The Long Road Ahead: A Zombie Tale

by Key, Thomas

  It took three days of intense manual labor to clear out the dead. Three days of hauling bodies into flat beds to be burned outside of the fence. The base had lost nearly a third of its civilians. Many more of the military members had survived, their training having paid off once again. Obviously, many died standing their ground though, like my dear friend and companion. All of the army personnel had dog tags that we policed up before loading them up for burning. On the faces of every survivor as we did the labor were looks of misery. Not of having to do the work, but the misery of seeing even more people we knew die. Everyone was grieving in their own way then. We held a memorial on the third day. The names of our dead were written on pages of paper and as each name was read, the pages were dropped into a bonfire inside of the base. It was a long ceremony, but a much needed one. There was not a single dry eye in the base. Even though I was a newcomer here, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that everyone knew everyone here. In a community this small and tight nit, any loss was a major one. When Rodriguez' name was read aloud, a Staff Sergeant Steven Alfaro Rodriguez, I once again cried. The man card rule does not apply in this situation, and may anyone who says it does eat shit. Flashbacks of our travels shone in my mind as my eyes were closed in grief. Rachel stood stoically beside me, holding onto me as much as I held onto her. The last name was called and more gas was poured to finish the burns. Everyone stayed and watched the flames as they shot high into the sky. Everyone filtered out of the makeshift graveyard and we finally left as well. As night once again fell around us, Rachel guided me back to a room and to her bunk. There, we held each other as we continued to grieve in our individual ways, we kissed, we cried, and in the middle of the sad miserable night, we made love for the first time.

  Chapter 42

  It didn't take long for me to land a job in the military after the attack. The bad ass turned out to be a Master Sergeant Dail. As it turns out, non-commissioned officers are the ones who 'work for a living' according to some of my new friends. The man was there when I was sworn in. I had a feeling that he and I were going to have a long chat about where I'd go from there.

  Kenneth was discharged from the medical wing the day after the attack. He had seen some action, helping fend off infected trying to attack patients in the waiting room. He and several others were able to hold the zombies off inside the room long enough for help to arrive. When I saw him limping his way out of the hospital, I damn near knocked him over. We embraced in a very manly way. This time, I must have sat on my keys as tears once again, came down my cheeks. Fuck it, who gives a shit. It's the end of the world as we know it. Who cares if I cried in happiness seeing my friend alive and mostly well. Isabel was right behind him, and gave me a hug. They held hands and I, being the naturally observant man that I was, kept eying their hands. "What's new?" I asked him and he grinned. She nudged him playfully and said bluntly, "oh, we hooked up." Ken was smiling now, ear to ear with a blush starting to spread over his entire face. "Nice!" I fist bumped her. Rachel stood behind me, shaking her head. "Men." She sighed as she hugged Ken and Bella. The four of us walked to the newly repaired bar. We drank, and we drank some more. I think we even ended up leading the other bar patrons in several toasts to those brave fallen souls.

  That night, after the bar closed, Rachel and I waddled back to her bunk room. We were both still highly intoxicated. Considering how well she was walking compared to me, I may have been way drunker than she was. I tripped on a stupid rock and not so gracefully fell to the ground. We both laughed our asses off, kissing and giggling like we were on an NBA kiss cam. As the sun once again began to rise, I looked Rachel in the eyes. Her brown hair was flowing in the light breeze. The many colors of the sky created the ultimate backdrop to her face in front of me. I had sobered up a bit and I gently rubbed the side of her face. I told her to stand up, which she did, shakily. I also stood, but had her turn around so she could see the beautiful sky. As I stood in front of her, I dropped to one knee. "Rachel," I said as I heard her gasp. "Hold on," I said quietly as I pulled a black case from my pocket. I opened it to reveal a diamond ring that probably would have cost a nice cars worth of money before the Apocalypse. "I love you. If you'll have me, I promise to love you forever. To be yours, and for you to be mine. Through hell and back. Will you marry me?" I asked her with tears in my eyes as I saw the tears streaming down her own face. Time stood still as we looked into each other’s eyes. She whispered something, and I leaned closer. "What?" I asked sincerely. I was near nose to nose to her as she once again whispered out.

  "Yes"

  Epilogue

  Lying prone on a hill 1900 yards away from the fence line of Cannon AFB were four men, clad in all black BDUs with no unit markings. "Well, that didn’t work sir," said a man with a thick Irish accent. "We had everything set up for that idiot gang and they screwed it up," the apparent leader had a straw of hay between his teeth chewing it as he stared longingly at the base before him. "We’re going to call it in," he said between chews. All three of the other men looked at him questioningly. "Are you sure about this? We’re still missing some of the needed equipment…" one trailed off as the leader cut his eyes at him. "You’re the boss," the man said with a shrug and turned back to Cannon. The leader pulled back from the hill and pulled out a satellite phone, extending the antenna as he stood up. His fingers rapidly dialed a set of numbers and he placed the phone to his ear.

  The man spoke for a moment to whoever had answered his call and then waited while the call was routed to its true destination. Somewhere deep inside a heavily fortified bunker, a large man wearing a suit and tie picked up the phone that was now ringing in his office. He stood up from his mahogany desk and answered the call, listening as the encrypted line dialed in. "Team Delta reporting in," the leader standing outside of Cannon said. "Report then," the man said back calmly. "Operation Flush didn’t work sir. Our ace in the hole was taken out and the sabotage was discovered and repaired before the attack. The horde was also neutralized." The man in the bunker slammed his fist down on his desk, knocking down photo frames and spilling a cup of coffee across it. Immediately, a perky tall woman wearing a tight-fitting skirt rushed into his office and began cleaning up the desk. The suit man turned away from the woman and spoke very quietly. "You had orders to get the base secured. We need that base. You are expendable, that base is not. Do you understand? Get it done or find yourself on our hit list," the man said, slamming the phone down on the desk.

  In front of him was a wall of monitors with live feeds from satellites fixated on military bases around the continental US. "It is our time to rule," the man said to himself as he glanced from screen to screen. On a half dozen of the high definition monitors, hordes similar to the one that had attacked Cannon Air Force Base were marching on other US military installations. In most cases, the bases were overrun, with all of the surviving loyal military troops being killed. In other cases, they were evacuating, with convoys heading out of their home bases in droves. The man smiled as he watched the installations fall one by one. He stood with the feeling of power and corruption coursing through his veins. "For I have become death. The destroyer of worlds," he said with a grin.

  Afterword from the author

  Publishing this book was an accumulation of almost five years of work. With my career as a manager in the retail business and having an amazing family to support it did not leave much peace and quiet time for writing. As my two children got older and the home got quieter, I was able to really sit down and let my mind go nuts. This book is my first, and hopefully not my last. The feeling of pure elation as I sent it to Outskirts for publishing was truly unparalleled and frankly, I want to feel it again. I am quite aware that I am no Steven King, however I have never felt as much passion for doing something as I did writing and releasing this story. We as human beings define ourselves by our accomplishments, but also for our happiness in trying to accomplish something. Special thanks to Jaylin who helped me nearly every step of this long journey and to Natalie who
helped provide vital feedback regarding her service in the armed forces. I cannot leave out Alyssa and Cassandra, for providing their continued support and feedback. Without these amazing people and their support this book may never have been released. I truly hope that you and other readers like you enjoy the fruits of my labor. This became an obsession towards the end and it led me to continue the story in book two, which is currently a work in progress. Thank you for purchasing this book and for supporting a local first-time author.

  Sincerely,

  Thomas Key

  * * *

  [1]