113
They were bloody, and Matt and Jessie could both hear their growls and snarls. Jessie pulled the gear shift into reverse. He stepped on the gas pedal. The RV squealed backwards, then he stopped after around forty feet. They watched the oncoming mob. Matt said, “ We should leave! Or, drive through them.” The dead kept following them. They were snarling louder. They reached up towards the large vehicle. Their morbid hands sticking up in the air. Jessie and Matt watched, as they tried to run, but were so decrepit, they could not. They stumbled and staggered. They moved like drunken old men, who had lost their canes. Their faces were twisted, and leathery. Some of them had blood all over their mouths, and clothing. You could see bite marks on most of them. Jessie was studying their creaky bodies, as they moved around like demonic puppets. Matt blurted out, “ Jessie! What are you doing? They are getting closer! You have to drive through them. If you hurry, they can't swarm us....”
Jessie said, “ I am studying them. Trying to figure out if any of them do anything different from the others.” Matt yelled, “ Jessie! Go!” Jessie snapped out of his independent, zombie-study. He pushed the gearshift into drive. He stepped on the gas pedal. He drove right through the crowd of Living Dead. He swerved around most of them. But, he hit three of them. They had lunged in front of his RV. Matt yelled, “ Whoa! Watch out, Jessie!” He drove down the highway. After a mile, he stopped. He threw the gearshift into, Park. Then, he opened his door, jumped out onto the pavement, bent over and threw up. As he was hurling out his breakfast onto the grass, Matt got out of the RV, and looked around. He could not see any homes or people. In the distance, he saw a man with a baseball cap on. He was walking along a tree line. It looked like the man was watching them. Then, the man turned and walked into the trees. He just disappeared. Jessie stood up. He went to his RV, reached in, then took out a bottle of water. He opened it, took a drink, swished it around his mouth, and spit onto the ground. He looked up, and poured some of the water onto his face. He blurted out, “We have to get to Ray and Amy's place. Or, we are screwed. If enough of those things get too close to the house, we won't be able to keep them from getting into the yard.... and then, maybe, the house. Ray and Amy's place, right now, it is the best place I know of.” He looked at Matt, who was clearly preoccupied. “What are you looking at?” Matt turned back to him, “ Nothing. I thought I saw someone over by those trees.” Jessie looked up at the tree line. There was large field. One of trees that had a “NO TRESPASSING” sign posted on one of them. Jessie was nervous. Who was walking around by the trees? he thought.
He replied, “ Oh Yeah? In the trees, huh? Then, we better get out of here. Once, people get desperate, there is no telling how they will act. Come on.” He climbed back to his RV. Matt turned, and looked back at the trees. He turned back towards the RV. He walked around to the door, opened it and climbed back up inside. When he closed the door, he scanned the tree line, again. It was not until Jessie started to drive away that, he saw the silhouette of the man in the baseball cap. He blurted out,” Look! There he is, again!” Jessie sat still, and watched. He saw the man walking away. He could only see the man's head, but he was leaving. The view was obstructed by branches and leaves. Jessie said, “Kid. We can't trust anyone. I know that you have been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours. I know that you know that this is bad. Anyone surviving this, will be desperate. Do you understand? They will kill for almost anything. That does not mean that, everyone is a bad person, but we need to be very careful who we trust. Okay?” Matt thought about the man. He replied, “ Yes. Okay. But, what if, he needs help?” Jessie, was now driving. He drove all the way up to Route 41. Then, Jessie turned the RV around. He drove back towards the way they had come.
114
He said, “When we get back, I am going to radio Ray and tell him that we are leaving out tomorrow. I have to check the RV out, again. It's doing okay, so far. But, we'll need time to get the supplies loaded onto the trailer and in here, too. So, I will need today to get it done. I am thinking, I will drive the truck and trailer. And, Mary can drive the RV. Will you ride with her, if I drive in front of the line? I can go up ahead, and report back on the radio. That way, if there is trouble. You two know about it, and have a chance to go back. It is the best way.” Matt answered, “Sure, Jess. Are you sure that they will be okay with me coming?” Jessie said, “ Yep.” They headed back home. When they walked into the house, Mary had packed all of the kitchen supplies, and was starting on the bathroom. She let out a loud sigh of relief. “I was getting worried.” Jessie gave her a kiss. He looked over at Matt. Matt sat slumped back on the couch. He was missing his parents, and he was more worried than he was trying to let on. Seeing this, Mary said, “Matt, I made lunch. It's on the stove. Today, it's just grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Go eat as much as you want. There is some chips on the table. And, there is Lemonade in the fridge.”
He said, “Thanks, Mary.” He stood up, and went into the kitchen. Jessie said, “ Babe. We found a way to get around the middle of town. But, at different points, it's bad. Those things, they are walking around in packs. We have to be careful, and not get out of our vehicles until we get to Ray and Amy's. “She cut in, “ Vehicles?” He continued, “ Yes. I want to get the radios out, and look over the RV. All it needs is a once over. I just need to make sure the hoss are holding. The rest of it is good. I want you and Matt to drive the RV behind me, while I drive the truck and trailer. Mary, it's bad out there. I am going to go a little ahead of you two, and stay on the radio. This will give you guys a chance to get out of there, in case anything goes wrong. Mary, what we saw yesterday is nothing compared to what Matt and I saw today. If we do it like this, I can turn around and get back to you and Matt. If you see me stop ahead back it up. It's better this way.” Mary listened to him speak. She thought about her sister. “Do you really think it's that bad?” Her eyes teared up. “ I can't get Amy on the phone. Ray said, she is not feeling good. Jessie, she got bitten. I have been online. I found videos. It's happening all over. Some SWAT team officer said that, those things don't die unless you shoot them in the head. It's like a nightmare, Jess.” Jessie hugged his wife. He said, “ Hey Honey, we are going to figure this out. Okay?” She wiped her eyes. “I'm worried, Jess. What are we going to do if Ray and Amy's place is not safe, either? ” He looked down at her. His confusion was showing. She continued, “ Think about it. If it is not safe here. When will it not be safe, over there?” She started to cry. He asked, “Do you want to stay here?” She replied, “ I don't know... I don't know what we should do. And, I can't even talk to Amy, to make sure that she is okay.” He took her hands, in his. He looked into her eyes, “If you want to stay here, we will. If you want to go to Amy's, we will. Okay? What ever we do, we have to make our decision, now. You were right. If we stay here. We will be prisoners inside this house, once those things get too close to home. Soon, the power and water will go off. We will need to go outside to acquire basic needs. Those things seem to be attracted to movement and sound. And, they travel in groups. They move slow, but where one is, more seem to be. I think we'll be okay, if we make it to Ray and Amy's place. If we are going there, we can't wait. But, once on the way, we can't panic. We have to stick to the plan. Things are not the same out there, anymore. It's time to bug out.” Matt heard him from the kitchen. He was eating his sandwich, and missing his Mom and Dad. He wanted to cry, but felt numb. He lay his food down onto the plate.
115
He gulped down his juice. Then, sat at the table, while holding his glass in his hand. He stared at the glass, as he remembered his Mother telling him to call her when he arrived at his friends' house. That was the last time he saw his Mother. She lay in bed, sick. While, she worried about him getting to his destination safe. He felt a tear drip out of his eye. He saw Jessie standing in the doorway. Jessie froze, as he walked into the kitchen. He saw the look on Matt's face, and realized that his eyes had teared up. He awkwardly watched the boy, who had cut his grass for the
last two years. When Matt saw Jessie, he wiped the tears from his eyes. Jessie cleared his throat, and said, “ Matt. I am going to get the RV running. Tomorrow, we leave. I was thinking, I can go back your house and get anything you need. Anything that I forgot. More clothes... ” Matt cut him off, “ No! No, it's okay. Thanks. But, I think that we should check out the hardware store. And, where ever else that you think we can get what we need. Jess, we also need guns. We have to be ready to fight those things off, if too many of them chase us.”
Jessie thought about it. He, himself, was freaked out by what he had seen in the last couple of days. He could only imagine what Matt had seen, and how scared he was. Matt had lost his family. The two of them had just seen a huge mob of the dead. If the RV had stalled, they would have been trapped. Matt was right. They needed to obtain weapons. He had to take care of Mary, and the boy, too. Jessie agreed, “ You are right. And, we will find some weapons.” He went outside, to get it all finished. Matt went to his room to watch more video's. After Jessie finished with the RV, he packed their food into it. Then, he went inside the house. Matt was in his room, and Mary was sleeping. He knocked on Matt' s door. “Come in.” he heard the boy say. When he opened the door, Matt was sitting on the bed, watching something on his computer. He said, “ Hey, Buddy. Can I talk to you?” Matt shrugged, “ Sure.”
As he sat on the opposite side of the bed, he saw the video. It looked like a news report. He didn't recognize the woman speaking. He said, “ I think that, I have everything covered. But, I could use some help loading up the truck and a few more things into the RV. Do you feel up to helping me out?” Matt said, “Okay.” he hesitated, “But, I think you should look at this stuff. This lady has been telling people about these zombies for weeks. She calls them, The Living Dead. This is the woman that the man in the other video mentioned.” Matt had visible goose bumps on his arms. He turned the laptop around, so that the screen was facing Jessie. Jessie took the computer, and held it up. He listened to her.
The voice said, “ Don't go out alone. They can only be killed through the brain. The unified world governments did this. The last time that, I spoke to my contact overseas, all of the Arab world was gone. Most of Europe, and Asia had been closed off to the rest of the world. There is not much time. Get your families to safety. Don't let them bite you. You cannot survive it. If you are bitten, you die, then wake up as one of them. They eat people. They travel together much of the time. They don't think. They are attracted to sound, light, and movement. Watch your children, protect your elderly. You can only kill them with a shot to the head. I will try to update, as soon as I hear any more news. But, at this point, my contacts are all gone. And, I do not know how much longer I will be able to get online. Soon, no one will have power, or running water. Unless, you live out in the country. Which seems to be the safest place, for now.” Her eyes teared up. “I will keep you all posted, as long as I can. God Bless.” the video ended. They sat there and clicked into, then watched more videos. The woman who was reporting, had many videos, and many followers.
116
She had guests who explained, how to kill the zombies. They showed how the illness progressed, once the victim was bitten. She had been covering this for a long time. In her later video's, she and her camera man, showed themselves fighting off the dead. Then, they explained step by step, how to kill the dead. Jessie said, “Okay. So we can out run them. But, they only die if you pierce their brains. They will find you if they hear noise, see lights, or movement. And, they seem to be oblivious to their own kind. Or, at least, they do not eat their own.” He looked at Matt. “You need to learn how to shoot. As soon as we get to Rays, I will teach you. There is just one problem.” Matt asked,” What?”
“Mary 's sister was bitten.” Matt's face went white.” He blurted out, “ I don't think that we should go there. She will turn.” He was shaking his head form side to side. Jessie said, “ I know. I am trying to get there before she gets too sick.” I called out to Ray on the radio... no answer.”
Matt looked worried. “ Are you trying to commit suicide?” “Mary wants to see her sister. I need to bring her there. It's safer for us, anyway.”Matt said, “Not if her sister has a bite. You know what happens... you just watched the videos....” Jessie said, “ I know. I won't let Mary, or you get hurt. I promise.” Matt looked down. He asked, “ Does Mary know? You know... What happens?” Jessie answered, “ I think she suspects. We were out there. Some of those things came up on us. And, they attacked at the store. That's how Amy was bitten. I think that Mary knows, deep down. But, she has not come to terms with it, yet. Ray is into all of the prepping stuff. His place is better equipped than our place. And, he is on the edge of town.” After Mary woke up, they finished packing what they could fit into the vehicles. They planned to leave out, early the next morning. Mary sent a text to her sister and received no response. She was worried. Jessie went out to the garage. He called Ray. The line was jammed. He sent him a text. The screen showed that, the text message went through. But, he received no response. He didn't like this. Maybe, the the lines were really jammed. Why were their phones showing that the messages were sent? He had a bad feeling, but knew that they needed to get to Ray's. His place was on the edge of town. It was on high ground, and he had more weapons.
He wanted to bring up the fact that, Amy had been bitten to Mary. But, he didn't want to upset her. He reached into his side. He pulled out his firearm. He had a Glock. He only carried it when he worked the night shift. Until, yesterday. He had a couple of extended magazines, but never felt that he needed to use them, until now. Ray told him that he would not be sorry, if he invested in one or two. He pulled a trunk, from under the work table. He opened it, and pulled out several small boxes of ammunition. He counted the bullets. He had ten boxes, containing one hundred bullets, each. He went back into the house and dug out his extended clips. While he was digging through his closet, he found a sling shot that he had placed there. He had forgotten about that. He took it, and the steel ammo balls that went with it. He took a tote bag that Mary had hung in the closet, and shoved everything he had dug out into the bag. He tip-toed through the house. Mary was taking a shower, and Matt was in his room watching something on his computer. When Jessie made it back to the garage, he dumped everything onto his work table. He filled all of his clips. He took count of all of the ammunition that he had left. He thought the sling shot might slow those things down if he needed to use it. He would test it out. He needed to sneak out tonight, and find one of those zombies. Then, he would know how getting a hit to the head from the sling shot would affect it. He had to make a few other tools to use. He needed to know what would work against those things, and what would not. He took out a roll of heat duct tape. He wrapped his legs and arms in places that the zombies would grab and bite. He remembered the video's.
117
He wrapped his neck area, all the way around. He pulled out some leather gloves. He took out his motorcycle helmet. He looked for anything that he could use against them. He picked up his leather vest and put it on. Then, he buttoned it up. This would help protect his mid-section. He took his axe and machete off of the wall. He had sharpened them earlier. Then, his hunting knife. He had made his mind up, if he ran into a large group of those things, he would outrun them. He worked out regularly, was a personal trainer, until now. He was in near perfect shape. He would wait until Mary and Matt were asleep, then sneak out. He would find those things, and take them on. He had to figure out how to fight them, and fighting them was how to figure them out. Besides, he had to make sure that they had a clear path to get to their destination. Later that night, after he made sure that the others were asleep, he headed out on foot. He went over the back fence, into Matts' place. He walked through the house. He went to the bedroom door, where the two females were locked up. He stood in front of the door, then he knocked. He heard thumping, and then, scratching against the door. He could hear both of them growling and snarling at him through the door. He tur
ned, and walked out the front door. He decided that he would deal with Matts' Dad, first. He walked out onto the porch. He stood there, and looked around. He could not see Matt's father. He walked down the stairs, out onto the sidewalk. From a distance, he saw a couple of zombies stumbling his way. One came close, it was not Matts' Dad. He took out his knife. He allowed the thing to get close enough for him to sway to the side, grab it's hair and stab it's temple. It died. As it fell, he pulled the knife from it's temple. Jessie looked up, now his adrenaline was pumping. The other was coming closer, he teased it a little. He moved from side to side. It slowly, followed each direction that he moved in. It growled like an angered cat. Finally, he grabbed it by the top of the head. Then, stuck his knife upwards, through it's throat, and back into it's brain.
Living Dead 2.0 Page 25
