Savannah's Only Zombie (Book 2): A New Darkness

by Josh Vasquez

  She squinted, trying to imagine longer hair on Josh than the buzz cut look he had now.

  “I swear I did. There’s a picture or two on the internet if it still exists.

  Anyways, Laura ends up getting a job at the daycare. We start talking, which is completely weird to me, cause this girl was so out of my league. It was almost like I knew I didn’t have a shot, so I didn’t care what I said. Well, I guess she found that attractive somehow.

  So, we started talking and I go out on a limb and ask her out. She explains that she’s on restriction for her grades and the only place she can go is church.

  I’m like, ‘I used to be big into church. I can do it again. Especially for this girl.’

  So, I go to start going to church with her and over time, I begin feeling this tugging on my heart that this is where I’m supposed to be. Like I picking up where I left off. We start dating and become one of the student-leader couples in our youth group.

  Over the years, I would accept the call to ministry, go to seminary, and lead in the youth group at our church. God used that woman greatly to mold me.

  The only thing, He wasn’t molding me like I thought He was.

  You see, while on the outside, it seemed like I was living this God-fearing life, in private I was hiding a bad porn addiction. Nothing crazy, just normal girl/guy porn, just lots of it. I was a huge hypocrite and continued to hide behind my religion.”

  “Is that why you wouldn’t look at the magazines upstairs?” Tori asked.

  Josh nodded.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” she said.

  “It’s okay. Not really something I like to broadcast. It wouldn’t come out until a year into our marriage. I ended up losing my job at the church I worked at and we had to move back to Savannah. It was a hard and dark time. Eventually, she forgave me and showed me grace.”

  Tears began to slide down his cheek.

  “But it didn’t end there. It would take several years for me to shake the habit finally. I caused that woman a lot of heartache. But yet, she always stood by me. She never gave up on me. She wanted to, but never did. She persevered with me.

  And then we found out she was pregnant.

  If anything was the nail in the coffin of my addiction that was it.”

  He put his head in his hands and cried.

  “And now she’s gone… They’re both gone…”

  He began to sob violently, his body trembling.

  “Oh, the time I wasted!” He cried out. “The time I squandered with her!”

  Tori got up from the chair and went over to sit by him. She draped her arm around his shoulder.

  “It’s okay! You didn’t know this would all happen! Don’t be so hard on yourself!” She said.

  “They’re gone… They’re gone…” he mumbled, repeatedly.

  She tightened her grip on him, pulling him in closer. He leaned in, laying his head on her shoulder. Her hand reached up and she laid it on his cheek.

  “It’s okay, it’s okay,” she whispered in his ear.

  Her breathing was heavy and her head light. He looked up at her, his eyes bloodshot from the drugs and crying.

  Tori leaned in and kissed him.

  ***

  Lexx stared at the driveway, wishing for something to appear on the horizon. Anything. The sun hung low, the sky afire in oranges and reds.

  “Lexx,” Jeremy said, his voice sounding distant despite the fact that he was right next to Lexx. “We have to go now if we’re going to reach Statesboro by dark.”

  Lexx continued to stare at the dirt road.

  Dammit.

  Chapter Thirty Three

  The police station was dark. When they pulled through the rear gate, White jumped out and locked the gate behind them. A cyclone fence topped with razor wire surrounded the back lot. Several police cruisers sat next to the building, their windshields dirty from time and the elements.

  Jeremy pulled the truck up as close as he could to the back door. He did not want to take any chances in case they needed to make a run for it. He shut down the truck and noticed that the fuel gage read almost empty. They would have to find diesel soon to refill the truck.

  They walked up to the back door, White removing the keys from his belt.

  “Home sweet home,” he said.

  He unlocked the door and swung it open into the dark building. Both police officers removed their flashlights and shone the beams into the corridor. The station appeared to be still empty, no one bothering to try to make it their home.

  “We shut off the backup generators before we left, so once we turn them on, we should have power,” Black said. “I’ll be right back.”

  Jeremy nodded, but doubted that Black saw him in the darkness.

  Several minutes later, the lights flickered and came on.

  “Shouldn’t we be worried that the zombies can see the light from the street?” CJ asked.

  “We covered the windows, so it shouldn’t be a problem. It wasn’t before. C’mon, this way,” White said, turning off his light and motioning for them to follow him.

  The last time Jeremy was in a police station was a field trip he took in elementary school. It was super cool at the time to him and all his friends, but he later realized it was just a sneaky way for the cops to get fingerprints on all these kids.

  White led them to the kitchen, where Black rejoined them.

  “You give them the grand tour yet?” Black asked, as he reached into the fridge and pulled out a Coke.

  Jeremy noticed Lexx, who had been quiet and moody the entire trip, light up at the sight of his favorite drink.

  “No, not yet,” White responded. “Was waiting for you to get back.”

  “You got any more Coke in there?” Lexx asked.

  Black reached in and pulled another can. He handed it to Lexx, who cradled it in his hands, before opening and chugging it.

  “Jeez, you like Coke or something?” Black said with a chuckle.

  “He loves it,” Jeremy answered for Lexx.

  Lexx gave a thumbs up.

  “Alright, glad everyone’s happy now. Y’all follow me,” White said.

  He led them through the building. The first room he took them to was where they would be sleeping. It was a simple bunkroom, cots lined up in rows, nothing fancy. Adjoined to it was a sort of break room. Several couches, chairs, TV, and a Ping-Pong table furnished the space. White explained that Black was the reigning Ping-Pong champion for the precinct, to which Black nodded and held up two middle fingers.

  The next room White took them to was the armory. And armed they were! Rows of semi-automatic rifles, fully automatic rifles, combat-styled shotguns, bulletproof vests, stun grenades and cases upon cases of ammunition lined the walls.

  “Sweet Jesus,” Jeremy said, his mouth falling open. “We could clear the entire city with this stockpile.”

  White laughed.

  “Well, it was kind of our plan to eventually, but between me, Will, and José, it was a pretty big task. We would go out every now and then, take out what we could, but there’s just so many of them. The gunshots would draw them in like moths to a flame.”

  “Yeah, we were in the middle of a clean-up when we ran into you people,” Black added.

  “More like ran into the hospital,” Lexx mumbled.

  “Hey, that was an accident. Freakin’ José spilt coffee all over my crotch! My nuts were on fire!” Black said.

  Everyone laughed at this except for Black, who looked offended at the others finding humor in his scalding testicles.

  “Is that why you wear your police uniforms?” CJ asked once the chuckling subsided.

  White nodded.

  “Yes. In case we ever did come across living people, we didn’t want them to think we were some post-apocalyptic, ass-less chaps wearing, psycho rape gang.”

  “Wow, that’s very descriptive,” Jeremy said.

  “Yeah, sorry about that,” White said, remembering CJ was with them.

  CJ
was too enamored with the guns behind the cages.

  “Do all police stations have this much weaponry?” He asked.

  “More or less kid,” Black said, walking up beside him. “All thanks to the Iraq war and our President’s wonderful buy-back programs. We tried to get a tank, but it ended up going to some po-dunk county upstate.”

  “A tank?” CJ asked. “What would you do with a tank?”

  “I dunno. Run stuff over?”

  CJ shook his head.

  “Was it necessary to have all this? Y’all aren’t even a big town,” Lexx said from the doorway.

  “Necessary?” Black said, perking up. “No. Cool as shit? Hells yes!”

  “But why would a police station need so much fire power?” Lexx pressed.

  “It’s not so much as we needed it,” White said, taking the conversation over. “But, it was nice to have. No one ever really though the kids over at Georgia Southern would riot, if that’s what you mean. I’ve seen those kids. They can barely cross the street.

  No, it was more as a precaution. With the war ending in Iraq, and I use the term ‘ending’ loosely, there was this huge surplus of arms left over. Our thought behind it, if God-forbid, war ever came home, the police would be able to handle it alongside the military. Yeah, there’s probably some racist jerk-off who’s going to ruin it for everybody, but it was mostly about homeland defense.

  And now look at us. America, as far as we know, has been completely overrun by the living dead. It was nowhere near what we planned for, but now that we’re stuck in the middle of it, aren’t you a little glad we have all these guns now?”

  White’s question lingered in the air for a moment, before Jeremy finally spoke up.

  “Yeah, but if that’s the case, where the hell are all the other police officers and military?”

  White’s question was easily answered, but Jeremy’s hung there like a heavy fog.

  ***

  Jeremy sat up on the roof of the precinct, staring at the blanket of stars. He leaned back in the lawn chair as his eyes scanned eternity.

  “There sure is a lot of them,” White said.

  “Yeah, I noticed last night when we slept outside. It’s crazy right?”

  White nodded and handed Jeremy a beer. Jeremy looked at him questioningly.

  “I’m not gonna arrest you for underage drinking, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Jeremy smiled.

  “I don’t know. It’s just weird okay?” he said as he took the can.

  White looked very different in his civilian clothes. A solid white polo shirt, designer jeans, and a pair of Jordan’s, he looked more his age now than when he had his uniform on.

  Jeremy tasted the beer and was surprised that he liked the taste. He remembered his Dad giving him a sip as a child, but he remembered very clearly not liking it and spitting it out. Now, it didn’t taste so bad. It was cold and refreshing.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  “No problem.”

  CJ and Black were asleep below in the bunkroom; Lexx was moping around downstairs. Jeremy was hoping Lexx would eventually snap out of it. Yeah, he worried about Josh and Tori too, but he knew that the two of them were tough and if anyone could make it out there, it was those two.

  Of course, he had no idea Josh was taking the loss of his family. Jeremy could only assume that the Rage overcame him, causing him to mutilate Abraham. Josh never spoke of experiencing the rage before, but if something were going to set it off in him, the death of his wife and unborn child would definitely be it.

  What Jeremy was not sure of was how it this affected Josh’s faith. Killing someone is not really what Christians were about. He wondered how Josh was dealing with that.

  “You alright?” White asked.

  “Huh? Oh yeah. Just thinking about my friends,” Jeremy said.

  “I’m sure they’re fine.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  Jeremy thought about back when they were in Savannah and they were stuck at the construction facility. When Lexx sacrificed himself in order for them to escape, Tori had shut down and become almost catatonic.

  Has she done that again? He thought. Is that what’s taking them so long?

  His mind filled with all sorts of possible outcomes. Were they attacked? Did they crash? Did they get lost?

  Wrapped up in his thoughts, Jeremy almost did not hear it at first.

  It was a light “thwump, thwump, thwump,” at first. White also perked up in his seat, leaning forward, listening carefully.

  “Do you?” he asked.

  “Ssh!” Jeremy hissed.

  They both listened as the sound grew louder and closer.

  “Is that, is that what I think it is?” White asked.

  Jeremy stood up and stared at the sky, the sight of what made the sound coming into view.

  It was a helicopter.

  Chapter Thirty Four

  Tori woke up with her head pounding. She sat up in the bed.

  Where am I? She thought.

  The white walls and furniture helped her remember. She was in the underground base of the pot farmers. And she was naked in the bed.

  Oh no…

  She noticed that Josh was absent from the room.

  “Did we?” she said aloud.

  Springing from the bed and gathering her clothes up off the floor, she quickly dressed and made her way into the main room. Josh was not there either. She did not remember much from last night, except her breath tasted like stale smoke and alcohol. A pile of crushed cans sat beside the recliner.

  Tori rushed to the ladder and made her way up into the shack. She noticed that the magazines were missing from the table as she ran outside the door.

  Josh was standing there, his back to her, staring at the marijuana plants. A small pile of smoldering ash was on the ground beside him. He turned around and smiled.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  “Did we? Did I? Did we-”

  Josh laughed.

  “Haha, relax. No, we didn’t.”

  Tori felt herself calm down, if only slightly.

  “But you did end up taking all your clothes off.”

  Oh God, she thought.

  “Don’t worry; you were pretty blitzed last night. I think the alcohol finally caught up to you,” he said, still smiling.

  “But we, we kissed right?” She said as she remembered.

  He nodded.

  “We did. But that was it. It kind of sobered me up. You on the other hand…”

  “Oh my God, this is so embarrassing.”

  He laughed again.

  “Like I said, don’t worry about it. I tried my best to get you into bed and not to look. Promise.”

  Tori moaned and rubbed her temples. The headache seemed to be getting worse.

  “I tend to loose clothes when I drink,” she said.

  “I noticed.”

  “I’m so sorry. For everything.”

  “It’s really okay, Tori,” He said, walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. “I appreciate you trying to comfort me last night. As unconventional as some of your later offers were.”

  She groaned again, causing him to laugh.

  “C’mon, let’s get some food in you,” he said.

  ***

  After a breakfast of Funyuns and Gatorade, they packed up what they could. They took the remainder of the drinks, snack food, and stuffed it into a duffel bag. The bag reeked of weed.

  “While you were sleeping this morning, I also found these,” Josh said, opening a cabinet.

  He pulled out an AK-47 styled rifle, most likely a Ukrainian knock-off and a 12-gauge pump shotgun.

  “Nice!’ Tori said, reaching for the AK.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Josh said. “Who says you get the AK? I found it.”

  “So? What’s that got to do with anything? I’m the better shot.”

  “Oh, yeah? Well, I didn’t get too drunk last night and run around like a crazy naked person.�
�

  “Nice try, you already used that for the last bag of Funyuns,” Tori said, taking the rifle from his hand.

  “Dangit! Knew I shouldn’t have used that so early!”

  They loaded up the ammo into the bag and looked around for what else to take. Several machetes sat on the counter top, next to the gun cabinet. They were most likely for harvesting the marijuana, but the blades would serve well for removing the heads of the undead as well. Tori picked one up and handed it to Josh.

  “I think I’ll stick with the hatchet,” he said, patting the head of his axe.

  She shrugged and took the machete for herself.

  “Let’s blow this popsicle stand,” she said.

  ***

  They found the road again and began walking south, according to the compass. Tori’s ankle was doing better, but they still took their time, trying not to push it too hard. She continued to lean on her walking stick for support.

  “You sure you don’t want me to carry the rifle for you?” Josh asked.

  “No, it’s not that heavy, but thank you.”

  He nodded.

  “So, I came onto you last night?” she asked.

  “If you want to call it that. It was more like you took off all your clothes and said, ‘Come here baby, momma will make you feel better.’”

  Tori stopped.

  “I did not say that.”

  Josh turned and looked back at her.

  “Yeah, yeah you did.”

  “No wonder you turned me down,” she said, picking up her pace again.

  He laughed.

  “Is that bothering you, Tori?”

  She shrugged.

  “I don’t normally get turned down,” she said.

  Josh burst into more laughter. He tried his best to stop when he saw how annoyed she looked.

  “I’m sorry, nothing personal. I just, I just miss my wife that’s all. If we were in some other apocalypse in another universe, maybe we would have.”

  Tori felt like an idiot.

  “I’m sorry, Josh. Here I am with a bruised ego because you wouldn’t sleep with me and you just lost your wife. I’m such a bitch.”

  Josh stopped again. He turned and walked up to her.