“Really? You promise?” she stated.
“I promise. I will fill my back pack with as many books as it will hold with my supplies that is. All you have to do is get up and get started for the day. Do your part, and you get rewarded.” I informed her.
She gave me a look of disbelief for a moment, but that look quickly faded away.
“And what is my job for the day Commander?” she asked with a hint of sarcasm evident in her voice. I could tell it was a joke.
“Sorting.” I replied. Tara rolled her eyes. I had expected as much from her. Still, I could tell that with a promise of new books, I had won her over.
“Ok Mom, you win. How big of a raid will this be?” she asked.
“Pretty big considering how far out we have to go. We have to make it worth our wile.” I stated.
“Ok, you have a deal. And, I have some time since I don’t have to start sorting until you get back anyway.” she replied.
“See, there can be a good side to everything.”
“At least I don’t have to handle the coagulated bloody bodies today.” She said, following my lead.
“No, that is your brother’s job. He asked for it.” Tara rolled her eyes.
“He is so weird.” She stated matter-of-factly.
“Well, at least it stops you from doing it. Now, I have to get some rest. Get out of this room and find you something to eat.” I instructed before kissing my little girl on the forehead.
“You got it.” she replied with a smile. With that, I stood up and left the room that my children shared.
Sleep wasn’t what I wanted it to be, but I welcomed it, no matter how short the slumber. I didn’t dream. I taught myself not to as much as possible. There were no happy moments in life worth dreaming of anymore. I prayed that things would change soon. I was ready for happy dreams again. They were long overdue.
The crackling of my radio woke me.
“Rise and shine commander. It’s raid time.” I heard Alex’s voice say over the air waves. I didn’t understand why so many people called me that.
“Hey soldier, did you ever think with your military back ground it might be a good idea for you to be called that?” I asked.
“I’ve thought the same thing Commander.” I couldn’t hold back the smile.
“So how about we share rank. You are as much in charge as I am.” I replied.
“10-4 Commander, but I didn’t write the book on zombie apocalypse survival.” He stated.
I couldn’t count the times that had been said to me. When the time came for Alex, Tara, Tyler, Randy, and me to leave my little convenience store, I had made sure to bring the one thousand book shipment with me. Alex read the book during the week we were camped out in the store.
“Amber, this book is amazing.”
“Yeah, but it’s a shame that I didn’t get to see it on the shelves. The shipments were sent out, but I am sure they will never arrive.”
“That’s just life I guess. But hell, this book is going to help a lot of people to survive.”
I loved that my brother was always supportive of my efforts. Even in the beginning of a zombie apocalypse, he was trying to be supportive of a book that would never hit a best seller’s list. I would never see my ideas on raids used in the movies or TV shows. That was a fact I didn’t want to accept, but I knew that I had no other choice.
I retrieved one of my books from the box. I looked at the cover. I remember thinking that it wasn’t a bad $249 dollar investment. A shrieking zombie on the title with the words Apocalypse Diaries written in the stream of blood coming from its mouth. I would have loved the chance to shake hand of the artist of the picture, but I knew that, like the best seller’s list was impossible.
I managed to force myself to crawl out of bed. I suddenly realized that I was sleeping better than I thought. The idea of skipping the raid had ran through my mind, but I knew there were things my people needed, and I couldn’t let them down.
I sat on the edge of my mattress and slipped my boots on. I noticed how warn they were, and decided that was something else we needed to raid from Cartersville. If my shoes were in such bad condition that I was sure other people needed shoes as well. I suddenly realized that we needed two raid teams. One for the Star Mart, and a smaller team for the local clothing store. I would lead the Star Mart raid team, and Alex would lead the Wardrobe three doors down. As the leader, or commander as they all called me, I had to get everything.
CHAPTER THREE
One would thing with no traffic on the highways anymore, a trip to the neighboring town should go smoothly, but that is never the case. Cars, trucks, SUVs lined the streets. School buses blocked entire lanes with their rear ends where the driver had run off the roads. The humanity in me wanted to cry because I knew that the bus was probably full of undead children. I had to force that part of me away. There was no time for sympathy, and really no point in it. I wouldn’t accomplish anything as a blubbering mess.
We made our way down highway 41 toward Cartersville, plowing into vehicles, pushing them out of our way. I hadn’t been to Cartersville since the apocalypse began, so I wasn’t sure what we were going to find. I knew one thing for sure, and that was it was going to be hard as hell to get over to the Star Mart. Too many high traffic roadways surrounded that area. That meant a lot of vehicles in the way and roads that couldn’t be traveled.
“Hey Ryder, there’s a rolling bomb up ahead. Let Karen know she needs to check the fuel levels. It may just be going home with us on the way back.” I said into my radio.
“10-4 Commander. Should we check it now?”
“Yeah. Check her out and then take the off ramp around to the location.” I responded.
“10-4. Stopping now.”
“See you at the 20. Make it fast Karen.”
“Watch your asses out there.” Alex instructed into his radio.
Alex led the truck down the off ramp toward highway 20. I couldn’t believe how different things looked. I hadn’t left the Kingston/Adairsville area in a year. There had been enough houses and stores to keep us a float for that long. It was only on the last run that we realized our resources were being depleted. Alex and I had toyed with the idea of relocation to accommodate growing more of our own food to reduce the number of raids that needed to be done.
We pulled into the rear of the building toward the bay doors. We had a team of ten well trained members in the back. I heard the radio crackling.
“The rolling bomb is ok Commander, fully operational and ready to go.” Ryder said.
“10-4. now get your asses around to the Wardrobe rear entrance. We are raiding that first.” I informed.
“10-4 Commander, in route.” Ryder replied.
Alex parked the 24 foot U-Haul truck. We got out and the roll up door to the box opened. Ten soldiers filed out.
“Close that box up. We don’t want any surprises when we make it back to this point.”
“Got it Amber.” Tommy said as he closed up the box.
“Ok, we are raiding the Wardrobe first. It’s a small store. The front door is intact so whatever is in there is what we will be there. Last one in closes the door. There are twelve of us so our odds are good.”
My team had done this hundreds of times. Alex and I carefully planned the raids of the stores, a lot more careful than homes. The average home size is a family of five, so five people is what we sent in. After a few raids, we realized all we needed to send in per house was two soldiers. With stores, you never know how many are inside.
“Ok, everyone knows the drill. No firearms unless it’s absolutely necessary. We don’t want to attract more than we can handle. Go in and clear the store first. Grab your spears and let’s get going.” Alex instructed.
“We got this man. This is old news.” Randy said.
“But this is our first store in a big city.” Logan added.
“Rule number three Randy, expect the unexpected. You will go into this building expecting a hundred of those thin
gs to be waiting. Always on guard. Rule number four. Now let’s move out.” I stated. A
Randy had been my right hand man since day one. He was only twenty-four years old, but he had the mentality of a fifteen year old. Hell, sometimes I thought I would trust my fourteen year old on a raid more than I could trust Randy. However, he had proved differently over the years. If I could pick two people to watch my back, it would be Alex and Randy. Randy loved doing raids, no matter how reckless he seemed to be; he has saved my life more times than I could count.
“Don’t worry Commander; I have this in the bag.” Randy stated.
“You mean a lot to me Randy. Don’t get yourself killed.”
“Alright, its time. Logan, open that door. Everyone on guard. Spears drawn. Box truck two will be here by the time we are done.” I informed.
“Remember, kill every walking undead there is, then regroup at the cash register. We are wiping this store clean.” I concluded.
We all watched anxiously as Logan cut the lock and began to pry the door open. Our hearts were racing, our breathing was shallow. Though it didn’t happen often, we always expected a swarm of the undead to file out of every freshly opened door. It was the only way to be prepared for whatever would come through that door.
We watched as the door came open and we waited to hear the snarling of the undead. There was silence.
“This may be a little easier than we thought.” Logan said.
“Don’t ever say that. That is when the surprise comes out.” I said.
“You are letting your guard down Logan. Big mistake.” Alex added.
No sooner had the words come from Alex’s mouth; a zombie reached out and grabbed Logan by the chest of his clothes.
“MOVE IN!” Randy shouted, not even realizing he had given the order. Considering I was about to give the same order, I over looked it. We watched as Logan struggled to free himself, but was pulled into the store.
My team and I quickly followed. Even though we knew that saving Logan would be impossible. He was definitely scratched from the assault. We would have to deal with that later. As we entered the stock room of the store, we found five of the undead waiting for us. I quickly looked for Logan. He was there standing with a zombie hanging from his homemade spear.
“Good job Logan. Let’s keep going.” I called out.
“Were you bitten or scratched?” Randy asked.
“We will worry about that later.” I added.
Alex and I went to the left where three of the five undead made their way toward us. I took a swing at the legs, knocking the walker off of its feet. Alex followed with one quick thrust of his spear to the walker’s head, piercing the soft tissue, and penetrating the skull of the walker. I noticed then that the undead had become easier to kill for the second time. They were literally decaying as dead bodies were supposed to do. That could be good news for those of us who survived the accident.
Even during all of the commotion, my mind took me back to that faithful day.
“Today, a military aircraft carrying a lethal viral weapon exploded over the Atlantic Ocean when in route to Afghanistan.” I remember hearing the words and seeing the terrifying pictures of the green gas on Fox 6 news. The gas didn’t fall to the earth, but consumed the air, continuously spreading farther and farther out. We were all urged to stay indoors, and that is exactly what we did. Alex, Tara, Tyler, Randy, and I took shelter in my little convenience store for eight days. That was how long it took for the chaos outside to fall silent.
For six of the eight days, we prepared all of the food and any other useful items for transport. We would need to take any and everything we could to survive. We packed every package of non-perishable food in the store and loaded it into the box truck. We took every case of water and soda, PowerAde was in good supply, as were chips and candy. We took every two liter drink, bag of sugar, gallon of water, and pack of Kool-Aid we had in the store. We took all of the Chef Boyardee and Ramen we had as well. Of course, we loaded every pack of cigarettes, rolling papers, cigarette lighters, and matches as well.
“Hey Mom, do we pack up the Jell-O and the pudding packs?” Tara asked.
“If it doesn’t have to be refrigerated, it comes with us. Tyler, go grab and load all of the shampoo, soap, toilet paper, and anything else like that. There is no reason why we should have to stink all the time.”
“Where are we going to take a bath?” Tara asked.
“In the creeks. It’s time for modesty to go out the window.”
“You have really thought of everything haven’t you little sis?” Alex asked as he loaded another box.
I made my way through the store, looking for anything else that could be used. I retrieved the brooms and mops from the cleaning closet. I brought them to the table beside the truck and began to remove the broom and mop heads from the handles.
“What the hell are you going to do with those?” Alex asked. I smiled at him before answering.
“Didn’t you just read my entire book two days ago Alex? “ I asked.
“Well yes, but you can’t expect me to remember everything.” he replied.
“I am going to use the handles to make spears to use as weapons. One shot to the head and those things are dead forever. All we have to do is sharpen the ends into points so they will do the job. I know Dad taught you this too.” I stated.
My idea worked better than I had ever thought it would. I couldn’t say how many times a broom or a mop handle had saved our asses. They were durable and easier to swing than a shovel or a garden hoe. They were light weight, but incredibly sharp. As time went on, and the bodies of the undead continued to rot, the easier killing with these weapons became. No doubt, these weapons were effective, and we used these weapons to clear out seventeen walking corpses from the store.
Once the battle was over, I had another issue to attend to, and this one wouldn’t be easy. I never enjoyed killing a member of my village. Each and every person that constructed that population was like family. Logan was a dear friend, and nothing I could do would prepare me for what I was sure I had to do next.
“Way to go everybody.” Alex said.
“We kicked zombie ass!” Randy stated. I watched as Logan and Toby shared a high five. Logan noticed the serious look on my face. He knew exactly what I was thinking. When he hung his head, I knew the answer to my unspoken question.
It seemed as though everyone around me could feel the tension of my aura. Silence filled the air. Not even the members of the second team spoke a word. I wasn’t sure when they had arrived.
“Logan, you know what has to be done. There is no way around it.” My voice was calm, yet empty. It had to be. I was forced by my position and this life to be emotionless. Logan hung his head again.
“I know. I will do it myself Amber. I wouldn’t want to put that on any of you.” I respected his wishes and dismissed him after I kissed his forehead.
Logan left us all standing in the lantern lit stock room as he entered the office of the store and closed the door. As if it were rehearsed, we all hung our heads in unison. It wasn’t often that we lost a member. We were always so careful. Logan made the sixth life that was lost, and raids had always been the cause. I hated raids. Oh how I wished they were few and far between.
We watched as Logan closed the door completely this time. We waited for the sound of the gun shot. We all knew that was how he would do it. It was fast and nearly painless. The minutes seemed to pass like hours. We all hung our heads as we waited. I looked around, noticing that I wasn’t the only one trying to hold back the tears. We had trained ourselves to be cold, but on can only mask humanity so much. BANG!
CHAPTER FOUR
Our hearts were broken for the loss of Logan, but we all knew that we still had a job to do. All of the clothing racks were on wheels, so it wasn’t difficult to roll each and every rack out the back door. We moved fast. It was no secret that we were drawing attention to ourselves with the noise we were making. We could see them outside
beating on the glass, longing to get inside to make meals of us. The act offended me, but I wasn’t about to put a bullet through the glass. Instead, I flipped them off and loaded a shopping cart full of shoes and boots.
“Damn Commander, how many pairs of shoes do you need?” Randy asked. I wasn’t sure if he was seriously asking, or trying to break the silence, but I went with serious.
“Like everything we take, it’s for everyone Randy. I am sure I am not the only one that needs new shoes.”
“Yeah, I need ‘em too Amber. Did you get a look at Alex’s boots? Those damn things can talk.”
“Can we please get back to work here Randy? We still have a Star Mart to raid.” I informed. Randy hung his head as if he was disappointed in himself and went back to work.
I looked around the store for anything else we could possibly need.
“Hey team, take all the back packs, purses, tote bags, and anything with straps. Pull the pegs from the peg boards as well. They can be used to make weapons good enough to kill those bastards.” I informed.
“Oh this I’ve gotta see.” Alex said. I managed to smile in response.
I removed one of the pegs from the peg board and placed it in my hand. There was one of the dead undead laying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head. I secured the peg in my hand and knelt down to the body. I pulled back and with one swift blow, I stabbed right into the side of the creature’s head, forcing the peg to go all the way in. Alex looked at me. “It will work as a close range weapon for sure.” he said. I smiled, “And that is why I am the brains of this operation.” I replied.
Once the store was cleaned out front to back, I sent Karen and Randy back with the truck.
“Make sure you grab that gas tanker on your way out. Randy, stay close to Karen. Don’t forget to blow your horn and draw those things away from us.” I instructed.
“You got it Amber. You sure you don’t need me here?” Randy asked.
“Get back to the village and watch my kids Randy. That will help me more.” I said as I kissed his cheek.
The Fall: The Apocalypse Diaries Page 2
