by Chesla, Gary
He looked outside. “Come on Doug, it looks clear.”
As Doug walked past him into the yard, Shaun looked back. “Lock the door. I’ll lock the outside bars.”
Megan nodded back at him. Shaun walked outside. He turned to lock the bars and heard Megan turn her key, locking the inside door.
Shaun turned and slowly looked the area over. “The sun looks great, but the rest of the area looks like a war had been fought around here.”
“I think we might have lost the war.” Doug replied.
“We lost this war six months ago. All we have left is to try and survive.” Shaun said quietly.
“It looks like a lot of the dead are falling apart.” Doug said pointing to various body parts scattered around on the ground between the houses.
“I’ve seen some of the dead that looked in pretty bad shape. I wonder how long it will take for them all to decompose to the point that they will just fall apart?” Shaun wondered out loud.
“If that happens, I just hope we are all still alive to see it.” Doug answered.
“Your right. We have a better chance of starving to death before they all fall apart.” Shaun smiled grimly. “Talking about body parts, let’s get that arm off the front window.”
“Lisa will appreciate that.” Doug laughed.
They started to walk around the side of the house. “Just keep your eyes open. There could still be some of those bastards hanging around. They would blend in with the black slimy background. If they weren’t moving we might walk right into one of them.” Shaun told Doug.
As they walked to the front of the house Doug asked. “Did you ever see anyone get attacked or bitten?
Shaun paused for a long minute. “Yes I did. Believe me it wasn’t a pretty sight. I was up on Route 30 near the shopping center. We don’t even try to go up there anymore. Not much left up that way and too many gangs between here and there. Mostly just the dead roaming around up there now. But Meg and I were trying to see what we could find in the old Tractor Supply store. We thought we might find some seeds to plant and maybe some farm tools. We were getting near the back of the store when we heard some noise. Meg and I got down behind the shelves and waited to see if whoever was making the noise would move on. After about five minutes we saw this guy walk out near the front checkouts. We were trying to decide whether we should talk to him or just stay put. Before we decided anything, three of those ugly bastards came out of nowhere and grabbed the guy. One of them bit into his neck and ripped away half his face. The guy let out a scream like we have never heard before. It was the sound of absolute terror. Blood flew everywhere. The spray covered the big front window of the store. Those dead things don’t look very strong, but once they get the smell of fresh blood and flesh their strength almost becomes super human. The one that bit him in the neck and face knocked the guy down and just began tearing at his flesh. The other two grabbed his arms. I was stunned when they started to pull the guy apart. When they get in a frenzy, stay the hell away from them!”
Shaun took a deep breath. “Meg and I crept into the back of the store. We looked in a few other places, but couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there. I still have nightmares about that day. When they are staggering around, they are fairly easy targets. Smash their head in and they go down and stay down. But once they see blood and start to get in that frenzied state, if you can’t get a good shot at the head, break one of their legs and get out of there.”
“Shit!” Doug said as he stared at Shaun.
“We saw a few other people get attacked down at the dam. You know those dead things can’t swim, but they aren’t concerned about water. I saw one of the dead wade in one side of the dam and five minutes later the son of a bitch came wading up out of the water on the other side of the dam. I saw two of them come up out of the water and pull this one girl into the dam. She was getting water and not paying attention. We were watching them get water and waiting for them to leave. Before we realized what was happening, we saw these two boney gray arms come up out of the water and grab her. In less than a minute the water was blood red. The water was churning like you used to see on TV watching a shark tearing apart its prey. So, yes Doug. I’ve unfortunately seen people get attacked and bitten by those bastards. That’s why I try to think of every possible thing that can happen when I do things or go anywhere. I never want to find myself in a situation like any of those poor bastards.” Shaun sighed.
“God. I’m sorry I asked.” Doug cringed.
“When we go out between the houses, you have to imagine there is one of the dead waiting for you behind every tree and behind every bush. They usually aren’t, but if you let your guard down and one of those things are there, once they get a hold of you, chances are you won’t last too long.” Shaun said as he paused at the corner of the house and slowly looked around the corner.
“Come on, it’s clear.” Shaun said and led Doug over to the front window where the arm was hanging from one of the bars.
Shaun looked at the arm then grabbed the arm with his gloves and worked it around the bars on the window until he got it free.
“One of the dead must have sensed us in the house last night and grabbed a hold of the bars to get a better look. The horde pushing through must have ripped its arm off as it pushed him along with the flow. Like I said those things don’t look very strong, but you get enough of them together and they get the scent of living flesh they change. I’ve seen a dozen of them knock a door off its hinges to get into a house after a guy. You saw them break the windows in that trailer the other day and rip the door off of that tin box. Don’t let their scraggly looks fool you.”
Shaun knocked at the bars with his free hand.
A smiling Megan and Lisa appeared at the window as they pulled the curtains to the sides of the windows.
Lisa waved.
Shaun held up the boney arm and waved back.
Lisa screamed and ran from the window. Megan gave him a nasty look before she started to laugh.
Shaun laughed, then turned back to Doug. “Let’s go toss this arm over in the field. “One last lecture, then I’ll change the subject to a more pleasant subject. You heard Lisa scream back there and you heard how she was screaming last night.”
Doug nodded his head.
“If you let one of those dead bastards get at her, the screaming you heard last night will sound like two kids laughing and playing, having fun. The sounds that will come out of Lisa will be so horrible they will haunt you for the rest of your life. You have to do everything you can to think of, to never let that happen.” Shaun said as they reached the field.
Shaun tossed the arm into the weeds at the edge of the field. He scanned the area to be sure there weren’t any dead around. He turned and looked at Doug who was pale and nervous.
Shaun smiled. “Now let’s go see what your house looks like.”
Doug smiled back still looking nervous.
They walked across the street. Shaun continued to scan the area. “Another thing. Don’t get this blood or slime in your mouth. If you have a cut or scratch, make sure you keep it covered. This shit will make you sick and kill you. Then you will end up staggering around in the yard with the rest of these dead things looking for some living flesh.”
“Shaun, you’re scaring the hell out of me.” Doug said.
“It should scare you. Now let’s go around back and see how those things got in your house.” Shaun smiled.
They walked around the back of the garage. They walked around the corner slowly until they came to the back door.
The metal door covering hung open. The pad lock
Doug had used to lock down the metal door hung in the latch. It was unlocked and hung on the latch never having been clicked shut to lock the door.
Shaun picked up the lock out of the latch. “Here was your problem. The lock was never snapped down and locked.”
“That’s what I thought must have happened.” Doug sighed.
Shaun held up his metal pol
e. “Let’s go look inside. Have your pole ready in case we run into any of them still in the house.”
“Didn’t they all leave?” Doug asked.
“Most probably did. Maybe all of them. But as dangerous as they are, they are also pretty dumb. I’ve seen one go in a house and not be able to find its way out. They can wonder around in there for weeks.
Shaun laughed. “Meg and I were in this one store out by the airport. When we left the store we saw this creepy looking dead freak looking in the corner of one of the back rooms. We came back a week later, wanting to check out another part of the store. That thing was still trying to crawl up the wall in that same corner.”
“You should write a book about how to deal with the dead.” Doug laughed.
“I would, but who would read it?” Shaun answered.
“I would.” Doug replied.
Shaun moved over to the inside door to the kitchen. “Look how they smashed this door in.”
Doug stared at the splintered two inch thick solid wooden door which laid on the floor, now in three pieces as he followed Shaun into the kitchen.
Shaun slipped on the black blood covered floor as he stepped over the refrigerator that was on its side on the floor right inside of the doorway. Doug grabbed his arm to steady him so he didn’t fall.
“Thanks!” Shaun smiled. “If I fell and got this shit all over me Meg would never let me live it down.”
They carefully crept through the kitchen and living room. They next checked out the bathroom. Everything was covered in that black slime.
“The down stairs looks clear, smells like hell but all clear.
What’s behind that door?” Shaun asked pointing to the door that was undamaged and closed in the hallway.
“That’s the door to the basement. That’s where we kept all our supplies. Does that mean they didn’t get at our food?” Doug asked looking excited at the prospect.
Doug began to walk towards the door.
Shaun grabbed his arm. “Let’s clear the rest of the house first. After we’re sure the house is safe we can take a look. And yes, I don’t think they were down there. Your supplies are probably OK.” Shaun said quietly.
Shaun took one last look at the mess the dead had made of Doug’s house. If it wasn’t smashed it was slimed beyond use. Shaun started up the stairs to the second floor. He was careful not to fall as the steps were as slippery as ice because of all the blood that covered the steps.
When they were both standing in the second floor hallway at the top of the steps, Shaun held up his hand to stop Doug from going further down the hall. He held his finger up to his lips for Doug not to say anything.
They listened.
After a few seconds they heard something sliding on the floor. There were three doors that led from the hallway. Two of the doors were closed, one was missing. Shaun could see parts of the door extending out into the hall from the room.
Shaun whispered. “Is that your pulley room?”
Doug nodded. His eyes were wide as he listened to the shuffling sound coming from the room.
Shaun crept slowly towards the room.
When he was next to the door way he stopped and listened. After a few seconds he tapped his metal pole on the floor in front of the open doorway.
The sound stopped for a second and then started again.
Shaun raised the pole over his head.
As the creature staggered through the door, Shaun brought the pole down on top of its head. The head split open and its blood flew everywhere. The creature dropped to the floor and stopped moving.
Shaun tapped his pole on the floor in front of the door again. He stood and listened.
When he didn’t hear any other sounds, he stepped in front of the door way and looked inside.
The room was trashed. Black slime was everywhere. Ragged holes appeared in the wall where the pulley assembly had been attached to the wall, pulled away by Doug’s weight as Shaun had pulled him across and above the street last night. Broken and slimed furniture laid around the room, the furniture Doug had used to barricade the door to buy he and Lisa more time.
But the room appeared free of anymore of the dead.
Shaun turned and signaled all clear to Doug.
“I think the house is clear now.” Shaun whispered.
“How did you learn that tapping trick?” Doug asked.
“Like I said, the dead aren’t very smart. They don’t think. They just react. But I’ll tell you that story later. You check out the first door and I’ll check out the last door. Then we can go check on your supplies.” Shaun said.
Doug followed Shaun down the hall. He watched as Shaun went to the door at the end of the hall. Shaun put his ear to the door and listened. After a minute Shaun knocked on the door and listened again. Then Shaun turned the door knob and pushed the door open. After staring in the room for a second, Shaun closed the door and said. “All clear down here.”
Doug followed Shaun’s example and soon the last room was determined to be clear.
Shaun now spoke in a normal voice. “Now we can go check out your basement without worrying about the dead coming down behind us.”
Doug let out a big sigh.
Shaun led them back down the steps and over to the basement door. He listened for a second before opening the door.
Shaun looked down the steps and froze when he saw outside light shining into the basement.
“How many windows do you have in the basement?”
“Two.” Doug answered.
“Did you notice whether or not they were broken when we came across the street.” Shaun asked.
“No. I didn’t notice.” Doug answered. “Why?”
“I’m thinking one of the dead might have crawled into the basement through one of the windows.” Shaun replied.
“They have bars on the inside. They were that way when we moved in.” Doug said. “We should be OK.”
“Good. But let’s be careful just the same.” Shaun said as he began to slowly move down the stairs, one step at a time.
Shaun breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the two windows, both clear and unbroken.
He walked feeling relieved down to the basement floor.
He stood for a few minutes and looked at the far wall. Food was stacked from floor to ceiling against the wall.
“You sure there is only enough food here for six weeks? You and Lisa must eat a lot.” Shaun laughed.
“Maybe we could hold out longer than six weeks.” Doug laughed. “It was just a guess.”
“I’m glad the dead didn’t make it down here. This is great.” Shaun added staring at all the food.
“The house is trashed, but I’m glad they didn’t get down here too.” Doug smiled. “Maybe if we don’t go to the fort in Ligonier, Lisa and I could just move to the basement.”
“Not a good idea.” Shaun said. “If the dead got in, you would be trapped. You always want to have access to the attic. You would want to get up high. The dead can’t climb very well. Even my safe room is only for a last resort.” Shaun added.
“How about if we fixed up the two rooms the dead didn’t get into upstairs?” Doug asked.
“The rest of the house smells so bad and you could never clean all that black shit out of the house. I don’t think it would be healthy. I think if we don’t go to the fort you would be better off moving into one of the abandoned houses here on the street.” Shaun advised.
“I guess you’re right. What do you say we take all this food over to your storage room before we go over towards Ligonier?” Doug asked resigned to the fact his home would never be livable again.
“I’m not sure my storage room is big enough.” Shaun laughed.
“I think it will all fit. There isn’t as much here are it looks.” Doug laughed.
“OK. Let’s go get the girls to help.” Shaun said.
Doug followed Shaun as they went up the stairs. After taking another look at the mess his house was in, Doug followed Shaun out int
o the garage and out the back door.
Shaun took a deep breath. “It feels good to breathe some clean air again. Those bastards smell like hell.”
They were both enjoying the feeling of the warmth of the sun’s rays beaming down on them and enjoying the fresh air when they both heard it.
“Shaun, is that what I think it is?” Doug asked as fear showed on his face.
“Shit!” Shaun shouted.
“We have to go get the girls.” Doug said as he began to shake with fear.
“It’s too late. We could never get across the street without them seeing us. They’re coming up through the gate now. They’ll be up here any second.” Anger showed on Shaun’s face.
“We can’t just let them get the girls.” Doug shouted over the loud noise that echoed off the buildings around them.
“Meg knows what to do. If she does that, hopefully the girls will be OK. If they catch us, we won’t be of any help to the girls.” Shaun looked fearful and angry at the same time.
“We can hide in the basement until they leave then.” Doug said.
“No. We would be trapped if they came into the house. We have to get over to the trees. Some place out of sight and where we can watch what they hell they are doing. Follow me.” Shaun shouted.
Shaun ran behind the house. Doug was right behind him. They just made it into the shrubs in the yard of the house behind Doug’s house as the motorcycles came roaring up their street and stopped at the end of the street. The bikers got off their bikes and began to look at Shaun’s house.
Shaun and Doug crawled along the shrubs until they made it to the high grass in the field at the end of their street.
They crawled through the grass until they came to a patch of trees that were about thirty feet into the field. They hid behind the trees and watched the terrifying sight taking place in front of their homes.
“Looks to be about twenty of them.” Shaun counted.
“I wish we had a damn gun.” Doug whispered.
“If those bastards hurt Meg, I swear I’ll hunt them down and kill every last one of them.” Shaun swore.
