The Birth Of Decay (11 page)

             
R
icky hid behind a tree and covered me as I cautiously approached the door.  I knocked a few times and waited.  I heard movement inside and I pointed my Uzi at the door.  “I’m not here to hurt you, my truck died a ways down the road and I’m looking for a way back home.”  I said through the door.  I heard someone unlock the door and it cracked open.  I lowered my gun.  “My name is John and my friends’ name is Ricky, we just want to know if you have a vehicle.”  I said calmly.  I motioned for Ricky and he lowered his gun and stood next to me.

             
The door opened and an older rough looking man with a long beard stuck his head out.  “Whatcha doin with all that stuff by the trees?”  He asked in a gravely voice.  I looked back at our supplies.  “We took some stuff from the military base and need to take it back to my town.”  I explained.  The man scratched his beard and stared at the supplies in the distance.  “You got any food?”  He asked.  I turned back and looked at him.  “Yes, I will give you some food if you can help us.”  I offered.  He opened the door and walked back into his dilapidated house.  “Bring your stuff on in.”  He said.

             
Ricky and I gathered our stuff and carried it into the house.  He shut and locked the door and sat down on an old dust covered chair.  “Let’s make a deal, what are you offering?”  He asked.  I opened one of the bags and pulled out a few rations and a few bottles of water.  He watched me as I took out my shotgun and layed it next to the food with a box of shells.  “You drive us into town and I can offer you this.”  I said.

             
He leaned forward in his chair and stared silently at the offer.  He reached over to his jar and took a drink of green hued water; a few dead flies were floating on its surface.  “Let me ask Mary.”  He said as he stood from the chair and walked into a back bedroom.  I looked around the room and noticed several dead squirrels nailed to the walls.  I looked at Ricky and he shook his head in disbelief.

             
The man walked back into the room and smiled.  “She said that would be fine and that if you boys are tired; you can stay the night.”  He said cheerfully.  I thought for a moment and was beginning to feel tired.  I nodded and the man clapped his hands.  “Good, let me put some more logs in the fire, I will be right back.”  He said and vanished back into the dark room.  I looked at Ricky.  “This guy seems strange, keep your gun close.”  I said.  A few seconds later, the man carried in some small logs and threw them into the fireplace.  He sat back in his chair and took another drink of his water.  “So I take it you have a car.”  I said.  He set the jar down and laughed.  “I have two of them!”

             
He took out the bible and started reading.  I waited a few minutes and became curious of Mary.  “So, have you and Mary been married long?”  I asked.  He looked at me and put his bible back onto the small coffee table.  “We have been married for eleven years. We have had our ups and downs but we are great now, hell even our sex life has been good. We were making love when you guys knocked.”  He proclaimed.  I gave him an awkward smile and started smoking a cigarette.

             
I moved closer to the fire and watched the man cautiously.  He leaned foreward again and looked at us.  “You guys want to know why all of this zombie stuff happened?”  He asked.  I nodded and he sat back in his chair. 

Ricky sat up against the door and was listening to the man.  “It happened because of the damn squirrels!  Damn rodents makin trouble for us all the time!”  He said with sudden anger.  I looked at Ricky and then back to the ranting man.  “Sure man, it was the squirrels.”  I agreed; knowing damn well this man was not right in the head.

              He jumped out of his chair and ran back to the bedroom.  I put my finger on the trigger of my Uzi and waited.  He suddenly ran back into the room and dropped a wire cage on the ground.  I looked closer at the cage and noticed three squirrels running around.  “They are the Antichrist and the end boys!”  He yelled.  I started shaking at the man’s sudden erratic mood, I had always been scared of mentally ill people rant and rave. 

             
He opened the cage, pulled out one of the squirrels by its neck, and looked at me.  “We must cleanse this world of the sins.”  He mumbled.  He suddenly bit the back of the rodent’s neck and ripped open its flesh.  “Holy shit!”  Ricky said in disgust and quickly stood up from the floor. 

I pointed my gun at the man and shook my head.  “Look man, where is your car?”  I demanded.  He dropped the dead squirrel on the floor and shook his head.  “You devil worshipers!”  He yelled loudly.  He pulled out a large hunting knife and ran towards me; I shot him several times in the chest.  He staggered around for a moment and then fell onto the floor.  Ricky started putting the supplies we offered him back in the bag.

              I looked at the back bedroom door and remembered Mary.  She may run out at any moment and defend her husband.  I motioned for Ricky and we went up to the door.  I kicked it open and was hit with a rotted smell.  Ricky and I started gagging and noticed a decomposed corpse on a bed.  We ran back into the living room and started puking.  That sick son of a bitch said he had recently mad love too her.

             
Ricky and I searched the house for car keys and found the pair.  We went outside and searched the property; we found a shed and two pickup trucks.  We got the brown truck started and loaded our supplies in the bed.  We found the old roads the man had been using and headed for our town.  I pray they were safe.

             
I
followed the windy road through the woods and tried to keep my sense of direction.  I knew we could not have been any more than an hour away from our town and if we kept out of sight; we should be home soon.  We did not see any signs of life in the woods, except a deer or two.  I stopped the truck about thirty minutes from town Ricky and I used the bathroom.  I finished first and jumped back in the truck.  After a few minutes, Ricky jumped in the bed of the truck too grab us a snack.  I heard a gunshot and looked in the rear-view mirror; a van was pulling up to us.  “Hold on Ricky!”  I yelled and hit the gas.  The tires kicked some dirt and we found our selves being chased by someone once again.

             
I heard Ricky fire his handgun at the van and I kept looking up in the rear-view mirror.  I floored the truck and I found the truck harder and harder to control on these bumpy roads.  I turned the truck left and drove into a clearing; the van soon followed.  “Hold on Ricky!”  I yelled.  I turned the steering wheel to the right and the truck spun around and faced the van.  I jumped out of the truck and open fired on the van.  Ricky stood up in the bed of the truck and fired his shotgun.  The van lost control and started to roll violently towards us.  I ran from the truck and the van skidded to a stop a few feet away from the truck.  Ricky jumped out from the bed of the truck and ran up to me.  “Are you alright?”  He asked.  I nodded and we noticed the van had caught fire.  We jumped back in the truck and got back on the road.

             
It was a sad world; both men and the decayed were attacking us.  I wanted to believe that humanity could change after an event like this, but knew only the few truly would.  God only knows how many people were out there, scared and needed help.  I wanted to help them and keep improving the town; brick after brick I would make a safe haven.  As soon as we were done with these damn bandits, I would bring good people to Johnville.

             
I noticed an exit for the main road and took it.  We drove for a while longer and finally pulled up to our barricade.  I honked the horn and was glad to see David open the gate for us.  We drove in and parked in the back of the church.  I parked in the back of the church and Claire came outside.  I jumped out and kissed her.  I was emotional and held her in my arms.  “God I am glad to see you.”  I said.  She kissed my neck and rubbed my back.  “We were waiting for you baby.”  She cried.

             
Ricky and I wasted no time; we unloaded the weapons and called everyone to the church.  The kids ran around the room and played tag as I talked with the adults.  “We are going to be attacked; raiders are just a town away.  Ricky and I already faced a few of them on the way home; that is why I don’t have my semi anymore.”  I said.

             
David looked at all of the weapons laid out on the table and nodded.  “We will fight for what is ours, we just need a plan.”  He said.  I pointed at the missile launcher case.  “We have some serious weapons now, we just need to keep an eye out and strike first.”  I said.  Claire sat down on one of the church pews.  “We need more people.”  She said.  I nodded in agreement.  “Ricky and I plan on searching for survivors, but we can’t leave you again; not with them bandits near town.” 

             
I assigned each person a job on preparing the town for an attack.  Ricky and I filled the back of the truck with scrap wood and headed over to the north barricade.  We built a small hut for a look out tower and nailed a few layers of sheet metal on.  We put a small chair in the hut and put a rifle and ammo on the floor.  The rifle had a good scope and would help us with distance.  David and Jasmine were at the west barricade and reinforcing it with a similar hut.

             
I sat in the hut and Ricky stood on the homemade ladder.  I looked out of the scope and scanned the horizon; I noticed a few vehicles driving towards the town.  “Shit, we have visitors!”  I said.  Ricky jumped down from the ladder and pulled out his Uzi.  A green sedan led three other cars.  They pulled up to the barricade and I shot the gun in the air as a warning shot. I pointed the barrel of the gun out of the small window and waited for their next move.

             
An older man with long brown hair and a full beard stepped out of the sedan.  He held his hand out.  “Don’t shoot! Our town is under attack, we need some place to live.”  I watched him point to the other cars.  “We just want to survive.”

             
I looked at the other cars through my scope and noticed a few children and some dirt covered adults.  I noticed the man had tired and sad eyes.  I lowered my gun and climbed down the ladder.  “Are they cool?”  Ricky asked.  I nodded and started pulling the gate open.  “Just keep your gun handy.”  I said.  The man jumped back in his car and pulled in and I guided the cars to a spot a few feet away.  Ricky started closing the gate as I pulled out my Uzi and walked around the cars.  “Do you guys have any weapons?”  I called out.  The man in the green sedan turned his car off and got out.  “I’m the only one with a gun; everyone else just relies on me.”  He pulled out a chrome six-shooter and offered it too me.  I looked at the other people and realized they were no threat.  I lowered my gun and looked at the man.  “Keep it.”

             
Ricky walked over and stood next to me.  I looked back at the people in the cars.  “Everyone just follow Ricky and I too the church.  We will discuss our options there.”  Ricky and I jumped in the truck and guided them to the boarded up church.  We brought them in and they sat nervously at the pews.  Ricky rang the church bell and our group gathered in the room with us.  The people started talking and greeting one another.  “Everyone listen up!”  I said loudly.  Ricky put his fingers to his mouth and whistled.  They grew quite and watched me stand behind the podium.  “After this meeting I welcome the new comers too a shower and a hot meal.”  The guests laughed and started clapping.  “But first, you need to know the situation.”  I pulled out my Uzi and held it out for them to look at.  “We will assign each of the able adults with a gun, flashlight and belts to carry ammo.  As I’m sure you all know we have many threats on our borders and we all must be willing to protect this town…our town.”  I smiled at the crowd.  “Welcome to Johnville.” 

             
We all walked around and introduced our selves to the new arrivals.  For the first time since the decayed had come to be, I was called the leader.  I liked my new title and had not really thought about it before; I had pulled people together and gave them a since of feeling normal. 

The new group took showers with our homemade pump system and Claire and Jasmine cooked everyone a hot meal.  I found out that the name of the man with the green sedan was Timothy and he had lost his wife too the chip.  He had a thirteen year old daughter named Anne and they had been surviving at the grade school where Anne had gone to.  The other survivors slowly started gathering there and they formed a group.  They were all doing okay when the decayed started breaking into the school and caused panic in the group.  Brian found a revolver on one of the killed decayed and had protected the group the best he could, until the bandits showed up.  The bandits proved too much for them and they managed to escape.

              I walked the new arrivals around town and they found homes they wanted to clean for themselves.  I told them we eat at the church twice a day and we had a well for their water supply.  I took them back to the church and handed the adults guns and ammo.  I showed the five kids the playground we had built and they joined Claire Jr. and Beth there.  Ricky and I cleaned out the old office in the church and built shelves to hold our weapon supply.

             
I sat behind the desk and Ricky started boarding up the window.  “Can I talk with you?”  David said from the doorway.  “Sure.”  I motioned for him to sit.  He sat down and scratched his head.  “I was thinking since I am the only doctor, I should start teaching people about medicine and first aid.”  I nodded my head and leaned back in the chair.  “I think that would be a good idea.” 

             
He left the room and I looked at Ricky.  “We need a garden in every yard, we need more food now.”  He walked over and sat down on the chair.  “Your right, there are a lot more mouths to feed now.”  He said. 

I noticed Sandra hanging a picture in the hall and I called her in the room.  Ricky offered her the chair and he went back to the window.  I had realized Sandra had been quite lately and was having a tough time with Ted’s death.  “How are you doing?”  I asked.  She took in a breath and slowly exhaled.  “I’m doing alright, I mean I miss Ted and everything but Ruth needs my strength.”  I nodded and noticed she was not wearing her gun.  “Where is your gun?”  I asked.  She smiled and shook her head.  “I really don’t like them anymore.”

              I stood up from the chair and walked to the gun shelves.  “I also noticed you love kids.”  I said.  She turned towards me and smiled warmly.  “I love them, so innocent…so pure.”  I smiled at her response and took a handgun and holster from the shelf.  “That is why your in charge of them Sandra.  You’re older, experienced and protective of them.”  I put the gun in the holster and held it out for her.  “They depend on you.” 

             
She let out a breath and took the gun.  “You are right, they need me.”  She put the gun on and left the room.  Ricky nailed another board over the window and looked back at me.  “You sure she is alright?”  He asked.  I smiled and sat back down behind the desk.  “She just needs the motivation and a reason to keep going, we all do.”

             
Claire rang the church bell and the town gathered for lunch.  Everyone had found a spot in the church and started socializing.