Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Sanctuary (16 page)

“Can’t
believe this,” began the woman, “I really can’t. What the news say? Is this
even being reported on?”

“Don’t
know,” replied Mary. Her face was unusually serious and her eyes puffy from
crying. She switched on the television and began flipping channels.

“What
happened to your shoulder?” asked Lois, eyes wide, when Lizzy began to undress.

She
tossed her bloody shirt aside. “The asshole who shot at me sorta hit, barely.
Idiot probably thought I was one of those things. Should’ve been obvious I
wasn’t. It’s easy enough to tell from the way they act. The faces look all
wrong too.”

“Were
our parents?” asked Mary. She turned away from the television but did not look
into the hall where the remainder of her family was lying, dead.

Lizzy
nodded, slowly. “Same weird eyes. Acted just like the others I saw too. I’m
sorry Mary. I really am. Hey, turn that up.”

It took
Mary a moment to realize Lizzy was referring to the television, and the abrupt
command hurt her feelings. Even so, that unpleasant thought was pushed aside as
they learned what was really happening and how widespread the tragedy was.

*
* *

The
power in
Garden
City
didn’t
disappear that first morning, as it did in
Denton, Texas
. Somehow, beyond all reasonable
expectations, it lasted until late on the second day, and as a result, Lizzy
and her friends learned far more about what was happening than Briana and I.
I’m now going to provide a brief summary before returning to Lizzy’s gripping
tale of survival in the dreadful, horrible, terrible, surprisingly surreal
zombie apocalypse.

Within
hours of the disaster,
Pakistan
and
India
had indeed begun launching nuclear
strikes against one another. At no point were any official statements issued by
political or military leaders, and it was not clear what instigated the war.
Both satellites and reporters on the ground provided images of the mushroom
clouds and the wide scale destruction. On Pakistan’s side
Lahore
,
Faisalabad
, Bahawalpur,
Nawabshah
,
Karachi
, and the capital of
Islamabad
were reduced to radioactive hellholes,
along with thirty more towns and military installations. India lost its capital
of
New
Delhi
,
Jaipur
,
Bikaner
, and about a dozen other cities and
bases. It seemed the Indians were coming out ahead on the nuclear exchange, not
that it would likely do them much good in the end. No one knew who fired first.
The initial strikes went off almost simultaneously.

Western
Europe
fell apart
within hours. A large part of this was due to the dense populations. There was
no place to run, no isolated locations in which to rally or secure survivors.
And, as previously anticipated by me, the draconian gun laws prohibiting anyone
from owning a weapon made it extremely difficult for people to fight back. They
were unarmed and unused to protecting themselves. A large percentage just
waited for the police or someone else to come to their aid.

The news
from
France
was cut off before lunch. The
United Kingdom
transmissions lasted longer, and it was
learned that
England
and Wales
were to be
abandoned. The royal family had been evacuated to a castle in
Scotland
via helicopter, and the rugged terrain
was being used to set up safe zones. The prime minister was missing and
presumed dead.

Switzerland
had managed to mobilize its military
and was fighting back, the only European nation to do so in a widespread,
organized manner. Their borders were mountainous and riddled with bunkers,
military bases, and fortifications, left over from when they feared invasion by
Nazi
Germany
and then during the cold war. These
provided the Swiss with numerous places to operate out of and to house
survivors in safety. Also, while Switzerland lost the same initial quarter of
the population as everyone else, unlike their neighbors they had a well armed
population. The bulk of their citizens underwent mandatory military service,
and they took their weapons home with them upon completion.

The
Middle East
fared no better. Contact with most
countries was quickly lost, with
Israel
being the sole exception. They had
still been broadcasting when Lizzy’s power finally went out. Much like the
Swiss, the Israelis were armed to the teeth, a result of being surrounded by
enemies bent on their extermination. They had a better chance at surviving than
most.

Asia’s
condition was harder to determine.
China
instilled a full media blackout almost
immediately, and no one knew what was happening there.
Japan
collapsed faster than anyone else. With
gun laws that tended to be just as strict as Europe’s and a population density
even greater, the island nation simply could not get organized or respond in
any unified manner. There were a few images of men using swords to cut down the
zombies, and the defense forces were trying to secure the
Imperial Palace
in
Tokyo
. There was no indication as to whether
or not they’d been successful.

Lizzy
was able to gather a lot more information about the United States than abroad,
as our own suffering made up the bulk of the news coverage. They watched
New York City
fall, with evacuation orders given
after the military units that tried to respond were overrun by sheer numbers.
Up to the end, the mayor was on television saying he had no regrets about
pushing so hard to outlaw all private gun ownership, that he’d been correct in
this. He, along with millions of his constituents, never made it out. Justice.
That’s regarding his death, not that of others living in the city. Well,
justice as to his dying and those who supported his policies.

Washington,
D.C
. didn’t do any better.
The ghettos and slums held on longer than the upscale neighborhoods and the
capital area. This was due to the criminals who frequented those places
ignoring D.C.’s old gun ban and the ongoing restriction efforts. They were able
to fight back and even secured some of the housing projects. But the city as a
whole was crumbling, and the military soon evacuated, taking the president and
most of the surviving congressmen with them. The everyday inhabitants and
tourists who’d been caught there were left to fend for themselves.

There
were reports of enclaves being established in some major cities, much like what
Briana and I saw outside
Fort Worth
at the Cabela’s store. These tended to be ad hoc and less than ideal, and I
doubted if many would last long. Still, it was something. There were also
reports of small towns that had completely wiped out their zombie menace, which
made me think of Edwin.

On a
side note, but a fascinating one, there was a woman on the news who declared
that this was actually a good thing, that the death of the human parasites
would eliminate global warming and allow nature to flourish once more. She was
beaten to death by a camera man. The entire thing was broadcast live, and no
one in the studio tried to stop him. I wish I had seen that. Bad, I know, but
it’s true.

Unfortunately,
the volume of available news quickly diminished. First, one station went off
the air, then another. The cable blinked in and out as well. By the time their
own power shut down there were just a couple of sources still broadcasting, and
those had been able to provide only the scantest of updates.

*
* *

“This is
so bad,” said Mary. “What are we going to do?”

“We need
to leave,” decided Lizzy. She tried flexing her leg. After a day and a half of
rest her hip felt better, but she was still far from normal. “We can’t stay
here.”

“The
doors are locked.”

“Still
too easy to get in Lois,” countered her girlfriend, “and you know how many are
out there. A bunch of them could do it, definitely.”

They had
been taking turns keeping watch, peeking out the windows. The streets were full
of the shambling monsters, and there had been no sign of other survivors.
Garden City
was one of those towns that died with
barely a whimper.

“My
cousin’s house. It’s little, but it has steel doors and bars over all the
windows.”

“You
mean Scotty?” asked Lois.

“He’s
nuts,” added Mary.

“Well,
yeah, he is a bit paranoid, but it’ll be impossible for those things to get
inside, and I have a key in case he isn’t home. We go there and lock ourselves
in. It’s better than here, and we’ll have time to think.”

“Okay,”
said Mary, almost immediately. They’d put the zombie that attacked Lizzy and
her parents’ bodies in the yard and covered them with a tarp. The dried blood
was still on the carpet and walls though, a constant reminder. She was ready to
go.

“Can you
move well enough?” asked Lois.

“We’ll
take your car. I just have to get to your driveway. I can do that, no problem.
I’ll drive.”  

“No
Lizzy, I’ll drive. You’re in no shape.”

“And
you’re a bad driver,” pointed out Mary. She tried to smile but to no avail.

“I am
not… Never mind. Fine, you can drive. Get your stuff together.”

No one
moved.

“What
should we take?” asked Mary, after a short pause.

“Um,
food, the first aid kit definitely – the way I’ve been going, that’ll be used
again – whatever you need, clothes, tampons. I don’t know if we’ll get back
here again, best to assume we won’t.”

*
* *

The
drive across town was interesting, in a dark sort of way. The zombies followed
them of course, drawn to the sight and sound of the moving car. Lois easily
outpaced the things, but more kept coming, exiting from side streets and
alleys. The numbers were troubling and terrifying. Still, Scotty’s house was
clear, and, at Lizzy’s urging, Lois parked on the grass near the front door.

“Mary,
get the bags,” she ordered. “I’ll get the door.” Drawing her gun, she unlocked
it and stepped inside. “Scotty? You here?”

“Hurry,”
urged Mary. Lois took one of the heavy duffel bags from her. “They’re coming.”

Lizzy
stepped aside so they could enter and secured the heavy door behind them. The
zombies began to pound on it moments later, but that accomplished nothing. Her
conspiracy obsessed and more than a little unstable cousin lived in a solid
brick house. The walls couldn’t be battered down, and the doors had cross bars
that could be dropped in place. Even so, the zombies were persistent and banged
away for just over fifty one hours until something distracted them and they
finally forgot about the people inside.

*
* *

On the
eighth day, Mary spotted another group of survivors. “Lois! There are people in
a car!”

“What?
Where?” She hurried to the window. “Think they’re going for the supermarket.”
It was on the corner, only a block away, in clear view.

“Lots of
zombies all around it,” said Mary. “I don’t think they’ll be able to get
inside.”

Despite
what they had brought with them, and what Scotty had in his pantry, Lizzy had
been forced to insist on rationing. The three didn’t have more than a few weeks
worth of food, and when it ran out they would have to try for the store or
maybe another house themselves. Scotty did have an insane amount of bottled
water in his garage however, but nothing else of practical value. The guy never
made much sense.

Lizzy really
wanted to know what had happened to him. He wasn’t at home, and his truck was
likewise missing. A handful of attempts to call resulted in nothing. Cell phone
service had vanished almost immediately, but that might not have mattered.
Scotty had a tendency to forget to charge his phone.

“Lizzy,”
called Lois, “come take a look.”

She
ambled out of the kitchen. The swelling in her hip had gone down, and she was
able to walk with only the slightest discomfort.

“What is
it?”

“There
are people by the store,” answered Mary. “They’re circling about. Looks like
they don’t know what to do. Oh, no!”