The Z-Day Trilogy (Book 5): United States of Zombie

by Mark Cusco Ailes

  Inside the church, Pastor Bradley Zobrist watched as more people came bursting through the main doors. He held his Bible firmly in his hands as he tried to comprehend what was happening outside. All he knew was people were being attacked and being devoured. He had heard the word zombie mentioned several times, but he didn’t believe in such creatures. He knew that a park in Indiana had claimed to have created zombies, but he believed it was some kind of publicity stunt and they were being deceived by their claims. He didn’t even believe the rumors of the zombie attacks in Indiana. He laughed it off stating it was a War of the Worlds publicity stunt being concocted by Hollywood. He didn’t believe God would send zombies to the world to destroy it and murder His people. It wasn’t how he was taught. What was happening outside of the church was some rare kind of plague. A plague was something he definitely believed in. He tightened his grip on his Bible. God was now calling on him to provide comfort to those who were seeking refuge inside the church. He watched as two young women entered the church and made their way directly toward him.

  “You have to lock the doors!” screamed Jewel. “Zombies are killing people outside!”

  He stared at her curiously. She stood in front of him trying to catch her breath. He knew she thought she was telling him the truth. She was like the others. They all spent too much time watching horror movies and not enough time reading their Bibles. He wanted to tell them that, but he knew God wouldn’t want him to say something like that. She pleaded with him once more to lock the doors. He shook his head. “I can’t lock the doors. I can’t deny people entrance to the church. I assure you we’re safe inside here.”

  Jewel grabbed his arm forcibly. “No! We’re not!” She suddenly realized she had grabbed him and lessened her grip. “You have to listen to me! They’re heading this way! We have to lock the doors!”

  He looked toward the doors as more people came pouring in. “Look at all of God’s people inside. They’re all as afraid as you are. In a time of crisis, this is the place they came to. God is calling them here to His house of worship. I can’t deny any of them entrance to this place. God has the final word.”

  “But you don’t understand…”

  “God has the final word. I suggest you pray and ask God for strength.” He made his way past her toward the doors. He wanted to see what was happening outside the church.

  Jewel looked at Erica, shaking with fear. “He doesn’t believe us. He doesn’t understand what is happening out there. He’s going to get all of us killed. We need to leave. We’re not safe here.”

  “And go where? It’s going to be like this no matter where we go. I feel safer inside a church. It must be safe or everybody wouldn’t keep coming here.”

  Jewel watched as the pastor went outside. “It’s because they’re brainwashed.”

  “What?”

  “They’re brainwashed to come to this place of false security. They’re being led to their deaths.”

  “Come on, Jewel, you don’t actually believe that. I thought you believed in God. I know you used to go to church. Were you brainwashed when you attended?”

  Jewel thought for a moment. She went to church because she thought it was the right thing to do. She didn’t go to church because she was brainwashed, she went because she thought she was doing the right thing. She had lost her way along the way. Something told her to quit attending church and live life on her own terms. It was probably the reason she wasn’t getting far in life. She had turned her back on the only person who could actually help her. She had lost respect for the church and what it stood for. Look how she just treated the pastor. She had grabbed him like he didn’t matter. She wished she could take it back ̶ how she treated him, but it was too late. He probably thought less of her now that she had attacked him ̶ both physically and verbally. She felt ashamed. “You’re probably right, Erica. We should stay here for now. At least we’re not outside with the zombies.”

  Pastor Zobrist watched as more people parked their cars in the middle of the street and made their way inside the church. He stared down the street. It actually looked like a scene from a horror movie. Could I have been wrong all along? His faith was being tested. Shambling hordes of hungry horrors filled the streets like locusts. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He rubbed his eyes hoping his eyes were playing tricks on him. When he looked again, the horror remained. He looked upward. “God, are you testing my faith?” He thought about Ezekiel 28:23. “I will send a plague upon you and make blood flow in your streets.” His thoughts were interrupted by someone calling his name. He turned to look and saw he was being beckoned back inside the church. He turned to look back at the horde and saw a couple of zombies approaching. He ran back inside the church and watched as the doors closed and were locked. The thought of them being locked sickened him. He felt as though he was keeping people from getting inside to make peace with God. He wanted to go and unlock the doors, but something was holding him back. Is God giving me a sign that I need to keep them locked? He didn’t know for sure, but he knew he needed to keep the people safe who were already inside. God was going to keep them safe. God was the only one who could keep them safe.

  The street overflowed with a river of warm blood as a multitude of innocent people met their demise. The sound of ripping flesh filled the air where the birds once filled it with their joyous music. The hustle and bustle of everyday life ceased to exist. The dead came back to life and dominated the living. The living fled to any safe place they could find. Survival was the only thing that mattered. There was nowhere to hide for long. The legions of the undead were relentless. The law of the land was gone. Soon the only people who dared to venture into the violent streets were looters or those without a safe place to hide. The last news reports before the silence were warning people not to leave their hiding places. They warned them not to trust anybody. They warned them to guard their food and water. They warned them to guard their hiding places. They warned them to guard their loved ones. And they warned them not to trust the dead.

  Chapter Five

  “Settle down class,” said Mrs. Tracee Smith in her high school English class. She had been teaching at the high school in St. Louis for six years and enjoyed her line of work. It was the only thing she had seen herself doing her entire life. Most of the time her students listened to her when she told them to settle down, but today was different. Today, they were all focused on their cell phones as if something significant was going on in the world. She tried once again to gain their attention, but she wasn’t having any effect. “All right, what has your undivided attention on your phones?”

  “Something is happening in the city,” said one of her students. “The city is being closed.”

  The news didn’t sound right to Mrs. Smith. Nothing in the world should be able to close a whole city ̶ unless it was a terrorist attack or something worse. She moved down the aisle closest to her to look at one of the cell phones. She stood in horror as images of the city were being broadcast. What was being shown sickened her. It was a scene of chaos. People were attacking people and tearing them open and devouring their flesh and organs. At first, she thought her students were playing a cruel joke on her, but she recognized the man reporting the news. She was at a loss for words. She looked around the room at all of her students who were still intently watching their phones. She turned her attention toward one of the windows of her classroom. Whatever was actually happening in the city, she knew she had to keep her students safe. It was her responsibility to make sure they stayed safe. She continued to stare through the window and saw something that sent chills down her spine. She could barely make it out, but something was slowly moving across the parking lot. Whatever it was it was stumbling and moving erratic. She scoured the rest of the parking lot and saw more slow-moving objects appearing from behind the parked cars.

  “I honestly can’t believe it,” she said once she realized the objects were people ̶ people who were acting as though they were zombies. She turned away from the
window right as the principal’s voice came over the loud speaker.

  “I need everybody’s attention.” There were several seconds of awkward silence. “I’m not sure how to say this. There has been an attack on the city. The city has been officially closed until further notice. We have been instructed to lockdown the school, which means all the doors will be locked and nobody can leave their classrooms until further notice. I hope…” He was interrupted by the sound of somebody screaming. The intercom went silent. Mrs. Smith looked at her students. Fear knotted inside her. Something had happened in the main office and she didn’t know what it was. She stood fearing the worst. The thought of it tore at her insides. Had something or somebody got inside the school? She didn’t want to speculate what had happened, but she didn’t have any other explanation. Right now she had to keep her students safe until she knew what had happened. She looked at the door to the classroom and remembered it was unlocked. She felt the adrenaline course through her body sending her to the door to quickly lock it. Whatever had happened inside the main office wouldn’t be able to find its way to her classroom. She peered back at the window. There were several more of the slow-moving people in the parking lot. She watched as one tripped and crashed hard to the ground. Instead of getting back to its feet, it began crawling across the ground. Nothing was going to stand in its way of reaching the school. She suddenly heard the sound of wailing sirens and two police cars entered the parking lot and stopped behind the group of slow-moving people. She breathed a great sigh of relief. The cavalry had arrived to save them all. She turned away from the window and looked at her students who were looking at their phones once again. One of her students in the front row looked at her. Her name was Rose McGwire. Her face was void of expression as if fear had cruelly stolen it from her.

  “They’re saying there are zombies everywhere, Mrs. Smith. They’ve overtaken the city and killed everybody. Is that what just happened here? Did a zombie get the principal?”

  “What are you talking about, Rosie Cheeks?” asked Ralph Denton, the school bully. “Everybody knows there aren’t such things as zombies. Quit being such a mamma’s girl.”

  Mrs. Smith stared at Ralph with disgust. The last thing she needed right now was him making matters worse. She had had her experience with bullies over the years, and it amazed her how they never seemed to grow up no matter what grade they were in. “Ralph, now is not the time or place to pick on people. This is serious.” She made her way to the front of the classroom to address her students. “Look, I don’t know what is going on, but I do know we need to stay calm and not start attacking each other. I’m depending on each of you to be respectful and stay in your seats until we hear something. Can you all do that?” She looked around the room as each of her students nodded to let her know they were listening. “Thank you. For now, you can continue watching whatever you’re watching on your cell phones.” She looked back at the window. A cold worm of fear gnawed at her spine. She was expecting to see that the police had the situation in hand, but it wasn’t what had happened. She saw them being torn apart and devoured by the slow-moving people. She felt her insides turn with hate. Vomit steamed out of her like gasoline on a bonfire. The contents of her stomach upended on the floor. Embarrassed by what she had done, she looked apologetically at her students as several of them lost their lunch as well. The rest of the glass didn’t utter a word. They were covering their noses from the stench. They suddenly heard a muffled sound coming over the loud speaker and a gurgled voice, as if it were filled with blood, tell them to lock their doors. Then the voice went silent and was replaced by the sound of ripping flesh. The students sat in horror after what they had heard over the loud speaker. Once again the loud speaker went silent. Not one person knew how to respond to what had just happened.

  “The dead are rising and eating people,” joked Ralph. “John Russo’s creations are coming to life.”

  Mrs. Smith wanted to say something to him about his comment, but she kept her hand over her mouth trying to clear it from her earlier mishap. She couldn’t believe she had emptied her stomach contents in front of her class. She made her way to her desk and sat down. She laid her head down on a stack of papers that still needed to be graded and felt several tears form and cascade silently down her cheeks. She listened as Ralph continued to talk about John Russo and his zombie books. She had lost the willpower to care. Right now he was the least of her problems. She lifted her head and looked out the window. The zombies were no longer feasting on the bodies of the fallen police officers and were half way to the window. With blood drooling from mangled lips, the horde slowly kept moving toward the window. The horde was a shambling mass of mindless hunger. She looked at Ralph who was mimicking how a zombie walked. He appeared to be unaffected by all the horror, as if his mind had been switched off. She put her head back down as a loud scream echoed from the hallway alerting the students that something was happening outside of their classroom. Ralph ran over to the door to take a look. He reached for the lock to unlock the door.

  “Ralph, don’t you unlock that door!” screamed Mrs. Smith. “Sit back down this instant!”

  He turned to look at her. He gave her an I don’t care look, and took his hand off the lock. He only relented because he wasn’t sure exactly what was on the other side of the door. He looked out the small window and saw the wall across from the door was splattered with blood. The scene didn’t bother him, because he was used to blood. He lived on a farm and witnessed his mother killing chickens for their dinner. Once his mother let him chop the head off one of them. Blood shot upward from the amputation. He thought it was one of the coolest things he had ever seen. He even smeared some of its blood across his forehead as a reward for the kill. He heard chewing coming from outside the door, but he couldn’t see anything. His curiosity was getting the better of him. He stole a glance toward Mrs. Smith who had put her head back down on the stack of ungraded papers. Without giving her a chance to react, he reached for the lock, unlocked it, and quickly opened the door. He wasn’t expecting what was on the other side of the door. Mr. Jacob Sandstone, the school’s custodian, was bent over a young girl ripping her ribcage open. Ralph stood there as the zombie turned to look at him with hungry eyes. The young girl’s heart was protruding from its mouth. Ralph quickly closed the door and locked it. He turned to look at Mrs. Smith who was sitting there staring at him.

  “Do I want to know what you just saw, Ralph?” she asked, fearing the answer to her question. “Was it one of your zombies?”

  “It was Mr. Sandstone. He’s a zombie, and he killed one of the girls from down the hall. I think she was in Mrs. Grady’s class.”

  Mrs. Smith shook her head in disgust. “Would you please sit back down now, Ralph? We don’t need that thing getting inside here with us.” Her attention was drawn to the window as she heard scratching noises coming from it. Standing on the other side of it were dozens of zombies with their jaws snapping shut spasmodically, trying to gnaw through the glass. They were now in the worst case scenario. They were cutoff in both directions by the undead. The only things keeping them safe were a locked door and sheets of glass. She knew her students needed her now more than ever, but she didn’t have the strength to protect them. She felt too weak to stand back up and try to comfort them. Pounding coming from the locked door diverted her attention to it. She knew it was Mr. Sandstone trying to get to them inside the classroom.

  “Mrs. Smith, they’re saying the zombies are spreading across the country. They’re entering other states right now. They’re saying our military isn’t strong enough to stop them. There are too many zombies to stop them. They’re saying to stay inside and make sure all the doors and windows are locked. Mrs. Smith, I don’t want to die. Are we safe inside here?”

  Mrs. Smith realized she was the adult and had to try to act brave for her students. She slowly made it to her feet and walked to the front of her students. “Listen, I know we’re all afraid right now, but for right now we’re safe. I don’t th
ink any of them can get inside with us. We just need to remain calm and stay in our seats.”

  “What if we have to use the bathroom? And we don’t have any food or water. We won’t survive forever inside here without food and water.”

  Mrs. Smith hadn’t considered any of that. All three things posed a significant problem. They would have to eventually leave the classroom if they were going to survive. She looked at the window. There were many more zombies pressing their demented faces against the glass than there were before, and she knew there was at least one zombie in the hallway. If she could deal with that one, and if there weren’t any others to worry about, she could try to get her class to the cafeteria where they would have some supplies to last for a while. She thought about it. The cafeteria was down the hall from the main office. She knew there was a zombie inside the office which could pose a problem for them. She needed to make a decision. The longer she waited, the more likely they would run into trouble. So far her students hadn’t panicked. She was aware they knew the zombies couldn’t get inside the room with them, so most of them had their concentration diverted to their phones. She swiftly made her way to the door and stopped to listen. Everything was now silent. She was hopeful the zombie that was on the other side earlier had moved to another part of the school. She turned to look at her students.

  “We have to get to the cafeteria now. I don’t hear anything in the hallway, so if we move quickly, I think we’ll be all right. I need you all to turn off your phones now until we get there. We don’t want to chance anything hearing them while we’re out in the open.” She stared at her students as they looked blankly at her. “Please, we need to do this quickly. Turn off your cell phones.” She waited as they reluctantly turned off their phones. Everybody but Ralph complied. Instead, he left his on and slipped it into his pants pocket.