The arsenal of the United States was not wasted, however. During the night after the beginning of the apocalypse the ICBM’s that were supposed to be used against the enemies of the U.S.A. were fired precisely toward major urban areas in an attempt to quell the zombie hordes that were killing everyone that was trying to make a move out of the cities. The president made the decision to try to stop the spread of the infection before it began. The effect was catastrophic as traffic-jammed freeways were leveled, killing thousands of the ill-fated passengers as well as the undead. The President made the decision as he and his entourage was supposed to go to Cheyenne Mountain. There were reports before the TV broadcasts stopped that he had been overrun after Marine One was forced to try and make an emergency landing somewhere near the Mississippi River. Without confirmation, however no one knew what to do for his successor. Chaos again ruled the day, and the responsibility fell all the way to the Secretary of Housing and Urban development before stopping. All of the successors above him were either dead or missing.
Other countries around the world did not fare as well as the United States did. In the panic in Russia, one of the largest sources of the infection, the Russian government thought it best to expend part of its nuclear arsenal in the night once Moscow was thought to be derelict. The limited nuclear use, however, was still being monitored by what was left of other governments, such as China, India, North Korea, and Pakistan as they too used their nuclear weapons on major cities after they were deemed unsafe. The North Koreans used the few nuclear warheads that they had directly at the DMZ, fearing an invasion by South Korean forces. The resulting blast, however, did not stop the undead from pouring over the 37th Parallel. Without the use or availability of the Internet in North Korea, many millions of people took to the streets and began falling victim to the North Korean army as well as the hordes of zombies. The soldiers fired indiscriminately at the civilians as well as zombies, fearing an uprising by the people of the Communist nation. Their fear and stupidity ultimately led to the downfall of the small country in mere hours. The last reports that came in from the area suggested that the North Korean army had managed to subdue the “Plague of the West” and were regrouping to form an offensive force. The reports were unsubstantiated, however.
The sky glowed a macabre red in the early morning hours on the east coast of the United States from the fallout and dust that had settled in the atmosphere overnight. The men stirred as the rain began pounding the side and top of Unit 41 harder now. Andrew slowly awoke to the sound of the torrential rain. He had taken the final shift in the night but had not been able to stay awake for the term of the shift. He fell asleep finally for a few minutes after he decided that there were no zombies outside. He raised the seat up and peered around outside of the ambulance. There were two zombies milling around going down the road in their intended direction. “Shit” Andrew whispered under his breath. The two ghouls were moving slowly without any specific direction. As Andrew watched, a deer jumped out in front of one of them. The zombies left the animal alone. It seemed they were not in the mood for venison and largely ignored the animal. The infection had hopefully not jumped to the animal population. They would be able to hunt and eat animals such as the deer and fish and other wildlife without having to worry about being infected themselves. In the back of the truck, Jamie and Joe lazily woke. Joe began to sit up when the pain in his ribs and head reminded him of what had happened the day before. His head was pounding and he could barely move for the pain in his ribs. Jamie took notice of this. “You gonna be alright?” he asked.
“Man, I hope so.” Joe grimaced as he sat upright on the bench seat of the ambulance. “Looks like I could use some of the aspirin in the cabinet though.” Jamie nodded and reached off to his left and got out an IV bag. He fumbled around in it until he produced a bottle of chewable aspirin. The chewable was for chest pain patients and it worked faster than just swallowing them whole. Jamie tossed the bottle at Joe. He caught it and popped the top off and grabbed four of the medicine and began chewing them up. He washed it down with a sip from his CamelBak then tossed the bottle back to Jamie. Jamie caught it and put it back in the bag.
“Hey, I could use some of those, too.” Donnie had woken up from the sound of the rattling aspirin bottle. He grinned slyly as Jamie handed it to him. “Don’t think it’s gonna do much for the pain. Should help me from getting any blood clots, though.” Donnie munched up four more of the aspirin, as Joe had before and handed the bottle back. Donnie, in pain, moved off the stretcher and sat upright, surveying his two friends.
“How you feelin?” Joe asked.
“Feel like I been shot at and missed and shit at and hit all over, but seeing as how I got shot at and hit I guess just plain ol’ shitty will have to do.” Donnie managed a small chuckle in spite of the pain. Joe and Jamie followed suit. The three men were laughing still as Andrew stuck his head up between the front and back of the unit. Joe and the rest of the men were still grinning at each other when they broke out into a full-fledged guffaw.
“What’s so damn funny?” Andrew asked as he joined in with the men in the comic moment.
“Well, dude,” Joe said as he looked back to Andrew. “Shit just seems to get better and better.”
* * *
Buffey was hot. They had made a conscious effort to turn off the air conditioning in fear of attracting zombies outside the house. Even in the cool, September morning she was sweating. There was little air moving in the house since the power had gone out in the night. Buffey had taken the first watch of the night, as the group of them had agreed. She knew that Joe would be disappointed in her if she had not at least had someone guarding them at all times, day or night. Nevertheless, she, Chris, and Ashley had not seen any of the undead since the bedlam that had transpired the day before outside of the singlewide trailer. There had been faint sounds of the crackle of gunfire, followed by what sounded like an explosion late in the night. After the explosion, the power flickered and then, ultimately, went off. They had turned off all the lights in the house anyway to keep out any prying eyes that might happen by the house. They were far enough off the main road that someone would have to be looking for them in order to find them, but they did not take any chances. The propane-powered space heater that Joe had installed last winter would keep them warm if needed, but the tank was only half-full. Half empty by pessimistic standards. The four people in the house, including Rickey, had slept in the living room overnight. The far end of the trailer had floor-to-ceiling windows that they did not want to get near for fear of being attacked in the night. All the doors of the house had been closed the night before as well. They had isolated themselves in the living room for safety reasons. The collective nerve of the group seemed well served by it as well, as everyone slept soundly. Buffey was especially worried about Rickey but he was taking the situation well. He had managed to sleep through the night without stirring or waking up with nightmares. Buffey knew this was from all of the video games that Rickey had been exposed to and, for once, it had paid off. Rickey did not fear the zombies, which was also a double-edged sword. If he did not fear them then he might not take them seriously when the time came. She did not want him to think of them as a joke or something to be taken lightly. It was a serious situation and she wanted him to take it that way. She would have Joe teach him, if he made it home. She missed Joe and wondered how his travel was going. He had not made it to the house in the night, and that worried her the most. She knew he was alive. She could not explain, but she knew he was. Joe had a knack for survival, and no matter what the cost, he would make it back home to his family. It would just take time. She knew he would be meticulous and careful, just maybe not very quick about it.
Buffey tiptoed over to where Rickey was sleeping. She sighed, as a mother does, as she watched him sleep. He, along with his father, meant the world to her. Joe had told her to hold herself together, that you could always fall apart later. She steeled herself to not worry about Joe and to keep Rickey an
d the others safe until he made it back. Buffey choked back tears as she thought of this, but kept her composure. She wiped the tears from her face and heard the rain coming harder. She stood and turned her gaze back outside. The rain was coming down a little heavier now, washing away some of the sinew, blood, and stench from the outside of the house. Buffey did not know how the undead would react to a rainstorm. She remembered a zombie movie that Joe had shown her about them being attracted to light and sound, something about fireworks. They could not take their eyes off them. Buffey pondered this as she kept watch over the outside of the house. Faint lightning and the low boom of thunder were approaching.
The sound of the rain outside soon woke Ashleigh, Chris, and Rickey up. The group moved toward the kitchen to try to muster up something to eat. None of the four of them, minus Rickey, had much of an appetite. Chris sat down at the kitchen table and lit a cigarette. He had nearly quit smoking by accident the day before just for the simple fact that he had not had the urge to smoke. This fact was reminded to him as he inhaled several times off the cigarette. His head began to swim for a moment. He closed his eyes and, for the first time since their ordeal, relaxed for a minute. He was soon jolted out of his relaxation by a flash of lightning and loud snap of thunder. He jumped, banging his knee on the kitchen table.
“Son of a bitch!” He blurted out and immediately realized what he had done. Their silence was the key to keeping the undead away, and he had momentarily forgotten. The world was different now and it was going to take some getting used to. Old habits die hard, they say. Ashleigh was amused at Chris’ clumsy twitch move and giggled, covering her mouth as she did so. She also knew that she needed to be quiet, but human nature took over for a moment and she laughed at a klutz doing what a klutz does. Chris noticed Ashleigh’s laugh and looked over. She was still holding her mouth and giggling at him. Chris reached over and playfully punched her on the shoulder.
“Asshole!” she hissed.
Chris had mixed feelings about Ashleigh being there. He had feelings for her and did not know how to express them adequately. The fact that she was here now, however, did not sit right with him. He knew that he would have to come to terms with the fact that she was infatuated with him as well. Neither of them wanted to admit it, though. An emotional stalemate was what it had been for them for a long time. Now that the two of them were forced together, each would have to come to terms with their feelings. Buffey noticed the exchange between the two of them as well. She had tried to barter a relationship between them, to little or no avail. Try as she might she could not get the two of them to express their feelings for one another. Chris did not want to be tied down to any one person, but now that seemed inevitable.
Rickey woke up and wandered aimlessly into the kitchen. “I’m hungry, mommy. What’s for breakfast?” Buffey looked over as Rickey came into the kitchen and smiled. Through the incident, so far he was a ray of light in an otherwise dark period. She walked over to him and ruffled his hair, which he did not approve. “Aw, come on mommy” he said laughing.
“Well, honey I think Chris managed to get some Pop-tarts at the store. You want one?” Buffey said as she reached for the cabinet.
“Yes!” Rickey exclaimed as he took up a chair at the table.
“SSHHH! A little quieter!” Buffey hissed at Rickey.
“Sorry, mommy. I forgot” Rickey said, obviously embarrassed.
“I know, babe.” Buffey was afraid of that. He had forgotten all about the flesh-eating menace that was surely lurking outside. Fortunately, the rain was in full downpour and was drowning out most of the sound. Aside from the undead terror that was outside and a lack of power, it was a normal breakfast. Chris, Ashleigh, and Buffey all had to settle for Pop-tarts as well. They did not want to risk running the generator, even with the lack of power, just for breakfast. They also had not come up with a plan for making hot meals other than the generator. They could not rightly build a fire indoors and did not have an alternative means of cooking. The group finished their cold breakfast then took stock of their supplies.
Luckily, Chris had loaded most of his own ammo, and there was plenty of it. He had only used the handful of rounds at the grocery store and had not needed any more since then. He still had all of the shotgun shells as well. They only drank a single bottle of water per person for breakfast and would be limited to one bottle each meal. The canned goods had not been touched as they did not have any means to cook them, and none were in the mood for cold franks and beans. Chris headed to the pantry to straighten up what supplies they had not yet organized. They had spent most of the previous day on watch, waiting for any other signs of the zombies they had slain the day before. Chris’ guess was right, as they did not go near the bloody carnage that they had made the day before. The rain now, however, would make short work of cleaning up their mess. The steady rumble of thunder and occasional close crack of lightning kept them all jumpy, though. Chris, with pen and paper in hand, took stock of exactly how much they had left. He then went to the couch and began to do the math on how long they would last under their current conditions. They would refill the bottled water bottles with water from the bathtub, and with rainfall once they were certain there was no undead menace at the door.
Chris sat and calculated that they had enough food for 13 days should they not resupply between then. Chris frowned and sat back. He was certain that he had enough supplies for much longer than that, but once they added Ashleigh and, hopefully, Joe, their stash would dwindle significantly. Chris told the others they would keep a log of what they took out of the supplies and recalculate them daily. They did not want to be caught with their pants down should they have to make a hasty retreat. Chris set the notebook on the pantry shelf and slumped into the couch in the living room. Boredom was his enemy now. He wanted to get out and slay the zombies. In lieu of video games, that was to be his only entertainment. He did not move and stared ahead as Ashleigh came up and sat next to him on the couch.
“I never did thank you for picking me up yesterday. I didn’t think you had it in you to act all guardian angel-like.” Ashleigh playfully punched Chris in the shoulder as she complemented him. She was flirting, but Chris was unaware. “Hey, you okay?” Ashleigh said as she scooted closer to him. Chris snapped out of his blank stare.
“Huh? What?” He said.
“Hey, I know that you and I have not exactly had the best time at talking to one another, but I...I...have feelings for you” Ashleigh blurted out finally, acting like a 14 year old boy asking his first date. Ashleigh laughed at herself and looked downward. “And, well, I kinda am the last woman on earth as far as you know. Y’know, seeing as how Buffey is married and all.”
“Look, it’s not that I don’t like you, Ash, it’s just that I don’t think it’s really the time and all to be discussing this” Chris reached down and gently clasped her hand and sat up. “But, don’t worry. We can figure something out I’m sure.”
Chris winked at her as he said this and Ashleigh turned several shades of red before meekly saying “Okay.” Chris got up, patted her on the head, and went to the kitchen window. They had decided to leave it not boarded to be able to see outside. It was too far up for any intrusion, more than six feet off the ground. Chris looked outside at the pounding thunderstorm. The darkness outside was almost a false sense of security. The sun thus far in the morning hours had not managed to cut through the thick band of rain that was still coming down hard out on the mud soaked lawn. The weather showed no signs of letting up as Chris moved the curtain back in front of the window.
“Anything out there?” Buffey had come up behind Chris and was trying to peer out the window as well. “No, I don’t think so. Can’t see much for all this damn rain though.” Chris and Buffey both moved away from the window.
“We can’t just sit here and wait for something to happen. We need to do something.” Ashleigh was visibly restless.
“We can’t until Joe gets here. I’m not going anywhere unless he’s with us,
” Buffey snapped back.
“But we don’t even know where he’s at. It could be days before he gets here!” Ashleigh stood now and became more agitated. Chris stepped over in front of Ashleigh between the two women.
Chris moved toward Ashleigh and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “We will be fine. We have more than enough food to wait on Joe.” Chris turned back to Buffey. “I checked this mornin’ after we ate. We have enough to last us nearly two weeks at our current rate.” Chris went back toward Ashleigh and gave her a light kiss on the forehead. “We will be fine. Trust me.”
* * *
“Alright, then boys. Ammo check before play time.” Joe and his companions each put in a fresh magazine before they left the ambulance. Each man had expended at least one clip from his assault rifle, and at least part of another. They each still had four magazines apiece plus 9mm pistol rounds. They had managed to stuff as much of the IV and medical supplies as they could into their packs. They also crammed their pockets with miscellaneous items such as roller gauze and medical tape. They loaded up the drug box with narcotics as well, fearing the truck would be looted by the mercenaries they had encountered the day before. When they were satisfied that they could carry no more they cinched up their packs and exited the vehicle one at a time. The torrential rain was going to be a hassle for them. The all feared getting sick at the hands of Mother Nature, but under the present conditions, they did not have an alternative.
Six Feet From Hell: Books 1 - 3 Page 9
