by Jason Alters
‘Hey,’ mom landed a weak slap on my leg. ‘If I don’t look out for you, then who will?’
‘I know, mom. I’m just messing with you. It’s better to be prepared than sorry, right?’ I repeated the words I’d heard her say way too many times.
‘Exactly,’ she gleamed. ‘It just makes me very happy that you’ve got a guy like Anton. One who seems to know that the world isn’t as warm and welcoming as many believe it to be.’ Mom liked Anton. Hearing that he was starting to take an interest in prepping seemed to make her like him even more.
‘He is great,’ I blushed. ‘Though I’m not sure his prepping skills are the things I enjoy the most. Plus, he’s just started getting interested in it. Hence him asking me to get his bug out bag ready.’
‘Well, let’s get started then,’ Mom got up and placed a basket with supplies on the floor. ‘I think we ought to go through the contents of our bags first and then we can take care of Anton’s. Have you got the list, Brandon?’
Brandon reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of folded up paper. ‘Right here. Should I get started?’
I undid the zippers on my bag. ‘Yep. I’m ready.’
‘Yes,’ mom agreed.
Brandon straightened out the list and started to read. ‘Knives, lighters, flashlight, matches, first aid kit.’
‘I’ve got the first aid kit,’ I chimed in. As far as the heavier and bulkier items were concerned, we’d split them amongst each other. This was to ensure that our bug out bags weighed no more than twenty-five percent of our body weight and we’d actually managed to cut this number down considerably, by splitting the load.
‘I’ve got the Ham radio,’ Brandon said, fishing it out of his backpack and holding it in the air. ‘Paracord, tampons for mom and Liz, hygiene kit, compass, sewing kit, spork, pot, water. Mom, you’ve got the Mylar blanket?’ she nodded. ‘Change of clothes, poncho. Okay, we’re pretty much through. Check the expiration dates on your food and then mom, you can take over with the new items.’
I reached into my backpack and pulled out a can of tuna, protein bar and a can of Vienna sausages, checked the dates and put them back in. ‘My dates are fine,’ I informed Brandon.
‘Mine too,’ mom chimed in.
‘Okay mom. It’s your turn,’ Brandon said, fiddling with a pack of crackers, looking at the date and placing it to the side. ‘This is about to go bad in two months.’
‘Okay guys, so, here I’ve got spare sunglasses for everyone. I know that your glasses got broken Liz. So I think it’s best if you just put these in the front of the pack which will make it easy for you to put them on once we need to head out. Next, there’s chapstick which is also a great fire started.’ She handed the items to Brandon and me and went back to digging around in the basket. ‘Glow sticks, a pack of cards, Aspirin. Oh and I’ve got us all collapsible water bottles. So I’d suggest that only one of us should keep the old stainless steel ones that we have, just in case, for some strange reason, all the collapsible ones get holes at the same time. But as far as I read, these are the best out there. I’ve tested them all for leaks and not even a drip around the nozzle. And last, but probably the coolest thing I have for you guys, is this here,’ she waved around a blue straw-like thing in the air.
‘What’s that?’ I asked, looking at the item suspiciously.
‘It’s a lifestraw. You can use it to filter water,’ she smiled. ‘Just catch your water in a container, slip it in and the water gets purified as it’s sucked through the straw,’ she explained.
Once our bug out bags were fully stocked, I settled down to get Anton’s together. I borrowed Brandon’s list, crossed off all the items I packed and made a note of the ones that Anton would have to come up with on his own. Since I’d opted to get rid of my old water bottle, I placed it in his backpack. The only items missing were sunglasses, a change of clothes and his gun. Though I highly doubted that the time would ever come where we’d need to sling our packs over our backs in a hurry and head for the bunker, I got excited putting everything together. Anton being interested in camping meant there was a strong likelihood that- at some point- we’d be able to take our packs out for a trial run. Altoona had so many great trails and wild areas to camp. However, this was an idea that I knew mom would be totally against and thus, would have to wait until she didn’t think that walking dead people were out to get us.
I headed to my room, which was the last one down the hallway. Carefully, I placed the bug out bags in the corner, beside my overly bulky dresser. A part of me missed my old dresser which was much smaller and thus, made my room seem a lot bigger. But with all the clothes that I’d accumulated over the years, the change was necessary. In fact, rather than a dresser, I should have opted for an entire house. But, hey, there was no complaining about free rent and a nice plate of food every time I came home. Mom did a great job of taking care of Brandon and me. And though others might have found it strange that her two grown children were still living in her home, we didn’t mind. Leaving her alone wasn’t an option.
Chapter 4
‘Liz. Brandon,’ mom’s voice jerked me out of my sleep.
If it were any other day, I might have complained. But with the nightmare I’d been having, I wasn’t dissatisfied to be woken.
‘Liz. Brandon. Get in the living room this minute,’ mom yelled, louder this time.
Something was wrong. I could feel it. Quickly, I made my way out of bed, forgetting about my slippers and cringing as my feet made contact with the cold tiles.
‘Yes, mother,’ I panted, having arrived in the living room to see her eyes fixed on the television. ‘What’s wrong?’
Brandon joined soon after and just when he was about to speak, mom shushed him and pointed at the television. Her fingers waving zealously, she instructed him to use his eyes and not his mouth. I yawned, wide but quietly and settled down on the sofa beside her. With the air conditioning on full blast it was easy to forget the intensity of Alabama’s summers. I tugged a small section of the blanket from mom’s legs and draped it over my own.
On the television, a news reporter stood in the dark streets, pointing to a pool of blood that the camera zoomed in on.
I’m Anne May with the eight o’clock news. Currently I’m standing at the corner of Summerville Road, a place that was thought to be safe and crime free, until last night. Another Zombie strikes. This here, is the spot where Thomas Hart was attacked on his way back from the grocery store. One simple trip turned into a nightmare that no one could have ever imagined. The streets of Altoona are not safe anymore. Once contained to Birmingham, this thing that has been turning regular citizens into flesh eating monsters is getting out of control. Some of the residents of Summerville Road reported hearing shuffling sounds in the bushes as well as being woken at night by loud thuds coming from outdoors. This has apparently been going on for weeks. However, last night was the first time that anything of this nature had taken place. Two residents who witnessed the attack on Thomas Hart stated that they, too, heard rattling in the bushes when they’d went by earlier that night. What made this ‘zombie’ choose Mr. Hart, rather than the other two guys, no one knows but the situation is indeed a tragic one. It goes without saying that the residents of Summerville Road are stunned, shocked and not to mention traumatized by what has happened.
Thomas Hart was taken to the Stringfellow Memorial Hospital where he was reported to be in critical condition. As for the ‘thing’ that attacked Mr. Hart, there are mixed responses as to what direction it headed in. The only thing that can be said with certainty is that the residents of Altoona need to do all they can to be safe and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Police are saying that it’s wise to travel in groups rather than alone as looking back at the attacks, there were never any carried out on a group.
Stay safe Altoona and now to Anabelle with the weather.
‘Holy hell,’ Brandon exclaimed.
My hand shot to my mouth as I remembered the ruffling sounds that
I heard on my way home. Summerville Road was approximately a half an hour away from where I lived. But if what the reporter said was true, there was no telling what other parts of Altoona were affected by whatever these things were. I could have been killed. I could have been the one attacked. A sense of relief but also panic swept over me.
‘I told you,’ mom latched onto my leg, sinking her nails into me. ‘I told you. I told you. I told you. This is no joke. This isn’t a joke. I just knew it.’
‘Shit!’ I exclaimed.
For a few seconds, I contemplated telling mom and Brandon about what had happened the previous night. However, there was no way that I’d have mom running up her blood pressure and landing herself back at Dr. Lukes. Furthermore, she’d likely insist that I stayed home for the rest of eternity. At twenty two years old, being grounded wasn’t on my agenda.
‘You finally believe us now. Huh?’ Brandon said cockily.
‘I never said I didn’t believe that all this was going on. I just didn’t think we were in danger. And I still don’t believe these things are zombies’
‘Actually you did say that we were just a bunch of crazies.’ Brandon’s tone maintained its air of cockiness.
‘Whatever, Brandon. That’s not the point.’
‘You’re right, Liz,’ mom chimed in. ‘The point is that we need to get the hell out of here and we need to do it quick.’
This took me by complete surprise. What did she mean we needed to get out of here? We needed to stay in our homes. That’s what we needed to do. ‘No mom. It’s really not an abandon your home kind of situation. Plus, it’s a lot more dangerous out there than it is in here. Of all the reports, there hasn’t been one that said these things have attacked someone in their own home. So I say we stay where we are.’
‘The time will come,’ she said matter-of-factly. ‘The more of them that make their way to our town, the higher the chance that they’ll start to wander into our little safe havens. And as far as safety is concerned, the bunker is prepped and ready, waiting for us to take advantage of it. If the zombies can crunch on bones without difficulty, I don’t want to wait and see what they can do to my front door. And I’m certainly not going to sit around and wait in a place that I know isn’t secured enough to keep us safe.’
I ran my fingers through my hair frustratingly. ‘Well. I’m not coming.’
‘Oh yes you are, Elizabeth.’
My eyes made their way to Brandon who was as quiet as a church mouse. I couldn’t tell if he agreed with mom or if he was simply trying to find a way to steer clear of the conversation all together. But he wouldn’t get off that easily. ‘Brandon,’ I demanded his attention.
‘What are you Brandoning me for? You heard the woman. It’s not safe here.’
‘But it’s not dangerous either.’ My voice was growing louder and louder by the minute. ‘One stupid zombie looking thing comes to town and you’re all ready to make it run you out of your home. This is just absolutely ridiculous.’
‘Listen Liz.’ Mom placed her hand on my cheek and slowly guided my face in her direction. ‘I love you and there is no way that I’m going to leave you behind. I know that you think this isn’t at all serious but we can’t wait for it to become serious. A part of surviving is spotting a threat and reacting before it becomes too big. If this turns out to be nothing, then so be it. But if the entire town gets swarmed by these things, then trust me, you won’t want to be sitting in this living room when it happens.’
‘I can’t leave mom. I’m sorry. There’s Anton. There’s… there’s… there’s just too much here for me to get up and run away from something I don’t believe in.’
‘What’s not to believe in,’ Brandon butted in. ‘You saw it on the news. You think these people are making it up? You think they just poured ketchup on the ground to get everyone panicking? Because I damn well don’t think that’s the case. And no one ever said that you can’t take Anton. There’s plenty of space in the bunker.’
I disregarded the invitation he extended for Anton. Wanting a bugout bag didn’t mean he was going to ditch town and skip off into an anti-vacation with my family and me.
‘So you’re ready to just leave when mom says leave?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘You’ve got work, Brandon. You can’t just quit your job because of some stupid news report.’
I could tell he was getting irritated with my denial. The constant scratching of his chin and shaking his head disapprovingly said it all. ‘I can quit my job and you know why? Because if this really turns out to be something bad, you best bet that there won’t be a job for me to come back to.’
‘I’m leaving,’ I stood up from the couch and started to head for my bedroom.
‘Where are you going?’ Mom’s voice was calm and filled with concern.
‘I’m going to take Anton’s pack to him and hang out there. Don’t feel obligated to stay here and wait for me. Just… I don’t know, leave me a note if you’re planning on skipping town. I can’t say that I’ll be mad about having the house to myself.’
‘Liz,’ mom called after me. ‘Liz, come back here.’
I didn’t budge. I charged toward my room, locking the door behind me when I was inside. It was extremely stupid of me to argue with them. I knew that. Brandon always took mom’s side and mom always stuck to her word. There was no winning- no way to make them understand. Thank goodness I didn’t tell them about being followed. I might have found myself handcuffed to my bed. Now, there was only one problem. I wanted so badly to go to Anton’s place, but combining the news report and my little freak out the night before, I couldn’t bring myself to actually walk down the street by myself. These things mostly attacked at night but that didn’t help my panic to subside.
‘Liz. Are you in there?’ Came Brandon’s voice a short while later
I wanted to ask him where else I could be or if he thought I’d jumped through the window. ‘What do you want Brandon?’
‘Just let me in, Liz. I’m not going to badger you about anything. I promise.’
I hopped up from my bed, unlocked the door and opened it enough to get a peek at his face.
‘Just open the damn door.’
‘Ugh,’ I huffed.
‘Are you still going to Anton’s?’ He pushed his way past me and flopped down on the corner of my bed, crossing his legs like he usually did when he wanted to feel like an authority; when he wanted to assume the position of the older brother.
‘Are you going to try to stop me?’
‘Quite the opposite,’ he smiled. ‘Close the door, will you.’
I pushed the door closed and settled down on the opposite corner of the bed, creating enough distance between us to show him that I still wasn’t happy with our conversation earlier.
‘Liz, I know that you’re hard headed and all. And I completely get that you think it’s ridiculous to abandon your home because mom has a hunch. This thing might not get out of control. Hell, there’s the possibility that that man on the news got attacked by someone he knew. Someone who wasn’t some kinda zombie or anything. But the fact of the matter is, mom’s scared and as her children, it’s up to us to make sure that she feels safe. She doesn’t have dad to protect her anymore. So, yes, she might seem overly superstitious at times but it’s not her fault. She’s just scared.’
‘I just don’t understand why we have to buy into all of this.’
‘Let me finish, Liz,’ he cut me off. ‘I’m going to take some time off work. Ever since I’ve been working for Lowes Mechanic, I haven’t taken a vacation and so I doubt they’ll mind. But I have to do whatever it takes for mom to be okay. If the both of us refuse to go, she’ll refuse to go. The end result will be her turning into an even bigger recluse and before you know it, she’ll have metal bars on the door and shit. So let’s just go to this bunker with her. If nothing happens, you can just consider it a terrible vacation, trotting through the wood and living off next to nothing for a couple of days.’
‘And so what? It’s not like this town has anything to offer. You don’t go out. All your friends have left.’
‘I have Anton.’
‘Then convince him to come with us.’
‘It’s not that easy, Brandon. I can’t just convince my boyfriend that he should leave with me because my mom’s crazy.’
‘What will be holding him back? Like you, he’s just sitting in this town withering away.’
‘He is not!’ I snapped.
‘Yes. I know, he’s applying for jobs out of state and as soon as something comes in, he’ll be out of here. But as things are now, he hasn’t got anything preventing him from coming with us except you. If you decide to come, I’m sure he’ll be right there with you.’
I huffed. What Brandon said made a lot of sense but that didn’t mean I was ready to give up the comfort of my bed. Altoona didn’t have anything to offer but neither did sleeping in the wild and hiking all day long.
‘Just think about it,’ Brandon insisted.
‘I’ll think about it but I can’t make you any promises. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna head over to Anton’s.’
‘Let me drive you.’
‘No,’ I shook my head.
‘What do you mean no. I’m heading out to work in a bit anyways. Just let me drive you.’
‘The only reason you want to drive me is because you think that mom will be terrified if I go out there alone.’
‘And?’
‘Fine. I’ll allow you to drive me,’ I replied making it seem as though I didn’t appreciate the gesture.
‘You should be saying, thank you,’ he chuckled.
Brandon left my room. I picked up my cell phone and gave Anton a call to let him know that I was on my way there.
‘Don’t come alone,’ he said. He was filled with concern.
‘Oh gosh, let me guess, you watched the news. But don’t worry. Brandon’s driving me.’
‘Great, because there’s something that I really need to talk to you about.’
