Apocalypse Z (A Zombie Novel) (4 page)

In a panic, Dedee asked, “Lisa? Just how many is a bunch?”

She didn’t want to scare them, but at the same time she didn’t want to downplay it. “I’m not sure—a hundred, maybe two.”

Dedee’s eyes grew and she started moving faster. After they grabbed what they needed, they headed out of the apartment, Lisa bringing up the rear. As they climbed into the back, a wave of zombies came around the corner two blocks away. They were moving pretty quick and closing the gap fast. Lisa got back into the cab with Mark and he pulled onto the street heading away from them.

III

They drove ten miles through town before they stopped next to a line of cars parked along the curb. Mark got out and stepped to the back of the truck. He handed Jeff a screwdriver and hammer, then pointed to the gas can in the bed of the truck. “I need for you to punch some tanks and fill this thing up.” Jeff took the tools and hopped out of the back.

Lisa came up as he watched for zombies and said, “I owe you and apology.”

“For what?”

“Back there, when you saved my life, I shouldn’t have criticized you like I did and… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I understand. But just so you know, I would never let anything happen to you.”

She smiled and leaned against the back of the truck. Mark watched her from the corner of his eye. He thought Lisa was probably the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He was more of a tech geek and knew girls like her were always out of his league. Usually, he was a clumsy wreck around them and would end up looking silly, so he knew the most he could hope for, was for them to be friends.

It only took three cars for Jeff to fill up the truck’s tank. Mark put the tools back under the seat and they resumed their journey. Mark was not familiar with the freeways in this area, so to avoid heading the wrong direction or running into a checkpoint, he stuck to surface streets. Around 5:00 he began to check residential areas for a safe and suitable location for the night.

They drove through half a dozen neighborhoods before they found a house they felt would be safe. Mark carefully backed the truck into the garage. Lisa closed and latched the door from the inside. Before anyone went inside, Mark and Jeff cleared the house. Once inside, Dedee and Jet gathered blankets and began covering the windows. Lisa, Amy, and Todd brought in the bags from the back of the truck and set them on the floor.

Mark sat on the couch and broke his rifle down on the coffee table. He had just started cleaning it when Lisa came into the living room and stood over him. “We need to go through some of the other houses in the neighborhood.”

Mark glanced up as he cleaned the barrel. “What for?”

“Food.”

Mark pointed to the pantry. “There’s food in there.”

She was quiet for a moment before she spoke in a low voice. “Okay, we need to try and find some hygiene products.”

“What? I thought I saw soap and towels in the bathroom.”

Lisa just stood there with her hands on her hips, staring at him. After a minute, she huffed and shook her head.

“Am I missing…” Then it hit him. “Oh!... You?”

“No, it’s not for me. She’s already self-conscious enough, so don’t say a word. Just come with me and we’ll get some food.”

“Alright, just give me a couple of minutes here and we’ll go.”

As he reassembled his rifle, Lisa asked, “Have you given much thought of where to go? I mean, we had planned to stay in the apartment until this thing blew over.”

“Well, Jeff and I were headed north to our grandfather’s cabin in the mountains. He saw something like this coming a long time ago and set up a safe place.”

Quietly, she said, “Oh.” She nervously looked around the room before continuing. “Are you still going there?”

He smirked. “Yeah, of course we are.”

Lisa had a tone of uncertainty in her voice when she asked, “When are you leaving?”

Mark detected it and stopped. Looking up, he said, “I know I didn’t ask, but I kinda assumed we’d all go together. There’s plenty of supplies and room there for everybody. So, do you want to come with us?”

In a mildly sarcastic tone, she said, “I’m not sure—let me think about it.” Then she smiled and said, “Okay, we’ll go with you.”

He looked up and returned the smile. “Okay, let’s go find some hy… umm, I mean food.”

The first house they came to had dried blood smeared on the front door and it was locked. They went around to the back and found an unlocked sliding glass door that led into the living room. It was dark so Mark used the light on his rifle to illuminate the room. He worked his way over to the switch and turned the light on.

From there, they went into the kitchen. Going through the cabinets, Lisa found several cans of generic beef stew. She took them out and placed them in her bag. Checking around, they soon discovered this house had just about everything they were looking for.

They slowly worked their way down the hallway until they found the bathroom. Looking in the drawers and cabinets, Lisa found everything she needed. Just as they turned to leave, they heard a thump on the wall from the next room. They stopped and looked at each other. Mark took the safety off his rifle and Lisa reached for her gun. She patted her leg and whispered, “Shit!”

Mark lipped, “What’s wrong?”

“I forgot my gun.”

Mark looked at her and she could see disappointment written all over his face. She looked around and the only thing she found that could be used as a weapon was a toilet plunger. She picked it up and held it over her shoulder like a baseball bat. He tried to cover his smirk as he asked, “Do you know how ridiculous that looks?”

She gave him a harsh look. “Shut up!” Then she motioned for him to move. “Let’s go.”

They crept down the hallway to the bedroom door. Mark raised his rifle as Lisa stood in front of the door and slowly opened it part of the way. He shined the light inside the room and saw a dresser against the wall. As she pushed it open a little farther, the door was jerked from her hand.

Standing inside the room only a couple of feet away from them, was a zombie. Its face was like over dried leather and it looked like the lips had been eaten off so the mouth was only a drawn up a circle with teeth inside. The eyes were blue-white and set deep into the skull. It hissed as it took a step toward them.

Startled, Mark jumped back and hit the wall. Lisa shrieked and began to mercilessly beat it with the handle. Under the barrage, it fell back to the floor. She continued screaming as she stood over it and repeatedly slammed the plunger cup into its face as fast as she could until its skull collapsed. Black goo slowly ran out from the both sides of the head and into a puddle on the carpet.

Mark got back to his feet and covered his mouth. He was bouncing around and she knew he was laughing. His face was red and tears streamed down his cheeks. He only removed it to say, “Oh my gawd! I have never seen anything like that in my life. You literally...”

Lisa cut him off, “Shut up! It’s not funny.” She sighed. “I almost peed myself.”

It only took a few seconds for the stench of rotting flesh to slap them and work its way down the hall. They ran out of the house choking and gagging, only drawing a breath when they were outside in the fresh air and the door was closed.

When they returned, Lisa went to the back of the house and Mark sat down at the kitchen table. A few minutes later, she came back and sat with him.

“Lisa, I think we need to stay here for a few days. We both know how the zombies are attracted to blood, so what I need you to do is discreetly let me know when one of the girls starts menstruating so we can hide out somewhere.”

“Alright, but we’ll need to give another reason why. Like I said, some are very self-conscious.”

“We’ll figure something out. If it takes a little longer to the cabin, then it will have to be that way. At least we’ll all get there.”

Lisa opened the cans of stew and warmed it up. As much as everyone would have liked it hot, they couldn’t chance of the smell of the hot food bringing unwanted attention. Meat was becoming a rarity, so everyone enjoyed it. After they got their fill, they sat around the table and talked.

Omitting the part about the hygiene products, Mark told the story of how Lisa killed the zombie with a toilet plunger. By the end of the story, everyone but Lisa was convulsing with quiet laughter. She shot Mark an unappreciative glance, but then smirked when she thought about how silly it must have looked.

Jeff had first watch that night so he sat on the couch while everyone else went to bed. He sat and listened for any signs of movement outside; occasionally he heard a dog barking off in the distance and would take a peek through the window. About an hour and a half into his watch, he heard movement in the hallway. He watched Jet come out of the bedroom and into the living room. “Hey, Jeff.”

“Hey, Jet. Having trouble sleeping?”

“Yeah, I figured I come in here and see how you were doing.” And she sat next to him on the couch. She looked up at him and asked, “Do you think things will ever go back to the way they were?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, but I hope they do. Sometimes I think I’ll wake up and this will only be a dream.”

She looked at him for a moment before she spoke. “I know. Sometimes I feel kinda sad if I think about it too much. I miss the way things used to be.” She was silent for a moment, then asked, “Is it okay if I stay in here for a while?”

“I don’t mind. Do you want me to get up so you can sleep here?”

“No, don’t get up.” And she laid her head on his shoulder. “I can sleep like this, if it’s okay.”

Nervously, he moved his arm and put it around her and said, “Yeah, it’s okay.” She leaned into him and put her head against his chest. They sat there quietly for a long time and she eventually drifted off to sleep.

At midnight, the alarm on Mark’s watch went off and woke Lisa. She looked at it and sighed, then got up. She went into the bathroom and took the band from her hair, letting it fall. She looked in the mirror and picked at it with her fingers until she was satisfied it wasn’t tangled. Before going into the living room to take her shift, she reset the alarm and set the watch on Mark’s pillow.

When she walked in the living room, she told Jeff to go and get some sleep. She heard a faint moan and stepped closer. Looking through the dark, she asked, “Is that Jet?”

“Yes.”

“How long has she been in here?”

“I’m not sure, a couple of hours, I guess.” Jet moaned again and moved slightly, but she didn’t wake up. “If it’s alright with you, I’ll just crash here. I don’t want to disturb her sleep.”

“No, that’s fine.”

Jeff laid his head on the back of the couch and before long, he was asleep. Lisa stood by the window with the blanket pulled back just enough for her to see out. Occasionally, she glanced over at the couch and wondered what the future held for them. Some thoughts were pleasant while others were downright frightening. She was happy to have found Mark and Jeff, especially Mark. Before that, she was the one who had to make sure everyone was safe and fed. It was her burden and she felt like she bore it alone.

Since they came along, some of the weight had been lifted off her shoulders. There was someone to share her burden, who could also watch her back. She felt safer now they were there and she thanked the powers that be for letting their paths cross. She glanced back at the couch. By the looks of things, Jet was just as happy about it as she was, but in a different way.

Most of her watch was very uneventful, but at 3:00, she noticed a group of twelve zombies shuffling down the street. As they passed by, one of them stopped and stared at the house. She stepped back, her pulse raised and she looked down the hallway toward the bedrooms, wondering if she should wake Mark. When she looked back outside, she saw there were now two zombies standing out front, staring at the house. She felt goose bumps rise on her skin and she became nervous.

She quietly woke Jeff. When she did, Jet woke up and stretched. When she saw Lisa, she froze and looked like she had been caught doing something wrong. She swallowed hard and asked, “Am I in trouble?”

Lisa shook her head. “No, Jet, you’re okay. I’ve been here for a while. Go back to bed now.

She got up and slowly walked down the hallway. Before she went into the room, she looked back and said, “G’night, Jeff.”

“Good night, Jet.” He turned to Lisa and saw the worried look on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“There are two zombies outside standing in front of the house.”

Jeff jumped up and pulled the blanket back a little. Looking out the window he said, “Lisa, there’s nothing out there.”

She ran over and peeked outside. He was right; there were no zombies in sight. “But there was a minute ago. I swear. I saw them out front staring at the house.”

Still looking out the window, he said, “They must have moved on.” He checked his watch. “I’m going to bed; wake me if they come back.”

“I will. Night, Jeff.”

Jeff went down the hall and into the room where his brother slept. Lisa got a piece of paper and noted the time and what she saw on it. When Mark came in for his shift, she filled him in. He thought it was a good idea to keep a running log of what was observed. They might notice behavior patterns that could be used later on.

When Lisa went back to bed, Jet was still awake and said, “Lisa, I really like Jeff.”

She smiled. “Yes, I noticed that.”

“I’m kinda nervous though; do you think he likes me?”

“Yes, I think he does.”

Jet smiled softly. “Good… night, Lisa” She watched Lisa climb into bed before she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Mark took watch and stood in the dark room alone. So much had happened so fast. Less than forty-eight hours ago, he was in his own bed asleep with his parents in the next room. The plans were all laid out and simple, just leave the house and drive. The trip would have only taken about three to four days and they would have been at the cabin.

His grandfather had been an officer in the military during and after World War II. He saw the kind of chemical and biological weapons that were being developed and the atomic ones they already had. He knew they would always strive to make something stronger and deadlier, and eventually, it would come back and bite them in the ass.