The Dead Lands Diary [Vol. III]

by S. David Staggs

  ME: Well, that’s what we do. I’m very glad you stumbled upon us.

  HANK: Not as glad as I am! Eventually we would have just hit the ocean with no plan b. I hope somebody found that FEMA school shelter and all that food and water. Someone decent that needed it. It helped us and I hope it helped someone else in need of it.

  ME: Want to take a road trip and see if it’s still there?

  HANK: NO! [laughs].

  ME: [laughs]. Thank you for your time, Doctor. I appreciate you talking to me.

  HANK: My pleasure. Think about what I said! I’d love to speak with you.

  ME: I’ll consider it. I promise.

  HANK: Until next time, take care my friend.

  ME: You as well, Doctor.

  **

  Kevin Bady is a marine biologist from Portland, Maine. He’s a little on the quiet side and slightly withdrawn but not rude. Only recently has he started to become more engaged with the rest of the community. He and his wife, Sandra, and their twenty-year old daughter Kassie. Both of which are friendly and courteous but Sandra is much more withdrawn and quiet than her husband.

  ME: I’ve been wanting to catch up with you for some time but also wanted to give you your space. You’ve seemed more receptive in recent months so I thought I’d try and speak with you, if you don’t mind that is?

  KEVIN: I knew the day would come where you’d approach and want to know my story.

  ME: Only if you’re comfortable.

  KEVIN: I guess [sigh]. Okay, so from the get go right? I’m from Portland, Maine.

  ME: Did you like it there?

  KEVIN: For the most part. I didn’t like the damn winters, I can tell you that. But I spent much of my time on the sea.

  ME: Just like to sail?

  KEVIN: Sure, but I was out there for my job. But I sailed with some buddies here and there.

  ME: What were you?

  KEVIN: A marine biologist.

  ME: Really? Unexpected. That’s cool, what was it like?

  KEVIN: It was fun. I enjoyed my work. I was always fascinated with marine life. The mysteries of the sea. There’s so much we don’t know about the deep. So many animals not discovered.

  ME: How old are you?

  KEVIN: Thirty-seven.

  ME: Did you specialize in anything?

  KEVIN: I was partial to whales and sharks. I traveled to South Africa once just to get in a cage. I wanted to see a great white face to face. Ended up seeing several. To be there and study them was amazing.

  ME: If you say so. Better you than me!

  KEVIN: Ah, you’d be fine. But anyway, I studied everything. From giant whales and squids down to shrimp behavior and snails. It was just my thing. A passion I had. Not much use for my skills today.

  ME: We all have other skills to put into use. So how was Portland when all this started?

  KEVIN: Hell if I know. I wasn’t there. We were actually on vacation and traveling around sightseeing. When things got bad we were in Salem, Massachusetts. They set up camps and fences in the Salem woods. That’s where the tourists were guided to. Residents were walled in and barricaded inside Salem. Fences or not, being outside and in tents and campers with fires going didn’t sit well with me. It was like…how long before those freaks showed up? They’d be attracted to the noise and fire light. Half of these assholes had booze packed in their things and were having a grand time. Stupid people. I had a van and it was right outside. My daughter and son complained, but Sandra understood why I made us sleep in the van every night. If we had to go we could get out of there fast.

  ME: And you’re feeling was correct?

  KEVIN: Sure as shit. We were already in the van that night. Kids were both asleep in the back while my wife and I watched the fires and people wander around socializing [shakes his head]. It was maybe one in the morning I’d say. That loud screeching let out. It was loud and there were multiple. They got closer and the people inside the camp got quiet and looked around. They started to scurry in different directions in a panic. Then a ton of those freaks came out of the darkness of the woods and were pushing on the fences. Everyone still running around and screaming. In their hysteria, some threw bottles and rocks and whatever else they could find to throw. Kids woke up and we hadn’t even noticed cause we were in shock at it all. Patrick was the first in a panic, being fourteen and all. Kassie just had her hand over her mouth. Then those fast freaks showed up. I’d say a good ten of them maybe. I couldn’t keep track of them. Probably thirty of the slow freaks. The fast ones started scaling the fence. I told the kids to get back and my wife and I crawled in the back with them. The seats were down of course so they had stretch room and we all fit pretty comfortably. We stayed down and stayed still.

  ME: That’s horrifying.

  KEVIN: It was. Patrick was breaking up and Sandra held him against her. He was crying but he knew to cry silently. I didn’t even have to say it. Kassie covered her ears and closed her eyes and stayed close to me. The fences came down rather easily. The screaming didn’t last long. They were all slaughtered pretty fast. Many of them were drunk so they hadn’t stood much of a chance anyhow. I leaned up at one point and saw some of the people killed already up and walking around with the rest of them. Others were being devoured. The fence ahead of us was still intact. It was mostly the far fence on the other side that was breached. Part of the left far side too. I didn’t sleep. I think they did off and on, but I know I didn’t. I was too scared to even take a power nap. I heard some fast movements later on and leaned up. All the fast ones were taking off into the woods off to the left where that section of fence was down. The others remained. They just walked around inside the camp. As soon as it was dawn and bright enough to make out our surroundings, I woke them up. I told the kids to stay in the back, stay down, and don’t look at the camp. I climbed up front and my wife followed. She gasped when she saw the camp and looked away quickly. I started the car and all those things turned and looked right at us. Blood chilling thing it is. I reversed and then went down the road. I saw the fence coming down behind us. We drove and drove. Went around Boston and found ourselves later in Willington, Connecticut. Lots of open country and it felt safer. We weren’t coming across a whole lot of the things there.

  ME: It’s definitely safer in the country. Key word safer. Not safe.

  KEVIN: Precisely. We spotted a little shop called Pa’s and decided to check it out. Was a quaint little joint. Patrick went to run inside without a second thought [shakes head]. I had to grab the back of his shirt and pull him back. I explained to him he can’t just take off like that. Those things could be anywhere. I thought after how scared he was back at camp that he wouldn’t be so gutsy. I told him to stay behind me. Didn’t even have a real weapon. Just golf clubs that had been in the back of the van. Better than nothing though! We all carried one at all times. The store was dark inside and visibility only reached maybe fifteen feet inside. That was good enough for now since there was a display of snacks and chips. There was also cases of soda and water. Only a few though. You could tell the place had been ransacked. I quickly grabbed some cases and handed them back to Patrick and then grabbed some chips and such. The noise of which alerted something because there was a loud clank in the back of the store and something glass broke. Then foot steps. I backed out and closed the glass store door. We got back in the car just in time to see one of those freaks appear at the door. The door was a push to open from the outside. It had no clue it needed to pull so it just started getting frustrated and hitting the glass. They’re not the smartest but they’re still dangerous. We drove around awhile and then found a firearms store. That was a lucky break. Only problem was that I had no experience with guns. None. The area looked clear so I pulled in to have a look around. The door was open and I glanced in. I even whistled to make sure this time and it was quiet. I went inside and Patrick stayed behind me. I had no clue what I was looking for. I didn’t know much about handguns so I went with what I felt would be the easiest to figure out and l
earn, which was a revolver. Once I figured out what kind of ammunition it took I grabbed some boxes and went back to the car. My wife lectured me about my little knowledge and told me I was gonna shoot myself trying to figure it out. I wanted to yell but I was concerned of the same thing as well. I got it loaded and put it in the cup holder beside me. I looked out the side window and noticed about five of those bastards wandering toward us a ways away. They were slow ones so I thought, why not? It was clear everywhere else. Just needed a clear line of sight to know if others were nearby. I reversed and drove us down the road a ways and stopped. We could see all around. Just open fields with a few houses further away. I got out and Sandra was asking what I was doing. I said, target practice. She looked at me incredulously. I knew she was about to flip out so I told her to look around. It was clear. If we attracted more, we’d see them coming a mile away and be gone.

  ME: Can’t say it was a bad idea. Least you could get a feel for how the gun worked.

  KEVIN: My thoughts exactly. So, they were about fifty yards away and making their way towards us. I had no idea what to expect. I was nervous. I aimed and I held it tightly. I knew there would be a recoil. The trigger was hard to pull and Patrick called out for me to pull back the hammer or whatever. He watched too much damn television. He said I’d barely have to pull the trigger then and boy was he right. I fired and although I was expecting a loud bang I somehow still wasn’t expecting it to be that loud. I jumped and my ears rang. Also, I didn’t hit any of them. I looked around and half expected to see thousands of the bastards converging on us. It echoed and had to be heard for miles. Definitely something to only use if need be of course. I looked at my wife and she looked shocked. She kept looking around. I told her to get out so she could see every vantage point while I shot some more. She was hesitant but complied. I aimed again and fired. I hit the ground behind one of them. Fired again and missed again. Sure as hell isn’t as easy as they make it seem in the movies I’ll tell you.

  ME: Sure isn’t. Not without a lot of practice.

  KEVIN: I fired the fourth round and hit one in the upper leg. It stumbled forward and then kept coming, albeit with a limp. I must say, I was rather excited and forgot to keep an eye on my surroundings. Good thing Sandra was. I tried to concentrate more and shot again. Hit one in the chest. It stumbled back and then continued forward. Scary thing…shooting something and it’s still coming at you. Shot again and missed. Now they were walking a little bit faster. I went to shoot again and just heard a click. I was like, oh yeah. I forgot to keep track of my shots. I emptied it and pulled six more from my pocket and loaded it. Then my wife said we got to go. I told her to wait a minute. Just wanted to try a few more times but then she said it again and I heard the urgency in her voice. She was pointing across behind us. I turned and looked and a bunch of running ones were running through the field toward us…maybe a hundred and fifty yards away. Still horrifying from that distance and they were clearing that distance fast. Once the kids noticed they started freaking out. So, we got in and got the hell down the road and out of sight. I made plenty of turns along the way, since I assumed the things would just keep going in the same direction of where they last saw us.

  ME: How many were there?

  KEVIN: Runners? Ten or so.

  ME: Pretty large pack.

  KEVIN: I’d hate to see a bigger one.

  ME: Yes, you would.

  KEVIN: Wait…it was you and yours that saw that huge pack wasn’t it? You took them out…

  ME: Yeah. Over fifty of them.

  KEVIN: Your story is well known. The fact you got away alive is something. Those odds…I can’t even imagine how you got away, let alone killed them all.

  ME: We didn’t all make it. Taking them out was personal but also a matter of local security.

  KEVIN: Of course. I’m sorry for the man you lost in it.

  ME: I hope that was just some anomaly and packs that size aren’t the norm. Wasn’t even a pack, it was a horde.

  KEVIN: Absolutely. On both notes. The next week was pretty non eventful. That was a good thing of course. Had to stop for some supplies at a few places and even a couple houses. Thankfully no incidents. One home had some bodies in it though which was distressing of course. Eventually we found ourselves in a place called Shunk in Pennsylvania. We stayed a night there and then went into Masten. That’s a ghost town and we stayed in that area for a few nights. Yeah…it wasn’t until we reached a place called Grove City that everything fell apart and went wrong. Based on the map I decided to just go straight through it. We were avoiding most residential areas for obvious reasons but this looked small on the map…and it was…but yeah. I looked to take E. Main straight through to the other side. Easy. Straight shot. I just didn’t feel like detouring around another town. Should have…but didn’t. About halfway through town my front left tire blew and we came to a quick halt. I was terrified. None of those things were around but I knew they were somewhere. I knew I had a spare in the back under a hatch. I knew I needed to deal with it fast. So I went to work. I told them to stay in the car but Patrick insisted he get out and keep watch around me. Reluctantly, stupidly, I allowed it. I told him to stay close. I was fully focused on the tire. It wouldn’t take long. Then I heard Patrick scream. It was one of those blood curdling screams, you know? I feared the worst and spun around. Patrick had been standing by a car and one of those…freaks were under it. It had grabbed his leg and bit into his calf. I screamed and ran toward him. I could hear Sandra and Kassie behind me screaming. I pulled Patrick away and I stomped on that fuckers head. I stomped and stomped until I knew it was dead. Patrick couldn’t stop screaming and I got him in the back seat. I told the others to hurry and get in. I was nearly done with the tire and I knew all the screaming had to be heard for blocks. I saw them moments later coming down the street behind us and from around the corner of another one. Then I was done and I jumped in and we fled. A ways outside the city we saw a small one story home. It was very small. We needed a place to rest. A place for Patrick. I went into the place by myself to see if it was empty. Sandra got upset but I wasn’t worried about anything being inside. I wasn’t afraid at that point.

  ME: All clear?

  KEVIN: Yeah. Untouched actually. Whomever had lived there had just left and it managed to go without getting looted. I came out and nodded to them. I carried Patrick inside and the others followed me. There was only one bedroom and I took Patrick in there. The bed was neat and clean. He was already getting feverish and had the chills. I put the blanket on him. Sandra got in the bed beside him and stayed there. Kassie sat in a recliner in the corner of the room. I searched the house. I found a bottle of some kind of fruit juice and that’d have to do for him. I went into the bathroom, locked the door and fell apart. I knew he was going to die and there wasn’t nothing I could do. I sat there and bawled. I couldn’t let them see me that way. I just couldn’t. They needed me to be strong for them and that’s what I was going to do. And of course I blamed myself. I wanted to bash my head off the fucking wall. Why’d I let him get out? Why didn’t I pay better attention to how close to me he was? But those questions didn’t change anything. I regained my composure and grabbed the juice and went to the bedroom. He was shivering but wanted the juice. I felt his head…he was burning up. My wife went into the hall and I heard her start to sob. Why did I have to go against our routine of going around towns? Why? I just kept asking myself that now pointless question. Only answer I ever came to was the best one; I’m a fucking idiot.

  ME: You couldn’t have known.

  KEVIN: You’re right…but I could have went around like I had the entire way prior. Anyway, I heard the front door open and I went to see what Sandra was doing. I went outside and she was standing there and I reached out and touched her shoulder. She spun around and started hitting me and slapping at me. I let her. It felt deserved, ya know? She could have done anything to me and I would have welcomed it. But then she just collapsed into me and I held her tight. I don’t kn
ow, even now, if she blames me. If so she never said it. And I never asked. I don’t want to know if she actually does. She still smiles at me. We’re still together, so I don’t think she does. I donno. I think Kassie blamed me for awhile.

  ME: I’m sure they’ve understood it wasn’t your fault.

  KEVIN: Still feels like it is though. Later that night, middle of the night, he just totally burned up. He was gone. I had to pull Sandra from him before…you know.

  ME: Yes.

  KEVIN: I got them out of the room and I sat there with him. Sat there with a knife I got from the kitchen. I wanted to do it before he…but bringing yourself to it. I hoped I would have the time to muster that up before hand but then he started to twitch and when I looked down his eyes were opening. When they locked onto me his lips started to curl back and I pushed the knife through his temple. He went back limp. I fell apart again and closed his eyes. Once composed, I wrapped his body in the sheet he’d been laying on. I went to get Sandra and Kassie so they could go in and…I don’t know. Sit, lay, speak.