Human Zombies: The Compound

by Nicholas Dileo Jr

  I heard an explosion behind me and I was thrown into the air from the blast. I turned around and saw the cliffs crumbling before my eyes. That stuff was no joke. And it seemed that Gregory was no longer chasing behind me. He must not have gotten out in time.

  I continued on in hopes of finding Jesse and Cynthia untouched in the orchard. But as I approached there were dozens of undead lurking around the area. I quickly found cover in some shrubbery. I could see Jesse and Cynthia in the tree where I had left them. It seemed like they hadn't been found yet. But how long would it take before they were? I had to figure out a way to draw the zombies away from the orchard and get them out of the tree to safety.

  I slowly moved out from behind the shrubbery and made myself aware to the zombies. With a piercing glare they acknowledged my existence and became fixated on their new goal, to capture and kill me. Here we are again... Running from the undead. I started running away from the orchard. But they were hot on my tail. No matter how I moved, zigzagging between fields or hiding behind shrubbery, they kept up with me. At least they had moved away from the orchard. As I got further away I could see more zombies. Where the hell were they coming from? It looked like I was boxed in... But then I remembered the tunnel Jesse had brought me here with. I located the entrance and plunged in. I sat in the dark, pondering what to do next. They weren't going to just go away now that they knew I was trapped. I had no choice but to go back through the tunnel and hope there were no zombies on the other side. I pushed my way back through the tunnel and poked my head out through the vines. I didn't see any undead in the area. It seemed they all had been drawn away by the explosion I set off. I began running along the wall that was adjacent to The Town. I had never been so far away from The Compound or The Town since I had arrived that one fateful day. It felt like an eternity as I made my way further and further away. And then I found it, a break in the wall. I squeezed my way through the crack, but I had to make up a lot of ground to get back. Luckily I was able to drag those undead a reasonable distance from the orchard. But how would I get back without them seeing me?

  I had no clue where I was as I slowly moved back towards the orchard. I had run out of energy and there was no second wind to be found. As I reached the area where I had initially escaped through the tunnel there were no zombies to be found. Where did they go? Maybe they went towards The Town like the others...

  As I entered the orchard there were still no signs of any undead. I sighed a breath of relief as I walked over to the tree that I had left Jesse and Cynthia in. But they were no longer in the tree. Where could the have gone? Did they get out of the tree and the undead followed them? I began to panic. I couldn't think of any way I could track them from here. I nervously started to call out their names quietly.

  “Jesse? Cynthia? Where are you guys?”

  There was no response. I kept searching to no avail. Then I heard Cynthia's voice from behind me.

  “Barrett.” She called out.

  What I saw when I turned around is the furthest thing from what I expected. Gregory was holding Cynthia at gunpoint.

  “It's good to see you again, Barrett.”

  Gregory grinned at me and cocked the hammer on his pistol.

  “It looks like all of this was for naught. Here we are, standing face to face after dismantling what little shred of humanity that was left in our screwed up world. Did it go the way you planned? Because I couldn't be happier. I'm finally free from the shackles of civilization, there's nothing that can stop me now.”

  “Gregory, please, let her go. Take me instead.”

  “You fool, you think you can negotiate with me? I've been playing games with you since the moment you arrived here. It's all thanks to you that my plans fell together so nicely. You were the missing puzzle piece that allowed me to make all of this possible.”

  Gregory removed the gun from Cynthia's head and pointed it in my direction.

  “I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of ever knowing if your girlfriend got away safely. I'm going to shoot you here and now. And you'll die wondering if I let her go or killed her too. But I can tell you, she sure is pretty. It would be a shame to let her go to waste.”

  “You better not lay a finger on her, I swear!”

  “You swear what? You think God can hear you? The world has fallen to pieces and you still believe there is a God looking out for you? Well, the fairytale ends here for you, Barrett.”

  I heard a gunshot and I clenched my chest tightly. But when I looked down I found no entry wound. Had he missed? When I looked up Gregory looked around in bewilderment before falling to the ground. Jesse stood behind him shaking, with gun in hand. He shot Gregory with the gun I had left with him. He must have slipped away before he grabbed Cynthia. I collapsed to my knees but there was no time to rest. The commotion must have drawn the undead back towards us.

  “Hurry we have to get out of here!” I yelled.

  Jesse and Cynthia followed me back to the tunnel once again. Hopefully it was still clear. We made our way through, but this time there were zombies waiting for us on the other side. We began running again. The area looked all too familiar... This was the way I had gone to find my way back to the orchard. But this time there was no place to go back to. We had to keep on moving.

  Chapter 13

  We ran straight through the night until the sun began to rise on the horizon. I'm not exactly sure how far we had gone. But for the time being it seemed safe. We found an open field where we could see in all directions. This would be the safest place to rest. Food and water was limited to whatever wild berries we could forage or stream we could find.

  We traveled for a few days before reaching a lake. It was quiet, there was a large beaver dam in the middle of the lake. But I couldn't tell if it was still living inside or had vacated the area long ago. I didn't have the energy to go and check. We sat by the waters edge contemplating where we would go next. For the moment we were safe. But how much longer could we keep going? It's times like these you realize how important it is to live for the now, because you never know what tomorrow may bring. Or if tomorrow would come for you at all. There are no guarantees in this world, especially now. We had seen many more tomorrows than the others who were not as lucky as us. I suppose if you want to call that luck. We had each other for now and that's what was most important. But there's always tomorrow...