“Good enough for me.”
I looked down the way we came and saw that it was beginning to fill with Walkers. Time to find a new route, I thought. We headed down the road for another block until we turned right. We doubled back and I stopped. I got out of my car went back to the other three vehicles as they pulled up behind me and told them what I planned to do. I could tell that they didn't like it, but none of them offered up a better alternative. I ran back to my car and told Sarah what I was going to do and that she needed to go to one of the other cars.
“No, I’m staying right here,” she told me.
“Damn it,” I growled. “Just do what I tell you. Get mad later, but for now, just listen.” She reluctantly got out of the car and ran back to Matt’s tiny Subaru.
“So damn stubborn,” I said while climbing into the front seat. I began to slowly drive forward while honking my horn to try to make as much noise as I could. I didn’t want to draw any walkers to the area but I couldn’t think of a faster way to let any living humans know that we were here to help. The others kept their distance as I slowly proceeded down the street, drawing Walkers to my car as I went. I had to speed up as the crowd gathering around my car began to thicken. With my car surrounded I could pick out the faster Walkers from the slower ones. The older ones moved slowly due to rigor mortis setting in. The faster ones were either newly turned or were old enough for the rigor mortis to have dissipated.
Just as I was about to reach the end of the street I saw movement in one of the houses. Out of the corner of my eye, on the left side of the street, I saw a little girl who couldn't have been older than ten frantically waving out her front window. I slowed, opened my sunroof and while still keeping my foot on the gas, threw a can of pop onto the front yard of the house with the little girl. I then continued to lead the growing horde down the street and around the corner before speeding away. They were far enough that it would take some time for them to shuffle their way back to the rest of the group. We would be long gone before even the fastest of them got back.
Sarah, Thomas, and Christina entered the house I had tagged, and while Sarah grabbed the girl and Christina grabbed food, Thomas kept guard. I noted the ability of my friends to work as a team and my belief in our survival grew stronger.
I stood watching as the undead appeared from between buildings and back roads, their teeth clicking audibly even from down the block. I gestured for Sarah and our new arrival to climb into my car and we were on our way.
Once we were safely out of town Sarah filled me in on the girl’s situation. Her name was Michelle and she was eight. Apparently, Michelle’s parents had gone outside to see why everyone was running in the streets. They told her to stay inside and lock the door. She hadn’t seen her parents since, but there had been a lot of bad people trying to get into her house. She had locked the doors like her mom had told her to do. She said that if she was real quiet that they would soon go away. Michelle had been alone for only a day but I could tell that she was very shaken up over losing her parents. Sarah sat with Michelle, holding her, comforting her, and working to stop her tears as they flowed down her cheek and into the soft fur of the stuffed bear she clutched tightly to her small chest.
We rolled on through a couple more small towns, Clatskanie, Knappa, and Svensen, without incident. Sarah and Michelle talked and played in the backseat, and although the little girl's tears were gone her face remained red and her eyes were puffy. Her hands shook occasionally as she played patty-cake. I glanced in the rearview mirror and angled it so I could see the two girls and saw Sarah smile as Michelle whispered a joke in her ear.
The trip seemed to take no time at all, and before I knew it we were at my home. I had driven this route so many times that I took the opportunity to plan out what we needed to do, where we needed to go, and what supplies we needed to get. Even though my house was surrounded by forest we’d have to do our best to fortify it, and even though I had plenty of guns we’d need more if civilization wasn't able to get back on its feet.
We reached the top of the long driveway and the first thing I noticed was that we weren’t greeted by the sound of barking. The three dogs that ran loose on the property were normally the first to greet visitors and would have gone nuts at the site of so many cars, but all was eerily quiet. My dad must have taken them to the kennel and I was sure that they were dead as well, having no one to take care of them. Even if they weren’t dead, there was no way I could get to them. The kennel they were in was just too far away. I ran into the house and did a quick check through all the rooms. The house was empty, but the power still worked, the water was still running, and the place was relatively clean. I know it was stupid to worry about whether or not my house was clean, but this was the first time my friends would see it and that was just where my mind had jumped to.
I went back outside and quickly assigned duties. “Jason, I need you to get Justin and Thomas and start unloading the cars, we need everything brought inside. Matt, get a pen and paper and start cataloging all the food we have. I need to know how long it’s going to last spread evenly across eleven, I mean twelve people. Make sure none of it is going to expire soon, if it is we will eat that first.”
After the guys left to accomplish the tasks I assigned, I turned to the remaining group of girls. “Ok, ladies, go ahead and start unpacking your gear in my dad’s room. There’s enough space for all of you, and it’s the most secure room in the house.”
Sarah led the six other girls in the direction I pointed, hauling their stuff behind them. I ran through the checklist of our immediate concerns, and after checking off food, supplies, and lodging, I moved on to the next important thing in the house, the guns.
When I was thirteen my dad had taught me the combination to both the larger safe which held his rifles and shotgun as well as his smaller safe which held his pistol and two loaded magazines. I took those out then went to the family gun case which was opened by a key that was sitting on top of the case. This case held two more twelve gauge shotguns, two .306 rifles with scopes, an older .22 rifle, an old lever action Winchester, and my little brother's rodent rifle which shoots .17 HMR ammunition. I really liked the little rifle, it had less kick than a wimpy .22, but the shot packed more punch. It would be an ideal rifle for taking out walkers, the bullet would enter the brain and bounce around destroying everything in its path. I added the shotguns, hunting rifles, and my brother’s rifle to my ever growing armory. I left the Winchester and the .22 behind for efficacy concerns. The Winchester had too much of a kick to shoot quickly and the old .22 would jam far too often.
From my room I took my .306 scoped hunting rifle and shotgun off my wall and put it all in the corner of my room. I also took down my.22 and my compound hunting bow. This would be great for silent killing, I thought. It was a pity I was probably the only one who could use it effectively. Next, I brought out my small gun safe and took out my spare magazine and put it in my pocket. I didn’t think I’d need it but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Lastly, I gathered up all the ammo in the house and put it in my room as well. All in all, we had four shotguns, four scoped hunting rifles, two small caliber rifles, a compound bow, and two handguns. Ideally, we’d have each person equipped with at least one handgun with two spare magazines but we would have to wait and see what we could pick up. I checked to see if all the guns were clean and headed out to check on the others.
The guys had finished unloading all the supplies and were helping Matt inventory our food. I was exhausted, the stress of making it to safety had really drained any excess energy and I was already fighting off a hangover from the night before. I wanted to take a shower and go to sleep, but I knew there was still work to do and we couldn’t afford to waste any water. I told Matt and the guys that they could stop counting, confident we’d have enough food for a little while, and to join the rest of the group so we could talk.
“Alright everyone, it’s getting dark and I’m sure that you’re all hungry and probably tired. I’m going to make some
dinner for everyone. Then you can all go to bed if you’d like, or you can do whatever you want. Just stay inside. No one goes outside, alright?” I looked at everyone in the group individually, stressing this point. “Even though it is unlikely we’ll see any activity tonight, I don’t want to press our luck. We made it here unharmed and were even able to pull off an awesome rescue and pick up one more.” I glanced at Michelle, who was sitting in Sarah’s lap. “After dinner, the guys and I will set up a watch schedule. I’ll be taking the first watch.”
I went through the fridge pulled out chicken, steak, a couple pork chops, and hamburger. I cooked it all on the inside grill, not knowing how long we would have electricity to keep the food cold. Might as well eat all the good stuff first, I thought.
After dinner I rummaged through my dad’s hunting gear to look for a pair of binoculars, mine were missing from my room. I found the pair I was looking, plus something much better. I found an unopened box which contained a pair of night vision binoculars. These would come in very handy for night watch and, coupled with a night scope I got for Christmas two years ago, anyone on night guard duty would have no problem spotting anyone or anything that came around. Grabbing two sets of radios and checking their batteries, I headed out to the living room.
“Alright guys, I’m headed up to the roof to keep watch.” I gave Jason a radio. “Keep it on channel five, I’ll radio you in four hours for your shift.” I threw a radio to Sarah and Hannah. “Keep those on channel seven, I’ll radio you if there are any problems. You girls keep that door locked all night.” Hannah nodded, Sarah frowned before also nodding. I noticed the quick flash of annoyance on her face and made a note of the frown to ask her what’s up later. I had a date with a hopefully boring night on the roof.
I snatched a couple energy drinks from one of the boxes, a cold pork chop, my pistol, and a sleeping bag. I climbed up a ladder to the roof, laid out the sleeping bag and pulled the ladder up with me. I looked at my watch as it neared eight and started counting down the minutes before I could climb into my bed.
The time spent on the roof went by faster than I thought. I made a patrol of the area from the roof, careful not to fall, every twenty minutes or so, but I spent the majority of the time keeping watch on the driveway through the binoculars. When not on patrol I went over the plans that I had first thought of on the way home. I also thought of how we could better fortify the house and the surrounding area. We sat between two towns, Svensen and Astoria, and while they weren’t extremely populated, attacks were still a concern. If Astoria sounds familiar to you then you’ve probably heard of it in a movie or museum. Astoria is slightly famous for a few reasons. One being that it’s essentially the end of The Oregon Trail, another is that Astoria has been in a couple movies. The Goonies, Kindergarten Cop, Black Stallion, Short Circuit, and The Guardian among them. I wondered if anyone would be making new movies ever again.
My house is surrounded by woods and we have no neighbors for miles. My dad had this home built in the middle of nowhere because he didn’t like neighbors, like the ones we had at our last house. There are some ups and downs to living in the country. Noise is no problem and we had plenty of space, but water has to come from a well and we couldn’t get high-speed internet. I guess the fact that we live all the way out here, is now a major benefit, even not being dependent on the city water supply is extremely helpful.
After my four hours were up, I tossed the pork chop bone into the darkness, drained the last of my energy drink and radioed Jason. It took about a minute until I got a groggy reply.
“He... Hello?” I heard a grumbling voice.
“Jason, it’s your watch.”
“Ah, shit! Alright man, I’ll be right up.”
“Leave the radio for Justin, it’s his watch next. And remember to grab something to keep you awake.”
Jason’s head emerged above the roof and I helped him climb the rest of the way up. “Alright dude, make sure to make a perimeter sweep every twenty minutes or so. Focus on the driveway. There’s a round in the chamber but don’t really worry about using the rifle unless you see movement. Jason,” I locked eyes with him, “don’t fall asleep. You have four hours then you can radio Justin, wait for him to come up before leaving and tell him what I told you.” He nodded sleepily. I started climbing down the ladder. “Oh, and Jason,” I said looking up to him, “don’t fall off the roof.” He grinned and flipped me off.
I climbed the rest of the way down, walked inside, and promptly fell asleep. Just before passing out, I set an alarm for four hours, I wanted to make sure that the shift change went smoothly. I didn’t dream, you’d think that with all the shit that I’d seen, my brain would have something to say, but all was quiet. I woke up to my alarm beeping, quickly silencing it, I saw that it was just before four. About thirty seconds passed until I heard Jason’s voice over the radio.
“Justin.” He went unanswered. “Justin,” Jason said a little louder.
I heard Justin wake up and answer Jason. I heard Jason pass on the instructions, telling Justin to come up for his watch. Justin slowly walked over to Thomas and set the radio next to him and I heard him leave. A couple minutes later I heard Jason enter the house, lie down, and start snoring. I set my alarm to go off in four more hours and then went back to bed. Four hours later was a near repeat, only I didn’t go back to sleep. Instead I got up, grabbed a pair of binoculars and a scope for the rifle and I headed up the ladder with Thomas.
“Hey man,” I told Justin, “get inside and get some sleep, I’ll wake you in a couple hours. Make sure to use my brother’s room, it’ll be quietest.”
He nodded gratefully and almost tripped going down the ladder. I switched out the scopes on the rifle, gave Thomas the binoculars, and relayed the instructions on how to keep watch. “I’ll have some food brought up to you in a little while.”
“Thanks, James.”
“No problem,” I replied as I headed down the ladder.
“No man. Thank you,” he said solemnly.
I just nodded my head. I didn’t want him to feel like he owed me or that I had done anything special because I hadn’t. I mean, I just did what anyone would do, anyone who could recognize what was going on anyway. I had never sought the leadership role, not outside my family at least. If anything I simply lead by example, but I never wanted to run anything or anyone. This was new to me and I didn’t know if I could do it. The last thing I needed was someone like Thomas thinking I saved his life or that I was some kind of hero. If there was a hero amongst us, it was Sarah, she had saved Michelle after all and was already taking responsibility for the young girl.
I headed to my dad’s room turned girls dorm. It was time for everyone to get up, there was work to do and not enough time to do it. I knocked on the door and tried the handle. I nodded in approval when I found it locked. I knocked again and Christina answered. I told her that it was time for everyone to get up, eat, and start the day. She yawned, closed the door, and I headed to the kitchen. I made a huge pile of eggs, fried up a plate of bacon and sausage, and made a stack of wheat toast. We still had power but I didn’t know for how long. As I finished making the rest of the bacon, the girls began emerging. I told them to take what they wanted and after they had eaten that we needed to meet in the living room to talk about the day. Sarah and Michelle were the last to enter the kitchen and before she started to get food, I asked Sarah if she had time to talk. After helping Michelle get a plate of food she followed me to my sister’s empty room.
“How are you doing?” I asked.
“Considering that I can’t get a hold of my family, that we saw the dead walking around, and that I now have a little girl following me around, pretty good I guess,” she replied wryly.
“She does seem to like you.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Listen, I wanted to ask you about last night. What’s up?”
“What do you mean?” she said feigning ignorance.
“You seemed like you wanted to d
isagree with me. I just wanted to make sure you were ok.”
“Oh, that.”
“Yeah, that.”
“It was nothing.”
I knew she was lying. “No, it wasn’t. What’s up?”
“Well, you were treating us like we couldn’t do anything to help like we were children or something.”
I just kind of stood there, mouth slightly agape. “Look, Sarah, that wasn’t what I meant by that. We just didn’t need any more people for watch duty. I know you all have something to contribute, it’s just that most of you looked like you could use the sleep, and wherever you go Michelle is sure to follow. You did save her life after all.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Sarah, you heard her scream, you rescued her from the house, you saved her. What’s even more impressive is that you managed to keep her calm after she had lost her parents. I don’t even know how you managed to get her to come with you.”
“I might have done those things, but I wouldn’t have been able to do anything if it wasn’t for you and this little adventure.”
“Look, I didn’t do anything. I just…”
“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that,” she interrupted, “now, how about we get some food.” I stood staring as she left the room, my mind racing at her comments.
Survivors Series (Book 1): Heroes Aren't Born Page 3
