Surviving Day By Day (Book 1): So it Begins (4 page)

The two walked back to the house and Alden finished packing the rest of the supplies.
He went to a hall closet making sure
he
grab
bed
the tube that held his maps. Inside were Military maps of the region, both highway and topographical maps. Loading the rest in the truck he watched as Tonto jumped in.
He began to set up his home security system with a set of wires that ran from the doorbell to a clay-more under the front step. He then took two grenades and wired a simple string around the pins and attached it to the door hiding the grenades in an old animal pelt that hung on the wall. Feeling satisfied with his work he turned and walked out. Getting in the truck he drove down to where the hummer was parked. Getting out he transferred what supplies he wanted and could use into his truck then took a rag and stuffed it in the gas tank, he lit the rag and got back in driving down the lane.

The hummer went with a loud explosion and
fireball;
he could see it in the rear view mirror as they turned onto the highway. As they rounded a turn going down the mountain he saw the second plume of smoke from the house. “Well Boy
,
that ought to draw any deadheads to that area for a little bit.”

Alden reached highway 65 and headed north.
An hour later
they
could see signs for
the town of Clinton, Arkansas he slowed and rolled up the windows.
This little town
was the only way to reach the road he wanted to use to move northeast State highway 9
which
would lead him to south east Missouri and one of the sections of Mark Twain National forest. Alden knew
the park
would
have
water and possibly shelter. It would also provide him a staging area to go out and reach smaller civilized area’s where he might be able to re-supply and re-arm.

The highway twisted and turned around the mountain as it led into Clinton. Crossing a small bridge Alden could see bodies floating in the creek below. The Conoco station on the left was burned to the ground and he could see the burnt bodies that surrounded it. Driving further into town he passed the local Wal-Mart which sat down off the road to the right. The parking lot was full of deadheads just milling around. Seeing and hearing his truck the
y
all turned and started towards the road. Tonto started to growl as Alden reached over and rubbed his neck. “Leave
‘
em alone boy
,
they ain’t got no chance of getting us.”

The crowds were a little thicker as they moved into town. Alden had no problem driving right over them. Especially Sam Waterford, the local Wal-Mart
manager, Alden had had his run-ins
with him when things were normal and felt that old Sam was just a miserable son of a bitch. Looking to Tonto, “well what’da
think, s
hould I roll over him or leave him to suffer
?
”

Tonto growled lowly, “Yeah I think your right. He caused enough people shit when he was living.”

Alden aimed the truck right for him and drove over him. Stopping he backed up and made sure the head was smashed then drove off.
Reaching the other side of town he found the small state highway sign for 9 and turned right
,
within minutes they were snaking their way back through the Ozarks headed northeast.

Colt stood looking out his bay window wondering how all of this
had
happen
ed
. He was average by all the stats, six foot one, short brown hair and brown eyes. He use to weigh in at two-twenty but he thought he was under two hundred now. He had the perfect life up until a month ago. He was married to the love of his life, Jessica, just bought their dream home and they were trying to have a baby.

Now it was all gone, well most of it, Jessica still
lay
in the bed they had shared but instead of being relaxed with a book in her lap smiling at him, she was strapped securely to the bed. Her beautiful green eyes were glazed over and her long brown hair was tangled and falling out, her size four frame was well under a one now, but Colt couldn’t do what he knew he had too.
The gun was in his right hand hanging limply, over the past few days he had actually thought about pulling the trigger on himself just to avoid the madness, had even put the barrel to his temple and cocked it. In the end he had lowered it and cried himself to sleep. Jessica was his strength always had been, but now she was a monster struggling to get free to kill him and yet he still loved her.
Colt turn to see the pile of lumber he had brought in from the garage, it was
supposed to
be for their deck but now it would be used to board up windows and doors. He had only made one run to Lowes before everything went to hell, so there wouldn’t be enough wood for all the windows. He shoved the gun into the back of his jeans and grabbed the coffee can full of nails. Several poked out of his mouth as he set to work covering each exterior doors and largest windows, he had hopes that the smaller windows covered with blankets might work.

Jessica loved natural light so every room had several windows, not wanting to waste more than he needed too Colt nailed the doors shut to the den, office and plant room. The only rooms he cared about
were
the living room, kitchen and bathroom. With the wood he had
,
he could block most the front bay window, front and back doors and two windows in the bedroom and part of the third. The rest he would use blankets to block the light and noise. That’s what seemed to attract the monsters, he knew all the hammering would be bringing all his neighbors out but if he could just get it done and quite again they
seemed to forget he was there.
Several hours later all the boards were hung and every window had a blanket over it, he had to stay here as long as Jessica was alive, well moving.

He went to the kitchen looking around he saw a can of pork and beans, pulling it out then grabbing the can opener
;
he was just going through the motions and let his mind wander. When the time came
,
where would he go
? H
e had grown up in Memphis, hadn’t really ever taken a vacation so the outside was a mystery to him. Looking down he saw that the can had been open for a few turns
of the can opener;
Colt tossed the lid in the trash and grabbed a spoon. He went to the fridge knowing it wasn’t on but there was still some bottle water in there.
Tucking it under his arm, he began eating
his pork and beans
as he walked to the bedroom.

As soon as Colt got to the door Jessica began growling and lunging against the restraints to try to get to him. Smiling at her, “Hi honey, I just had to get a few things done, but I am here for the rest of the night.”

He sat in the overstuffed chair that Jessica had insisted on buying for the bedroom, she said it would make the room look more sophisticated. Colt had
run
into that chair so many times
in their small bedroom,
he couldn’t count but now he was very grateful for it. As he finished off the beans he set the can on the nightstand behind him along with the gun from the back of his waistband. Colt turned back to Jessica smiling again, “OK, I’m all yours my love
.
”

He had begun thinking that he was her knight in
shining
armor and she was the damsel in distress that needed saved, he just had to figure out how to save her. She wouldn’t eat any food he tried to give her and water ju
st ran down and soaked the bed.

The room
smelled
worse
every day
, she had no control over her bodily functions, she was decaying before his eyes and he had no way of changing the sheets. Colt wouldn’t let that keep him
away;
he would be here till she wasn’t. Leaning over the bed he rubbed the top of her head, at first he tried to stroke her face but she just tried harder to bite him. “Do you remember us talking about going camping for our first vacation? I think that may be what I will do when the time comes, but if I can just find a cure then you can come with me. We could go deep in the woods and be just like pioneers. I know you would like that, but s
weetie you have to get better.”

Days went by as Colt went through his now normal routine. He woke in the chair, ate one of the cans of food in the kitchen and took care of Jessica. She lasted two weeks before Colt figured she just
starved
to death, he had tried several times to put her out of her misery but he believed that deep down she was still the woman he loved. So he just waited for the day that her body would just give out, and today was that day. He sat beside her bed holding the skin and bones of her hand, even kissed her mouth gently one last time before he covered her with her great
grandmother’s
blanket. Walking to the door, he picked up the packed suitcase and the tote bag he had
p
acked over a week ago.

Going back to the bed Colt kissed her head through the blanket then walked out the door, he set his things down in the kitchen then grabbed the hammer out of the living room and stuffed it in the tote. He went out to the garage and looked at Jessica’s range rover and saw it had a half tank, his tundra had three quarters but the rover got better gas mileage so threw the bags behind the seat and jumped in behind the wheel. The engine roared to life and he hit the garage door button, nothing happen. “Damn almost forgot no power.”

Colt climbed back out pulling out his gun just in case any monsters were out there. He pulled the garage door open drawing the attention of several neighborhood monsters. Mr. and Mrs Kulwaski were the closest but nothing to worry
about;
Colt turned to go back to the rover and came face to face with Joe Thomas. Joe was or use
d
to be his next door neighbor, but now he was one of them, worse he was close enough to bite him. Colt jumped back, not the direction he
wanted
to go but he didn’t have a choice. The others were coming for him too, he ran around the corner of the house into the backyard. He tried to go in the patio door but it was still boarded up, “FUCK! Great Colt now you’re trapped in the backyard!”

Just then he remembered he was carrying the gun, he hadn’t wanted to use it because of the noise but hey they all knew he was here now any way. Joe was the first to come through the gate and the first to get a bullet in his brain. Colt ran back to the gate in time to see two more come around the corner of the house and shot them too. The Kulwaski’s were crossing the driveway but he darted into the garage and jumped in the rover and threw it into reverse hitting both the Kulwaski’s and threw it into drive heading out of the neighborhood, he would worry about where once he got out of
the neighborhood
.

Colt drove the Land Rover out of the Scenic Hills subdivision looking at the same neighborhood he had looked at time and time again. But this time he didn’t even recognize it, four or five houses where burned to the ground, a couple were still smoldering. Colt was watching as one of the monsters tore into a dog, he wondered if that use
d
to be the man’s best friend. Turning back to the road Colt slammed on the brakes, a boy no more than ten was knocked down by his bumper. Quickly Colt looked around to make sure the monsters weren’t close, and then jumped out to check on the boy. As he rounded the front of the rover the boy lunged at him, “FUCK!”

Colt jumped back, he hadn’t even thought of kids being turned. The boy kept coming at him, all Colt could do to save himself was to hurt the kid but that went against everything in him. You can’t hurt kids, you just can’t but this one was trying to turn him into a monster. Colt kicked the legs out from under the boy and jumped back into the rover, other monsters were coming now and he needed to get out of there. By the time he was safely back in the car the boy was back up and crawling on his hood. “Noooo, please get off!”

Colt slammed his hand on the steering wheel, he knew he could drive off and eventually he would throw the boy off but he couldn’t, not yet, maybe later but for now he was still civilized, he really didn’t
know how long that would last.

He turned in the seat to look around to see just how close the others were, they were close but he had to risk it. Colt jumped back out and took a step away from the car, “HEY KID!! I’M HERE NOW!! LOOK, RIGHT HERE, COME GET ME!!”

The others were coming but the trick worked, the kid was getting off the hood and out from in front of the car. Colt quickly jumped back in and threw it into drive speeding away as his door slammed shut.

Colt had always been a good Christian and when he and Jessica married they had agreed that they would both be God fearing, tithing members of the local Baptist church. Now he was wondering where his God was and how he could let this happen. The bible promised that they would be taken in the rapture before the end of times came, and as far as he could tell this was just that, but here he was and Jessica had been turned into one. He had to watch her die, how could the God he worshiped allow all this to happen? Colt looked to the roof of the rover, “I think you dropped be ball he
re… little help would be nice!”

Colt made his way through the neighborhoods then got to New Allen Road heading north; it soon turned into Raleigh Millington Road. Then the turned left onto Fite Road, everything was pretty clear giving him time to think. All his thoughts seemed to always go back to the day his life crumbled around him.

Jessica had gotten up that morning walking around in panties and one of his t-shirts. When he walked into the kitchen she had just pulled her long dishwater blond hair over one shoulder as the leaned over to fill the coffee pot. Colt went right to her unable to resist her long bare neck, kissing her softly on the neck then on the cheek. “Good morning, you want me to make you any breakfast?”

As she poured the water into the Bunn coffee maker she smiled at him, “Na, not hungry this morning.”

He winked at her then looked her up and down, “Feel like working up an appetite?”

That made her laugh, “Honey
,
you have chores today remember? You have to go get supplies, that’s what the news said last night, remember?”

Colt had smiled a patronizing smile, “Yes I know, we’re all going to die, this is the end of times”

Jessica punched him in the shoulder, “I know it’s just a bunch of crap but just in case, stop being an asshole and go get supplies.”

She shrugged her shoulders then pulled up the t-shirt around her belly, “You know maybe after I am sure we are safe I would be willing to work up that appetite.”

Colt pulled her into an embrace, “I believe that is the best reason you have ever given me. Just let me finish my coff
ee and I’ll head to Albertsons”

Half an hour later he was waving to Mr and Mrs. Kulwaski, Colt had always thought that him and Jessica would be just like them when they got to be the Kulwaski’s age. Both were retired and did everything together, at times they still acted like newlyweds w
ith the cuties talk and kisses.

Colt pulled into the strip mall that held Albertson’s, they were packed. Rolling his eyes he thought that Jessica better make this worth it, he smiled at the thought. He sat in his Tundra watching the people, they really seemed scared. Colt got out heading into the store; as soon as he got in the door he knew for a fact this would be a nightmare. There were no carts or even the hand held baskets, each isle was almost bare and people were arguing over what was left. Shaking his head at the chaos a couple of news reports could do. Two hours later he was leaving the store with potted meat, two cans of tuna, a can of chicken salad, and frozen rolls. Jessica had wanted more but he was lucky he had gotten even that, he was at his wits end and just wanted
to get home where it was calm.

Soon he was pulling back into the garage; he grabbed the two bags and headed in the house. “HONEY, those people were nuts! Do you know everyone is fr
eaking out over all this crap?”

J
essica called for him to come in the living room; he set the bags on the table then went to join her. “What’s…”

She waved her hand to quiet him, and then motioned for him to join her on the couch. The news was running a special report, “Damn it Jessica
,
they are causing mass hysteria! You should have seen the store, they were almost at blows to get Spam for God’s sake!”

Jessica bit her lip, “I don’t think this is hysteria, they just showed a man that was in the hospital. Colt they had him strapped down to the bed and he was trying to bite anyone that came close. They were standing by him doing the report and the reporter got to close, the man bit her.” She really looked scared
.