by Jason Alters
‘It’s enough now, Brandon,’ she barked at him. ‘I said we’ll be there soon. If you walk a little bit faster then you’ve only got six minutes to go before you can fill your bladder. But be cautious, because if you think that you can go around pissing without concern, then you’ve got another thing coming. You said you saw Tony’s arm when he got bit. Imagine what your ding-a-ling will look like if one of those things landed on it.’
‘Mom!’ I exclaimed.
She stopped talking and shook her head in frustration. I turned around to look at Brandon who undoubtedly had the most horrendous images running through his head.
‘How are we gonna pee, Liz?’ he asked, panic tugging away at his every word.
‘You’ll be fine, Brandon. We’ve been walking for a while now and haven’t come across one spider. What we’re doing is just a precaution. And a spider would have to have pretty good aim and intentions to land on the one part of your body that’s exposed.’
I could hear Anton stifling a giggle. It was unmistakable sound and one that I’d grown accustomed to through watching him trying not to laugh at something that happened in his video games.
‘It’s not funny,’ Brandon barked at him.
‘Oh come on man. You look like someone just chopped it off. Nothing’s going to happen to us. We’ve just got a couple more hours to go, then we’ll be as safe as safe can be.’
A left turn took us to an area with less grass and more pebbles covering the ground. The subtle sound of rushing water could be heard. I was happy to have finally arrived at the place that would pacify Brandon’s cries. I sought out a log and inspected it for creepy crawlies before instructing everyone that it was safe to put their backpacks down but also that they should refrain from sitting. Opal was kind enough to provide us with plastic cups and our lifestraws added ease to purifying the water from the stream. Anton waited patiently for me to quench my thirst before borrowing my lifestraw and enjoying how refreshing rehydration felt. Once we’d all drank to our heart’s content, we filled up our water bottles and set back on the journey that seemed as though it would never end.
There were grunts and groans along the way. And of course, the occasional scream seeped out of someone who thought they’d seen something that looked like a spider or felt something that must have been a spider bite. The disadvantages of being overly cautious were reflected in our speed. Rather than being right on track, we’d fallen an hour behind. Mom was growing more and more irritated with each complaint that entered her ear. To make up for the time we had lost, she threatened to cut down the number of stops we were allowed to take. However, I didn’t see it as much of a threat. We needed to cut down the number of stops we made and we needed to cut down the durations of the stops we still had left. I had no intentions of being in the woods when the sun went down and though I was certain no one did, their complaints didn’t make it seem as they would have minded much.
***
In less than two days, my mindset had changed drastically. Prepping was once something that I did to keep mother happy. Canning was relaxing and thus, that aspect of prepping wasn’t something I minded. Unfortunately, having to abandon the majority of my hard work to go to the bunker meant that the delicious treats I’d preserved wouldn’t be enjoyed. Sure, mom had made trips to the bunker over the years, replacing items that were close to being expired and adding other essentials to our stock in the bunker. But the canned foods she had weren’t nearly as creative as the ones I’d recently learned to make. Her other prepping methods, however, definitely proved to be beneficial and there was no denying that. If it hadn’t been for mother and what I once thought of as ‘ridiculous paranoia’, we would have never made it out of Altoona. There was no telling what condition the town was in. The people could have all been safe, roaming the streets as they usually did or they could all be locked in their homes fearing life, death and everything in between. Unfortunately, there was no doubt in my mind that an apocalypse was approaching and that we’d made the right decision to head out of town. If we had waited- like I wanted to- making it this far to our bunker would have been impossible. We would have had more than one persistent zombie on our hands and chances are, we would have all had our insides ripped out and digested. Pride was what I started to feel towards my mother as she charged through the woods like the strong woman she was. She wasn’t crazy at all and that dream that sent her to the doctor, proved to have held some weight in the situation we found ourselves in. The description she gave of these things that she’d never seen before were almost accurate and it made me shiver just wondering what other nightmares would enter our future. But for now, I felt safe. Mother had protected us even when I’d doubted her and I knew that as long as I had the opportunity to learn from her and to take advantage of her skills, I’d be fine.
***
‘We’re here,’ she exclaimed, resting her hand on her knees and panting loudly. ‘We finally made it.’
Anton and Opal seemed confused. Their eyes wandered in all directions.
‘I thought you said we’d be heading to a bunker,’ Anton asked after a minute went by.
Mom was on the ground, fumbling with her ham radio. On hearing Anton’s voice, she stopped and raised her head, meeting his eyes. ‘No, silly. The bunker’s underneath us. I’ve got to make contact in order to be let in. They don’t just open up when anyone knocks. Plus, with all the metal they’ve got covering it, I doubt they’d be able to hear us.’
Less than ten minutes later, the loud rumbling of metal sliding against metal could be heard. The door to the bunker was only a few feet in front of us and had been kept hidden by twigs and leaves glued down to the outside. Once the door was fully opened, out came a stocky man with a beard as white as snow and a gun half his height. I’d seen him before on a trip to restock our pile in the bunker. He seemed a lot friendlier then and a lot less hairy. Though his opinion held a lot of weight in ‘the underground’ he wasn’t the man who held all the power. Rogan was the one in charge but being overly cautious meant that he didn’t make acquaintances with everyone. Mom only knew him because he’d worked alongside dad in the military and thus, she was allowed to purchase a section of the bunker.
Mom instructed us to stay back while she made her way over to the bearded figure. At first, the conversation seemed to be going fine. They hugged, smiled and chattered for a while. But then, his head pointed in our direction and his index finger counted our number. I watched as his head shook from side to side and the look on his face changed from happiness to sorrow. Mom’s hands were clasped and she seemed to be moving her mouth one hundred miles per hour. I knew exactly what they were arguing about and I had to find a way to get what we wanted. Leverage wasn’t something we had but as long they thought we did, then there was a chance that victory could be claimed.
Chapter 14
Over to them I walked, reaching out my hand to the stocky man who stood guard. He shook my hand, lightly as though it was a burden for him to take. This was much different from our earlier encounters where I’d always commented on the firmness of his shake.
‘Liz White,’ I introduced myself as I did every time we saw him. With all the people coming in and out of the bunker, I didn’t expect him to remember me.
‘I go by Sarge,’ he replied, reminding me of his name.
‘Liz,’ mom pleaded, ‘I can handle this.’
‘Oh. I just want to say a few things,’ I said exuding more confidence than I had.
‘If you’re going to try to make a case for the girl then I’m sorry but…’
‘No, I’m going to make a case for the survival of everyone. I’m guessing that outside of the people who came here to get away from real life, the majority of those occupying the bunker are running away from the zombies, is that correct?’
‘Yes Indeed. All of Alabama is going to be devoured by those little shits.’
‘But there are some places that haven’t been affected yet,’ mom tried to sound hopeful.
&nbs
p; ‘Hardly anyone’s leaving their houses anymore. Seems like you guys got here just in time. I’m surprised you made it this far. I’d say it’s because these things want flesh and they knew that they’d find more flesh in the towns than in the woods. At least for now.’
‘That’s not the point,’ I interjected. ‘It’s about to get dark out here and you’re really planning on turning this woman away. We can’t have that. She’s a part of our group and though I understand that you’re in charge of seeing who comes in and out, mom bought her space in the bunker, so it’s only fair that she should be allowed to use it how she pleases. And I think that also means if she wants a visitor, she should be allowed to have one.’
‘If we let everyone in, then we’re robbing ourselves. Sure, the spaces are bought, but there are resources that we provide and that’s why there’s a limit.’
‘Well, eventually you’ll have nothing. Everyone will run out of food and water. But Opal,’ I pointed to her, ‘she knows something that no one knows. She’s studied one of them and can possible help to figure out how to destroy them. So if you’re really looking to stay safe inside this bunker when things go south, then you’ll need someone like her on your side.’
Mom glared at me and I knew she wanted me to refrain from lying. But leaving Opal outside wasn’t an option. We’d decided to protect her and it wouldn’t be fair to have strung her along this far only to send her away. Doing so would make us murderers and I wasn’t ready to have anyone’s blood on my hands.
‘Why should I believe you?’
I pulled my cellphone out of my pocket, opened the gallery and selected the most horrific photo of the zombie I could find. ‘Because no one has managed to tie one of them up like this,’ I handed him the phone. ‘The fact that she was able to get that close; the fact that she was able to catch one of them should mean something to you. I don’t even thing those scientists that they have running around trying to analyze the dead have gotten as far as Opal has.’
He looked at the picture for a millisecond before shoving the phone right back into my hands. ‘This is fucking sick,’ he moaned.
‘Yeah it is. And she managed to do that,’ I assured him.
‘And you say she’s close to figuring this thing out.’
‘Well, she’ll need to get in contact with some people but if she dies then the secret dies with her. That’s not a chance you want to take, is it? Allowing the one person who might know something to get devoured by the very thing she’s trying to control.’
I could tell that I was getting through to him because his face no longer looked as hard and ticked off as it did before. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a two way radio and walked away before whispering into it. The voice on the other end came loud and clear, ‘Well for fuck’s sake, let her in. If there’s any chance in the world that we can defeat these things, then we’ve got to take it.’
Excited, I skipped all the way back to Opal, hugging her and assuring her that she was going to be safe. She seemed at ease knowing that the end hadn’t come for her. But of course, the sadness of losing her husband still presented itself upon her face.
‘Let’s go inside then,’ Sarge yelled, motioning for us to come to him.
We formed a line and squeezed past him as we made our way into the first section of the bunker. He pulled the door shut behind us and secured it with deadbolts and padlocks. This caused the room to fill with darkness. I put my hands in front of my face and there was nothing to be seen. Darkness. Complete and utter darkness. Though the place hadn’t ever been well lit when I visited, this was taking it to a whole new level. At least back then, they had allowed a few candles to light the way. But now, it was as though they were in über preservation mode.
‘Need a bit of light, huh?’ Sarge said, illuminating the room with his flashlight. ‘Sorry. Sorry,’ he said as he squished us into the wall in order to get ahead. ‘I’ve got to open the main door so I need to be in the front.’
I snapped my own flashlight from my belt and flicked it on. A small number of steps led to another door; one that looked just as solid as the first. It had large metal panels and was adorned with sturdy locks. Once we’d gotten through that door, we entered a hallway which I vaguely remembered from my visits to the bunker in previous years. Cement walls and cement floors. Doors on either side. Cries and giggles sounding from each of the rooms that held the bunkers inhabitants. The path to our spot was lined with Crisco candles, offering a mild illumination. Sarge turned off his flashlight and I did the same.
‘You’re here,’ Sarge said. He stopped in front of a door with the number eighteen visible above the door only when he turned his flashlight back on and briefly shone it over the numbers. ‘You’ve got your keys, right?’
‘Yes. Yes. Absolutely,’ mom replied. ‘Can I have some light over here? It’s pretty deep in my backpack.’
Sarge provided mom with light. She found the keys, unlocked the door and revealed the place we’d all be calling home for the next few weeks or perhaps even months.
‘I’ll let you guys get settled,’ Sarge said, removing one of the Crisco candles from outside the door and placing it on a small table inside the room. ‘But keep in mind, we’ve got a meeting at nine o’clock tonight and it’s mandatory.’
‘Noted,’ mom replied.
Everyone placed their packs on the floor and stood for a moment, reveling in the fact that we’d made it.
‘Now that he’s gone,’ mom whispered, ‘what the hell were you thinking, Liz?’
‘We got what we wanted, didn’t we?’
‘Yeah, but you lied.’
‘Technically, I didn’t lie. All I said is that she has vital information which I really believe that we have vital information.’
‘What? With the spiders?’
‘Yeah, with the spiders. They didn’t ask what it was. They were just strung up on hope.’
‘What do you think will happen if it turns out to be nothing?’
‘Optimism, remember?’ I smiled.
‘There’ll be no optimism if we all get kicked out of here.’
‘Mom,’ Brandon chimed in, ‘that’s not going to happen. You paid for the damn bunker and so it’s yours. They keep track of the amount of water that each room uses and so as long as we stay below our limit then there should be no problem. It’s not like we’re eating their food and sucking them dry. This here, is ours. So if they have a problem with the secret being that we think spiders are causing this, then screw them.’
‘I guess you’re right,’ she settled, ‘but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to be cautious. We might have paid for all of this- we might own it, but if it ever becomes an us against them kind of situation then we’ll lose.’
I could tell that both Anton and Opal were feeling unwanted and like their accompanying us was the reason for our squabble. ‘Mom. Let’s just forget about all of this for now. The thing that matters the most is that we are all safe. We made it here without getting bit by spiders or eaten by zombies. We lost one person along the way and damn near lost more than that so I think for right now we should just be grateful that we have life. Let’s eat, smile, laugh and appreciate the fact that there’s no more sleeping in the opening and waiting for these things to attack- at least not for right now. What happens tomorrow will need to be figured out tomorrow.’
Everyone agreed with my suggestion to pretend-for the rest of the day- that our problems didn’t exist. We enjoyed a quick meal of tuna and crackers in true picnic style with a blanket thrown over the floor and the food and juice as well as the Crisco candle placed in the middle. After dinner a game of cards kept us entertained and we all managed to let out a laugh or two.
We were safe for the moment and enjoying that safety was a necessity. Thoughts of the next few days, weeks and months were permitted to slip into the back of our minds while we rejoiced in the now.
***
The worst thing about life is that the more you survive it, the closer you move towa
rd death. As a prepper, mom prepared for a threat that didn’t exist. Naturally, as her children, Brandon and I became a part of a lifestyle we didn’t pay much attention to and one we learned not to question. Canning food and building a stockpile were normal. Having a bug out kit and accompanying mom to the bunker to unstock and restock was tedious but something we’d grown used to. Whenever I had asked her what exactly we were doing all of this for, she had one simple answer, ‘life’. And so there we were, hiding from death while breathing our way closer to it. The bunker wouldn’t provide us with safety forever and if things didn’t take a turn for the better, zombies wouldn’t be the only ones who were out for flesh.
The End
Final Word
Thank you very much for reading my book. I hope you enjoyed it and found what you were looking for.
To me as an author it is important to get feedback about my work. I would like to know whether my readers liked what they read and if there is anything I need to do better in the future. Therefore, please leave a comment in the review section of Amazon. Although positive comments are certainly well appreciated, I am also happy about less than perfect feedback.
If you want to find out more about prepping and find helpful tips that will get you started on your prepping journey, also check out some of my other non-fiction prepping related books, as well as those of my brother Charles.
OR, if you enjoy fiction as much as me, make sure to check out some of my other novels. You can find links to my other titles, as well as a short excerpt of my newest book below.
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