Dead of Knight: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale

by Beard, Stephen J.

  “Exactly,” I said. “And, Tom, no saving any for someone else. If you have room and you need it, take it all.”

  Mike and Tony had finished and came back over.

  “Any problems?” I asked.

  “Nope, seats a little gross, though,” said Mike.

  “That’s fine. Can you guys provide security inside?” They nodded. “Start by getting them some flashlights, please.”

  They nodded and went back into the Bi-Lo to get some flashlights for Tom’s group.

  “Tom, my people will provide security inside. Everyone works together. Get the water, then the food, and so on. If you’re people are spread out then we can’t watch them. I’ll keep watch out here.”

  Tom nodded and his folks went inside to meet Tony and Mike. With five people loading, the vans were full in about an hour. When they were done, Tom came over to the bus with Barb.

  “Ryan, Tony, Mike and kids, I, we can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for us today,” said Barb.

  “You’re welcome. I’m sorry for your loss. I wish we’d have gotten here sooner.”

  “You did what you could. Not everyone would’ve stopped,” said Tom.

  “We’re a little leery of other humans right now to be sure. We were hit by looters two days ago. That’s how we lost Mike’s dad. He got bit trying to escape from other humans.”

  “But,” said Tony. “Every human we help today is one less zombie to kill tomorrow.”

  “We were glad to help,” said Mike.

  “Well, we appreciate it. What about tomorrow?” asked Tom.

  “Do you know the Stono Market?” Tom nodded. “7:30. Bring your long guns, handguns and knives if you have any. I’ll need two or three people; you’ll need to be one of them. But, don’t leave your place undefended.” I leaned in a little towards Tom. “If John is coming, make sure you talk to him. He’ll be taking his orders from me tomorrow, not you.”

  “Won’t be a problem,” said Tom.

  “Then we will see you in the morning.”

  “Thanks again,’ said Tom.

  “Base, copy. Base,” I said into the radio.

  “Go for base.”

  “Yeah, we’re on our way. ETA is about ten minutes. We’ll need help with the firewood.”

  “Copy that. Ten minutes. All hands on deck.”

  The drive home was uneventful. Once safely in the driveway, Mal and Tabby kept watch while the rest of us unloaded the firewood and other supplies.

  Mike, Tony and I were just exhausted and it was only lunch time. I realized again just how much I missed a hot shower. One would feel good on these tired muscles of mine. Maybe there was a way to heat some water in the fireplace or over a fire out back and fill the tub? I’d have to put some thought into that. For now, I heated some water on the camp stove in the kitchen and went upstairs to take a sponge bath. We took turns talking about the firewood trip over lunch.

  “I killed my first zombie today, mom,” Mal said.

  “Oh, isn’t that great,” said Sam as she eyed me up and down.

  “He did great, honey,” I said. “And I was right next to him. He likes to help? He was helping. So was Tabby, she did great today, too.” That elicited a smile from my daughter.

  “Thanks, dad,” she said.

  “Also, Mal, Tab, thanks for being very grown up today. You listened and did what you were told. It helped keep all of us safe. Thank you,” I said.

  “Tom’s people seemed pretty clueless today,” observed Mike.

  “No, they were just green,” Tony said.

  “I agree. We’ve been lucky to learn so much in so little time. When I first encountered a zombie next door, I had my gun in my holster but I was so scared by the zombie that I forgot to get it out. If it had been me shooting that day and not Eddie across the street, who knows what would’ve happened?”

  “Can we trust Tom’s people after what happened at the Costco?” asked Lois.

  “They seemed like decent folks. Nothing tripped any red flags for me,” I answered.

  “What does that mean, exactly,” asked Karen.

  “Well, they didn’t ask how many people we have. Or, where we were. Or, how we were fixed for supplies. Any of those questions would have concerned me,” I said.

  “Plus,” said Tony. “They were pretty unorganized. A group that sends people out to scavenge in a pickup is more organized than Tom’s group. Don’t get me wrong, they seemed like good people. But it’s like I said before, they’re just green.”

  “Maybe they’ll make good partners,” said Beth.

  “It’s certainly possible. We’ll know more after tomorrow,” I said.

  “How’s the inventory coming?” asked Tony.

  “Great,” Sam said. “It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you get started early in the morning.”

  “It’s almost done,” said Lois. “A few more hours, maybe less.”

  “Good. Thank you ladies for lunch. I’m just beat. Can we talk more at dinner?”

  “Sure, baby,” said Sam. “You go upstairs and rest. Mike, Tony, Mal and Tabby, you guys too. We can’t afford any sick people around here.”

  “I’ll go home and nap,” said Tony.

  “Not by yourself, Tony,” I said.

  “I’ll go with him,” said Mike. “If that’s okay with you, Tony? It’ll be quieter over there.”

  Tony laughed and agreed.

  I awoke from my nap feeling refreshed, not groggy like I sometimes do. I could smell dinner being prepared downstairs and it smelled wonderful. So, far we were eating well during the zombie apocalypse. I hope that continues. And, it sounded like I was the only person not down there. The wind up clock showed that I had slept for over three hours.

  “Hey, it’s sleeping beauty,” laughed Tony when I came into the room.

  “Nah, the beauty sleep didn’t work, boss,” quipped Mike.

  I put my hands up to my face and pretended to feel around.

  “Oh no,” I said. “But I feel so much better!”

  Everybody laughed and I grabbed a room temperature Gatorade. That’s stupid. It’s cold outside. I should at least put some of these in the garage. I made a note on the list in my head, but it was a long list.

  “Dinner will be ready in about an hour,” said Sam. “The inventory is on the table.”

  I sat down and grabbed the inventory. I was still reading and taking notes at the dining table when a bowl was sat down in front of me. Everyone was gathering and beginning to eat. I couldn’t help but notice that Tabby was now sitting next to Mike. They were talking.

  “That smells amazing,” I offered.

  “It tastes even better,” said Mike. “This tastes like my mother’s recipe.”

  “I had a hand in it,” said Lois.

  “Well, ladies you are doing a fantastic job of keeping everybody fed,” said Tony.

  “Just keep bring us food and we’ll cook it,” said Karen.

  “How’s the inventory look?” asked Sam.

  “It’s thorough and easy to read. Thank you.”

  “That’s not what we all want to know, boss man,” said Mike.

  “Well, at a bare minimum, each of us needs a gallon of water a day. That doesn’t include washing or sanitation and it doesn’t include Thor. If I remember correctly, the goal was to have 3 gallons per person. For this, I’m counting all the soda, juice and Gatorade as water. We have just under a thousand gallons. There’s eight, not counting Thor. If we go with the one gallon minimum that gives us about 120 days of water.”

  “That’s only four months,” said Mike.

  “That’s crazy,” said Sam. “I thought we had more. It looks like more.”

  “It does. Remember,” I said. “We are a society that goes to the grocery store a couple of times a week and has fresh, clean water pumped into our homes.”

  “That’s not the problem,” said Tony. “If I remember correctly, each store only has 3 or 4 days of inventory on hand at any time to cut back
on warehouse space.”

  “So, no one store has everything we need,” said Mike. “And, it will mean a lot of supply runs.”

  “Exactly,” said Tony. “Did you guys leave anything at the Costco?” I looked at Mike and he looked at me. I wasn’t sure if he wanted to go back there.

  “We got all of the water, I think,” Mike said. “There is still some juice, Gatorade and soda.”

  “But, as we saw today,” I said. “People are coming out to get supplies.”

  “Some won’t make it if they don’t get some experience first,” said Tony. “It’s the old catch 22. You have to get experience to get experience.”

  “True, Tom’s group would not have all made it out,” I said.

  “Even with our help Ryan, they didn’t all make it out alive today,” said Mike. “I wonder how many people he has?”

  “Well, he probably left as many people home as he brought,” commented Tony. “Some might be children like us. Or, maybe he let the house undefended.”

  “I don’t remember him saying anything that indicated one or the other,” I said.

  “We’ll probably find out tomorrow,” said Tony.

  “Probably,” I said. “Thanks again for the inventory. I think it shows that we are in balance with the supplies. We just need to continue to get more of everything.”

  “You know what I see?” pointed out Tony. “We will have to become self-sufficient sooner rather than later. We can’t rely on grocery stores a whole lot longer.”

  “I agree,” I said. Around the table and the room, heads nodded. But, the subject produces a lot of questions. Conversation continued for another hour before everyone went home for the night.

  As Sam and I were getting ready for bed, Tabby came into our room.

  “Knock, knock,” she said.

  “Hey sweetie,” said Sam. “What’s up? You alright?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” Tabby said. “I just wanted to ask something.”

  “Okay.”

  “I know why you yelled at me when I snuck off to talk to Justin. But, at the time I didn’t understand. After today, I see why you are so worried about me and Mal. Anyway, I wanted to go downstairs and hang with Mike for awhile. He said it was fine.”

  I looked over at Sam and she recognized the look. But, I spoke before she did.

  “Tabby, I appreciate that you asked. And I know that you haven’t seen much of him today…” I looked over at Sam who wore this mask of disapproval. “But, he’s gonna be very tired and I need him rested tomorrow.” That look was still on Sam’s face. “So, don’t keep him up long.”

  Tabby’s face lit up and even Sam couldn’t help but grin. Tabby ran over to me and threw her arms around me.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “And, stay in the house please,” I continued.

  “I will.” And she was gone.

  Sam was still smiling when I turned off the lantern.

  Tuesday, December 23 2014

  I felt better the next morning. I’ve been working harder than I ever had before in my life before zombies. That’s how I think of that time in my life now, before zombies. BZ

  I was also losing weight. The extra work meant extra calories burned. I just needed to make sure I got enough rest and I’d be good. Tightening my belt another notch, I got ready for the day.

  Mike, Tony and I were at the Stono Market before Tom’s group got there, exactly as I wanted. I didn’t want them to know where we were coming from just yet. I was not surprised to finally see the minivan weaving through the cars from the direction of the Bi-Lo. I figured they lived down that way. There weren’t a lot of grocery store options on the island.

  “Good Morning guys,” said Tom as he and his son got on the bus. Handshakes were exchanged all around. Even John was as pleasant as could be expected.

  “Ryan, we discussed our meeting yesterday at some length last night,” Tom said as we got out on the road. “As I’m sure you’re group did as well.” I nodded. “I wanted to thank you again from everyone for your help.” Tom made sure to make eye contact with Tony and Mike as he spoke. They both nodded. “I also wanted to thank you for not asking too many questions.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said. “And thank you for doing the same. It made for a more comfortable introduction for us.”

  “And you’re welcome,” he said. “But, we came to the conclusion that we’d all be safer if we worked together. And I want to offer you some information to see if you’re interested.”

  “Tom, I like where you’re going with this. But understand,” I said. “I’m more or less in charge on these supply runs. This is my bus after all.’ Mike and Tony chuckled at that. “We make the big decisions as a group. You guys were talked about at length last night and I’m sure it’ll be the same tonight. But, that means I can’t give you a yes or no today.”

  “I understand completely,” said Tom.

  Tom’s group was ten people now after JoAnne’s death yesterday. They’re all related by birth or marriage. Tom, his wife, Barb and their son, John. Then there was Barb’s brother, his wife and young son. And finally, Tom’s brother, his wife and their two adult children. One was a mechanic but the rest wouldn’t be especially useful in this new zombie world. They all lived on land out on Wadmalaw Island that had been in Tom’s family. It sounded wealthy but it was clear that the money was gone. Two of the families were in trailers on the property. I don’t know how they could defend a mobile home very well.

  The ride to Carolina Rod and Gun took longer than it would have in the time before zombies, or BZ. There were a lot of crashed cars and abandoned ones, as well. Weaving in and out of them took time. We saw a lot of zombies but they were off the road in front of stores. Tom wondered aloud if those were groups like his that didn’t make it into or out of the store. We also saw a number of convenience stores that had been looted. The gun store was closed up and there was only one zombie we could see inside. It took a bit of work to get in. Ryan and Mike went in with Tom and John while Tony kept watch.

  We found just about everything we needed. A crossbow for each person in Tom’s group and plenty of bolts. A decent knife for each, as well. We only found six tomahawks but Tom didn’t think that would be a problem. Tom and his son also picked out a few firearms. I reminded them to get slings for the rifles and crossbows and holsters for the handguns.

  We also found more walkie-talkies, enough for each person in Tom’s group and one for Ryan to monitor. I took that opportunity to give Tom one of ours. There was a lot of trust in that gesture as each group could now monitor the others transmissions. We also grabbed flashlights and batteries for everything.

  None of these supplies took up much room in the bus, so I grabbed several archery targets for crossbow practice and made sure that Tom had some too. Once Tom and John were satisfied with their haul, I took a minute to find some things that could help my group. The first was some help carrying stuff. That came in the form of tactical vests, one for me, Tony and Mike since we were out in the field more. And, if it was ammo that fit our weapons we took it. No point leaving it for someone to use against us. I hated leaving the guns but we had more than we could use.

  On the ride back to the Stono Market, it was decided, for now on a mutual aid agreement. The two groups would keep in touch by radio. We could trade information and help each other. And, if attacked the groups promised to come running. The bus was unloaded and handshakes were exchanged again. We promised to check in a few times a day.

  We left the market first but didn’t head home. Instead, we headed to the Wal-Mart for supplies. I figured the easy part of our day was over. As we pulled in to the parking lot at the Wal-Mart we observed a big suburban parked in front of one of the entrances. There was no way to know if it was from a few days ago or if it had just been parked there. So, we parked in the back of the lot and I turned off the bus.

  Maybe ten minutes went by and four heavily armed men came out pushing carts. They looked like law enforcement
or military by the way they carried themselves. Their carts were full of supplies. I was parked about 100 yards away. The men made several scans of the area but failed to see us before heading back inside. I couldn’t help but think of the pickup at the Costco and how I had missed it. These guys were making the same mistake. It was a good thing that we weren’t a threat. We each had a granola bar and waited.

  When they emerged again from inside, they loaded the truck and left. I waited about 10 minutes then pulled the bus up to the door where the suburban had been.

  “Do we all agree that they did not seem friendly?” I asked.

  “Yes,” said Tony.

  “Yep, that’s why I didn’t say we should go help this time,” said Mike.

  Tony stayed just inside the door to the Wal-Mart and kept watch. Mike and I figured that the other guys had cleared the store but we were cautious as we went about our business. It took almost two hours to fill the bus with water and food. I also had run over to the cookware and got a few of the heaviest duty pots and pans they had. The open flame was bound to be hard on the cookware and we would need extras for washing too.

  After seeing other people, I was especially careful on the way back, keeping a good lookout. A few miles away from the Wal-Mart, we came across the suburban. I stopped and we each took a good look around for an ambush. Then we pulled up closer to the vehicle. The doors were all open including the back gate. It was riddled with holes and the glass shot out. Two of the men were lying where they fell. The other two had fell where they had been executed. Shot in the back head by the look of it.

  “Interrogated,” said Tony. “Probably trying to get the location of their people.”

  “I wonder if they gave it up?” I said.

  “Would you?” asked Mike.

  “No.”

  “Base, this is mobile one, come in base.”

  “Go for base,” it was Sam.

  “Sam, we just came across some people on Bees Ferry Rd. that we had seen leaving the Wal-Mart. They’ve been attacked and killed. Everything was looted. I want everyone armed with firearms right now. And I want lookouts inside the front and back of the house. If there is anyone outside, bring them in.”

  “Got it. You guys alright?”