by L. D. King
The others seemed stunned by Jerry’s words. “Do you really think you could kill someone over food or water?” said Mary. “That’s not how you were raised. It isn’t you.”
“Mary, you’re my life. I would lay down my own life for you. I feel the same way about you, Jen… sorry, Mike. I know she’s your girlfriend, but I’m responsible for all of us. Mike, you’re my brother. If I can help it, nothing will ever come to harm us, not ever.”
“Yeah, I know, Jer. I feel the same about Mary as you do about Jen. Nothing like this will ever happen again if I have an ounce of strength to stop it. You’re right. We need to start a night watch. I think we should change every two hours. Every other person will be one of the girls. How do you guys feel about that?”
Jennifer answered, “You are right, both Mary and I trust both of you guys. If you guys think we need to start having a night watch, then we’ll be right there with you, taking our shifts. It’ll slow us down a bit but we’ll do what we need to. We might not be able to walk as far each day after being up at night, but I think it’s the only way that we can be sure that we’re safe at night.”
“Thank you for trusting me, Jen. It means a lot to me. I think we only have about six or seven more days of walking before we get home. Tonight we’ll start standing our watches. Today we need to go out and see if we can find something to eat or drink out there.”
They decided to remain in the same building for one more night. When the other three men took all of their goods, they felt like they were kicked in the stomach. They did not have the heart or desire to walk today. They would go out looking for food or water, but walking towards home was not going to happen today.
Tonight would be the first night that they would stand watch. It was more for the gangs of thugs than the zombies. The zombies didn’t break into a closed, locked door like the gangs did. They’d really hoped that they had left that crap behind them in New York City. It made sense to them that as the sources for food dried up, everyone would have to venture further out for food. Tomorrow would be the start of another day. They would be more aware of others around them from now on. They would question other people’s motives before they dropped their guard as quickly as they had before.
Chapter 10
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
ADZ +97d
The Ortegas and the Castillos had just arrived in Puerto Vallarta. Conditions here were no better than in Mazatlan, where they had just come from. As they drove through the streets, there were a large number of abandoned vehicles. Bloodied bodies from the zombie kills were lying everywhere they looked, yet as they drove through the streets, they did not see a single zombie.
They drove on to their relatives’ house and simply sat in the pickup, parked on the street in front of the house. The front windows had been shattered, and the front door was lying in the yard smashed into pieces. On the grass next to the driveway were two bodies lying where they were killed in a pool of blood. Parts of the bodies were scattered around them. There was no way that they could even identify who they had once been.
The garage was empty. Their truck was missing. Esperana carefully walked into the house, with Maurico following her. Cautiously they stepped inside; the interior was as torn up as the outside. In their short walkthrough, Esperana decided that their relatives — whoever was left, that is — had departed. There did not seem to be any additional bodies inside; only the two outside.
Their relatives that they hoped would be there had evidently left the city. There was no note on the counter, nothing to tell them where the family would have gone; they were just… gone.
Esperana had to make a difficult decision concerning where she would take the six children that she was now responsible for. She thought that the zombie outbreak might be something that was planned by The Unified Drug Cartel of Mexico.
Back in 2025, when many of the nations of the world had adopted an isolationist stance, Mexico did the same. After just a year or so, Mexico was struggling economically. The foreign aid they had received for many decades in order to survive had stopped. The various drug cartels believed that if they gathered under a united front, they could overthrow the Mexican government. They had the strength, and they surely had the money. Thus, the Unified Drug Cartel was created.
They quickly overpowered the military supporting the Mexican government, putting themselves in control of Mexico. The Unified Drug Cartel also managed to take over Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the northern portion of Costa Rica.
They ruled the citizens harshly. In areas that the Unified Drug Cartel could not control, they sent their death squads in to enforce their will on the people. If this did not work, they committed random acts of violence, and killed many people. Esperana believed that the Unified Drug Cartel had come up with a new method of killing by creating the zombie epidemic.
She did not want to go any farther south. There was a great deal of unrest in the southern regions of The Unified Drug Cartel. She believed that America would be sympathetic to their needs, and that they would be allowed to cross into America.
With Maurico at her side, they quickly walked back to their pickup. Esperana got in the driver’s side, and Maurico in the passengers’ side. They backed into the neighbor’s driveway and turned north towards the American border.
Three months later, they had been traveling north through the United States. During that time, the electrical grid throughout Mexico had failed. With the electrical power went everything that was powered by electricity, as well as the water, sewer, food processing, fuel delivery and most everything else that the people relied upon. Mexico without electricity was like going back a century or more. All of the conveniences that people had grown accustomed to were gone.
Esperanza's small group had driven past Mazatlan several months ago. They had used up all of the gas that they had in their pickup, including the gas they carried in spare cans. They had been able to make it 350 miles north of Mazatlan, to a point just south of Guaymas. Now they had been on foot for many weeks. They ran from the zombies whenever they encountered them and hid wherever they could find.
During their journey, Esperana’s daughter Annalicia was killed by the zombies. As if this was not enough, they also had to hide from the United Drug Cartel death squads and road banditos.
Finally they arrived at the small town of Agua Zarca. This town, like others they entered, was devoid of any people. There were dried puddles of blood and body parts lying around but no bodies of the dead.
The majority of the buildings had been burned, many to the ground. They found a building that they could secure. They were tired and decided that they would stay there for a few days to rest. For the next three days, they remained in the town. They did not see a single zombie, nor did they see a single person other than themselves.
Esperana was confused and brought the subject up to the children. “Maurico, we haven’t seen a single zombie anywhere in this town, or a single human either. I don’t know what’s going on. I’m afraid that if we let our guard down, something will pop out to kill us.”
“I know, Mother,” replied Maurico.
“It’s the same with all of the burned down buildings. Did we miss something when we got here? What do you think, my son?”
“I don’t know, Mother. It’s nice to have a short break where we can rest. We did find some food, so our bellies are full for now. Every one of us needed new shoes, since we had worn holes in the shoes we had been wearing ever since we left home, but yesterday we found a small shoemaker’s shop, and now we all have new shoes. It was most fortunate that the building had not burned. We have been here for two days, and this town is like a ghost town. I would like to leave tomorrow if that is all right with you.”
“My son, I would like one more day to rest before we begin walking again,” said Esperana. “This building is safe, and we have found enough food to last us several days. The other children could use the rest. As I look at you, I see an exhausted
young man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. We will stay for one more day. We can leave after that. We need to get some sleep. We will talk more in the morning.”
With that having been said everyone laid down to try to get some sleep. The next morning, they awoke as the sun shone in their eyes. They stayed in Agua Zarca for one more day.
On this day, Maurico was out with Reva and Rosari foraging for food. Much to their surprise, they found a small market that had not burned down, nor had it been ransacked. It was off the main street behind a taller building. Inside, they found so much food that they could not carry it all. Maurico was standing in the middle of the market with his mouth agape, shocked at how much food was still there. He told the two girls that he was going to run back and get help to carry as much food back as they could. He told them to look for some canvas bags or other containers to carry the food. He ran back to the safety of the building where his mother was waiting for them. He burst inside, so excited that he started shouting.
“Mother! We found so much food this time. The girls have started sorting through it all. They will be packing it up, and we need help to carry it all. I would like to have you, Lucinda, and Rosalinda come to help us carry it all.”
Esperana jumped to her feet. “Oh, my son, that is so wonderful! I honestly think I could send you out to find anything. Please take both of the girls to help. I will wait here for you to come back. She slowly settled back into the chair she had been sitting in. “I am not feeling myself today. I’m going to stay here and rest. Maurico, please only bring what we can carry tomorrow, and make sure it’s not spoiled. We don’t want to take anything that we can’t use.”
“I’ll make sure we don’t take anything that will spoil, and we won’t bring anything that we won’t be able to use. Come with me, girls. We need to go quickly.”
Maurico led the two girls back to the market where the others were sorting and packing the food. As they arrived at the abandoned market, Maurico told them what his mother had said.
“Be sure to only select food that we can use. We don’t want to take anything that will spoil. Be sure the cans are in good shape. We don’t want cans that have gone bad.”
“Maurico, there is too much food in this place for us to carry. What do you want us to take?”
“Rosalinda, what we are looking for are cans that are not damaged, bent or cracked. We need to try to find an assortment of food: fruit, meat, produce or anything else we think we could eat. Nothing that has to be cooked. There are too many times when we can’t build a fire to heat our food. We don’t want to give ourselves away, whether to the zombies, the banditos or the cartel, so we only want to take food that can be eaten cold.” Rosalinda nodded.
“It will take us a while to get this done, but we have to be back at the building before it gets too late in the day for us to be outside safely. Just because we haven’t seen any zombies in town, does not mean that there aren’t any around. Okay, let’s get to work.”
After an hour or so of sorting cans of food, they had the food that they had selected ready to go. Maurico led them back to the building where they were staying. They got back just as it began to get dark. The next morning, after breakfast, they would get back on the road. Tonight they planned to eat well for the first time in quite a while. Their plan for the next day was to try to get to Nogales, which was on the border between Mexico and the United States. There was a border crossing from Nogales into Texas. They hoped their little group would be allowed to cross into the U.S.
The next morning, they were up, ready to go. Esperana and Rosalinda made breakfast. Once they finished eating, they packed up their bags. They walked to the edge of Agua Zarca, walking past the town sign. They did not look back as they walked side by side towards Nogales.
They had been walking all morning and were getting closer to Nogales. Esperana was walking at the back of their group, next to Maurico. As the girls walked a little further ahead, she asked Maurico to slow down a bit. She wanted to talk to him without the others hearing what she had to say. She moved a little closer to him taking his arm as she spoke softly to him.
“Maurico, I have something to tell you. Let the girls go ahead of us for a while. Maurico, the last time that we were on the pier, I told your father the news that I am going to tell you. It made him happy. Now it is time for you to know as well. I’m pregnant. I had just found out the day the zombies attacked the cruise ship. I ask that you do not tell the girls until I am ready for them to know. Is that all right with you?”
“Mother, that’s wonderful news! I wish it was in better circumstances, but I will do what I must to help you. If you need anything — anything at all, just ask me. Are you okay, Mother? Is this why you have been getting more tired lately?”
“I’m doing fine. I just needed you to know. I will tell the others later, when the time is right. I don’t want to tell the girls right now. With everything that we all have gone through up to now, telling them would only give them something else to worry about. Come on, son, let’s go to Nogales.”
It was a little after 12 noon when they reached Nogales. They could see the city as they looked down from a small hill that the road crossed. As in Agua Zarca, many of the buildings that they could see had burned to the ground. This was the second city they had come across that had so many burned buildings.
From the small hill they were on, they could see the border wall with the crossing complex off in the distance. The crossing complex, along with the gates themselves, had been demolished and burned. Now there was nothing to stop people from crossing into America. It was too far away them to see if any people — or even zombies — were crossing.
For right now, they needed to find a secure place for the night. They needed to be off the streets before the zombies came out for their nightly hunt.
Near the hill they were standing on, they could see some homes that were less than a 30-minute walk away. As they walked to the homes, they selected a two-story house. They entered the home, checking the interior for zombies or other people.
Finding no one inside, they locked the front door. Maurico checked all of other doors, locking them tight as he found them. They had candles for light. If they kept the curtains closed with the candles in the back, no one would even know they were there.
Suddenly Rosalinda came out from one of the rooms in the back. She looked shocked. Esperana held her hands as she trembled. She started to speak in a quiet voice.
“Mother, in the room in the back, I found four sleeping bags and four backpacks. They all had food, clothing and other stuff in them. They must belong to someone. What should we do now? Should we run?”
“Whoever owns the bags might be coming back soon,” said Esperana. “Maurico, please go unlock the front door. Don’t open it, just unlock it. Right now we all need to go upstairs. Make sure that we don’t leave anything down here. We don’t want them to know we are here until we are ready to tell them, when they come back, if they are coming back at all. This may have been the last place that they stayed.”
She looked at each of the group in turn. “There is nowhere we can go now, so we will just have to wait and see. Okay, everyone upstairs now. Keep as quiet as you can. Do not talk to each other.”
“Mother, we have checked this home,” replied Mauricio. “It is empty except for us right now. The others might just be people trying to hide from the zombies like us. We don’t know. If they are not here by the time it is completely dark, I don’t think they will be coming back ever.”
“You are right, Maurico,” she said. “You have your father’s wisdom. But please, make sure that there is nothing of ours left down here.”
Up the stairs they went. Esperana led them to the bedroom the farthest from the stairs. They were in the master bedroom. They crouched beside the bed, looking over the top of it from time to time. No one uttered a sound. Then they heard the front door open, then shut.
From where they were, they could hear four people, but they cou
ld not hear them well enough to understand what they were saying.
Esperana leaned over to her son whispering, “Maurico, it sounds like there is one child with three adults. I think one of the adults is a man, and the other two sound like women. They are speaking Spanish.”
“Yes, Mother I think they are. They are not speaking loudly enough for me to understand what they are saying. Do you think that we should go down and let them know we are here? It might turn out badly for us if they discover us before we let them know we're here.”
“Maurico, that sounds like a good idea. Let me go alone. Perhaps they won’t be so frightened if a woman talks to them first. I want to find out more about them before I tell them you guys are up here. You wait here with the girls. Be ready to protect them if you have to. All right, wish me luck.”
At the top of the stairs, Esperana announced herself.
“Excuse me. Hello, I know you are here. My name is Esperana. I am coming down. I do not want to hurt you. I am not armed.”
As she walked down to the first floor, four people were staring up at her in disbelief. They were, as she had thought, three adults and a child.
“Hello — my name is Esperana. I am trying to get to America. Are you okay with me being here with you?”
One of the men said, “Please, come talk with us. We are not going to hurt you. I am Roberto Travieso, this is my wife, Amada. These are our daughters Delfina, who is twenty-one, and Domitilla, who is only ten. We are trying to get to America as well. We are from Torreon. We have been walking from Jimenez since our car ran out of gas. Where do you come from?”
“First, may I ask my family to come down as well, if you don’t mind?”
“That is fine with us. We’re just trying to get to America. It should be safer there.”
