REGGIE: My thoughts exactly, lady.
***
The following morning was a little warmer. Reggie and myself drove off in the opposite direction of where home once was. We drove mile after mile through multiple back roads searching for an ideal house in an ideal location.
We needed shrouded from street view but we needed a clear line of sight to an extent. If someone or something were coming up on us we'd need to see them coming. A little limited warning is better than no warning.
After several hours...we found it. It was perfect! We almost missed it and would have if I didn't happen to do a double take. Even after which, I wasn't sure it was a driveway.
It was overgrown with a thick tree line on both sides that stretched down both ways of the road. We reversed and peered in the best we could. It was a long driveway leading far back. Whatever it led to wasn't visible to us. There was a field inside to the left but woods lined it as well as to the right of us. We didn't know what the drive led to, but one thing was sure...we could see plenty of trees in the back. The place was shrouded well.
ME: What do you think?
REGGIE: Let's check it out. What's the worst? That nothing's back there?
ME: Or maybe a ton of Bolters? That's worse.
REGGIE: Man! Shut the fuck up and pull in there. I should slap you for saying that shit. Shit ain't funny.
ME: Wasn't trying to be...
I pulled in and we drove slowly down the very long driveway; the street exit growing small in the mirror. The sun sparkled on the light dusting covering the field.
As we neared the end of the drive it took an ever so slight veer to the right where an old white two story house emerged into view from the trees. Rickety and covered with peeling paint and vines running up its walls.
The windows were intact. The doors were closed. It was dead silent. No tracks anywhere nearby and the talls grass and weeds were undisturbed. This place had gone untouched. It looked like it was untouched before the world ended.
And son of a bitch...it had a chimney...we hit the damn jack pot.
***
We hopped out and did a walk around of the property. No surprises. Just weeds and high grass. It had a basement. We made our way to the door.
It was unlocked. I opened it slowly; it creaked loudly which made me cringe but I had a strong feeling there was nothing inside. Nothing stirred as we walked into a large foyer area. On the floor to our right were shoes lined against the wall. Three pairs. A pair of work boots, pink slip on shoes and some UGG boots. Were people still there??
Surely not...it was cold and no smell of any recent fires. To be on the safe side I called out a hello and insisted we weren't looking for any trouble.
Nothing.
We made our way into a dining area adjacent to a large kitchen. A simple table with a cheap table cloth and wooden chairs. Nearby was a shelf on the wall with little cat and dog knick knacks. Aside from being dusty everything was in perfect condition.
The living room and kitchen were in the same condition. No knocked over glasses, no broken TV or flipped tables. This place really was truly untouched. I still looked back the shoes with an uneasiness though.
We did a cautious sweep of the basement. It was one of those old types with the dirt floor and stone walls covered in cobwebs. Boxes and crates stacked along one wall and some junk laying around. In other words, your average American basement. From everyone I knew anyhow.
We climbed the creaky stairs and walked around the old wooden banister. I glanced into a clean bathroom and continued down the hall. Two bedrooms on the left; both clearly belonging to women. I thought again of the shoes.
At the end of the hall was another bedroom with the door slightly ajar. I reached and pulled my crowbar out and pushed it the rest of the way open and then I lowered my head a moment and looked back up. Reggie leaned against the door frame. His face showed some sadness but not shock or anything similar. I realized we were getting used to such things rapidly. We weren't getting phased that much anymore. I guess for the sake of adjustment it was a good thing but it always means we've lost parts of ourselves.
Three bodies were sitting up against the headboard on the bed. They were huddled together; embracing one another. Each one had a knife nearby. Their hands were covered in blood. They were badly decomposed and frozen. They were close to skeletal with tight dead flesh clinging to their bones. From their sizes and clothes they all looked to have been middle aged. They obviously did this in the early days of of it all. Perhaps they were all room mates. Siblings. Who the hell knows.
It was too cold at the moment to dig graves which we still felt compelled to do. It was the least we could do considering we were going to be using their home.
We gathered sheets from the other rooms and dreadfully pried the bodies apart. They made horrible cracking sounds and I was half expecting to accidently snap off a limb.
We wrapped them up securely and brought them to a shed in the back of the home. It was old and rickety like the house. Inside were tools lined on the wall and some shovels and rakes in the corner. The rest of the floor was clear and we placed the bodies beside one another.
It was getting later and we knew the others were already probably starting to get anxious so we started making our way down the long drive. I stopped at the end where there was an old rusty mailbox in the high grass. I jotted down the address and made a note of it to clear it out a little and make it more visible.
We set out to go get our friends.
***
As always the others greeted us with some relief...but not as noticeable as the earlier days. We knew we could all handle ourselves. It was the huge Bolter swarm that had us more alert now. Granted, it could be a hundred miles away by now and probably was.
I placed the note on the inner door and left the main door unlocked before we piled in and left for our destroyed home to gather wood.
When we arrived, just as when we returned to scavenge what was left, it was like a punch in the stomach. We made sure the home and area were clear before driving over to the wood piles. We filled the entire hatch in the back with wood. Reggie and Jim filled my Uncle's old truck with wood to take separately to our new home. Hopefully just a temporary home...but if we had to, we could make this place work better than where we were prior. Be smarter. Take our time and reinforce the place with not just wood but sheets of metal to go over the windows and reinforce the doors so nothing could get through.
We could even set up a multitude of traps around the property. Not just to defend against infected but any hostile folks that might show up. We'd be smarter this time.
Jim, Kelly and Ben were impressed...more than impressed...when we arrived at our destination. They took their own personal tour of the land and home themselves.
KELLY: This is GREAT! You guys found the...perfect place! It's exactly what we discussed! Hidden away and far away from the road. This can work!
JIM: It's amazing that no one else has been here. This place wasn't even looted from the start. There's extra food here that we can definitely use and Ben found gallons of water in a lower cabinet in the kitchen. There's a pantry in there full of canned shit.
ME: This place can work. It's better than what we had before...I just wish Tim could see it.
KELLY: He'd have loved it.
ME: I know it.
REGGIE: The steel sheeting is a good idea...but where the fuck would we even find that?
KELLY: But still...this is a temporary arrangement, yes? That's a lot of risks and supply runs for-
REGGIE: What if it ain't temporary, man?
JIM: We don't know Haven is still standing. No one may ever come to look for us.
KELLY: We can still keep driving around and looking for them. They have to be somewhere.
ME: Somewhere...it's a needle in a haystack, really. We've been around all local back roads. We've driven around nearly all nearby towns and we never saw any signs of a community anywhere. It's easy to presume
it's gone.
KELLY: Well, I'd like not to think that.
JIM: I as well, but we have to realize we may be on our own as we have been. We need more people. There's room here...just need to find some decent folks to room up with out here if need be.
BEN: Ain't that much room here.
JIM: No, but enough for a few more people.
BEN: We've done fine on our own with just us.
ME: Not entirely...look what just happened. We've just gotten lucky. Luck runs out.
REGGIE: Hey...you didn't answer me. Where we gonna find steel sheeting and shit?
ME: Probably not around here. Akron? Cleveland?
REGGIE: You can kick that shit right out ya head! I ain't going nowhere near that bullshit.
ME: Neither am I...so we have to improvise.
JIM: Okay?
ME: There's plenty of places around here we can find a welding power supply, cutting torches...grab some old cars...trailers.
JIM: That's smart.
ME: We'll still put a layer of wood like we had before, for extra support...more the better, right?
REGGIE: No arguments from me, man.
KELLY: I feel better having a plan...and I'm grateful...place is nice. Perfect...just hope that place is still standing.
ME: Let's get a fire going...
***
MARCH
Weeks passed by with no sign of anyone. On the few snowy days we had I checked the road for tire tracks. They were never there...much to Kelly's dismay.
The last two weeks the weather started to really break. We could feel winter fading away and feel the spring breezes start up. It was refreshing when we started having some sporadic fifty and sixty degree days. It really lifted our spirits.
Reggie and I on one of those days dug three graves and buried the people who lived there. We buried them in the backyard near the wood line.
Over those two weeks we managed to gather the rest of the wood we'd left behind. Wouldn't need it much longer, but may very well need it next winter. The thought of another winter was too hard to think about. This one had been brutal to us.
We also gathered more pallets and wooden beams and covered all the windows. Shortly after we did manage to find everything we needed to fabricate metal reinforcements. Over the coming weeks we had butchered a ton of cars, trucks, trailers, etc. What was left of them we moved far across the field and into some foliage at the woods. Not quite out of sight but good enough. They'd be over grown in no time and less of an eyesore.
APRIL
As to be expected we had many rainy days and nights as we went into the month. The thundering and downpours were very soothing in the night.
Me and Reggie still did our nightly watches. Much easier now with the warming temps. There was a hatch on the roof that we accessed from a small attic. It was high and we had a great line of sight. We could see over the distant trees and high grass where the end of the driveway was. Felt like old times and back to the norm.
Except for that night...
REGGIE: You think anyone's ever going to come?
ME: After all this time...I'm doubting it. We've never once seen headlights at night or spotted anyone during the day. Maybe there's hardly anyone left in this area anymore.
REGGIE: Or maybe there are and they just keep a low ass profile like we do.
ME: Maybe. I donno.
REGGIE: Well, one thing I've learned out here...is that there's a hell of a lot of back roads. Maybe no one has happened to drive down this particular one.
ME: Who knows-
REGGIE: [whispers] What's that? You see that?
ME: What?
He lifted the binoculars sitting between us to his eyes and I watched as his jaw slowly dropped down. He looked at me quickly and handed them to me.
I looked and at first wasn't sure what I was seeing. Just some shadowy blackness moving down the road. Then I realized with sudden shock and horror. It was the Bolter swarm. They had still been in the area...and we had miscalculated...there were more than fifty...there were at least a hundred of the fuckers. From inside the house I could hear murmurs of them talking. That made me panic. We were far from the road but...what if that was what gave us away before, maybe? How good were these things hearing? They were animalistic after all...an apex predator now.
ME: [whispers] Keep on eye on them.
REGGIE: [whispers] Where the fuck are you going, man? You gonna leave my ass up here?!
ME: [whispers] I can hear them talking in the house...I need to tell them to shut the fuck up! How good is Bolter hearing?
REGGIE: [whispers] Oh, fuck. Go..go..
As quietly as I could I descended down into the attic and made my way down to the first floor. When I got to the living room Jim and Kelly were cuddled on the couch and Ben was sitting on the floor. They were conversing about something I don't even recall. I guess the fear on my face wasn't hard to miss.
I quickly informed them that the Bolter swarm was walking down the road. All three of them went pale and all three of them rose to their feet. Suddenly all the lit lamps scared me. It was impossible to say if light glaring gave us away before...and from this distance I doubted it would now...but fuck taking chances. We may have had metal reinforcement but I wasn't eager to put them to the test.
KELLY: Are they in the driveway you mean?! Walking toward us?!
ME: Shhh!! Whisper.
BEN: Why?
ME: Like I just told Reggie...we don't have a clue how well they hear. And no, Kelly, they're not in the driveway, they're waking slowly down the road past us.
ME: Let's turn the lamps off and get to the top floor. I'm going to check on Reggie. He's keeping an eye on them. You guys should come into the attic.
JIM: Okay...let's move.
They clicked on flashlights and put their hands over them, cracking their fingers to emit a small amount of light to see up the stairs. Thankfully every bedroom door was shut and no light would shine in the slightest from any upstairs windows.
I climbed back onto the roof and edged my way over to Reggie. He was glued to the binoculars. I couldn't see as well as he could obviously from that distance, but I was able to make out that they were creeping along the road slowly and some were gazing around. Some had their heads upturned and were sniffing at the air.
I felt a fast rising fear thinking about the wind. I quickly realized we were upwind of the creatures and they couldn't catch a scent from our direction. Some of them started to jerk around and move a bit more quickly forward. The others followed suit and they trotted down the road. Soon they were out of sight.
Reggie and I stayed up there until dawn. The others didn't sleep well and now we were all on edge. We'd really hoped that horde was hundreds of miles away by now. Every time we left to look for supplies we were taking an enormous risk. In the SUV or truck we could of course out run them but what if by chance they were going past while we were inside a house or building and we inadvertently made our presence known...
***
During the harsh winter the frigid weather killed a portion of infected. The frozen ones thawed out and slumped over. Some continued to walk around as Shamblers. Others thawed and hit the ground and stayed there. Some dead. Some Stagnants. More Roamers did begin showing up and wandering around. Just one more danger but we knew it was coming. Their numbers were increasing over the weeks. Back to normal I guess you'd say. They must have migrated...during the winter we didn't see many; not like we had during the summer months. Such primal animalistic traits. Somewhere out there some scientist is thrilled studying these creatures.
On a late April day I sat on the roof with Jim. Kelly and Ben were preparing something for dinner and Reggie down at the SUV looking at inventory from our previous days scavenge run and taking what was good in the house.
JIM: I've come to the conclusion they ain't ever coming.
ME: Who? Oh, right. Probably not. We're on our own. We haven't seen anyone. No trace on supply runs.
JIM
: You think maybe they up and took their chance driving far out in hopes of finding something?
ME: Who the hell knows. Some folks probably headed back to cities to see what was left or if FEMA had returned to set up safe zones.
JIM: Think there's any chance of that?
ME: No. I don't.
JIM: How come?
ME: I think we'd have seen some evidence of that by now. Even way out here. Military would begin to travel out and get word out. We'd have seen ariel movements by now. No planes, no choppers. Like I said...we're on our own.
The Dead Lands Diary (Book 1) Page 21
