Infected: They Will Eat You!: A Story of Family Survival in a Zombie Apocalypse (11 page)

At each cross street I could see one or two infected standing but there were never any large groups, not even the twenty-something we saw the first morning. If they were within fifty yards I’d put them down. Never did their falling to the ground attract much attention from others in the vicinity. The thought actually occurred to me that we may be able to clean up the neighborhood and make it safe.

Three blocks up I reached Oakland, Carl and Emma’s street. Making my way to their house I put down another infected. I recognized him as Carl and Emma’s neighbor, didn’t know his name though. An odd feeling came over me, this was someone I had met, probably spoken with, this was a
him
not an
it
. How would I feel if I had to shoot someone I actually liked.

I made my way to the back of the house and onto their deck. The door was unlocked so I opened it stepped in, closed the door and called out, “Carl…..Emma…”

I stood there in silence and called again. “Carl…..Emma…” Nothing. I was relieved. I took a quick look around downstairs then upstairs and found no one. “Good.” I said aloud.

Heading for the back door I took the radio and checked in. “Hey, you guys there?” Nothing. “You there?” Still nothing. “It helps if you turn the stupid thing on.” I told myself and clicked it on.

“Hey, you guys there?” I tried again.

“There you are, thank God!” Christine shouted.

“I forgot to turn it on.” I said.

“We’ve been worried because you haven’t answered.” she said.

“Yeah. I’m at Carl and Emma’s, there’s nothing here. No sign of them or anyone.” I informed her.

“That’s good isn’t it?” she asked.

“I guess. I saw three to five infected on each block coming up. Not a lot and none seemed to notice me.”

“That’s good. Are you coming back now?”

“No, I’m going up Grampian to Franklin like I planned.”

“I’d rather you come back, this is enough excitement for today.”

“I’m going to get this done. I’ll let you know when I get to Ben’s. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I put the radio earpiece in my ear and clipped it on my backpack strap. I couldn’t believe I had forgotten this earlier.

The next two blocks were the same as before, a few infected here and there and no sign of anyone else. Grampian was clear of infected but I passed three car wrecks and a lot of blood on the street.

By now there was full light out but thick cloud cover. As I made my way I couldn’t help think how easy this was. I didn’t expect hoards but I did expect to run into many more infected than I had. I turned down Franklin and knelt next to a large Pin Oak. Some of the trees in town were nearly a hundred years old, I wondered how they would fare with the changes coming.

From Grampian Franklin went slightly downhill for a couple hundred yards or so then flattened out. I could see about a mile down to Washington Boulevard. At that intersection was Lycoming Collage. It was summer so classes were out and the campus would be deserted…a good thing. If classes were in session the two collages in town would mean an increased population of 20,000 or so. We didn’t need that many more infected around.

There were two infected about 100 yards down the street, one in the middle of the street the other on the sidewalk to the west. I was far enough away from them that I decided to do an experiment. I took aim at the one in the street and put a round through his chest. He dropped like the others. The one on the sidewalk turned and started walking into the street toward the sound of the falling infected.
Phut
, the bullet hit him broadside in the chest but he didn’t go down rather staggered a moment then walked past the fallen one. My next shot hit him in the temple and he dropped.

I glanced around to make sure nothing was in my area then watched both through the scope. Neither moved.

I keyed the radio “Hey.”

“Hi daddy.” it was Jesse.

“How are you guys?” I asked.

“Mommy’s scared.” he answered.

“Let’s do a couple things, first when we’re done with what we’re saying say ‘over’ and when we’re done with a conversation and going to leave say ‘out’. OK…over”

“OK” there was a long pause. “Over.”

“Good. Also, let’s make a blue change. Do you understand? Over”

“Yes, over.”

“Do it now, over.”

We had set up a system of changing frequencies based on colors. Blue was to go down three from where we were.

“Check, check, over” I said.

“Hi daddy it’s Caleb.”

“Hey bud, let’s remember to say ‘over’ OK, over”

“OK, over. And we should have names for each other.”

“When you say over it means you are done with your point, over”

“Sorry, over”

“Good idea, you guys come up with names, over.”

“Here’s mommy, over.”

“Oh good you’re alive.” there was a pause, “They say I’m supposed to say over.” Another pause, “Over.”

“Yeah, that helps the other person know when to talk, over.”

“Oh, OK, over”

“I’m at Grampian and Franklin, over”

“Are you OK, over”

“Yeah, Grampian has car wrecks on it and blood but no infected. I can see about twenty infected between here and Washington, over”

“That sounds dangerous, over. Are you coming back?”

“When you say over it means it’s my turn to talk, over.”

“Sorry……………oh, over.”

“I shot one in the chest and he went down. Shot another broadside in the chest and he did not. Put him down with a headshot. Must have hit the first in the heart or something. Make a note, over.”

“The boys are writing it down, over.”

“I’m going to work my way down to Ben’s then to Tony and Lauren’s. So far it’s easier than expected, over.”

“Don’t get too comfortable, we need you home safe, over”

“I won’t, out”

“We love you, out.”

I stayed there another couple minutes looking through the binoculars for signs of life. I couldn’t see any movement through windows and no one was strolling the streets except the infected.

By the time I had gone the four blocks to Ben’s house I had put down eight infected. His car was gone and front door locked. I moved to the back and found the house tight. Jiggling the door handle must have made too much noise because from next door came a loud hissing screech. I looked up and the neighbor was stumbling over his yard decorations in a frenzy. He tumbled over his three food fence bounce up and came at me. Startled I pulled up my rifle and
phut
,
phut
two rounds went in his chest and he went to the ground. I put another in his head and he stopped moving.

This had caused enough noise to awaken others within earshot. I saw two coming on the other side of the neighbor’s yard and quickly put them down. The side of the house was clear so I made my way back to the street. One more was moving my way two houses down,
phut
. I crouched as I rounded the corner of the house, went on the porch and sat sown in a chair. I’d sat here a number of times drinking a beer with Ben. It was more peaceful now with no traffic.

I checked the magazine in the rifle. Two rounds left. I counted in my head “Twenty-two, I think.” I said aloud. Most infected I’d put down took only one shot. a couple two, the one in the back three. I’d put down twenty-two so far and was only half way done with my mission.

I took off my boonie and wiped the sweat from my face then just sat there. It felt odd. One more deep breath and I got up. I looked back up the street north, still clear. If the rest of the street is like that was…….I had a thought, perhaps a dangerous one but one I needed to check out. Looking south I counted six infected before my next turn to Tony’s and eleven more beyond that. Most of those were out of what I considered the danger zone. I walked down the porch steps and to the middle of the street and stood there quietly.

I was about a half block away from the closest one and it didn’t move. It was facing to the left so I brought my rifle up to my chest and took a step forward. I took another and stopped. After ten steps I was close enough to see a gash in its left cheek and a missing index finger on its left hand. At about thirty yards I drew my rifle up and gave out a low “Hey.”

It looked up gave that same hissing screech Ben’s neighbor had and started toward me in a stumbling run. One round to the chest put him down, another to the head made sure he’d stay.

“Double-tap.” I said.

The two next closest turned and started up the street slower than the other. They did not appear to be attracted by me but the commotion. I stood still ready to fire. They had nearly reached the infected I’d put down when they seemed to wake up recognizing my presence,
phut
,
phut
….
phut
……….
phut
…they hit the ground.

I looked around and none of the others were moving.

“Dangerous.” I thought, “Don’t get over confident. Still, very interesting.”

Continuing down the middle of the street I walked slowly stopping now and then to look around. The next two infected I put down with headshots at about thirty-five yards. The last one before my turn I got closer and shot just as it was turning toward me. Thirty yards is the range where they either hear or see me, or maybe smell me. I’d have to see if I could sneak up behind one and how close I could get. For now I headed to Tony and Lauren’s.

Once again nothing. No cars, locked doors. Maybe the family all went somewhere together, but we’d have heard about that if it were the case.

I walked down the street coming to Brandon Park and climbed a fence into a baseball field. Here the only thing that may cause me danger would be living bad guys so I sat in a dug out and took a drink of water.

It was early for a check-in but I made the call anyway.

“Kirk to Enterprise, Kirk to Enterprise, over.”

“Daddy?” a puzzled Caleb answered.

“How ‘bout an over….over”

“Daddy? over.”

“Yeah, over.”

“What did you say before? Over”

“A joke, you said we needed code names, over.”

“Oh, here’s mommy, over”

“Hi honey…………Oh I forget the over…..over.”

“Ben’s and Tony and Lauren’s are the same as Emma and Carl’s, locked up and cars gone, over”

“Well, that’s good, over.”

“I’ll make my way downtown now then back, over.”

“How are things? over.”

“Quiet. I have some interesting information. I’ll tell you when I get back, over”

“I love you, over.”

“I love you too, out.”

One more sip of water then I stood up and looked around the corner of the dugout then checked the other side. I pulled out the binoculars and scanned the houses along the parameter of the park. No sign of life. That made since, did I really expect someone to be peering out their window? If they were hiding they would not have their face pressed up against the glass or be waving.

I hopped the fence and started across the north side of the park. This was only six or eight blocks from home, close enough I wanted to check it and clear it out if necessary, if possible.

The infected were spread around the park which made it easy to move and shoot. Within five minutes I had made my way to the western end of the park dropping sixteen on the way, now to move east along the southern side. By the time I reached the ball fields again I had put down another twenty one, that was thirty seven in the park.

I sat in another dugout and took a couple drinks of water. I pulled out a pen and pad to jot down a few notes. It was actually peaceful sitting in the park on a summer morning, the sun had still not burned through the cloud cover. It could be nicer of course, I could not be drenched in sweat, I could be watching my kids play in the park instead of shooting zombies.

I shook my head to refocus my mind and stood up. “Two magazines down, one in my rifle, seven full ones left. Five full pistol mags. It’s eight fifteen, I have a check-in in fifteen minutes and should be home in an hour or so.” I said to myself, “Let’s get this done.”

I hopped the fence and headed south. My plan was to go a block down to Washington and check it out. This was a busy east-west boulevard with a mix of businesses and homes that lead to a retail section of town with strip malls and restaurants known as the Golden Strip. The western end teed into Market. I’d check out the Golden Strip another day, today I needed to head through the college campus down to Fourth Street which ran through the heart of town.

At Washington I detoured east a couple blocks to reach the top of a rise in the road. From here I could see about a mile in each direction. It was a mess. As quiet and peaceful the park and neighborhoods had been this area screamed chaos and death. Cars were smashed into other cars and telephone posts and buildings. I saw National Guard vehicles that looked charred. And huge areas of the ground were covered in dried blood.

To the west was far less disturbing, there were a few crashed cars and some blood on the street but nothing like in the other direction. Franklin seemed to be a line that the battle had not crossed. The question was who won and where were they?

I could see infected to the east, some in groups of ten or more. There was a gun shop that way I’d check out another day, right now it was more than I want to handle.

I downed fourteen more infected working through the college campus. Like the park much of it was open and movement was easy. When I reached Fourth Street things changed.

Fourth Street was a two lane one way that ran through the heart of town. Third Street was its counterpart with east bound traffic. They intersected Market, a major north south thoroughfare that crossed the river to the south and headed out of town through the hills to the north. My plan was to go down Fourth, cross Market, go six blocks then turn and head north toward home. Once I turned north I would quickly reach residential areas, the rest of my trip would be through less open spaces and much slower going.

I leaned against a stoplight post and looked around. Infected were in every direction, no large groups but enough in sight to make me wary, none were within fifty yards so I started looking at building windows through the binoculars. Many had blood smeared on them, most on the first and second floor were broken. Bullet holes were evidence that there had been a fight along the street. Before moving on I put the closest infected down both to the north and south then waited for a reaction from any further away. I didn’t want them flooding in behind me as I moved.