Apocalypse Z (A Zombie Novel) (5 page)

Planning ahead for his family, he had built a cabin on top of a bomb shelter way up in the mountains of Washington. Over his life, he had stocked it with an ample amount of weapons and plenty of ammunition for hunting and self-defense. He also had food, water, and later on, power covered. In a worst-case scenario, they could easily hold out for about ten years up there.

Now, his parents were gone and his brother only had a fraction of his memory. He felt an anger growing inside him.
These damned rot-bags have taken just about everything away from me
. He had no idea how long it would take them to get to the cabin and that they would only be able to travel as fast as the slowest member of the team, but they were a team.

They had saved him and his brother, plus moved them three blocks to their apartment. They had gotten all the bags too, not to mention they had managed to survive the goon squad and zombies for weeks on their own. There was no doubt in his mind they were resourceful and could be depended on.

Mark took another look through the window before going over to their bags. He began going through them and doing an inventory of what they had. Until he had taken out and separated the full magazines from the empties, he didn’t realize just how desperate their situation was becoming.

Besides what their weapons held, they only had two more rifle and five more pistol magazines left. One shotgun had four shells and the other had only three. All it would take is just one medium sized zombie attack and all the ammo would be gone.

They had used almost all of it up and had barely covered 200 of the 1300 miles. He looked around the kitchen as he thought. He went over to the drawers and started pulling them open and rummaging through them. He took out several large wood spoons and set them on the table before returning to the window.

As the sun began to rise, he heard Todd and Jeff moving around in the bedroom before they came out into the living room. He waited another ten minutes then went to the girl’s room and knocked on the door. A moment later, Dedee opened it as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. “Hi, Mark. Is there something wrong?”

“No, I need for you all to get up and meet me in the living room.”

Lisa came to the door and asked, “What’s going on? Are there zombies gathering out front?”

Jet jumped up in a panic and ran over to the door. “There are zombies out front?”

Mark shook his head. “No, there aren’t any zombies out front. We just need to have a meeting.” He glanced at his watch as he said, “Ten minutes, be in the living room.”

IV

Everyone sat down waiting to hear what Mark had to say. “I’m not trying to be an alarmist, but we are running dangerously low on ammunition. Jeff, we have to set the rifles to single shot only. Lisa, Dedee, and Jet. You need to make every shot count and fire only when you absolutely have to. From now on, every shot has to count and be for defense only.”

Mark went into the kitchen while they sat in silence. When he returned, he handed everyone a wood spoon. “These are for practice. Everyone is going to have to learn how fight hand to hand. Right now, pretend those spoons are knives. I don’t claim to know everything there is, but I will teach you what I do know.”

The furniture was moved from the center of the room to give them more space. Mark used Lisa to help him demonstrate some of the moves he knew. Jeff picked them up quickly as some of them came back to him; then he helped Amy and Dedee with a few of the moves they were having trouble with. Jet and Todd seemed to pick them up pretty quick. About an hour and a half into it, Dedee and Jet were getting tired and started to pretend sword fight with the spoons and giggle.

The stress of the last couple of days was starting to build up inside Mark and he snapped at them. In a gruff voice, he said, “Just stop it! This isn’t a game! The danger out there is very real and this just might be what saves your life!”

The room got quiet as all eyes turned to him. Mark’s face was flush and his eyes were full of anger. Dedee and Jet had the look of utter shock on their faces and they took a couple of steps back. Both could feel a lump growing in their throats as they swallowed. Jeff pulled Mark to the side and said, “Hey, c’mon, bro. They didn’t mean anything buy it. Cut ‘em a break.”

Lisa went over to Mark and asked, “Why don’t we take a break and go into the kitchen?” Then she turned to Dedee and Jet. “Break time, guys.”

She followed Mark into the kitchen where he sat down at the table. He rubbed the back of his neck as he took a long, deep breath and let it out. He realized he shouldn’t have jumped on them in the way he did, and he felt bad for doing it.

Lisa sat down next to him. “Don’t you think you were a little hard on them in there?” She said as she tried to look at him, but he turned his eyes away. “Mark?”

He looked over. “I just don’t want to see them get hurt like so many other people I know have.”

“I understand that,” she said sympathetically. “We’ve all lost friends and family. But you need to remember these are teenage girls—they’re not soldiers. I agree we need to know this, but maybe we could just try shorter sessions.”

He looked into the living room and nodded. “Okay, we’ll do that. Maybe a couple of shorter sessions each day for say, thirty minutes each?”

“Yes, just focus on one technique each session instead of everything at once. I bet they’ll pick up on it faster too. You have to remember we’ve been in that apartment for a while and had to improvise with what we had available like broom sticks and bats.”

Mark cut in, “Toilet plungers.” And he looked over with a smirk.

“Yes and toilet plungers. I don’t think you’re gonna let me live that one down.” And she smiled.

“In time I will. Okay, we’ll have a short session tomorrow and cover only one move.”

Mark sat in the kitchen alone and tried to relax. He tried to think of happier times, but somehow those thoughts always circled around to what was happening now and was more of a reminder of what had been lost. He got up and went into the living room. Dedee and Jet were sitting on the couch and when they saw him, they grew quiet. They lowered their heads and looked like scolded pups.

He went over to them and said, “I want to apologize for earlier. I shouldn’t have jumped on you like I did.”

They both looked up and Jet spoke, “We’re sorry too.”

Dedee added, “Yeah, we know you were doing it to help us.”

Mark thought for a minute before he asked, “Weren’t you two on a pep squad together in school?”

Dedee sat up proudly and said, “I was.”

“Can you two do me a favor?”

They both nodded and said, “Sure.”

“Since we have some down time here, I need you to figure out some exercises we can do to keep us from getting stiff and lazy. Then you can show them to us. Think you can do that?”

Dedee smiled and said, “Yes, we’ll get some together have them ready whenever you are.”

“Okay, I have a few things to do right now, so have some ready by tonight.”

Jet and Dedee jumped up and ran to the bedroom. Mark went out into the garage and started rummaging around. There were cabinets, drawers, and boxes everywhere. Looking it all over, he was amazed at just how much worthless stuff was laying around. While he was digging through one of the boxes, he heard the door open. When he looked back, he saw Lisa standing behind him.

Looking over his shoulder into the box he was digging in, she asked, “What ya doin?”

“Just looking around to see what’s here. I never knew anyone could have such a collection of junk. I swear, these people must have kept everything.”

She chuckled. “I think it’s nice what you did.”

“What’s that?”

“Having the girls teaching everyone exercises. They feel like they’re contributing and it gives them something to feel good about.”

“What they’re doing is important. We need to stay limber and keep in shape. Do you know what Jeff, Amy, and Todd are doing?”

She leaned back against the workbench. “Jeff and Todd are watching the front and Amy is going through the closets and dressers to see if there are any clothes we can use. We left the apartment in such a hurry; we didn’t really have a chance to pack much of anything.”

“And you?”

She said with a smirk, “Trying to keep you out of trouble.”

He pulled a few things from the boxes and set them on the bench. “Good, I could use some help in here.”

She turned around and looked the stuff over. “What can I do?”

“Start going through the drawers and find me some tools. I need screwdrivers, pliers, electrical tape, and some wire cutters.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dedee sat on the edge of the bed. “Jet, what do you think is going to happen to us? I mean, where do we go and what do we do?”

She tilted her head to the side. “I don’t know. I never really thought about it. I just figured we keep going like we have been. Eventually, the zombies are going to fall apart and things will go back to normal.”

“But what if they don’t? What if it takes a real long time? Don’t you want to get married and have kids?”

“Well… Yeah… I guess so… Maybe later on.”

“I know I would. But what if we’re the last people on earth? You have Jeff, but what am I going to do?”

Jet said, “I like Jeff, but he’s not really my boyfriend, at least not yet, anyway.”

“I like Jeff too, but I can tell he likes you.”

Her eyes lit up as she smiled. “Yeah? Do you really think so?”

“I know so. If you and Jeff get married, can I at least borrow him?”

Jet was caught completely off guard and her smile disappeared. “What?”

Dedee felt a little uncomfortable, but asked anyway. “Not like a boyfriend or anything, just to…”

“Nooo! Ewwww! Dedee, that’s so gross.” She shuttered. “Ewwww. I promise it won’t come to that. There’s someone out there for you and I’m sure you’ll find him. Besides, you’re only sixteen and have a lot of time.”

“But if there’s not, will you at least think about it?”

She sighed. “Since you’re my best friend, I’ll tell ya what I will think about... Pretending you never asked me that question.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jeff and Todd continued watching the street through the window. Amy sat on the couch and flipped through all the channels on the television. Todd wasn’t sure why she was doing that because the last few news channels had gone off the air two weeks earlier. Jeff heard Jet and Dedee in the bedroom and noticed their voices were getting a little loud.

Curious, he went to check on them. He knocked and Jet opened the door. He asked her, “What’s going on in here? I can hear you all the way down the hallway in the living room.”

Jet walked out of the bedroom and said as she passed him, “Dedee’s being gross.”

“Wait… What are you talking about?”

She stopped, held her hand out, and looked at Dedee. “Do you want me to tell him about it? Or maybe you could just ask him for yourself, right now.”

Dedee’s eyes got huge; she shook her head and said, “No.”

He looked into the room. “Ask me what?”

“Nothing,” Dedee said quickly as she jumped up from the bed and ran down the hallway to the living room.

He returned to the living room and went back over to the window. Jet stood back and thought about what Dedee and Lisa had said about Jeff liking her.
But what if they’re wrong? What if he likes Dedee better and becomes her boyfriend? What would I do then?
She thought about what Dedee had asked her and wondered.
Would I be the one asking to barrow Jeff someday?

She had to find out and wondered if she should just ask him.
But what if the answer I get isn’t the answer I want?
Maybe it would be better if I didn’t know—that way I could at least still have hope.
But not knowing would always leave a cloud of doubt hanging over her head. She was becoming very confused and her mind felt like it would explode. Jet began to feel insecure and nervous and wondered what she could do to find out.

She took a slow deep breath and let it out. Slowly, she made her way over to the window and stood next to him. She moved her hand over slightly and brushed the back of his hand with hers, but he didn’t respond. When she tried it again, she held it there so it was almost touching his. She felt disappointment as his hand moved away from hers.

She felt like her spirit had just nosedived and crashed hard. Just when she was about to walk away, she felt his palm then his fingers gently lacing up between hers. She smiled and her whole mood changed, she felt like her spirit had grown wings and started to soar. The fear of rejection had scared her so much, that she almost let the chance slip by and she was relieved she hadn’t.

With a beaming smile, she looked up at him as he watched the street. He looked down and smiled at her, then gave her hand a gentle squeeze. She felt there was a reason why they were there and had heard the accident and why she was the one who found him in the backseat. She knew somehow fate had played a part in it all and they were meant to be together.

Jet heard the door leading out to the garage open. She noticed Mark and Lisa come in and sit at the table. They talked for a minute and she saw Lisa smile. It was a genuine, happy kind of smile, something she had not seen Lisa do since all this stuff started. Mark got up, came into the living room, and asked, “Dedee, Jet, are you ready?”

Dedee had been watching Jet and Jeff, and her reply was slow. “Yeah.” Then she slid off the couch and sat on the floor. She watched as everyone came into the room and found a place around her. She started with some basic stretches and demonstrated them. After the first two stretches, she stopped. Everyone sat waiting for the next one, but Dedee didn’t proceed.

Concerned, Lisa asked, “Is something the matter?”

She stared down at the carpet as if in a daze. Without looking up, she asked, “Why are we doing this?”

Lisa looked around at everyone, but no one spoke up. “Just like Mark said, we can’t afford to get lazy and sluggish.”

Dedee sighed. “No, I mean… this whole thing?” And she waved her hands around before she continued. “What is the purpose of just surviving? What is there to look forward to?” Her eyes started to swell with tears and the room was silent. “We fight these stupid zombies just to live? Only to exist? There has to be more to it all. Why did all this have to happen? Why?”