Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Sanctuary (6 page)

Chapter II

After
passing the night in the Jeep – and let me tell you, sleeping upright in the
front seat was every bit as uncomfortable as anticipated – Briana and I spent a
half hour stretching and walking about, mostly in an attempt to get the blood
circulating again. Additionally, I did my best to get cleaned up, having always
hated that dirty, grubby feeling. Unfortunately, other than changing clothes,
there wasn’t much I could do.

It was
also somewhat disconcerting stripping in an open field with Briana standing a
few feet away. Granted, we were back to back at the time. Basic modesty and not
knowing one another was part of it. Positioning ourselves so we could spot any
approaching zombies was even more persuasive. Those we’d seen, and what we
learned from Nathan’s video, indicated the things are silent. They don’t moan
or sigh, much less breathe. They just shamble along, moving directly toward
their prey. If one comes from behind, there’s little to warn of its approach.
Paying attention to your surroundings is extremely important.

After a
quick breakfast of fruit and dry cereal, we got in the Jeep and slowly drove
over the dirt and grass until we reached US-81 once more. We passed a few
zombies, drawing close enough for a good look. They were definitely not
rotting, and the sun didn’t seem to be having any effect on them either. I
don’t have a clue how direct sunlight is supposed to affect dead flesh, but
after being outside for several days I expected to see something.

The
remainder of our morning passed without incident. Briana and I drove through
several towns seeing plenty of shambling corpses, but no real people. There had
to be numerous survivors though, individuals who’d taken the advice on the news
and remained indoors. If so, none showed themselves, and we moved as slowly as
I dared in case anyone attempted to get our attention.

“How far
to the next one?”

“It’s
about four more miles.” Briana had the road atlas on her lap, its usual place
as she tried to keep herself occupied. “Wau... Waurika? I’m not sure on the
pronunciation.”

“No
idea. Another small one?”

She
nodded. “Looks to be tiny Jacob. I don’t think it’ll be any different from the
others we’ve gone through today.”

“Good
enough. I want to keep moving. It’ll be nice to get someplace not quite so
hot.”

Her
green eyes twinkled. We both agreed Texas was a great place, the greatest of
all the states – it was our home after all – but not if you lacked air
conditioning. Yes, I can be a bit of a weenie at times.

As it
turned out, the town was unlike those we’d traversed earlier. I followed the
pattern of slowing once we neared the buildings and stayed on the highway as it
passed through the center of Waurika, weaving in and out of the abandoned or
wrecked cars that littered the road, doing my best to survey the area. Then
Briana spotted a man standing atop a small convenience store roof. He looked at
us. She looked at him and rolled down her window to wave. Instead of returning
the friendly gesture, he lifted a pistol and began firing. I accelerated and
swerved down a side street, out of view.

“That
asshole!”

None of
the bullets struck the Jeep, probably never came close. We were out of
effective range when he started his rampage, but even so, it was very
unnerving. I’d never had anyone try to kill me before, and while he
theoretically might have been trying to just scare us off, I tend to think his
true intention was murder.

“Calm
down,” I ordered. My own knuckles, clenching the steering wheel, were bone
white, and I was breathing hard.

“He shot
at us!”

“I know
this Briana. I was there too.” It was condescending and rude, but neither of us
cared at the time. “We’ll be way past him soon enough.”

I turned
onto another street which I hoped would lead us back to the highway. I didn’t
want to be wandering about Waurika, not with that nut job lurking about.

She drew
the .38 revolver I’d given her.

“Put
that away.”

“What if
he shoots at us again?”

“We’re
too far away for that now. Can’t even see him anymore.”

She was
undeterred. “He could try following us, might you know.”

That was
a valid concern, though unlikely. The man had been standing on a roof
surrounded by zombies. Even if he had direct access to a garage, the dead would
have swarmed his car the moment he tried to exit.

“Keep an
eye out just in case, and put the gun back in the holster. Me hitting a bump
and you accidentally pulling the trigger would be beyond a little bad, don’t
you think?”

“Fine. I
want a bigger gun.”

“I’ll
show you how to use the automatics later, when we have a chance and a wide open
area to stop and practice. Once you know what you’re doing, you can carry one
of them. Might be best if we found you a 9mm.”

“Why’s
that?”

I
glanced over at her. “Lighter weight and less kick. Tends to have a smaller
grip too.”

She
waggled her fingers.

“I know,
not a problem.”

As tall
as she was, Briana had proportionally long fingers and could easily manage any
weapon we might come across.

“What
about Fort Sill?” she asked, changing the topic.

The
military base was in Lawton, Oklahoma. The highway took us past, well to the
east.

“What
about it?”

“Think
it’s smart to go so far around? We could drive up and check things out.”

I hesitated.
“I don’t know if it’ll be worth the effort.”

“Oh, and
why’s that?”

We
hadn’t discussed the military, beyond the brief speculation as to what caused
the explosion in Denton.

“They’re
probably mostly dead. Being nighttime, the soldiers would have been in barracks
or base housing when the change hit. I think they would have suffered just as
bad as everyone else, maybe worse if lots of them shared a room. And remember,
it’s not like a war zone or Iraq. Their weapons would mostly be locked away in the
armory. Troops on base, other than guards or those actively training, don’t
carry guns. I know it sounds kind of counterintuitive, but they really don’t,
safety and security issues.”

I’d
initially thought to skip Fort Sill because I was certain it would either be
empty or equipped with just a skeleton force. Any surviving soldiers would
likely be pulled out to deal with Oklahoma City or to set up defensive lines to
keep the zombies from spreading. That being the case, I didn’t want to risk
getting stuck someplace that offered little or no safety. There had never been
a fear of dealing with renegade soldiers enslaving civilians or any other such
nonsense. Those were movie plotlines, not reality, especially when you have a
very professional, all volunteer force like the United States.

“That
does make sense,” she admitted, a troubled look marring her pretty face, “but
the guards would have been awake. So there would have been somebody ready to do
something after it started. And anyone who did live would have gone to get the
guns anyway.”

“That’s
true. Let me think about this some more.”

*
* *

“Helicopter!”

I hit
the brakes. “Where?”

Briana
was outside in a second, pointing. I joined her and could just make out the
aircraft far to the west, heading away from Fort Sill. There was no way they’d
seen us.

“Can we
call them?”

“I don’t
see how.”

“Think
they’re running off or just doing army stuff?”

I
glanced around to make sure the area was clear. “No way to tell, but maybe we
can check some of the roads heading toward the base and see how it looks.”

The
roads leading toward Lawton, Oklahoma and Fort Sill turned out to be in really
bad shape. Thousands had tried to get there. Some of the cars were out of gas,
more were wrecked, and enough were heading the opposite direction to indicate
the installation had not been as safe or desirable as first believed.

“Want to
try to get closer?”

Briana
pulled on her long brown hair, pouting. “No. Even if we can, with the road all
messed up like this, there can’t be that many people around. Maybe no one. And
we haven’t seen any other helicopters, or anything at all.”

“Agreed,”
I replied, not knowing what else to say and wondering if my predictions had
been correct or if something entirely different had happened.

*
* *

With
mixed feelings, we were largely quiet until we hit Chickasha. There we left the
relatively nice US-81 and took the much crappier State Highway 9, which headed
west passing north of Fort Sill. This route was intended to keep us well away
from Oklahoma City and the interstates that passed through it. Many of those
fleeing the city would have taken these, and the zombies were certain to have
followed.

It was
on the outskirts of this small town that we passed another car. The driver
gestured for us to stop, and with the less than pleasant experience earlier in
the day fresh in our minds, as if it could be anything else, we pulled over
with a fair amount of trepidation. I exited the Jeep but didn’t move forward.
Briana did the same and took the extra precaution of keeping the vehicle
between her and the strangers. A quick glance assured me she had one hand on
the gun at her hip.

“How are
you folk doing today?” I asked, after the three adults clambered out of their
dusty Lexus.

They
held back, not approaching, which was just as well. There was a man, late
thirties maybe, dressed in a custom tailored suit, an expensive one. The
circumstances made me question his sanity. He also had a shiny gold watch on
his wrist. Interesting. Perhaps his image was somehow essential, psychologically
speaking. The other two were women, both blondes, somewhere in their late
twenties or early thirties. I’m lousy at estimating ages, so I could be off by
quite a bit. They appeared to be related, probably sisters.

“As to
be expected,” said one of the ladies, deadpan.

An
appropriate response. I liked her immediately.

“Heading
east?”

She
nodded. “You’re going west?”

“Just
for a short bit,” I explained, “then we’ll be cutting north again. I want to
skirt Oklahoma City by a few hundred miles if possible.”

“Any
idea how bad it is?” asked suit boy.

I was
having trouble taking him seriously, even though it was a reasonable query.

“We
haven’t been anywhere near it. The towns we’ve gone through south of here are
mostly empty of people, except for Waurika where one guy sitting on top a roof
took some shots at us when we drove by.”

“Damn
asshole,” muttered Briana, under her breath.

“No
people anywhere?”

“We’ve
seen some on the roads, but not many. You three are the first to stop. Most
keep going.”

The
woman smiled. “We tried waving several down, but most just went by us too.
You’re the second car that stopped to speak with us in the past two days.
Anyway, do you have any idea where to go? A safe place?”

Briana
snorted. “The entire planet’s wrecked.”

“I think
I noticed that,” she snapped back, testily. “But really, have you seen or heard
of anything at all?”

“Nothing,”
I answered. “We caught some of the earliest news reports. Those said to stay
inside. There was nothing about rescue centers, at least for Texas. We were on
the north side of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, way to the north actually,
out of the cities proper. That was bad enough, so I’m thinking the big cities
are far worse.”

“I was
at a conference, slept late in the hotel and woke to all of this,” interjected
suit boy. “Didn’t hear any real news at all. I met them later.” He gestured at
the two women, which seemed a tad pointless since it was obvious who he was
speaking about.

“We
didn’t catch anything like that either,” added the talkative blonde. Her sister
remained silent. “Janice and I were out camping and didn’t even know until we
drove back home. We tried the radio and all after that, but other than telling
us there were zombies...” She grimaced. “… we didn’t get much info. But we were
in the south of Kansas at the time, and there were only a handful of stations
we could even get normally.”

“I have
no advice for you, sorry to say.” I wished I had something constructive to
offer. “Fort Sill is just south of us, next to Lawton. We did see one helicopter
earlier today, probably from there, that was moving west. The roads around the
base are a mess with lots of cars abandoned. No people around, just a few
zombies here and there, fewer than you’d expect.” I frowned. “At any rate, I
think it was overrun, but we didn’t go any closer to check it out.”