Zournal (Book 4): Reap What You Sow

by Merritt, R. S.

  “Nice.” I said to Tim and everyone. “I think that may give us an actual chance. I’m not sure how we’re going to make it across the mountains and into Portland and I’m not sure driving around a large city aimlessly is like the best plan ever but much better than what we had before. Thanks for that Tim. Truly.”

  Once everyone had said their thanks we got down to the details. We all agreed we needed to stay a minimum of a few more days. Ginny and I still needed some healing time. Leaving before I could turn my head would probably be counterproductive. At this point my back was one huge scab behind my neck where the Zombie had ripped off my skin. A giant scab was better than the huge open wound I had before though. Reeves said it barely even made him dry heave anymore to see my back with no shirt on. Tim had plenty of wraps and antiseptics and all that so we cleaned my scab three times a day and covered it back up. I was getting better. The swelling on the side of my head had gone way down. Ginny no longer looked like a refugee from a trailer park foster home.

  We spent the time relaxing, eating, and planning our journey to Portland. The basic idea was to take I-70 through the mountains then jump on I-15 which we could take to I-84 which brought us into Portland. We’d be there in a day or two of straight through driving back in the world before all this happened. Now, there was really no way to tell for certain. The mountain passes could be blocked, we could run into the enemy early and have to fight or evade, we may decide to take other roads that ran parallel to the main roads in order to avoid any Korean troop movements.

  Tim was good to go with us taking as many supplies as we could fit into the Hummer. I would have felt bad but it honestly looked like we barely even touched his supply once we had the Hummer overflowing with food and other gear. We had just finished loading the Hummer and were looking forward to a nice long beer fueled movie marathon when we heard a low eerie growling noise. I stood up from the couch with pistol in hand. Reeves had his AK and was already over by the front door looking through the windows. Ginny and Ann were rummaging for their rifles and looking around for the source of the noise.

  “Woah girl. What’s wrong?” We heard Tim calling out to Daisy. I walked over and saw the it was Daisy staring out the sliding glass doors in the back of the house who was making the eerie growling noise. She was a big dog, but she was so friendly you kind of forgot about how big she was. She did not look like the loveable ball of fur we’d all come to love now. She looked like she had tapped her primordial roots and was channeling that hunting and pack instinct towards protecting us from whatever was in the backyard. My guess was a couple of Zombies had managed to get in.

  I flipped on the light switch that should turn on the lights for the back patio. Yep. There was a few Zombies out there. If a few could be rounded off to a hundred or so.

  “How we looking to get to the Hummer?” I yelled over my shoulder to Reeves as the Zombies started moving in mass towards the sliding glass doors.

  “We’re good this way as of this second boss. I suggest we hurry the fuck up though.”

  “Agreed. Everybody fall back to the Hummer. Let’s get the hell out of here. Tim, grab Daisy, you’re coming with us.”

  Tim looked torn. He didn’t want to leave his hideaway. He also didn’t want to be eaten alive by the horde of Zombies who were fixing to beat their way into the house. He made his decision pretty quickly. He grabbed Daisy by her collar and started dragging her towards the front door. She was still staring out the back door and growling. I ran over and picked the dog up and threw her over my shoulder as the sliding doors gave out with the sound of splintering glass.

  “Run!” I screamed. Following my own advice, I ran for the Hummer. I was carrying a dog, my bug out bag, an M-16 and did I mention a big ass scared dog? Ann was covering me as I ran and she is the one who slammed the door to the house in the faces of the Zombies who were right behind us. Ginny was sitting in the driver’s seat and Reeves was jamming himself into the turret. Tim had both the Hummer doors open and was waiting for us. I yelled at Tim to jump in the back seat and I jumped in after him with Daisy whimpering and trying to escape from the crazy guy jamming her into the car.

  Ann jumped in the front seat as Reeves waited for the front door to break open. As soon as it did he lit up the Zombies as they started streaming out of the opening. Ginny was spinning the Hummer around in the circular driveway and getting us rolling towards the bridge that went over the creek. Our path up ahead was blocked by a random smattering of Zombies running through the field towards us. Reeves was taking single shots at the Zombies. When he connected on the shots it was to devastating effect to whatever Zombie was unlucky enough to be the recipient of the high velocity round.

  Looking behind us, there was a steady stream of Zombies pouring out of the house and running towards us. Reeves had turned around and was spitting single shots in that direction to slow them down. I wondered why he was wasting ammo then remembered the damn front gate was closed. We were going to have to stop and get that open to get out of here. Ginny must have forgotten also because she slammed on the brakes just in time to stop us from ramming the gate. The gate was a heavy thick metal so ramming it may have worked or we may have been left sitting there with a broke ass car. I jumped out, Tim jumped out and Reeves joined us to try and get the front gate opened.

  As we ran towards the gate I noticed there was about seven Zombies gathered on the other side of the gate. The Zombies were getting pretty excited seeing food come running towards them. I heard shots and the Zombies started dropping. I assumed that must be Ginny and Ann taking them out. A deep loud barking coming from behind us told me that Daisy had decided to join us as well. Getting to the gate Reeves and I blasted away at the final Zombies standing there. Then we all put our backs into getting the front gate moving out of the way.

  Tim was freaking out. He’d seen a few Zombies at the beginning of all this but had not seen any more of them in over a year. Seeing this many rampaging towards him was freaking him out. Daisy was barking like crazy and then dropped into a low growl as she turned to face the oncoming Zombies. Ann and Ginny were on either side of the Hummer, calmly shooting the lead Zombies as they came over the bridge and stumbled through the creek towards us.

  Once we had the gate moved, we ran back towards the Hummer. This time Daisy ran with us and jumped in the backseat with no issues. Reeves, me, Ann, and Ginny all stood beside the car shooting into the incoming Zombies until Ann yelled for us to jump in the car. We all did, slammed our doors, and Ginny got us rolling through the gate. Within a second or two, Zombies started slamming into the back of the Hummer. We were all going deaf from Daisy barking her head off. My lap was also soaking wet and I’m pretty sure the dog had pissed all over all of us in all the excitement. Considering the fact that Daisy had been our early warning that the Zombies were coming and was the reason we were still alive I wasn’t going to freak out about a bit of accidental pee.

  I looked over at Tim. He looked like he was about five seconds from a heart attack. He was pale and clammy looking, breathing like he had just run a couple of miles, and his eyes were staring all around wildly. Ann had also noticed and she handed him a pill and a bottle of water. Tim took the medicine and sat back and closed his eyes and tried to get himself under control. He seemed like he was going to survive so I looked up at Ann. She smiled back at me.

  “I love you babe. Good job not getting a concussion this time.”

  I considered doing a Rodney Dangerfield impersonation about not getting any respect around here but settled for giving her a kiss and sitting back to enjoy the ride.

  Entry 25: There’s Gold in Them Thar Hills

  We had survived another Zombie ambush. If Daisy had not started barking there was a good chance we wouldn’t be here. On the other hand, the inside of our Hummer now smelled like a men’s room outside a homeless shelter.

  “How much did this dog have to drink?” Ginny asked.

  “I thought her breath smelled bad.” Reeves commented. He had
his window rolled down to try and make the smell dissipate a bit.

  “Did you guy notice it seemed like the damned Zombies were sneaking up on us? Like they’d gone around to the back of the house and were getting ready to attack? I miss the days of them screaming and running at us. I’m not going crazy though? That what it looked like to you guys?” I was looking for confirmation but I already knew that what I’d seen was the way it had played out. The Zombies had not just haphazardly charged the house from all directions. They had moved around to the back and tried to move in as a group.

  “Nope boss. That’s what it looked like to me too. A lot like back at the truck stop. Funny thing being if they’d just done the normal Zombie thing both times and surrounded us and moved in for the kill we’d probably be dead. This new planning thing they are doing seems to be working in our favor so far.”

  Ann was nodding. “I agree. They’re definitely evolving but I think we’ve just gotten lucky as far as their ambush tactics not working. The fact they’re doing any tactics at all is horrifying. Even if the tactics thus far have sucked, at some point they are bound to get lucky. I just wonder if they’re evolving or if there were always smart ones and they’ve just kind of risen to the top at this point.”

  “Now what?” Tim asked. It was the first thing he had said since we made it out of the gate. He looked like he’d calmed down a bit. I was expecting some resentment for us having shown up and brought the storm with us. He was now homeless and without supplies. A vagabond Zombie crusader like the rest of us.

  Or, maybe he wasn’t.

  “I’m not like you guys. I’m good with finding a house and sitting in it and riding this thing out. I’m not much on the warrior stuff. I like reading stories but I’m more of an accountant than some kind of Rambo.”

  “You’re alive over a year into this mess. That counts for a lot right there. You were smart enough to recognize when things were getting bad and you found somewhere to go and trusted your instincts enough to just stay there. We can drop you somewhere or you can come with us. Either way, it’ll be tough for you to find another place to hide out like the one you just lost. We would drop you and you could make your way back but it’ll probably be crawling with Zombies for a long time.” Ann rubbed Daisy on the head. “We’ll also be good with taking this big, furry, urine sprayer with us. She’s proven herself useful at least that one time!”

  Daisy, who was currently putting her full weight on her back paws which were positioned right on my crotch, barked out her agreement. We’d need to find a way to keep her from barking all the time. That was bound to attract Zombies looking for an easy meal. Koreans to for that matter!

  Trying to shift the big dog off of me just lead to her shuffling her feet around. She finally pulled her head in and started sniffing around. I was freaked out the dog was going to take a dump on me so I asked Ginny to pull over so we could let the dog out. No one was real keen on driving around in a giant doggie litter box so we pulled over immediately. I let the dog out and we all got out and stretched and took a look around. We were back in the middle of nowhere. I love the middle of nowhere. It’s all boredom and Zombie free. Daisy did her business. Even outside it stunk. Which made us all very happy we had pulled over.

  We all got back in the Hummer and kept on rolling. Ann had taken over as driver for Ginny to let her catch a nap. We’d refueled at the Daisy pit stop so she’d be able to keep going for a good distance. Everyone was starting to drift off. The dog had climbed over the seat to get back in my lap and was once again threatening my manhood with her back paws while staring out the window. This put her furry ass almost up to my face. I was not enjoying this mode of travel, especially after having just witnessed the aftermath of a Daisy pit stop.

  Ann thought it was hilarious and giggled every time she looked over at me. The looks of disgust on my face only made her laugh harder. I tried to ask her how she was doing and what she thought of the Zombies so we could discuss that in more detail but she just said she couldn’t take me seriously while I had the Golden Doodle covering most of my body. Tim heard us talking and taking mercy on me he called Daisy to him in the back seat. The big dog did her best to rip the console and the rest of the interior apart getting back to him but the vehicle designed for war was able to protect its upholstery.

  Ann laughed a little bit more then asked if I still wanted to know what she thought. I told her yes and we held hands while she told me she agreed with the whole Zombies getting smarter thing. She thought heading towards Portland was a solid plan. Once we got there she was envisioning the same basic scenarios I was. They’d either be understaffed and want our help or they’d have big military egos and shuffle us off to wherever they had setup for civilians to be ‘protected’.

  How would they use us? That was the big question. I thought we’d be useful as scouts to covertly go check out the Korean lines. The issue with that being we did not look Korean so as soon as they saw us they’d just murder me and Reeves then capture Ann and Ginny to keep as slaves. Hopefully we’d be able to go out and join one of their units in harassing and gathering intel on the Koreans. They obviously would be way better at that than us but I thought we had a pretty compelling argument for being good at what we did. I’d fall back on the ‘we’re still alive’ argument to counter any competence or skills arguments. If they just flat out told us they did not want to use us in any way then we’d work though that then. If it was because they had a plan to go head and win then we didn’t need to be involved and could wander off to find somewhere safe to live for a bit without feeling guilty. If we never found anybody in Portland then we’d have to figure out then what we wanted to do as well.

  First, we had to make it to Portland. I was hoping we may run into some military before making it all the way there. Specifically, I was hoping we’d run into American military. I didn’t like our chances if we rode up on a Korean convoy.

  Tim was another anomaly for us to contend with. He admitted himself that he wasn’t built for this kind of stuff. Not that any of us were. Well, Ginny was kind of a natural. Ann and Reeves were both trained for some of this and that training had saved our lives many times over. I was an anomaly. I’d started out this whole fiasco as an unemployed, recently dumped, college student whose biggest issue had been trying to find a new job with no car since it had recently been repossessed. Now what was I? Well, I had an awesome girlfriend in Ann. She was so far out of my league she might as well have been living on the Space Station. I could totally think the end of the world for that hook up. I had loyal friends who had agreed for me to lead them. I had racked up enough kills to probably make me one of the biggest serial killers in America history.

  The other thing we had going for us is that we were a solid team. We knew what to do and who was covering who when we stepped out and went on the offensive. We each trusted the others to do their job. Reeves called it ‘unit cohesion’ and it was something a lot of units evidently strived for and we had managed to achieve. Losing Thomas had made us rethink a lot of that and left part of our strategy in the past. We’d improvised and come up with new ways to attack. We made up for losing Thomas by creating new tactics for taking down the enemy even if we were not able to get over him in an emotional way. We would always be scarred by his death. We were all so tight that losing him had been like losing an arm or a leg. We’d lost part of ourselves.

  I had no idea what to do with Tim and this big goofy dog. The idea of trying to Kamikaze and create fear in the hearts of the Koreans by attacking with an Accountant and a Golden Doodle in our line just didn’t sound right. We’d do what we had to do and I wasn’t going to just drop him somewhere to die. If we could find a place we felt good about leaving him in then that may be an option. If not, he’d just have to warrior up. Daisy did actually look pretty aggressive when she was barking and ready to fight for her pack mates. If we avoided calling her Daisy and she didn’t start dropping turds when she got yelled at then she may be able to scare people who were afrai
d of dogs.

  We made it across the Kansas state line and into Colorado without any more issues. Unless you count soul crushing boredom from looking at nothing but formerly irrigated fields that were slowly turning into giant weed patches. We hit a tractor supply place right off the highway and stocked back up on diesel without having to pull out our weapons. It was a nice ride.

  Entry 26: Nothing Without the Deity

  Colorado wasn’t much more exciting. I was glad for the boredom and we needed it. We’d gotten pretty healed up at the house with Tim so this drive was a pleasant experience. Tim also told us that he hadn’t held back on giving us supplies. We had the best of everything that he had there. He was pretty happy he had not decided to cheap out on us now that he was stuck driving with us!

  We had plenty of the dried astronaut food. We had a lot of diesel. The Hummer went through diesel like Daisy went through a granola bar though. Which meant you could never have enough of it. My back was fairly well healed. Pink skin and scabs were still about the only thing going on back there but we kept it clean and covered in bandages. It was getting a lot better. I could move my head around now which was going to make life a lot better for all of us. We had a small group so when one of us couldn’t pull their weight it meant the others had to pick up the slack.