Dead of Knight: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale

by Beard, Stephen J.

  I will never forgive myself for what I did to Tabby. By the time we pulled up, she had thrown up a second time.

  At the school, I pulled up, parked illegally and ran inside. I was a little surprised there were no other parents there to get their children. I guess most people have real jobs and don’t have time to sit and watch crazy shit like this as it happens live on TV. Malcolm got to the office the same time I did.

  “Hey buddy. Got all your stuff?” I asked.

  “Yeah, Dad. Where are we going?”

  “Off to get your Mom.”

  “Why? Is it because those people ate those other people?” I stopped in my tracks just outside the door to the school.

  “How do you know about that?”

  “DJ has a phone and we watched it at recess. It was cool. And gross. But mostly cool.”

  Why does a kid in elementary school need a Smartphone? And why doesn’t it have some sort of parental controls? Oh, yeah, because that would require some actual parenting.

  “Mal, you understand right? It’s not cool. It’s real. It’s not a movie or video game. You got that, right? It’s really happening.”

  “Yeah, I understand.” He kicked at some unseen thing on the ground.

  When we reached the car, Tabby was still crying. She threw her arms around Mal and held on. “I’m sorry Tabby,” I said. “I just didn’t know how to explain it to you. But showing that video to you was wrong. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “That really happened, Dad? You’re not playing some sort of game with me? It’s not a joke?”

  “Not a joke honey. I wouldn’t do that. This is serious.”

  “Are you scared, Daddy?” How can I tell my child the truth when I’m supposed to be the strong one?

  “Yeah, I’m scared. That’s why I wanted to get you and Mal. That’s why we’re going to get your mom. We all need to be together. For each other. But, I shouldn’t have shown you that video. I’m sorry.”

  “I wouldn’t have believed you if I hadn’t seen it for myself.” She chuckled a little. “I am always asking you to treat me as an adult…”

  “That’s my girl.” I hugged both of them for a full minute. Then I tossed the floor mat that Tabby had thrown up on out onto the ground. That simple act of discarding something like the floor mat seemed to have an effect on the kids. They shared a look.

  “Are we going to get Mom now?” asked Tabby.

  “We are going to get Mom.”

  “Call me.” I texted my wife. After two minutes, the phone rang.

  “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

  “No, honey. Everything is not okay. Don’t you have the news on?”

  “No, we got busy at work.”

  “Well, put it on now. We are coming to you. Fifteen minutes.” I could’ve met her somewhere but I really just wanted us to all be in the same place as soon as possible.

  My wife’s office was above one of the shops in a quaint little shopping area near a high end beach community. I pulled up outside the building and hurried inside without locking the SUV. Bursting through the office door with the kids struggling to keep up, the receptionist recognized me.

  “Hi, Mr. Knight. Oh, wait. Sir? You need a visitor’s ID badge.”

  “Not today. We’re not going to be here long enough.” I continued past the front desk towards my wife. Her office was a typical layout with offices around the outside walls and cubicles in the middle of the room.

  There were several people gathered around my wife’s desk with their eyes glued to the computer monitor. It looked like the same video that got me off the couch earlier. A couple of them were crying and one was making a whimpering sound. The others just stared at the screen with their jaws hanging open. ‘So, that’s what I looked like on the couch…’ I said to myself.

  “Sam, we need to leave. Now.” Apparently, no one had heard us come up to the desk and a few looked startled. The woman that was whimpering ran back to her desk. Sam looked like she might protest when she saw the kids behind me. She looked at their faces, seeing the concern and fear. Then she looked back at me. I’m sure my face showed the same concern and fear. She realized that I was serious.

  “Yeah,” she said. “We need to leave.”

  “Grab anything you can’t live without, but do it quickly.”

  “You sound like I might not be coming back.” The look on my face must’ve said what I didn’t because she grabbed a couple of things and then her coat. “Are we going straight home?”

  “No, we need to stop at the store and get a few things.” We were almost outside.

  “Okay, I’ll take the kids and head home. You stop and get what you want.”

  “No, Samantha. Listen to me, please.” I took a breath and continued. “We stay together as much as we can. I’ll pull around to your SUV and you follow me to the grocery store. We’ll get whatever we can fit into the vehicles. Kids, go with your Mom. Hurry up.” Mal looked as if he was going to ask to come with me but saw the look on my face and thought better of it. He spun on his heels and ran to catch up to the girls.

  After pulling around for Sam to follow me, we headed towards the only grocery store located on the way home. I went over a mental checklist in my head. I’ve seen enough Doomsday Preppers on TV to know that the important stuff is water, food, shelter and security. We could get water and food at the Bi-Lo store on the way home. The house was both shelter and security. I only hoped it would be enough.

  Sam’s car pulled in next to mine in the lot at the Bi-Lo. It was not overly busy. That was good news for us but not so good for everyone else who might show up all at once when they got home and saw the news. I got out and kept a brisk pace toward the entrance hoping they would take the hint and keep up. They did.

  “Ryan, did you make Tabitha watch the video of the people in Boston?” Oh, shit.

  “Yeah, Sam. I did. She’s not a kid anymore and she needs to know what’s going on. I made a decision. It worked out. She’s fine.” I winked at my daughter and got a smile. “Sam and Tabby, each of you get a cart. Mal, can you handle a full cart?” He nodded. I knew he couldn’t but he had to feel like he was contributing. “You stay with me. Mal, Tab, this is serious. I need both of you to be on your best behavior and help out, OK?” They both nodded. “Sam, grab only what we need. No frozen stuff, nothing fresh, no perishables. Nothing that’ll spoil. We need lots of water. Fill your cart. Cases and gallon jugs, both. We can refill the jugs easier. Tab, get whatever you two ladies need as far as feminine products. Don’t forget toilet paper. And medical supplies. Meet back here in a few minutes. Go.”

  Mal and I headed the other way to the canned goods. “Mal, help me out here. What veggies don’t you eat?”

  “I don’t like peas or Brussels’ sprouts.”

  “Don’t worry son. No one really likes Brussels sprouts.”

  We grabbed can after can of vegetables. Corn, green beans, tomatoes, potatoes; almost everything they had. Mal started to grab canned beans but I stopped him and pointed out the bags of dried beans.

  “They’ll last longer than the cans, they’re lighter and you get more that way.” So, we grabbed all the bags of beans and rice they had. It looked like a lot but I think I knew better. Then, on to the canned meats. I don’t think the children had ever actually tasted SPAM but it isn’t bad. We grabbed all the SPAM and all the canned chicken, tuna and salmon we could find. It seemed like a lot but the cart wasn’t filling up fast enough.

  I was beginning to feel anxious about the girls and our time. Oh, there was the baking aisle. Condensed and evaporated milk. I don’t know the difference but I got both. Sugar and salt. Lots of salt. Spices: thyme, paprika, oregano, rosemary and anything else I’d ever heard of. Then I paused and thought about what else I needed. It was a mistake. My mind flooded with random things. A big pot for cooking over a fire. Paper plates so we don’t waste water cleaning up the ceramic ones. Bleach for making water safe to drink. Candles and lighters or matches. Batteries. Can�
�t forget batteries. Did we have several manual can openers? New knives in case we have to skin game. Skin game? Who did I think I was? I’m not sure I could filet a fish after all these years.

  Now my head was spinning. Back up front to get the girls. They were waiting.

  “How’d you do?” I asked.

  “We got everything you wanted,” replied Sam.

  I went through the cart. Not enough medical supplies or feminine products. Not enough water either. Damn.

  “Sam, do tampons go bad?”

  “What? No.”

  “Pretend that my worst case scenario is what’s going to happen, okay?”

  “What’s your worst case?”

  “That we will never be able to come back here.” She gave me that look, you know the look…

  “Okay, I’ll go back.”

  “No. Tabitha put all your stuff in Mal’s cart. It’ll be close but I think it’ll fit. Now, go fill your cart with water. Mal, go with her. No fighting. Come right back here when you’re done. Go”

  Sam and I headed back to the medical aisle and took the rest of the tampons. Then we got more medical supplies. Gauze, antibiotic cream, toothpaste and brushes, aspirin, more gauze, hand sanitizer, multi vitamins, anti-itch cream, etc. Then we got candles, lighters and bleach. Then back to the front where Tab and Mal are waiting. We got into line and started putting stuff on a conveyor belt.

  “You’re gonna need help to bag all this.” The checkout clerk just stared at first then called for help. Oh, look. Batteries. For once, I was glad for the stuff they put at the register. Other shoppers were giving us strange looks. Apparently, word from Boston had not gotten out to everyone. Or, was I overreacting? No. I know what I saw.

  “Crap. Tab, go get dry dog food. You know what kind?” She nodded. “Mal, go with her. Get all you can carry.” Tabby came back with two bags and Mal had one. It would have to do. The bill was over $2,000. We had to dip into our Christmas savings to pay for it. Sam was not happy.

  We loaded the vehicles and headed for home, only five miles away. Our house has a circular drive wide enough for both cars to park side by side and that’s what we did.

  “Okay, everybody help bring things in.”

  “Why don’t I start putting stuff away while you and the kids finish bringing it in?” Sam still wasn’t getting it.

  “No, I want everything and everyone in the house as soon as possible. And that means we all carry it in. Nothing is gonna spoil.” Crap, I hadn’t checked the house. Did I need to check the house? I ran up to the front door and found it locked. I could feel Sam watching me, wondering. If the door was locked we were okay, I thought. Even with everyone helping, we made seven trips each. Once inside I felt safer. Safe enough to split up again anyway.

  “Mal, help your Mom put stuff away. Sam, make sure you pull anything that’s perishable up to the front of the pantry shelves. There shouldn’t be too much. Take a look in the fridge. We need to eat up the frozen and perishable stuff first. Don’t waste any canned or dry goods. We need to eat anything that might go bad first.” I turned to my daughter. “Tabby, I want you to go through the house and check every window and door. Make sure they’re locked. You know how the windows lock?” She nodded. “Check every one. Be thorough. If you need help come get me. Got it?”

  She nodded and looked scared. Not too scared, though. Maybe just scared enough to keep her focused. I knew that the fear was keeping me pretty focused. She headed off towards the next room.

  “Then come back and help with groceries.” She waved as she disappeared around a corner.

  “Ryan, what are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to put the TV on and get an update. I’m hoping that maybe all of this was for nothing,” I said as I headed to the TV with Thor on my heels. I knew that wasn’t true. But if you didn’t have hope…

  Turns out, in the time I was gone from the house, the situation had not just gotten worse. It had gotten much, much worse. There now seven cities that were reporting that flu patients had died then reanimated. And, despite a desperate attempt to get the word out it didn’t really matter. Doctors and nurses are trained to help so they rushed to the dying people and consequently were right there when the dead came back to life and started eating people. This produced two results: more dead and fewer health care workers. Authorities were reporting at least 100 dead and many more injured. Injured? No one was going to be injured in this scenario. Injured most likely meant bitten and anyone bitten would die and come back to life.

  It had occurred to at least one official that not everyone who had received a tainted flu vaccine had been accounted for. This official was asking citizens to check on friends, neighbors and family who may have gotten a tainted flu vaccine. Well, that’s stupid. Let’s go see the reanimated dead people. A different official was telling people to stay in their homes until the whole thing was sorted out. But how many people have enough food and water on hand to stay home and survive for even a few days. I didn’t, until we stopped.

  The President hadn’t made a statement yet but his press secretary had the usual to say: stay calm, pray, the appropriate authorities are investigating, etc. No one agency seemed to be in charge. Officials from Homeland Security, the CDC, FBI, FDA and local agencies were all giving press conferences. And they were all on different pages of the playbook. The CDC was making the most sense in their press conference telling people to stay home and avoid contact with anyone who had gotten any flu vaccine. Finally, in the CDC conference, someone asked a question that seemed the most relevant.

  “Do we know exactly where the tainted flu vaccines were sent?”

  “Yes,” was the reply. “And we are in the process of getting that info out. Your respective news agencies should have it in a few minutes.”

  The picture cut back to an anchor at CNN who was saying that while they waited for that info they were going to talk to a panel of experts. Experts? Who could be an expert on something that had never happened before? On something that was impossible? The so called experts were in denial of the facts anyway. They were claiming that the tainted flu vaccine patients weren’t completely dead. It reminded me of ‘The Princess Bride’ where Wesley is ‘mostly dead.’ These experts were actually saying that multiple medical professionals in multiple locations had all made the same mistake. None of them were going out on a limb and stating the obvious. That meant that plans and solutions weren’t yet being made. It seemed ominous.

  While all of that was happening on the big screen, I grabbed my iPad and logged onto Facebook. There were several posts about what had happened at the hospitals. And Twitter was blowing up with the story. But, most people thought it was an elaborate hoax. Even the die-hard conspiracy theorist people were skeptical. I sent a few messages to online friends and a few real life friends. I also grabbed my phone and called the next door neighbors. The Thompson were good neighbors and pseudo grandparents to the kids. No answer. I looked around online again. You could almost feel things getting worse.

  “Maybe we should turn this off for a while.”

  I literally jumped off the sofa at the sound of my wife’s voice. Even Thor was startled a little. This brought a laugh from my kids. But, I didn’t think it was funny at all under the circumstances. I had not heard them come into the room. It took a moment before I was able to speak.

  “Christ, I’m gonna put bells on you guys. You scared the crap out of me.” This only made Mal laugh harder which made Tabby laugh harder. It even brought a smile to my face finally. I was glad they weren’t so scared that they couldn’t laugh. “I don’t think we can turn it off, Sam. We need to keep track of what’s going on. What if some of that tainted flu vaccine was sent to Charleston?”

  “Wait.” That made my daughters laughter go away immediately. “You mean that those monsters could be here, too?”

  “They’re not monsters, Tab. They’re just people who are sick.”

  “Mom, stop. If you die and come back to life that makes you a monster
.”

  “No,” said my son, Malcolm. “You’re a zombie.”

  All of us turned to look at Mal. I’m sure my mouth was hanging open. And time seemed to come to a halt. With all that was going on, all the news reporters and experts, all the press conferences and no one had put a name to it. Leave it to my seven year old to call it what it was: The Zombie Apocalypse.

  “They’re just in movies,” Sam said. “There’s no such thing as zombies, Mal.”

  “I think there are now,” I said quietly.

  Just then the news anchor caught our attention. They now were ready with the list of cities that had received the tainted vaccines. There were approximately 50,000 doses sent out. The graphics on the screen scrolled through the names of the cities. There were a lot. Then, there it was… Charleston, SC

  “Do we know anyone who has gotten a flu shot recently?” I just threw it out to the room.

  “Yeah,” said Sam. “Several people at work have gotten shots.”

  “Are any of them sick?”

  “Come to think of it, I don’t think any of them were at work today.”

  “I know a few kids at school who have gotten flu shots,” said Tabby.

  “Oh God, Ryan. The Thompsons next door got flu shots. I’m sure other neighbors have, too.”

  Mal just shook his head. I guess his age don’t talk about stuff like that.

  “What about your mother?” Sam’s mom, Karen lived about 2 hours away in Savannah.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Call her and check. Tab, humor me and go check the windows and doors again.” She nodded and went to do it. No eye rolling, no back talk. That was good. She was helping and enjoying it. That left me. I needed a plan but it would have to wait. Sam was off the phone already. That was strange.

  “She didn’t get one yet.” Sam collapsed into my lap and threw her arms around me. “Thank God. She kept putting it off this year. She always gets one. Always.” She looked up at me. “What about your mom?”