Benton: A Zombie Novel: Volume One (3 page)

“That meat is disgusting. I’d rather eat beans,” says Sara.

Gary rolls his eyes and chuckles to himself.

“It looks like you guys are pretty settled here,” I say.

“We’re not staying here,” says Andy. “We’re moving on as soon as we can.”

“Where to?” I ask.

“Yeah, why do we have to leave?” says Katie. She moves her knee up and down fast as she talks. “Everything is fine here.”

Andy rolls his eyes. “You really are stupid, aren’t you?” Unlike Sara, who seems to love black, Andy wears bright red gym shoes, skinny jeans, and a tight, turquoise t-shirt.

Katie balls a napkin in her hand and throws it at Andy, but it misses him. “No, I’m not stupid.”

“We’ve been through this, Katie,” says Mark. “The power will not last forever. We’ve got to get to a warmer climate.”

Eli sticks his head out of the office door. “Beans are ready, guys. Come and get it.” Everyone takes a plate and heads over to the office. I follow their lead and grab a plate as well.

A large pot of beans sits on the portable stove. Everyone lines up. Eli is good about separating the portions. It’s as if he’s had practice dishing out food in the army, or something. Nobody seems to get more beans than anyone else.

We all walk back to the table and take a seat with our beans. The fruit has been separated into seven plastic bowls. There are three water bottles on the table for us to pour water into our plastic cups.

I eat the beans and the peaches. I’m grateful for the food and grateful I don’t have to go into my stash of water, food bars, and dehydrated and freeze-dried stuff. The entire time I’m eating, Mark is sitting next to me. Occasionally, his thigh brushes against mine.

“I say we leave by the end of the week, Mark,” says Sara. “I’m ready to escape.”

“I don’t see why we can’t do that,” says Mark. “The van is ready. Our last step is to stock up on more supplies.”

“That van over there?” I ask, pointing at the white one.

“Yeah,” says Gary. “It belonged to a family of zombies - mom, dad, and a daughter. They were waiting for humans, I guess.” He laughs. “The little girl came at us first. We shot them all. Then we took the van and took off.”

“That was a wild day,” says Eli.

“How long have you guys been here?” I ask.

“About a month,” says Eli. “We’ll take our chances and head to Texas.”

“Texas?”

“Mark’s family owns a ranch.”

“I just want out of this garage and out of this damn town,” says Sara. “I don’t give a fuck where we go.”

“Jennifer, you’re coming, right?” says Katie. Mark looks at me.

“Of course! I’m coming.” It’s not like my other options are good. With no car, how far could I get on foot, and what about when night hits? My car could have served as a sleeping place. Now, with no car, where would I sleep?

“If you want to come with us, you have to go with us on a supply run,” Sara says. “Everyone has to join the supply run.”

Gary, who sits on the other side of me, reaches down and tries to grab my rifle. “No! Please don’t touch it,” I say.

Andy laughs. “Is that your toy or something?”

“No, but my father gave it to me. It’s pretty special to me.”

“He taught you how to shoot?” says Gary.

I look Gary in the face. “Yeah. I’m a good shot.”

He throws his arms up in the air, mocking me. “Whoa. I don’t want to mess with a woman who’s a good shot.”

“Your rifle will come in handy when we make our run,” says Mark. “The more weapons, the better.”

* * *

After dinner, we all throw our dirty bowls and utensils and stuff into a large trash bag. I head to the office to use the bathroom, but I take my rifle and my backpack with me. Even though I’m safe inside the garage, I don’t feel comfortable without them.

As I enter the office, I notice a worn photo of a man and a woman lying on the floor by a cabinet. I pick it up. I don’t know how long it’s been on the floor. I wonder if the man in the photo is the person who used to run this place. I wonder if the woman in the photo is his wife, and I wonder if they’re still alive.

After I’m done in the bathroom, I open the door and Gary is standing in the office with his hands on his hips. He smiles, but not in a way with which I feel comfortable.

“I’m sorry I touched your gun. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

I appreciate Gary telling me this, but I don’t understand why he had to follow me into the office to do it.

“It’s okay. We’re all on edge with everything that’s happened. Guess I’m just jumpy about everything.”

Carrying my backpack with one hand and my rifle with the other, I head for the door. Before I reach it, Gary grabs my arm. “You’re awful pretty. You know that?”

My nerves take a nosedive, but I force myself to look at him. “Thanks.” I pull away from Gary and rush out to the others.

7.

WHEN THOSE JERKS STOLE MY CAR, they also took my pillow and blankets that I kept in my trunk. Now I’m lying in a sleeping bag given to me by the folks in this garage. I stare at the concrete ceiling, high above me. My backpack and my rifle are close.

The lights are out, except for the lights in the office, left on so we can see our way to the bathroom. I don’t know how long the electricity will last. We lost power in Waterbank weeks ago. It can’t be much longer until that happens here.

Everyone is in their sleeping bags or lying on blankets, except for Gary. He’s sitting at the table, in the darkness, smoking a cigarette. I watch the smoke escape his mouth and swirl around him. I can’t stand cigarettes. My father, who died from lung cancer, used to smoke two packs a day.

After what Gary did to me in the office, I’m keeping my eyes on him. Ever since he shot that zombie, I guess he thinks he can do whatever he wants with me.

Katie insisted on laying her sleeping bag alongside mine. She’s inside it, but she keeps shifting positions. First, she’ll lie face up, then to her side, and then face up again. She’s been shifting for about five minutes.

I look over at Mark, sleeping on a blanket across from Katie and me. He looks so peaceful, like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

Now Gary is walking toward me. I don’t close my eyes. I keep them on him.

Katie sits up and brushes her long, wavy red hair away from her face. “Why don’t you stop smoking and go to bed?”

“I am, honey.”

He addresses her, but even though it’s dark, I can sense he’s looking at me. “Good night, Katie,” Gary says.

“Good night,” says Katie. “Get to bed already.”

He stops in his tracks and looks down at me. “Good night, Jennifer.”

“Good night.” I’m grateful he’s sleeping by Mark and not by me and Katie.

* * *

In the middle of the night, I dart up. Every nerve in my body comes alive as I hear the growls coming from outside the garage, followed by an all-too-familiar scream.

“What’s happening?” Katie says.

“What the hell is going on?” Mark says. He grabs his gun and flies off his blanket. “Gary! Eli!”

“I’m comin’!” Gary says, gun in hand. Eli, who sleeps the farthest from the garage door, has his rifle. The three run outside.

It’s then I see it, shambling into the garage. As the zombie growls, my heartbeat goes into overdrive. It has grey hair and wrinkly skin of the oddest brown. It is only wearing torn, bloody, plaid boxer shorts.

Sara, who sleeps nearest to the garage door, lies frozen in her sleeping bag. The zombie heads right for her. She doesn’t scream or move. She just pulls the sleeping bag over her head and disappears into it.

By now, Katie and I are both on our feet. “Oh my God!” Katie says. She grabs me.

“Katie, let go,” I say, pulling from her. Then I aim my rifle at the zombie’s head and shoot. It falls inches from Sara.

Mark, Eli, and Gary run inside the garage and slide the door closed. Then Gary switches on the lights.

There’s zombie matter on Sara’s sleeping bag, but Sara still doesn’t move.

Gary looks at me. “Goddamn, you shot that son-of-a-bitch?”

“Yes.” I run over to Sara, careful not to step on the zombie. “Are you okay?”

She pulls her head out of the sleeping bag. Her eyes well with tears, but she smiles. “I’m okay.”

I smile back, and I feel like crying too.

Then Sara rushes out of her sleeping bag, pulls it away from the zombie, and stands up. “Where’s the asshole? I told him not to go outside. He told me he wouldn’t, but obviously, he waited until I was asleep.”

Mark walks over to Sara. “Andy is dead.” He looks around at us. “We tried to save him, but they took him.”

Katie is standing behind Eli, holding onto his waist. “What are we going to do about the zombie? I don’t want it in here. It smells horrible.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll toss the fucker out back,” says Gary. “Come give me a hand, Eli.”

“No problem,” says Eli. “Let’s go grab some garbage bags first.”

While Eli and Gary dump the zombie, Sara walks to the table and takes a seat in one of the chairs. “I can’t believe Andy,” she says. “He told me he was getting sick of being cooped up in this place and he just wanted to get some air. He said he’d be careful and take his gun. But I told that idiot to stay indoors.”

Mark walks to the table, and Katie and I follow. Katie gives Sara a hug before sitting.

“We found his gun on the ground,” says Mark. “When we got outside, two of ‘em had him. There was nothing we could do but get back in here as soon as we could."

“He must have made sure he was super quiet,” I say. “We didn’t hear him leave the garage.”

“I wish he had waited to leave with the rest of us,” says Mark. “I’m sorry, Sara.”

“I'm fine,” says Sara. “Andy was a dick.”

I put my hand on Sara’s shoulder. Despite what she says about Andy, I can tell they were close. She doesn’t pull away from me when I touch her. She just continues to stare down at the table.

“Jen, thanks for steppin’ up,” says Mark. “This whole thing could have gotten a lot worse if it weren’t for what you did.”

“We’re all in this together, right?” I say.

“Right,” Mark says, giving me the smile I’m growing to love.

We watch Gary and Eli wrap the dead zombie in plastic bags and carry it to the back door and out the garage.

8.

THERE’S NOT MUCH TO DO when you’re stuck inside concrete walls. No Internet. Cellphones don’t work. We’ve got two CB radios. But, basically, we’re keeping ourselves busy the way people used to do it before devices.

I’ve played cards. The last time I played, Sara sat next to me. She was super supportive and laughed at all my jokes.

I’ve got two books I’ve stashed in my backpack, but I just don’t feel like reading nowadays. I’ll lie on my sleeping bag and look up at the ceiling or I’ll sleep a lot more than usual. If I were eating as much as I did before this all happened, I’d be heavier, since I’m not moving much now.

Sometimes, Eli will run up and down the aisles for exercise. But nobody else, including me, cares about exercise now.

Today is the day we’re all going on our last supply run before moving on. It’s been two days since Andy died. I'm nervous about leaving this garage.

* * *

We’re right outside the garage and safe inside the van, the one we’re taking on the day we move from here. Mark is in the driver’s seat. Gary is sitting across from him. Sara and I are sitting behind Mark and Gary, and Eli and Katie are behind Sara and me.

We’re all armed. Eli and I have rifles. Everyone else has handguns. Also, we each have shopping bags that we’ll fill when we get to the mart.

I turn to look at Katie. She treats her gun as if it were a toy. “Can you please make sure that thing isn't pointed at any of us?”

“Yeah, watch it,” Sara says. “I don’t want you blowing my fucking head off.”

Katie looks at us with those spacey blue eyes. “I’m fine, guys. Stop worrying.”

Even though Gary and Mark explained to Katie what to do with her gun, I took it upon myself to take Katie aside as well. But now, I feel like we wasted our efforts.

“Be careful,” Eli says.

Katie rolls her eyes.

My heart is pounding and sweat forms on my forehead. I grip my rifle. Fortunately, no zombies are near us, just two farther down, zoned out and swaying like they do.

“Okay, guys; let’s roll,” says Mark. “Those zombies don’t notice us, and I want to keep it that way.”

“Yeah, dude, let’s do this!” says Gary.

I look out my window, and I notice a dusty red sneaker resting on the curb. I swallow hard, because I know it belonged to Andy. I look at Sara. She doesn’t see the shoe.

“When did your mom die?” Sara asks me as the van moves on. Her clothes are black, but her brown eyes are so dark they look black too. Her question is random, but it’s one more sign that shows me Sara no longer hates me.

“A couple of months ago.”

Sara stops looking at me, rests her head against the headrest, and closes her eyes. “Zombies came into my house and got my family. Got us when we were sleeping.” She turns her head and looks at me again. “They know how to open a door, you know? How else could they have gotten into my house?”

I don’t know if zombies are smart enough to open doors, but I don’t want to argue with Sara. I just want to listen.

“I heard Matthew screaming,” she continues. “He was my brother. But I didn’t help him. I just ran into my closet and hid. Fucking coward, right?”

I shake my head. “No, I know what it’s like to hide in a closet.”

“My parents treated me like shit. Matthew was the only one I cared about.” Sara balls her fists. “I want to get out of here so fucking bad. I’m so sick of this shit.”

I don’t know what to say, but I can relate. We all can. I place my hand on Sara’s thigh.

Sara looks at me again. “Do you think we can survive this?”

I’m no good at lying, but I do it. “Sure we can.” Truth is, I think about dying constantly, but I push those thoughts from my head when they enter it.

“What are you guys talking about?” Katie says, straining her neck to listen.

“Nothing,” I say. Sara closes her eyes again, and I look out the window. We’ve entered the expressway. So far, I see no zombies.