by Gallier, TW
It's what we always did. If felt good.
"If all walkers, all across the country, are moving to the south, then we definitely need to move to Canada or Alaska," Ralph said. "The problem will be convincing our families to head northward on foot."
Our time on the island gave us way too much time to contemplate the fate of our families. I could feel Olivia's stress increasing as the days ticked by.
"I don't think it will be as hard as you think," I replied. "I'm sure they've noticed the zombies passing by were all going southward. Even non-geeks can do the math."
"Never underestimate the power of stupid," Ralph returned. "They are mostly farm folks, with deep roots in the land and town. It's going to take some convincing."
"Maybe not," Olivia said. "If the walkers are all heading south, the government will have noticed it. For all we know, the army is already evacuating people to the north."
"Or, they are all zombies marching south," I said. "I'm sure military bases were primary targets."
"I'm worried about the military," Ralph said, looking up and around. "We haven't seen a plane or helicopter since the shit hit the fan."
He was right. I got a sinking feeling. Until then, I'd never realized how much I was counting on the government and military to save us. Granted, we didn't have any large military bases in this area, but there were a few Air Force and Naval Air reserve bases. And I knew of one Army reserve facility back in the city.
"You'd think we would've seen at least one military plane or helicopter before the EMP," Olivia said.
"I always thought the military vehicles and aircraft were protected from EMP," I said.
I looked to Ralph for confirmation. He was more into the military stuff than me. Ralph just shrugged noncommittally. Olivia gave me a bleak look.
"We'll go on the theory there is no help coming from the government, and hope we're proven wrong," I continued. "I think we can agree that we should swim over to the west bank, just past the creek to the south."
We discussed the pros and cons of leaving right away, in full daylight, as opposed to waiting until dark to cross. Darkness would help cover our escape, but we'd also find it harder to see zombies. Groups of zombies were easier to spot than individuals at night. Either way, at night it was hard to see them before they were directly across the river from us. At least in daylight we could time our move when absolutely no zombies were around to spot us.
A day run was finally decided on. Really, I was the only one who wanted to wait until night. Since there was no reason to wait, we started getting ready.
"Another thing," Ralph said, glancing at Olivia. He watched her as he spoke. "To keep our clothes dry, I think we should roll them up inside our sleeping bags. The plastic bags that keep them dry will keep our clothes dry."
My breath caught. Neither he nor I minded going naked during the swim, but Olivia might. I would understand if she chose to at least wear her bra and panties. Her reaction said she wasn't totally on board, but she then bit her lip and nodded.
"Really?" Ralph asked.
"Not if you go all pervy on me," she said.
He nodded, looking serious for all of ten seconds. "I'm just saying, if you see I have a woody it's your problem. You shouldn't be looking at me down there anyway."
Her jaw dropped, and then she giggled. "Touché, el douché."
So we put out the fire, burying it under sand and dirt. Then stripped down to our underwear, and finally rolled our shoes, shirts, and pants up inside our sleeping bags. After that, we strapped our weapons to the top of the packs so they'd stay above the water. I put my tactical vest with the pistols and magazines under my AR15. Only then did we take everything and creep up to our usual observation point on the west side.
As usual, I was in the middle, with Olivia to my left and Ralph to my right. Ralph stayed at least a foot away, but Olivia pressed up close. I felt drawn to the heat from her body, and really struggled to keep my eyes to myself. I'd seen her in bikinis skimpier than her bra and panties, but knowing it was lingerie made it sexier.
Yeah, I got a tingle in my junk. So embarrassing.
"It's clear," Ralph said. "Now is as good as any time."
I nodded. He stood up, pushed his tighty whities down, and wedged them under his shotgun atop the pack. I stood up and did the same, and then we turned to Olivia. She was gawking at our stuff. I was semi-erect, until I notice her gaze. Then I got rock hard as my face super-heated.
"You morons are so inappropriate," she whispered, licked her lips, and stood up.
I slapped Ralph's arm, making him look away.
"Keep watch out for walkers," I said.
I tried so hard to not look, but I did. I cast a quick glance as she bent over to pull off her panties. She caught me look, arching a brow. My face flushed even hotter, and my boner ached. I wanted to apologize, but I was too embarrassed to speak. She rolled her eyes, grinning, and shook her head.
"Men," she muttered. "Let's go."
Chapter 14
We rushed across the narrow, sandy beach and straight into the water. Olivia led the way, probably more eager to be covered by water than Ralph or me.
"Shit," Ralph gasped.
Yeah, the water proved cold. I entered last, as Olivia was gently lowering her pack into the water. It floated, despite the weight of the shotgun on top. I worried, even though they floated when we swam to the island. While she kept her head above water, Ralph went ahead and submerged himself completely before starting to swim. I noticed Olivia had stuffed her hair up under her cap.
"You're an idiot," I muttered, glancing at Ralph. He might have dry clothes to wear on the other side, but he'd have wet hair. I followed Olivia's example and kept my head above water. Whispering louder, "Let the current do most of the work. Only do enough to hit the shore past the creek."
There wasn't much current on that side of the island. The really deep water was on the other side. Still, with minimal effort on our part we crossed to the river bank a good hundred yards south of the island within five minutes. The water was so cold that it felt amazing to emerge into the warm summer air. I kind of regretted not submerging my head. Ralph would probably stay cooler longer than us.
Olivia slung her pack onto one shoulder and jogged to the tree line. Ralph and I stopped to watch. I'd always suspected she had a body like that, but seeing confirmation really rattled me. It was wrong to be so aroused considering our situation, but…
"Well, let's…um…let's get up there and into some clothes," I whispered, eyes starting to dart around looking for movement.
"Yeah," Ralph said, looking as breathless as I felt.
Olivia was already in panties and bra, and pulling on her jeans when we arrived. She did a double take at our junk and a smile flirted with her lips. The cold water left us in a less than flattering condition. It shouldn't have mattered. At least I managed to suppress any defensive comments.
Our clothes quickly absorbed what little water remained on our bodies. I didn't think it would take long to evaporate. After we were ready, I led the way deeper into the woods. A dozen yards in and the thick underbrush cleared out and it became easy going. The thick carpet of dead leaves muffled our progress, while we avoided stepping on branches or anything that might make noise.
Our guns were strapped across our chests, while we carried machetes in our hands. The plan was to only use guns as a last resort. We needed to save our ammo, while keeping noise to a minimum. Fortunately for us, we moved a lot quieter than zombies.
"Shhh," I hissed, dropping to one knee.
They dropped to a knee, too. Holding my breath, I listened to someone's advance through the forest to our far right. I didn't have to wait long before I saw movement. It was three zombies walking through the woods.
I then motioned to the ground, and we all lay down and remained perfectly still.
The zombies were three middle-aged men, two blacks and a white. They looked like hell warmed over, with blood-splattered clothes and wild
-eyed looks. One of the black walkers was wearing a very nice suit and tie. One of them was missing an ear, which was shiny wet with blood. They passed within twenty feet of us. Their eyes remained forward, not looking left or right.
I stayed in that position until the sounds of their passage faded, then returned to our southwestern trek. I was aiming to cross the highway before it reached the bridge over to Emory. Of course, if we arrived during a nice gap between waves, we were keeping the option on the table for looting the gas stations at the turn-off into Emory.
Gunfire off in the distance reached us about an hour after starting. We paused to get the direction and distance of it. It sounded rather far off.
"I bet that's Emory fighting off the walkers," Ralph said. "It's the right direction, and about the right distance."
I'd only been to Emory once, back when I was about ten. We'd gone there to go fishing on the river. The gas stations on the highway were about a mile west and across the river from the town.
"Sounds like good enough reason to avoid them to me," Olivia said. "Can you imagine how many walkers are surrounding them?"
As a programmer for a video game company, I actually could imagine that scenario. Thousands and thousands of undead mindlessly, relentlessly attacking the faltering defenses of humanity's last stronghold. I doubted little Emory was the last stronghold, but it was the only location we knew was a safe town.
"Everyone in Emory is just waiting to die," Ralph muttered, echoing my thoughts. "I bet the only really safe havens are places like the barrier reef islands. And the ones without bridge access, too."
"Actually, I was thinking about where to go," Olivia said. "Mexico."
"Maybe that's where all of the walkers are heading?" I replied. "I bet even the Mexicans can't fight off three hundred million zombies."
"Then we keep going south," she said. "I'm sure South America will band together to stop them in Panama if they get that far."
That made me wonder who survived the nuclear and bio-weapon holocaust. The US, Russia, and China were pretty much toast according to the radio. Also Europe, but what about other advanced nations? Were Japan and Australia still unscathed? Was there any reason at all any of the combatants would nuke Africa and South America? And honestly, in an end of the world situation, the Third World countries were probably better equipped to survive in large numbers.
"I hear more walkers," Ralph whispered. "Off in the middle distance."
"The woods are full of them," Olivia replied. "Jesus. We are so fucked."
"We just have to be careful," I said. "Once we get past Emory, I bet we'll see a lot less of them."
Ralph grimaced. Olivia looked doubtful, but no one challenged me on it. We needed something to hope for, an achievable goal. Get past Emory and it would be better, safer, and we'll be home.
"I see an antenna," she said, pointing up above the trees. "That looks like the antenna my Uncle Dave had for his shortwave radio."
That implied a house. I doubted there'd be anyone in it now. Too many zombies walking around. There could be food and clothes to loot. As far as I could tell zombies ate people and pets, but not regular food. Maybe the packaging was too difficult for their infected brains to figure out.
Taking aim for the antenna, we moved slower, more carefully. I had a really bad feeling that the closer we got to the highway, the more zombies we'd see. The idea of holing up during the day and only traveling at night was starting to appeal to me even more. As far as I knew, zombies couldn't see any better at night than us.
We found a double-wide mobile home wedged up in the trees. There was no lawn, just thick trees. A dirt "driveway" vanished into the forest and towards the highway. We had to be over a mile from the road, too. It looked like someone was trying to hide from the world.
Beside the antenna, there were two ten-by-ten metal storage sheds behind the house. The house itself was on the side of a gentle slope, resting atop cinder block pillars. The underside was wide open, but too low to use for anything but storage. I noticed it was mostly building supplies under the house. There wasn't a deck on back, or even stairs up to the back door.
"No lights on" I said.
"Duh. EMP," Ralph said.
"Duh, generator," I replied, pointing to a chest-sized beige metal box next to the power pole. My grandparents had one just like it on their farm. It ran on natural gas. Of course, it might not be built to survive an EMP. "It might work."
It wasn't making any noise. Not a good sign.
I led the way to the back of the house, where we paused and listened for a few minutes for any sounds of habitation. It was all deathly quiet, with the worst stench imaginable. Even the birds and insects were silent. So we sneaked around to the front, with machetes raised and ready. Still no one.
The front "yard" was strewn with the kind of toys very young children play with. Since most were pink and/or white, I assumed a little girl. There was an old, rusty pickup and a somewhat newer sedan parked up close to the house.
"The front door is ajar," Olivia whispered. "I see blood on it."
"Zombies must've got them," I said, which would explain the stench.
"Oh god, that poor little – " Olivia started, and then her eyes went wide. "Walkers!"
I whirled around to find five zombies coming down the dirt road. Two men and three women who appeared in their mid-twenties, if you could see past all of the blood splattering them, the blue and black splotches on exposed flesh, and crazy eyes. They were looking straight at us.
"Mmrrrrrggh," one of the males cried, rather loudly.
My brain was going a million miles an hour. I considered running, fighting, locking us in the house. Every situation seemed doomed. Any noise would bring more zombies down upon us.
The zombies broke into a run towards us. We didn't hesitate. As one we dropped our packs and charged the zombies. I was fastest, and reached the lead zombie, a young redheaded woman. She reached for me, so I brought my machete down and across, severing both hands off. That didn't stop her.
"Aaggh," I cried as she pointed her stubs at me and hot blood squirted all over me in pulses.
She pressed up against me, handless arms holding me tight, while she opened wide to bite me. Her breath was horrid, like rotten flesh. With a cry of horror, I shoved her away with all my strength. I swung the machete around and decapitated her.
For a second I stood there and shook with revulsion. The others raced past me and slammed into the zombies. Ralph body-slammed two of them backwards, while Olivia slashed open the belly of another. His guts spilled out, but he kept coming. She backpedaled, and the walker tripped over his intestines, before starting to crawl towards me.
"No!" I screamed, raising the machete with both hands.
I split his head in two. Blood, bone, and brains splattered all over my lower legs and feet. The rancid, rotting stench of him and his insides washed over me. It was all too much. I dropped to my knees and puked all over his corpse.
"Oh god, help me," I muttered, struggling to my feet.
Ralph and Olivia were hacking at the remaining three like madmen. Olivia sobbed as she attacked, but she was vicious. Ralph was also doing better than I thought he would. In no time the remaining zombies were reduced to piles of hacked up flesh between them.
We were all left dripping in zombie blood.
"Hurry," I said, grabbing my pack and turning towards the front door. I slung one strap over my shoulder as I walked. "We have to find anything useful and get out before more walkers show up."
There was no doubt in my mind more were coming. I couldn't stop thinking how they were all connected mentally. Hopefully, there weren't any more of them close enough to mentally connect to the ones we killed. I had no faith, though.
We rushed inside to find the kitchen trashed, all cabinets open and pretty much empty. The kitchen sink faucet was running full blast. And there was a pile of human remains and ripped, bloody clothing in the middle of the living room. I suspected one or more of the r
esidents was killed and eaten there. And it was the worst, most sicken stench imaginable.
His head was about three feet away, split open and empty.
"Oh my god, they really do eat brains?" Olivia cried, hand over mouth.
"Looks like it," Ralph replied.
"Ugh. So gross. I'm totally going to have PTZD," Olivia muttered, turning away. Our eyes met and I gave her a questioning look. A tiny smile flirted with the corners of her mouth. "Post Traumatic Zombie Disorder."
Ralph barked a laugh. "Aren't we all. The fucking world is going to have PTZD."
Our laughter was more hysterical than amused.
We split up to check the three bedrooms. Olivia went into the master, while Ralph and I checked the guest rooms on the other side of the house. My room was an office, and the closet was office supply storage. Nothing we could use.
"Score," Olivia said from the master bedroom.
Ralph emerged from his room right after I came out. "Anything?"
"Kid's room," he said. "So nothing. You?"
"Office," I said. "Let's see what Olivia found."
We ran to the master bedroom. Olivia was busy stuffing clothes into her pack. "Grab some. We can sort them out later."
I stuffed t-shirts, jeans, and khakis into my pack, and was about to check the chest of drawers for underwear when a frightening sound came to us. Someone entered the front door. Many someones.
Chapter 15
"Oh my god!" Olivia screamed. "Ohmygod!"
She was looking out the front bedroom window. More zombies were coming towards the house. Lots more. I just grabbed my pack and machete, and then ran from the room. There were two zombies inside, with another in the doorway.
"Get out!" I cried, dropping my pack and charging the zombies. "Out the back door! I'll hold them!"
Ralph turned to go, but Olivia dropped her pack and joined me. When one of them grabbed my machete wrist, she hacked his hand off. I slashed his belly open and pushed him away, turning to chop the next one's leg off above the knee. Olivia took the top half off another's head with a wild swing that almost got me, too.
