by Deyo, Jason
*****
They sat down at the crowded dining room table to eat the omelets Amelia had prepared. Their plates sat alongside various bug out bags and camping supplies. Keith smothered his eggs in ketchup the way he always did and took a large bite. He sat staring into his plate, thinking about what he could say to convince Amelia to leave. He hoped that once he found a safe place with more people, all he would have to do is get her out of the house and she would go with him. “I think as time goes by, they get slower. Remember in the beginning they ran and made high pitched screams?”
“Yeah,” Amelia responded while eating.
“When I was out there the ones that saw me moved pretty quickly, but significantly slower. I think by tomorrow they will be very slow. Tomorrow morning I’m going to start looking for some more places to gather food.”
“We have plenty all around us.” She looked at the camping supplies and military grade MRE’s organized in tight rows, resting on the table. “Quite literally.”
“I don’t think this is the best place for us. It is too suburban. We can’t live here indefinitely.” Keith leaned back in his chair. “We are always going to be running. There will always be one of them out there waiting for us. There will never be a night here we are not worried about one of them coming up on the porch and banging on the door cause they heard one of us snoring.” He paused, trying to insert a little joke into the tension.
Amelia jumped in quickly. “You know I don’t snore.” She laughed.
“If I can find a place for us will you go with me?”
“What about Jimmy?”
Keith paused and stared at her. “We can come back as soon as they find a cure for him.” He reached over his plate of eggs with both hands, waiting for Amelia to take them in hers. She recoiled with her back stiff against her chair and stared at his hands. Keith pulled back slowly realizing he had brought back a painful memory for Amelia. He sat back and tried to regain the momentum in conversation. “I fear right now he is a danger to us. If he gets through the door he might try to harm us. The person on the TV talked about bites or open wounds from one of the things out there as ways the virus is spread. We can’t risk that with only a flimsy door separating us from him.”
Amelia sat quietly. She didn’t want to leave Jimmy. She felt by leaving she was giving up on him. “I don’t want to leave our son.”
“Amelia, he’s already gone. There is nothing we can do for him right now,” Keith said as his voice began to crack. “We’ll be back for him, as soon as we know how to cure whatever it is he has. I promise. There are a lot of people out there in our same situation, so I believe there’s someone out there trying to cure this thing. Em, I promise we will be back.”
She thought about it for a long while, losing her appetite. “If you can find a safe place, we can go.”
“Thank you babe. I promise I will find a place for us.” Keith was overjoyed.
Seeing his excitement, she reminded him, “Not uncle Tim’s!”
“Not uncle Tim’s. Got it.”
Chapter 4
Something bad’s about to happen…
Keith and Amelia shut their eyes for a couple of minutes that night, but mostly they tossed and turned and were up well before the sun began to peek over the horizon. The moaning outside stopped, and as long as they were quiet downstairs, Jimmy was quiet upstairs.
After eating his eggs, Keith spent the rest of the day preparing for his trip. He had an atlas of Georgia and circled locations he wanted to visit. He studied it and his route. He was going to take it with him, but did not want to rely on it. He wanted to maintain vigilance while on the road and did not want to fight with a large and flimsy book.
Amelia found how particular he was about his directions funny, but she didn’t say anything. She knew he knew exactly where he was going, because he drove these streets every day since before Jimmy was born eight years ago. Amelia could see that he felt he was earning his right to become an integral part of the family again. She could see the man she used to love. The man he had become was defeated, and she had made him that way. She didn’t love him anymore and he knew it.
Keith was a provider though. Even though she did not share the same feelings as Keith, he was part of the family and he was going to make sure Amelia had what she needed to survive. Amelia watched him as he planned and prepared, and she wondered if he was doing this for her or if he would do this for any woman. The thought crossed her mind that he might be doing this because he was going to leave and never had any intention of returning.
“I promise I’ll be back as soon as I find the proper place for you and me,” Keith said, giving her a hug. She limply returned it.
*****
Many hours passed since Keith left in search for shelter, food, and supplies. Amelia was seeing a side of Keith that she hadn’t seen in years and started to doubt his intentions. Did Keith find a true purpose in providing for his family or did he have the perfect excuse to leave and never return? Their lives had turned into such a routine that the excitement and spontaneity of life had left their relationship.
Keith was genuine in his mission and goal. His focus was on Amelia. Keith was no longer referring to the entire family and Amelia sensed it. He no longer referred to Jimmy the way he used to. When Jimmy could be heard shuffling his feet, Keith would bow his head as if trying to tune it out. He had given up hope on his son, but wanted to believe there was still hope for him and his wife.
Amelia went to the back door to examine the woods behind the house. She looked at the neighbors’ house to her left. The house had been quiet ever since all of the changes began. The couple that purchased the house was very young and bought it as their starter home. Both were attending the local community college and Amelia believed they probably lived the same way she did when she was in college—living on cheap, high-preservative foods and hand-me-down items from friends and family. She believed they lived on hand me downs because of the ugly white couch sitting in the yard with long, unkempt grass growing around it.
Keith was very meticulous about the care of the lawn and the appearance of their home, so a distinct property line separated the two plots of land; Amelia’s lawn was cut to precision and the neighbor’s grass hung over her neat and tidy lawn.
Amelia hadn’t heard from her neighbors and wanted to know what had happened to them. Deep down inside she knew what had happened, but wanted to see for herself. If they had changed and weren’t inside the house, she could probably grab some of the cheap dinner food, like ramen noodles, and bring them home.
She studied the wood-line and listened from the back door before stepping onto the porch. The breeze felt good on her skin, but the air was not fresh. The smell of decay hung in the tendrils of wind.
She studied the distance from her porch to her neighbor’s house and the openness that separated the homes. She took the first step off her porch and listened. Gaining confidence, she left the confines of her house to go to next door. As she walked through the neighbor’s backyard the long blades of grass tickled the back of her calves. It felt like tiny bugs crawling up her skin, making her swat at her legs. She moved cautiously, discretely listening after every step she took.
She snuck toward the rear window as if she knew someone was listening for her. She crouched down to look into the very small two-foot-by-three-foot sliding window under the back window of the main floor, but a curtain blocked her view. She grabbed the frame of the higher window and pulled herself up to look inside. The design of the house was very similar to that of her own. She could see into the kitchen and nothing seemed out of place.
She moved toward the back porch and scaled the three wooden steps quickly. She was surprised to find the kitchen door unlocked when she turned the knob. Holding the door slightly open, she tapped the window with her wedding ring and waited.
After listening for a few seconds, she stepped inside. It didn’t feel right to walk into her neighbor’s home uninvited. She felt like she was bre
aking the law and could get into some deep trouble. How would breaking and entering look to her friends at work?
She walked into the kitchen and directly across from her was the basement door, slightly ajar. She stood listening to the house, trying not to move a muscle. She tried to shake the uneasy feeling of invading her neighbor’s privacy. Once she was comfortable with the stillness of the house she immediately began to rummage through the cabinets.
She went straight to the pantry. The contents were exactly what she expected; it was filled with dime foods, such as ramen noodles, and high preservative, just-add-water types of packaged foods. Pastries and cookies filled the spots where spaghetti noodles and marinara sauce didn’t. She began to pull the food out and put them on the kitchen island and then realized she didn’t bring anything to put them in. She now had a new mission; find the plastic grocery bag that stored all the other plastic grocery bags.
She found the bags and shook one of them open. As she was shaking it she heard something fall from the basement. She stood still, wide-eyed and staring at the blackness coming from the slightly opened basement door. As if the movements of her muscles would sound like a siren, she stood as still as a mannequin. She heard something slide across the floor. Whatever it was, it was metallic and heavy. Then, as if the darkness were speaking, she heard a groan.
The sound of the groan broke the stillness of her mannequin state and she leapt for the basement door. She slammed it shut as her body crashed into it. She moved cautiously backward as the groan reached the bottom of the stairs. She never turned her back to the basement and began to put the packages of food into the plastic bag, gripping it in her sweaty hand. She filled the bag and moved toward the back door, never taking her eyes off the basement door. She could hear the thing stumbling up the stairs. It sounded like it was having difficulty traversing the steps. She was about to turn as she got to the back door, when she heard something thump on the deck behind her.
She turned to see a man with a grey face and white eyes crawling up the steps. It stretched its neck to look up at her and revealed a massive hole in its throat. The hole was ragged, with large loose chunks of flesh swinging freely back and forth, as if it had sustained multiple bites. The creature reached out and opened its mouth to let out a groan, but the only noise that emerged was the sound of exhaling breath from the large black hole in its throat.
The creature instinctively inhaled through its nose, but the loose flesh sealed the black hole of the ghoul’s windpipe. It opened its mouth again and let out the same sound of escaping breath through its neck. Amelia froze with fear. This was the monster Keith wanted to keep her from.
As it stumbled up the next step and stood up to reach for her Amelia screamed. The sound of her own voice broke her paralysis and she ran to the front door. She smashed into the door and shook the handle trying to open it, but it was locked. She turned in time to see the ghoul rounding the corner of the kitchen. She fumbled with the lock. The almost silent sound of breath escaping its body was extremely loud to her. It was the sound of death coming for her.
Amelia pulled the door open only to have it abruptly stop. She pulled it again, not thinking about why it stopped, only registering that it did. The ghoul picked up its pace. She threw the bag of ramen noodles at the creature and then noticed the chain latch directly above her head. She closed the door and slid it off in one motion. As she stepped back to open the door, she felt its cold, dull fingers, touch her back.
She fell through the screen door, landing on the front porch. It was directly behind her. She jumped down the three steps of the front porch onto the sidewalk, falling to her hands and knees. She got up and ran to her house as the ghoul fell down the three steps and landed where she had just fallen.
Amelia ran to her front door and tried to open it. The creature was now getting up and resuming its pursuit. She saw a horde of ten undead moving quickly in her direction, excited about their possible next meal. Some of them fell over the curb, and the ones behind them stepped onto and over their fellow undead in order to get to Amelia.
She ran toward the hissing ghoul and then into her backyard. She ran up her back porch, opened her back door and ran inside, closing the door behind her. She wasn’t able to get the door closed before the ghoul chasing her saw her enter the house. Amelia watched from the window as the ghoul struggled to climb the stairs. She watched it trip up the first two and then reach out for her before falling over the last step. The horde rounded the house and began to make their way up the steps, mimicking the hissing undead.
The hissing ghoul was trampled under the horde of undead making their way up the porch. A female was the first to arrive. She hit the door with a thud. She mashed her face against the window in the door, biting with cracked, blood-stained teeth, not understanding the invisible barrier between her and Amelia.
Amelia stepped back as she saw another ghoul press against the female’s body and two more hands pressed on the glass. More hands emerged and began to pound on the window. Soon the whole horde was pressed against the female and the glass shattered under the pressure of undead bodies.
Large sections of glass cut into her abdomen from the undead pushing and reaching through the window. Thick crimson and black blood, the consistency of runny maple syrup, flowed down the white door as the ghouls forced the glass deeper inside her. Even as the glass sawed into her gut, she continued to reach for Amelia. More and more bodies tried to squeeze through the already tight mass of flesh, filling the window. When a small gap emerged, it was quickly filled with a ghoul’s mangled and bloody hand.
Amelia watched the woman reach out. To Amelia she looked as if she were in severe pain and needed help. She wanted to help her. Her pupil and iris had blended together into a light, cloudy blue orb, surrounded by the dull grey sclera. There was something to the eyes. This woman needed help. She was in pain.
She looked at the hands reaching for her and no longer saw them as the evil monsters that wanted to harm her. She now wanted to help them. These people shouldn’t be feared. Just like many of the homeless people she passed on her way to and from work, these people needed help. They were misunderstood and we never allowed ourselves to stop and think about what their needs were. These people could be helped, if we only took the time to understand them.
Amelia extended her arm toward the woman as she frantically tried to come through. She touched the top of her hand. It was cold and the skin no longer had lifelike elasticity in it. Finger marks were left where her fingers brushed the top of her hand, as if she had just touched very soft clay. The ghoul reached up and raked at her. Amelia was able to pull away quickly, knowing not to allow herself to be grabbed.
The sound of their groans was almost deafening, but as their excitement rose she thought she could hear her name being called. That’s when she heard the sound of multiple gunshots in her backyard.
*****
Keith left the house with a newfound mission. On top of finding and bringing back supplies, he now needed to find a place where they could stay and wait this out—whatever this was. Keith didn’t believe the government or some local authority would find them and usher them to safety. It had been three days and he hadn’t seen a single soul other than his wife. He was sure there were other people out there, just not in his community.
Keith had always been a survivalist and what society had deemed a prepper. Now that this could in fact be the zombie apocalypse, he began to like the idea of prepping better than actually living it. He apparently was either good at what he prepared for, or his wife and he were lucky to be alive. Keith was deeply grieving his son, but tried to hide it. He needed Amelia to see him as strong. He felt not only the need, but the desire to provide for his wife.
He traveled away from his neighborhood in search of a safe haven in the more rural part of the county. The streets were littered with broken-down vehicles, so driving his truck would be just about impossible. Keith skulked around homes, under windows, and behind bushes lining the s
treets, but after an hour of creeping, his back began to hurt. He stayed close to the houses whenever he could, and as the houses moved further from the road and vast sections of wooded land filled the space between the homes, he began to grow more comfortable. He now walked in the middle of the road, when he believed he couldn’t be seen from the buildings way up on the hills, behind thickets of bushes and trees.
He walked until he came to a fork in the road. In the middle of the fork sat a small convenience store. Conveniently, the small store’s name was “Fork in the road convenience store.” He came here often; most mornings actually. They always had a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the owners were very nice people. The store didn’t offer much. It couldn’t compare to any of the larger chain farm stores. The prices were nowhere near as cheap and the products that lined the shelves were more than likely about to reach or exceed their shelf life.
Fork had become a landmark of the little town. Mr. and Mrs. Applebee lived a modest life. They didn’t demand anything of their customers and they were more than happy just getting by. They understood where they stood in the global market, and they enjoyed the locals coming in just to grab a cup of Joe, get a hug from Mrs. Applebee, and occasionally listen to a corny and very inappropriate joke from Mr. Applebee.
Keith now sat across the street from the convenience store and waited. He kneeled and watched the front door. He sat so still for so long that a doe cautiously walked out in front of him from about thirty yards away. He spotted the deer from the corner of his eye and moved his head as soon as he saw movement.
He watched her, thinking about what a beautiful creature she was. He thought about how man is supposed to be the apex predator; top of the food chain, but then again this creature is more suited for this life than humans will ever be. She moved her head up and down studying Keith’s blue jeans and flannel shirt and jumped back into the woods she came from.
