Zombie War: Interviews From The Frontline

by Lambdin, Susanne

  I don’t have any friends.

  Listen, you can talk to me whenever you like, okay? I’m a busy guy but I will always make time for this kind of thing, for any time that you need to talk. That’s what I’m here for. Don’t you have anyone else at all you can talk to?

  I’m thinking that maybe . . . I can get a dog.

  HONOLULU, OAHU

  Pearl Harbor - Tourist Building

  Interviewer: Susanne L. Lambdin

  INTERVIEW 14:

  A large group of survivors has gathered in the auditorium for a debriefing by the US Navy. The Hawaiian Islands are currently under martial law. Even now, no one is allowed to come or leave from Oahu. As a member of the press, I have access to the meeting. I manage to catch a young woman on her way in to get her story and convinced her to sit on a bench while I record her statement. She is in her twenties. Two young, male Hawaiians and two Japanese men accompany her. The larger Hawaiian is about thirty years old and seems protective of the woman. I suspect he is her boyfriend.

  What is your name and where are you from?

  Cassie Donahue. I’m from Albuquerque, New Mexico. This was supposed to be my vacation, but it didn’t turn out that way.

  How long have you been here?

  Five years. All this time I have been waiting to hear if my family is still alive. I still have hope they are alive, somewhere, even though things are worse off back home. They’re fighting a war on the mainland against the undead. I guess it’s just as bad in the rest of the world. I think I was fortunate to be here when it happened. This is one of the few places in the world that’s safe to be right about now.

  There are a number of US military bases on the islands, and Oahu was the only island to withstand the initial outbreak, and remains a Green Zone. I know there is a global apocalypse that continues even now. Here the zombie outbreak was subdued within a few days.

  You’re right, Cassie. This is a story of hope the world needs to hear.

  I’m told the Big Island is a Red Zone, like Molokai, and crawls with zombies. Maui was hit hard, too, but it’s recently been given a Green status, and Kauai is next to be cleaned up. [She glances at the tall Hawaiian – he nods.] The Navy patrols the coast, you know, and zombies can’t swim. Any zombies left to float in the water are eaten by sharks. It’s kinda of ironic when you think of it . . . the food chain now includes zombies. They may eat us, but other things eat them. At least, I’m told animals don’t get sick when they eat the undead. Do they? Do you know something, we don’t?

  I have not heard that the virus infects animals.

  Do you know how many people have died in the US? You are a reporter, after all.

  No doubt we’ll be told the official number when the meeting starts. We have about fifteen minutes. Tell me where you were when the outbreak first occurred?

  Waikiki Beach. I was with friends, John and Mallory, floating on rafts, enjoying the sunshine. Diamond Head was off to our right. The extinct volcano is amazing. I kept saying, ‘It’s only a backdrop,’ thinking I was funny. But when we heard shouting from the beach, we assumed it was just another angry tourist. There are many homeless kids in Honolulu, and they like to prey on tourists. John had our key to the penthouse in the pocket of his shorts. We were there for two weeks, and we made it a habit to take only the essentials. Lynn and Brooke were lying on beach towels. We could see them stand up and look around, trying to figure out where the shouting was coming from.

  What happened next?

  Military helicopters swept across the city moving east toward Diamond Head. We saw clouds of black smoke above Pearl Harbor long before we noticed fire in a hotel a block over. Traffic came to a sudden halt and people started to get out of their cars to see what was going on. Lynn waved at us, and we thought it was okay, until we heard gunfire. A surge of people started to run down the beach, knocking folks out of the way, and Lynn and Brooke ran with them. It was nothing but chaos. Brooke is John’s younger sister. He was worried about her and wanted us to go ashore.

  Did you do as John asked?

  [She shakes her head.]

  One of the surfers told me to get on his board. His name was Sami. He was Hawaiian. He said something was wrong, and insisted John and Mallory climb on the boards of two of his friends. The surfers started paddling toward Diamond Head. John thought it might be terrorists, but Sami said he’d heard folks on Maui were coming down ill with the flu, and strange things were going on there. He claims folks who died were coming back to life and killing people.

  Is that what you thought you saw on the beach? Zombies?

  It was a riot. People were getting hurt. At that time, I didn’t know zombies were attacking people. I saw blood, lots of it, but I was worried about Brooke and Lynn. My mind just sort of shut down. All I could think was the girls had a key to our room, and I thought they’d go back to the hotel. Cops were shooting into the crowd, only it didn’t slow down the attackers. A Jeep drove onto the beach. It slammed into a number of people, and then ran right into a low cement wall, and exploded on impact. I wasn’t about to go back there, and relied on Sami to get us to safety.

  [I assume Sami is the large man glaring at me.]

  The surfers were locals then?

  Yes. Sami, his brother Micah, and three of their friends were born on Hawaii. Takeo is Japanese, but he’s lived here most of his life. His father had a chopper that he took tourists up in. Takeo had a cell phone. He reached his dad who said he’d come for us, if we could reach the top of Diamond Head. Sami said if we hiked up the old volcano, we could see if the rioting was only in Honolulu or had spread into adjacent towns. He felt certain we could get there, but we had to act fast.

  Did Takeo’s father know what was happening on the island?

  Apparently, the rioting was everywhere on the islands. His father said the US Army had set up roadblocks, and the Navy was attempting to evacuate people by sea. Everyone who had a boat was ordered to leave Oahu. The Navy was trying to load people onto cruise ships, and the airport was under attack, so under no circumstances were we to go back to town. Our only choice was to hike up the volcano and wait for him to reach us. You could say I’m athletic, so I wasn’t worried about me. John was fit, but Mallory wasn’t in any condition for a hike. I was afraid she’d have to be carried.

  I don’t suppose Takeo’s father told you the outbreak hit Hawaii days after it arrived on the mainland?

  No, but later we found out that folks coming in from California were infected. When an ambulance arrived at the Honolulu International Airport, a sick passenger bit a medic, and it spread fast. No one called the infected zombies, not at that time, but no other planes were allowed to land. A few of the airlines attempted to get planes into the air, while the military surrounded the airport. They kept people from leaving in vehicles or on foot in an attempt to contain the infection.

  Thousands of people come in and out of that airport. Even with planes grounded, it was impossible to prevent folks from leaving. From what we were told, anyone inside the terminals were bitten or eaten by zombies. By the time the soldiers arrived, they shot everything that came out the doors. I can’t blame them. Oahu is only 44 miles long and 30 miles across. They had to keep the infection from spreading. I’m told it was a massacre, but they did their job. I’m proud of our military, and I know they’ll win the War against the zombies.

  You’re optimistic. I like that. But let’s move on. What happened next?

  We were lucky the waves weren’t high that day. Sami and his friends were muscular, and they had no problem paddling up the coast, even with all that noise going on. They reached a rocky shoreline not far from the Diamond Head Lighthouse. Right as we crawled onto the rocks, we spotted a Coast Guard vessel headed toward Waikiki Beach. A few sailboats, overcrowded with people, tried to escape the violence. One capsized. People crawled onto the side of the boat. The current is strong when you get further out from shore, and I don’t know if those people survived, but I can tell you the Coast Guard opened
fire on the beach . . . we could hear it a mile away.

  Why did you immediately trust Sami? You only just met the man.

  I know he was stranger, but he was so calm about everything. John was distraught, and Mallory could only sob, and I didn’t want to deal with her. To be honest, I didn’t know what else to do. Sami said he lived here and knew the area. Something in his eyes told me I could trust him.

  What did you do when you reached the shore?

  Sami grabbed my hand and led me across the lawn toward the lighthouse. There were six surfers, all locals, plus John and Mallory. We had no idea what happened to Lynn or Brooke, and no cells phones to call them. The lighthouse was locked up tight, no one was in the main house either, but Sami decided to break a window so we could go inside. One of the boy’s turned on the TV to a live broadcast of the violence in Honolulu. A banner scrolled across at the bottom of the screen that said ‘Oahu besieged by Zombies. Military bases and airport overwhelmed. Seek safety and remain inside.’ It didn’t seem real. How could it be? While I found something to wear in the lighthouse keeper’s bedroom, I heard a noise in the bathroom. I knocked on the door, heard someone snarl inside and backed into Sami. He held a machete in his hand, motioned me to move aside, and opened the door. What attacked Sami wasn’t human, not anymore, and it tried to bite him. He stabbed it in the head, splattering the walls with black blood, and said we had to go. I didn’t know why we couldn’t stay in the house, and then heard heavy gunfire outside the windows.

  Several soldiers with the National Guard suddenly broke through the front door of the house. I didn’t know we had the National Guard on Oahu until then. They’d arrived at Waikiki to help suppress the riot, and they’d brought a small group of tourists with them. Most of those people were killed on the way to the lighthouse, including most of their squad. Takeo told the Sergeant if we could reach the bunker on top of Diamond Head that his father would pick them up too. John was insistent that he return to the hotel to find Brooke, his sister, and refused to come with us. He ran toward the front door where he ran straight into a mob of zombies. Sami shouted for everyone to follow him, and we left John, unable to help him, and ran out a back door. As we ran across Diamond Head Road, two giraffes and a zebra from the nearby zoo ran past – I guess zombies overran the zoo. If John had just waited, he would have made it.

  The three soldiers kept us moving at a fast pace. We reached the Kahala Tunnel only to find more people had gathered there with the same idea. Cars blocked the road, and people were screaming, and no one seemed to be in charge of the situation. The Sergeant attempted to calm the crowd. His two soldiers were worried the infection had reached Diamond Head. They didn’t want us to stop to talk to folks, especially when we ran into a pack of zombies feeding on tourists. A man was backed against the tunnel wall, crying for help, but the soldiers didn’t stop. Mallory was hysterical, so Takeo slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and we kept going.

  Somehow, we made it out of the tunnel and into a parking lot near the toll both. Not many people managed to reach the trail with us. Those that followed us out of the tunnel were in no shape to make the climb. They were easy for the zombies to catch. It was . . . horrible. The Sergeant and his two men fired at the zombies, giving us time to escape. Sami led the rest of us along the steep hiking trail. Takeo had to set Mallory down. I don’t know why she turned back. She pushed Takeo out of the way, dodged the Sergeant and ran back the way we came. I never saw her again.

  I’m sorry for your loss.

  Mallory was stupid. She should have listened to us. I suppose it’s wrong to be angry with her, but I am, and I always will be. None of my friends survived the first day. I found out afterwards that Brooke and Lynn had made it to the hotel. They went to the penthouse, just like I thought they would, but they took people with them. Brooke was that type of girl. She wanted to help everyone. It got her killed.

  What did you do next?

  We kept running up the path. Most is covered in concrete, but in some areas, the terrain is treacherous, and we didn’t dare slow down. There are several flights of stairs, as well as three tunnels, and we didn’t stop for anyone or anything, until we reached one of the old WWII bunkers. A few people who came with us fell back, winded, a mistake, for they were caught by zombies. Hundreds came up the path. I don’t know where they came from, or how they knew to follow us, but that’s what they did. They left no one alive on that path, and everyone I saw in the tunnel, including the man who cried for help were among the undead.

  Those horrible, wretched things must react on sheer instinct. The Sergeant and his two men only had so much ammo, and when they ran out, they had to use their knives to keep the zombies from entering the bunker. Three of the surfers helped them hold of few zombies, while I crawled to the top of the bunker with Sami, Micah and Takeo. Coming up from the opposite side of the path, we spotted more zombies. There is no way down without killing yourself. All we could do was stand on top of the bunker and hope that Takeo’s father would arrive in time. Takeo had his phone out. We didn’t have any weapons, and zombies are fearless. They tried to crawl on top of the bunker, trampling each other, and bodies toppled over the sides of the volcano. We saw the Sergeant emerge from the bunker. The two soldiers had given their rifles to the surfers who used them as clubs. There were six men fighting on the path, then four, and I knew they were all going to die. But then something happened.

  The zombies got bottlenecked inside one of the tunnels and stopped coming up the path. The Sergeant pointed up at the sky, and then we saw Takeo’s father. The chopper flew across the crater. I kept wondering why the men on the path didn’t join us. Sami held onto me as the chopper hovered above. It was then I was the most afraid. The wind from the propellers nearly knocked Takeo off the roof as he grabbed for the ladder. I kept wondering why the Sergeant and the other three men didn’t join us, but it was impossible to be heard over the noise. Takeo went first, and then I went up the ladder with Sami right behind me. Micah followed Sami, but no one else came up the ladder, or crawled into the chopper with us. Before Sami shut the door, I peered out to see the zombies pour out of the tunnel, approaching the bunker, and spotted the Sergeant, alone, standing on the roof. He managed to catch hold of the ladder as Takeo’s father flew off, and hung there as we flew across the crater.

  Sami and Micah started to pull the ladder inside, while Takeo joined his father. We were told the nearby Army base was safe, and that’s where we were headed, and I thought surely the Sergeant was going to be given a metal for heroism. Only that’s not what happened. When the Sergeant appeared in the door, I could see he was covered in blood, and his eyes had turned gray. He took one look at me, snarled, and Sami kicked him in the chest as hard as he could. The Sergeant vanished from sight, and that’s when I finally started to cry. SFC Dan Churchman gave his life to save us.

  Amen, sister.

  Sure.

  [A Marine appears in the door to the auditorium to wave us inside. The interview is over. I follow Cassie, Sami and their friends inside.]

  ALICE SPRINGS

  NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA

  Interviewer: Mick Franklin

  INTERVIEW 15:

  The interview takes place in a bar that is little more than a decorated shack in the scorching heat. Several people stand in wooden towers to scan for danger. I notice everyone is armed, even people who are drinking beer. Tarka is an Australian aboriginal man, lean and strong, dressed in a work shirt and trousers with bare feet. Always within arm reach is a rifle with a telescopic scope. The weapon looks well-worn but cared for. Tarka smiles broadly and motions for me to sit down opposite him.

  I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a crocodile before. They’re nature’s perfect predator. They are exactly the same as what they were during the dinosaur ages –they had no reason to evolve. Over a distance of about a hundred metres they can outrun a horse. The only vulnerable time in their life is when they have just hatched out of an egg. As an adul
t, they have nothing to fear short of a man with a gun. [Glances meaningfully at the firearm at his side.]

  I know of people who have tried fleeing from crocodiles and have climbed a tree, hoping to starve the animal out. The problem is that the crocodile has such a slow metabolism that it is actually the guy in the tree who is likely to fail first, and the crocodile will be there waiting.

  That was what my first encounter with the dead was like. A man was trapped in a tree, out in the middle of the desert. Only it wasn’t a crocodile waiting for him on the ground, it was three zombies. They apparently can’t climb trees so I guess the guy had the right idea. As soon as he saw me the guy started shouting at me, warning me not to get closer. I could see how haggard he was with fear, as though he had been stuck in that tree for days with the living dead just inches away from him, waiting for him to slip up and fall down.

  I was impressed that even in such a state he was concerned for my wellbeing. I wasn’t really scared. Not at first. I had my rifle with me. I figured that the guy had been in a blue with his mates at the bottom of the tree, or possibly they had been effected by the heat and weren’t thinking rationally. Happens all the time out here.

  I’d been out walking for days when I found them. Maybe that sounds strange to most folk but it’s something I like to do, still, just wandering out in the wilderness by myself. In the night time, it seems like I’m the only person who can see all those constellations revolving above me. In the day time, I walk slowly and conserve my strength, sometimes pulling up a patch of grass because I know I’ll find water under it, or quickly catching some bugs I know it’s safe to eat. I know everything I need to survive off the land, so I don’t take anything with me except my rifle and a light medical kit.

  When I got closer to the tree the three dead people suddenly noticed me and turned around. At that point I saw there was something very wrong with them. They had bite marks on their necks and they all looked like they had lost an incredible amount of blood, they were all drenched from the neck down. My first thought was of superstitions and stories I had learned as a child, of demons in the desert who had the ability to possess men. I had always laughed at those stories, except maybe when I was very young, but now those stories came rushing back to me and I was terrified.