Just Another Day in the Zombie Apocalypse (Episode 7)

by L. C. Mortimer

  Just Another Day

  In the Zombie Apocalypse

  Episode 7

  L.C. Mortimer

  Copyright: L.C. Mortimer

  Published: 2017

  Publisher: Amazon Kindle

  The right of L. C. Mortimer to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

  Mark, Alice, Kyle, and Torrance thought things were finally settling down. They thought things were finally under control. They thought they were finally about to get a break from the dismal reality that is the apocalypse.

  They were wrong.

  When Mark discovers that a watcher has found them, they realize they have no choice but to hunt it down. They can't let the creature capture them. They can't let it take them captive. They can't let it kill them.

  They've come much too far for that.

  Just Another Day in the Zombie Apocalypse is an episodic serial and should be read in order. Each episode ends in a cliffhanger and leads directly into the next story.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  About the Author

  Brass Heart Floating

  Lost in the Apocalypse

  The Forgotten

  From the Author

  Chapter 1

  “Everything is going to be okay,” Alice said. “It’s going to be fine.”

  “Really?” Kyle raised an eyebrow. “Because it kind of sounds like it’s not. No offense,” he added. He walked to the front window - the one that wasn’t completely boarded up - with his .38 special and peeked outside.

  Everyone was silent as he looked outdoors. After a minute, he seemed satisfied that they were alone, and he returned to the group, set the gun down, and collapsed on the couch.

  Alice knew this was far from over.

  “Tell us what happened,” Torrance said to Mark, who was still zoning out on the couch. “What do you mean that it found us?”

  “The watcher,” he shook his head. “It was at the lake. It saw me.”

  “That doesn’t necessarily mean we’re in trouble,” Torrance leaned back in her seat and looked at Kyle and Alice in turn. “It just means we have to consider how well we’ve fortified the place.”

  “The watchers are different than regular zombies,” Kyle said. “They’re not dumb, Torrance. If they’ve figured out we’re here, what comes next? They might wait us out, or they might bring a shitload of other zombies here. What then? This place isn’t going to be able to stand against a hundred more Infected.”

  “He’s right,” Alice agreed. “We need some sort of plan. I stand by my comment. We’ll be okay. We’re smart, you guys. We’ve got this. We just need to come up with something.”

  “Fuck it. I’m drinking.” Kyle left the room and returned a minute later with a bottle of whiskey. He took a swig before handing the bottle to Mark. Alice wasn’t surprised when Mark took a long gulp. She took the bottle from him, took a sip, and then passed it on to Torrance.

  Mark wasn’t going to be much help here. He was still in shock. For some reason, the watcher had scared him more than it should have, more than was usual for something like this.

  “What do we know about them?” Alice said, taking charge. It was up to her now. Kyle might be King of the Lodge, but Mark was the leader of the group. If he wasn’t going to be able to communicate, it was all up to her. She had to figure out what was going on, had to figure out a way to save their weird little family.

  There was no doubt in her mind that’s what they had become: a family. Mark was the leader and Kyle was the nerdy little brother and Torrance was the beauty. Alice wasn’t really sure what her place was. Maybe she was just the awkward one: the annoying cousin who was invited along even though no one really wanted her.

  It didn’t matter.

  Not right now.

  No, all that mattered now was figuring out how they were going to be able to survive, how they were going to be able to keep going.

  Their world had changed so much in just a matter of days, but already Alice was growing used to this new reality. How long would it be before she didn’t remember her former life? How long would it be before she stopped wishing for things like electricity or cell phones? How long would it be before she stopped missing the Internet?

  There would come a time when those things no longer mattered to her. There would come a moment, Alice knew, when she would realize she was no longer that woman, that girl. At some point, things would change, and then there would be no going back.

  It was still nice to think that the world was going to change. The idea that there would be a cure was a nice thought, but it wasn’t reality. There was no help coming. There was no one to save them. They had to save themselves, and they would begin right now.

  “They’re creepy,” Torrance said.

  “And quiet,” Kyle added. “Even when they’re around the other Infected, the watchers never really seem to move much. They seem to appear and then vanish with no warning.”

  “We’ve seen them all over,” Alice pointed out. “It’s not just limited to right here.” She shuddered as she thought of all the close encounters they’d had with the Infected.

  “Maybe they were the original zombies,” Torrance said. “Maybe it started with them and then the slow, clumsy zombies are the ones the watchers Infected.”

  “Or the watchers could have been the ones closest to radioactive materials when the infection began,” Kyle added. When Alice looked at him, he shrugged. “I played a lot of video games. Don’t you judge me.”

  “I think they’re smart,” Alice said. “These ones don’t just shamble around and follow you when they hear noise.”

  “Maybe they can smell us,” Kyle commented. “It’s not unheard of, at least when it comes to undead lore.”

  “Doubt it,” Alice shook her head. “That’s too simple. Besides, if they could smell us, we would have been attacked a lot more. We only really got attacked by the Infected when we were being loud or noisy.”

  “Driving the car,” Kyle agreed. “Or walking around. You’re right. That doesn’t help us, though. There really should be some sort of guidebook for dealing with this sort of issue.”

  “The Undead Survival Guide,” Torrance chuckled. “Or Zombies for People Who Don’t Know Better.”

  “I could write that book,” Alice said thoughtfully. They were getting off topic, but she didn’t really care. It was good to relax for a few minutes and be able to breathe. She was tired, and she knew her friends were, too. They had run for so long and now, just when they finally thought they’d caught a break, they were discovering that safety was just an illusion.

  What should they do now?

  They could run again, but that would just lead to the same problem. They would run and run and run and run, but eventually, the undead would catch them. Eventually, they would be out of places to run. They couldn’t hide forever because at some point, they would be unable to keep going.

  Fatigue would catch up with them and
that would be it.

  They would become the creatures they were so desperately trying to avoid.

  “They’re not dumb,” Mark suddenly joined the conversation, and everyone turned to look at him. His eyes were weary as he shook his head slowly. “But we can’t keep running. This place is incredible,” he motioned around at the lodge.

  Alice had to agree.

  Kyle and Torrance had done well when they’d discovered this place. It was isolated, secluded, and big. There was more than enough space for them to store supplies, more than enough space for them to feel like they’d be able to build a normal life. This wasn’t some campout where they all had to squeeze in the same tent. No, at the lodge, they could each have their own space to sleep, to think, to read.

  “But being incredible isn’t enough. Having a place to stay isn’t enough. We have to be smarter than these things. We have to be faster.”

  “It didn’t come after you today,” Alice said thoughtfully, and Mark shook his head.

  “It just watched me. It just stood there, staring at me.”

  “It’s making a plan,” Torrance said. “It’s learning about us, and then it’s going to make a plan.”

  “I don’t know what the hell it’s going to do,” Mark said, “but I don’t like it. We need to figure out its next move before it’s too late. We need to decide what we’re going to do before it kills all of us.”

  “Kyle and I will go scout,” Alice offered. “We’ll go see what we can learn about it.”

  “That is literally a terrible idea,” Mark shook his head. “No offense, but neither one of you is exactly trained when it comes to recon.”

  Alice narrowed her eyes. “Then teach us, or come with us. Either way, we need to find out more about these things. I want to know what direction it’s coming from, where it lives, what it wants. Obviously, it doesn’t want to just attack us or it would have already.”

  “The slow ones seem to just attack because they’re hungry or bored,” Kyle agreed. “But the watchful ones? Those Infected are intelligent. They plan and think and if we want to have a chance at keeping our home safe, we need to figure out a way to beat them.”

  Mark nodded. “Let’s go, then.”

  Kyle went to grab his gun and Torrance adjusted her position on the couch. Since her leg was still injured, she’d obviously be staying at the lodge. She was a liability outside, and one they couldn’t afford. Alice knew without anyone having to say it that if Torrance was hurt outdoors and an Infected was coming, there would be a hard choice to make.

  No one was going to sacrifice their own safety to save Torrance from a zombie.

  Torrance seemed to know it, too, seemed to understand that in some ways, she was still the outsider of the group. It wasn’t right or fair, but it was their reality.

  Alice got up and went to decide which weapons she would bring with her. She was silent as she considered her options. She wasn’t really expecting to have to fight anything today: the forest tended to be fairly quiet. Occasionally, there would be a wandering zombie, but it was usually only one or two and they were always easy to take down.

  If they actually came across one of the watchers, though, they would have to be prepared. Alice didn’t know how they fought or how fast they were. Maybe she would want a gun, especially if she was going to shoot from a distance. On the other hand, if she found herself engaging in hand-to-hand combat, she would want something a little different.

  Maybe she would bring her baseball bat: the one she’d decked out.

  “Trouble choosing?” Mark appeared beside her. “I always have a hard time, too.”

  “You worried me,” Alice told him.

  “It scared me.”

  “You never get scared.”

  “No, I just never react when I’m scared. Taking the time to be afraid, to shake and shiver and cower, those are the things that get you killed on the battlefield. I try to save the feeling scared stuff for later, when there’s no risk.”

  “You’re brave, Mark, but nobody faults you for feeling afraid sometimes. It’s just that we weren’t expecting it, not from you.”

  “I’m only human, Alice.”

  She looked at his strong physique, at his broad shoulders, at his tired smile, and nodded.

  “I guess sometimes we just forget.”

  Chapter 2

  Mark wasn’t supposed to be the one who felt afraid. He’d been in the strange world of the Infected long enough to know better, but this knowledge didn’t change his experience. He had been caught off guard to see the creature watching him, and it had spooked him. The watcher had gotten inside his head somehow, and Mark hated how weak that made him feel.

  He went to his bedroom and got dressed. Jeans, shirt, flannel, socks, and sturdy boots made him feel a little more protected. Anything was better than being nude in the wild with a bunch of undead creatures roaming around. He needed something – anything – to act as a layer of protection between him and the world right now.

  The truth was that the world he lived in now was no longer a place he recognized.

  He finished dressing and returned to the lobby to join Alice and Kyle. He’d had a little bit of time to calm down and relax, and he was ready when the three of them headed out the front door. Torrance would stay behind, of course, because she was still limping and in pain.

  Mark knew one of the hardest things to do when you were injured was to sit on your ass and heal, but it was more important now than ever that Torrance do exactly that.

  “Which way?” Alice asked when they were outside. The sun was starting to set, so they needed to be quick. None of them really wanted to be out past dark.

  “Toward the lake,” Mark said, and they walked silently toward the water. He showed them where he was bathing and where he had spotted the watcher. An image of the creature with its hollow face and dark lips blasted through his memory, and Mark fought to push away the image. He didn’t need to think about that right now. The Infected had already taken his peace. Mark didn’t need to let it take his sanity, too.

  “I bet it was the same one I saw before,” Kyle said. “The one that kept Torrance and me from coming back for you.”

  “Most likely,” Mark agreed. “How many of these things could there be?”

  They stared at the forest’s edge across the calm waters. What other dangers were lurking in the darkness? How many more watchers were living in there?

  “We could explore the forest, but should wait until it’s light out,” Alice said.

  “Probably not the best idea,” Kyle shook his head. “It’s a smart creature, Alice. What if it’s laid some sort of trap? What if it wants us to come after it?”

  “It definitely saw me notice it,” Mark pointed out. “And it didn’t run or hide. It just kept watching me until I left.”

  “That’s what they do,” Kyle said. “They watch, and they wait, and they hunt. They aren’t brainless for some reason.”

  They walked along the edge of the water for a bit, staring across the lake, but they didn’t notice any other zombies or Infected walking around. Mark thought the lake was a good security feature, a good deterrent. It wasn’t as good as a wall or fence would be, but those things would take time to build: time they didn’t have.

  Winter would be here soon, and with it, snow and storms. He’d been in Kansas long enough to know that the weather would be unpredictable and dangerous. Not only did they need to find this damn watcher, but the group needed to figure out how they were going to survive the winter, too.

  Finding food would be nearly impossible once the first snow fell. They wouldn’t be able to take the car out, either, because there weren’t going to be snowplows clearing the roads and there wasn’t going to be any way to cover their tracks coming back to their home.

  The group took the canoe and crossed the water to the side of the lake with the forest. They didn’t enter the darkness of the trees, but they walked along the shore. Mark found footprints where the watcher had been
standing.

  “Big guy,” Kyle commented, looking at the shoeprints.

  “Probably my height,” Mark agreed. “But thinner. He looked frail and weak, but it’s likely an illusion. Even the regular walkers seem to be stronger in death than they ever were in life.”

  “You gain a lot of strength when you’re already dead,” Alice said. “The fear of dying is what holds us back most of the time. They don’t have that fear. They’ve already lost everything.”

  “The footprints go back into the woods,” Kyle pointed out. “Where do you think it lives?”

  “Where do any of them live?” Mark shook his head. “It’s not like they sleep.”

  “We don’t really know that,” Alice pointed out quietly. “It’s not like we watch them all the time. Maybe they do need to sleep. Maybe they have a nest or something somewhere.”

  “Like a vampire nest?” Kyle raised an eyebrow, and Alice nodded.

  They walked along the shore for a few more minutes. The watcher didn’t return and they didn’t notice anything else out of the ordinary, but the sun was beginning to set.

  “We should come back tomorrow at dawn,” Mark said. “And go into the woods. I want to know where it’s staying and how many more of these things there are.”

  “We need to set some traps,” Alice said quietly, looking around. “It won’t be hard, but we’ll want to know if there’s anything over here. We need some way to alert ourselves if the Infected decide to come pay us a visit.”

  “I’m sure Kyle has some ideas. All those years of watching movies with treasure hunters surely must have given him some ideas for clever booby traps.”

  “They have,” Kyle grinned, not even looking embarrassed about the fact that Mark had basically called him out for being a nerd. He was good natured, even still, and Mark liked that. He looked around once more, still feeling like they were missing something, but there was no more that could be done tonight.

  They got back in the canoe and crossed the water back to the little cabins. They pulled the canoe up onto the shore and hid it behind a couple of trees. Then they traipsed back through their side of the woods up to the lodge.