Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Sanctuary (30 page)

*
* *

“What do
you think sweetie?”

Briana
pulled at her hair. “I rather you be going in with Lizzy.”

“Me
too.”

“Want me
to go inside with you when we check the buildings?”

I shook
my head. “No. I want you on watch. I don’t trust them to do it. They’ve gone
nearly a month without facing any real danger. They might be reckless after
that and not paying attention. Besides, the zombie calls will likely bring any
to us.”

I had
expanded on the earlier comments and reiterated that everyone needed to yell
and make noise so the zombies would come at them. While the monsters were
pretty unthinking, they would, provided they hadn’t just fed, head straight for
a human voice. It was better to get them as they shambled out a door than go in
after them, unsure where they might be lurking. You still had to be careful,
but I thought our strategy decreased the danger significantly.

“I can
just imagine what Lizzy is going to say,” mused Briana, “when she calls for any
zombies.”

“Probably
something X-rated that will have Mary laughing her ass off and Lois frowning.”

“And I’m
sure Mary will be the first to tell us about it,” completed Briana.

It
turned out that Lizzy was indeed quite creative. One time she said, “All
zombies are ordered by the Lord of Darkness, our pal Satan, to come out in an
orderly line so you can be sent back to Hell.” Susan did not find that funny.
The second time she said, “Here zombies. Come on boys. I have tasty human
treats for you. Yum Yum.” That went over little better.

Lizzy
also managed to accumulate a fair amount of lumber, enough for Dean to get
started on a gate, and to get a few post holes measured and dug before it got
dark. Her team brought back clothing as well, and Patti snagged some books. In
the end, I expect to strip every house in the forest bare, and probably
dismantle most of them as well to get the lumber and piping and anything else
of value. If left alone, they’d just rot away in a few years.

My team
had similar results. We acquired planks and other fencing materials, but it was
nowhere near enough to complete the project. We definitely had to raid a town
if we were going to get our barricade built, and I wanted it done soon. I
didn’t feel safe, even in the Jeep. Something was off, yet I couldn’t begin to
say what. The absence of zombies was a big part of it though. Where had they
gone?

*
* *

On the
twenty eighth day I led the entirety of our group to Hemingford, Nebraska. The
negative opinions regarding the trip were greater than I’d anticipated. Quite a
few were close to outright refusing, but I compromised by saying these
individuals could keep watch or be on hand to drive any extra vehicles we found
back. No one would be forced to engage the zombies.

Chadron
was a better choice. It was closer and much larger. There would be more
supplies to recover and probably everything we needed, not only to build our
fence and then buildings, but to see us through the entire winter and for
several years to come. Yet, after Ray’s disastrous excursion, there was no way
anyone from the pastor’s group would consider such a thing, so it was to
Hemingford instead. If that went well, I was certain I’d be able to eventually
convince the others to take on Chadron.

The plan
was simple. We would ride south, stopping outside the town to refuel.
Afterwards we would kill any zombie we found. If their numbers were too great
to make this practical, one of us would drive about to get them to follow and
lead them down the highway. That should clear the place enough to make the
looting easier.

Our
priorities were guns and ammo. No one knew if there was a gun store, but we’d
keep an eye out. We might also find some in abandoned police cars or randomly
on bodies, maybe in a holster worn by a zombie. After that, it was medicine and
bottled water, then building supplies.

The
drive went smoothly, and we saw our first zombie only a few miles south of the
forest. It was walking in a small circle, going over its route again and again,
very strange. Panicked chatter broke out on the radios – Patty seemed
particularly distraught – but Lizzy yelled for everyone to shut up, that it was
only a single walker. We passed it by, not taking the time to kill the thing.

Likewise,
there was no difficulty with the refueling. We actually had another plastic
tube – it had been in the back of one of the new pickups – and several portable
gas containers. We filled those as well as our tanks. There were more zombies
here, only a mile from the outskirts of the town, and Lizzy was quick to put
them down. A few of the newcomers had their guns out, but none moved to help.
Mary wanted to of course, but Lois kept her on watch duty despite her pouting.

Then it
was time to go in.

*
* *

“You
said there’s a lumber yard?” I asked Dean, yet again.

“On the
other side of town. Not a real lumber yard mind you, more of a satellite for a
regional company. I’ve bought stuff there, when I did some contract work at a
nearby farm.”

It
turned out Dean was a native of Nebraska, living near the southern state line.
He had no family in this part of the country however, and wasn’t inclined to
head home.

“Okay.
It doesn’t look like there are too many around, so we’ll just move into the
town and park in the middle of the street.” I looked around. “In the middle of
the street, remember that. You want to have a good view in all directions.
After that we get out. Those with pickups get in the beds. When the zombies
come close shoot them in the head, not the body, and wait for them to get really
close. Missing is a waste of bullets, and those are in limited supply.”

“The
noise is going to bring all of them right to us,” added Lizzy. “So after they
stop coming, we’ll be mostly safe, but don’t get cocky.”

Ignoring
the uneasy looks, I got back in the Jeep with Briana and led the way.

“They’re
scared,” she said.

“They’ll
get over it. Unless you get mobbed or caught by surprise, zombies are easy to
deal with. Slow and stupid and predictable.”

“Some
may run.”

“I hope
not,” I replied. “That sort of thing will get them killed. Having them in the
beds of the pickups may decrease the risk. They’ll be sorta pinned in and on
higher ground. They should feel safer there, enough to stay put.”

“Want to
bet some don’t get out of their cars?”

“If not
I’ll have Lizzy pull them out. They don’t have to be shooters, but they need to
be outside, other than Miranda of course.”

She
would remain with Cherie by the cars at all times. Cherie would keep up a
central watch, and Miranda would work the radio so everyone knew the status of
everyone else.

“A
pharmacy,” said Briana. “That’ll be useful.”

I noted
it.

“And a
store.”

That was
next to the pharmacy.

“And
that must be the lumber yard place. It’s pretty small.”

“There’s
wood stacked up. Should be more than enough to get going.”

I
stopped in a relatively open area between the store and lumber depot. It was a
hundred yards to either one and not much further to everything else. The place
really was tiny.

“All
out,” I yelled, as I climbed out of the Jeep.

Briana
did the same and stretched both arms over her head. Even in the denim jacket
she wore – I had everyone wear long sleeved shirts and pants, at the very least
– her curves were still quite evident. I was staring, and she noticed.

“I can
show you all sorts of stuff later, if we ever find a bit of privacy, but for
now you might want to kill the zombies first.”

She
pointed, and I turned. How embarrassing. There was one only thirty feet away.
Well, it reinforced the need to work in teams with people looking in all
directions, instead of at each other. Briana was going to make fun of me later.
I knew it.

I walked
toward the zombie and shot it in the head when I was five feet away. I didn’t
stop and took out a second a few feet past that. Only when the area immediately
about me was clear did I turn around. Most of the crew had followed
instructions and were now in the beds of their trucks, although a few were
still inside the cabs, Patty among them.

“Lizzy,”
I called. “Get everyone, other than Miranda who has the only excuse, out of the
trucks and into the street. Now!”

She
rather gleefully pushed Larry aside – he’d been trying to persuade his wife to
stop the fuss and come out – and physically grabbed the taller, though thinner,
woman and jerked her from the seat, depositing her unceremoniously on the
pavement.

“Get up
in the back,” snapped Lizzy, promptly pulling Patty off her ass and pushing her
in the correct direction.

Surprised
at the rough treatment, she complied without a word. The other holdups all got
out on their own before Lizzy reached them. It might have been her treatment of
Patty, but more likely it was the fact she was holding a gun and had shot a
closing zombie with barely a glance. She’d been even more nonchalant than me,
and that was what I’d been trying for with the two I killed.

“There
are so many,” said Jonda, a dignified and older black woman. Like Susan and
Timothy she was part of the church group, and like the pastor she prayed a
great deal.

“Not
really,” corrected Mary. “We’ve had lots more attack us, a whole lot
sometimes.”

“This is
an easy fight,” I confirmed. I shot another. “Lizzy, get that side. I got this
one. We can probably get them all ourselves. See how they’re staggered about
everyone? That means they don’t hit you all at once. They are much more
dangerous when they’re close together. Even so…” Another shot. “…feel free to
kill any if you want and definitely do so if they get close.”

Mary
tried to step out near Lizzy, but Lois grabbed her arm and began to berate her
for not doing her job as a look out. Poor girl. Her sister never let her have
any fun, but Mary was resilient and seemed to brush aside the criticism.

*
* *

It took
a half hour to terminate ninety one zombies. The bulk was destroyed in the
first ten minutes, but we stayed where we were while the outliers trickled in.
This really was getting easier, and having more people helped. A few even
dropped one or two on their own. Dean got several, and he seemed to have no
difficulty doing so. Larry killed a single shambler but turned a nasty shade of
green afterwards. Briana shot two also. I think she did so mostly to prove to
herself that she could still act, if need be.

“I don’t
see any more,” observed Mary.

She was
standing on top of the Grand Cherokee. It was a shameful way to treat a Jeep,
the greatest brand of motorized vehicles ever envisioned by mankind, but being
a super petite waif who weighed about ninety five pounds, even though she stood
five five, meant the roof was in no danger of collapsing. Now, a crappy Lexus
would be dented. I don’t think they even put steel in those rolling
abominations.

“Okay,”
I said. “We have a new plan. Plans are good. We should always plan. That way
things can go awry and God gets to laugh at us.”

Not too
many of the church folk seemed to get my humor.

“Cherie,
Mary, Lois, you three stay here and act as a central watch. Look in all
directions at all times. Miranda will work the radio for you.”

None
were shooters, although I was certain all three had it in them. However, they
were proven in the capacity assigned. They would keep watch diligently and not
panic. They certainly wouldn’t drive off leaving others behind.

“Dean,
take everyone and go to the lumber yard. Get whatever you need and whatever
else you find that’s useful. The trucks over there, the ones that look like
U-Hauls, see if you can get those working. If so, load them up. Otherwise use
the pickups. You can send someone back here to get one and after it’s loaded
bring it back and take another. I want the vehicles largely kept in one place.
Less to guard that way.”

I turned
to Lizzy and Briana. “We three get the pharmacy and store.”

“I think
you should come with us,” said Susan.

“No,” I
replied, shaking my head. “I know Lizzy and I are the best at this, right now,
but the lumber yard is open space. There’s only that one building, and from
what I can see through the broken windows, it’s pretty open inside too.”

“Yeah,
you got the easy part. You can see any coming, and there are lots of you. We
get to go inside buildings that will be dark and shadowy with aisles and racks
of clothes and all sorts of shit the biters can jump out from behind.” Lizzy
shot Susan a nasty look.

Zombies
didn’t jump, but the point seemed to be understood. I also thought Lizzy was
pissed that Susan asked for me instead of generically saying one of us. She was
probably convinced it was because she was a lesbian who lived a sinful life.
That might even be true. More likely it was because I was far more pleasant to
work with. My attitude is vastly superior to that of my little friend.