He lowers the gun, placing it in his back pocket once more. I reach into the side pocket of my pack and pull out my bayonet knife. I looked over to Queso and motioned for him to tell me the zombie’s position. He quickly leans over, takes a brief glance then jolts his head back around. He signals to me that the zombie is facing the stove. I steadily lifted myself off the wall and to a crouching position. I gradually rounded the corner confirming what my brother said was true. His back was to me as he almost playfully kept beating at the stove. I had to kill it before the noise attracts any others. Quietly I stood up with intent behind every movement. I began to make my way down the hall quickly and precisely placing one foot in front of the other. My knife drawn and ready, nerves steeled and my resolve unyielding I continued to close the space between us. I was literally only a few inches from it. I rose up slightly, slowed my breathing and plunged my knife into the back of this fucker’s head. It put up no resistance, the body just hung on my blade like a worm on a fishing hook. Wherever I moved my arm the body followed for a moment. It felt similar to seeing a puppet show back when I was a kid except now I’m the one controlling the strings and this thing is the puppet. After I get my laughs and jollies I yank my knife out of my zombie friend’s cranium. And tell the others it’s safe to come out. Queso runs to me at full speed giving me the biggest and tightest hug he is capable of and right off the bat he asserts, “You looked like such a badass back there!! Shit was so dope!” At this point I was trying to calm him down before he started bouncing off the walls. I see Raye and Nugs sheepishly creep their way into the kitchen. Both of them stopped and looked over my shoulder to see the body laying on the floor. Raye sighs a breath of relief muttering, “Thank God!” Nugs places her hands over her chest and takes a shaky deep breath. My blood started to boil. I could feel myself reaching the point of no return. I stepped close to Raye and spat, “What the hell would you have done if I wasn’t here, huh!?” Raye couldn’t answer me, she couldn’t even look me in the eye. She knew she fucked up and that no bullshit excuse would make it better or undo what she did. I barked, “You sitting up here thanking God when didn’t even lift a finger. While you and Nugs are cozying up in the corner not doing a damn thing!” Nugs hung her head in shame. She acknowledged her fear to control and got the better of her. I was getting ready to lay into those two some more when Queso grabbed me by the shoulder and said, “Enough.” I shrugged his hand off my shoulder and spun around to face him, “How can you just tell me to let this go?” I clamored. Honestly I was seething at this point I had started to see red. Queso rebutted, “If you’re going to be pissed at them then you gotta be pissed at me too.” He explained to me that he was the first one to see the zombie come into the kitchen and when Raye and Nugs came up the stairs behind him. Queso ushered them to the ground and told them to be quiet. He made Raye and Nugs cuddle up together in the corner while he took point at the wall. But he couldn’t figure out what to do. He had so many thoughts in his head that it overwhelmed him. He had too many variables to consider too many ways things could have gone wrong and because he kept focusing on what could go wrong he stopped himself from acting at all he froze. After hearing him explain the pressure felt in the moment I couldn’t help but feel empathy but you can’t just sit around and wait hoping that someone else will save you and clean up the mess. At this point I was less frustrated and more tired if anything. I let my anger subside and pull my brother in for another hug. He starts to cry into my shirt, tearfully whispering, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Over and over again I gently shush him as we rock back and forth. He pulls away, wiping his eyes on his shirt and taking a couple of deep breaths. I look around the room at Raye, Nugs and Queso and I ask, “Are we cool?” They stare back and forth at each other and Nugs replies, “Why wouldn’t we be?” I giggle slightly to myself and I just remind myself how happy I am that everyone survived our first zombie encounter but now comes the reality of dealing with surviving you have to constantly keep doing it. I take a few minutes to gather my words before speaking as I begin to address the group. They can see it on my face that I don’t have anything positive to say so they brace themselves for the worst. With a grim tone I expressed, “Well at this point it goes without saying that this place is compromised.” Everyone stood around stretching their heads not sure what to say. I announced that, “We need to load up the car and make our way to the bus depot.” Queso and Nugs have any objections if they both offered to take one last look in the basement to make sure we didn’t forget anything useful. Raye leaned her back on the refrigerator and started twirling her fingers through her hair. She kept muttering something to herself repeatedly. I called out to her to grab her attention but she didn’t acknowledge me she kept whispering like she was in a trance. Finally I had enough and shook her yelling, “Raye, the hell is wrong with you!?” She looked at me almost as if she was seeing for the first time her breathing was shaken. She trembled as sweat dripped from her brow. With a small amount of force Raye pushed me away. She glared at me in desperation and professed, “What if I can’t make it out there!? You already saw how I responded when one got into the house. How could I possibly survive against more!?” I stood there silent because I honestly did not know how to respond to her questions. Some few minutes go by and no words have exchanged between us. I overhear Queso and Nugs coming back up upstairs and into the kitchen. Raye hysterically starts to scream, “Why don’t you have some smart-ass remark to make!?!” I know you have something to say!” Queso and Nugs stopped in their tracks staring at both of us. I could see he was carrying a small box. In a low voice he murmured, “W-W-We found some small extra things to take with us.” I smiled at him and nodded then motioned my head for him and Nugs to take it to the garage. They hurried past Raye and I through the back door with Nugs taking one final look back. I sighed and stared at Raye looking her up and down. I slowly began to speak, “I don’t know what it is you need to hear right now. But I know for damn sure I will not have you clinging to me because you can’t find the will to survive.” Raye looked taken aback by how harsh I was like she didn’t expect me to go there. But at this point she needed to hear the truth and as her best friend I felt like I was qualified to tell her that. So I continued to speak, “If you think you won’t make it out there then I suggest you toss me the car keys then lay down on this kitchen floor and wait for the zombies to come tear you ass to pieces!” I could hear her start to whimper and she slowly put her hand into her front pocket and pulled out her keys. She motioned to toss them to me but then yelled, “Sike!!! The only person that’s gonna drive my car is me.”she chortles. I start to get red in the face and walk over and punch her in the arm. I ask, “Are you done with this melodramatic shit now, can we please leave now?” She laughs, “Yes we can leave now, but for what it’s worth you are a terrible motivational speaker.” I punch her again and whisper, “Fuck you bro!” We both walk out the back door through the yard to the garage. We enter and see Nugs sitting on the hood of the car while Queso is leaning against the trunk. Raye presses the button to unlock the car and beep startles Queso he hops up and faces the door saying, “You two lovebirds make up.” Followed by an excessive amount of kissing sounds. We both rolled our eyes, not paying him any attention. He lifts up the trunk placing the box inside. He walks around to the front and yells, “I call shotgun!!” he pushes past me and jumps into the front passenger seat. But Nugs looking a bit concerned hops down from the hood of the car and asks, “Should we really be leaving right now, it’s super late and none of us have gotten any sleep.” I stated, “we can’t risk staying here if one of those things got in how much before we’re overrun with more. It’s best to leave while the option is still available.” Nugs couldn’t find a reason to argue with my logic so she unloaded her pack and filed into the back seat. I got in the back with Nugs since Queso claimed the front passenger seat. Raye was the one to get into the car once she was inside she closed her door and locked all of ours. Raye looked back at me and aske
d, “Where are we heading?” I took out the map and showed her the route to take. I explained it would take us a few hours to get there since we were avoiding the main roads. Raye started up the car and Queso pressed the button on the garage door opener. Once the door was all the way up Raye pulled out cautiously so she could survey our immediate surroundings. We all turned our heads gazing wildly. We had the all clear so Raye drove to the end of the alley slowly. As we approached the end Queso said, “I see something up ahead.” Raye turned off her high beams and let the car roll to a smooth stop. Queso lowered his window and stuck his head out ever so slightly to get a better look. I lean forward in my seat and whisper, “What do you see?” Queso leaned his head forward a little more and exclaimed, “Oh shit!” We all were curious as to what the hell he sees but he brings his head back inside and lowers his window. He adjusts himself to face Nugs and I in the back seat Queso says, “Bro, I see Tito.” I look at him and yell, “Who the fuck is Tito? Queso looks at me like I was joking around but then starts to elaborate, “Tito was the crackhead we always saw standing curled over at the bus stop everyday.” It still wasn’t ringing any bells for me at this point. Then Queso chuckles and says, “The guy you said he weeble and they wobbles but he don't fall down.” After he said I remembered immediately and started laughing my ass off cause the guy looked so cracked out that he wanted to hit the ground but his body never did. That shit used to amaze the hell out of me. A part of me felt bad that he got turned into a zombie but he was kinda already with how much crack he had in his system on the daily. The outside just matches the inside now. Raye looked at me like, “So what do you want me to do?” Without any hesitation I tell her, “Man run that motherfucker so we can get out of here.” Queso looked back and told me, “That’s fucked up. Don’t you have respect for the dead?” I scoffed at him, “Not when they don’t have respect for the living.” Raye told us, “Put on your seatbelts.” As she started up the car pressed down hard on the gas and before I was even buckled in started flying through the alley we came up on Tito and he smacked into the grille of the car. We can hear his body crunching underneath the tires. The car starts to shake and jostle back and forth. The sound makes us all cringe a little bit but once we finished riding over him I looked back to see if we had killed him. His body laid there mangled and still for a few seconds I could see his head bob around and his neck strain to try to move around but all he could manage to do was to smack his head into the pavement. As we continued to drive away his figure grew smaller and smaller until he was completely out of sight. I turned back around in my seat. I leaned my head against the window staring out at my ravaged and decaying neighborhood. It almost seemed like a completely different world than the one I knew. Homes and shops were in complete shambles; everything just looked devoid of color. As we drove through the area I couldn't see a single living person. It started to feel like we were the only ones left in the world. At one point I saw some people come out of a liquor store for a moment. I took them for survivors like us. But as they shuffled closer to the car I got a closer look at their faces. Their eyes were black and sullen, completely sunken into their skulls. Their skin was disgusting. The only thing I could compare it to a body that you find floating in a river. The color just completely drained out of it. The sound from the car drew many of the undead in the area to it. At least this confirms they are attracted to noise. And from what I could tell they don't appear to be that fast. But after a few moments things kinda started to blur together I gradually shut my eyes, which were heavy with sleep. I sporadically drift in and out of sleep. I kept opening my eyes periodically because it got uncomfortable resting my head against the window. When I finally awoke for good I found myself glancing at the scenery. From the looks of things I wagered that we were about an hour out from the city at this point. Sprawling green pastures and cornfields as far as the eye could see. Out here time seemed to move a lot slower than in the city. But I can’t seem to make out any hint of infection unless assholes are hiding in the grass on some children of corn type shit. I sat up in my seat and stretched a little bit. Queso stared at me in the rearview mirror in a lyrical manner and exclaimed, “Morning sleeping beauty!!” I waved at him in the mirror. I was still a little groggy and didn’t feel like speaking just yet. Without warning I feel Raye slam down on the brakes bringing us to a hard stop. I heard Nugs hit her head on the window and barked, “Oww, that shit hurt!” as she started checking to make sure she wasn’t bleeding. I reached forward, grabbed the back of Queso’s seat and asked, “Why are we stopping?” Raye was bouncing up and down while tapping her feet on the floor of the car she screeched, “I have to piss so bad.” Before I could get in a word edgewise she had already taken off her seatbelt and dashed out of the car. I ordered Queso to follow after her. He took his gun out of the glove compartment and chased after her. I yelled out of my window, “Don’t go too far from the car!” Well, since those two are gone I figured I might as well get out and stretch my legs. So I hop out of the car and so does Nugs both walk to the front of the car and study our surroundings. Nugs looks over at me and says, “I hope she doesn’t take too long. I don’t like being out in the open.” I nodded in agreement. But I took the time to bask in the sun and take in some of that fresh country air. As I stood in the sun I guess Nugs was getting anxious. She opened the back door of the car and grabbed her hatchet out of her pack. A few more minutes went past as we both waited sitting on the hood of the car. I started to hear rustling coming from the tall grass. I looked over and yelled , “What took you two so long?” There was no response back. I called out once more, “You better say something if you don’t want this bullet in the ass!” I drew my gun and jumped down from the hood of the car. I signaled to Nugs to crouch down and take cover on the side of the car. I stepped forward a couple of inches standing my ground. The rustling continued for a few moments then immediately stopped. But I didn’t lower the gun, I kept it ready just in case. I kept my eyes open gazing back and forth. Then I see this lanky shuffling bastard come out of the grass. Part of his jaw was missing as well as a few fingers on the right hand. He continued to limp forward it’s left leg was broken and barely hanging on by a thread. For a second I thought he was about to break out into the Michael Jackson Thriller dance the way he kept fucking twitching and spazzing. Before I could line up my shot. I hear footsteps from my right. I glance over and see Nugs crazy ass waving the hatchet around screaming at the top of her lungs. She runs straight at him and smacks his ass in the face with the hatchet like full on bitch slap. I flinch a little bit and look down at him like, “Damn.” But Nugs wasn’t done with his ass she started stomping on his face she kept yelling, “Take that fucking, pendejo!!” The more I kept watching the more I felt bad for the zombie. Once she took her boot off his face I could hear it make these moist gurgling noises like it was trying to speak. In a fit of rage she started hacking him in the face screaming and grunting like a wild animal. I walked over to her and shouted, “You good homie?” But Nugs just kept hacking away so then I got behind her and physically dragged her away. She stood up looking around in a daze. I patted her on the shoulder and she jumped at my touch and spun around with her hatchet in the air. I shrieked, “Don’t hurt me!” I threw my hands in the air and recoiled. She put the hatchet down by her side and started leaping around. She exclaimed, “Did you see me beat the shit out of that thing!” I lower my arms and walk over to her cautiously. She had a huge smile sewn across her face. Nugs looked like a little kid that just learned how to ride a bike for the first time. She was still coming down from her killer’s high and was just bouncing off the walls. Suddenly I see Queso and Raye come stumbling out of the grass bickering with each other. Nugs and I walk towards them shouting, “Where the hell did y’all go? Raye looked over at us saying, “This idiot got us lost in the grass. Before Queso could defend himself I stared at the both of them. And said, “Bro can we get the fuck out of here already?” Queso folded his arms and scoffed at me, “What crawled up your ass?” I
pointed over to the dead body and Nugs taking a selfie with it. Raye looked confused and replied, “Ummmm…..the hell happened here? I told her while we were waiting for them to come back. I heard rustling in the grass. At first I thought it was you and Queso. But a shuffler came out of the grass and before I could shoot it Nugs went all Rambo on it with a hatchet and shit. Then you two show up out of the blue. Queso ran over and high-fived Nugs congratulating her on “Popping her cherry.” I told Raye to give me the keys and I’ll drive the rest of the way. She tossed me the keys and I hopped into the driver’s seat. Raye called dibs on the front passenger seat meaning Queso and Nugs were in the backseat. Once everybody settled in I locked the doors. I started up the car and got us back on the road. I told Raye to hand me the map so I could check how far we still had to go. I pressed down on the gas and started speeding off. Raye in a stern tone of voice said, “You better not fuck up my car.” I peered over and smiled at her and continued to speed down the road. I looked in the mirror and could see Queso knocked out in the back drool and everything on the side of his mouth. While Nugs was over on the side polishing her hatchet. Raye was leaning on her arm resting her head. I could hear the faint sound of snoring. I guess after yesterday they both needed some rest. Now that I think about it, everything went belly up about two days ago. But that’s crazy it only took two days for the world to turn to shit. I feel like that should be some kind of world record. I continued down the road taking in some more of the sights. One thing was bothering me though I haven’t seen any animals out in the pastures. I wonder how the infection affected wildlife does it cause them to mutate or does it kill them soon after they get it. Cause you got the game fucked up thinking I’m fighting zombie cows. I feel like we should have more infected roaming around then what we’ve been seeing but there are still too many unknowns. We don’t know where this shit came from or how many people had gotten infected before the media got wind of it. I don’t know which way to tackle this puzzle just one piece at a time I suppose. As I continue pondering life’s great mysteries I see a sign that says Uncle Nick’s Bus Depot three miles ahead. On my left I see a small dirt path being covered by some vegetation. I take a sharp left steering of the road toward the path all bumping and shaking from going over the terrain immediately stirred Raye and Queso. His dramatic ass started shouting, “Oh lord she decided to end it all and take us with her!” And Raye didn’t make things better; she tried to open the door to do a tuck and roll out the car. Meanwhile Nugs is in the back going, “Weeeeee!!” as I try to steer through all the dirt and grass flying at the windshield. I manage to get us down the slope with as minimal damage as possible. I look around the car at everyone and yell, “We’re here at the point of no return!” I tell everyone to grab their packs and leave nothing vital in the car cause we won’t be back. The rest of the way we have to continue on foot. We all get out of the car and grab our packs. Queso walks to the trunk to grab some of the stuff he found in the basement. He pulls out a flare gun and some beef jerky for something extra to munch on. We take some pouches of jerky to add to our inventory. I let Queso keep the flare gun but told him, “Don’t mess around with it.” He nodded his head then gave me the military salute. Nugs had already started walking over to the path Queso and I followed a little ways behind her. Once we stood together at the entrance Nugs asked, “Where is Raye?” I pointed to her. She was standing by her car and looked like she was saying her final goodbyes. She bent down and hugged the side of it before she began walking over to where we were standing. Queso started laughing, “Did you just hug your car?” Raye felt no shame and responded, “You damn right I did that car was my baby.” She got a little teary eyed as she spoke. Nugs and I patted her on the shoulders showing our sympathies. While urging her forward along the path. Queso brought up the rear and whispered, “It’s just a fucking car.” I spin my head around and glare at him like, “Shut the hell up.” He looks off to the side avoiding my stares. Raye starts to cheer up a bit and even cracks a few jokes. It was good to see her get back to herself. Nugs was walking a bit ahead of me, looked back and asked, “How long will it take us to get to this place?” I run the numbers in my head before I reply. I tell Nugs that, “The bus depot is about three miles away to the west so it’ll take 45 to 55 minutes for us to get there if we don’t take any breaks.” I hear Queso give a disgruntled sigh he was already fed up and we just got started walking. At least we’ll get there before we lose daylight. I wouldn’t want to be out here once the sun goes down. We keep treading through the path and it starts to get steeper and wind more and more as we continue on. The trees surrounding us are so dense and mesmerizing I feel like I’m losing my sense of direction. I pause briefly and pull out my map and compass to make sure we haven’t diverted off the path. The compass shows we are heading in the right direction. I constantly find myself staring up into the trees. We haven't heard a single bird or chirping animal since we’ve been walking. A part of me starts to feel anxious because it's too quiet out here. Behind me Raye hollers, “Ohhhhh! My legs are on fire!!” Queso joins in yelling, “I’m not meant to do all this walking.” I laugh at both of them and exclaim, “We haven’t even been walking that long and y’all already tired?” I shook my head in shame. I hope we never have to worry about being chased. We ventured on for a while and I decided to give Raye and Queso some much needed rest. We all found some flat rocks nearby and hunkered down for a little bit. Raye grabbed one of her water jugs, opened the cap and took a gulp. I eyed Raye and reminded her not to drink up all her water in one sitting. She took another sip and obnoxiously remarked, “Yeah, yeah I know.” Queso on the other hand I could hear his stomach start talking. He pulled out one of the beef jerky pouches and before I knew it had stuffed all the jerky in his holding in his cheeks like a hamster. In exasperation I said, “Why are you eating like you ain’t got no sense?” He couldn’t respond to me because he was too busy trying to chew and swallow his food. I see his face start to turn red due to the amount of effort to chew. I shake my head and get up to check on Nugs. She was sitting a few feet away. So far she’s been a real trooper about everything and hasn't complained even once. But I Still want to make sure she doesn’t push herself too far. I walked up on a small hill to the tree where she was perched under resting and leaned against it. I peered down at her and gently asked, “How are you holding up?” She looked at me with a dopey child-like look on her face and replied, “Believe or not I’m having fun.” I scrunched up my face and sneered, “Sweating in the forest is fun?” Nugs chuckled a little bit while looking down at her hands. She said, “This reminds me of the hikes I use to go on with my dad.” She stood up and stretched her arms while remarking, “We would hike all the time in the summer. It was one of the few bonding experiences I had with him before he passed away.” I rubbed the side of her arm as a sign of me offering my condolences. Our moment was interrupted by the sound heavy footsteps approaching Queso stopped in his tracks with Raye close behind him both of them were out of breath. He tried to speak but the shortness of breath made it difficult for him to express himself properly. He took a deep breath in through his nose out the mouth. He did this a few times until his heart rate came down. Raye looked like she was about to keel over; it took her a bit longer to catch her breath. Queso looked frantic and just exploded into an uproar, “We need to leave now!” He looked bug-eyed and wild about the face. I stared at him confused but before I could ask questions Raye blurted out, “I saw a decent sized group of zombie shufflers.” My heart sank into my stomach as I was taken aback by what she said. Without thought I start walking back on the path. Everyone followed behind me trying to match my pace. I call back to Raye asking, “Where did you see the shufflers and how many?” She could hear the distress in my voice. Raye was soft spoken as she replied, “I went to pee in behind some bushes and I heard the sound of crunching leaves. It sounded far away so I didn’t pay much attention and figured it was an animal. But when I got done and stood up I heard some weird wailing sounds and th
en I noticed a large group of them so I ran back and told Queso.” I started to grow more worried by the second we can’t take on group of those fucking things. I told everyone we won’t be taking any more breaks until we reach the depot, especially because we don't know what direction those shufflers are headed in. I don’t to be waiting around and next thing I know we’re completely fucking surrounded. We hauled ass like crazy for what felt like hours but honestly it had only been a few minutes we were completely drained and morale started to wane. But every so often I glanced at the map and checked the compass. A good amount of time had passed. My legs were so numb from all the walking I didn’t know how much I could go but I tried not to dwell on the pain so far we hadn’t run into any of the shufflers Raye saw so I took that as a good sign. Nugs was ahead of me by a few feet and she yelled, “I see something!” Immediately Queso and Raye perked up. I couldn’t hide my excitement either. I ran to where Nugs was standing and in bright bold letters on a sign it read, “Uncle Nick’s Bus Depot.” Queso and Raye ran up on the side of me and he said, “Fucking finally!” in exasperation. He was about to collapse on the ground. I commented, “We can’t rest yet, we still need to find a way in.” He stared at me like he was ready to punch me in the face. He rose up and pitched a fit stomping his feet and cursing up a storm. Raye looked at and said, “I don’t see that group of shufflers from earlier.” Honestly I was happy we didn’t run into them yet either. After taking a moment to appreciate our efforts in getting this far we walked down the slope to the bus depot. Raye asked, “So what exactly are we looking for once we get there?” I kept walking forward and replied, “We’re looking for a bus in decent condition to take us on a cross country road trip.” A big smile appeared on her face and she replied, “I’m driving!” I laugh at her childish enthusiasm. It was nice to know that the zombie apocalypse hadn’t dampened her spirits. We came up to a large fence. I turned my head to the left then right and the fence just went on for miles in either direction so I assume it must go all the way around the facility. I yanked on the fence and it was sturdy. I mean it did not budge an inch. The fence reminded me of the bars that you normally see on jail cells. I inspected the top of it and there wasn’t any barbed wire which was surprising. But as I looked past the bars I couldn’t stop wondering about what was waiting for us inside how many infected must be roaming around. I shuddered at the thought but then remembered the task at hand. Nugs asked, “So what do you want to do?” I gazed at the fence, “The only thing we can do is climb it.” Once I said that Nugs took to the fence and started to climb up it like she was freaking Spider-Man. Once she made it to the top she swung her leg over and climbed down on the other side. She got to a certain point and just jumped down. I high fived her through the gate. Next one up was Queso. He had a fear of heights so it took him a bit longer because his ass needed words of encouragement otherwise he’d just hang there. When he finally made it to the top Nugs screamed, “Oh my god I see shufflers!” Raye and I looked behind us to see how far away they were and coming down the slope they were moving a bit faster than the ones we saw up to this point. Raye and I both started climbing up the fence together. Queso, who was still at the top of the fence, shouted, “They're getting closer!” I started to climb faster while Raye was struggling to keep pace. I screeched, “Come on, we don’t have time to rest!” She nodded at me and continued climbing I and finally made it to the top. Queso helped pull me up. But when I looked down Raye was barely more than half way. I made my way down and yelled, “You need to climb faster, they're going to crash the gate!” I pulled out my gun and told Nugs to grab hers. We picked off some of the shufflers that reached the gate while Raye climbed. It was beginning to get overwhelming there were too many to fucking shoot. But all of a sudden we heard Raye let out a bloodcurdling scream. A shuffler was pulling at her leg trying to drag her down. I tried to shoot it but my gun jammed and Nugs had just fired her last shot. Nugs dropped the gun and grabbed her hatchet and charged at the gate. She started hacking at the shuffler through the fence trying to get him to let go. I finally get my gun unjammed and get ready to take the shot but he falls to the ground before I have the chance to pull the trigger. I looked up and saw Queso holding his gun in his hand. He had taken the shot. Raye wiggles away and continues to climb up Queso offers her his hand and pulls her to the top. She swings her leg over and climbs down then Queso follows her down she jumps down and stumbles a little bit. Queso hops off the fence and walks over to us. Nugs grabs her gun out of the dirt and shakes it off, wiping the barrel on her sleeve. We all walked over to Raye to check on her.I kept staring at where the shuffler grabbed her and I asked, “Let me see your ankle.” Raye glared at me, she gritted her teeth and barked, “What?” I looked at her sternly and replied, “I need to make sure you haven’t been scratched or bitten.” She cocks her head to the side and says, “What if I have?” I lifted up my gun and pointed it at her saying, “Then I drop your ass right here.” Queso and Nugs began to protest trying to come to Raye’s defense. I started to get frustrated so I yelled, “If she’s infected she’ll turn and kill us all!” They both quieted down and moved aside. Raye reluctantly kneels down and rolls up her pant leg. I walked over and inspected her ankle. I didn’t find any bite marks or scratches. I stand back up and holster my gun. Everyone finally took a breath now that the moment had passed. I help Raye get to her feet and we begin to move away from the fence. I tell everyone we should be careful from here on in. We don't know how many shufflers are in the area. We need to be as quiet as possible. We need to see if we can find the garage where they keep buses to do maintenance. Once we get there we determine which one is in good condition so we can trick it out. Queso asked, “Should we split up to cover more ground?” I shook my head before speaking, “No we stay together no going off on your own.” That’s usually how people end up dying in the movies they either split up or something happens and they get separated. I remind everyone to stay vigilant and not to do any uncalled- for. We run up to a concrete barricade and couch down behind it. I popped my head up and took a look around but I wasn’t seeing any sign of shufflers. But as I analyzed the area this place looks completely fucking untouched I expected there to be busses flipped over part of the building up in flames like how you see it in the movies. But this isn’t like how I expected. It's too damn quiet. I don’t like walking into the unknown. Queso stuck his head up and glanced around pointedly, saying, “Look over there.” He shoots his arm out to the left, almost poking me in the damn eye. I scan around in the direction of his finger checking the area. It looked like a directory standing over there. I hopped over the barricade and made my way over to it and took my time and studied it. The directory showed that we were in the pick up and drop off area where passengers got on and off the busses and loaded/unloaded the luggage. From how the building was set up we could walk through the entrance on this side of the building. The directory shows a series of maintenance tunnels that go throughout the building, their color coded. I checked the legend to see which colors correspond to what tunnel. Nugs came up to me and said, “Where are we going? I'm tired of standing here.” After skimming back at the map once more I smirked, “We need to go to the mechanics service tunnel. The entrance is next to the souvenir shop.” I walked away from the directory over to the entrance with everybody following behind me. Once I made it to the door I carefully pulled it trying to avoid making too much noise but it didn't budge. Raye leans against the glass and remarks, “So how do you plan to get in now, big head?” in a mocking tone. I disregard her snarky attitude and try to work through a solution in my head while I stood on the side brooding. Raye kept leaning on the glass looking smug. At this point I was just giving myself a headache when I saw Nugs walk up the door and start beating on the glass with the blunt end of the hatchet. A few cracks start to appear, getting larger and expanding out to the edges before it just shatters and collapses to the ground. I stood in place for a moment. I was too frightened to move. I thought shufflers would appear in
droves at the sound of the glass breaking. At this point I’m beginning to wonder if our zombies are kind of more brain damaged than usual. I step through the opening carefully trying to avoid stepping on the glass. I made it through the entrance and signaled for the others to make their way through. I noticed how dark it was inside, almost like this vast and viscous sea of ink. The air was stale and heavy. It clung to me making it difficult to breathe.While everyone made their way awkwardly on this side. I took out my flashlight to get a better look at our surroundings. As I scanned around Queso almost fell on his face trying to leap inside. Nugs was completely over the whole being subtle thing and just walked straight on the glass with a devil-may care attitude. I couldn’t help but squirm at each step she took. I kept expecting something to pop out at us at any moment. But there was nothing, just an eerie stillness. Once everybody had made it through we got underway with trying to navigate through the bus terminal. Everyone took out their flashlights but the darkness seemed almost impenetrable. The inside of this place was completely disheveled, trash cans knocked over, tables flipped on their sides, left behind food on the ground and we noted several areas where there was glass on the floor. But I didn't see signs of major struggle until I heard Raye call out to us, "You guys I found something." Her voice sounded muffled and distant. I couldn't pinpoint where she was at first until I saw her walk out of a corridor to the right of us. She looked stricken as if she had seen a ghost. We run over to her but she doesn't look at us instead she turns and points her flash light down the hallway. I feel my stomach turn as I peer into the corridor, my hands shaky and heart pounding. My nose was hit by a distinctive odor, a rank and pungent smell mixed with a tinge of sickening sweetness like a rotting piece of meat with a couple drops of cheap perfume. I shined the light down the hallway. There were nothing but corpses lifeless on the floor, parents clutching their children's bodies curled up in anguish. The walls were stained a rusted red the blood had dried and started to chip and fade. It was a horrible sight with so much devastation. We walked away with our heads hanging down. Nugs tried to lighten the mood by saying, “I wonder if I can find some flamin’ hot Cheetos in one of the snack shops?” Raye looked at her and added, “Maybe I can find some baby wipes. Because shitting in the forest without toilet paper doesn’t sound appealing.” Queso and I started laughing. I chortled, “Y’all two are a mess!” We kept walking until we came across another directory I ran up to check we were still going the right way. Queso ran to pass me and shouted, “It’s a slushy machine!” He shined his light into the glass security doors. It was an abandoned Seven-Eleven. There were no lights except the ones coming from the slushy machine. I guess it was still going even after all this time. He kept pushing on the doors trying to find a way inside. Then he looked at Nugs and exclaimed, "Break the glass with the hatchet!" Nugs waved her hatchet in the air and started to charge the doors. Raye stepped in and grabbed her, stopping her from causing any more destruction. She struggled in Raye’s bear hug wailing, "You can't stop the will of the hatchet!" I sighed a breath of relief that she didn't make any more fucking noise. Queso looked at us like we had just taken a shit in his dinner. He was about to speak when we all heard a loud bang hit the glass. I pointed my light in Queso’s direction. He turned around to face the glass, moving away slowly. In my peripheral I see Raye let go of Nugs and put back on the ground. Nugs readied her hatchet and Raye reached for her Bowie knife. I walked closer to the glass. It was a shuffler peering at us from the other side. He had a name tag on him that said, "Joel." His eyes looked cloudy and forlorn; he was missing teeth and one of his ears was hanging on by a small piece of skin. His overall physical appearance resembled a dried out raisin. He pressed his hands and mouth against the glass like he was trying to gnaw his way through the glass. I put my flashlight down and started to walk away. Queso followed me at my side with Raye and Nugs behind me. Raye asked, "Will these tunnels get us to the garage?" I glanced back and replied, "Yeah from what the directory showed." We walked silently for a few minutes looking around the terminal. Nugs stopped and took notice of a knocked over snack stand. She approached the stand with caution then we heard her scream, "Oh my freaking god!" We all rush over thinking she had found a shuffler or another dead body. But she reached down and picked up several bags of flamin' hot Cheetos and stuffed them in her pack. I rolled my eyes at her and went back to walking from what I remember in the directory. We'll be approaching the Souvenir shop soon so maybe we can find some more items to scavenge. We were the heart of the terminal now the map showed the shop should be over to the far right. I kept wandering around until Queso pointed out saying, "I think that's it." I glance over and remark, "Yep this is it." I felt satisfied that we had made it to our destination. The security glass at the shop was completely destroyed. The lights were still on, this was honestly the only area where I could see without the need for the flashlight. I turned off the light and walked to the shop. Everyone followed behind me as I approached with discretion. I walked through the broken glass peering inside the store. Queso poked his head inside and stepped through gazing around. There were no shufflers in sight. Everyone took the opportunity to gather extra supplies and I even found a decent pair of binoculars worth taking. Raye was super giddy because she ended up finding some wet wipes. Without any hesitation she stuffed them in her pack. Queso was busy eyeing the liquor wall then suddenly yelled, "I found some Jack Daniels." He lifted it off the shelf and stuffed it in his pack. I stared at him and replied, "What are you going to do with that?" He walked over to me saying, "After all we have been through over the last few days figured we could use a stiff drink." I couldn’t argue with him on that front. I told him to grab a few more bottles. I could probably find another use for them. I walked over to the rack with jackets hanging on it that caught my eye. I grabbed a few and tossed one to Raye then Queso but I didn't see Nugs around. I walked to the edge of the store and saw her kneeling down in front of a gray door. I nearly lost my shit it’s the entrance to the mechanics area. I go to stand beside her and I ask, "Yo what's up?" She looks up with a smile and says, "Using some hair pins I found to get this door open." After a bit of trial and error Nugs is able to get the door unlocked. She rises to her feet and stands tall. I handed her one of the jackets I took off the rack. She examined the jacket and burst out, "Oooooo….it's pink! What are you planning to use them for?" I held my jacket in my hand feeling the texture and responded, "I figured we could modify them to make protection." She seemed really excited about the idea. Nugs stayed by the door while I rounded up Raye and Queso. By the looks of it they had finished all their looting. I told them Nugs had gotten the mechanic door open and was waiting for us over there. We met Nugs at the door when Queso tossed me a roll of duct tape. He said, “I figured you find some use for it.” I thanked him and stored it away in my pack. Nugs slowly started to push the door open. We all held our breath in anticipation of what we might find on the other side. The door creaked louder and louder as Nugs inched it forward little by little. Queso ruining the moment said, “Get this motherfucker some WD40!” Raye chuckled while I just shook my head at his stupid comment. The door was completely open. Nugs swiftly pulled her hand away. A rich dark dank smell with strong motor oil overtones waft through the air. We waited for a moment to see if we would hear any sort of movement or grunts and groans. But there was nothing, just stillness and the eerie feeling of the unknown. We entered the tunnel and were bombarded by a sea of dust. The tunnel wasn’t completely dark, the lights were dim and some were burned out. I took out my flashlight and we all proceeded inside, shutting the door behind us. We all had our weapons ready. I swept the flashlight back and forth scanning the floor and the walls. I hear the slow dripping of water coming from the pipes and the sound of our feet stomping through the puddles. Queso screamed, “Damn this shit stinks.” I stopped for a moment and listened, lowering my flashlight. Queso ended up walking into me not paying attention to where he was going. He stepped back and looked at me yelling, “Why yo
u stop?” I shush him while pointing forward whispering, “I hear something.” I took out my bayonet knife and moved to the left wall. Queso grabbed his spiked bat and stood on the opposite side. Raye and Nugs mirrored the same formation behind us. We all readied ourselves. I hear a low growl in the distance moving closer with each passing second. I see Queso start to sweat. I looked over at him and asked, “You ready?” he nodded in return. I lift up the flashlight and center it straight down the tunnel. We catch a glimpse of five shufflers all wearing gray overalls. I guess they used to be mechanics. They move closer to us, shortening the distance between us. I run at the shuffler to my right and kick him in the gut knocking it to the ground Queso runs to my left the shuffler in the knee caps forcing it to the ground. I take my knife and run it through the soft flesh under the shuffler's chin his body spasms and jerks then he stops. Queso raises his bat over head as his shuffler tries to stand up with broken legs. Queso swings the bat straight down, bashing it in the head repeatedly until it turns to jelly. Raye and Nugs move forward past us taking down the next two shufflers. Nugs takes her hatchet and hacks the shuffler in the face. Bits of flesh and blood start flying through the air. I think I even saw a few teeth hit the floor. The body fell to the floor limp and motionless. Raye was hesitant at first. I could tell she was overthinking but I wasn’t going to help her because she had to do it. Once she made up mind she charged at the shuffler stabbing it in the gut ruthlessly. The shuffler hunched over Raye, brought her arms over head and with the full force of her body lunged her blade through the back of the shuffler's head. But there was still one left and it tried to overtake Raye as she struggled to get her knife out the shuffler’s head. She started to panic when Nugs called out from behind, “Duck!” Raye hit the floor as Nugs’ hatchet spiraled overhead and hit the shuffler in the center of the face. It fell on it’s back as Nugs ran up and finished it off. Raye got up and rose to her feet yanking her knife from the zombie’s head. I walk up to Raye and we fist bump. I could see her trembling. She must have been scared but she did good. Queso walked up and congratulated her while went ahead to check on Nugs. She stood up and dusted off her pants. She looked at me and said, “That was fun.” I looked at her and responded, “You're tripping hella hard.” Part of me really underestimated Nugs. I didn’t think she would rise to the occasion but lately she’s been kicking ass. It's been amazing to see how well she has adapted. Once everyone collected themselves we got back on track and started making our way through the tunnel. Before we headed off Raye handed me a set of keys, “These fell off the shuffler I killed.” she explained. I examined the keys and some of them were lucky enough to be labeled. They might prove to come in handy later on. I clip them onto my pants and head out. We walk for a bit until we start to feel fresh air pouring in from ahead. We must be near the exit which was good news cause these tunnels started to feel smoldering and it was getting unbearable. We all rushed to the exit. The door was locked tight. I shined my flashlight at the keyhole to inspect it. It had a weird shape to it. I went to the key ring and started trying to see which key fit in the glass slipper. Meanwhile Queso is behind me, fanning himself and saying, “Can you be just a little bit faster?” I didn’t look away from the door. But I replied, “If you think you can do better be my fucking quest.” He shut the hell up and went back to fanning himself at this point I had made it to the last damn key on the ring. I put it in the lock and steadily turned the key. I can hear the tumbler turn and I try to push the door open. Rays of light shoot in through the crack in the door. I leaned on the door harder using all my weight to move the door. Queso saw I was struggling and got behind me and helped me push. I could feel the door shift forward slightly. We give one more large push and the door swings wide open. We step through the opening and out onto a landing I shut off my flashlight taking in my surroundings. I noticed a guardrail in front of me. I make my way over to the railing. And I take a glimpse down it appears to be the service area where they performed the maintenance on the buses. I see equipment strung about on the floor, large industrial lifts shooting from the floor. Some of the buses look like they had been in the process of being taken apart. Engines exposed and fluids leaking on to the ground. On the other side of the garage buses that haven’t been taken apart. I bet those are buses that have been serviced already. They all sit lined up along a ramp that looks like it might lead outside but I’m not sure. I didn't see any shufflers straggling about but speak and the devil will appear. I peered about and saw a set of stairs next to me leading down to the service area. I came upon the steps and tiptoed down making sure to land softly and securely trying not to make too much noise. I have my knife in hand as I take my time going down the stairs. I looked over the railing and checked the bottom of the stairs just to make sure nothing was out of place. I didn’t want to be taken by surprise. My knife was drawn and ready just for when shit pops off. I jumped down the last few steps and rounded the corner making sure it was clear. Raye and Nugs came down stairs silently, each step intentional and controlled. Queso followed behind with the same controlled motions. They all came rounding the bottom of the stairs, each one planting their feet firmly on the ground. We move forward towards what looks like a combination of offices and store rooms. We kept moving steady and focused. Nugs studied the buses that flanked us to the left ready with her trusty hatchet. Queso checked the supply closets to the right of us, opened the doors, scanned the inside then moved to the next one. When we came up to the main office I moved over to the glass window by the door and I surveyed the room. The lights looked like they had been ripped from the ceiling clinging by a thin wire. The desks were upturned and the papers were thrown about the floor. It looked like there was some kind of scuffle. I gestured to Queso who had his hand gripping the door pushing the door in as hard as possible making the knob crash into the wall. Nugs and Raye run into the room holding their flashlights scanning the room for any movement. As they were about to lower them there was a sharp crash coming from inside one of the lockers. The cage shook and rattled so intensely the door flung open a body out and onto the floor. The body convulsed and contorted violently on the thrashing with so much force. He started to develop these gross abscesses. I shouted through the glass, “He’s starting to change, kill him now!” Nugs ran over to the body and started chopping at its head making sure it wouldn’t spring back to life. Once she was done she noticed a door on the opposite wall Nugs signaled to me through the glass to come inside. I made my way into the office and took a moment to examine the body by the lockers. I poked at it with my foot but it didn’t move. I don’t know how long this person had been infected but it didn’t take long for a physical transformation to happen. It was horrific to see how easily someone can lose themselves in a matter of seconds is the worst fate I could imagine. I go to Nugs who is leaning by the door. I see Raye and Queso over by one of the desks scrounging around for items we could use. I unclip the keys from my belt and start going through them. I find a key labeled storeroom and put the key in the lock and turn it. The door swings open, Nugs and I are bombarded by hails of dust and the fumes from the gasoline and motor oil that stained the floor. I took out my flashlight and walked further in with Nugs behind me. I saw tools laid out on the floor and a huge pile of metal scrap laying in one of the corners. I even managed to dig up some welding equipment we could to outfit the bus. But in the midst of all my searching Nugs and I didn’t encounter any shufflers or remains. We gave the room another once over making sure we didn’t miss any details. Nugs and I left the room to rejoin Raye and Queso. They stood in the doorway of the office talking and goofing around. As we came out of the storeroom I yelled, “Hey!” Raye waved at us followed by Queso responding, “Sup’?” Raye looked at us and said, “You guys are covered in dirt.” Nugs and I didn’t even notice how dirty our clothes had gotten from looking around the storeroom. I ignored the fact that my clothes were gross and asked, “Did you guys find anything while looking around?” Queso and Raye looked at each-other then back at
me with two dumb smiles on their faces. Queso grabbed me by the hand and led me to what looked like a utility closet. He pushed the door aside and told me to, “Take a look inside.” I hesitantly walked inside. I was surprised that the lights were still working. I was expecting one of my brothers stupid pranks. But instead I saw a shower in the middle of the room. Queso interjected, “We found this emergency shower tucked away in here.” I stared at him and Raye about to burst their bubble when she stopped me saying, “Yes we already tested it, the water works but it’s cold as hell.” I didn’t have an issue with that as long as I could wash my ass, that's all I cared about. I saw a rack with some towels laying on it and a few bathroom stalls tucked away in the corner. I glanced back at Queso and Raye and stated, “Awesome job finding this.” They both looked smug and pleased with themselves at their efforts. We started walking back to the office when we saw Nugs sitting on the ground with her blanket and everything set up. I looked through the windows that were high on the wall and could see it was starting to get dark. Raye and Queso walked over to her and started pulling their blankets out too. I walked over to them and explained,“Hey, I know we’re all tired but we need to make sure to secure the entrances and exits to this place. We can’t afford to be careless now after getting this far.” Everyone groaned and lamented but they got up and we started securing the doors. Queso looked at me and said, “Is this another tenet of the infamous Survivor’s Commandments.” In a sarcastic tone. I glared back at him and responded, “You’re damn straight it is. Always make sure the place where you lay your head is safe.” In a sassy manner. He rolled his eyes at me and whispered under his breath, “Nerd.” I heard his insult and shoved him. We all got up and started making the rounds. I headed back upstairs to the landing where we first came in. I checked the door to see if it was locked. I yanked on the door with all my force and it wouldn’t move. I turned the handle and tried to open the door but it still didn’t budge. I felt better knowing the door was properly locked but I still wanted to prop something against it for extra security. I looked around to see if I could find something to put against the door. On the opposite side of the landing I see some large drums. I walk over and try to lift onto their side to roll them but the bastards are heavy. I yell downstairs to everyone, “Y’all come up here and help me!” I see them run over to the bottom of the steps and start hopping up the stairs and make their way over to me. Queso asks, “What’s the problem?” I smack the side of this stupid oil drum and reply, “I need help pushing it against the door.” Everyone gathers around the drum. It takes all of us to get it on it’s side once we get in on the floor. Everyone gets behind me and we roll the drum to the door, then prop it upright and slide it against the door. When we finished everyone was tired and a little sore from lifting the oil drum. We give each other a high five. We head down the stairs slowly and depleted trying not to expend any more energy. As I hit the bottom of the stairs and round the corner I asked Queso, "Did you guys secure the exits down here?" Queso looked down at me and gave a weak nod. In a more serious tone I asserted, "Are you sure?" I wasn’t in the mood for any half assed bullshit. Queso yelled, "Yes I'm sure, damn!" I didn't get offended at his outburst; he was probably just tired. We all just needed a good night's sleep and a shower. It was darker now inside the garage the sun had set but it wasn’t pitch black I could still see. We walked over to where Nugs set up her blanket. I could see more stuff laying on the ground than before. I looked down and asked, "What is this?" Nugs padded me on the shoulder and said, "We found a gas camping stove we can cook on." Raye added, "We found it in a closet they turned into a break room. We also found a few boxes of rice a roni." Nugs already had a pot on top of the burner filled with water waiting for it to boil. She told us to go wash up while the food gets ready. We let Queso have the first shower. I hear him scream out, "Oooooo...this shit is cold!" After a few minutes he comes out and tosses Raye a towel. She goes in after Queso I hear her cuss up a storm then moments later she steps out shivering. I could see icicles coming out of her nose. She hands me a fresh towel saying, "All yours homie." I go inside and strip down. I hang my towel on a pipe near the shower. I stepped under the shower reached up to grab the pull lever. I took a deep breath and yanked the lever. The water rained down on me and it felt like I was being cut all over my body. The feeling of pins poking and prodding me was unbearable. I let go of the lever and gasped for air. My lungs felt constricted and it was difficult to breathe. I moved away from the shower and grabbed my towel and patted myself dry. I walked over to my clothes that I piled on the floor and got dressed. I walked out of the room and rejoined the others. They all looked very somber. I was expecting them to crack jokes or make smart-ass comments. But no one had much energy at this point to do much of anything. I sat down in between Queso and Raye who both looked like they were half asleep. Nugs stirred the pot and stated, "You guys ready to eat?" We all nodded our heads eagerly. Nugs reached behind her and grabbed a paper plate and scooped a generous amount of food on it and handed it to Raye. Then repeated this pattern until we each had a plate in our hands. We took in the smell of the food before we slowly started to shovel it into our mouths with our hands. Next to me Queso is making loud chewing noises. He sounds like a horse. Raye ate a bit more cautiously; she looked like a bird having a meal. In the midst of our meal Nugs says, "Not bad for our third day of survival." I looked at her and laughed, Queso joined in followed by Raye. Once the laughter had died down Nugs asked, "What’s the goal for tomorrow?" I finish chewing my food before I open my mouth to speak. I replied, "See which one of those buses is operational. And use the welding equipment I saw in the storeroom along with that scrap metal and modify it." Nugs nodded her head and said, "Sounds like we have a busy day tomorrow." She was done eating and went to use the shower. While she was gone Queso, Raye and I went into our packs to get our blankets and laid them out on the ground to get ready for bed. Raye rolled herself into her blanket and was out in a matter of seconds snoring away. Queso started to drift off next I could see his chest rise and fall with each breath. I was beginning to doze off when Nugs came back from her shower. She walked over to her blanket and laid down. In a sleepy and hushed voice I whispered, "Goodnight." Nugs whispered back at me and we both drifted off to sleep. A sense of serenity washes over me. I feel my brains switch gears and I become enveloped in a quiet softness. The night passed and the world seemed to stop spinning. As I laid resting the sound of metal clunking and scraping caused me to stir. I jutted out of my sleep and gazed around. I see sparks flying off one of the buses. I hopped up from the floor and ran over to the bus at the front of the off ramp. As I run up the side of the bus I am greeted by Queso in a welder’s helmet and smock. He turns off the flame and lifts up the visor he waves at me and smiles saying, “Good Morning!” I wave back and mumble, “Good Morning.”
Apocalypse | Week One Page 3
