One Hour to Live

by Gary M. Chesla

  Lisa reached out and squeezed Kevin’s hand.

  “You haven’t had much time to think and until now, as far as you knew, there wasn’t anything to think about,” Lisa said.

  “Well, I feel I have a lot to think about now,” Kevin sighed. “Especially since they made the first move, it only confirms their intentions.”

  “Why would they trash our cars?” Lisa asked.

  “So we can’t follow them or come after them,” Kevin replied. “And, so we will be here when they come back.”

  “Bill and I were thinking,” Bob said.

  “That sounds like a dangerous combination,” Kevin thought as he waited for his dad to continue.

  “We figured the best approach was to try and lure them up to the house where we could use our shotguns,” Bill said, “The shotguns will do the job if we can get them close enough. Beyond fifty to a hundred feet the buckshot would hurt like hell but wouldn’t do any real damage.”

  “We figure they know we are in the house, so they will try to come up to the house and break in,” Bob continued. “We can try to surprise them then, but we don’t know how we can get out there fast enough before they get away or shoot us first.”

  “Or they can try to do something to make you come out of the house,” Kevin said.

  “Like what?” Bill asked. “I’m not going out unless I have a clear shot.”

  “Or the house is on fire,” Kevin added.

  “Shit, we didn’t think about that,” Bob said. “This is a brick house, but if they set the doors or shutters on fire, it could spread to the inside. They could pick us off as we came out or just grab us.”

  “We could have the girls sit out on the porch and when they came in the yard to grab them, we could surprise them,” Bill said. “Then we wouldn’t have to worry about them setting the house on fire to force us out.”

  “Not a chance,” Kevin replied, “we’re not using the girls as bait. Do you have any idea what weapons they have? If they pin us down in the house, they could just walk right up and grab them. They could come at us from another direction, sneak in and grab the girls before we knew what happened. There is no way I’m using Lisa for bait. Too many things could go wrong. The only way they are going to touch Lisa is over my dead body.”

  Lisa turned pale.

  This is what she had been dreading.

  Ever since that green van was spotted, Lisa had been terrified.

  She would do anything for Kevin, and she knew he would do anything for her.

  He had done some of the craziest things for her, no matter what she had wanted, he did it for her.

  Things, most guys would have never done.

  The fact Kevin would do anything for her, even something crazy, now worried her.

  Doing something stupid could get Kevin killed.

  When Kevin said, no one would touch her except over his dead body, she knew he meant it.

  Lisa was flattered, but that wasn’t what she wanted.

  She would never want something like that.

  She didn’t want anything but to be with Kevin.

  Kevin continued.

  “I think I have a better idea,” Kevin said.

  This made Lisa feel uncomfortable.

  “Your idea of waiting for them to get close to the house sounds good,” Kevin said. “The problem with that is what to do when they get up close. If they have weapons, which I’m sure they do by now, you can’t open the door to do anything,” Kevin said. “I think I have a solution.”

  Everyone stared at Kevin and waited.

  “We need to use the element of surprise,” Kevin continued. “They will expect us to all be in the house, but what if we aren’t all in the house?”

  “Where would we be?” Lisa asked, sounding concerned.

  “Dad, you, Lisa and Sandy will stay here in the house. Bill and I will go over to Bill’s house. When they try to get up to the house, they will have to pass right by Bill’s house. He and I can try to pick them off. Dad, once we start shooting, if you can get a shot, take it, but don’t leave the house. In case Bill and I aren’t successful, you need to protect Lisa, Sandy and the house.”

  “What do you mean if you and Bill aren’t successful?” Lisa asked. She imagined Kevin getting shot or killed.

  “If we miss or can’t get a good shot,” Kevin replied. “We might be stuck over at Bill’s until they leave. If we don’t stop them, gunfire coming from two different houses might still be enough to confuse them and scare them away.”

  “Maybe I should go over to Bill’s house with you?” Lisa asked.

  “No, it would be safer for you here,” Kevin replied. Dad’s house is practically a fort.”

  “That could work,” Bob said. “We could get them in a crossfire.”

  “But we only have two guns,” Bill said.

  “I’ll use my bow,” Kevin replied. “It’s a silent weapon. I might be able to get one or two of them before they know what is happening. Let me shoot first. Don’t waste your ammo until they start shooting back.”

  “I like it,” Bob said. “If nothing else, like you said, it might confuse them enough that they will just give up and leave and not come back.”

  “I thought over at Bill’s house I would set up at one of the upstairs windows where I would have a better view, plus I can shoot further with the bow than you can with the shotgun. Bill will be down stairs where he can push open a shutter and shoot at anyone that gets in close,” Kevin said.

  “I’ll stand lookout from our bedroom window,” Lisa said. “You and I should be able to see each other and I’ll signal if I see anything from my window.”

  “That sounds like a plan,” Bill smiled.

  “Now the only problem is when will they come back?” Kevin said.

  “I figure it will be while it is light outside,” Bob said. “It’s too dangerous for anyone to be out there at night when they can’t see the damn zombies. Today they waited until sunup before they came. It was also light out the last two times they showed up.”

  “So, they could be back today,” Kevin said, “or they could wait until tomorrow. We need to be in position when they come back for this to work.”

  “We could all stay here today and wait to see if they are going to come back first,” Lisa said, hoping to keep Kevin here with her at the house. “That way we can see how they plan on getting into the house. They should leave by nightfall, then we can send two of us over to Bills tomorrow and be ready for what they are planning.”

  “That could be risky.” Kevin replied. “They could get into the house or manage to force us outside. We might only have one shot at this. I have a feeling that they will be back today.”

  “I think we should try it,” Bob said. “How many shells do you think I should give Bill. We have sixteen left.”

  “Give Bill six shells,” Kevin replied. “Hopefully I’ll get most of the job done with the bow, but I think you should keep most of the ammo here to protect the house.”

  Bob nodded and went to get the ammo.

  “Kevin, can I talk to you upstairs for a minute?” Lisa asked.

  “Sure,” Kevin replied, noticing that Lisa seemed nervous.

  Lisa took Kevin’s hand and led him up the stairs.

  When they stepped into the bedroom, Lisa shut the door and turned to Kevin.

  She grabbed Kevin and kissed him.

  “Don’t go over there,” Lisa said.

  “I’ll only be right next door in Bill’s house,” Kevin replied.

  “I don’t want you going out there” Lisa said again. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Kevin smiled. “We have to do this. We have to put an end to this right now. There are only three of them and it should be over fast. When I come back, I think maybe Sandy is going to need another place to sleep.”

  Kevin smiled and hugged Lisa.

  Lisa chocked back her emotions as they walked back down stairs.
/>
  When they were sure that the green van was nowhere in sight, Kevin and Bill ran across the yard and went into Bill’s house.

  Feeling nervous, Lisa did the only thing she could think of to help Kevin. She sat at the bedroom window and watched Bill’s house.

  Chapter 21

  September, One year ago

  Lisa opened her eyes.

  She was still in the chair in front of the bedroom window.

  The light had startled her.

  When the van didn’t come back yesterday, she tried to stay up and keep a look out throughout the night, but she had fallen asleep.

  As a feeling of panic ran through her, Lisa quickly jumped up off the chair and looked out the window.

  Her breathing calmed down when she saw that everything in the yard looked as it had yesterday.

  The sky was blue and the morning sun was just above the horizon.

  Most of all, Bill’s house was still intact and no one had tried to burn the houses down.

  Lisa smiled as she stared at the window where Kevin should be.

  She stood at her window and waited, waited for Kevin to look out his window so she would know he was OK.

  It had felt lonely last night without having Kevin to hold.

  Even with Kevin unconscious the last few days and not able to hold her back, it had made her feel good being snuggled up next to him.

  Just feeling his body touching hers, as it always seemed to do, made her forget about everything.

  Thinking about how Kevin’s touch yesterday morning had relaxed her made Lisa smile.

  Lisa caught a movement out of the corner of her eye, pulling her away from her memories of yesterday morning as she glanced back out the window.

  A big smile spread across her face when she saw Kevin at the window in Bob’s house, waving at her.

  Thinking about Kevin yesterday morning, made her want to run over and hug him.

  Lisa knew she couldn’t do that right now. But she knew how she could let him know what she was thinking.

  Lisa grabbed the bottom of her T-shirt, faced Kevin and pulled her shirt up all the way to her chin.

  She quickly pulled her shirt back down when she remembered Bill was over in the house with Kevin.

  Lisa started to laugh when Kevin dropped to his knees, put his hand over his heart, pretending he was having a heart attack.

  Kevin, still on his knees, looked at Lisa, and put his hands together and pretended to beg.

  Lisa grinned and shook her head, No!

  She pointed at Kevin, pointed to her eyes, then pointed to the yard, indicating for him to pay attention.

  She gave him a big smile and decided she had distracted Kevin long enough.

  Or maybe it had been the other way around.

  He needed to concentrate on staying alert, and Lisa had to calm herself down before she did any of the other crazy things that always ran through her mind when she thought about Kevin.

  This was not the time.

  Lisa turned back into the room,

  Sandy was standing there staring at Lisa. Her mouth was hanging open and her face was red with embarrassment.

  Lisa smiled at Sandy, “Good morning Sandy.”

  Sandy didn’t reply for a moment, she looked confused.

  “You…..” Sandy stuttered but didn’t finish.

  “Did I embarrass you?” Lisa asked, smiling as she remembered the expression on Kevin’s face.

  “But he’s a boy,” Sandy said.

  Lisa laughed to herself

  “Sandy, how old are you?” Lisa asked.

  “Twelve,” Sandy replied.

  “Did you ever have a boyfriend?” Lisa asked.

  “Yuck, no!” Lisa answered.

  Lisa laughed, “Well sometimes when you have a boyfriend, you do dumb things. Maybe someday you’ll find that out.”

  “No way,” Sandy replied.

  “You sound like I did when I was your age,” Lisa laughed and thought, “and like I still was when I was eighteen.”

  “I thought only boys did dumb things,” Sandy said.

  “Yes, boys do a lot of dumb things,” Lisa smiled. “But sometimes the dumb things they do make you want to do dumb things too.”

  “Oh, to make them feel better,” Sandy said. “So they don’t feel so dumb.”

  “Yeah, that works,” Lisa grinned.

  Sandy thought for a minute.

  “Kevin’s your boyfriend?” Sandy asked.

  “Uh huh”, Lisa nodded.

  “He must have done something really dumb,” Sandy said.

  “Really dumb!” Lisa laughed. “You wouldn’t believe all the dumb things he’s done.”

  “What did he do?” Sandy grinned.

  Lisa laughed.

  “Maybe later,” Lisa replied. “We have work to do.”

  Kevin looked out the window.

  It had taken him a few minutes before he could stop laughing about Lisa flashing him.

  She had always enjoyed teasing him.

  Kevin thought about all the crazy things she had done, but this was something new, even for Lisa.

  Kevin laughed and wondered what he had done to get Lisa all wound up this morning since he had been at Bob’s house all night.

  But he didn’t spend much time trying to figure it out, when Lisa was in one of her ornery moods, anything could happen and usually did.

  Kevin shook his head and laughed to himself.

  Kevin suddenly held still and slowly turned his head to look down through the yard toward Market Street as movement grabbed his attention.

  Kevin kept his head back from the open window so he wouldn’t be spotted.

  Kevin watched as Steve, Carl and Al, bending low, moved around trees and bushes as they approached the battered blue Subaru and Bob’s truck.

  Kevin slid back into the room. He then ran out of the room and stood at the top of the stairs.

  “Bill,” Kevin called out quietly.

  A minute later, Bill’s head appeared around the doorway.

  “What?” Bill asked.

  “They’re coming,” Kevin said quietly.

  Bill reached in to his pocket and pulled out two shells, broke open the shotgun and slid two shells into the barrels.

  “I’ll be ready for them,” Bill grinned.

  Bill turned and disappeared.

  “Bill,” Kevin called out again.

  Bill’s head popped around the doorway again.

  “Don’t shoot until you see my arrow hitting something,” Kevin said. “I’ll shoot first. Don’t waste your ammo unless you have a good shot. Understand?”

  “Got-cha,” Bill replied.

  “Be ready Bill, they should be halfway up the yard by the time I get back to the window,” Kevin said. “I’m going to wait as long as I can before I shoot. I’d like to get them between your house and Dad’s.”

  “Like shooting ducks in a barrel,” Bill grinned.

  “Go get in position,” Kevin said as he turned and ran back to the window.

  Kevin watched as the three men came up through the middle of the yard.

  “Coming right up through the middle of the yard,” Kevin thought. “They’re either not too smart or they are trying to make it easy for us.”

  Kevin watched as the men continued.

  They were hunched down low as they moved, in the center of the yard, out in the open.

  “The guy that told me he had been in Iraq was full of shit,” Kevin thought. “Anyone this stupid in Iraq wouldn’t have lasted one day.”

  Kevin set out six arrows on the floor next to him so they would be within arm’s reach for fast loading.

  He picked up the first arrow and slid it on the bow, pulled the string back and aimed down the shaft of the arrow.

  He lined up the arrow on Steve, who led the small procession through the yard.

  The arrow held steady in his grip.

  “Another twenty feet and we have them,” Kevin thought. “They’ll be within range o
f both shotguns. We should all be able to get two shots at them before they can get out of the yard. If we don’t get them all, we should at least get two of them. I’ll run the last bastard down if I have to so we won’t have to worry about him coming back.”

  Kevin followed the men with his eyes.

  “Ten more feet, Steve,” Kevin said. “Then it’s payback time for hitting me over the head with that fucking wrench.”

  Kevin took a deep breath and let the air slowly escape through his nose.

  He felt relaxed, he would be ready for the shot and he knew he couldn’t miss at this range.

  As Kevin took a second deep breath to relax his muscles, he heard a horrendous blast echo throughout the house.

  Then it sounded like all hell broke loose out in the yard.

  Kevin dropped to the floor as he heard glass breaking, and the sounds of bullet’s ricocheting off brick and hitting wooden shutters.

  “Damn it Bill,” Kevin swore to himself. “You were supposed to wait until I made the first shot. I hope to hell you didn’t fuck everything up.”

  Kevin listened to the gunfire and the sounds of the bullets hitting their targets, but it didn’t sound like the bullets were striking anything near him.

  He slowly raised his head to look out the window.

  He saw the three men in the yard. Two were standing, concentrating all their fire towards his dad’s house.

  Al was lying on the ground, trying to slowly crawl towards the road.

  It appeared the men had no idea where the shot had come from.

  Assuming the shotgun blast came from his dad’s house, they turned all their attention in that direction.