They drove up to the gate.
"I guess we'll see who's home," Joel said nervously as he stepped off the bike. He tried the intercom. It beeped.
"What do you want? If you're here to loot, be advised the brick has an electrified layer at the top. You will be electrocuted if you attempt to climb the wall. If you make it in, we will shoot!" a modulated voice replied back.
"Uh, is this where Austin Collins lives?" Joel asked.
"Who wants to know?" the voice queried.
"An old friend."
"Joel, is that you?"
"It is. Joel Ryan in the flesh!"
Katie heard a clanking sound. The gate opened automatically.
"Come on up to the house!" the intercom squawked.
When they reached the house, Austin ran out and greeted them jubilantly. "You guys are still alive!" he yelled.
"You're still alive!" Joel yelled back, hugging him.
"Well come on in! We have to catch up!" Austin said eagerly, waving toward his house. "We have hot water, so if you need a shower please help yourself."
Katie noticed that Austin’s hair had been combed back in to cornrows.
“What happened to the ‘fro Austin?” she asked.
He laughed. “Man, when the zombies rose up, I felt like I needed to have my hair under control. You know, an afro is an easy thing for a zombie to grab.”
She nodded. “That’s true.”
“Plus, I figure this makes me look a bit more intimidating, in case some miscreants try to get in.”
Katie and the others followed him into the house. The house was a large brick structure. The entry room had a staircase leading up to the second floor and several rooms to the right, left and back. The floors appeared to be made of cherry wood.
"Do you smell that?" Rachel asked.
Katie did indeed smell the aroma of pumpkin pie. This could work.
They walked back to the kitchen and Austin prepared some plates for them. Then he sat down at the table. The other three all sat down across from him and they began to relate what had happened in the last two weeks.
"So after we returned from D.C., I had to come back here because my grandma was sick with Owasa Disease. I had no idea how much the media censored what Owasa Disease does to a person! It was the most horrifying thing I'd ever seen when I visited her," Austin said. "Of course she died after a few days and the CDC recommended a quick burial. I thought I heard scratching at the inside of the casket at the funeral, but I just dismissed what I heard as the product of not having slept much.
"Then October Twenty-Eighth happened. The government declared quarantine and people who had been infected with Owasa Disease started coming back to life and attacking people. It was almost like the virus was controlling their bodies!
"My dad got stuck downtown at the beginning of the quarantine at the Allegheny County Courthouse and we couldn't get a hold of him because all the cell towers were down, so we were freaking out! When the County Administration realized what was happening, they let their employees leave.
"So on October Thirtieth I was awakened by the sound of my dad's motorcycle roaring up our driveway. We were so relieved! He told us about what he had seen, with the dead rising and stuff. Since then we electrified part of the wall around the property, reinforced the gate and have just been biding our time hiding out here," he paused. "So, what's new with you guys?"
"Where to start?” Katie asked. “I was chased by Infected all over UB's North Campus, we were arrested for violating the quarantine orders then mercifully dropped off at my house; we hid out in our house for about a week. We watched things spiral out of control. It was me, Joel, Rachel, Michelle, Megan Costanza, you knew her right? And Amber and Anthony were there too. We saw horrible things, people being torn apart by the Infected and coming back, that kind of stuff. One even broke into our house. I killed it with my baseball bat.” She saw Austin’s jaw drop. "After about a week of watching society collapse, we opted to leave. Anthony, Amber, and Megan went back to Amber's house and we left to go to Rachel's dad's cabin up in northern Pennsylvania.
"When we got there, Rachel's dad had been infected. And he bit Michelle," she paused, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just..." Katie looked at Rachel. She was starting to cry too.
"Michelle got infected and died. I killed her when she came back to life," Joel said. "We determined it would be a bad idea to try to overwinter at the cabin, so we decided to make our way here, to see if you were still alive. And here we are."
"Wow," Austin said. "I don't know what to say. Michelle died?"
Katie nodded.
"I'm so sorry guys," he said, standing up and hugging Rachel and Katie.
Katie heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She turned and saw an older man with a salt and pepper beard approaching.
"Austin, who are your friends?" he asked.
"Dad, these are my friends from college. That's Joel, my roommate, his fiancée Katie and her roommate Rachel," Austin replied.
"Ah, pleased to meet you all! Did you all come here from Buffalo?" Austin's dad asked.
Katie nodded. "We came on mopeds."
"Wow! What's it like out there?"
"Bad. Really bad," Rachel said grimly. "Society has basically collapsed."
"Wow. That's terrible. I guess we've been a little insulated in here. The brick wall out there helps," he replied. "Oh goodness! Where are my manners? I'm Gary Collins, Austin's father!" He extended his hand and shook all of their hands. "My wife Valerie is around here somewhere. Welcome to Collins House!”
After that, Katie, Joel and Rachel settled in pretty quickly. Katie was amazed by how well the Collins retained a sense of normalcy! They generated their electricity from solar panels on the roof and used electric heaters to keep the house warm. All of their drinking water came from a well and they recycled gray water from the washing machine for the garden growing in a greenhouse behind the house. Valerie had a green thumb and had been growing fruits and vegetables year round in the greenhouse for a while. Austin and Gary went hunting once a week in the woods behind the house and primarily caught small game with traps and these weapons they called gigs.
The gig resembled a spear, but was made of a long wooden rod. One end was split into four equal tines that had been sharpened. There were pencils stuck into the grooves between the tines to hold them apart. Honestly Katie thought the gig was an intimidating tool.
Katie even went outside a few times and played Frisbee golf with Joel, Austin and Rachel. It was like being in a bubble of normal in a sea of tumult! It was incredible! They filled in the rest of the time working on chores around the household.
Gary helped Katie modify her bat to make a more effective weapon. He attached small steel pegs around the circumference of the bat at its tip. That made the bat a little heavier, but also more effective.
On Thursday, November 26th, the group even celebrated Thanksgiving! Somehow, Gary had caught a turkey in the woods behind the house. Katie enjoyed it thoroughly.
When they moved in with the Collins, Katie learned they lived in a 4-bedroom house. Valerie and Gary had the master bedroom, which was downstairs connected to the office. Austin had a smaller bedroom upstairs. Rachel got a room and Joel and Katie shared the last room.
At last they had found a safe place to stay.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jim Gibson
Day 37
"So that's it then?" Jim asked as dawn broke over the snowy field and the smoldering ruins of the New York Central Terminal. "We’re going our separate ways?"
"I'm afraid so man," Jeff replied. "You've got your family, you and Phil, and I have my own. They might still be alive, they might be dead, I just don't know. That said man, you inspired me. You walked across the city to find your brother, and you're getting ready to drive across the country to find your family. I respect that and I honestly wish we were heading in the same direction, but we can't. Your way is west, mine is to go to the Big
Apple, or whatever’s left of it."
"I understand man, it's been good. Good luck," Jim said as he hugged Jeff. "May we meet again."
"Indeed," Jeff replied, lifting his bag into the bed of the 1983 Ford F-150 he had found in a neighbor's garage. “May we meet again. Goodbye Jim, goodbye Phil. I hope you find what you’re looking for. Bye Vikram, bye Sherry!” He turned and opened the door of the truck. Then he climbed in and started the ancient vehicle. Gray exhaust erupted from the tailpipe as the engine roared to life. He shifted the truck into gear and he and Connor drove off.
"Alright, let's get going," Phil said. "We might be able to reach dad's house by nightfall."
Jim walked back to the driveway and climbed in the front seat of the gold 1997 Jeep Wrangler which had been the other car in the neighbor’s garage. Sherry and Vik were already seated in the back. Phil got in the driver's seat and shifted the already running Jeep into first. Mercifully the heat worked in the old Jeep, as the thermometer on the front porch of the house they had been sheltering in indicated the temperature was 21°.
Jim still couldn't believe Antoine and Giselle were dead and that the place they had been hiding in had suddenly burned to the ground. He wondered how Phil was coping with his best friend's unexpected death as they pulled south on Memorial Drive. The Jeep turned left on to Williams Street and continued east.
As they drove through a darkened underpass that snaked beneath railroad tracks, Phil carefully steered around abandoned police vehicles and zombies. They continued east past zombies shuffling along sidewalks and turned right on Bailey Avenue.
Jim looked back as they drove south on Bailey under another rail overpass. Sherry flashed a little smile as he stared past her. A few miles north lay the University at Buffalo. He wondered about the blonde girl he had asked out a few weeks earlier.
She had been in his Statistics and Probability class and usually sat across the room from him. Her long wavy blonde hair and blue eyes were eye catching. She was the prettiest woman he had ever seen! Katie Barnes was her name, and she had actually lived down the street from him and his family when they lived in Baltimore.
Back in October, a few weeks before the epidemic, Jim had gone down to a bar near Saint Canisius College one night and run into her. He asked her out on a date but she reluctantly declined. It turned out she already had a boyfriend and had plans with him.
Jim had been shaken but not defeated. He could wait and see if she became available. And, of course, if she didn't, there were always other girls. Nevertheless, with all of the recent events, he couldn't help but wonder if she had survived or been turned into a zombie. He supposed he'd never know.
He heard Phil cuss and he looked up. The Jeep was approaching I-190 and it was obvious the freeway was clogged with abandoned cars. Phil punched the steering wheel and slowed the Jeep to a stop. Jim pulled out a road atlas and handed it to his brother.
Phil studied it with furrowed brows flipping between the map of Buffalo and the map of New York.
"Okay," he said. "We will get out of Buffalo on the side streets and try getting on the interstate once we are in a rural area."
"Hey Phil," Vik said nervously. "We should get moving, now!"
Jim turned and saw zombies within two yards of the Jeep. "Phil, yeah, we've got zombies!" he said.
"Geez guys, quit twisting my arm!" Phil sighed, shifting into gear. The Jeep moved forward away from the undead denizens. "We'll take the scenic route!"
He reached up and turned the radio on. Surprisingly the old Jeep had a CD player!
A song with an electronic feel started. A man sang with a woman providing backing vocals.
They listened to the album for a few songs before Phil ejected it and studied the CD.
"The Postal Service? This band sucks!" he said as he cracked his window and threw the disc from the Jeep.
"Hey!" Sherry protested. "I like that band!"
"Too bad," he replied looking through the CDs on the visor. "Do you like The Black Keys?"
"They're okay," she replied.
"I like them," Jim said.
"Me too," Vik said.
"Alright, the tribe has spoken," Phil said inserting the CD.
The track started with a gritty blues riff.
Phil steered carefully as they drove south, as the snow obscured parts of the road. They drove through an empty toll plaza and merged on to I-90. Thankfully the few cars they passed were almost all parked on the shoulder or in the median.
The entire landscape in every direction was covered in white. The sun had been out earlier in the day but it was now cloudy.
"Man, I can't believe Antoine was so stupid," Phil said, shaking his head.
Jim grunted in reply.
"I mean the guy was an electrical engineering student! He knew he was in a room full of highly energized equipment! Why not lure the zombie out of the room before trying to slice and dice? Zombies are dumb. They're easily led into a situation bad for them. It's such a waste."
"I'm sure Antoine was doing what he thought was best," Sherry said quietly.
"Even so it resulted in him dying, him getting Giselle killed, almost getting Connor and the rest of us killed and our home burning to the ground. It was stupid!" He let out an anguished laugh. "I mean he was my best friend!"
"I know man, it hurts," Jim said.
He shook his head. "Such a waste, such a waste."
They stopped for the night in Willoughby, Ohio just outside Cleveland. Phil parked outside the loading dock for a small hardware store located about a mile from the interstate. Together, Phil, Vik and Jim forced the garage door up and carried their gear in, closing the door once everyone was in.
It was chilly in the store but not unbearably so. Sherry and Phil went one direction in the store while Vik and Jim went in the other direction to make sure it was zombie free. Sure enough, there were only a few of the creatures roaming the aisles of the former hardware store. They were easily dealt with.
When that was finished everyone gathered in the back and Phil spoke up. "Alright, we need to take advantage of our temporary shelter. First, we need to make sure it's secure and defendable. Then, we need to see if we can find some battery powered heaters or something, you know, the kind contractors would use. Then, we might as well use the opportunity afforded us here to find better weapons. Jim, your little pry bar looks like it could use an upgrade. Vik, your puny claw hammer could be upsized. My knife could probably be upgraded and Sherry, your knife could be upgraded too."
Vik pointed out the windows were already covered with plywood. Then he found a battery powered garage heater that he carried to the back room where they would be sleeping. He rigged it up and turned it on.
Phil found a machete he liked. Jim found an axe he liked. Vik found a long-handled sledgehammer he liked and Sherry found a crowbar she liked. Their tasks finished, the group sat down in the back room and warmed up while eating trail mix.
"So Vikram, you're from Mumbai originally?" Phil asked.
Vik nodded. "Yes. We came to America when I was little. My father was a doctor in India but he and my mother wanted better opportunities for me and my brother Raj so we moved to Houston, Texas when I was two."
"That's cool man."
"Thanks. Unfortunately, my parents died in a plane crash two years ago when they were flying back to India to visit family. Their airplane crashed in the Pacific Ocean."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yeah, it sucked. But I think I have recovered a lot from it. I still occasionally feel sad about it, but it is in the past."
"What about your brother?" Sherry asked.
"He is a mechanical engineer in Nairobi, or he was. I don't know if he's still alive and I suppose there's no way I'll ever know."
"Where did you hope to end up working after you graduated?" Phil asked.
Vik laughed. "Well, I've always hated hot weather. You know, I don't remember much from living in Mumbai, but I remember it was hot. Of course Houston was
hot and humid too! So I was hoping to eventually get a job somewhere cold, like Canada or Alaska, maybe Russia. Vikram Patel, the Indian man with a Southern accent who grew up in Houston and who wound up building dams in Russia. Wouldn't that be a hoot?"
Everyone laughed.
"So your dad worked with the Detroit Tigers?" he asked.
"Yeah, kind of," Phil replied.
"He was a radio announcer for them. He got to travel around with them all over the place. He was actually an employee of a radio station in Detroit, I can't remember which one," Jim piped in.
"W-X-T-M," Phil said.
"That's cool," Vik said. "You guys get to go to any games?"
"Yeah, he took us to Game Two of the Two-Thousand-Twelve World Series," Jim replied. "We got to meet Prince Fielder and Justin Verlander. It was pretty cool."
“It was, even though the Tigers got swept," Phil added.
"Yeah," Jim said.
"That's really cool man," Vik said.
Jim heard snoring behind Vik and realized Sherry had fallen asleep.
"She makes a good point," Phil said, chuckling. "It's late. Who wants first watch?"
"I'll take it," said Vik. "How long should our shifts last?"
"Let's say four hours," Phil said.
"Okay, I'll go keep watch near the front of the store. Jim, I'll come wake you in four hours?"
"No, let him sleep until the last shift. I'll wake him when my shift is done," Phil said.
"Okay," Vik replied, standing up. "I'll come get you all if I need help. Goodnight guys."
Jim fell asleep quickly.
"Hey, wake up!" he heard Phil whispering.
Jim opened his eyes. He felt like he had just fallen asleep.
"It's your turn for watch buddy," Phil said.
"Okay," he replied, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “Didn’t I just fall asleep?”
Phil chuckled. “No man, you laid down and you were out.”
“Oh.”
"Wear your coat, it's chilly up front. Vik set up a chair at the cash register. It's a good place to sit."
"Okay," Jim said as he stood up and grabbed his axe. "Goodnight Phil."
Darkness and The Grave: A Zombie Novel Page 26
