Infected: They Will Eat You!: A Story of Family Survival in a Zombie Apocalypse (8 page)

No such luck. I soon found more reports that the UK had been ravaged. People were being moved to Ireland which had not been infected yet. Violence was breaking out there because some did not want to risk the chance of the virus coming in with the refugees.

A map showed red areas here the plague existed. It was moving into Turkey and Georgia. It was already in Greece and moving around the Mediterranean. France and Germany had spots of red. The North African desert appeared to have it contained but it had moved south into Ethiopia and then west to Cameroon and now was spreading south.

India was nearly all red. It looked like a military map indicating troop movement and the red guys were winning.

South America had little read, small spots at Caracas and Rio.

Red radiated out from Mexico City but Central America was mostly void of the plague. In the U. S. the North Eastern coast from Virginia to New Hampshire was red. From Atlanta to Miami west to Mississippi was red for hundreds of miles around Chicago, Dallas, and Huston were red. All of California and up the west coast was red.

Canada was clean as was China and Japan.

The commentators on TV were saying that in the worst hit areas the plague spread at a rate of about ten kilometers every hour. The population density greatly affected the rate, of course. Lines of military had been set up in places to stop the spread but so far had only been able to slow its progress.

That was not good news for us. I got more coffee for me and a cup for Christine then woke her up.

“Hey, we need to make some plans.”

“OK, ooo coffee.” she took a sip, “I have to go pee-pee”

I sat and watched the TV changing channels to find new information. Many channels had people debating about who was to blame and what the repercussions should be. Some were focused on the U. S. and the spread here and what we should be doing.

“It’s getting worse and will continue to get even worse.” I started as Christine entered the room, “Everyone needs to know our plan.”

“What is our plan?” she asked.

“The roads are packed with people leaving the East Coast. Since we’re not at the head of the wave we are going to wait here until this wave of people have moved trough. When things have settled down we’ll head west.”

“Why west?”

“Fewer people.”

“Won’t all of the people leaving now mean more people?”

“They will thin out the further we go.”

“How far west are you talking about?”

“Montana, Wyoming, the northern plains….”

“Why not stay here or go north where we know someone. All of our friends are here.”

“So are millions of people, many, most, of which may be infected. Others could more interested in looting and killing than working together.”

“When are you thinking about leaving?”

“If it continues as it is…..it could stop ya know… if it’s a virus it may run its course and people get well, like the flu….if not I figure it would settle down enough in two weeks.”

“So we’ll stay here for two weeks then leave?”

“Yeah, by then we should know more of what is going on and all of the people who are leaving now will be far enough gone to not cause a huge problem.”

“Are you sure about this?”

I had asked myself this question many times over the past few days, the answer was always the same “Yes.” I said.

She sighed and took a sip of coffee. We sat and watched the events on TV for a while before waking the kids.

-——————————————

“West, he wants to head west.” I heard Christine say into her phone, “Do you want to go with us?”

She was talking to Lori, one of her close friends. Her family is one I would welcome into the plan so I kept my mouth shut.

The boys and I were watching TV and taking about contingency plans. The best case would be if this just ended. The worst case would be if we were surrounded by zombies and could not leave the house.

Yes, we had officially started calling them zombies. It dehumanized them and made it easier to think about shooting them. They didn’t look human, didn’t act human. They looked and acted like the zombies we had seen in many zombie movies. We were now to the point where we were watching scenes of zombie hoards confronting police and military and how they were being stopped, or not stopped in some cases.

The traditional
headshot
worked but so did a normal kill shot. These were not walking dead like most zombie movies show, these were virus infected, crazed people with beating hearts. They could be stopped like any human. Although it appeared that they could take more shots than normal, like a lunatic on PCP or something. It was good information to store.

“Lori and Vince are staying here.” said Christine as she walked into the living room, “Vince has boarded up their house and thinks they are safe out there. Can we go stay with them?”

“No.” I said, and paused, “No.” I shook my head.

“I can’t reach Jen. She hadn’t heard from Brad yesterday and was worried. I can’t get hold of my daddy or grandma. My mom says she is going to stay with Tom. Brian and Scott are home but they haven’t heard from Jean……” her voice trailed off as she looked down fingering her phone.

“The East Coast is without power,” I said, “so is most of the South East, Texas, Chicago and all along the West Coast. Not sure how long we will have power. Let whoever you want to know our plans. If they are out of town we’ll meet them where 74 and 54 intersect at Farmer City in Illinois 21 days from Wednesday. It’s Monday so in 23 days.”

“Where?”

“When……if things get worse we will hold out here for two weeks. Then we will head west. I figure it will take us a week to reach mid Illinois taking it slow and careful. Farmer City is a small town away from big cities. We will stay there for a day or two then move on. We can leave a note or radios or something to let friends know where we are. We’ll make up a code so bad guys won’t know.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t just stay….”

“I’m sure.”

I called my folks and let them know the rendezvous point and time. There were a number of large cities between Farmer City and us so it could be slow and dangerous travel but this was the plan. It was the right plan.

By three the plan had been passed on to the friends and family we could reach. Then the gunfire started outside. Sirens started and we knew things were not getting better.

I went upstairs to look out of a peep we’d made in a window board. I could see dark grey smoke to the south, toward downtown. A police car raced down our street but I could see nothing else. Nobody was out. Most of the cars that were usually parked up and down the street were gone.

Maybe we should have left already, I thought. No, this is the right thing. I had to have faith and stay the course.

Downstairs Christine was on the phone. There was no local information on the TV but she was getting updated from someone and repeating them.

“A gas station on South Side exploded. The beltway is backed up all the way from 80 in both directions. Eighty is at a standstill from the New York boarder to Ohio. So is 15 north and south. Every major road is jammed.

“Harrisburg has
them
and so does Danville and Lewisburg, the Scranton area…..”

She was talking to a friend whose husband had a police scanner and Ham Radio. The infection was coming our way, fast. Then the TV went black, her phone went dead and the lights went out.

“There went the power.” I said, “Now’s when we turn up our awareness. No big noise. We listen and are careful.”

“Why don’t we read for a while.” Christine suggested to the boys.

The next few hours were mostly quiet. There were sirens outside and the occasional gun shot. We could hear the helicopter come and go from the hospital which was only six blocks away.

By night fall there was no sound. A glow could be seen to the south, the gas station fire must have spread. There was light in the direction of the hospital. They had generators so that made since. Everywhere else was dark.

We had two wind-up travel clocks that Jesse had and set. Caleb got out three watches. He had gone through a watch phase where he loved watches. In a short time we were learning how dependent we had become on our electronics.

For the next few hours we read and played games by candle light and kept quiet. By eleven both boys were asleep, again on the floor of the living room. Christine snuggled up next to me on the couch. Sleep came shortly thereafter.

-——————————————

When I woke up it was dark. Then I remembered and turned on a camping light. It was six thirty. I went upstairs to take a look outside and saw nothing then went to the basement to test out the composting toilet we had set up and was happy with its operation. “A wise purchase.” I said aloud.

Upstairs I found Jesse in the kitchen. “I’m hungry.” he said.

“Well let’s fix some breakfast. What would you like?”

‘Bacon and eggs.”

“OK, it may not be the wisest thing to cook, the bacon smell and all, but let’s do it. We can use the camp stove.”

We got the stove set up and started the bacon and a pot of coffee. Shortly we had Christine then Caleb helping. After breakfast we cleaned up and went upstairs to peek outside. The east and west windows on the second floor were inaccessible from the ground so I had left two on each side uncovered. Sure, someone could get a long latter and climb up but we would know that. And if a threat did come we could easily board them up from the inside. For now our spare bedroom and master bedroom were the only rooms with natural light. At night we covered them with heavy dark cloth we had sown to fit so no light would show out. We were pretty well set and had a plan for everything we could think of.

Most of the day we spent reading, playing games, talking and planning. Based on what we had seen in other areas the next couple days would tell us how bad things would be around us. It was quiet now, either people had left and were stuck on the road somewhere or were holed up in their homes like we were. We would peak outside occasionally, only twice did we see a police car, once a National Guard hummer. That said to us that things were not too bad. Zombies didn’t drive so the town was being patrolled.

When it started to get dark we covered the windows and went to the living room. Candles and hurricane lamps were our main source of light, we were saving our batteries. It was past midnight when gunfire started. The boys were asleep, I had nodded off and Christine was reading. I jolted up and sat still. There it was again. Christine and I looked at each other. There were a few more shots then automatic fire. It was faint, coming from the southwest. I went upstairs to look out but saw only darkness.

The gunfire lasted less than ten minutes. We could hear random shots now and then for the next few hours. Then quiet.

-——————————————

As it started to get light the gunfire began again, closer. It was now south of us, downtown. A few minutes later I started hearing a voice like through a PA. Christine and the boys came upstairs and we all listened.

“It says ‘Stay in your homes.’ said Jesse.

“Yeah,” affirmed Caleb.

“That’s what we’re doin’ isn’t it.” I said.

“OH YEAH.” Jesse enthusiastically agreed.

A police car drove by, the one making the announcement closely followed by two more. I watched for a few more minutes and then joined my family in the bedroom. They were playing clue on the floor. I stood and watched for a while then went to my gun safe and started checking each weapon.

We had a nice assortment of rifles and hand guns, various caliber hunting rifles for the boys and I, an AR for each person in the family, a sweet bolt action 300 ACC Blackout that I had outfitted with a suppressor, using subsonic rounds it made virtually no noise. Then we had our five 12 gauge shotguns, two for hunting, two tactical and a Seiga along with a 20 gauge the boys used for hunting. Our handguns included an assortment of Ruger, Smith and Glock 9mm and 40 caliber and a couple .22’s and .380’s. We also had multiple cases of ammunition for each.

I started laying guns out with loaded magazines next to them. Christine looked up and let out a gasp. “Just a precaution.” I said.

I walked around the up and downstairs tucking guns under couches, in drawers and in centrally located places then took everyone around to show them. If someone was to try to get in we needed to be able to protect ourselves and needed to know where the weapons were located.

Caleb then showed everyone where he had placed knives, bats and clubs around the house. We were on the same page…that was a good thing.

Gunfire continued off and on throughout the morning then slacked off. We couldn’t tell who was shooting or at what but we assumed it was the police and National Guard doing at least some of it, they were patrolling so that meant they were still present.

Around Noon it started up again. At first it was sporadic then it escalated into what sounded like a full blown battle to the south. Then it faded from east to west until it was all quiet again. Then it erupted in the direction of the hospital. This was getting close!

Within thirty minutes it was done. There was no gunfire, no sirens.

-——————————————

It had been over two hours since the last gunfire. We hadn’t heard anything actually, hadn’t seen the police car or the National Guard go by. I was looking out the peep eating a sandwich when I saw someone walking up the street. He was coming from the west, the direction of the hospital and appeared to be limping. As he got closer I could see that he was wearing green scrubs like a nurse or doctor might, and he was covered in blood.

This was one!
I thought. His skin was pail and grey-bluish, his mouth and chin and shirt were red from blood. Even his hands dripped with blood. He walked without looking in any direction staring forward his face expressionless. Other than having a limp and being slightly hunched he walked normally. He passed the house and disappeared up the street.

I waited a few minutes before walking down the hall to get my family. I whispered telling them what I had seen “It’s even more important that we be quiet and not attract attention from now on. If there is one there will be more and we don’t know how well they hear or see or smell.”