How's your arm? Amy replied; Okay. It's better. I cleaned it up. Keep me posted. Love you. Be careful.
Mary asked; Does it hurt?
Amy responded; No. swelled up, though. Be careful.
Mary responded; Stay home. I'll be there as soon as I can. Love you.
At Jessie and Mary's place, they watched from their window, as a military group shot down a group of people. People that were stumbling around. Then, they watched as a hazmat crew took out giant torches and burned the bodies. Mary gasped, and covered her moth. Jessie put his hand around her shoulders. He pulled her close to him. “We have to stay in, until they leave.” They watched as the crew stood around talking. They brought in a bulldozer to pick up the burnt remains of the bodies and load them into a garbage truck. After wards, they went into a house. It looked like they were searching the house. Mary said, “ This is horrible!” Jessie watched the scene, as he spoke.
“ I am going to hook the trailer up to the Jeep. Call Ray and Amy, make sure they really have room for us.” She responded, “ They do. They are waiting for us, now.”
He said, “ I need to start loading up the Jeep and the trailer. It's going to take me awhile. I can get a lot of stuff onto the trailer, except for furniture. Why don't you go get our stuff packed up?” He tried to call his parents. They were in Florida. He left a voice mail message. “Mom, Dad. I love you guys. Listen, something is going on, here. Stay in the house. Call me when you get this message. Just let me know you guys are okay.” He ended the call, and addressed Mary. “ Babe. Make sure that the doors are locked.” He went out to the back yard. He started to go through some of the stuff he had out in the garage. He sat down on the bench. He sat there, in a daze. He still couldn't believe what he had seen that day. He was worried about his parents. In his gut, he knew that he would never see them, again. He looked around. “How will I get all of this crap to Rays?” He heard some yelling. He ran out of the garage and to the front. When he reached the end of his yard, he had to peek over the top of the privacy fence surrounding his yard. It was coming from the house where the previous commotion had taken place. Apparently, the whole family was not home at the time of the incident. The father had come home at the end of “the haz-mat cleanup”. He started to yell at the officials there. Jessie saw the man being dragged away by two men in riot gear. He ran to the garage and took a thick chain and a large lock. He went back to the tall wooden gate. He ran the chain through two gaps on both side of the gate and fence, slid the lock through, then locked it.
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He stood there and watched. Another of the neighbors came out of his house. He started to take video with his phone. The men in the riot gear ordered him back into his house. Jessie went into the house. Mary was standing in the window. She looked terrified. She said, “ Jessie, look at this. I don't know what we will do.” Jessie said, “ We can't try to go anywhere until they leave.” He walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. Mary called Amy. “Hey. Anything happening out by your house?” she paused. “They are here. Amy, they shot them and burnt their bodies. It was horrible. I can still smell it. I don't know what is going on, but it is really bad. It looked like they took Mr. Lopez away when he came home. We can't leave, right now. The place is crawling with people in riot gear and - suits.” She paused, again. “I know. No. I haven't told him, yet. We have plenty of food, here. We'll be okay, until we can get out to your house. Jess is going to hook up the trailer. Are you sure that you have room for us and our stuff? I have a whole lot of canned food. I have a feeling that we should bring it. Call me if anything changes. Okay?” Jessie listened from the kitchen. What didn't she tell me?
He walked back into the living-room. He sat down. “So... What didn't you tell me?”
She turned around. She looked at him, as though, she had some bad news. She walked over to where he was sitting on the sofa. She sat down next to him, and hesitated. It appeared, as though, she was trying to assess what words that she would use. Jessie touched her thigh and said, “ Babe? What is it?” She said, “ Jessie, I am pregnant.” He stared at her for a moment. What she said, took a minute to sink in. He hugged her. He said, “Are you sure?” She said, “ Yes. At first, I was happy. But, now... We have to find out what is actually happening out there. Now, I am scared.” He hugged her. He took in a deep breath. “Me too. We leave for your sister's house, just as soon as the government people are gone. Okay?” There was a knock at the door. They turned to the door, then exchanged a concerned look. Jessie jumped to his feet and peeked out of the window. “It's Matt.” Jessie opened the door. The young man-boy rushed into the house. It looked like he had been crying. He looked scared. He was clearly upset. Their sixteen year old neighbor, Matt, was frantic. “Jess, I didn't know where else to go.”
Mary stood up. “What happened Matt? Are you okay?” Mary assumed that, the haz-mat team had yelled at him. The boy was visibly shaken. He looked at Mary. He started to cry, “They tried to get me! They are dead! They are all dead, Mary! It's the end of the world. Everybody's dead!” He held his hands out in front of him, as he hysterically explained the situation. Jessie knew that he was telling the truth. Mary tried to comfort the boy. She hugged him, “It will be alright, Matt. Where are your parents?” As he spoke, he moved his hands in distress. He looked at her, “ They are dead! The neighbors, too. There is no help. There is no ambulance. The cops, too. Everyone is dead, or just ...gone! ” He started to cry, again. Mary and Jessie exchanged another look. They both knew that something terrible was happening. Mary looked scared, herself. Jessie said, “ Okay. Matt, start from the beginning. Tell us what happened.” Mary went into the kitchen and came back carrying water for Matt. She handed it to him. He took it, and drank in between explaining to them what had happened. He continued, “ My Mom, Dad, and Mandy. They died. But, they get back up. They came after me!” He paused, and looked at them both. Then started to ramble, again, “ They come after you ! They try to eat you! All of them!”
He was terrified. Mary said, “ Okay, Matt. It's okay. We will go check on your Mom and Dad.” The boy turned and yelled, “ No! You can't go over there. They will all try to get you! You can't go over there. I saw the guys in the chemical suits. They will take all of us! I can't go back there! Neither, can you!”
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His eyes were filled with fear. “Okay.” said Jessie. As he held his hands out, in an attempt to calm the boy down. “I will go and peek over the fence, see if I hear anything. You stay here with Mary. You stay here with us. Okay? You came to the right place. You can stay with us. I am going to sneak around and see what I can see. I am just going to peek over the fence. Stay here.” Matt shook his head up and down, “ Jess, if you see them, run.” The look on Matt's face, was enough to give Jessie the chills. He went into the bedroom and took out one of his guns. He grabbed a flashlight. He came back into the living room. Mary was worried, too. Mary said, “ Be careful.” He said, “ You two, stay here.” They watched Jessie walk through the kitchen, and out the back door. Mary sat down next to Matt. She said, “ Matt, tell me why you think your parents are dead.” He started to cry. He blurted out, “ They died. My sister got bit by one of those things. They took her to the Doctor, and the medicine didn't work... she stopped breathing. Then, she wakes up and bites my Mom. My Mom didn't go to the Doctor. She got real sick. Dad found her in bed. She wasn't breathing. Then, she follows him to the kitchen as he was trying to call for help, and she bit him. We locked her and Mandy in Mandy's bedroom, because no one would answer the 911 line. Dad got real sick, too. He had slept on the sofa. He didn't feel like getting up yesterday morning. I was gone all day. When I came back, he was standing in the kitchen staring at me. He came after me, like Mom did to him. He was growling.” Mary placed her hand on his arm. She asked him, “Are you saying that your sister bit your Mom and your Mom bit your Dad? Each time the person bitten became sick?” Mary thought about Amy. A bolt of dread went through her. She wanted to call her sister. She saw how distr
aught the boy was. He had been crying on and off. He looked lost. She and Jessie had known him for two years. He always cut their grass for extra money. She patted him on the back. “I am going to keep trying to call the emergency line. It will be okay. You can stay with us for as long as you need to. I am going to get you something eat. Okay?” She gave him a hug. She stood up and went into the kitchen and started to pull food out of the refrigerator. She said, “I should warn Jessie.” She picked up her phone and sent him a text. He was already in Matts' back yard. His phone started to vibrate. He pulled it out of his pocket and read the text; Be careful!! Matt said that his family is acting like the people that we saw at the store, and on the trail. His mom and sis are in one of the bedrooms, and Dad is loose in the kitchen. He replied back; Okay. He went to the back door. The house was dark. He quietly opened the kitchen door and went in. He slowly tip-toed through the house. As he made it through the kitchen, he could see into the living room. The front door was standing wide open. He approached the doorway. He stopped when he saw Matt's Dad standing on the outside, on the sidewalk. He walked out onto the landing. Then, slowly down the stairs. When he made it a few feet into the front yard, he stopped. “ Ed. ...Ed, you okay, Buddy?” Ed turned around to look at Jessie. When he did, Jessie saw a hideous looking Ed. Not the Ed he knew. Matt's Dad was a polite, but funny guy. He usually had a nice greeting for his neighbors, and a warm smile. This Ed, leered at him through the moon light. This Ed, growled and staggered towards him. As he came closer, Jessie could see that he had dark circles under his eyes, and his flesh looked like gray leather. His eyes were dead. He looked like a slow moving demon. He remembered what the others looked like. This Ed looked just like them. He acted just like them, too. He was a zombie. He was dead.... He didn't think, and he didn't care who he killed. Jessie blurted out,“ Shit!” He turned around, and ran back up the stairs. He made it inside the house just in time. When he saw Ed staggering up the stairs, he slammed the door and locked it. Ed slammed into the front door, face first. He was growling. Jessie could see his shadow clawing at the door through the stained glass window. He took a few slow steps backwards. His heart was pounding.
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He realized that he was hearing more snarling. It was muffled. He followed the sound to a door. It was Matt's mom and sister. He heard thumping and scratching. It sounded like they had also walked into the door. They were not trying to open it, just walking into it. They must have followed the sound of him slamming the front door. After a minute, their snarling stopped. He walked closer to the door. He knocked. All of the sudden, he heard loud snarling and thumping on the other side of the door. They aren't trying to open it.” he said to himself. He looked around, he pointed his flashlight towards another door. He went into the room. It must have been Mandy's room. It was filled with girlie things, and painted in colors of pink and purple. He felt sad for the young Mandy. She was a sweet girl. She was fourteen. Now, she was in the next room growling like an animal. Jessie felt a pang of grief for Matt and his family. He turned, and walked into another room to the right. The door was half open. It was Matts' room. To the left, Jessie saw a poster of a UFC fighter. Over on the desk, a laptop, a game system and some games. Jessie called Mary. She answered,” Yes. Are you alright?”
'Yes,” He said. “She asked,” Are they there?” He answered, “ Yes. He was telling the truth. Just tell him that he can stay with us. Okay? I'll be there in a minute.” She said, “Okay. He is pretty upset. Be careful.” They ended their call. Jessie looked around the room. He opened the closet door. He grabbed some of the clothes and threw them onto the bed. He went into the kitchen. He looked around for some trash bags. When he found the bags, he took a couple and went back into Matt's room. He turned on the light and rifled through Matt's drawers. He grabbed all of the clothes he could. He took his pillows, a comforter, the laptop, game system, and games. He tossed everything of the boys' that he could, into the two trash bags. As he was starting to walk out of the room, he focused on a picture of Matt and his family. It was a framed snapshot. It looked like they were at a picnic. They all looked so happy. He remembered how close the family was. He felt bad for Matt. For Mandy and their parents, too. Jessie grabbed the picture, and threw it into the bag. He looked around, to make sure that he didn't leave anything behind that Matt might need. As he walked through the house. He looked around. He still could not believe everything that he had witnessed that day. He had known for a few weeks that something was not right. People missing work, hardly no traffic on the roads for at least a week. He thought about his sister-n-law. She had been bitten. Would Amy turn into what he saw in Matt's home? How would Mary take it? He took in a deep breath. Then, He left through the back door. He made it to the back of his privacy fence. Once there, he threw the bags to the other side. He climbed up and threw his leg over the top, to swing his body over as well. Before he could get his other leg up, out of no where, Ed grabbed his foot. He was snarling and growling he had a hold on Jessie's ankle. He was trying to bite his foot, but the hiking boot that he was wearing was too thick. The zombie had a grip on him. Jessie was trying to balance himself on top of the fence, and pull away at the same time. He kicked the zombie in the head. He almost fell. He still had a hold on his foot. He kicked, again. This time, zombie-Ed stumbled backwards. Jessie swung his other foot up onto the top of the fence. The zombie stood back up, lunged towards him and tried to grab him, again. He slammed into the fence, as Jessie pulled his foot over, then jumped down on his side of the fence. He landed on the ground just in time. He leaned back onto his elbows, watching the creepy gray hands claw at the top of the fence, for a minute. He was frozen. He was mesmerized by the way they all mindlessly clawed at doors, and fences. He thought to himself; they move slow, and don't think. He, Ray, and their wives worked out together, almost daily. He was a professional trainer. He snapped out of his fixation on behavioral patterns of the zombies. “Keep it together.... Move!”
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He blurted out, to himself. He jumped to his feet, picked up the bags and ran up to his back door. He closed, and locked the door behind him. His heart was pounding. He slapped himself in the face. He had to hold it together. He had to stay calm in front of Mary and Matt. When he walked into the kitchen, he could see Matt through the doorway. He was sitting in a chair with a blank look on his face. He looked so lost. His heart went out to the boy. Mary met him in the kitchen. She said, “ What happened? What is that? “She was eyeing the bags on the floor. “Are you okay? I was getting worried.”
He looked worried. He was trying to hide how concerned he was. He whispered, “How is Matt?” She watched him try to avoid eye contact with her. He is worried; she thought to herself. He looked around the kitchen. He picked up the bags and moved them aside. She continued. “I am making us all something to eat.” He nodded to her, then walked past her. He went to where Matt was sitting. He sat down next to him, and said, “ Matt, Buddy. How would you like to stay here for a while? Matt. I am sorry. I am sorry about your family. We are here for you. I want you to know that you will be safe here. Okay?” He looked the boy in the eyes. Matt looked at him. He looked scared. “What if they come here?” Jessie sat up straight. He said, “We won't let them in. I have secured everything. Doors, windows, the gates outside, too. I'll keep watch. We will be okay. ” The boy had a very calm tone as he spoke. “ They don't talk, or anything. They act like they are sleep walking, until they hear noise or see something moving. Then ,they wake up. But it's like, they are mindless animals. They sneak up on you, too.” Jessie listened to the boy. He was right. Jessie said, “ I brought some of your things. I tried to bring what I thought you liked, and some stuff that you'll need. That room over there.” He pointed to the extra bedroom that they had. “It's yours. Okay. When it's safe, we are going out to Mary's sisiter's place. She and her husband live on the edge of town. Ray and Amy have a lot more privacy. I think that we'll all be safer there.” They heard Mary's voice from the kitchen. “ Time to eat. She ma
de fried ham and potatoes. As Jessie and Matt walked into the kitchen, they saw Mary loading up fried potatoes, corn, and ham on all of their plates. She pulled some biscuits out of the oven, dumped them into a glass bowl and set it on the table, next to the butter dish. She went to the refrigerator, pulled out a bowl of salad and some salad dressing and placed them onto the middle of the table. She turned to Matt, “Ice tea, lemonade, or water? Oh. We have milk, too. What is your pick?” Matt quietly said, “ Lemonade, please.” Jessie said, “ Matt, sit here. Do you like biscuits, salad? Is that enough corn?”
Matt said, “Yes. Thanks.” They all sat down, and ate dinner. It was quiet. No one knew what to say to each other. Mary was dying to ask Jessie what he had seen at Matt's house. She didn't want to upset the boy anymore than he already was. She worried about Amy. She had been bitten. Finally, Jessie spoke. He said, “ I am going to start checking the fence and gates, regularly. Until, we know that it's safe to leave. I am also going to take inventory of all of the things we have on hand. Matt, if you want, you can help me with that.” He looked over at Matt. Matt said, “ Sure, Jessie.” He continued scarfing down his food. Jessie went on, “ Mary, I need you to take inventory of everything we have inside the house. First aid, food, and anything that we may need to survive. Okay?” Mary said, “ We are packing up, right? So that we can bring it with us...” Jessie said, “Yes, but we have to know what we have, and we maybe stuck here for a few days. I am going out to scout the area tomorrow. Just to get an idea of how full traffic will be. And, also, I want see if those black SUV driving goons are around. And, if so......where?” Matt asked, “ What if it's not sae to leave? How far is it?” He looked afraid. Mary said, “My sisters. It's safe. And, don't worry. You are coming, too.” Jessie said, “ And, I'm pulling out the two-ways.
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