Dead, We Are

by Jimmy Bird

  The gun fire stopped outside and automatically figured that they had been overrun by the zombies, which meant that we were about to run out of time. Without any further hesitation I raced towards Seth. When I was within arm’s reach I swung the bat as hard as I could and connected with the top most zombies’ head. With a loud crack the zombies’ head turned in an impossible angle as it's body rolled off the dog pile.

  Seth used his strength to lift the last zombie up for me. I swung the bat as hard as I could for a second time. I hit the zombie on the side of the head so hard that it actually went flying off. Blood poured from the severed neck onto Seth body. He freaked out and kicked the headless body off of him. I quickly reached down to help him up. Without saying a word, I turned and raced toward the last zombie and my family.

  Jesse had managed to hold the last zombie off by poking it in the chest, but was quickly giving ground. To his credit, Jesse had made sure that he stayed between the zombie and everyone else. As he continued to back up he lost his footing on something and fell backwards. The zombie immediately jumped on him.

  Seeing Jesse on the ground I willed myself to run even faster. I made it to them just as the zombie leaned down and opened his mouth. Jesse had put his right arm up in an instinctive defensive gesture as he tried to stop the zombie. I lifted the bat up as I continued to run. I was within a few steps whenever I swung the bat down in a desperation swing, trying to beat the zombie before he could bite down.

  I hit the zombie of the back of the head with such a force that it’s head snapped forward. Jesse screamed at that exact moment. The zombie's body went limp. I reached down and pulled the zombie off of him. I let go of the body and stood over it with my bat raised, ready to swing down. I needed to make sure that it wouldn't get back up.

  When it didn't move I relaxed just a little and allowed myself to look over at Jesse. I noticed that Jesse was holding his right arm with a pained expression on his face. I could see blood slowly run down his shirt. I dropped the bat and knelt down next to him to see what the issue was.

  I asked Jesse if I could see his injury. With a dazed look in his eyes he shook his head to indicate "No." Thinking back on it, I think that he was most likely in shock. Probably from the events that had just had happened or from the pain, maybe even a combination of both.

  He was hesitant, but with our mom's soothing words he reluctantly extended his shaking right arm. He grimaced in pain as I saw that his forearm had little gashes in it that formed a pattern. It looked like the shape of a mouth. I closed my eyes and lowered my head as I realized that I had been too late to save him.

  I looked up at the worried eyes of the others as I automatically began to rerun the scene over in my head. I wasn't entirely sure what happened, but I did know that the zombie had either bit down as my bat came racing down towards it's head or the momentum from the bat caused it to bite down. I realized that it didn’t matter because Jesse still got bit and it was entirely my fault.

  My mom got over her initial shock and ran over toward my younger brother. She leaned down to examine his arm and after a quick inspection she asked me if the Warehouse had a clinic. I told her that it did, but quickly pointed out that the rest of the building hadn’t been cleared from any other threat yet.

  I didn’t have time to act on the matter because the Warehouse door opened. Since I hadn't heard any gun fire I expected the worse. My first thought was that I was going to have to make a last stand while everyone else ran for safety. I stood up and got my bat ready.

  Let's just say that I was more then surprised on who walked in. It seemed that while I had been inside dealing with the three zombies most of the Council members had arrived. They eliminated the outside threat. To top it all off they had managed to safely shut down the motion detectors and close the gate. Artie, Ken, James, and Ruff decided to remain outside to make sure that all of the zombies inside the gate were truly dead. I asked Danny and John to search the building for any other zombies while I took Jesse to the clinic.

  My mom used one of our clean shop rags to try and stop the bleeding that had somehow started to gush from his open wound. I reached down and helped Jesse to his feet. He took a couple of steps before he got light headed and started to fall. I reached over and grabbed his left arm to help him keep his balance. After looking him over once again we all realized that he had quickly become pale.

  I immediately knew what was happening to him. After what happened to my wife and son, I knew that we were on a time limit and picked Jesse up in my arms. I carried him as fast as I could towards the clinic while the blood continued to flow from his open wound. The clinic was located in the central part of the Warehouse and just so happens to be across a forklift traffic roadway next to the break room. The forklift roadway was a road designated for just forklift traffic only to keep people from walking on it before the apocalypse. It was an OSHA safety thing. Safety? Seems so trivial now doesn't it?

  Luckily, the door to the clinic was unlocked. It used the same type of magnetic keycard as the outside gate. Unfortunately, I had left mine in the SUV. I blamed it on the mass hysteria and zombies.

  Once inside the clinic I laid Jesse down on the bed while my mom and Mia’s nursing instincts kicked in. Their motions became a blur as they frantically searched for medical supplies such as peroxide and gauze. They were looking for anything that would help clean the wound after they had finally stopped the bleeding. The problem was that they were unsuccessful in stopping the bleeding. His blood had somehow thinned out so much that they couldn't cauterize the wound. It seemed that no matter what they tried to do they just couldn't stop the blood from flowing. My mom realized at that exact moment that she couldn't save him.

  The gravity of the situation hit my mom like a brick as she sat down next to her dying son. Tears slowly rolled down her cheek as she looked over his ever paling face. She brushed the hair out of his face as she tried to talk to him in a calm voice but failed. She couldn't control her emotions as she lowered her head to his shoulder and finally broke down. Jesse in the meantime had turned a ghostly pale color as he fell into a coma type of state.

  Mia had become very emotional at the sight of Jesse and walked out. She was pulling her cell phone out of her pocket as she went through the doorway. I wasn't trying to be nosy, but from what I heard she had repeatedly tried to call her recently married husband, Logan. She wasn't able to get through because the line was down. She stopped just outside the doorway and put her phone back in her pocket. With tears running down her cheeks she rushed toward the bathroom.

  I had stayed in the corner of the clinic as I watched helplessly while my mom and Mia tried to save Jesse. Guilt ate at my insides knowing that it was my fault that my mom had lost one of her children. It had hit me so bad that I couldn’t stand there silent anymore.

  I walked over to my brother and knelt down next to my mom. I looked at Jesse's pale face as I fought back tears, my own tears. I leaned forward to whisper in his ear, but my words got caught in my throat. I fought hard to calm myself down. I couldn't get the words out so I silently apologized for everything that had happened to him. I stood up and leaned over him. I bent down and kissed his sweat drenched forehead. I forced myself to speak as I asked out loud for his forgiveness. He didn't respond, but my attempt to apologize didn't go unnoticed by my mom.

  She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. She tried to correct me by saying that what had happened to Jesse wasn't my fault, but I knew better. I tried to force a smile, but failed as I started by saying that coming to the Warehouse was my idea. Before I could finish she cut me off. She smiled sadly up at me and told me to stop it. I reached down and hugged her. I choked up as I told her that I was sorry.

  I knew that I had to do something to keep my mind off of everything that had just happened with my wife, my son, and now my brother. I turned and left the clinic. Once outside I turned toward the break room. Before I could take two steps I noticed that my nephew Seth was all by himself leaning against the
wall to my left. It looked like he was trying to keep himself from crying. I walked up to him and asked if he was alright.

  He looked up at me as if I had interrupted a deep thought. Shock, he glanced at me as if he just noticed me standing there for the first time. He answered by nodding his head up and down signaling that everything was okay. I reached out to give him a hug and was welcomed with a hug of my own. He gripped my shoulders tight as we hugged.

  After a few long seconds we let go of each other and he turned his head away. I could see the tears that he had been trying so hard to control. I told him that it was okay for him to cry as I fought back tears of my own. I informed him that every man cried, especially with as much loss as we had just experienced.

  He finally let down his guard as he told me that it wasn’t just that, it was a combination of many things. He stopped talking as he choked up. I stood there silently as I waited for him to continue. I think that he finally caught on that I wasn’t going to interrupt him and continued.

  He took a deep breath in order to gather his thoughts and a grip on his emotions before he began. I patiently watched as he looked down at his feet before he looked back up at me. He told me that he knew that he was supposed to be strong for everyone, but he missed his dad and the rest of his family. His eyes started to tear up as he choked on his words. He looked down once again as he tried to control his emotions.

  I continued to stand there silently and wait for him to continue. After a few long seconds he blurted out what was truly on his mind. Seth stated that he was able to reach his dad on his cell phone momentarily when they were at the gate, but got disconnected before he could tell his dad where he was. Seth admitted that he was worried for his dad because he had heard a horrifying background noise just before the line went down. He immediately tried redialing the number, but received no answer. Seth became silent once again as he searched for his next words.

  He stated that he was sure that his dad wasn't dead, he could feel it in his heart, but after seeing Jesse. He now had his doubts. I didn't say a word as I reached out toward him again. I hugged him even tighter then the first time. I tried to make myself sound reassuring as I told him that I was sure that his dad was still alive. I whispered in Seth ear that his dad was tough and wouldn't stop until he found him and his sister.

  Seth seemed to accept what I had told him and pulled away from me. With a new resolve he wiped his tears away with the back of his hand as he asked if there was anything for him to do. I thought about it for a second and asked him to watch over Jesse.

  I told him that I didn't think that Jesse had long to live and needed to make sure that he didn't return as a zombie. I informed him that Nana Jean (my mom) was still with him. I told him that it was one of the most important jobs that we had at the moment because if he turned then it could mean the end of us all. He accepted his new job, but was uncomfortable with it. I knew how he felt. Could he kill his Uncle Jesse or the thing Jesse would become? I'm not sure that I could.

  After talking with Seth I knew that my own resolve to continue had been restored, I had a job to do. With the parking lot secure I could finally inspect who the zombies found inside the Warehouse were. Two of the zombies looked like neighborhood teenagers, but the other one looked like a familiar office management employee. Unfortunately, I didn’t know his name. I didn't know everyone who worked in the office area.

  I speculated that the employee was in the middle of locking up the Warehouse whenever the two teenagers arrived at the gate seeking help. I think that they were being chased by a mob of zombies and ran toward the safety of the Warehouse. I think that they had seen the employee leaving the building and climbed the gate for safety. I think that seeing the zombies at the gate behind the two teenagers had prompted the employee to allow them inside. I then assumed that one of the teenagers had already been bitten, but he didn’t turn until they were inside. That would explain why the zombie herd was gathered at the gate when my sister arrived. It would also explain why the three zombies were already inside the Warehouse with the door unlocked.

  It was a good theory and no one could find any fault with my logic. We decided that we weren't going to take any chances in anymore surprises from unwanted guest and decided to completely search the Warehouse. We paired up and searched the remainder of the building. Luckily, we found nothing else. Our next order of business was to make sure that it was safely secure.

  After hours of work we finally felt that the Warehouse was secure enough for the night, both the inside and out. Exhausted, we went up to the break room to relax. We sat down to discuss what had happened to each of us after we had left the Warehouse just those few hours before.

  Sadly, I started off by telling them my story of how I had lost my wife, oldest child, and now my fifteen year old brother. I fought back tears as my guilt overwhelmed me. I informed them how my six year old boy had gotten bit trying to protect his little sister while I was preoccupied trying to get my three year old twins into the car.

  Silently, I blamed myself for his and his mother’s deaths. I knew that if I had only looked to see if there was another zombie when we ran out of the garage then maybe my son and wife would still be alive. As for my younger brother Jesse, I couldn’t help, but think that if I had swung the bat at a different angle then maybe he wouldn’t have gotten bit either. It was hard to tell if the zombie had already started to bite down whenever I had swung the bat, but in my mind I was to be blamed for his death. I knew that there were a lot of what-ifs, but in my mind I could have prevented them all.

  When I finished speaking I looked down at my feet trying to avoid eye contact. After no one spoke I looked up and noticed that everyone was sympathetic to my story because they all had stories of their own. My story encouraged everyone to share their own stories. Ruff, who was sitting immediately to my right, started it off.

  3 RUFF

  Ruff had a different story to tell then mine. You see his home looked practically untouched when he got there. Matter of fact if it wasn’t for us talking on the phone then he wouldn’t have even known about the zombie infestation. I’m not even sure how that could have been possible except that maybe it was because his housing addition was a little off the beaten path. I'll push that theory even further by saying that maybe it was because his house just happened to be on the far side of his neighborhood.

  Regardless of the reason his daughter was supposed to have been over there with his grandson visiting with her mom. After getting off the phone with me Ruff couldn't get in touch with his wife or daughter. He was going to tell them to get their stuff ready, but he had to settle for showing up expectantly. Afterwards he knew that he couldn’t have timed his arrival to his house any better.

  Before I go any further let me tell you his detailed story. You see he left the Warehouse just like everyone else did. After talking with me he called his home, wife’s cell phone, and daughter's cell phone, but received no answer. Worried about the reason for a lack of response he sped down the highway as fast as he could. It was only when he turned into his housing addition that he allowed himself a glimmer of hope.

  Everything on the main street seemed normal or should I say as normal as it could be during the middle of a work day. That was until he realized that he was mistaken. It wasn’t normal at all. He didn’t notice the normal summer activities such as landscaping people mowing grass or kids playing outside in their yards. Not seeing a single soul around was kind of disturbing, but he decided that since it was mid-day he suspected that most everyone was most likely hiding from the heat inside their air conditioned homes.

  By the time he made it to his street both sides of the road were deserted, no signs of people or their cars. He knew that he was right the first time because something was wrong, very wrong. He slowly crept up his street looking for any sign of danger. He stayed that way until he pulled in front of his driveway and stopped. He waited out in the street because he stated that he had a bad feeling. He stated that he thought that the f
eeling he sensed was of some kind of immediate danger detector. So Instead of rushing inside he wanted to look around, searching for that feeling of danger. Luckily for him, he didn't find any.

  He suspiciously pulled up into his driveway and slowly got out of his vehicle. He once again looked around trying to get a feel for any sign of immediate danger, but once again none came. He did however still had the sinking feeling that something was terribly wrong and decided to go inside to get his wife, daughter, and grandson before it was too late.

  He slowly made his way towards his front door as he continued to glance behind him, searching for the source of his uneasiness. No matter what he did he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. By the time he reached the front door he noticed that it was cracked opened. He automatically knew that he was too late.

  He slowly pushed opened the door and immediately expected danger. Once again he found nothing. As he ventured into his house he quietly shut the door behind him. He looked around, but saw nothing. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

  After standing perfectly still in the entrance way he realized that it was too quiet. Wait a minute. Where were his two dogs? They were usually kept inside on a hot day, which meant that they should have been there to greet him. So, where were they? His bad feeling resurfaced.

  He crept down the entrance hallway until he came across the first spare bedroom, which just happened to be his man cave. As quietly as he could he opened the door and poked his head into the room. What he found was something out of a grotesque horror movie. A scene that he said would haunt his dreams for many nights to come.

  It didn't start that way though. Inside the room was his two dogs and a strange looking woman. They looked like they were covered in something red and cuddling with the woman in the far corner of the room, wedged between his TV stand and bookcase. He noticed a red pool underneath all of them. Ruff whistled as quietly as he could as he tried to call his dogs to him. They didn't respond, they didn't even move. They laid there motionless.