Infected: They Will Eat You!: A Story of Family Survival in a Zombie Apocalypse (13 page)

“Why daddy?” asked Caleb.

“I would rather not have them in my truck especially if we pack it up to leave. I don’t want any infected goo in it. Also, if someone see’s us driving around then sees it parked here they could know where we are.”

They all nodded.

I stood and moved to the side of the porch and looked between the houses then down the stairs to the sidewalk and east down the street to the end of the block. I worked my way back past the house on the other side of the street to the west end of the block. There were two infected to the north about a hundred yards away. I radioed to them, “There is a truck I saw the other day near Oakland and Elmira that I want to check out. I think you guys should come with me, over.”

“I thought we were just going to move these? over” Christine radioed back.

“This is all part of it. You guys can stay if you like, over”

“You didn’t say anything about walking around, over.”

“So you’re staying? Over”

“No…..we’ll come, over.”

“Then come on, out”

They slowly came down the stairs, Christine first holding her right arm out as if to keep Caleb and Jesse from passing her. It took a minute but they reached me.

“Remember, we have to be quiet, use hand signals, no yelling or squealing or gasping. I am the primary shooter, Caleb is second. We have the suppressors. Christine, Jesse, you start firing only if I yell fire! You will be loud and attract attention when shooting. We want to avoid that if we can. Everyone understand?”

They all nodded.

“Why are we on Cherry if the truck is on Elmira, shouldn’t we just go up Elmira.” Christine asked.

“I don’t want to take a direct rout up and back, gives away our position too easily just in case someone is watching, just a good habit to get into. Also, I want to make sure there are no big groups of them in the area. Make since?”

“Yeah, OK. I just don’t want my children to be exposed for too long.”

“We’re going in a line but staggered, me, Caleb, Jesse, Mommy. Caleb looks mainly right, Jesse mainly left, mommy watches behind. If we get separated we…..”

“Daddy, we know all of this, we’ve gone over it a thousand times.” Jesse said with exasperation.

“This is important. That behavior gets you or others killed and if that’s how you want to be all of you will go back now.”

“OK.” he said.

“This may seem boring but we all need to know it and do it without thinking. This is your first time out and our first time out together so we have no practice. We all have to be on the same page. Ready?”

They all nodded.

We moved up the street getting closer to the two infected. At fifty yards I put up my hand, stopped and motioned for them to stay. I slowly walked forward about twenty yards and dropped the infected just as they started to ‘awaken’ at my presence. I stood still scanning the area then motioned for the three to follow.

We moved forward as a group pausing at each intersection to check each direction. We saw a few but nothing within a danger zone.

When we reached Oakland we moved east a block to Elmira, the truck was in the front yard of a house with the driver’s door open. I hoped this meant the keys were still in it. I left them kneeling in the intersection while I scouted out the area around the truck.
“This is when in movies a guy would go directly to the truck and get in only to have a monster grab him from under the truck or in the truck or something and that would be the end of him. Not me, I’m checking it all out.”

The truck and area being clear I leaned in and found the keys then gave my family the thumbs up. I turned the key and it started purring quietly. I wheeled the truck around and everyone got in.

“Caleb, get in the bed and watch out.”

I drove slowly down Elmira, turned onto Glenwood and stopped next to the first dead infected. Getting out I told them to get into position, put on gloves and struggled to drag the infected into the bed of the truck. After finally getting it I said “I hate the idea but we need another plan. I can’t get all of these in here alone. I need help or we need something lower like a trailer.”

“I don’t want to drive around looking for a trailer.” said Christine, “Can I help you get them in?”

“You can try.”

The boys kept a look out as Christine and I worked our way down the street. Caleb would pull the truck forward because we didn’t want
zombie germs
on the steering wheel. He was eleven but I’d given him a few driving lessons on dirt roads and fields. He knew enough to get the truck moving and stopped.

By the time we’d gone down our block we were worn out and drenched with sweat.

“Let’s take these. How about the church up Market? That direction was clear yesterday, I didn’t go toward the hospital the other day and don’t want to go exploring new areas now.”

“Wherever you think is safest.” Christine said.

Caleb drove while Christine and Jesse rode in the truck. I walked in front about a half a block checking to make sure it was clear. We arrived without incident and I started pulling the bodies out of the truck bed laying them in a pile.

“We should have brought gas so we can burn them.” I said.

“Let’s just go home.” urged Christine.

“OK, I can do that later.”

We pulled the truck into a neighbor’s garage behind our house and went inside. Once we had put our gear away and gotten cleaned up we sat down for a late lunch.

“I’m starving!” said Jesse.

“So am I.” agreed Christine.

“So,” I started, “how are you guys?”

“Good.” the boys replied.

“Um, OK.” said Christine, “It was a bit scary but I can see what you meant earlier. It was quite shocking being out there and then seeing those two you shot. I didn’t like that.”

“Being out there with them or me shooting them?”

“Either.”

“I understand. It’s just the way it is right now.”

We ate and rested. Our trip had taken a lot out of us physically and mentally. It felt good to lay down that night. Sleep came easily for us all.

-——————————————

It was almost light when I woke up the next day. It felt good getting extra sleep. After a quick check outside and getting coffee I sat down to read. It was about an hour before the family started to stir. Christine sat down next to me but said nothing.

“I’m going over to the armory on Penn this morning then check out our neighborhood. I’d like to clear it out from Rural to Grampian, Market to Campbell. I’m going to stay away from the hospital for now. There could be a lot in there.”

“OK”

“Want to come?”

“I’m afraid for my children.”

“I know. Be protective, teach them but don’t be afraid.”

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Often when I’d tell her not to be afraid about something Christine would recite Philippians 4:6-7.

“Feel better?”

“Yes. I want to stay home today.”

“That’s fine. I can move faster alone. I’ll get ready and leave.”

The boys wanted to go but we quickly ended the argument. “This is a scouting mission.” I told them, “I need to move quickly and quietly because I haven’t been in this area before. If I have to start running and jumping over fences I don’t need to be helping you guys along. Understand?”

“Yeah.” they both said dejectedly.

“There will be plenty of times when you will go. There will be times when I need your help. Right now I need you to help by writing what we learned. List ideas on how we can do better. Help your mom and don’t fight with your brother.”

“OK.” they agreed.

It was already light and I was getting a later start that I wanted but that’s the way it was. Today I would head east on Sheridan to Franklin. This intersection was a house north of Ben’s house so I knew some of the area had been clear. It was a wide street through a residential area with a middle school to pass.

The trip started out normally, if shooting four infected in as many blocks is normal, until I reached the school. The four story rectangular building sat on a city block with the building taking up one half and a football practice field and large open area filling the other. There were five infected standing within view so I started moving and shooting. It wasn’t until after shooting the third that I realized most of these appeared to be younger, perhaps teenagers.

“
Kids, I’m shooting kids
.” I thought.

It took a moment for me to come back from that thought and finish the clearing the area. When I made it to Franklin I sat down on Ben’s porch and took a drink of water. Tears welled up in my eyes and I started weeping. Until now I had only seen, and shot, adults, mainly men, and had set my mind to accepting their danger and what needed to be done. But kids…..that took it out of me.

I took another sip of water and called home. “Hey, over”

“Hi daddy, over.” Jesse said.

“Hi bud, over.” it was hard to keep from bawling.

“How are you? over.”

“Great, I’m sitting on Ben’s porch drinking some water. I just wanted to say hi, over.”

“Hi daddy, over.” it was Caleb.

“Hey. What are you guys doing? over”

“Playing chess, mommy’s reading, over.”

“Good. I’m going to get going now. I’ll check in on schedule. Go to orange, OK, over.”

“Orange, OK, over.”

“I love you, out.”

“I love you too, out.”

“I love you daddy, out.” Jesse jumped in.

“I love you too. Give mommy a hug for me and tell her I love her, I’m out.”

I sat for another ten minutes or so then got started. I felt numb emotionally but angry.

“
Kids
.” It kept running though my head as I walked down the street. When I reached Penn Street I was a bit startled, I couldn’t remember even leaving the porch. Looking back I counted six infected lying along the street.

“
Focus
.” I told myself, “
You can’t be walking around there in a daze. This is just the way it is right now
.”

I could see the armory from the intersection, the eight foot fence surrounding the parking area in the rear was intact and the main gate open. There were, however, no vehicles. I knew chances were slim that I’d find the perfect ride parked waiting for me but I had hoped I’d find something. I’d have to look elsewhere. Perhaps those I saw downtown would be functional.

I wanted to check out the building to see if there were any weapons, ammo, food or other supplies we could use. It could also be a good place to hold up if needed. The front door was locked and looking through their glass I saw no movement and everything looked in place. Moving around to the back through the gate I put down three infected in uniform. There was a body lying in the back doorway, its legs preventing the door from completely closing.

“
I don’t like this
.” I thought and gently pulled the door open. I was met by an infected crimson eyes and hissing mouth just ten feet away. I raised my rifle with my right hand and started pulling the trigger as I let go of the door and staggered backward. I stopped firing and stood still steadying the rifle at the door with two trembling hands. Nothing came out.

I checked around to see if the commotion had awakened anything but saw nothing. “
If that thing hasn’t come out by now it’s not going to
.” I encouraged myself. Moving to my right I could see into the partially open door. It looked like something lying on top of the body in the doorway so I approached gun at the ready. As I got closer I could see the infected on the ground, the left side of his head was gone. One of my shots did the job.

Stepping over these two was going to take some courage. I put a round in the head of each just to make sure they would stay in place then stepped inside. The door closed resting on the body diminishing the light inside. Going in a building was a first for me and something I’d rather have help with but I was not going to bring my family.

The hall I was in was about thirty feet long and through the dim light I could see two doors on each side and a one at the end. All were closed. “
This is not something I want to do right now
.” I said to myself aloud and started to walk back outside.

The light was welcoming and the air much fresher. If there was anything of use in there it would have to wait. I was not ready for searching a darkened building. Instead I found a shady spot under a tree and sat down.

“Howdy, over.”

“Hi honey, over.”

“I’m at the armory….took a step in the back door and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end….I’m not going in there right now, over.”

“Oh, good. I didn’t like the idea of you going into a building alone, over.”

“I think I’ll go down Union then Franklin and follow the same rout I did the other day. I can see if it’s still clear, over.”

“OK, just be careful. I love you, over.”

“I love you too, out.”

Union Avenue teed at Penn Street right the front door of the armory. A dozen years ago we lived on Union. We had friends who lived there still. After walking three blocks and downing four infected I was standing staring at our old house. We brought Caleb home from the hospital here after being born. The people who bought the house from us kept the Sun yellow walls and Dr. Seuss border we put up in the spare bedroom we set up as a nursery. I thought about the time I spent landscaping the yard, and the neighbor’s yard.

“
Wow, this is tougher that I thought
.”

Walking on I followed the same rout as my first trip around town wanting to see if these things had filled the vacant areas. I didn’t understand where they all could be, or if there were a lot of them. It made since that there would be thousands, even if half the people left and half the people were dead there should be ten thousand or so living people or infected. I’d seen no living and the small number of infected could represent thousands but they would have to be spread thinly over the area. That could be a good thing.