by Jimmy Bird
We had successfully made it to the porch without dropping him and realized how lucky we were that we had decided to shut the gate when we went into the yard. At the gate were four zombies, with a couple of more in the distance coming our way.
We laid Ruff down on the porch as gently as we could and walked towards the fence. From our experiences of clearing zombies off the fence at the Warehouse, we knew that we could easily dispatch them. Ken had his sharpened gas pipe out and I had Ruff’s machete. Unfortunately, with the fence being so tall my axe was not useful in that type of situation.
Ken walked up and put his spear through one of the chain links right through the left eye socket of the zombie in front of him. I used the machete on the one in front of me. I used the weight of the zombie against him as I stabbed him right under its bottom jaw right through the brain. The remaining two were dispatched in similar fashion from the safety of the fence.
Once we had easily dispatched the four at the fence, we decided to take the fight to the ones still coming our way. We ran towards the zombies as quickly as we could. We were almost upon them when it felt like I had forgotten something back at the house. I slowed down and turned around. I noticed that we had left the gate open. Ken noticed that I had slowed down and followed suit. It looked clear of zombies.
I thought that we had nothing to worry about and turned back around to deal with the zombies that were in front of us. For some reason, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something still didn’t feel right. I still had a nagging feeling about something was back at the house. I turned back around and noticed for the first time that a couple of zombies were making their way into the yard towards Ruff.
“Ken, we need to hurry. Ruff’s in trouble.”
Ken lost his focus on what he was doing and turned back to look at the house. I’m not sure how it happened, but he ended up stepping in a hidden little pot hole in the ground. He fell sideways to the tall grass.
Trying to keep my own focus on the two zombies that were in front of us, I asked Ken, “You alright?”
Ken grunted in annoyance, “I think so, but it felt like I might have rolled my ankle.”
Great. Things can’t get much worse. Well, it looks like I’m going to have to dispatch two zombies, help Ken walk back to the house, and somehow stop the zombies before they make it to Ruff. No pressure, Jimmy! No pressure!
I noticed out of the corner of my eyes that Ken had started to work on getting up. That was a good sign. It meant that he wasn’t as badly hurt as I first thought. I turned back towards the problem limping our way.
Before I could take a step forward, I heard a pained scream from my left side. I slightly turned my head to see what was going on and noticed Ken sitting on the ground holding his ankle.
He looked up, “I....I think my ankle’s broken!”
Great! It seemed that I had put my foot in my mouth and made it worse. Remembering the zombies that were in front of us, I turned back around just as the closest one reached out for me. I easily sidestepped the thing and swung my axe down into the back of its head. I made sure that I kept an eye on the second zombie as I pulled my axe free from the first one. The second zombie was walking a little erratic causing me to second guess which way it was going. I knew right away that it was going to be a little more difficult to kill.
It stumbled as it walked up to me. When it got close enough, I swung my axe downward towards its forehead and ended up missing. It was as if the zombie had intentionally ducked out of the way. I was about to swing again when I heard someone yell for help. I looked over and saw Ken lying on the ground, fighting off a zombie that had crawled out from nowhere.
I looked back up in time to see the second zombie had successfully recovered its balance and came at me again. I swung my axe downward again but just like the previous time, it had ducked or stumbled out of the way. I silently cursed OUR bad luck.
The day started out great but quickly turned into a complete snafu. It’s been like that since the start of the ‘zombie apocalypse.’ It seems that every day starts off great, then one thing would go bad, then another, then another, and before you know it, you’re up to your neck in crap. Sorry, it just seems that since the start of all of this, it has been like a domino effect and the day was no different.
All those thoughts went through my mind in the blink of an eye as I yelled out, “Ken. Hold on!”
I didn’t give the zombie the chance to recover a third time as I stepped behind it. I pushed it in the back, making it go face first to the ground. I leaned over and drove the tip of Ruff’s machete through the back of its head. In my excitement, I must have used more strength then I thought because the blade tip punctured the forehead.
I looked over and saw that the zombie had somehow got the upper hand on Ken and was crawling on top of him. I let go of the machete handle, leaned over, and swung my axe down as hard as I could. I connected perfectly with the back of the zombie’s head that was attacking Ken. If I had mistimed the swing or misjudged the distance, Ken would no longer be with us.
The zombie had stopped fighting as its body went limp. Ken easily bench pressed it off his body while taking a deep breath.
“Ken? Were you bit?”
He shook his head indicating that he was not. I pulled the machete out of the zombie’s head and placed it between my pants belt on my left hip while putting my axe on the opposite side. I reached down and helped him up. I positioned myself on the right side of him so we could hurry and help our friend. Unfortunately, each step was painful for him. I knew that we needed to hurry to save Ruff and even thought about leaving Ken for the moment in order to do just that.
Ken must have been thinking the same thing, “Leave me here brother and save Ruff. I’ll be alright.”
I began to tell him that I wouldn’t leave him to die but quickly stopped. It wasn’t as if I was abandoning him and besides, we had killed all the zombies for the moment.
I slowly lowered him down to the ground when we heard a scream. Without thinking, I kind of let go of Ken. He fell hard on his butt and wheezed out in pain from his ankle. Without waiting to see if he was alright, I turned and ran towards the house. I didn’t get very far before I stopped dead in my tracks.
I stood there in shock because someone was already helping Ruff. I could hear children screaming in the background. Keeping an eye out for other possible strangers, I started walking cautiously towards them.
When I got halfway to the house, my relief flooded out of me like a river. I knew the guy that had come to Ruff’s rescue, we all knew him because we used to work with him at the Warehouse. He was an old Caucasian Marine vet named Lonnie who was in his early fifties.
Before I knew it, I was already at full sprint. Lonnie turned towards me with a vicious look in his eyes as he raised a machete of his own, ready to defend himself. I stopped about ten feet from him in order to give him a chance to recognize me.
I in turn watched him, trying to judge the man before me. Was he still a friend or was he now a foe? He looked filthy, like he hadn’t showered since we had all left the Warehouse. His beard was untrimmed making him looked like an old homeless man. I didn’t have to worry about Lonnie recognizing me because he recognized me right away.
He asked, “Jimmy? What are you doing out here?”
He then glanced cautiously towards Ruff, “Why aren’t you at the Warehouse?”
Before I could answer, he followed up by asking, “What’s wrong with Ruff?”
My suspicions ran wild at hearing him ask about the Warehouse. Before I answered anything, it was my turn to ask questions. I was about to ask my first question when I noticed his genuine concern about Ruff so that is where I started.
I told Lonnie, “Ruff was bitten in the hand, but we had removed the infected area and cauterized the wound. We need to get him back to the Warehouse for medical attention.”
Warehouse! That’s right, he already knew about the Warehouse. I let Lonnie soak in all that I had just told him
before asking him a question of my own.
“How do you know about the Warehouse?”
He just smiled in that old way of his and made a head gesture towards the tree line. Damnit, I should have known that he wasn’t alone. I pulled out my axe and machete and got in a defensive position, ready to fight for my life and those of my friends.
Suddenly, two women and a couple of children started to nervously make their way towards us. I forgot that I had heard children screaming. I lowered my weapons when I recognized the two women. One was Lonnie’s girlfriend, Tracie while the other one was Shevon. Tracie was half Hispanic/ half Caucasian in her mid-forties. Shevon was an African American in her mid-twenties. Both had also worked at the Warehouse. One of the children was a girl who looked around nine years old while the boy looked to be around five. Wait, I recognized the boy. He looked like Brian’s missing son! My suspicions dissolved away.
I asked Lonnie, “Can you help me get Ruff and Ken back to the Warehouse?”
Ken! Crap, I had forgotten all about him when I began running to help Ruff. I rushed back to where I had left him on the ground and found his body. He was lying on his back with his eyes shut. My first thought was that he must have gotten bit when he was fighting off that zombie.
I knelt next to his body ready to do what was necessary for him not to come back. I pulled out Ruff’s machete from my belt and held it over his head. I closed my eyes to say my goodbye and prayed that he would be able to be with his family.
Ken must have been asleep because he opened his eyes at that exact moment, “What the hell are you doing?”
Surprised, I jumped backwards a few feet and landed hard on my butt. I opened my eyes to see Ken looking at me wide-eyed.
I smiled despite myself, “Damn man, I thought you were dead. When I saw you lying there, I thought you had gotten bit.”
Ken, “Well, I’m not dead or bit. I tried to stand up on my own so I could help you, but I ended up falling backwards. When I landed, I must have knocked the wind out of me and closed my eyes. When I opened them, you were standing over me with a knife.”
I helped him to his feet, “Sorry about that. I thought that you were one of them and I wasn’t about to leave you like that. Well, you ready to go back to the Warehouse?”
Ken moaned in pain, “Hows Ruff?”
We started walking towards the house, “Ruff appears to be alright, but he’s still unconscious.”
Ken looked over at me, “What about the scream we heard?”
“You’re not going to believe it, but Brian’s son had found his way back to the Warehouse.”
Like the rest of us, Ken was skeptical that Brian’s son was still alive, but we had tried to stay positive for Brian’s sake. We knew that it would have taken a miracle for anyone, much less a five-year-old, to have survived for seven days on their own. I guess if you think about the reality of the situation, it had been a miracle. Regardless of the situation, he was alive and about to be reunited with his father.
By the time we made it back to the house, Lonnie had found a child’s hard plastic wagon in the backyard for us to use to carry Ruff back. For Ken, we were able to find a branch that was shaped in such a way that it was comfortable enough to use as a crutch. To stabilize his ankle, we took two smaller branches and placed them on both sides of his foot. We then took a couple of shirts from the house and tied a knot around his ankle to help support it. Our return trip was uneventful, but it did give us a chance to talk to Lonnie and the others about how they found us.
Lonnie was overcome with emotions, “You’re not going to believe this, but when we were out looking for our families, we came across Brian’s son. He had been running from a small pack of zombies when we saved him. He told us about the Warehouse. I mean, Tracie and I knew y’all were tight, but I didn’t think that y’all would have made a pact to go back to the Warehouse.”
Like I said before, Brian’s son was very smart and it seemed that after hearing about the Warehouse, they decided that it would be ‘beneficial’ to them to bring him back to his father. They were hoping by bringing his son back to him, that it would be enough for them to gain access to our haven.
Before they brought him back though, they wanted to find their own families first. Alas, the only one they could find alive was Tracie’s nine-year-old granddaughter. It seemed that the rest had either disappeared or were zombies.
After their mostly unsuccessful personal missions, they started to head towards the Warehouse whenever they came across a heartbroken Shevon. It appeared that she had lost all her children just like Ken had.
Her children were still young enough, that she had to have a personal babysitter watch them while she worked. Because of the cost of daycare, it was usually a family member who would help her out. It was hard for a single parent to raise children on a single income. Daycare would have taken all her paycheck.
After they had let us off work early that day, Shevon immediately went to the babysitters (it was her parents turn to watch them). She stated that she had arrived too late to pick the kids up. Someone or something had already torn through the home. She would not elaborate on the details. After my own personal loss, I didn’t want to force the issue. I knew what it felt like to lose one child, much less more than one.
When we were within a hundred yards of the Warehouse gate, I realized that I would have to explain what happened to both, John’s wife and Ruff’s wife. How was I going to explain to John’s wife that because of her husband ignorance, he was the one who practically killed himself? How was I going to explain to both that John turned into a zombie and attacked Ruff? How was I going to explain that right after getting attacked, Ruff then killed zombie John? How was I going to explain that I cut off Ruff’s hand to save him? How was I going to explain all that? After thinking about it, I guess I was just going to have to sit down with both together.
Once we got to the gate, everyone was surprised that Brian’s son was alive and well. They welcomed everyone in and immediately offered food and water while Cleo and Danny helped me take Ruff and Ken to the clinic. Word of our arrival spread quickly throughout our little community and within minutes, John and Ruff’s wives were there to find out what had happened to their significant others.
Like I said before, word of our arrival spread like wildfire. It didn’t go unnoticed that John was missing or that Ruff was unconscious with his hand wrapped in blood stained towels.
We rushed Ruff to the clinic and laid him on the table. My mom and Mia did what they could to stabilize him, but he had lost a great amount of blood.
I was just starting to explain to my mom and Mia what had happened to Ruff and John whenever Ruff’s wife stormed into the room. Her anxious eyes immediately found her husband on the table and rushed to his side. She looked him over and noticed how pale and damp he was.
She turned towards me and demanded, “What happened to MY husband?”
I lowered my head and took a deep breath, “I’m waiting for John’s widow to arrive before I say anything.”
She was obviously pissed at me, but she held her tongue. Her eyes changed from spitting venom to that of sadness when she realized that I had said “I was waiting for John’s widow.” As you can imagine, Ruff’s wife didn’t have to wait long.
John’s widow rush into the room with her two boys in tow. I was surprised to say the least. The boys were usually off playing with the other kids, but to see them following closely to their mom meant that something was up.
She didn’t hesitate, “Where’s John?”
“I think that we should go someplace else to talk about it. It’s not a story that you children need to hear.”
She defiantly stood her ground, “Anything you have to say, you can say it in front of my kids.”
I in turn stood my ground, “I’m sorry, but I’m not saying a word until they’re gone. I’m not trying to be mean, but its really not something that they should hear.”
She refused to have her children leav
e until Ken spoke up.
He told her, “It really is something that your little ones don’t need to hear.”
She turned her head slightly towards him as she gave him one of those warning looks that only an angry mother could give. It was enough for Ken to back off, but I was hardheaded enough to keep pushing the point.
I decided to change my strategy as I pleaded with her, “Look, once I tell you what happened to John, then you can make the decision, whether or not to tell your children. All I know is that they’re not going to hear about their father from me.”
She still didn’t move as she stared at me. I swear you could have cut the tension in the room with a knife.
I decided to compromise, “Look, we don’t even have to leave the room. This way, Ken can verify what happened.”
She turned toward Ken, who quickly shook his head up and down. Ruff’s wife had sat silently by her husband’s side, watching the whole thing unfold. After a few seconds of listening, she even began pleading with John’s widow to send her children away. She also needed to hear what had happened. I think that it was because of Ruff’s wife that she accepted. She bent down and told her kids to go play, she would come get them when she was done.
After the kids were gone and everyone sat down, I told the women what had happened. I didn’t pull any punches when I told them that John had been overzealous and cocky as he barged right into the unchecked house. Without waiting for us, he just started walking around and intentionally talking loudly. We told him that he needed to be quiet, but he ignored us and blindly turned a corner. He ended up stepping on a hollowed-out zombie torso. Once he started bleeding, Ken and I rushed in opposite directions to find medical supplies and towels. When we returned, he had already changed and attacked Ruff. Ruff had killed him, but only after getting his hand bit by John. I thought that maybe if I could stay ahead of the infection, Ruff would have a chance to survive. Without informing Ruff or Ken, I quickly decided to cut off Ruff’s infected hand. When we tried to leave the house, it was already surrounded by zombies. We left Ruff on the porch and rushed off to kill them. Ken ended up stepping in a hole and hurting his ankle. While we were gone, a couple of zombies came at the unconscious Ruff. Lonnie and company showed up at the right time to save him. Of course, I went into more details when I told the story and interesting enough, I wasn’t interrupted once. When I was finished telling the story, neither woman said a word.