The Z-Day Trilogy (Book 2): Z-Day [Day of the Zombies]

by Mark Cusco Ailes

  He knew he would have to forget about leaving and try to find a safe place to hold up that had a supply of food and water. His shop was out of the question. He knew it had already been overrun. He knew there were some places closer to downtown he could try until he came up with a better alternative. At least if he could find somewhere like that, he could get out of the view of the zombies. He thought for a moment and remembered there was a store that sold food and alcohol. If he could make it there, he could hold up inside until it was safer to travel.

  He turned his car around knocking too elderly zombies off of their feet. He ran over their legs and continued down the street keeping a watchful eye for any other vehicles that might be operating on the road. He didn’t want to get into an accident. He didn’t want to become a zombie’s unhappy meal.

  He ran through a red light and made a left onto the main road. In front of him he saw a military jeep making a left turn onto a side street. He thought about catching up to them, but he didn’t want to take a chance in case they were looters or even worse. A zombie apocalypse was a perfect time for criminals to come out in droves.

  He pulled his vehicle in front of the store hoping it was unlocked and free of zombies. He grabbed his machete and got out of the car. He looked around. As far as he could see there were no sign of any zombies in the area. He tried the door, but it was locked. He looked through the window to see if he could see anybody inside. It looked abandoned, but there were signs of scavenging. He shook his head and stole a glance down the street. There was a pizza diner next door. Perhaps he could find refuge inside it. It would definitely have food and water inside.

  The place smelled of pizza as he silently made his way inside. He didn’t know if there were any zombies inside waiting for somebody to cross their paths. He held the machete firm in his grasp and made his way toward the dining area. It was in a state of utter disarray. Chairs were lying on their sides, soda was spilled all over the floor, and pizza was trampled into the carpet. It looked like a riot had occurred inside recently. He heard a crash come from inside the kitchen. He stood motionless, listening, not knowing what it was that had made the sound. He tightened his grip on the handle of the machete and took a step toward the kitchen.

  He swung open the door and looked around. He didn’t see anything. He heard another sound coming from the right in a storage area. He feared it would be one of the dead creatures. He kept close to the wall and made his way to the storage area, readying his blade for an attack. As he was about to enter, he was knocked backward, tripping over a large bag of flour. He crashed to the floor, sending the machete sliding several inches away. He looked up as a zombie came into his view covered in white flour. As it walked, flour fell from its body like an avalanche. It growled and shambled closer to him. He looked around until his eyes met with the machete. He reached for it but it was just out of his reach. He tried to stretch farther, but the zombie was now standing on the handle of it, bending at the waist trying to grab him. He knew he was in trouble. He didn’t have a weapon to protect himself. He frantically looked around, but there wasn’t anything useful in sight. The zombie grabbed his leg and slid him toward it. Clive closed his eyes fearing it was the end. He started reciting Bible verse to comfort him as the zombie reached for his chest. It growled and drool was cascading down its lips. A shot rang out behind him and the zombie fell forward, landing on his chest. In a panic, he pushed it off of him as a hand outstretched toward him. He took the hand and let the stranger help him to his feet.

  The stranger released his hold and looked at him. “That was a close one. Oh, by the way, my name is Ralph Gleeson.”

  Clive bent over and retrieved his machete from the floor. He shook the flour from it and stared at the zombie. A gushing hole was stitched on its forehead. He turned his attention to Ralph. “Thanks, mister, I thought I was a goner.” He stepped over the zombie, never taking his eyes off of it. “My name is Clive. I own one of the shops down the street.”

  “What brings you here? Why aren’t you hiding in your shop?”

  “It got overrun with these things. They’re the devil’s spawns.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” said Ralph, looking around for anything edible. “These are man’s creations. The devil had nothing to do with it.” He opened the oven door and looked in. It was empty. He spotted a shelf containing several bags of potato chips. He grabbed a cheese one and snatched a cold soda from the fridge. He sat down and motioned for Clive to join him. Clive sat across from him at one of the tables.

  “I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but how can you sit there and eat chips at a time like this. The streets are crammed with those beasts,” asked Clive.

  “A man has to eat. I came inside here to take a break. I’ve killed over twenty of those zombie animals so far. I have dozens more to find if they haven’t left the area already. I saw at least six vultures fly overhead. I don’t know where they’re heading, but I’m pretty sure they’re somebody else’s problem by now.”

  “Do you mean they’re leaving the area? That means this madness isn’t going to end; it’s only going to spread.”

  Ralph took a drink and looked at Clive. “That’s the scenario I’m going with. If they have left the area, then the world has a major problem. It began in Indiana and it won’t end until we put an end to it, or the whole world will become bloodthirsty zombies.”

  “Then we need to find a way to stop them. We can’t let them take over the world. That’s insane. We just can’t let that happen.”

  Ralph laughed, spitting out some of his potato chips onto the table. “If those vultures have left the area, I think it’s already too late. All we can do now is do the best we can to stay alive. The zombies are the military’s problem now.”

  Clive was outraged. “You don’t honestly mean that, do you? Where’s your heart? Where’s your compassion?”

  “Relax, don’t blow a fuse. I didn’t say I was giving up. I’m just stating a fact. One man is not going to be able to single handedly stop a zombie outbreak. We can slow its progress, but not totally stop it. It will take a large army to accomplish that. As I see it, we’re only two strong. What are our odds?”

  Clive knew he was making sense. “Listen, we can find others. We can’t be the only two left alive. If we look hard enough, we will find ourselves an army.”

  “We can check out some of the other stores. If we’re lucky, we’ll find more people hiding inside them.”

  “It’s almost morning. Let’s wait until then. For now let’s get some rest and formulate a more detailed plan.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  General Athens intercepted a report that a zombie horde was spotted at the popcorn factory and were branching out in two different directions. Some were entering the factory, and the rest were heading down the highway toward their location. He knew he couldn’t risk any of them breaking through their line and heading toward Wanatah. He ordered several of his soldiers to follow him to the factory in several jeeps. He planned to intercept them before they had a chance to make it this far.

  Maneuvering down the highway was difficult. It had become an obstacle of wrecked and burning vehicles. Death was everywhere the eye could see. Several zombies were locked inside the cars, clawing at the glass and biting at the air. He knew he would have to deal with them on the way back from the factory. For now, he knew they wouldn’t be going anywhere.

  The reports were true. Several zombies had branched off from the main group and were making their way slowly down the highway. He ordered the troops to pull over and prepare for battle. The soldiers jumped from the jeeps and readied their weapons. They cut loose with a deadly barrage that ripped through the early morning. They were making easy work of the horde.

  Once the last of the shuddering horde was brought down, they turned their attention toward the factory. They saw an opened garage door leading inside and a zombie slowly entering through it.

  “Come on, men, let’s get it over and done with,” ordered
General Athens. “We don’t have all day.”

  They entered the factory taking out a couple zombies as they entered. Inside they heard commotion coming from across the room. They cautiously made their way through the sea of machinery following the noise. It was what they were expecting. Once they all made it through the machinery, they found themselves near the office area where a couple of civilians had barricaded themselves inside. At least a couple dozen zombies were trying to break through the glass windows.

  The soldiers could see the civilians huddled underneath a large conference table. General Athens stood in front of them.

  “You know what your orders are,” he said, looking at their faces. “If you have a problem with it, let me know right now.”

  One of the soldiers lowered his weapon in defiance and stared at the officer. “We can’t kill innocent people. It’s unconstitutional.”

  The general glared at him. He took a butterfly knife from his cargo pocket and it clacked open in his hand. Without any remorse, he slit the soldier’s throat. He fell forward and the general caught him and helped him fall to the ground. He tried to make it quiet, but the horde heard the noise and turned their attention toward them. The zombies shambled toward them as they prepared to fire. The soldiers emptied their magazines until the ground was covered in a crimson dress.

  They now turned their attention to the survivors. The general’s orders were clear about any survivors. They approached the glass windows and reloaded their weapons. Without hesitation they rattled off shot after shot until they were satisfied all the survivors had joined with the darkness. General Athens gave the order to ceasefire and waited to make sure none of them came back to life.

  General Athens stood over the slumped body of his soldier. He felt as though he had done him a favor by slitting his throat. The soldier didn’t have the stomach for war, and by his standards, couldn’t be tolerated. He looked at his men.

  “Learn from this. You’re soldiers and we’re at war with an enemy who wants to eat you.” He looked at their faces to see what impact he was making on them. “Today is not a good day to be eaten. Come on, men, let’s show the zombie bastards what the military is all about.”

  The men loaded fresh clips and were about to leave when they were interrupted by the sound of movement from behind them. They turned and saw that one of the civilian’s dead bodies had turned into a zombie and was making its way through the broken glass. General Athens pushed past them with his sidearm drawn. He went up to the zombie and raised his sidearm to its temple and pulled the trigger. The zombie fell forward as its brain matter expelled from its skull. “I’ll see you in hell!”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Arsonists were running through the parking lot throwing Molotov cocktails at the apartment buildings. Chip ran over to the window after hearing the commotion coming from outside. He witnessed cars going up in flames and the building across the street being engulfed in fire.

  “What’s going on?” asked Melinda, looking concerned.

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have asked you!”

  He looked at her and shook his head. “It’s not good. People are out there burning cars and buildings. They don’t seem to care there are zombies out there.”

  “What do you mean they’re burning buildings? Chip, we’re not safe here. What if they burn our building down? I don’t want to burn to death.”

  He looked back out the window and watched as an arsonist pulled a woman from her car and set her on fire and then threw one of the cocktails at their building. It didn’t take long to hear screaming in the hallway. He watched the arsonist run away, leaving the idling car behind that they had dragged the woman from.

  “Come on, Melinda, we need to get out of here. I have a plan. Hurry, we don’t have much time to get out of here.”

  “I’m going as fast as I can. I’m pregnant, remember?” She got up and looked at the butcher knife lying on the table. “Grab that. I don’t want to go out there without a weapon.”

  Chip snatched the knife and grabbed her arm. “Come on; we have to hurry.” He put his ear to the door and listened. He heard bustling in the hallway and people shouting. The alarm in the hall was making it hard for him to hear anything else. He opened the door, and they made their way into the smoke-filled hall. He coughed and peered toward the front of the building. It was totally engulfed in flames. He peered toward the back door. It was clear of fire. He quickly led Melinda toward it and exited the rear of the building. Outside, people were running around like madmen and some of them were being brought down by zombies. Melinda screamed and fell to her knees.

  “What the…”

  “Get up, Melinda, we can’t stay here.” He pulled her back to her feet. “We need to get to the front of the building.” He led her past a couple of zombies disemboweling a man wearing blue shorts. Melinda felt the urge to vomit, but somehow she managed to keep it in. “Don’t look at them, Melinda!”

  They made it to the front of the building where the idling car was still there with its driver’s door open, as if it were meant for him. He forced Melinda to keep up with him as he moved faster toward it. She screamed and Chip felt her being tugged away from his grasp. He stopped dead in his tracks and saw an old, gray haired zombie, roughly in its nineties trying to bite her neck. He punched it in the side of its head, but it wouldn’t let go of its grasp on her arm. “Dammit!” he screamed, bringing the knife around. It tore the zombie’s neck open in a fountain of red. He pushed the zombie away from them and grabbed Melinda’s arm. “Come on, you have to keep up with me.”

  “Get me out of here, Chip!”

  They made it to the car and got in. He jammed it into drive and peeled out of the parking lot as one of the buildings sent a fireball to the sky. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw a couple zombies staggering near the burning building engulfed in flames.

  “We have to find some place safe to go.” He switched on the radio.

  “We repeat, all survivors are to make their way to the high school,” said a voice coming from the radio. “The National Guard will get all survivors to safety.”

  Chip glanced at her. “The high school! That’s where we need to go!”

  Melinda felt sick, and her arm hurt where the zombie had grabbed her. Blood was trickling down her arm. The zombie had gashed her arm open.

  Chip saw she was injured. “Did it bite you?”

  “No, it sliced my arm open. I feel faint.”

  He hit the gas and did his best to maneuver down the street through all the obstacles. He looked at Melinda. She had passed out, and he had a better look at her wound. Blood was spilling from it. He turned his attention back to the road and slammed on the brakes. A military jeep was blocking his way. Four soldiers were standing in front of it. They were forming a defensive line to keep them from going any farther. Chip put the car in reverse and looked at Melinda. She was gasping for breath.

  “Melinda, are you all right?”

  She didn’t say anything. He watched as her breathing suddenly stopped. He looked toward the soldiers as they were making their way toward him. He looked back at Melinda. Her head had slumped forward.

  “Melinda, talk to me, baby, are you all right?”

  He heard shouting coming from the soldiers. He knew they were trying to get his attention. He ignored them and reached over to touch Melinda’s head. He feared she had died, but he didn’t understand how she could have died so fast. Her skin felt cold and pale. He shook her shoulder trying to wake her.

  “Melinda, please wake up. Melinda! Melinda!”

  He watched in horror as she lifted her head and turned to look at him. Her eyes were milky-white and she had a crazed look. He heard knocking on his window, but he didn’t hear them. Melinda was moving closer to him with her mouth agape, threatening to bite him.

  The soldiers moved away from the car after witnessing Melinda ripping apart Chip’s face. One of the soldiers raised his flamethro
wer and pointed it at the car. A tongue of orange fire shot from its barrel. The soldiers moved way and retreated back to their jeep.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Soldiers were busy dropping off survivors at the high school as ordered. That way, General Athens knew nobody would be able to spread their little secret to the rest of the world. Phone and internet service had been cut, keeping people from contacting family or friends outside of the infected area.

  Inside the school, they had counted eighty-three survivors cowering in the gymnasium, all hopeful the military was going to get them to safety. They watched as more survivors kept coming and telling tales of the horrible things they had just witnessed. All the stories were the same. People were going around eating people.

  Roger Shavers lounged in the rear of his Chevy pickup, legs stretched across the bed and crossed at his ankles. He held a brand new Canon and was busy cleaning the lens. He was parked across from the high school and was watching everything the soldiers were doing. He was trying to get the story of a lifetime. He had been at the zombie park when all hell had broken loose and knew it was the story he had been looking for his entire journalism career. He had originally been at the park trying to expose what was happening behind the scenes. He never dreamed it would turn into a zombie outbreak. He felt fortunate, but at the same time, he felt sorrow for all the victims. He knew General Poe was a madman, but now he knew exactly to what extent. He watched as another truck entered the parking lot and six more survivors were helped off the back and ushered into the school. He snapped off a couple of shots and looked at his watch. It was nearing six in the morning. He wished he had some fresh coffee to help calm his nerves. He had seen so much during the night. He reached over to a pad of paper and took out his pen. He jotted down something on the pad about this being the beginning of Z-DAY. He held the camera up trying to catch the morning light. He saw a bit of dust on the lens and puffed out a breath to clear it. He looked back at the school and clicked off a couple more shots. He wondered what was going to happen to the people they were taking inside. He didn’t trust the military. It was the most valuable thing he had learned during his career. Never trust the military; they’re always covering up the truth. He knew he was going to have to get a closer look inside the school if he was going to get the real story about what was going on. He knew the rest of the world would want documented proof of everything happening there. He needed proof there was more happening there than would be reported. He got out of the back of the truck and kept low. He didn’t want to alert any of the soldiers to his presence. He needed to get the full story. He knew it would be as big as the Titanic, Hiroshima and the Holocaust. He needed to get more pictures. They would be his proof something was fowl there. He watched as two trucks left the parking lot and exited back onto the road leading away from the school. The soldiers standing outside walked into the school and closed the doors behind them. He looked around and didn’t see any sign of more soldiers or zombies. This was the break he was waiting for. He quickly made his way across the street and ran for some bushes up against the building and crouched down behind them. He looked around. He was too far away to see inside where the people were located. The door to the school opened and a soldier threw a lit cigarette into the parking lot and then retreated back inside. He knew he had to get to that side of the building before more trucks came with more people. In a crouched position, he slowly made his way behind the bushes to the other side of the school until he came to a window he could see inside. Two soldiers were located by the door smoking cigarettes and laughing. Another soldier was pacing inside the gymnasium with his M16. He could see several people sitting quietly on one side staring at the soldier. He quickly snapped a couple of shots and ducked. He didn’t want the soldiers to see him.