anuhea dashed out the front door with Ben hot on their heels.

  Oliver was riding down the street on a blue and red bike, without a care in the world. As they ran towards him, Oliver swerved into a driveway and hopped off the curb. He caught a decent amount of air although the training wheels made a terrible racket when he landed.

  Not wanting to shout, for fear of drawing zombies, Ben opted to clap his hands twice. Somehow that failed to draw Oliver’s attention and he continued riding towards the barrier at the end of the block, oblivious to the danger. Not to mention the stress he had put them through.

  “He’s fast as shit,” Ben said, slowing down beside Charlotte. He needed to run more often.

  One of the rules of the zombie apocalypse is good cardio, he thought, recalling a movie.

  “No kidding,” Charlotte said as she slowed to a fast walk. Her cardio sucked too.

  “Can you believe this?” Ben asked, pointing at Oliver.

  “He’s just a kid. They make mistakes.”

  “I get that, but this isn’t the kind we can afford for him to make.”

  “Where did that bike come from anyway?” Charlotte asked.

  Ben snorted and shook his head.

  “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  “I don’t know.” Ben scowled at her. “Why are you asking me?”

  “You’re kind of the father figure in this situation.”

  Ben’s stomach knotted up at that. “Don’t say that.”

  “It’s true.”

  They watched as Anuhea caught up to Oliver and turned him around.

  “Stop making such good points,” Ben said to Charlotte.

  She smiled and bumped his arm with her shoulder. “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

  Anuhea led Oliver towards them. Ben stood relaxed until they were about twenty feet away and then he folded his arms over his chest and scowled at Oliver. The boy saw his expression and looked down. He stopped the bike out of arms’ reach and picked at one of the hand grips, not making eye contact. It was a blue and red Spider-Man bike, much cooler than anything Ben had owned as a kid.

  “What do you say?” Anuhea asked.

  Oliver looked up at her with a pouty face before glancing at Charlotte and Ben.

  “I’m sorry,” he said softly, staring at the ground.

  “Sorry for what?” Anuhea asked. “Speak up.”

  “I’m sorry for breaking the rules and making you worry.”

  “And?”

  “And I promise not to ride alone outside,” Oliver finished, glancing at her for approval.

  Anuhea nodded and looked at Ben. He raised an eyebrow in surprise, grateful she had taken the initiative, and then looked at Oliver.

  “You know it’s dangerous out here, right?” he asked in a stern voice.

  “Yes,” Oliver said.

  “We don’t want to be mean. It’s just very important that you obey the rules. We have them for a reason. Bad
people are still out there, and we don’t want anything to happen to you,” Ben said. Oliver looked at him with doe eyes. Ben pointed to the barrier. “There are new zombies that can climb over those cars and attack us in here. If you’re alone, they could easily snatch you and we would never know.” He knelt in front of the boy and put a hand on his shoulder. “We would all be very sad if the infected took you away.”

  “I’m sorry.” Tears welled up in Oliver’s dark brown eyes and he quickly looked down at his feet.

  Ben gave him a pat on the back. “From now on, you have to ask us if you can ride your bike. That way one of us can go with you. Do you understand?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. Now, if you stay next to us, you can ride the bike home,” Ben said. “We’re having drinks before we get back to work. There’s a lot of stuff to do around here and we need your help. Will you help us?”

  Oliver gave Ben a reluctant look, and then looked at Anuhea and Charlotte.

  “I can help,” he finally said.

  “Okay then, let’s go.” Ben stood, and they all returned home.

  After enjoying their hot drinks, and relaxing for a while, Ben and Charlotte took Oliver with them to work on defenses. Ben pushed Oliver in a wheelbarrow, while the boy kept the shovels from making a racket, while Charlotte carried an armful of empty pillow cases they had scavenged from around the neighborhood.

  “What are we doing?” Charlotte asked.

  “So, my thought was to dig holes in every yard. That way if anyone or anything climbs over the barrier, the holes can slow them down,” Ben said.

  “Holes?” Charlotte asked skeptically.

  “What better way to slow down one of the infected than to break its leg?” Ben asked. “If they breach the wall, like the runners who can also jump, and they step in one of the holes they could break their leg and it’ll slow them down. Think of them as small pits just big enough for your foot to go into. A snapped leg will make them much easier to kill and it’ll work for human attackers too. If we dig holes near fence lines, they’ll be hard to see before people climb over.”