by Dallin Smith
“I don’t see why not,” Sarah said as she stood up and washed her hands in the sink. “Water is still good here, plenty of food to be had, I think we can wait a few weeks easily. I mean if that Temple broadcast picks up we should move but until then…why risk it?”
“Nah, we gotta move,” Frank replied, “Look out there. There’s too many of them to count. And there’s more and more by the hour it seems. I’d wager to say that some of them aren’t even from Salt Lake City.”
“Meaning?” Jason asked.
“Meaning something brought them here. I see the way these things move. They stand around for no reason but then…then they stiffen up, like something’s got their attention and then they start clumping together and moving. I ain’t seen anything like this before but…but I’ve seen a pattern enough times in my life to know it ain’t random. Either something is controlling them directly or indirectly. Either way, I don’t want to stick around to see how much worse things get.”
“Agreed,” Jason said. “we should figure out a place to run. I mean we could go literally anywhere and be safer than in this city.”
“What about the mountains?” Jane said. This caught everyone’s attention. They all turned to face her as she stared blankly ahead. “I used to take them camping in the Wasatch Mountains.”
“Who?” Tommy asked.
“Hahahahahahahah,” she said as she began to laugh again; the period of lucidity seemed to have lapsed.
“That woman is seriously starting to spook me,” Tudson said, “I swear she’s probably going to turn on us or something.”
“She’s been fine enough to come along,” Jason said. “But she’s right, the mountains aren’t a bad idea. It’s pretty wide out there and I doubt there’d be any zombies able to navigate that kind of terrain. Plus, we can find a ski resort and really board up for the long haul.”
“Frank? Thoughts?” Sarah asked.
“Eh, it’s worth a shot. Look, we can’t go in half assed though. We’ve got two guns between us and nineteen bullets each. We’ll need to stock up and get ourselves a good vehicle if we’re going to go out to the mountains. I’d rather not go on foot.”
There’s a car dealership on the other side of the street from the back end of the building here,” Tudson said, “My dad used to work there in the 80s. We can probably find something useful there.”
“Find a good truck and then get weapons?’ Jason mused.
“I know a guy who used to have a pretty solid stash of guns,” Tudson said.
“I thought you said you weren’t in a gang,” Jason said.
“Not a gang, dude.” Tudson shook his head. “Just a single guy and he’s legit. I mean he was a prepper type and loved to talk about his gun collection. Any gun stores going to be cleaned out at this point. So we get the truck, drop by Charlie’s house and then get moving.”
“Any chance of Charlie being alive?” Sarah asked raising her eyebrows.
“Maybe, I dunno. The guy was always a little spastic but he loved his guns. Tried the biker life for a while but wasn’t really cut out for it when he learned we really didn’t do anything close to what they did on the TV. That damn Sons of Anarchy.”
“Hey, I like that show,” Frank said.
“Okay, so get a truck, get to Charlie’s…then get the heck out of town. Good idea,” Jason reiterated.
“Jason! A word?” Frank said as he stood up and began to pack things into a satchel. “Laughing Girl and Tudson, I want you two to get as much water that you can carry, Sarah, get the hand radios and make sure they’re charged. Tommy, sharpen the weapons with that knife sharpener in the kitchen.”
As the group complied with Frank’s orders, Jason followed the elderly man toward the entrance.
“Hey look, I’m going to be straight forward with you. I might have been in the military but I’m 74 years old. Yeah I can shoot straight but my heart isn’t nearly as healthy as it used to be. I’m taking six different kinds of meds and once the adrenaline gets pumping I’m not sure how much longer I have to go. You’re probably the only one weasely enough to figure a way for these kids to survive here. When I drop, don’t waste any time on me, keep going. I don’t have much left in me here,” Frank said. He pulled a cheap cigar from his pocket then unwrapped the cellophane. He lit it with a stick match he also took from his pocket and struck on the table top, and proceeded to puff on it while waiting for Jason's response.
“Thanks for the heads up,” Jason said. He hadn't wanted to hear that. He dropped his gaze and continued to listen.
“Look, Sarah’s a good kid and I want to look out for her,” Frank said as he continued to smoke. “I’ll tell you this much pal, you coming back for her is a big surprise. I’m not kidding when I said I wanted to shoot you. You hurt her really bad and worst of all, you act like you’re doing her a favor by being here. You’re fooling yourself if you think just showing up will win her back. Personally, I wouldn’t take you back, but then again, what do I know? Now come on, we’ve got to get moving. I managed to get some fireworks that I confiscated from some kids a few months ago. We’ll light em off and get moving during the chaos. What do you think?”
Jason wanted to plead his case with Frank but decided against it. His woman would be earned back by actions, not words. “Sounds good,” he replied.
“We should get going before another wave comes through. It can get pretty messy out if we get caught off guard by one of those waves.”
“Yeah, man why is there so many?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t know.”
Death Elevated
Jason grimaced as he watched his small crew of survivors make their way through the street. There were dozens of undead but with six people working together they were able to dispatch the zombies with swiftness. Jason, Tommy and Jane were in the front. Tudson, Frank and Sarah were in the back. Whenever a zombie would charge them they would quickly be able to move around it and take it down.
They were just moments from the dealership, a one hundred yards at the most. Charlie, the gun having dude, was a little more than a city block beyond that. Once they had a truck and weapons they would be making their way to the highway in no time.
The car dealership was relatively well kept, it seemed as though no one had thought to look for brand new vehicles to escape the city. The only thing they needed to worry about was finding the keys. The dealership’s little office was still intact but something seemed off about the place. Jason felt an instinctual fear as he realized the lot was full of dead zombies. Many of them had bullet holes in them.
“Hey guys, I think something’s wrong here,” Jason said as he grabbed Tudson and pulled him back from the boarded up door to the dealership.
“What? What is it?”
“This place is really quiet,” Jason said. He paused and strained his neck to listen, he could hear shuffling noises coming from inside the building. “Someone’s in there.”
“Zombies?” Frank asked as he nervously swung his baseball bat around.
“No, not zombies. People maybe?”
“Well let’s not chance it,” Sarah said, “last time we met survivors they weren’t super helpful. Let’s just see if we can hot wire one of these cars and get moving.”
“Hot wire?” Tudson said, “Lady, does anyone here know how to hot wire? Giggles, are you maybe some kind of criminal mastermind? Can you boost a ride for us?”
Jane shook her head at that.
“Exactly!” Tudson continued, “listen, we need a vehicle and one of those trucks is the best ride for the job. Let’s kick the door down, aim our guns and just take what we need. If they’re hostile, we shoot, if they’re friendly, we invite ‘em alongside us,” Tudson said.
Jason glanced at Frank who shook his head. He looked at the door and took a deep breath. He knocked on it, rapping his knuckles against the piece of plywood. No body dared breath.
“Whadddya want?” came a rough voice from inside.
“We need keys
to one of the trucks. We aren’t going to be any trouble,”
“Go to hell,” the voice replied. “You come in here and you die, simple as that.”
“We have supplies to trade,” Sarah offered, “water for keys?”
“If this door opens, I shoot,” the voice replied, “simple as that.”
Jason groaned. He turned to see a rather large collection of zombies were clumping together in the street. It looked as if a horde was starting to move in their direction. The hordes tended to move much slower but still, after enough time they would be covered in zombies.
“If you shoot you’ll attract all of these things, just give us some keys to anything and we’ll go,”
“Vehicle ain’t got fuel in em. I mean they got some but not enough. Who’s gonna pump your gas?” the voice replied.
“Good question,” Jason said, “but let us worry about it.”
“Look, I ain’t wanting any trouble. Either get to moving or I shoot you,” the voice warned.
“Alright enough of this,” Tudson shouted as he shoved past Jason and grabbed hold of the door. “Open this damn thing right now or I will kick it into splinters!”
“Tudson, stay back!” Jason shouted as he grabbed the biker and threw him backwards, causing them both to fall to the ground. The temporary wooden barricade exploded as a shotgun blast cut through it.
“Holy crap!” Tudson exclaimed.
“I told you I wasn’t kidding!” the voice replied. “Now scram!”
“Guys we gotta move,” Sarah said, pointing to the swarm of zombies that had taken notice of the noise. They began to hurriedly move towards the group’s position.
BLAM BLAM BLAM! The gunshots took Jason by surprise as he instinctively fell right back down to the ground. Jane had fired her gun several times into the door, causing a loud thumping sound followed by a weak groan,
“Holy crap!” Sarah squeaked. Jane merely smiled as she went to open the door. As soon as she kicked it open, a tall man wearing a dark blazer fell out onto the ground, dead.
“Well, that’s one way to solve things,” Jason said, “Sarah, stop gawking and look for a key, Frank and Tudson get ready to fight back some of that horde, Tommy check his body for anything useful.”
“Oh well that’s just great,” Tudson said as he looked at the corpse. He had long hair and a beard. A man in his forties. Tudson bent down and closed the man's dark eyes. He looked as though he was saying a prayer, and then got up and said,
“Okay crew, good news and bad news time. The good news is that we have a sure way to get into Charlie’s place. The bad news is that Laughing Gal killed Charlie.”
“Oh seriously? What was he doing here?” Tommy asked as he picked up the weapon.
“How am I supposed to know? The guy was squirrely and crazy. At least he had a shotgun.”
“I don’t think I’m okay with her shooting him,” Frank said, “he was just defending himself.”
“He would have killed Tudson if I hadn’t pulled him away from the door,” Jason said. “Reason enough to shoot, I guess. Come on let’s move!”
“I found a key! It’s to a truck!” Sarah said as she ran up.
“Good, let’s get moving,” Frank said as he took the key. “There’s a lot coming this way.”
The group scrambled to a large red truck and quickly got inside. It was large enough for everyone to fit inside and pretty soon the car was driving through the streets plowing through the occasional zombie.
“Alright, Charlie’s isn’t too far from here. The dude lived in a little place on Jefferson Street, get moving we can be in and out quickly,” Tudson said.
“Yeah about that. Charlie was in some random car dealership, right? Why wasn’t he home?” Jason asked. He felt nervous about the prospect of raiding the guy’s house.
“How am I supposed to know? Maybe he thought it would be better to hide out for a bit.”
“Or he was leaving his home behind and wanted a vehicle too,” Sarah muttered. “what if there’s nothing left?”
“I’m sure there’s something there. The guy was one of those preppers, so he’s got to be loaded,” Tudson replied.
“How quiet was he about that fact?” Frank asked.
“I’m sorry?”
“I said how quiet was he about the fact that he was a prepper? I mean if the fella was going on and on about how he was prepping for doomsday, what do you think would happen when doomsday actually hit? Hell, he was probably raided by looters.”
“I hadn’t thought of that” Tudson said. There was a thick silence in the car. “So…what? Do we check it out or….”
Frank shrugged. “No idea. Jason?”
“Well, we’ve got keys to his place, we might as well check, but we need to be careful,” Jason replied.
“Yeah alright, fine. But if there’s any hint of trouble, we should get out of there. I don’t want to be outgunned,” Frank said. The group murmured in agreement.
The truck pulled down the side of Jefferson Street. Jason had always liked Jefferson because of how tiny and adorable the little houses were, he had fantasized about being able to own one for a long time but now that really was a pipe dream.
“Here’s the place,” Tudson said as he pulled the vehicle in the driveway. There was a rather large black hummer parked in the driveway as well.
“That Charlie’s?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Tudson said.
“I’m voting we get out of here,” Frank said, “if someone’s in there they’re probably armed to the teeth.”
Jason shook his head. “No, we’ve got to get in there and look around. Sarah and Jane, you two stay in the car, Frank, Tommy and I will go check it out.”
“What about me?” Tudson asked, “what am I supposed to do?”
“Go around back and see if there’s some other way inside, in case we need backup.”
“Oh I’ll hobble right to it, sir,” Tudson said. In spite of his whining he had been walking much better recently.
With that, the men exited the vehicle and went about their duties. Tudson went to the back while Tommy, Frank and Jason went to the front of the door. Jason gently turned the doorknob; it was unlocked. He nodded at Frank and raised the pistol in his hands. He had fired a gun a few times in his life but never in combat. He wasn’t sure if he was more worried about the undead or the thought of people armed and ready to shoot at him. He would be relieved if there were just a few shambling corpses inside the building.
He cracked open the door and slowly entered. The lights were on and he could hear the sound of running water. The house was very small, Cluttered and smelled of grease and stale smoke. The kitchen was more of a kitchenette really. The refrigerator a basic portable jobby one finds in motels or RV units. The only counter top was consumed with a dish drainer full of dishes. The small one basin stainless steel sink was also full of dishes with dried on food and a nation of flies. Off the kitchen there was the living room, barely big enough for a recliner chair and coffee table with a large over flowing ash tray and magazines. On the far wall was a big screened television that partially covered a small window with dirty blinds. It was there they found a dead corpse on the floor. It was some kind of tough looking man, with tattoos on his face. He had several bite marks on his body and a single bullet hole in his head.
“Looks like he died not too long ago,” Frank said as he knelt down to inspect the body. “no weapon either. Mercy killing maybe?”
“Who knows?” Jason asked as he glanced around. A loud thumping caused Jason to jump. “What was that?” he asked as he looked around.
“It’s coming from this trapdoor,” Frank said pointing to a door that was thumping up and down on the ground. The sound was rhythmic.
“Zombie?” Tommy asked as he nervously fidgeted with the shotgun.
“Dunno.”
“Well, I’ll open it, if you see a zombie shoot it.”
“I’d rather bash its head in,” Frank said.
; “Just do anything if it lunges out at me,” Jason said as he knelt down to grab the trapdoor handle.
“Maybe,” Frank said with a smile as he readied the bat.
Jason threw open the trap door as Frank went to bash the bat downwards,
“Wait! Wait!” came a cry from beneath them. At the top of the ladder was a heavyset man wearing a leather jacket. Jason recognized him as one of the men who had been raiding the bank earlier.
“What are you doing down here?” Jason asked.
“Me and my guys were trying to get some guns here and my bro had been bit! I had to shoot him. I came down here to look around but the latch got stuck and I been trying to get out for what seems like hours,” the man said. “Can you help me out of this place?”
Jason glanced at Frank who tried to signal it might be a bad idea to help.
“Sure,” Jason said, “Come on up.” He nodded at Frank who took a step back. The big man climbed out of the hole and before he had a chance to do anything, Frank kicked him in the back of the knee and knocked him to the ground. “You move, you die!” Frank shouted as he shoved the pistol against the man’s head. Jason noticed that a knife had been knocked out of the big man’s hands.
“Ah come on, let me go! I wasn’t going to do nothing,” the man complained.
“We’ve got to get moving, we don’t have a lot of time left,” Frank said, “check the basement for gear and then let’s go.”
Jason nodded at Tommy and motioned for him to follow. The two began to climb down into the basement. The basement was rather spacious and Jason whistled at the sight of machine guns, grenades, canned food and ammunition cans. “Look at all this treasure!” Jason whistled.
“L-look at those bodies,” Tommy said as he pointed to four other corpses on the ground. Their flesh wasn’t rotted or contorted, meaning they most likely weren’t zombies.
“Jeez, what happened?” Jason muttered as he looked around.
“Hey!” Frank shouted. “This asshole just passed out. Looks like he’s got shrapnel of some kind in him, I’d wager to say a grenade.”
“Language!” Tommy shouted back.
