The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Buried Instincts

by Henson, Lynn

  Suddenly, Bree braked hard and her jeep drifted sideways. Blake yelped and turned the jeep away as he slammed on his brakes to avoid colliding with her. He needn’t have worried as she was already accelerating to the left on her new trajectory. What he was now worried about was the mass of zombies that were walking towards the left, completely blocking anyway forward. He had lost a lot of speed in his frantic attempt to avoid an imagined collision and now he was trying to get the jeep away from the zombies that were now just an arm’s length away. Tiffany screamed and moved away from her side of the jeep, bumping into Blake. He gritted his teeth and floored it, managing to put distance between them and the zombies. “Fuck,” he vented as he smoothed their path out. Tiffany relaxed and slid back over to her seat again. He looked forward again wondering how far ahead Bree had gotten, and what he saw made his blood run cold.

  They were driving alongside a large group of zombies that were heading directly towards the living quarters. Up ahead the second group of zombies that had blocked their path initially was moving towards the larger group and within a matter of seconds, their route back to the barracks was going to disappear. Bree had somehow managed to get through the gap already, but some zombies had already started to fill in the opening. “Hang on!” he yelled as he slammed his foot all the way down on the accelerator. The jeep charged forward and for a second, Blake thought they would make it through the gap unmolested, but the zombies saw the jeep coming and turned towards it. They clipped one of them on the right side of their car, spinning it away. Three more came out of nowhere and they slammed into them head-on. One of them crashed through the windshield and thrashed about in confusion. Blake looked in horror at the cut up zombie that lay in the center of their vehicle, and it managed to turn itself to face him and grab his arm. Before he could even scream, Tiffany brought her fist down on its head, caving it in with a wet crunching sound. She held her now gory hand up and started trying to shake it off. “Ewwwwww!” she complained. Blake shook his arm from the newly dead zombie and looked ahead to see a group of five zombies walking straight for them. He braked as much as he dared and tried to turn to avoid them, but the steering wheel was resisting him. He turned the jeep away from the group, but not enough to avoid all of them, and he hit two of them with the front left part of his vehicle. The impacts jarred the jeeps trajectory toward one of the ammo storage buildings. “Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit-” he said while trying to turn the uncooperative steering wheel to avoid it. He slammed on the brakes a moment later but crashed into the building. The impact would have launched him through the windshield but something grabbed his leg which caused him to land really hard on the hood. He looked back at his leg and Tiffany was hanging onto it. “Jesus fuck, I would’ve... thank you,” he managed as he tried to sit up. “Um... you can let go now.”

  “Sorry!” she let go immediately.

  “Ah! We’ve gotta move!” he remembered, scrambling off the hood and on to the ground.

  Tiffany joined him moments later and Blake took a second to assess the situation. This is bad. We’ve got a zombie army at our back, and several stragglers in front of us. “What about the soldiers Blake?” Tiffany asked.

  “Oh fuck, I completely forgot.” Now we’re really up shit creek. Do we leave them?

  A car came around one of the buildings ahead of them before he could say anything else and was heading right for them. I hope that’s the cavalry. “Grab one of them and let’s head for that car!” He walked to the back of the jeep but a zombie had become really interested in the soldiers and was reaching in at them. He grabbed it by the jacket and pulled down and back, managing to topple it to the ground. He turned to get one of the soldiers out of the jeep, but they were gone. He looked around in confusion and saw the back of Tiffany running towards the rapidly approaching vehicle, a soldier under each arm. He gaped for a few seconds until the nasty sounds of the closing undead spurred him after her.

  The vehicle, a jeep, stopped next to Tiffany who tossed the soldiers into the back like sacks of potatoes. She climbed in with them, leaving shotgun for him. The jeep moved forward to meet him and he was relieved to see Bree was their savior. “I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to see anyone,” he told her as he climbed in.

  “Ha,” she agreed, turning the jeep around and navigating away from the zombies.

  Much to everyone’s relief, they had gotten ahead of the main zombie hoard and the streets had cleared out. “We made it,” Tiffany relaxed and let herself smile. Just then, they heard a horn blaring from behind them, way off in the distance. Blake sighed, not wanting to look back, but did anyway. He could barely make out a pair of headlights flickering in and out of sight because of all the zombies that were walking in front of the vehicle.

  “It must be the pickup with the other people that were behind us,” Tiffany speculated.

  “Go back?” Bree guessed, sounding much like she didn’t think they should.

  “We should,” Blake empathized, “You came back for us.”

  “You’re like family,” Bree pointed out.

  “They might someday be as well,” Blake looked her in the eyes.

  She met his gaze, and then turned the jeep around, heading back towards the trapped vehicle.

  Driving towards the main body of zombies was increasingly difficult, but Bree was managing somehow. On the way, Blake picked up Bree’s rifle and readied it. As they got closer, they could see that the pickup had been completed surrounded. There was a small congregation of zombies on their knees next to the back rear of the pickup, and they were completely occupied by whatever they were feasting on. Guess they got plucked out of the back like ripe fruit. The horn has been blaring non-stop though, so how do we get the people out of the cab? They moved closer and saw the driver was slumped onto the steering wheel and completely immobile.

  “Fuck, is he dead?” Blake leaned forward, trying to see better.

  “I think so,” Tiffany said sadly, “I think that’s blood all over the back window.”

  “They should’ve kept up with us,” Blake covered his face with his hands.

  Bree turned the jeep around only grazing a couple of the zombies that had meandered over and took off in the direction of the barracks.

  fifty-three

  The depot was a flurry of chaotic activity.

  People were moving with a purpose that was on the brink of panic. Everywhere people were loading up vehicles, running in and out of the barracks with boxes of stuff. Bree pulled to a stop next to a family that had filled the back of their SUV to the ceiling. “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “You haven’t heard?” the mom answered, “The colonel’s ordered an evacuation! The military is flying out of here!”

  “Just the military?” Blake asked, leaning towards the driver’s side, “What about everyone else?”

  “We’re fucked,” the dad answered, his voice revealing the man’s anger.

  “This is an ammunition depot,” the mom explained, putting her hand on her husband’s shoulder, “They’re taking the few soldiers they have and they’re attempting to join up with another military unit.”

  “Then we aren’t we going with them?” Blake wanted to know.

  “Because they don’t know for sure if that unit is still there,” the mom sighed, “They haven’t heard anything in three days, but without better options, they’re just going to go check it out themselves. We’re welcome to go there by car, but the colonel made it clear that there were no guarantees of safety. He said if people had other ideas about where to go, then they should think carefully about it.”

  “What are you going to do?” Bree asked gently.

  “Most people want to follow the soldiers, so we’re doing the same. Safety in numbers,” the mom replied, looking down.

  “Thanks for the info,” Bree nodded.

  “The caravan is leaving in an hour,” the mom added, “If you’re coming with, be ready to go!”

  Bree drove away and everyone in the jeep was lost i
n thought.

  It wasn’t long before they found themselves back at the doctor’s office where they’d been taken to on their first night. It feels like so long ago. Bree parked carefully at the infirmary and Blake and Bree got out of the jeep. Tiffany had fallen asleep so he decided to let her nap for longer and went inside. No one was at the window inside so they proceeded deeper into the office in search of the doctor.

  They found the matronly Nurse Stodge busy filling plastic boxes with miscellaneous medical odds and ends. “Nurse?” Blake called politely.

  She looked up at them and the stress in her face was plain. “Can I help you?”

  “We have a couple of casualties. Where’s the doctor?” Blake reported quickly.

  “Where are the wounded?” she stopped what she was doing and walked towards them.

  “Out in the jeep,” Bree replied.

  “Is there a gurney?” Blake asked, “That’d be pretty useful.”

  “Follow me.” She led them down the hallway into a larger room filled with about ten beds complete with a variety of medical equipment. The doctor was in here as well, packing medical supplies into boxes. “Doctor Clemens?” Stodge called, “We have casualties.”

  “Alright, let’s go take a look,” he replied. Stodge gestured at the gurneys and Bree and Blake each got one. They followed after the elderly nurse down the hallway, the gurney wheels rattled a little with the back right one sporadically wobbling crazily. The doctor caught up to them holding a small bag in his hand. “So what can you tell me?” the doctor asked.

  “They just collapsed. I saw blisters on their faces,” he told him. “Um, and one of them took a bullet wound to the leg,” he added quietly.

  “Hmmm... blisters?” Clemens said to himself. “That’s odd, I haven’t heard of anything like that in relation to the epidemic.”

  They passed the bathroom and Bree suddenly parked her gurney next to the wall. “I’ll catch up,” she assured everyone as she entered the ladies room, pulling the door shut behind her.

  The rest of them quickly continued outside and Blake saw with the limited light that the soldiers in the back of the jeep were moving a little. His blood chilled when he heard the wet tearing sounds coming from the vehicle. The doctor jogged forward with obvious concern, while the nurse moved her gurney into a better position to get the soldiers out of the jeep.

  “W-wait... doc...” he stammered.

  The gunner sat up suddenly, turning to face the doctor who was reaching towards him. The gunner’s mouth was completely covered in blood, and he reached up suddenly grabbing the doctor who shrieked and immediately pulled back, trying to get away. The zombie held on and was trying to pull the doctor closer to his hissing, gaping mouth. Blake lunged forward and grabbed onto the zombie’s fingers, trying to pry them off the doctor’s sleeve. Tiffany stirred on the passenger seat, still oblivious to what was happening behind her. Nurse Stodge tried to reach them as well but in her rush, she tripped on her gurney and fell to the ground with an oof. Clemens started to panic, making unintelligible sounds as he continued to try to pull away from the zombified soldier. Blake was unable to get the soldier to release his grip from the doctor. He gave up and ran to the passenger side of the jeep and pulled the rifle from between Tiffany’s thighs. She woke up suddenly and back fisted him across the face which launched him into a backward slide across the pavement. He tried to stand and immediately regretted it when a wave of nausea pulsed through him and he threw up on himself. “Blake?” he heard Tiffany call out from the jeep. The doctor threw himself backward and fell to the ground, pulling the soldier on top of him. The soldier leaned towards the doctor’s face who shrieked again, managing to get his hand underneath its jaw and kept it at bay. Nurse Stodge got to her feet, picked up the doctor’s fallen bag and started swatting the soldier with it, old lady style. The soldier tried again to bite a chunk out of the doctor by turning his head to get around the palm, but the doctor continued to keep his hold on its chin. Suddenly the zombie let go of the doctor, who flopped to the floor and skittered backward frantically, grabbing Stodge’s arm as she was swinging the bag at the zombie’s head again. She tried twice to jerk it away, but the soldier had it firmly and took a huge bite out of the center of her forearm, the flesh tearing away and spraying blood all over both of them. Stodges face went white, futilely she tried to pull away from the zombie as she let out a terrified wail and started sobbing. Tiffany grabbed the zombie by the shoulders and jerked him backward furiously. Because the zombie’s fingers were dug deep into Stodge arm, the poor nurse and the zombie both stumbled back into Tiffany. She lost her balance and went down with the nurse and zombie falling on top of her. Stodge rolled around, wailing in pain and clutching at the ruin of her right arm. The zombie flailed about on his back, like a roach that had just taken a face full of bug spray while Tiffany struggled to orient herself. Blake got to his feet and looked desperately around for a weapon.

  The driver sat up in the back of the jeep, his chest stained with blood with strips of meat hanging grotesquely from his rib cage around the hole in his uniform. Tiffany got her leg in between herself and the gunner who was trying to twist around to face her. She gave him a good shove with her foot and launched it in an arc that smacked him into the side of a parked truck where he crumpled to the ground like a sack of dirty laundry. The driver rose to his feet and walked slowly forward towards Tiffany until he reached the edge of the jeep and fell out of it. Tiffany got to her feet and backed away from the driver who was slowly standing up. Blake looked warily at the zombies as he shuffled around looking for the missing assault rifle or anything else that might serve as a weapon. He ran over to the gurney and positioned himself behind it. He pointed the other end at the driver and charged forward. Sensing movement, the driver turned his head towards him as Blake slammed the gurney into him. The driver was unable to keep his balance and toppled to the ground, his hands flailing around. Blake continued to push the gurney and slid the driver back as far as he could before too much traction made it difficult to continue. He left it where it was and ran over to where Stodges was slumped into shocked inactivity and tried to help her to her feet. Tiffany ran over to her side as well and together they managed to get the old nurse to her feet and moving in the direction of the infirmary. As Tiffany struggled to open the door while trying to keep Stodge in an upright position, Blake looked back to see where the two soldiers were. The driver had managed to come to his feet and was moving determinedly in their direction. The gunner wasn’t far behind him, also shuffling towards them, his face a blistered, inhuman mess. Tiffany pushed the door open and pulled the now gibbering Nurse Stodge inside with her. Blake helped support the nurse but felt like his comrade was supporting the nurse’s full weight.

  They guided Stodge over to the nearest bed and lay her down on it. She was extremely sensitive at first because of her arm, but after they got her onto her back, a little of the tension dissipated from her and she tried to relax, though still clutching at her arm protectively. There was a smack at the door, and Blake turned to see one of the soldiers plastered up against the glass, hands rubbing ineffectively on the door. Seems like we’re ok for the moment. He turned and saw Tiffany going through one of the nearby drawers. “Come on! Help me find something.”

  Blake walked about uncertainly. I don’t really know much about first aid. Where would the bandages be? I guess some disinfectant would be helpful. He was about to open one of the adjoining tables when he heard movement in the corner of the room. Alarmed, he shifted to searching around for a weapon. Damn it. Where did that rifle go? Ugh. There was more noise and Tiffany looked back at him. “What was that?” she asked him. Blake grabbed a jar full of tongue depressors and warily approached the desk in the corner of the room. He held the jar out in front of him in a defensive stance and peeked around the desk. Doctor Clemens cringed at him from under the desk, face completely white. “Doc?” he asked, lowering the tongue depressors.

  “Oh. Hey... you,” Clemens rep
lied as he looked behind Blake.

  “Doc, you need to look at Nurse Stodge. She could really use your help,” Blake suggested. Clemens rose timidly, still looking around the room and gradually the color returned to his face. “Alright. Ok,” he said more to himself than to Blake. They walked over to where Stodge was lying down and Tiffany was furiously pulling out all sorts of hopefully useful medical supplies. A look at the tabletop showed that she’d found gauze, cotton balls, a jar of clear liquid, some individual packs of maybe antiseptic wipes, more tongue depressors, syringes still in their wrappers, and an assortment of medical scissors. Doctor Clemens took a look at the nurse’s arm and calmly walked a chair over to the side of the bed and sat down. He gently removed the nurse’s hand which had been protectively covering the wound and examined it closely. Years of experience calmed both doctor and nurse as Clemens settled into his role and began to dress the nurse’s arm. Tiffany let out a sigh of relief, sitting down on an adjacent bed, and watching tiredly at the doctor’s efforts.

  Blake looked over at the zombies pressed up against the glass door and wondered what to do about it. He walked up to the door to better see the soldier’s antics. The gunner was pressed up against the glass like some child prankster trying to make funny faces. The gunner reflexively bit at Blake, tongue coming out and licking the door. Blake laughed as the zombie flattened his eye against the glass and seemed to bite coyly at him. Someone smacked the back of his head, and Blake ducked reflexively. “It’s not funny,” Tiffany told him.