by Gallier, TW
That caused a stir among them. I knew what they were thinking. Their wives and children needed them. In comparison, we had no one depending on us. At least that was my way of thinking. I didn't want to die any more than any of them did.
"Listen. We're not road warriors," I said. "We're just three computer programmers trying to get home through a zombie infested world. We don't want to hurt anyone. We don't want to be hurt by anyone."
They looked back and forth between each other. I had the impression they were more afraid of us than we were of them. I personally was quite afraid at that moment. Two of the pistols were aimed at me.
"We didn't know anyone was in here," Olivia said. "We wouldn't have entered if we'd known."
"Maybe we would have," Ralph said. "Zombies were after us."
"Zombies?" the spokesman said. "You mean the infected?"
"Yes. The infected," I said. "We call them zombies. Call them anything you want."
"I like zombies better," the teenager said. "If you think about it – "
"Hush, Jeff," the spokesman said.
I waved Olivia and Ralph back toward the door. The men all advanced a step before we could start backing away. Very intimidating, yet it also made them more vulnerable. They spread out more, and the three men in back moved up into the gaps between the gunmen.
"What are you doing?" the eldest man asked, sounding alarmed.
"We're leaving," I said. To keep them calm, I used my most soothing voice. I spoke quietly and slowly. "You don't want us here. We don't want to fight you. You have families to take care of, and we respect that, so we'll just leave nice and quietly."
The mention of families made several of them uncomfortable. They cut quick looks around to each other. I was starting to wonder if this was their first actual armed encounter with other survivors. They seemed quite uncertain about everything.
"You can't leave now," the eldest said. He was the man with the shotgun. "There's a wave of zombies all around us. They'll see you and then know we're in here."
"Whose idea was it to come in here?" Ralph muttered. "Not mine. Just saying."
Olivia elbowed him, so I didn't have to say anything. The others looked even more nervous now. I worried they'd think killing us the safest thing to do.
"Okay, listen," I said. "We'll promise to stay in that apartment until this wave of zombies passes by, but you'll have to let us know when it's safe. Unless you want to let us up on the roof so we can keep watch for ourselves."
"Where are they going?" a woman's voice asked.
She was hidden inside the open door to the stairwell. It was past the men, and three of the men had rushed out that door. I suspected that was where the children vanished.
"We're going to a town called Plano, ma'am," Olivia answered. "It's a small farm town a few hours south-west of here."
"A few hours by car," Ralph said.
"You'll have to forgive my friend," I said. "We're geeks, so have a tendency to correct everyone about everything. He's the worst of all."
That produced a few brief smiles among the others.
An elderly woman leaned out of the stairwell and looked us over. She appeared worried, but not as nervous as the men. A whispered conversation started between her and several of the men. I heard brief bits of their conversation. "…unchristian to murder…" and several references to Jesus and God from her. The men said things like, "…duty to defend…" and "…sacred duty to…" and stuff like that. I realized they were very religious and troubled by the choices facing them.
"We were living and working up in Carson when the shit hit the fan," I said in my most soothing voice. "All we want is to get home to our families. Our families need us."
"I don't think they're a threat," the woman said. "They're just like us, scared and doing what they have to do to survive." She looked at Olivia. "Are you Christians?"
"Yes we are," she replied. "Kyle and I are Baptists. Ralph is, forgive my French, a Methodist."
"Hey!"
The elderly woman smiled. "Don't worry, son. We're Methodist, too."
"Oops," Olivia said.
I saw a few more brief smiles on the men. They sobered up quickly.
"They got fucking automatic weapons just inside the door!" one of the men with a bat said. He looked to be the most frightened. "We have the advantage right now. If we don't kill them, then they'll slaughter us."
"Scott!" the woman snapped.
"Let us take care of this, Momma," Scott said through clenched teeth. "Talk some sense into her, Pop."
"Hush, boy," the elderly man said. "What do you think, Brad?"
"I'm kind of agreeing with Momma," Brad said. He was their spokesman. "Their eyes don't say killer to me. I believe them."
I felt an enormous sense of relief.
"I agree," Pop said.
My heart started racing. What I was thinking scared the bejesus out of me. It had to be done. Time to find out how well Olivia and Ralph really trusted me.
"Okay, we're going to trust you," I said. "We're going to put our weapons up and trust in God."
I threw the "trust in God" part in almost without thought. A couple of the men looked startled. Scott scowled, while Brad and Pop glanced at Scott.
"Steady, boy," Pop said.
I lowered my pistol, and slowly slid it back into its holster. Olivia and Ralph stared at me incredulously. After only a second, Olivia lowered her weapon and took her finger off the trigger. Ralph shook his head, but followed our lead and holstered his pistol. Then we stood up.
"See, we're not that big and scary," I said. "Just three geeks with guns."
The others lowered their weapons. Until that happened, my heart was pounding so hard I could barely hear. You know I had to pee like a son of a gun.
"So we'll just lock ourselves in this apartment and wait for you to tell us it's safe to leave," I said. "You can pile stuff up to block it if you want. Post a guard. Whatever makes you feel safe."
"Nonsense," the elderly woman said. "You're invited upstairs with us. We can share what we've all seen and heard. I bet you don't know half of what's going on."
"There's more than just the zombies?" Ralph asked.
"A lot more," Brad said. "Some of it good."
"I'm Doris McKinney," the woman said. "You've met my husband Victor, my two sons."
"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. McKinney," I said. "We really appreciate all of your kindness. I'll confess, you are the first people who haven't just shot first and not bothered with questions afterwards."
Other men stepped forward, reluctantly offering their hands.
"I'm Charlie Cox," one said.
"Phil Evans," another said.
We learned Jeff was the McKinney's grandson from their eldest son, who was killed in the first days of the zombie apocalypse. Charlie and Phil were other residents of the high-rise. There were a dozen families hiding in the building.
They gathered up the children and headed up the stairs next to the elevators. Phil remained below on guard. The best I could tell, he was guarding the door we jimmied open. I didn't blame him. It kind of worried me, too.
"So, are you guys preppers?" Ralph asked.
"No. Why do you ask?" Mr. McKinney replied.
"Because this building is so well defended against zombies. It's like a fortress."
They chuckled. I felt a little foolish. But we knew a prepper family back in our home town. They had a regular three-bedroom, two-bath home and just hoarded food and supplies. They had lots of guns and ammo, and tried to be as self-sufficient as possible even in the best of times. Otherwise, they were just like everyone else.
"If we were preppers, we'd have much better weaponry," Scott said. "You three are better armed than this whole building combined."
"We didn't start this way," I said. "We learned from our mistakes, and collected better and better gear and weapons as we went."
"I should say so," Brad said. "You guys look like real soldiers. Where did you find all that military g
rade stuff?"
As we climbed the stairs, we told them our sad story. They listened, shaking their heads when we told them about our trials and tribulations in Emory. Scott said there was an Army and Navy surplus store on the other side of Jackson, but was too far for them to risk it.
"So this really is Jackson?" Olivia asked. "I was right!"
"That's the best news we've had in weeks," I said.
After two weeks running from and fighting zombies, I thought I was in shape. The building was only ten stories, but those stairs kicked my butt. All of the stairwell doors were propped open.
"Are y'all spread out all over the building?" I asked.
"No, everyone's moved to the top three floors," Victor said. "The 10th floor lounge is our gathering place."
"Lounge?" Olivia asked.
We found out soon enough. The stairs continued up to the roof. I could see sunlight streaming down the stairs, so that door must've been propped open to. I assumed it was to let in fresh air. A large group of men, women, and children greeted us as we passed out of the stairs.
Most of them gawked at us.
"They're okay," Mrs. McKinney said. "We're letting them stay until the current wave of infected pass."
They had an animated conversation about letting us stay in the building, much less bringing us up there, I looked around. The top floor did look like it was some sort of lounge prior to the collapse of civilization. I doubted they had the tools or skills to have created it at any rate. The entire floor was open, carpeted, and had multiple seating areas. The elevator shaft and stairs were in the middle, with all of the sliders out onto balconies open to let in the breeze. It really wasn't too uncomfortable. The kitchen area was pressed up to and circled the elevator shaft. Just from our spot I counted four Coleman stoves.
"Either someone in the building was a camper, or they ventured out a few times to gather supplies," Ralph said.
"I'm sure they raided vacant apartments for canned goods and other foods like crackers and cookies," Olivia said. She was looking at a hoard of canned food, with lots of other food like the aforementioned crackers and cookies. "I bet they have enough food to last many months if they ration carefully."
"It's water they have to worry about," Ralph said. "Eventually the city's water towers will run out and they'll be shit out of luck."
"We've thought about that," Brad said, surprising us. He came up behind us. "There are several grocery stores within a few blocks of here. When we have to, we'll send out foraging parties to collect bottled water."
"Wow. You guys really have your stuff together," I said. "I'm impressed."
"I like to think so," he said. "We just have to hold out until winter. This winter we'll leave."
"Why do you say that?" Olivia asked. "Why not collect all of the weapons you can, find some older vehicles that still run, and head out now?"
"What did the girl say?" a middle-aged woman said, hurrying toward us with an intent expression. "Vehicles? There are still working cars and trucks?"
"Yes," Olivia said.
"Why was I told all vehicles were crippled by EMPs?"
We explained that EMP bursts couldn't damage anything that didn't have electronic circuitry. So older cars and trucks that were running prior to the EMP bursts would still run. Every single one of them looked startled by that information.
"And really, the EMP shouldn't have destroyed every late model vehicle," Ralph said. "Some will survive just out of dumb luck. Nothing is absolute in the world."
"This changes everything!" the woman cried, and vanished into the crowd that was gathering around us.
It quickly became obvious that no one there really understood what an EMP was, but to them it was the Big Bad. So we had to explain exactly what it was, and what it did to circuitry.
"It's all of the computers in modern cars that make them vulnerable," I said at the end. "Okay, you obviously didn't know anything about EMPs before this. How did you come to think the EMPs were the problem? Where did you hear about them?"
"Radio," Scott said. "We found a working Ham radio, hooked it up to some batteries, and for a short time we could talk to other survivors."
"Does that mean the radio doesn't work anymore? Did it stop working after the EMPs hit?" Olivia asked.
"No, we didn't find it until after the EMPs took out the electricity. It still worked," another man said. "But all of our batteries are dead now. We foolishly stayed on the radio day and night, hoping to get in contact with the Army or some government agency that could come rescue us, and now we don't have any contact with the outside world."
"You could go raid cars out on the street," I said.
"We thought about that, but everyone's too afraid to leave the building."
I didn't know what to tell them. They had to take chances if they wanted to do more than exist. Having a working Ham radio seemed like a dream to me. Then I thought of something I'd heard before.
"What about out west?"
The crowd fell silent. For a second I thought I brought up something they didn't want to hear. Then Mrs. McKinney stepped forward.
"What have you heard?" she asked. "Before the batteries died, we were told that there were few infected out west. They said the infected died of dehydration in the desert heat, but…"
Everyone fell silent, eyes dropping. I shared a look with Olivia. Whatever it was, I knew I wasn't going to like it.
Mr. McKinney continued in a quieter voice, "The last word we had was everything east of the Rockies was declared a no man's land. Forever. They said no one from this part of the country would be allowed across the Rockies."
"Why?"
"They say that most of the people who didn't become the Infected are carriers," Brad answered. "The Army is ordered to shoot us on sight."
Chapter 11
I looked out across the dark city. An unlit city was a strange thing to behold. The moon wouldn't come out for a few hours, but it was almost full. We'd all be asleep by that time.
"It's beautiful in an eerie way," Olivia whispered.
We were warned that on the roof strict light and noise discipline was enforced. Only the softest whispers were allowed, and they wanted those kept to a minimum. If we felt the need to discuss something then we had to go into the building. I couldn't argue that, since it's been working for them.
"Maybe later we can take a moonlit walk across the roof," I replied. Giving my brows a wag, "Or back inside for…"
"Play your cards right."
Ralph came out of the stairwell and headed our way, so that conversation would have to be continued later. He brought the pack up. Others were coming up behind him. We were told they all slept on the roof when the weather permitted. Even so, the air was warm and humid after all the recent rain.
"Did everyone get their weapons reassembled okay?" Olivia asked.
Before coming up, the three of us had sat down and cleaned all of our weapons. We didn't get the opportunity very often, especially in such a secure location. Seeing us, some of the others asked if they could have some of our cleaning solution to clean their weapons. What were we going to do, say no? It was the least we could do after they allowed us to stay.
"Yep. They knew what they were doing," he said.
Ralph stayed with them, while Olivia and I came topside after our weapons were cleaned and oiled up nicely. I was feeling pretty good. Having a safe place to sleep and other people to interact with was refreshing.
"You do realize that this will be the first good night's sleep we've had in two weeks," Olivia said. "I'm all tingly thinking about it."
"I'm kind of excited, too," I said.
Earlier, our new friends had brought up some extra mattresses of us. They even provided sheets and blankets. And pillows.
"Actually, having a hot meal is what thrilled me," Ralph said. "I love chili and crackers. Mrs. McKinney is the best cook in the world."
I was most thrilled with the high-powered, prescription pain killers they gave me. I was
n't sure exactly what Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen 10-325 TB was but it kicked my pain's butt, and they gave us a bottle with ninety tablets.
Everyone quickly went to bed. I noticed they slept in family groups, with as much distance as they could get between them. A few of them had to sleep sitting up because they snored. I wondered how loud their snoring was to necessitate that. So with everyone else going to sleep that is what we did.
"Do you think it’s safe for all three of us to sleep?" Ralph asked as quietly as possible.
"Yeah," I replied. "I trust them."
Olivia agreed, so he nodded reluctantly. That did make me think. So we curled up with our weapons. Of course, we'd been doing that for two weeks.
I cuddled comfortably with Olivia. Dreams of kisses and hugs filled my overactive imagination, but I was out like a light.
~**~**~
I woke to a zombie wail in the distance. The moon was up and high in the sky. I felt completely rested. Looking at Olivia's watch, I discovered it was 3 AM.
"Wow. I slept for six hours straight," I muttered after sitting up.
Olivia stirred next to me, but remained asleep. I thought about waking her so we could go find a private place, but decided she needed the sleep more than I needed something else. Ralph was sprawled face up on his bed, covers kicked off, and muttering softly in some dream.
Slowly slipping out of bed, I put on my boots. The rocky roof meant there was no barefoot action going down. Like every night, I slept fully clothed. There was a slight chill in the air, but it was more invigorating than uncomfortable.
I loaded up with my usual weapons. More habit than anything. I felt naked without a machete, pistol, and rifle. Even atop that secure location the thought of going anywhere unarmed was disturbing.
"I wonder if I have post stress disorder?" I whispered.
I moved over to the closest corner. It overlooked the street south of the building and the alley in back. The moon lit the landscape up beautifully. Everything had a silvery cast. I tried to get the lay of the land. The strip mall was below me. Actually, two strip malls back to back between two main streets. There was a residential area beyond them that ended at the edge of a river. I tried to remember what river it was, but couldn't.
