Apocalypse- the Plan

by Gary M. Chesla

  “The city looks nice this morning,” Wilson observed.

  “It looks better than nice,” I smiled. “Do you notice what’s different today?”

  “Somethings different?” Wilson asked, then looked back over at the city. Finally, his eyes lit up, “No zombies. I wonder where they all went?”

  “No, I think the zombies are still there,” I replied. “Get in the canoe, I want to take a closer look at something.”

  “Do you think that is a good idea?” Wilson asked. “What about the super zombies?”

  “I think we will be fine,” I replied. “Just get in the canoe.”

  We pulled the canoe into the river, then got in and started paddling towards the point. We kept our eyes open because we didn’t know for sure what could happen, but I had a feeling that something good had happened that we would only discover when we reached the point.

  As we approached the point, Wilson looked curiously at the concrete surrounding the fountain.

  “What is all that shit lying around the fountain, in fact it seems to be everywhere?” Wilson asked.

  “I think I know, but I need a closer look before I can say for sure,” I replied. “Let’s get the canoe up on the concrete.”

  We carefully crawled up on the concrete and pulled the boat up after us, then we started to walk around and study the piles of slim lying everywhere. In the sizzling, bubbling piles of slims were teeth and large pieces of bones.

  “Wilson, I think this is what’s left of the zombies,” I said.

  “How?” Wilson asked.

  “The red mist,” I replied. “I think we had the plan all wrong. The red mist was meant to destroy the zombies, not us.”

  “Why would they do that?” Wilson asked.

  “I can only think of two reasons at this point,” I replied. “and I’m hoping it is the second reason.”

  “Well, give me the bad news first,” Wilson said.

  “It’s possible that the aliens just needed to get rid of all the zombies before they came back,” I replied. “But my gut is telling me otherwise, I don’t think that is the reason.”

  “Well, don’t keep me waiting,” Wilson said impatiently.

  “For the first time I think the aliens might just be the superior, benevolent beings some people expected,” I replied. “I don’t think it was their intention to destroy mankind, but to give us a second chance.”

  “I don’t get you?” Wilson said.

  “Remember how I always said that the human race was headed towards destroying themselves? Between climate change, over population, starvation, constant wars and no one could get along with each other. Add in nuclear proliferation and our future didn’t look good, that we were going to end up destroying ourselves and that no one had even considered a plan to change things before it was too late?” I asked.

  “I remember you always saying those things,” Wilson replied. “But what does that have to do with this?”

  “Apparently someone else was watching and could also see where we were heading,” I said. “But, unlike us, they decided to do something about it. What we have managed to live through was all part of their plan. Their plan to tear down our civilization and begin again from scratch. In other words, they are giving us a second chance.”

  “So you are saying this was the alien’s plan all along?” Wilson asked.

  “That’s what my gut is telling me,” I replied. “That is if there really such things as aliens.”

  “Trust me Mike, there really are aliens,” Wilson replied.

  I was standing, facing the city. Wilson was facing me as we talked. I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at the top of the U.S. Steel building as a large dark object began to rise up over the building. It hovered above the building for a few minutes.

  “You know Wilson,” I said, “For the first time in my life, I really believe you. You’ve converted me. I now believe that there have been aliens visiting our planet for years.”

  “Finally, it’s about time,” Wilson sighed. “Tell me, what did I say that finally made you a believer?”

  I didn’t answer, I just pointed to the U.S Steel building, towering over the city skyline.

  Wilson just stared at me for a minute, not understanding what I meant. I jerked my arm and continued pointing behind him. Wilson finally turned around.

  “Holy Shit!” Wilson yelled. “I can’t believe it!”

  “Why not,” I laughed. “I thought you were supposed to be a true believer.”

  The dark object hovered in mid-air for another few seconds, then like a streak of lightning, it shot up through the clouds and disappeared.

  Chapter 29

  Wilson and I look around in amazement for another twenty minutes. I walked around the point and stared out at our little island across the water. Never could I have ever realized the part the island would play in my life, and maybe even in the future of mankind, that day many years ago when I took my canoe and dodged the river patrol to find out what was out there.

  After our morning adventure, we went back to the power plant to tell all the others what we had seen. I could see the relief in everyone’s eyes as we talked. For the first time in the last six months, we all felt that we had a future. We knew life was not going to be easy and that whether we survived or not was now totally in our own hands. But after what we had lived through over the last six months, we felt up to the challenge.

  We also decided that since we had survived together as a group, as a family for the last six months, that we should all stay together as a team for the foreseeable future. For the next three days we stayed on the island and made plans of where we would go and what we should do. Ed had always wanted to live at Heinz Field, but the rest of us didn’t feel that was such a good idea. As a compromise, we agreed to spend the first night off the island at Heinz Field before we moved on.

  Wilson wanted to spend one night sleeping in the Steel Phantom at Kennywood Park, but he agreed that it didn’t have to be the second night away from the island as long as we didn’t forget. As for myself and Ma, we only asked that we could go home for a quick visit for old time’s sake before we moved on.

  On the third day, we decided we had waited long enough to be sure the aliens had indeed decided to give us a second chance. We had been wrong about what we had seen before, so we just wanted to make sure.

  Since we decided to do most of our travels on the river where we could fish for food until we figured out where else we could find something to eat, we would need a bigger boat to hold everyone. Wilson and I went over to the marina and picked out a modest sized motorboat, feeling that eventually gas would become hard to find so we should be conservative and only take a small boat that would be easy on gas.

  When we returned to the island, we were greeted with cheers of enthusiasm. When we pulled away from the island, everyone had tears in their eyes.

  We were filled with optimism and hoped what we would find out in the new world would be filled with limitless possibilities, even though we knew we would also find tough times ahead. But everything considered, I don’t know what more we could have asked for. The world was ours for the taking, now all we had to do was figure out what to do with it.

  We all had a good laugh when Wilson said, “I appreciate the aliens giving us a second chance, but I hope they don’t decide to help us with any of our other problems. I don’t think we could survive any more help.”

  I looked back at the island as we sped away, the little forgotten island that no one ever knew its name, would never be forgotten again.

  I turned back around and looked at what was ahead of us and said to myself, “Someday I will come back for another visit and remember the past, but next time I’ll just remember the good things.”

  Thanks for reading Apocalypse: The Plan. I hoped you enjoyed it

  I also hope you will continue reading the two free bonus books I have included. Charlie and Wolfe is one of my favorite books that I wanted to make available to everyone to en
joy. I hope you like it as much as I do. Charlie and Wolfe doesn’t sound like your normal zombie novel, but believe me, you will find an emotional zombie adventure there.

  The First Night is another short novel that I think you will enjoy. I spent a little time in Kingsland, Georgia, that gave me the idea for this book.

  Thanks again. I hope after reading the this book you might consider some of the other books I have written in the past. A good place to start would be, Infection Z: The Apocalypse or The Missing.

  Charlie and Wolfe

  By

  Gary Chesla

  July 2018

  Charlie and Wolfe

  The fact that you are reading this means that someone actually found my book.

  I had my doubts because I was certain that there wasn’t anyone else left alive.

  I have now wandered this wasteland that was at one time called the United States for three years and in that time, I have only ever run into one other living person.

  So you can understand my doubts that anyone would ever find this.

  My name is Charlie Meadows and my buddy here is Wolfe.

  We’ve traveled this barren wasteland for almost three years together and by sheer luck, we discovered what had really happened.

  You are obviously still alive, so maybe you have also been wondering what had caused the apocalypse.

  Why one day you were going about your life as usual and the next day the world was being overrun by the dead.

  You may have heard it referred to as the Zombie Apocalypse, but it wasn’t really caused by zombies.

  In fact, as I look back at what happened, I think you might say that they were just victims like you and I.

  They of course played a big part after it began, but it wasn’t because of something they had done that started it all.

  The apocalypse also wasn’t caused by some mysterious meteor that flew too close to the earth.

  Terrorists or biological weapons or anything like that also wasn’t the cause.

  Those things were just inventions of some writer’s imagination so that he could sell books.

  I may be the only one that knows the truth, not because I’m some kind of genius, but because I just got lucky.

  Since you found my book, you might want to listen to my story if you are interested in what caused it all.

  It’s not a long story, I’m a man of few words.

  After three years of living in this wasteland that we now call home, I’ve learned to get right to the point.

  Those that beat around the bush tend not to live very long in my world.

  So if you have a few minutes, I’d like to tell you my story, I can guarantee you that it is one hundred percent true.

  I wish I was there to tell you in person, but by the time anyone finds this, I’m sure that Wolfe and I will have been long gone from the face of this earth.

  If you decide you don’t feel like reading my story now, let me at least congratulate you on still being alive.

  That in itself, I’m sure, has been no easy task.

  Wolfe and I wish you well and good luck.

  But if curiosity has gotten the better of you and you just want to know what really happened, let me begin.

  Chapter 1

  As we were lying in the weeds on our stomachs, I watched the rabbit hopping around munching on the leaves of some tall green plants. I was never very good at identifying plants, they were either green or brown, tall or short, had flowers or they didn’t have flowers. All I could say for sure was that it was definitely a plant.

  I pulled Wolfe close to me and pointed at the rabbit.

  I could tell by the way his body tensed, he immediately spotted the rabbit. He already knew that the rabbit was close by, I could tell by the way his nose had been searching the air for clues. It had been his actions that made me hit the dirt in the first place and begin to scan the area to find what it was that he had smelled.

  Wolfe’s nose was never wrong and he usually knew something was around long before I would spot it visually. His nose was probably the main reason I was still alive. I only wish he could talk because his reactions to a rabbit was usually about the same as it was when he detected one of the undead, at least until he was sure what he was smelling.

  After the last few years, it usually didn’t take him long to know what he was smelling, what was out there.

  But it would always take me a lot longer to figure it out.

  He always made an effort to communicate with me, which consisted of him staring me in the eyes, but my mind reading abilities were about as bad as my sense of smell. I had gotten better at reading him over the last two years, but I’m sure he would agree that I had a long way to go.

  However, he tolerated me and did his best to accept my limited abilities, but we still managed to work well together as was evident by the fact that we were both still alive and managed to eat on a regular basis.

  I guess I had a few skills that he wasn’t able to match, like I could cook and he couldn’t.

  Most people would disagree with me on that point. But for some reason, Wolfe wouldn’t be one of them and to him I was the best chef that had ever lived.

  “Circle,” I whispered so only he could hear me.

  Wolfe began crawling off to our right, staying low and out of the rabbit’s sight until he was fifty feet behind where the furry critter was casually minding his own business and having lunch.

  When Wolfe decided he had reached the perfect location, he began his run.

  It was a maneuver Wolfe had done many times before. I did say we were a team, despite the fact that the first few times we had tried this strategy it didn’t work as well as it does now.

  Then it didn’t even come close to resembling team work.

  The first time we tried hunting as a team, when I pointed out the animal, Wolfe assumed I wanted him to go out and catch it.

  He was fast, but usually the rabbit managed to get down its hole and to safety before Wolfe could get close.

  On or about our third attempt at the team approach, the rabbit ran towards me instead of towards it’s hole.

  I raised my bow and quickly shot the rabbit.

  Wolfe had never paid much attention to the bow when I carried it around, but after I shot the rabbit he decided he needed to investigate this strange object that I always dragged around with me.

  He spent an hour smelling and examining this strange leafless branch.

  I thought it was funny when I saw the expression on his face and his eyes light up when the idea finally sank in; he was always a fast learner.

  Ever since that day, when we go hunting he no longer runs around like a nut wasting his energy. He now realizes what the plan is, does his part then he lets the rest up to me.

  I said I wish he could talk, but there are a few situations where I’m glad he can’t speak, like when I shoot and miss.

  The look he gives me says more than any amount of words ever could. He is always so disappointed and I know it is all my fault. Fortunately, I don’t disappoint him too often because with all the other guilt I carry around with me, I just can’t handle anymore.

  Wolfe made his move towards the rabbit.

  I saw the massive body of gray fur flash out from behind the brush he had used for cover. His long graceful strides were a beautiful sight to see. It was like something I had seen in an old National Geographic Magazine one time of a cheetah chasing a gazelle. He was almost as silent in his pursuit as the pictures I had seen. His feet barely made a sound as they touched the ground, dug in and propelled him forward.

  After his last year of practice and experience of driving rabbits and other animals towards me, I truly believe he could now sneak up and then run down these animals on his own.

  But Wolfe was a pack animal, a team player, who knew his role and didn’t try to hog all the action for himself, besides I’m sure he had ulterior motives.

  As Wolfe spooked the rabbit and ran behind it, forcing the rabbit into no ot
her option than to run in my direction, I let my arrow fly, Wolfe wouldn’t be disappointed today.

  Wolfe ran over to the dead rabbit, after smelling my scent on the arrow, he sniffed at the rabbit to be sure it was dead, then he picked up the rabbit gently in his mouth and trotted over to where I was now standing.

  He dropped the rabbit at my feet, then sat down and stared at me. I was pretty sure he was using telepathy to put in his order for dinner.

  Years ago, in my old life, when I went hunting and the dog would retrieve the animal I had just shot, as a reward after I had skinned the animal, I would always give the dog the liver to eat as his reward.

  I took a few minutes to skin the rabbit, but instead of giving Wolfe the liver, I put it back in the carcass for later. Wolfe liked his liver reward done medium rare instead of raw.

  Whoever heard of a wolf that liked his meat cooked?

  I guess that was my fault, but he is my best friend. If he wants his meat cooked, it’s the least I can do for him.

  I remember the day I found Wolfe two years ago.

  I was wandering through the hills of Montana looking for something to eat.

  I am originally from Bismarck, North Dakota, but no one lives there now, only the undead.

  After I lost my family and humanity had disappeared, I’ll tell you more about that later, I decided to go to the south west in search of anything.

  My main reason for going in that direction was because the weather was warmer in the south west.

  I knew I could not survive a cold North Dakota winter living in the woods without heat and shelter.