Aftershock: A Collection of Survivors Tales

by Kristopher Lioudis

  On one of the long stretches of highway we drove past a rest stop. You know, one of those plazas, miles away from anything else. The kind of place a trucker used to thank God for when barreling down the open road. Well, the road wasn’t as open anymore, but there was still one guy that was thanking God for this rest stop. It took a bit of maneuvering to guide the SUV into the parking lot, but it was going to be well worth it.

  We angled the truck to make climbing up on the roof as easy as possible. After we had left the town where our little angel was killed, I had picked up a ladder when I came across it. It stayed strapped to the top of the truck. Best damn plan I came up with so far. If the only way up is our ladder, and we pull it up with us, we all get a good night’s sleep. We set up our campsite, and I was worried that maybe I had made a mistake. Maybe this would be too much like our home in paradise and I just sent Amy back into a tailspin.

  The kids seemed to relax the second they got out into the sun. Both of them lay down on a blanket they had spread across the roof. They looked like sunbathers; all that was missing was the sand. I pulled out the grill, and lit up a fire. That morning I shot a rabbit I had seen on the side of the road. It wasn’t much, but fresh meat was a treat these days.

  We spent the whole day laughing and relaxing for the first time in more days than I care to remember. Amy didn’t shut down, or freak out. The tense look on her face had drained away, and, she finally looked at ease. Night came, and the kids crawled into their tent. They had been sleeping in the truck for so long. They couldn’t help but fall into a deep sleep once they were able to lie all the way down.

  I tapped the pack of smokes I had found. They were stale, like almost everything left in this world. Stale smokes, stale food, the air even had a stale feel to it. Amy checked in on the kids, and then she found her way over to me.

  “Can I see your lighter?”

  “You don’t smoke.”

  “I don’t smoke cigarettes, but in high school I was known to smoke something else every now and then. Did I show you what I found when routing through a backpack on one of our runs?” She reached into her pocked and pulled out a joint. “It’s been years, but I am pretty sure I will enjoy this right now.”

  “Why Amy, I never knew you weren’t always a responsible goody two shoes!”

  “Fuck you.” She giggled.

  She sank into her lawn chair. Staring up at the stars, she started to sing. It was soft, and I never heard the song before, but it was beautiful and full of sadness. Passing the joint to me, she brushed her fingers against mine. I hadn’t realized we hadn’t touched since we left that town. A spark of electricity passed between our fingers.

  “Ow! You shocked me!” she cried.

  “Is that such a bad thing?” I countered. In one swift move I grabbed her arm, and pulled her on my lap.

  With her curled up in my arms, I finally relaxed. We lay there looking at the stars. Silence was not a threat this time, it was a comfort. Her body tensed, and I feared she was going to pull away. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Suddenly, her lips were pressed against mine. It had been so long since I had been with a woman. Even before the outbreak, it had been a long couple of years.

  I had divorced my wife, and unlike many people, I became celibate. Not by choice, I was a bitter angry prick, and had no urge to find another she beast to turn all crazy and walk out on me. Looking back, my ex-wife leaving with the kids was probably the smartest thing she ever did. I was a real asshole to them, and wasn’t much of a man. It’s crazy how it took the end of the world for me to figure all that out.

  Now, at that moment, I had a woman who was so far out of my league, that before this entire clusterfuck happened would have clutched her purse close if we passed on an empty street, grinding up against me. I wasn’t going to lose this moment again. I scooped her up and carried her to my tent. I half expected her to push me away. What a happy surprise for me when the opposite happened, and she took the lead.

  Within seconds of laying her down, she had stripped off all of her clothes. She must have been stunning before, now she was still gorgeous, but way too skinny. I made a mental note to feed her more. No woman should have all of their ribs showing, I like my girls with curves, and hers had all but disappeared. As I began to kiss my way down her body, she trembled in my arms. I almost didn’t make it to the actual act, just touching her made my body want to explode.

  Unexpectedly, she pulled me off and flipped me on my back. She ripped my pants off, and rose up above me. That was the most perfect sight I had ever seen in my entire life. I couldn’t hold back any longer, and I tried to suppress the roar that was building as I climaxed. Panting, she collapsed on top of me. I could feel the shit eating grin spreading across my face. Well, there goes an attempt to play it cool.

  “Fuck, that is exactly what I needed.”

  “Me… too … it… was…” I tried to reply, but was still out of breath.

  “I know this is going to come across really needy, but can I just lay here with you wrapped around me for a bit?”

  “Uh-huh…” I wheezed, pulling her within my arms.

  “I’m going to try to be here more. You all deserve that.”

  I was going to respond, but I heard her breath change to that soft sleep breathing. I laid there for a few hours just enjoying this moment. I didn’t know if it would ever happen again, and I wanted to imprint this night into my memory. Whenever it got bad again, this is what I would think of. I meant to get her back to her tent by morning, but I dozed off before that happened.

  I awoke to the sound of Garett zipping the tent back up, and storming away. Damn, I thought. I knew the kid would take this bad, and having a pissy teenager stomping around was definitely going to kill my mood. Popping a pair of pants on, I snuck out of the tent hoping not to wake Amy. Garett and I were going to have to have a man to man. What I saw over the horizon stopped that plan dead in its tracks.

  If you squinted, the whole landscape looked as if it was moving. The scene resembled waves crashing on a distant shore. Within minutes the movement came into focus. The dead filled the road, and the woods surrounding it. This was unlike any swarm I had ever witnessed. They went on for as far as you could see, in every direction. They stumbled past the building, like a massive flood. Pushing each other forward, the pace was slow, but never ending.

  I don’t know if a city had emptied, or if like droplets of water this group had pulled itself together. Garett and I ducked down so that we could peer over the edge of the building to watch, but not enough to draw attention. Fear rushed through both of us. We had seen so much, dealt with so many dead, but the number in this group was terrifying. How could we survive if there were this many?

  What if there were more groups like this out there? Are all the dead making their way to each other? The questions only led to more questions. We had no answers, and there was no safe way to get any. I woke Amy and Zoe. Then we just sat there, for hours. After a while we realized we didn’t need to hide, just needed to be quiet. The dead didn’t look up unless a noise drew their attention that way. We decided not to push our luck, and tensely perched in chairs waiting for the sea of dead to end.

  Eventually, it did, but the damage to our morale was done. We had gone from the highest we had felt in months, to completely hopeless. The decision was made to stay put on the rooftop for a few days longer. We wanted to give that mass of rotting flesh a huge head start in wherever they were going. Rethinking our route to the safe zone was a priority, too. Where that group went, all my instincts were screaming go in the opposite direction.

  On the third day after the million zombie march, a new sight was seen moving on the horizon. A group of cars, trucks, jeeps, motorcycles, and campers were heading in our direction. They were much slower than the zombies, because they had to stop every few feet to make enough room for all the vehicles to get through. Part of me was wary of the people, and another part was jumping for joy. We had enough time to decide if we wanted to flag them
down before they reached us.

  “I say we signal them.” Garett pushed.

  “I agree, but we have to discuss the risks.” Amy countered.

  “What risks? We are looking for people. That was the point of us leaving. You finding Mick worked out wonderfully for the two of you,” he spat at her.

  Blushing, Amy shot me an embarrassed look. She must have picked up on Garret’s disgust with our actions. I reminded myself to talk to the boy the next time we were alone. He wasn’t going to screw this up for me. I refused to be cock blocked by a sixteen year old kid. Not now, when you don’t know how long you have left.

  “Fine, we wave them down.” I stated. “Just be on the alert for danger. We don’t know these people, they could be trouble.”

  “Whatever.” He snarkily said in that tone that only a teenager can use seriously.

  The caravan was much closer now, and we all stood up and started waving our arms. They stopped where they were, and it looked as if they were having a meeting of their own about coming to see us. That made me feel better. If they had gunned it towards us, I would have been worried about the mental state of these people.

  As they made their way up to our truck, I got a look at the supplies this group had. It was an amazing sight. They had everything you could have ever asked for in an end of the world situation. That sealed the deal for me. They weren’t going to want our shitty supplies. They were all set.

  A man pulled his camper up next to the roof. He jumped out of the driver’s door, and made his way up the ladder on the back of the rig so that he was up at our level. The rest of the group circled up their vehicles and waited to see if they were staying put or moving on. The man on the roof eyed us real quick and signaled for the group to cut their engines. They did, but still stayed put.

  “Name’s Wayne. Yours?” He spoke in a friendly voice.

  “Mick. That’s Amy, Garett, and Zoe.” I pointed at our group as I named them.

  “You guys stuck up there? Or are you taking a break from the road?”

  “Started off as stretching out from being in the truck too long, but we saw a mass of zombies pass through while we were up here, and are rethinking our route.”

  “Where were you headed?”

  I pulled the flyer out of my pocket, and as I did Wayne did the same.

  “Well, shit! What a coincidence. We are heading in the same direction.” He laughed.

  Wayne turned and gave a signal to all the other people in his group. They started unpacking. He asked if was ok for them to make their way up to the rooftop. The more I saw of these guys, how organized they were, their demeanor, the more I knew I would be a fool not to try to get our little group attached to theirs.

  We had a feast that night. One of the guys had bagged a deer, and a few squirrels. Add to that the prepackaged food they had with them, and it was a party. Garret had dropped his snotty ass teenage thing. One of the group members was a fifteen year old girl, and a pretty one at that. Amy and I were out of his radar, and I changed the conversation I would have from it is none of your damn business, to don’t get us kicked out of this group by trying to screw the guy’s daughter.

  As we ate we discussed all the things we had seen. Turns out these guys were preppers. You know, the nutjobs that spent all their money preparing for the end of the world. Damn smart of them too. They had only just emerged from their bunkers to go to the same place we are headed. They had a guy that got there already, and said it is safe. What a fucking relief! All this time driving towards it we never knew if it was a good place, or a trap. Now we do.

  They were just as concerned about the massive herd we saw. When I explained the size of it, they made me repeat the details over and over. It was decided that we would yet again wait a few days before heading out. Wayne said he would work with us to learn all of their signals. It keeps them safe on the road. They also wanted to go through our supplies with us, and make sure we were fully stocked in case we got separated.

  Anything we were lacking we were lucky enough to find in the store down below us. We hadn’t had a chance to make a sweep through it, and it was well stocked still. That may have been due to the ten dead freaks roaming around inside. Wayne had us demonstrate our skill in extermination before we collected the supplies. I could see he was pleasantly surprised that we all were proficient in putting down zombies. You have to figure by this point anyone still alive is.

  Amy spent her nights in my tent for the rest of the time we were there. Life was as good as it was ever going to get. I had a good woman, a family, and a new group of people who were actually ready for this hell hole. I think my luck has really made a complete turnaround. I didn’t want to jinx it, but I really felt happy. Laying there at night, with Amy asleep draped across my chest, I felt like I could finally relax.

  Daniel

  I think I have finally had it with the Rev. I know he’s got his “mission from God” and I don’t mean to disrespect him, but this shit is has gone beyond stale.

  We found these flyers out along the highway talking about a safe place. Bigger, better fortified than this dump could ever hope to be, and probably better run too. Like I said, I got nothing against the Rev, he took me in when he didn’t really have to, but this town is sorely lacking for leadership.

  I won’t criticize him openly, I couldn’t do the job any better and I don’t want it anyway, but he is way too dependent on guidance “from above” if you get my meaning.

  Take this flyer shit… This place is where we need to go. We’re running out of food and ammo. The gardens aren’t growing fast enough to feed the few people we have here. There’s shit-all for hunting too, the animals are either dead or just gone from the area. And it is only a matter of time before some gang of hardcases notices our spread and comes and takes it. I keep telling the Rev that there is no way we would be able to hold off even a small group of organized thugs, or a sizeable group of zombies either. We need to pack up our shit and roll out. We have enough vehicles for the fifty or so people living here, and this place on the flyer isn’t that far. We could be there inside of a week. We might lose a couple of the older folks on the trip, but how long are they gonna last just sitting here? Half-starved with nothing to do all day but stare at the walls and wait to die. What kind of existence is that for these people? Fucking Rev says his god told him we’re supposed to be here for some fucking reason only He, with the capital “H” knows about. Bullshit.

  So we patch the wall, we till the gardens, we look for new spots to dig wells and latrines. We scrape out another fucking day, every fucking day. Meanwhile, the moaning on the other side of the wall gets louder and the grumbling in my stomach gets meaner.

  The Rev won’t even go for the idea of sending a scouting party over. I brought it up one night at one of our meetings. We could send 8 or 10 guys, I’d go with them. We’d be back in a couple of weeks and we would know one way or the other what was up with this group from the flyer. They were printing up paper for fuck’s sake. What group of pirates was going to go to the trouble of making a fucking brochure? Rev says no dice. He says that if we were supposed to go, God would send a sign. When I asked what he thought a thousand pieces of paper falling from the sky was. I thought for sure he was going to tell me to go fuck myself, preacher or no preacher. He closed his book, got up from the table, and sulked off to his room. Discussion over I guess.

  Fuck him and his god. Tomorrow, I’m taking 6 guys over the wall and we’re going to see what the hell’s up over in Jersey.

  Jessica

  Every day I lived the lie. I woke up and found myself trapped in the nightmare. There was nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. I had no other options, except death, and as much as I hated this existence, I wasn’t ready to end it all just yet. So I played the game the best way I knew how. I acted as if being with him didn’t disgust me. I’m not sure if he believed my act. I’m not sure he cared.

  I was guarded at all times. If he wasn’t with me, one or two of his goons wer
e watching. At first I thought it was to protect me, but over time I saw the way they were looking at me. They were waiting for me to make a run for it. As time went on, I felt myself dying inside. Hope was gone, and the longer I stayed trapped, the less I was myself. Vincent was obsessed with creating an heir. Nothing was more important to him.

  He had his men round up pregnancy tests. I can only assume they raided a pharmacy, since they came back with a case of them. Our ritual became test in the morning, then sex. Test in the evening, then sex. There was no point in explaining the mechanics of testing to him, that it takes time for the hormone to show up. He never really listened to anything I had to say. Every negative test result was a double edged sword. Negative meant no baby, a baby I didn’t want, but negative also meant another round in bed with him.

  This was a no win for me. I began to detach myself from the reality I was living in. Becoming a character in one of my stories was the only way to not lose my mind completely. I watched from the outside as she went to bed with him again and again. Disgust would take over my body, and as soon as he left I would throw up. Eventually, I stayed on the outside looking in, my body becoming yet another zombie. My body went through the motions. It must have been enough for Vincent, for he never questioned any of it.

  The days ran into one another. Time blurred, the routine of it all made it impossible for me to know how long this had been going on. I had to be reminded of the simple things, when to eat, or bathe, even what to wear. Nothing seemed important. The bodyguards would try to talk to me, but I would just stare blankly at them. There was nothing to be said.

  Vincent came to my room one afternoon. This was odd, I normally only saw him in the morning or evenings. The look on his face was one of excitement. When a crocodile smiles at you, it is a very frightening thing.

  “Dearest, I have news.”