Sarah Beth,
If you’re reading this, then I’m most likely dead or at my brother Chase’s house in Gatlinburg. The zombie apocalypse started about two weeks ago, and I wanted to be with my brother and his kids, but there’s no guarantee that I made it there. Cell phones quit working days ago because they were overloaded, so try to call his house phone number before you try to go there to find me. Stay away from the big cities because the zombies look like people, but they will kill you if you’re not careful. If I don’t answer the phone, go home and don’t come back down for at least six months. Maybe by then this sickness that leads to death will have run its course and things will be safe again. Take care of yourself.
Lee.
I yanked the note off the fridge and walked over to the counter where Lee’s house phone was located. I dialed the number he’d left and waited for an answer, but it just continued to ring.
Now I had a choice to make: go back up the mountain or go find Lee. When he mentioned zombies, my first thought was that someone had raised the dead and was controlling them, but that didn’t seem to fit the rest of his description for what was going on.
I would only worry if I went back up the mountain and didn’t at least try to find out what happened to him. While we could potentially wait out the world and come down when it was over, we would have no idea what we were walking into at the edge of our mountain after that time.
Mind made up, I went to open the garage to load the extra gas cans I knew Lee stored there in case of emergencies. While the crates of stuff really wouldn’t be needed for resale, there might be someone who needed these items more than I did where I was going.
I finished up and closed the garage door before heading inside, hoping that someone would answer the phone so that I didn’t have to go out there and look for Lee.
Again, no answer, confirming my fears that the world had gone crazy and I was about to head out into it for a man that I just hadn’t said yes to yet. I patted the gun laying on the seat next to me, just in case I needed it to survive the zombie things.
The same emptiness that had filled the small town was everywhere the closer I got to Gatlinburg, but there were more people just wandering around in the fields, or simply sitting in their cars, heads turning to follow the noise of my truck as I passed them. Nothing about this was feeling normal, and the hairs on my neck were starting to stand up, warning me that something evil was around the corner.
Gatlinburg’s outskirts gave way to the heart of the bigger city. I understood what Lee had been trying to warn me about; a bigger city meant more people. While I didn’t drive very often, I always tried to follow the traffic rules, and yet when I stopped at the light, which was still working, the group of people that were bunched across the street began to move toward me. I sped up, trying to hurry past them so that they didn’t surround my truck. The sound of the muffler made the zombie things move faster, and they continued to follow the trail behind me as I turned down a few side streets, hoping to lose them before I reached Chase’s house.
There weren’t as many wandering people in the neighborhood, but groups of two or three aimlessly walked around, lifting their heads as I passed by, going too fast for them to move in my direction.
Chase didn’t live too far away from the center of town, but his home was boarded up so I couldn’t tell if they were inside or not. I glanced up and down the street as I parked in the driveway to see how far away the wandering people were to me and the distance to the front door. He kept a key in the same place as Lee did, so I knew getting inside wouldn’t be hard if they hadn’t blockaded the door.
They hadn’t even locked the door when they left because it opened to my touch. The place had been trashed and was much worse than I had imagined it could be. Someone had put the dining room table against the French doors because the glass was cracked, and they had shoved the couch up against it to help hold it in place. Even the bedrooms had a story to tell, but it was the master bedroom that held a gruesome twist. Blood was spattered on the wall. It had dried, running down to a puddle where the imprint of a head was, the only clean spot on the dirty pillow.
It looked like someone had died, but there wasn’t a body lying there anymore, and the house didn’t smell like someone was laying around decaying. “They must have buried it outside before they left.” The sound of my voice startled me in the quiet of a home with no electricity running throughout it.
I made my way over to the window, careful to step over the blood. Seeing a mound with a cross in it in the back yard confirmed my fears.
“Oh, my God. Chase, or Lee, are dead,” I whispered quietly, sinking to the ground with my back against the wall.
The sun was starting to set when I finally roused from my trance. I needed to secure a place to stay safe until morning. In the garage was the safest place to stay that didn’t have windows and wouldn’t draw the wandering people to me while I managed to try and sleep during the night. Thankfully, it wasn’t too cold since it was almost summer, but the concrete floor kept me from getting hot through the long night. My last thought before I drifted off to sleep was, “Tomorrow, I’m going to find them, even if I have to brave the larger city to do it. I have to know if Lee is still alive because I need to say three words to him.”
The next morning, I got up and looked through the house, hoping there was something to eat, but it was empty of food, and the water had been shut off. “I guess I’ll have to wait until I find them and hope they have some food,” I mumbled to myself. There was only one place they would have gone for shelter and safety once their own supplies ran out, which was the church Chase helped at in Knoxville. The church fed the homeless and gave showers to those that wanted them, so the likelihood that whoever was alive would have taken the girls there was pretty high. Staying at the house wasn’t going to solve anything, so I made a quick dash to my truck without any of the wandering things trying to get me.
It was over an hour’s drive to Knoxville, but the hunger pangs from the past twenty-four hours without food were starting to set in and take away my common sense. I continued to pass fast food places, and the cravings for a burger were growing stronger, especially since I only got to eat them once a month.
When a gas station appeared on the right, I pulled off the road in hopes that there might be food somewhere inside that would keep me from starving. I kept forgetting that the truck was noisy in the quietness from no planes in the sky or cars driving by. The world had grown quiet. There were a few of the wandering people that I’d hoped would stay away, and they looked a little lost when I turned the truck off, making the noise they were drawn to disappear.
Abandoned cars were still sitting at the pumps with doors left open, so I went to grab the rifle and realized that I wanted to have my hands free, but wasn’t sure how to make that happen if I carried it inside with me. I opted to leave it on the seat and went to try the door that I was happily surprised to find unlocked. I wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad sign. The store was a little off the beaten path, and it looked like I had hit the jackpot because there was still food on the shelves.
I took the bags that were hanging on racks for sale and started filling them with as much food as I could put in them. I had four bags filled and was about to hit the candy bars when a series of thumps came from the back room. “What the hell was that?” I looked around frantically for something to defend myself with, because I was fairly certain that whatever was behind the employees only door was going to try and kill me.
On my right were packages of cupcakes, and on my left was a rack of umbrellas and canes. Not exactly the best choice of weapons, but they were better than nothing. I gripped a cane with both hands and approached the back slowly, taking time to look through the doors of the walk-in, hoping that I could see something that would let me know what was making all the noise.
The doorknob turned and I pushed the door open, holding the cane in front of me. “I should’ve brought the gun inside with me. I’m so
stupid,” I muttered as my eyes tried to adjust to the back room, which was much darker than the front. I crept inside, jumping when the door slammed behind me.
I couldn’t see anything, but the thumping was louder and closer to me as I tried to see. The exit signs were still working and cast a red glow, allowing me to make out something in the back corner that was moving. It looked like a person, but I’d already come this far, and it might be someone who needed my help.
A shadowy figure moved between the shelves and jumped out at me as I rounded the corner. The figure landed on top of me, but it wasn’t what I expected. It was a cardboard cutout that had fallen over when the cat knocked into it. The kitty jumped down and rubbed itself along my body and nuzzled my face.
“Aw, you poor thing, all cooped up in here by yourself. You must’ve started making noise to get my attention.” I patted its head as I rolled onto my knees.
Another noise had me reaching out for the cane that had fallen, but I was too late. An arm reached though the shelves and pulled on my hair as I frantically tried to reach behind me and get released from its grip. All I could feel was saggy skin that tore, leaving me holding the bone connecting to an arm. I just needed to break the arm, and the boxes sitting on the shelf between us would do that if I could push them down onto the person on the other side.
Everything crashed down around me and the thing on the other side, causing the arm to separate, but left a still moving hand stuck in my hair. Crawling toward the doorway and freedom, I left it hanging from my hair. The knob slipped in my fingers because they were covered in skin, so I pulled the edge of my shirt up and turned the knob, watching the cat scurry out the door before me. I made sure that the door closed after us so the thing wouldn’t be able to get out.
Now that I wasn’t fighting for my life, I reached up and yanked the hand from my hair, becoming frustrated as the fingers pulled at my scalp. When it finally came free, I threw it across the room, hoping to put some space between us. I spotted a sink next to the food area, so I grabbed a gallon bottle of water and poured dish soap over my hands, leaning the gallon on the side to rinse with. I scrubbed and rescrubbed my hands until my skin turned red. I wasn’t going to hang around to pack up anything else, but as I scooped up the four bags that were packed and headed to the door, the cat let out a horrible sound.
“All right, you can come with me.” I balanced the bags and hoped that the cat was friendly, and didn’t scratch the hell out of me when I picked it up.
“Here, kitty, kitty. Come on and play nice with me. Let’s go.” It let me pick it up and cuddle it in the crook of my arm.
Amazed, I backed through the swinging front door and made a mad dash for the truck. I didn’t want to let the food or the cat out of my sight, so I opened the passenger door and placed everything on the seat. If the cat jumped out before I got in the truck, then it would have to find a way to survive on its own.
Oddly enough, it was sitting in the center of the seat like it owned the world. She—and it was a she because I caught a glimpse of its parts—just sat there looking at me. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll get going.” It must be the end of the world because I was talking out loud to a cat.
The truck backfired as I started it, and I didn’t try to be quiet since I was moving quickly. Knoxville was only ten minutes up the main highway, but I wasn’t going to go on any major streets, so it would take closer to twenty if none of the roads to the church were blocked.
Each street I crossed held more of the wandering people in groups that were becoming more dangerous. I had to reverse and turn around several times to take another longer route. The groups of people were close enough that I could see blood dripping from their noses, and the sagging skin hanging off their bodies. I wanted to pull over and puke, but there simply wasn’t time if I was going to make it to the church. I gripped the wheel harder and tried not to look at the horror of the people around me. My truck was drawing these things toward me, and I had no idea how long it would be before they completely surrounded me.
I spotted a parking garage and drove up into it, turning the engine off and sitting quietly. I was hoping that the crowds of dead would keep walking in a straight line, leaving the road free for me to go back over to the area where the church was located. This idea was beginning to seem dumber by the minute. If the streets were this full, then why was I holding out hope that a church full of people would be holding some live ones?”
The wait seemed like forever, but was only an hour before my view of the street showed it to be empty. I hated that the truck was so noisy, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it at the moment. The church appeared to be empty as I got closer, and I was afraid that everything I’d gone through would be for nothing.
In the bell tower of the church, I saw movement and parked the truck on the edge of the lot. I didn’t want to bring the wandering people to the church, and I could make a run for it. Now, if they would just let me into the building, but I figured I should leave the food until I’d found out what the situation was.
A bus had been pulled in front of the doors that led to the Red Cross safe area. When I approached, the back door flew open, and a guy with a gun stepped out.
“This way, miss. Hurry.” He waved toward me.
I scooped up the cat and closed the door quietly, taking off at a run. The guy stood in the emergency doorway and pulled it shut behind me, and walked the length of the bus to the front door that opened into the church.
The cat jumped out of my arms once we were inside, but then were filled by Chase’s daughters, Hope and Charity. Relief that they were alive flooded me, but then I looked up to see Lee standing just a step behind them, waiting for them to move. I met his gaze and saw the sadness lingering there. Chase was dead.
Yet, tears of joy streamed down my face, and I knew that no matter what choice I made for my future, it was going to be by Lee’s side for as long as he would have me. I wanted us to have a life together, even if it was a shorter version of it.
For more of Lee and Sarah Beth’s story, check out Churches Against Zombies
About Alathia Paris Morgan
Alathia Paris Morgan is a part-time writer. With the death of her brother in 2013, she decided life was too short to waste the ideas she was given. Since she’d always had stories floating around in her head, she took a shot at writing them down during a NANOWRIMO Camp. She realized quickly that her characters had more than one mystery to solve, which resulted in her Nova Ladies series.
With the support and love of her husband, Alathia continues to bring new worlds to life. Their three daughters and three dogs are more than enough to keep her busy when she is not delivering orders or lost in her imagination.
In her free time, she loves to read and add to her personal library, which has over six thousand books. She also enjoys quilting and watching TV shows while hanging out with her daughters.
14
Gods and Monsters
by Rich Restucci
University of Oxford. Oxford, England. 2018 AD
“And, as seen in this map, the city of Thanatos was once a travel hub for caravans from the east. Exotic furs, scents, meats, and of course, salt was traded in its vast marketplace.” The professor used a laser pointer to indicate a small area on a huge pull-down map of Greece attached to the wall of his lecture hall.
The professor continued, “Now, history tells us that the city was sacked by an unidentified enemy, pitiless and without mercy. The state of the ruins and some of the bones found indicate the citizens of Thanatos died violent deaths, indeed.” He held up his right index finger, “But! Other ancient accounts claim that a horrible disease struck the city and the entire populace died overnight.” The lecturer shook his head. “No one dared enter the city for almost two hundred years after that fateful event. In the wake of the disaster, the name of the city was associated with the god of death, or even death itself.”
“Like we needed more gods back then,” a woman in the very back of the hal
l whispered to her companion. There were a dozen rows of seats between the two of them and the rest of the students.
The man with her harrumphed, patting the printed leopard on his sweatshirt and adjusting his sunglasses. He pointed to the map, “I remember the whole episode differently. And as I recall, a few more gods might have helped.”
The woman reached into her jacket with something between her fingers. The head of an owl tentatively reached out, grabbing the offered morsel and swallowing. The animal receded back into the folds of the jacket immediately. “I’m surprised you remember anything. You were drunk the whole damn time.”
“I’m the fucking god of wine, sister. I invented that shit. What, was I not supposed to drink? What kind of message would that have sent?”
“You spent two thousand years shitfaced. Congratulations, it’s a record.”
“I guess the memory is a bit fuzzy.” He pointed to the professor, “This guy is wrong anyway. Well, half wrong.” He shook his head, “Fucking mortals.”
“No, brother, he’s more right than he knows.”
Acharnae, Greece. 612 BC
“We must flee, Antrius! They are upon us! The city is lost.”
The small boy looked to his mother in fear, “Where is father?”
“Athena preserve him, he battles to give us time.” The woman grasped her terrified son by both shoulders, sinking to one knee to match his eight-year old height, “We must not waste this time! Take up your sword. I have packed us provisions for a few days.” She stood and pulled her long dead father’s shield from its place of reverence on the wall.
An evil had sprung up in her city. She had been witness to this creeping evil earlier in the day. Several people, bloody and screaming, had leapt upon some citizens when she was at market not two hours hence. When the men and women began to rend and bite their victims, she had dropped her basket and run. She had hoped the soldiers would slay the evil, but the horrible noises, the smoke, and the sound of the Great Horn told her she and her son were in danger. The Horn had called both the guard and the militia to fight off whatever had come.
Undead Worlds 2: A Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Anthology Page 23
