The Survivor Chronicles | Book 1 | Say No! To Zombies

by Crystal, Tiffany

  I couldn’t do it.

  * * *

  May 3rd

  7:22 pm

  Still cold. We’re across the river. I don’t want to write, but I need to. I offered to take first watch, but Karla said it’s her and Micah’s turn.

  Yesterday...was not good. We came across a car with a baby in it. Pretty little thing. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Pink dress. Flowered car seat.

  She wasn’t dead.

  She wasn’t alive.

  She just sat there...little mouth moving like she wanted to sink her teeth into us. ‘Cept she didn’t have any teeth. She couldn’t’ve been more than a couple months old.

  Scott went off. Said if he ever finds out that this was something our government created, he’ll torch DC to the ground. I can’t blame him. Who the fuck designs something to kill babies?

  What if a fetus gets infected? Can a fetus be infected? Shit, I have to warn Anna, but how do you tell someone that the baby they’re carrying might eat them from the inside? Maybe it won’t be able to do any damage since it doesn’t have teeth, but they should be prepared anyway. I’ll have to think of a way to phrase it…

  I didn’t know what to do with the baby. I just closed the car door and walked away. I couldn’t bring myself to...you know. I just couldn’t. Scott told me to go on ahead. I think he took care of it. I don’t know. I didn’t go back, and I’m not asking him.

  Anyway, today was better than yesterday (not like it took much, I mean, really…). We did a lot of climbing, which was hell with the wagons, but we managed.

  Abby said we’re getting low on food that isn’t ramen, so Dave and Scott are running into town. There’s a little quickie mart type store right across the field from us. Mike is watching their back. We’re right off the highway, and there’s a bunch of cars stuck gridlocked. A couple of the cars have trolls in them, but as long as they don’t figure out how to open the doors, we should be okay.

  Mike says we should reach West Point tomorrow. We have a bunch of bridges in our future. I’m not looking forward to it.

  The boys are back. Time for dinner. I need to do some route planning. I spent most of yesterday and today in a fog. I’m not even sure where we are.

  Goodnight for now.

  * * *

  May 4th

  9:16 pm

  Well, that was fun. We didn’t reach West Point today. It started raining as we were packing up this morning. Nothing big, just a steady drizzle, but it was enough to be annoying, especially with it being so cold. Not sure when the cold front decided to roll in, but it’s here. We had hoped the rain would stop, but no luck. We did a poll: keep moving or stop for the day. The majority said to keep moving, so we did.

  We stopped at a house for the night. No power, but it’s dry. We’re all in dry clothes, and everyone not on watch is curled up together in the middle of the living room. Yay for body warmth. Mike and I don’t have that luxury. We’re both curled up in our own windows with extra blankets. It’ll have to do for now. We get to go join the puppy pile here in a couple hours.

  * * *

  May 5th

  6:45 pm

  Still raining. Still no West Point. But we’re at the bridge. We’re going to have to run through West Point, so we’re spending today eating and resting.

  Well, most of us are. Ben, Dave, Scott and Micah are out scavenging.

  Ben pulled up google’s map of the road going through the town, and checked out the stores that are along the way. He and the other guys looked it over and made a “shopping list” of stuff they want to pick up. They ran it by me, and I gave them the go ahead. It’s all stuff that would be pretty useful, and they had a solid plan, so I didn’t really have any reason to say ‘no’.

  I’m a little bit leery of them taking Micah, though. The boy doesn’t seem to have much sense, and what little sense he does have, seems to be centered around getting himself in trouble. He hasn’t apologized to Jason yet, so he’s still banned from the tents. I’m also thinking of banning him from any future puppy piles. Let him freeze until he gets it through his head that we’re in this together.

  It’s been three hours since the guys left, and I haven’t heard anything back from them. Mike and Karla are on a side road keeping an eye out for them. They’ve checked in every hour so far. It’s getting dark. If the boys aren’t back in the next hour, I’m pulling Mike and Karla back to base. I’m not going to risk them being out there after dark.

  * * *

  8:10pm

  So. I found out why the guys were taking so long, and I was right about Micah. He got his ass in big trouble.

  See, here was the plan:

  The boys took the bikes, two duffel bags, and the little cart. Karla rigged up two cloth bags for the cart out of a couple fitted sheets she found in the closet here.

  Dave, Scott and Ben would create a chain from the store to the highway. After the store was cleared of trolls, Dave and Scott would take turns packing a duffel bag full of supplies. When a bag was full, one of them would run the bag to Ben, while the other watched his back. Ben would run the bag to Micah, who was supposed to dump the duffel bag into the cart, and give it back to Ben. Then Ben would give the empty duffel bag back to Dave or Scott. This way, there’s always someone watching each other’s backs and the road.

  Once the cart was full, Micah would take the bike the cart was hitched up to, and bring it back to base. We would take the bag, dump it out on the floor here, and send it back with Micah. While that was going on, Ben would be loading up the second cloth bag. It shouldn’t’ve taken more than two or three hours.

  So they get started, and things are fine at first. There’s a lot of trolls in the area, like we expected, but they were managing. Then, Ben brings Micah another full duffel bag...but Micah isn’t there. Thinking a troll must’ve gotten too close, and Micah had ran off somewhere, Ben goes running back to get Dave and Scott, so they can mount a rescue.

  They searched that damn town for three hours, with the trolls just about every-fucking-where. Finally, they give up, and they head back to the bikes to come break the bad news, and what do they see?

  Fucking Micah, climbing out of the backseat of one of the cars abandoned on the bridge. He had climbed in there to take a nap, instead of keeping an eye out on the bridge.

  We’re trying to figure out a good punishment for him now. As it is, we’re going to be here an extra day, at least. While they were looking for Micah, they found a couple gas stations they hadn’t noticed on the map. They’re going to go back tomorrow and try to finish their “shopping.”

  We’re also trying to figure out how we’re going to get through town. The trolls are really riled up. Dave and Scott had common sense enough to lead them away from the bridge before circling back, but it’s still going to be bad. Scott said it looks like the entire town is over-ran, but we really don’t have a choice. Boats aren’t an option at this point. There’s too many of us, and we have too much cargo.

  The next closest bridge would require us backtracking almost all the way back to where we started from. It’s just not worth it.

  Scott suggested staging an explosion on the far north side of the town and waiting for the south side to clear out, but I had to veto that one. We can’t guarantee that would work, and if a fire spreads, we could get caught in it just as easy as the trolls. Plus, that would require whoever set off the explosion to go into hiding almost immediately, which would put them at a higher risk of getting caught in the fire/explosion. Another ‘not worth it’ scenario.

  We have a couple other ideas, but first we have to find out how distracted the trolls are, and where they’re gathered. If they’re all still riled up from Dave and Scott, we could have a HUGE problem.

  That’s part of what the guys will be doing tomorrow. I’ll be doing the bike running tomorrow. Abby and Jason are going to be watching the road. Mike and Karla get to be in charge of the kids.

  From the looks Mike’s been giving Micah, I’m interested in how this is go
ing to go. Mike has a surprisingly twisted mind.

  Scott is on first watch with Micah and Jason. Abby says Jason has been appointed as Micah’s official babysitter. Jason has this smug ass grin on his face, and he ain’t even trying to hide it.

  Ahh, karma.

  May 6th

  7:49 am

  Richmond is gone. The bombing started at dawn.

  On the upside, we no longer need a distraction. Scott went to investigate, and the trolls are all headed towards the explosions.

  On the downside, we need to hurry up and get a move on. We don’t know if West Point is a big enough city to warrant a bombing, and we don’t want to risk getting caught in it if it is. We’re just gonna have to dodge our way through the city.

  God, we can smell the smoke from here.

  * * *

  10:03pm

  This is fucking terrifying.

  Did you know West Point has a drawbridge? Cause um, we didn’t.

  The guys said, just yesterday and earlier today, the bridge had looked normal. Today, the drawbridge is up. The trolls hit the end of the road, as it were, and started heading back into town.

  Towards us.

  We left the carts and ran into the nearest building, which - oh fun - had more trolls in it. We took care of them, and then hunkered down and waited for the ones on the street to clear out. Now we’re camped on the bridge. Dave and Scott took a bunch of cars and blocked the way behind us. We’re hoping we’ll be able to signal whoever is in charge of the drawbridge so we can get by. We haven’t seen anyone yet though, so we might be fucked.

  We have three people on watch tonight at all times. One on each side of the bridge, and one down by the car blockade. Not sure what we’ll do if the trolls actually attack us, but this is all we can do. No tents, in case we have to get up and get moving. Cold canned food for dinner tonight, oh yay!

  * * *

  May 7th

  9:51 pm

  I’ve given up on trying to keep track of what day it is. Well, as in Day 1 of Fuckyou, not the calendar date.

  So, last night.

  Apparently the military put the drawbridge up to keep the trolls out of their camp. We didn’t manage to flag down the guys they had on watch until the sun was up, and then we had to wait a couple hours before they would lower the bridge again. Protocol or something? I don’t know. Scott was the one who talked to them. I fell back to walk with Abby and the kids.

  As soon as we were on the other side of the bridge, they lifted it again. (That part makes sense. It’s one direction less to worry about.)

  So yeah, we’re at an army camp thing. I don’t remember what they called it. Mobile base? Anyway. We’re in our tents. The army is on watch tonight, so we’re taking a break. Except for Micah. Mike told one of the soldiers about Micah’s little stunt the other day. They’ve put him to work. Jason went to bed with a big ol’ smile on his face.

  Smug little shit, but I can’t really blame him. Micah’s been a little asshole from the beginning. Even Melly is getting sick of his attitude. She asked one of the soldiers for permission to stop at the gas station we passed by, and snagged a couple things of Twinkies to share with the kids. She gave Jason an extra one.

  We can only stay tonight. The army packs up first thing in the morning, so we have to be ready to go, too. I had Scott talk to the people in charge about possibly leaving the drawbridge down. If there are any survivors following the same path as us, they could really use that bridge, and with the way we have the cars parked on it, it’d be hard for the trolls to get across. They told him they’d think about, but they couldn’t make any promises.

  What else...ah, they gave us a little bit of a heads up.

  They said to avoid any and all major cities. Not to even go near them. Stick to off-road as much as possible, and when it’s not possible, only use the backroads. With all the bombing going on, the trolls are out in force, following the noise and the vibration of the ground (they can feel the vibrations?!). They also said something about the smell they give off is pheramones (sp?). If they are injured, the pheromones (just playing with spelling now, I haven’t the slightest fucking idea how it’s spelled) change.

  It acts as a warning to other trolls that there is danger nearby, I guess. Now I’m wondering if there’s a way to use that to our advantage. Kinda like the scent bombs, but with pheromones (I think this one is right…) instead. Maybe do some massive damage to trolls in one area, and then clear out and hope that they’re drawn to the source. We’ll have to make sure we don’t get any of the blood on us, but it’s worth a shot.

  They also warned us about the blood. They said to stay away from the black stuff the trolls have in them. All it takes is one drop getting into your system and you’re done. They still haven’t figured out how that works, but at this point, I’m just glad they warned us before we tried that “wear the guts as camouflage” trick. Talk about a fucking shitstorm there, ugh.

  Also found out why we haven’t came across any half-eaten trolls. Mr. Army guy said that if the person dies before the virus takes over, the body does not reanimate. If the person is bit though, and escapes without being killed, then they’re screwed. Whatever this, it’s not just transmitted by blood. They’re still testing if amputation of the wounded limb works, so no news there.

  And still no news on how it started.

  Oh my fucking god, I’m an idiot. I JUST thought of this: instead of sleeping out in the open on the bridge, we could’ve slept IN THE CARS. Couldn’t’ve started them, but at least we would’ve had some protection. God I’m an idiot.

  Ugh, I’m going to bed. I am so fucking done with my own brain.

  * * *

  May 8th

  8:28 pm

  Camping in the woods again, woohoo. At least we’re all somewhat rested this time. Except for Micah, of course.

  Before we left, GI Awesome gave Micah a choice: apologize to each of us for being a dumbass and putting us all at risk, or they would take him with them, and he’d be their official running boy. He apologized twice to Jason, and, the kicker: “Please Sir, teach me the proper way to pitch tents, Sir!”

  So. He helped set up the tents tonight. We didn’t put him on watch duty. That was just common sense, really. They kept him moving almost all night, and then we walked all day today. Putting him on watch tonight would just be setting him up to fail, and I’m not that mean. (Plus, Abby and Karla vetoed it.)

  He will be on watch duty tomorrow night, though.

  GI Awesome pulled me aside while we were packing up this morning. Either Micah ran his mouth, or we suck at being sneaky. Either way, Mr. Army dude wanted to fill me in on another bit of information. One that sucks on a truly FUCK YOU level:

  The trolls are learning.

  He said it’s like the virus is learning how to operate the brain. That’s why the bodies aren’t decaying. The brain isn’t dead, it’s been...hijacked? I guess? I dunno, it sounds too ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’, but I don’t know how else to explain it.

  Not really important, I suppose. What is important is that they’re beginning to get their eye-hand coordination and motor skills back. They’re figuring out how to open doors and climb stairs.

  That’s why they made the decision to bomb the big cities. They had planned on going door to door to clean out the cities. They wanted as little destruction as possible so the areas could be reclaimed, but when they sent their drones in, they discovered that the number of trolls on the streets had grown much larger than it should’ve been. They actually watched a troll walk up to a door, and try the door knob. It opened up, and they went in.

  As far as GI Awesome knows of, going down stairs might still be a hassle for them, but we shouldn’t count on it, and locking doors is now a priority.

  Anyway, right now, the working theory is that it’s only the older ones that are learning. They’ve spent more time in the body, so the virus has had more time to map out the brain, I guess? I’m getting really tired of saying ‘I dunn
o’, but it’s the truth. I do not fucking know.

  Hold on. Sorry, had to check on the new guy.

  Yeah, that was the other thing. Sometime last night, the soldiers brought in a survivor, though we’re not sure how much of a survivor this guy is. He kinda reminds me of that old guy from the first season of The Walking Dead. I don’t remember his name, but the guy with RV. This guy is a little bit younger than that guy, though. He looks younger than Mike and Karla, and they’re in their 60’s, but I’m also terrible at guessing ages, so I dunno.

  Ugh. I’m rambling, I know, leave me alone.

  The medics said he was conscious when they found him. They think he’s just severely dehydrated. They didn’t see any bite marks, and when they drew blood, it showed up as normal. They didn’t want to take him with them, so the GI guy pretty much bribed us to take him.

  We are now the proud owners of a box of hand grenades, and the adults all have a gun. Not sure what kind these are, but I guess they’re a standard issue? We also have a crate of bullets. We were warned to be careful with supplies (duh). The bullets will not magically restock themselves. We were also reminded that this is not a movie or a tv show (imagine that), so the guns will not reload themselves either. Scott already promised to work with us, so we’re good on that front.

  He gave us 5 extra guns, too. For when the youngsters grow up a little. Honestly, I think he was just trying to unload a bunch of crap on us, which isn’t fair, considering they have jeeps and tanks to carry their shit, and we’re walking, but whatever. Scott looked over the guns, and they passed his muster, so maybe I‘m just being paranoid and/or bitchy because we got saddled with another dead weight.

  Whatever. The guy is on an IV (another present from GI Here, Take This), so we have him in one of the wagons, and Chloe in another. We’re supposed to change out the IV, preferably without killing the guy. Something about air bubbles and embolism? (Imbolism? Whatever.) I thought those were just made up for tv shows, but I guess not.