Dead of Knight: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale

by Beard, Stephen J.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “It doesn’t look like the government is going to get anything under control. I think that we have to plan for the worst and hope for the best.”

  “What’s your best case scenario?”

  “The government gets mobilized at an unheard of rate and scale, find the infected and neutralize them. Takes a week or two, tops.”

  “Do we have enough supplies for two weeks?”

  “If we’re careful and we help the kids be careful we have two weeks’ worth, yeah. If the power goes and the water with it, well… It’s the water I’m worried about. We waste a lot as a society. But, each person is supposed to need at the minimum a gallon a day. There’s four of us plus the dog.”

  “I know I’m gonna regret asking, but what’s your worst case?”

  I paused before I answered. I knew what the worst case was, but I needed her to understand, too.

  “You want to protect the kids, shield them from what’s going on. I get it. But, you can’t do it this time. The world is going to change in ways we can’t even predict right now. And, I need to know that you know that.”

  Samantha nodded.

  “Okay, here’s my worst case. If the government can’t get a handle on this in the next 24 hours, it’s going to get bad. And I think that’s what’s coming. It took five days to get water to the Superdome in New Orleans after Katrina, remember? And only a small area of the country was affected by the storm. So, people continue to die then come back as zombies. They eat more people who die and come back as zombies. And, they eat more people who die and come back as zombies. And this continues until there are only a handful of us left. The power goes out and the water stops flowing. There’s no gas for our cars or machinery. We’ll have to figure out how to grow food and find fresh water. There’ll be no medical care, no dental care. Every little injury becomes an emergency. The only way it gets worse is if we don’t get to live through it.”

  “You’re just full of happy, aren’t you?”

  “You wanted to know.”

  “Which do you really think is more likely, best case or worst case?”

  “I think we’re fucked.” My wife chuckled and took me by the hand leading me into our bedroom. And we spent the next hour doing what I’d suggested without suggesting it. Looking back, it was the best sex we’d had in our lives.

  “What are we going to do, Ryan?”

  “We’ll figure it out together, Sam. We always do. Team Knight, remember?” She managed a weak smile. I sat up. Thor looked up from his place at the foot of the bed. “Look, I’ve thought of nothing else today. Water is number one. Without it, we have three days, tops. In the morning, let’s fill all the containers we have with water. Anything with a lid. Let’s clean the bathtub, one of them anyway, and fill it with water. We’ll have to boil it but we’ll have it. We can also use the water in the toilet tank if we clean it out first while we still can. I think I remember that the water in the water heater can be used too. Food is second. We have to make sure we don’t waste anything. And since we don’t know when we’ll lose the freezer we have to use the frozen stuff and the fresh stuff. And, just so you know, I don’t know how we will cook with the power out. I haven’t figured that out yet.”

  “We’ll have to cook over an open flame out back.”

  “With zombies outside? That might not be possible. We’ll need a backup plan. Next is shelter then security. But I think they’re one and the same. Protection from the elements is also protection from zombies. We need to board up the windows with our hurricane plywood and reinforce the doors somehow. Do we have enough firewood? Prolly not. We need weapons. There’s too much to plan for.” I shook my head.

  “Weapons? We are not going to become zombie hunters, Ryan. I know you’ve been waiting for the zombie apocalypse since I met you but this is serious.”

  “Believe me, I know that. But, we need supplies and I bet there’s gonna be zombies at Wal-Mart. There were before all this…” I got a whack on the arm for that quip. Then Sam laid her head on my shoulders.

  “Whatever happens, I love you.”

  “I know. I love you, too Samantha.”

  After Sam fell asleep, I laid there thinking for a bit. We live away from downtown Charleston on a somewhat rural island. Unless there are zombies in the neighborhood, we won’t see many out here. At least not for awhile. Just then, I heard a noise.

  Jumping from the bed I grabbed my Glock from the nightstand and pulled on my pants. My movement woke my wife.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Heard a noise. Thor heard it, too.”

  “Be careful.” And with that I headed out of the room with Thor on my heels.

  I went down the hallway to Tabby’s room. They were both supposed to be in her room sleeping after playing video games. I hoped that what I heard came from their room. But, Tabby’s room was dark. I took out my flashlight and turned it on. There’s Mal. And… No Tabby. Crap. I checked the bathroom and Mal’s room just in case. Nothing. As I passed our bedroom, I poked my head in. Sam was sitting up and had the light on.

  “Can’t find Tabby. Going downstairs,” I said.

  “Wait,” she said. “I’m going too.”

  We went down the stairs and searched the rooms together, turning lights on as we went. Thor was with us every step. No sign of her anywhere.

  “Ryan, where the Hell did she go?”

  “I don’t know. She better not have left to go find Justin, or whatever his name is. Who is this kid anyway?”

  “Oh, he’s sort of a boyfriend. I’ve met him. He’s nice. They see each other at movies and the mall. Stuff like that.”

  “Any idea where he lives?” I asked as we moved towards the garage.

  “Not really, no.”

  I threw the garage door open like I was going to get in the car and rush out to find Tabby somehow. And there she was, leaning up against my Land Cruiser talking on the phone. She looked mortified when she looked up and saw me and her mother.

  “Dad!’ she cried out. “I can’t believe this. Oh my God.”

  “Give me the phone. Right now, Goddamit. And get in the house. Right now. Go.”

  Sam grabbed Tabby by the arm and pulled her back in the house.

  “I will be there in a minute,” I said after them. Then I spoke into the phone. “Who is this?”

  “This is Justin, sir. Mr. Knight, Sir.” Good. He sounded terrified. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry for what?”

  “I don’t know. I, I didn’t mean to get Tabby in trouble,” he stammered.

  “Justin, do you know what’s going on in the world?”

  “Yes, sir. There’s zombies.”

  “That’s right. So, when I went to check on my son and my little girl; the light of my life and she was missing you understand that I’d be worried, right?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Okay. So, I need a favor from you. If you are ever talking to my daughter on the phone again, assuming we’re all alive in a few days, please make sure that I know where she is. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir. Always make sure that Tabby tells you where she is.”

  “Right. Now, how is your family?”

  “We don’t know where my father is. He never came home from work and we can’t get him on his phone.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Justin. Make sure your mother doesn’t leave the house tonight. Maybe in the morning, if it’s safe, she can back track his path to work. Maybe the car broke down and he’s seeking shelter somewhere without a cell signal. Where does he work?”

  “Downtown.”

  “Okay, make sure you keep your phone charged. I don’t know how long the power will stay on. How are you guys fixed for food?”

  “I don’t know. We have some.”

  “Well, if she does go out in the morning make sure your mother buys anything she can at the store. Tabby will call or text you tomorrow.”

  “Yes, sir. Again, sorry for causing trouble
.”

  Inside, Tabby was waiting on the sofa with Sam. Mal had been woken by the commotion and was on the sofa too. Tabby had been crying but she looked at me defiantly. I didn’t know what to do. I could yell and scream and scare her into understanding why I was upset. But, she was probably already scared enough. She needed to be afraid. But, it was more important that she understand.

  “Justin seems nice,” I said.

  “He is,” she replied. “You talked to him?”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry to hear that his father hasn’t come home.” Sam winced at that news a little.

  “Where does Justin’s father work, Tabby?” asked Sam.

  “He works at a hospital downtown. Justin was crying when we were talking before. You shouldn’t have interrupted us.”

  “I’m your father, Tabitha.” I said. A little louder and more forceful than I meant to. “If I want to interrupt, I’ll interrupt. Especially during the Goddamn zombie apocalypse.”

  She retreated back into her mother’s arms a little bit.

  “Ryan…” said Sam. She gave me the look.

  “Tabby, you know how upset Justin was when he was talking to you about his father?” I asked. She nodded. “Well, that’s how upset your mother and I were when you weren’t in your room with Mal. We were sure that something happened to you. I’m not angry that you were talking to Justin. I’m angry that with everything going on, we didn’t know where you were. We have to know where everybody is at all times now. Do you understand?”

  “I don’t want you guys listening to my calls,” she said.

  “First, in an emergency situation and I think zombies qualify as an emergency, I don’t care so much what you want.” Again, more pissed off than I wanted to sound. And, I got the look from Sam. “Second, neither your mother nor I want to listen to your calls. But, one of us simply has to know where you are. Just tell us you’re going to talk to Justin and let us know where you’ll be. Understand?”

  “Yes, I think so,” she replied. “I’m sorry.” She came over to me and put her arms around me, squeezing tight. “I didn’t mean to scare you guys.”

  “If you want to talk to Justin tomorrow in private, that’s fine. Just let us know where you are. Got it?” She nodded. “Okay, off to bed. Both of you.”

  Sam and I got hugs from both the kids as the turned to go back upstairs. Mal looked absolutely exhausted but still had energy to give his sister a hard time.

  “You got in trouble…”

  “Shut up…”

  And up the stairs they went. Sam looked over at me.

  “I’m not sure we handled that well.”

  “She needs to listen. I’m not going to lose one of my kids; or you because I didn’t know where you were. I need to know what’s going on at all times. Otherwise, I can’t protect you guys.” In my head, I continued. I’m not sure I will be able to save all of us if this gets bad.

  “You coming to bed, Ryan?”

  “No, I want to see what’s on the news. Love you.” Sam nodded and kissed me on the cheek then headed upstairs. I sat on the sofa with Thor

  It was more bad news. Parts of Boston, Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and several other major cities were on fire. People were trying to get out of those cities in a mass exodus that was failing horribly and going nowhere. All the roads and highways were gridlocked. Some of those people sitting in cars on those roads had surely been bitten and were just minutes away from turning into zombies if they hadn’t already. The airports were also closed. CNN was reporting that all flights in the air would be on the ground within the hour. Several flights had crashed when passengers and crew died and turned. Mexico and Canada had closed their respective borders. All international flights were cancelled. Of course it was already way too late for that. Long before any of the tainted flu vaccine victims fell into comas more than 500 had traveled internationally. They were in comas in hospitals around the world just moments from dying, then reanimating into the undead and beginning their staggering, hungry walk.

  Fox News was replaying the President’s remarks from earlier. We had been eating dinner when this happened but we didn’t miss anything. He said pretty much the same thing that the CNN anchor had managed to say. Stay in your homes, keep away from others, the government is doing all it can. ‘It’s too late’ I thought to myself. Surprisingly, the President used the term zombie. He was very serious about it but it still seemed strange coming from an official. I couldn’t help but notice that he looked tired. He should be tired after the day we all had. But, I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d gotten a flu shot?

  We live in an area of the country that gets hit by hurricanes occasionally. We’ve had to live without electricity and running water for up to a week. So, we always tried to keep some food and water on hand. Hitting the store earlier helped a lot. We also keep plywood for the windows on the house. But none of it would suffice in an extended siege.

  We were going to have to get more supplies. And with that decision made, I went back off to bed.

  Thursday, December 18, 2014

  The whole family was up early the next day. While Sam and the kids started a nice breakfast of sausage and eggs, I made a cup of coffee and turned on the news. Rather than the government getting a handle on anything, the news was even worse than the night before if that’s possible. Most of the major cities had been over run. Video from helicopters showed humans running from the staggering zombies. Fires raged throughout the country as people struggled to survive. On one stretch of roadway outside Washington D.C., helicopters filmed as zombies roamed alongside the cars eating and biting anyone still alive to be eaten.

  Unsurprisingly, the catastrophe had spread to other countries. France, England, Brazil, Israel and Australia were al reporting the dead rising up on a wide scale.

  After breakfast, Tabby tried calling Justin once again and got nothing. Again.

  “Justin and his mom were going to go look for their dad about an hour ago. I’m worried,” she said.

  “I know, honey. He seemed like a good kid,” I replied. “Keep trying him. Although I think he’ll get back to you when he can.” I almost said ‘if he can’ but caught myself.

  Sam tried calling the Thompsons next door. They didn’t answer the phone.

  “We need to go check on them,” said Sam.

  “I don’t disagree. I just don’t want to go out there.”

  “Anybody else notice how quiet it is?” Asked Tabby.

  We all just kinda looked at each other and shook our collective heads. No one could remember hearing any cars go by all morning. By now, people should’ve been going to work and kids going to school. I couldn’t hear any planes either.

  “Why don’t we take care of our water chores then we’ll go check on the Thompsons.” I explained to the kids what we were doing with the toilet tank and the bathtubs. Mal and Tab started filing all the containers they could find and Sam and I tackled the two other projects. With everyone helping, it didn’t take long. Soon, there was no avoiding checking on the neighbors.

  “Mal and Tab, I want you guys in your room for this. Play games or whatever you want. Well, I don’t want you to put the news on.”

  “But, Dad we want to help,” said Tabby.

  “I know, and I appreciate it. But, not this time. I don’t know what’s going to happen and I need to know you’re safe. Off with you.” I hugged both the kids and they ran upstairs.

  “Sam, I want you to come outside with me. Stay just outside the door where you can be another set of eyes but still get inside quickly. Don’t let anyone or anything sneak up behind me. Got it?”

  “Yeah. Do you have our spare keys for the Thompsons place?”

  “Yeah, they’re in my pocket.”

  I checked my Glock one more time to make sure there’s a round in the chamber. There always is but this was not a time for mistakes. Opening the door I was struck by two things right away: how bright it was and how quiet it was. We don’t live in a crazy busy neighborho
od but there’s always driving by or somebody’s kids yelling down the street or a stereo that’s too loud. Today, nothing. I was hoping that the reason we didn’t hear anything before was that we were inside. Not so lucky. Creepy doesn’t quite cut it.

  As I worked my way over to the Thompsons I kept my head on a swivel to check for any danger but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. It was almost anti-climactic. I stepped carefully onto their porch.

  The Thompson’s lived in a one story ranch with a detached garage. The exterior is brick and painted white. The small porch in front is just two steps up from the walkway leading up to it. I knocked on the door and it sounded as loud as thunder in the quiet street. After what seemed like 5 minutes I knocked again. Nothing. Sam yelled across for me to try the door. I pulled the screen door open and stepped into its arc so it didn’t close then I turned the door handle. It was unlocked. Weird. I pushed the door open and waited. I could barely see inside the darkened living room.

  “Janice? Kenny? It’s Ryan from next door. You guys in here?”

  It was at this point that I noticed the smell. Wet death is the best description I’ve come up with. Then, the Janice Thompson zombie appeared in the room and lurched toward me. Blood covered her mouth, neck and the top of her nightgown. That ‘wet death’ smell was clearly coming from her. Right behind her staggered Kenny Thompson. Part of his neck and a bit of his abdomen was missing.

  I stumbled backwards and fell over the two steps onto the walkway. Mrs. Thompson struggled with the screen door that had slammed shut, but she was relentless in her pursuit of me and staggered through it with her husband still behind her. I crab walked backwards into their front yard with both of our neighbors in a slow, zombie-shuffle pursuit. Looking back on it, I never once thought to get up and run or to pull my gun. Finally, I did find my feet only to hit the deck at the sound of a really loud and really close gun shot.

  Standing over me was Eddie something or other, from across the street, his hunting rifle up to his shoulder. Eddie was wide eyed and shaking. Apparently, this was also Eddie’s first time seeing a real live, or rather, dead zombie.