The Zombie Zovels (Book 1): Zombie Suburbia

by Lake, D. K

  “Keep the engine running, get behind the wheel and be ready.” he ordered, then ran around the front of the van.

  Damn Lane.

  Ozma was happily chewing on her bottle teat, she didn't even know her mom and dad were dead. I knew she was young, but she wasn't even looking for them. I realized that was a good thing. We didn't need a whiny baby crying for her parents, as horrible as that sounded. I climbed around her and got behind the wheel, my foot near the gas, watching the windows. Lane suddenly rushed out of the gas station, skidding on broken glass, then he raced over and threw the van door open, he dumped the tubs on the floor and I pushed my foot on the gas as two zombies ran out the front door. The zombies clawed at the side window near Lane and disappeared behind the van. I swung the van around and floored it back onto the road, I could see the zombies in the side mirror, chasing us, trying to catch the van. The van was faster, and they soon disappeared from sight. I stopped further down the road and we switched seats.

  I slammed my door and glared at him.

  “What?” he said, grabbing a packet of cookies from the glove-box.

  “Don't do that again.”

  “Alex, I'm quicker than you. Good thing as well, those two newbies came out of nowhere. Want one?” he asked, holding the cookies out to me.

  I shook my head and Ozma reached for the packet and Lane gave her one.

  “Wait, is she allowed that?” Lane asked, watching as she stuck the cookie in her mouth. “How should I know, I'm not her mother and I'm not an expert on babies.” I sighed. “She should be fine with it, Crystal had been introducing her to solids.”

  “Solids?”

  “Cookies, only the soft ones so they can dissolve easier in her mouth and we can mash other foods for her.”

  “I don't think we can mash granola bars and cereal.”

  “We'll think of something, and we've got this for now.” I said, looking at the instructions on the powdered milk. “As long as we've got clean water she can survive on this and the sugar water, and we'll keep introducing her to new foods to wean her off.”

  “What's that smell?” Lane asked.

  “Well, don't look at me.”

  “Why couldn't we have gotten a dog.” Lane grumbled looking at Ozma.

  Chapter 18

  Six Weeks Later. “Oooh look at all them,” Lane said, rolling the van to a stop.

  “You think they've got gas? One of them is upside down.” I said, looking at the upturned vehicle in the field.

  “Looks like an accident, which means they didn't break down or run out of gas.” “Well, you're the gas expert.”

  Lane bumped the van over the side of the road and slowly drove across the field. There was a large SUV with a smashed bumper and another smaller car upside down.

  I stuck my head through the hatch checking on Ozma.

  “Is she still asleep?” Lane asked.

  “Yep,”

  “How can she sleep through this?” he asked as the van bumped over the uneven landscape. “She sleeps through anything.” I said, closing the hatch.

  Lane pulled up near the SUV.

  “It's your turn to siphon.”

  “Yay!” I said unenthusiastically.

  Lane quietly eased the back door open and grabbed the jerry-can. I picked up the two tubes and rag. Lane directed me over to the SUV. He reached up and in through the open window, trying to be careful of the broken glass.

  “Keys?” I said.

  “Yep, still in the ignition.”

  “Good.”

  At least, we didn't have to break into the fuel tank this time.

  He unlocked the gas cap and I stuck one end of the tube into the jerry-can and the other into the fuel tank, then I pushed the other tube inside the tank, crammed the rag into the hole to cover it and leaned down to blow.

  “Don't swallow.” Lane chuckled.

  “There will be no spitting or swallowing, please refrain from your usual dirty jokes, and just for the record I never swallow... you already know that.”

  Lane patted my butt with the bat.

  “Stop that! We're here to siphon gas, remember?”

  I blew into the tube, and after the second go the fuel flowed through the tube and into the jerry-can. “Voilà!” I said, straightening up. I looked up at Lane, he looked tensed and had his eyes focused back on the road.

  “What is it? I can't see past the van.”

  “Zombies.”

  “How many?” I asked.

  “Three.”

  “Newbies?”

  “No, but um...”

  “What?” I left the jerry-cay and joined Lane at the end of the van.

  “Huh,” I said, looking at the situation.

  One overweight zombie wearing a business suit that included a tie. The other was a thin bony female zombie, straggling behind, it looked almost dead... and the other little one close behind. “I've never seen a kid zombie before.” Lane said, not in any rush.

  “Lane,” I tried to get his attention. “You take care of tubby and twiggy and I'll deal with the little ankle biter, okay?”

  “What are you going to do?” he asked.

  “What do you think I'm going to do?” I said, picking up the bat and quietly closing the van doors. I had managed to get my hands on another bat which I preferred using compared to the golf club. “Lane, anytime this year.” I cocked my head at the approaching zombies.

  I left Lane and walked around the van. Tubby beelined for me, I ducked around him, and cracked him on the back of the head and sent him off in Lane's direction. The female zombie followed tubby and the little one came charging at me like a possessed doll. I hated the little ones, they went straight for the legs.

  I took care of the situation and turned back to see how Lane was getting on. The female zombie was already dead on the ground and Lane was letting tubby-zombie chase him around. “Seriously?” I said.

  “It's so funny, he can't keep up.” Lane laughed.

  “No, Lane, that is wrong on so many levels. Please deal with it.”

  “Spoil my fun. She always spoils my fun” he said, talking to the zombie.

  He stopped and let tubby catch up to him so he could take a swing at him. I left Lane to finish him off and went back to check on the fuel. Lane came around the van and handed me his bat, I held it away from me, it was dripping wet. Lane filled the van and I cleaned the weapons on the grass the best I could, then I placed them inside a garbage bag and put them on the floor in the front of the van. I didn't want to take any chances, Ozma liked to gnaw on anything she could get her hands on. I heard the doors at the back of the van open and close, and a moment later Lane climbed into the front with Ozma in his arms, and he carefully passed her to me.

  I lifted her into my arms, she was still fast asleep and didn't even stir she was so out of it. “She's still out, do you think she's sick?” he said.

  “No.” I laughed. “I think she's having a growth spurt.”

  “Okay, but don't let her sleep too long, I don't want to be up all night again.”

  “Lane so grumpy.” I teased.

  “That's what happens when you don't get any sleep.”

  “Oh, the joys of kids.” I said, offering Lane a piece of gum.

  Thirty minutes down the road, we came across a turning off, which led into a large parking lot, with multiple stores. A clothes store, hardware store, a store that sold camping and outdoor equipment, and a pet store. I tried not to look at the pet store, the thought of dead animals made me feel queasy. Then there was the larger building positioned in the middle with a shopping cart bay outside. “It's probably been raided a thousand times before,” Lane said, parking two spaces back, in front of the supermarket.

  He killed the engine and we both leaned forward looking out the windshield.

  “What do you think?” he asked.

  “I think I need clean underwear.” I said, looking over at the clothes store. “But we need to check for food first, I can live with dirty undies,
but I can't live without food.”

  “What about Oz?” Lane said, looking at my arms.

  Ozma was fast asleep, all she did was sleep, I think she loved the motion of the van. “Help me get her into the back.” I said, lifting her up so I could carry her.

  Lane got out and came around to my side and opened the door for me. We managed to get her into the back without waking her, which was going to make this whole process a lot easier without a screaming toddler left behind in the van. There was no way I was taking her inside an unknown building.

  “It's going to be dark in there.” Lane said, picking up a flashlight and handing one to me. We retrieved our weapons then stood in front of the van looking at the building.

  “We should make a list.” I said.

  “I don't have any paper.” Lane said thinking I was being serious.

  “No, a mental note, dummy! Think of what you need, only essential items.”

  “Right,” he said, creasing his brow as though he was concentrating.

  “Hopefully, the supermarket will have a few essential clothing items so we don't have to detour over to that store.”

  The front of the clothes store had smashed windows and clothes strewn all over the ground out front. I wasn't sure whether humans had caused it or zombies. Most of the stores had broken windows which meant zombies could have wandered inside.

  “I want to do this as quick as possible.” I said.

  “You're not the only one.” Lane said.

  “You might wanna add a toothbrush to your list.”

  “Have you got your gun?”

  “Of course!”

  We walked toward the store and a crow flew overhead and landed on one of the parking lot lights. It squawked and Lane shifted beside me, lifting the baseball bat to his shoulder. Most of the windows had been smashed in, but the sun reflected off the two that remained. The automatic doors were open and store items and trash littered the ground outside. I carefully navigated my way through the front doors, trying not to make too much noise.

  “What's that smell?” Lane asked.

  “Do you really need to ask?”

  “It smells rotten.”

  “It probably is. Stay clear of the produce section.”

  Lane pulled up his neck tube, covering his nose, and I tried to breathe through my mouth. The store was dark, but I didn't plan on going too far down the aisles. Lane managed to stumble over a box and crashed into a stand of sunglasses. He gave me an apologetic look, and I looked around for any sign of movement. Nothing.

  I switched on my flashlight and had a look around. Lane went over to one of the checkouts, jumped up, and shone his flashlight down the store. He shrugged and shook his head, not seeing anything. I picked up a basket from the floor and walked over to the first bin I saw which was full of socks. “Score,” I said to myself, excited over clean socks.

  I picked out what we needed, deciding I might as well do Lane's shopping, I did everything else for him.

  Lane was busy behind me somewhere, I could hear him moving stuff around. I held my flashlight up above my head looking down the first aisle. All clear. I searched the shelves, most of the stuff had already been cleared out. When the disease started to spread and the world went into panic, stores everywhere got raided, only back then people weren't stealing for survival. They were stealing expensive items, electronic equipment, alcohol. Most of which is pretty useless now. The toiletries aisle smelled rank, and I had to pull my hoodie up to tuck my nose into. I managed to find toothpaste, shower wash and chucked a shampoo into the basket as mine was running low. As I moved along the aisle the smell grew stronger. I quickly scanned the shelves for deodorant when my foot nudged something. I shone the flashlight over the floor and saw a half eaten zombie, its face was decaying and maggots crawled around inside its eye socket. I tried not to gag and quickly moved away. Lane's flashlight came around the corner, blinding me.

  “Stop it.” I hissed.

  “I was just checking it was you.”

  “Who else were you expecting?”

  “I dunno a zombie.”

  “I don't think zombies need moisturizer,” I said, picking up a small pot of face cream. “Did you find anything good?” I asked.

  “Underwear. I picked out some for you, is this okay?”

  I glanced at the packet. One size too big. I wasn't going to make a fuss, though.

  “Yes, that's fine.”

  “And I found some toilet roll and wipes. Is this stuff okay? I thought while we have the van we can carry the extra stuff.”

  I looked at his basket, it was overflowing with toilet roll and other random household items.” “No that's really good.” I was impressed. “No food?”

  “I haven't been that way yet. It stinks over there. Are you nearly done here?”

  I wasn't, I was still looking for something.

  Ah, there it is.

  I picked up a box of Tampax and Lane gave me an odd look.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” he mumbled.

  “Look, the world got overrun with zombies. I still get my period. Get over it!”

  He fidget around and rearranged the things in his basket.

  “Lane, you've seen me naked. I've seen you naked. It's just a box of Tampax. Why are you getting weird?”

  “Because it's girl stuff.”

  “Girl stuff?” I laughed quietly. “Well, seeing as we're going to be living together, you're just going to have to get used to it. Now which way to the bottled water?”

  “I already checked. That whole area has been cleaned out.”

  “Damn. Is there any other liquids we can drink, other than milk. Obviously!”

  Lane ducked around the corner, and I quickly added another three boxes of Tampax to my basket, then I searched the floor that was littered with all sorts. I found a packet of sterile wipes and put them in my basket, and it reminded me we might need some more medical supplies. Lane came back around the corner with a pack of juice boxes and a bottle of alcohol.

  “That's it?” I asked.

  “Yeah, the drink section has been desolated.”

  “We need First Aid supplies, and anything edible, then I wanna get out of here.” I said. Lane nodded in agreement and we quickly found what we needed. Gauzes and antiseptic cream, then we ventured over to the food area.

  “I think I'm gonna puke.” I said, covering my face with my arm.

  “Where's the dry food? This was all fresh, and it's had it.”

  I followed Lane and nearly slipped on some spilled liquid. We managed to find a few packets of cookies, a box of cereal, a canned tin of baked beans and a squeezy bottle of ketchup, other than that the shelves were bare in the food department.

  “I can't believe there's nothing left.” I said, searching the floor.

  “It has been two years. I'm sure everyone who passed by this way took as much as they could carry.”

  I was still looking around by my feet when a high pitched squeak filled the air. I jumped and my heart pounded inside my chest.

  “What was that?” I asked, pointing my flashlight over at Lane's feet.

  “Dog toy.” he said, kicking it away.

  I exhaled loudly, trying to bring my heart rate down again, but noises coming from the back of the store had me on edge again. Another loud crash, and what sounded like pots and pans falling to the floor.

  “I think it's time to get out of here.” I whispered.

  I scanned the floor with my flashlight, making sure I didn't stand on anything squishy or dead, and Lane kept his pointed ahead of us. As we got closer to the front of the store the flashlights were no longer needed and I switched mine off and shoved it in my basket. I was near the checkouts when I realized Lane wasn't behind me.

  “Lane?” I called, trying not to shout.

  I kept moving, heading for the doors, and another loud crash sent something scattering around the floor, not too far behind me.

  I whistled, hoping he would hear that inst
ead.

  “I'm here.” he called back.

  I turned around and saw him walking out from the magazine section.

  “Where'd you go?”

  “Spotted this.” he said, showing me his basket which now had comic books stuffed down the side. “Really?” I said.

  “What? You got moisturizer that you don't really need, and I wanted some comics.” I shook my head and turned around to leave again and saw a zombie standing in the entryway. “Ah, hell!” I said as it started moving in our direction.

  It wasn't running which was a good thing because Lane looked unsure what to do. “Give me that,” I said, taking the basket from him, one of us needed our hands empty to kill zombies.

  I shoved my bat into my basket, I couldn't carry everything with only two hands. I hurried in-between the checkouts, keeping a watchful eye on the zombie, with Lane trailing me. The zombie stopped along one of the checkouts, confused, unsure how to navigate around the shopping belt to get to us. Stupid zombie! Lane and I had nearly made it to the doors when another one came around the corner. It slipped on something but quickly regained its balance. “Lane!”

  He was the one with the weapon and he was hiding behind me. I was trying my best to hold onto the two baskets without dropping anything.

  “Get it!” I said, backing away as it lurched across the debris. I looked back over my shoulder, the other zombie was still trying to work out how to get around the checkouts.

  “Aaagh!” Lane charged at the one in front, swinging the bat, but he somehow missed and fell over a box.

  I regretted my decision to hold the baskets as I watched Lane rolling around on the floor. The zombie ignored him and came straight for me. I reluctantly put down the baskets and grabbed my bat.

  As it ran toward me I ducked under its arm. It spun around confused and I used it as my chance to take a swing at its head, knocking it to the floor.

  “Move!” Lane shouted.

  I barely had time to jump out of the way. Lane swung the bat behind him and brought it down hard on the zombie, again, and again.

  “Lane, enough. I think it's dead.” I said, noticing half its head was caved in.