by Doris Qualls
CHAPTER 8
BREANNE
Our lives had changed so dramatically over the last few months. We went from living the good life to dragging zombies in a trailer to get food to last a few days. Zombies were getting scarce at the manor and we had to start venturing out a little to get some. Zoe found a few great places in the groves by the house to hide and shoot zombies as the corpses limped down the street.
One day Zoe, Chang and I were crouched in a large mulberry tree just a mile from the house and Zoe was shooting zombies left and right. She didn’t notice one come up behind her and all I could do by instinct was to scream at the top of my lungs. I startled her and she almost fell out of the tree. Chang caught her mid fall and blew off the head of the zombie that was approaching her with his free hand.
We had many close calls like that. We soon realized there was safety in numbers. We had to have each other’s backs or things could end up deadly. I didn’t mind hunting zombies but I hated leaving the manor for any reason. I felt safe there and I was able to be with my love.
Brian decided to stay with us permanently. I wondered if it was his newly found love for me or the convenience of the situation. I think mainly because he loved me. He was such a help at the manor that we unanimously insisted that he stay full time. I asked him to move into my room with me and he denied me. He was such a gentleman. We have been together a few months now and he has not tried to make a move on me once. A part of me wishes he had but he told me he was waiting for marriage. He wanted to keep himself pure in the eyes of God. I didn’t understand the concept, but I respected his wishes.
Who was I to tell him he was wrong? I loved him and I would wait for him as long as it took. I often wondered why I had allowed myself to fall in love while the world was in such chaos, but I resigned myself to the fact that love finds you; you don’t decide when it happens.
ZOE
I woke up feeling melancholy. I couldn’t shake that dream of my mother. I decided in the rare chance that she was alive and well somewhere that she would need to know where we were. I grabbed my laptop and started composing an email.
Dear mom,
Last thing I heard you were turned. In the off chance that you aren’t I wanted to send you an email letting you know everything is ok. Bre and I moved to Westwood manor in Porterville and we have Chris with us. We are all ok. Chris has built himself a tree house that he stays in. It’s a lookout tower but I know he feels safer sleeping up there. We have been running dangerously low on food so I’ve been hunting zombies with the others to get food from the government. We are surviving. I keep having these strange dreams that you are still alive out there somewhere. The one I had the other night really got to me. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since. I really hope you are ok. We all miss you. Chris just isn’t himself because he thinks he lost his mom. In the off chance that you are out there somewhere, please find us. We miss you, mom. I love you.
Zoe
I knew she wouldn’t get the email but I felt better sending it. I couldn’t push off the twinkling of hope that I had.
BREANNE
Brian has asked me out on yet another yard date. I loved our evening strolls in the yard. He made me feel special and like I was the only woman on the earth. His touch was always gentle and sent shivers down my spine. I had fallen for him and fallen hard. He was sensitive yet strong, and everything I had hoped for.
Tonight he started out the night by gently grabbing my hand and reciting his favorite love poem while he looked into my eyes. All I could do was look back and try not to cry. I’ve never been in love before and I had to say it was quite an amazing feeling.
It was mid May and perfectly warm outside. I wore my favorite purple tank and a pair of white Capri’s. It was a clear night and the stars were highly visible. As I looked into Brian’s eyes, I could see every little twinkle coming from the sky. The moon was hiding and that made the constellations even more luminescent. The setting was perfect.
Brian grabbed my hand and pulled it close to his heart. Next he slowly pulled it up to his face and gave it a gentleman’s kiss. He wrapped his hand around the small of my back and pulled me close to him, subsequently taking my breath away. Then he gently grabbed me by the nape of my neck and pulled me into the softest, sweetest kiss. My heart beat became erratic and I thought I would melt into a puddle right then and there.
He released me, looked into my eyes and said, “I love you.”
That was the first time we had ever said it to each other.
“I love you too,” I gushed without thinking. Then I pulled him into a much stronger, longer kiss.
We stood there kissing for almost an hour. I couldn’t believe how much I loved him and that he just keeps getting better and better.
CHAPTER 9
ZOE
The love story was never ending. It was hard to get those two away from each other long enough to get any work done. Chris pointed out the fact that if we gave them a task to do together they managed to get it done. So that’s what we did. Today they had front yard duty.
Kyle, Nick and I went out hunting. It was time to get more food. First we started at the gate. There were about 10 zombies there. No matter how many times I seen their ghoulish faces, they always surprised me. Some of these ones had limbs missing and smelled rancid like death. The smell made me gag. I hated it when they looked into my eyes and seemingly into my soul. Many times they stood at the gate trying to claw their way in, reaching for me with all the strength they had.
Corpse like fingers scratched at the gate and tried to consume me. I stood there and watched them for a few minutes. They were starting to bend the iron posts to the gate. Was it just me or were these ones stronger than the ones I’ve dealt with in the past? Before those ghouls could do any real damage to the gate I began to pick them off one by one. I shot a few rounds and after that Kyle and Nick began to fill up the trailer while I kept watch.
We ended up at the large mulberry tree down the street. This was a favorite hunting spot for me as it was close to North Grand and there was more zombie traffic there. We shot about 6 of them and suddenly another came up on us much more quickly than the others. This one was practically running.
“Guys, hold on! We’ve got a fast one coming at us from the east!” I screeched.
The zombie came at us at human speed and began to jump and claw at our feet. I climbed higher in the tree for safety and tried to steady myself so that I could shoot. Just then 10 more came running to us with the same speed.
“What the heck is going on? These suckers are fast!” Kyle’s face was pale and he was beyond panic.
“I don’t know! We need to kill them and kill them now before they get up in this tree and get us!” Nike interjected.
One by one we shot them although it was a harder shot this time because they appeared to be dodging our shots. Once we seen that the coast was clear we started to load them up. We went at it for another 30 minutes, grabbing as many as we could.
BREANNE
Beyond the whirl of the weed eater I heard frantic honks at the gate. Someone was there in a shiny, silver Porsche 911 Carrera 4s. I didn’t know anyone who owned a car like that and it interested me.
Brian and I ran to the gate to see who it was and standing there as quick as a flash of lightening was my dear Aunt Brooke, alive and well. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought I was dreaming.
“Well, sweety, are you gonna let me in or leave me out to the zombies?” Aunt Brooke teased.
“Oh my god, is it really you? Am I dreaming?” I asked, feeling faint.
“Babe, I really think it is her. I thought you said she was turned?” He asked.
“I thought she did. That’s what Chris said,” I defended myself.
“Well should we let her in? Is she safe?” He wondered aloud.
“She looks
OK to me, let’s do it.”
I put the code it the keypad and she drove her gorgeous car in and parked. She ran at me with a hug that almost knocked me down. I couldn’t believe it. Aunt Brooke was here in the flesh and she was ok. I decided to wait to get Chris until Zoe returned from the hunt.
CHAPTER 10
ZOE
I was pretty much done for the day. I couldn’t do this anymore. I was hot and sweaty and the zombies were gaining strength and speed. I couldn’t figure out how or why. Kyle and Nick were just as stunned as I was. We hopped in the Suburban with our catch in the back and delivered bodies for our food and ammo prizes. We were quickly becoming a favorite of the city laborers.
Kyle began dragging bodies into the pile. I followed and laid a body next to the one he just laid down. I turned to walk away and something grabbed my ankle, and it grabbed it hard. I was thankful at that moment to have my hazmat suit on because when I looked down it was a bloody corpse hand. It grabbed me tighter and tighter as I struggled to get away. I could feel the adrenaline surge through my body as I fell to the ground in the flash of an eye. I scrambled, clawing at the grass to get away from the creature and suddenly Nick came to my rescue. He cocked his gun and attempted to shoot, but it didn’t shoot a bullet. The only sound it made was a ‘click’. He was out of ammo. A guard aimed his gun and fired into the creature’s skull for the second time.
I’m not sure how that thing wasn’t dead. Someone had already placed a bullet into its head, or so it seemed. I didn’t care, I was just happy to escape that hell.
I drove home on Hwy 65 pushing 100mph. I didn’t slow much once I reached North grand and all the way to the manor. As we pulled up to the driveway I noticed a shiny, brand new Porsche in the driveway. Who on earth was visiting? I hoped Bre did the breathalyzer test before she let someone in the manor, after all, it was supposed to be a safe house.
We didn’t hesitate to make it to the door. I walked in screaming, “BRE, DO WE HAVE A VISITOR?”
“YES,” she yelled from the kitchen. “We’re in the kitchen. Get in here quick!”
I turned the corner to the kitchen and seen my mother in the flesh. I suddenly felt dizzy and fell to the ground.
I guess I fainted. Well, wouldn’t you if you just seen your dead mother?
I awoke to my brother holding my mother, sobbing. I slowly gained my composure and stepped forward to take a closer look. It was her. And she wasn’t sick. She looked just fine.
I tore the two apart from each other and grabbed her face. I studied her to make sure she was ok. I turned her around and looked over her whole body, to be safe. Once I felt comfortable I grabbed her and held her while I unleashed a plethora of imprisoned tears.
My mother was ok besides the hideous scar that some zombie left on her wrist. And she was home. I couldn’t believe it. Breanne made us some tea so we settled into the dining room where we could all sit since I was deemed a fainting risk.
“Mom, what happened to you? Chris said you changed and attacked him. How are you better?” I asked, unable to wrap my mind around the fact that she was a zombie and now she was sitting at my table having tea.
“Since I was among the first infected, I was given some experimental drugs, sort of like a test run. It took me several months to get better but here I am!” She happily replied. The look on her face was priceless. She was reunited with her children and no one could take that away from her.
“I don’t understand,” Bre started, “Is there a cure now?”
“I believe so. They haven’t released it to the public but whatever they did to me made me better. They told me I couldn’t leave the clinic until they were sure there were no side effects but I found a way to escape and took off as soon as I felt better. I feel bad but I stole that awesome car out there from one of the doctors. They left it running by the back entrance, so I took it. It just happened to have a phone in it so I was able to check my voicemails and emails from it. That’s how I came across your email Zoe,” she smugly stated.
“So they found a cure,” Kyle repeated redundantly.
We sat there the rest of the day just trying to process the whole thing and catching up with mom. We were able to get mom settled in a room and stocked her with some clothes. She just happened to be the same size as Maria.
I couldn’t believe my mother was alive and well. Chris and I were shell shocked. I was happy beyond all measure and he was too.
The next day we gave mom a tour of the house and grounds and made the tree house our last stop. Mom sported a look of pride on her face as she studied every last detail of the men’s accomplishments.
We dined outside for lunch. On the menu was spam and beans. Chris was sporting a look of worry on his face and asked a very important question.
“Mom, do we have to worry about them coming after you since you escaped?”
“I don’t know honey. I think if they found me they would lock me back up.”
“It would make sense for them to look for you. Think about it. You are a success story for a cure that they supposedly don’t have yet. They wouldn’t want that getting out or they would have a lot of pissed off people on their hands,” I stated.
“Well maybe we should get rid of the evidence. We need to ditch the car and the phone. They might try to use gps on both of those to find you. Hopefully it’s not too late for that,” Bre added.
“Well we should drop it off away from here so that they don’t know what town we are in. Let’s take it to Terra Bella,” Zeke laughed.
“That’s actually not a bad idea Zeke,” Mom said.
“Sounds good to me too, but I get to drive the new car!” Chris excitedly replied.
“I’m going with you,” I stated matter of factly.
So Bre, Brian and mom loaded up in the suburban and Chris and I in the Porsche. Zeke and the other guys stayed behind to watch the property and we were on our way.
Chris got in the driver seat of the Porsche and me in the passenger seat. We sped out of the driveway. I watched as the speedometer climbed quickly.
“Chris, you need to slow down! You are going 110 mph!”
“Who cares! This car is BAD. I love it. This car is as sweet as the bat mobile. Just call me Batman!” He said with his best Batman impression.
“I don’t care if you think you are batman, slow down now or I’m going to punch you in the face!” Anger was getting the best of me. My brother was driving like an idiot and he needed that good punch in the face.
“Ok, sorry. I’ve just never drove a car like this before. It’s so smooth. I’m in love. The speedometer goes to like 200mph!” He ecstatically replied.
“I understand that but we are trying to survive, not die. Ok? So get your head together or we are pulling this car over and I’m driving. Let’s just make it the next 10 miles ok? Can you keep us alive that long?” I snapped.
“You forgot to call me Batman,” he teased.
We sat in silence for the next 10 miles. I had him pull the car over on the side of hwy 65 and we ditched the phone in the car. If they came looking for mom at least we diverted them towards Bakersfield.
We switched passengers to the Suburban and came up to a little store along the highway to get gas. The place was surrounded by zombies. We were practically on empty and there was no way around the fact that we needed gas and we needed it now.
“Listen babe, we need gas so we are going to have to kill all of these zombies to get into the store. Are you going to be ok with that?” Brian addressed Bre but didn’t wait for her to respond. “Do you all have your guns with you? We are going to have to do this by teamwork.”
Everyone gave a nod or said yes and we pulled up to the entrance of the zombie ridden store. Bre and Mom rolled their windows down so we could shoot from the safety of the car. As soon as they smelled us, the zombies came at us to make us their meal.
/> The distinct, rancid smell of death loomed in the air. The ghouls were getting closer and closer. One of the zombies had blonde hair and a missing eye. Another one was missing half of its skull. They looked at us like ravenous creatures, drooling and expecting a meal.
The first to go was the blonde one since she was much faster than the others. Next was the skull-less one since he was right after her. We decimated them one by one until they were all dead. There were 25 in all and they were trying to get to something in that store. There was no reason they would storm the building in that way unless they thought their next meal was in there.
We stepped over bloody body after bloody body to get to the entrance of the station. Through the window I could see two figures huddled in the corner, holding each other; One larger and one smaller. There were people in there. I hoped they were ok.
CHAPTER 11
BREANNE
There were people in the abandoned gas station! I couldn’t believe my eyes. One looked as small as a child. I approached the door and tried to get in but the door wouldn’t budge. I knocked on the door and the little person flinched. They wouldn’t move. I pounded on the door next and yelled at them to open the door and tried to assure them that we could get them to safety.
The larger of the two cautiously approached the door to get a better look at us. She tore the large poster of a beer can from the door and I could finally get a good look at her face. She was a teenage girl. She was probably 5’4” and about 110 lbs. She looked to be about 16 years old and was super skinny. She looked Latino. Her brown, shoulder length hair was tussled and she was obviously shaken. Her big brown eyes had huge dark circles under them. She probably hasn’t slept in a while.
