Dead of Knight: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale

by Beard, Stephen J.

  “That’s excellent. On this aisle,” I pointed down the aisle behind us. “There should be slings or shoulder straps for these AR-15’s. Take all you can find.”

  “We really need all those guns? There’s only five of us.”

  “We take everything we need, remember? They break down or wear out. What if we add more survivors to our little group? Leaving something could be the difference between life and death.”

  “Okay, I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. But, I’m that serious.” She headed off to find the slings and I moved over to the handguns. There is only one brand I trust, Glock. Before I met Samantha, I would shoot with friends on the weekends. I found the Glock to be the most durable and reliable of all the ones I came across. Just like with the rifles, I wanted to get all the same. It would be easier to train if we all had the same thing. Plus, we could cannibalize for parts if needed and the magazine were interchangeable. They had 5 Glock 19’s. Perfect. The compact gun would fit nicely in Sam’s smaller hands and Karen’s as well. And it still held 15 rounds of 9mm. After grabbing the 5 Glock 19’s, I grabbed the 4 Glock 17’s I found. The 17 was slightly larger but otherwise the same as the 19. Karen came back about the time I was finishing with the handguns.

  “You do alright?”

  “Yeah, I found slings. Got all they had.”

  “Good.” We put everything in the one cart and moved down the aisle to get holsters. We had to mix and match a few styles and brands but we got holsters for each of the handguns. We even managed to snag magazine carriers for each holster we found.

  “Ryan, I think I found knives if we’re done here.”

  “Lead on.” Just around the corner from the firearms were the knives. I did not know there were so many different knives. But, my eyes were drawn to something displayed on the wall. Tactical tomahawks. I didn’t know such a thing existed. A hatchet type blade on one side and the other side came to a point. That would be great for going through a zombie skull. There were several different styles, manufacturers and lengths. A few were much heavier. And they all had belt holders. I grabbed them all. Karen and I also got a dozen ‘k-bar’ style fighting knives. They all came with belt sheaths and had many uses. We grabbed about a dozen multi tools too.

  “Shit, that was dumb.”

  “What?” asked Karen.

  “We have a cart full of handguns and you don’t have one.” I opened a Glock 19 box and handed the unloaded gun to her. “How does that feel?”

  “Pretty good. It’s light.”

  “Polymer frame, but it’ll be heavier once we load it.” I grabbed a box of ammo and loaded all three magazines that came with the gun. Before loading it, I went over the operation.

  “I’ve actually shot one before.”

  “Then show me how to unload it and then load it.” She pressed the magazine release button and pulled back the slide to show me the chamber was empty. The she pushed a magazine in and pulled the slide to load the chamber. “Okay, you do know how to use it. Since you have to be here helping me, I’ll give you first choice of holsters.”

  “Gee, thanks.” She made a face but picked out a nice holster and mag carrier anyway.

  “Shit, again.”

  “Now what?”

  “Extra mags. We have the magazines for the Glocks because they were in the box or case. I didn’t get any for the AR’s. C’mon.” The same aisle with the slings had AR mags. We ended up with three extra for each gun. At 30 rounds a piece that was a total of 120 rounds that each person could carry. For a weapon that we weren’t going to use much, that should be plenty.

  The carts were getting full and we were going to have to carry this stuff up the silent escalator so it was time for a run to the SUV. We took turns carrying the baskets up the dead escalator until the carts on the first floor were full. Then we pushed them over to the door. A quick look outside. The coast was clear. It took a few minutes to load the SUV, especially since we weren’t done with the shopping. I wanted to make sure there would be more room for the rest of the stuff. And one of us had to be on the lookout for zombies at all times.

  “Why don’t you pull the truck up to the door so we don’t have to walk as far?” asked Karen.

  “Good idea. Hop back in.”

  With the Land Cruiser backed up close to the entrance, we went back into the store to finish with what we needed. Down on the bottom floor again, I headed over to the camping section to get what I came for: a camp stove. The first one I found came equipped with an oven. I couldn’t think of anything other than baking that we would need an oven for. Plus, it looked to use more fuel and that would be a finite resource. I picked out two, 2 burner stoves and all the bottles of fuel there was. It filled both carts. Then Karen saw a cooking grate that was meant to be over a fire pit outside. It might come in handy if we could keep the zombies out of the yard. So, I grabbed it and threw it on top of one of the carts.

  We were almost done loading the upper floor carts when I heard something I hadn’t expected to hear. Voices. They were coming from near the door. Christ, did I lock the truck? It’s habit but zombies can’t figure out handles. Humans can, though. Shit. One look at Karen showed that she’d heard the voices, too.

  “That stuff is ours. C’mon.”

  I drew my gun and ran for the door leaving the cart behind. I didn’t turn to look for Karen. I hoped she was right behind me. Close to the door I paused and knelt down. Karen appeared to my right and did the same. Through the door I could see three men looking into the Land Cruiser. One tried the door handle and it was locked. Thank God. The men had no visible firearms but it didn’t matter, did it? My family needed that stuff.

  “Hey, step away from the truck.”

  It caught the guys by surprise. Apparently, they hadn’t considered that he trucks owner might still be around. They all backed away with their hands up. The tallest of the three spoke.

  “Sorry friends, we didn’t realize any one was around.”

  I lowered my gun but didn’t holster it. Karen did the same.

  “There’s plenty of stuff inside for everybody,” I said. “But that stuff is ours. There’s more where it came from.” I made a decision and holstered my gun. “What are you guys looking for?”

  “We wanted to see if there was any ammo left. Mainly looking for shotgun rounds.” The taller one answered.

  “Why don’t you guys come in? Store’s clear.” I stepped back and let the three guys inside. Karen looked concerned but I just shrugged it off. I extended my hand to the taller of the men. He seemed to be in charge. “I’m Ryan Knight. Sorry about pointing my gun at you.”

  “Jack Taylor. No problem. We’ve found a lot of useful stuff in cars. Just didn’t realize the owner was still alive.”

  “I’ve had the same experience. This is my mother in law, Karen.”

  “This is Kevin. He’s my useless brother and that’s Dale, my useless brother in law.” Jack laughed as he said it like it was an inside joke. Handshakes were offered and taken and the mood seemed to lighten a bit. “Is your family safe?” asked Jack.

  “Yeah, they’re in Charleston. I came down to get Karen and bring her back.”

  “How’re the roads?”

  “Cars everywhere. Some are wrecked some are abandoned. I had to go off road and drive on the wrong side a lot.”

  “Is Charleston Bad?” asked Dale. “I have family in Goose Creek.”

  “Well, I live on Johns Island if you know the area. A bunch of my neighbors have turned. I had to kill my next door neighbor this morning.” I saw Karen react to that news. She liked Janice Thompson. “The last report of downtown Charleston was bad. North Charleston, last I heard, was on fire. But, I don’t know anything specifically about Goose Creek. Sorry.”

  Dale nodded.

  “Have you seen many zombies?” Kevin asked.

  “Maybe 20 in my neighborhood, maybe a bit less.”

  “There seemed to be a lot on my street,” said Karen. “But my area is more populate
d that his. You guys seen many?”

  “Not really,” said Jack. “There were only a few in the grocery store we raided earlier today. We saw quite a few on the road but they seemed otherwise occupied. I’m glad we live in a rural area.”

  “Yeah, looks like the bigger cities are lost,” I said.

  “I don’t think I’d want to venture into downtown Savannah right now,” added Karen.

  “I’m worried about what’ll happen when the zombies in the cities run out of living people,” I said. “I think they’ll migrate.”

  “I’m more worried about the living,” said Jack. “Most people aren’t prepared for anything like this. Sure, they’re hiding now. But, what happens when they run out of food and water?”

  “You think that we’ll all turn on each other?”

  “You drove from Charleston to get your mother in law. What will you do to keep your family alive if they needed water or food?”

  “Good point,” I said.

  “There are eight of us at home who can shoot,” said Kevin. “We’d be a difficult target for raiders. There’s safety in numbers.”

  “I hadn’t thought about that. I’m glad we ran into you guys.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t shoot.” We all chuckled at Dale’s quip. But, privately I wondered if it would come to, shoot first – ask questions later?

  “Guys, we’ve got more stuff to get and we left two loaded carts at the top of the escalator. I want to get back home before dark. We didn’t touch the shotguns or shells, so hopefully you’ll find what you need.”

  “Ryan, let us help load the truck. You’ll get on the road faster. You’ve got farther to go.” Jack offered.

  “Jack, that is mighty kind of you. Are you sure? I don’t want to keep you guys from your family.”

  “We don’t live too far away and this is our last stop.”

  Jack, Kevin and Dale made short work of loading the SUV with the stuff in the carts. Then I let Karen get some cold weather gear, gloves, sleeping bags and the like with Dale and Kevin while I had Jack show me how a crossbow worked. I took ten of them and all the bolts they had.

  “Jack, are you sure that we’re not taking something away from you guys? You don’t need any crossbows?”

  “Nope, we were ready for this. Well, we were ready for something anyhow. I didn’t think it would be this exactly. But, the government finally taking away our rights completely, or letting China invade or the economy collapsing or something. But, not zombies.”

  “So you were full blown preppers?”

  “Not like the freaks on that show, no. But, we have everything we need to survive, sure.’

  “How long?”

  “Bout a year. More if we’re careful.”

  “Damn, Jack. You were ready.”

  “It won’t be enough. Not even close. This…” Jack indicated the world around him. “This is our new reality. These things aren’t going away. No one’s coming to help. I wouldn’t tell my wife that, understand.”

  “I know…”

  I shook Jacks hand and went to find Karen. On the way I grabbed a few battery powered lanterns and batteries I saw. Karen was loading the Land Cruiser with Dale. She had found these water filters that looked like straws. They could filter out almost anything. Called ‘Lifestraw’, the package claimed that you could drink out of a stream or even a puddle with the straw and be fine. It took just a few minutes to get everything in. Jack produced a pen and wrote his address on one of the boxes in the back of the truck.

  “Ryan, I wouldn’t give this to just anyone. We don’t have enough supplies to support many more people than we already have. But, I think you’re good people.”

  “Thank you again, Jack. Dale.” Handshakes all around again.

  “Give our thanks to Kevin, too.” Karen added.

  We parted ways with the guys and headed out to the highway.

  “They were really good guys. I do love country folk,” said Karen. “I hope we see them again.”

  “I don’t,” I said. “It’ll mean things have gone horribly wrong and our best option was to run all the way back down here. That would not be good.”

  “Maybe we’ll see them again because life is back to normal.”

  I smiled but I didn’t believe that was ever going to happen. The rest of the conversation was about my experiences with the family in the RV in Yemassee. God, was that just a few hours ago? Karen listened to my story. Then she offered that maybe Michael or Lois had some skill they could bring to the equation like a medical skill or something.

  “And even if they don’t, they could still be helpful. Many hands make light work,” she said.

  “And, there’s safety in numbers.” The conversation with the guys at the Bass Pro Shop unnerved me a little. It’s one thing to kill a zombie. I’d already done that. It’s something else to not help someone because your family is more important. But, it’s another thing entirely to kill another human being, even one who is trying to steal from you.

  The RV was just where it had been when I drove away. I didn’t see any living people around and my heart sank. I banged on the door to the RV and there was no answer.

  Damnit.

  Now that I was looking forward to maybe having them join us they’ve probably been bitten and turned. There was a ladder on the back of the RV and I climbed it to get a better look around. Across the street there was movement. Squinting, I could just make out Michael, Lois and Mike Jr leaving a convenience store on the other side of the highway. They had their arms full of water and food. More importantly, even though they saw him on the RV, they didn’t yell out. I kept a watch from my vantage point as they made their way over to me. They seemed different somehow, more confident.

  “Hey, Mr. Knight,” said Mike Jr.

  “Ryan, thanks for coming back,” said Michael.

  “I said I would. You guys look like you’re doin’ good. Oh, this is my mother in law Karen.” Handshakes and introductions all around.

  “Well, we couldn’t find a generator for the pumps and we got tired of sitting around. So, we thought we’d raid the other stores.”

  “I killed one myself,” exclaimed Lois.

  “Excellent, Lois. Good job.” I gave her a well deserved hug.

  “She squealed the whole time,” said Mike Jr.

  “Yeah, but she did it,” I said. “Good job.” I looked over at Karen and she nodded.

  “I grabbed an extra hand pump at the Bass Pro Shop on the way back. Once you’re gassed up, what are your intentions?”

  “We hadn’t decided,” said Michael. “Lois wants to head for the hills and Mike Jr wants to go home.”

  “Let me give you a third option. We think that there’s safety in numbers. The house next to mine is empty. It’ll have to be cleaned, my neighbors turned in there. But we can board up the windows and make it pretty safe. Right now, there’s not too many of these things in rural areas. Anyway, you guys can help us and we can help you. What do you think?”

  The three family members looked at each other for a moment and then Michael extended his hand to me.

  “I think that’d be great. We were hoping you’d ask.”

  “Then let’s get you fueled up and get out of here.”

  It took a bit to figure out how to use the hand pump, eventually requiring us to actually read the instructions. Then it was all Michael and Mike Jr and I could do to push the small RV over to the tank. Lois steered and Karen kept watch. Once situated, I decided to top off my tank when they finished. The process took longer than I wanted, almost 30 minutes.

  “Please, don’t use the horn. If you have trouble or need help just flash your lights.”

  Initially, I was worried about them following me through the maze of wrecks and abandoned cars. But, they kept up and I stopped worrying about them after about 30 minutes. The trip back wasn’t any shorter that he trip out. We arrived at home just as the sun was going down.

  I backed the Land Cruiser into the garage after checking t
he street for zombies. The RV pulled into the driveway behind Sam’s car. I made sure everyone was safely in the garage before I closed the roll up door. Immediately, the door to the house opened and Malcolm and Tabby ran out with Sam right behind. They all threw their arms around me and then Karen joined in. We all just stayed that way for a moment and all was right in the world. Finally, we began to release.

  “We have guests,” I said quietly.

  “I know,” said Sam. “I saw through the upstairs window. This was more important.”

  “I completely agree,” said Lois. “I’m Lois Pickler. This is my husband Michael and my son, Mike Jr.”

  Introductions and handshakes were given and taken all around. Thor came up to greet the new folks and got lots of attention.

  “I ran into them near the gas station in Yemassee that we usually stop at when we go to your mothers. When we were at the Bass Pro Shop, your mom and I ran into a few nice country boys. They are more concerned about the living than the dead. Once the food and water run out anyway. They suggested safety in numbers and I think they’re right. These folks can live next door and we can all help each other out. We’ll have to clean up the Thompson’s first, but I think we’ll be safer with more people.”

  “That makes sense,” agreed Sam. “They gonna bunk in our house tonight?”

  “Yeah, it’ll be dark soon. We won’t be able to do anything over there tonight. Zombies are scary enough in the daytime. We grabbed some sleeping bags and there’s the sofa.”

  “That’ll be fine,” said Michael.

  “Better than being outside in the RV again tonight,” said Lois.

  “Speaking of the RV, is there anything you need to have out of there for tonight?”

  “I think there are a few things,” said Lois.

  “Okay, I’ll go out with you. Mal can you run upstairs and give a look?”

  After Mal gave the all clear, the Picklers and I went back outside to get what they needed. It was getting dark and I was not happy about it. I really didn’t think that zombies were different in the dark but I’d bet they sneak up on you pretty effectively at night. It’d be terrifying to see one up close in the beam of your flashlight.