Dead of Knight: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale (15 page)

“We were attacked, Sam.  Four guys in a pickup truck kept us from getting out of the Costco by shooting up in the air and attracting zombies.  I had forgotten about the apartment complex next to the Costco and it had maybe 60 zombies out in front.  We were almost ready to go when it happened and we tried to get to the bus…”

Lois was crying louder now.

“I want to see him,” she said.

“Of course,” I replied.  “Karen, take your cross and go keep a lookout for the zombies, please.  Yell if you need anything.  I’ll be right here.”

Mike and Lois went out to the bus with Karen standing guard.  I leaned up against the Land Cruiser and began to cry.  Sam held on tight.

“Mike and Michael held off the horde of zombies while I got into the bus and got the door open for them.  Michael was bit in the arm and Mike pulled him inside.  This virus or whatever, is so fucking fast.  He went in just moments. I pulled over and was with him when he died.  Then, I…  I took care of him so Mike wouldn’t have to.  I’ve got his eye fluid on my face, Sam.  Fuck.  But, I couldn’t let Mike do it.”  I was shaking pretty good at this point as the events rushed past in my head.

“I’m sorry,” was all she said.  What else could she say?  I managed to get myself under control after a minute.

“How are the kids?” I asked.

“They’re fine.  They’re playing up in Tabby’s room.  I don’t even think they know you’re back yet.  Ryan. What happened to the guys in the pickup truck?”

I stood up a little straighter and looked my wife in the eye.  I wasn’t going to sugar coat what had happened:  what was still going on.

“I killed them.  They followed us and closed in to finish us off just after Michael died,” I said.  “I killed three of them and let Mike kill the last one.”

“Oh, my God.”  Sam held her hand over her mouth as if she was afraid something would get in.

“I told you, Sam,” I continued to look her in the eye.  “I told you I’d protect you and I will.  Whatever it takes.”

Something changed in Samantha right then.  I don’t know if it was the final realization of what was happening around us or sadness that this was hurting me so much.  I never did ask.  She laid her head on my chest.

“Thank you, Ryan.  For keeping us safe.  I’ve never loved you more than I do right this minute, Ryan Knight.  I’m sorry that this is happening and I’m sorry that it’s hurting you.  But, thank you for protecting us.”

“Always.”

Mike and his mother came back into the garage.  She was crying pretty loudly.  It was understandable but she needed to be inside now.  I could see the indecision in Mike’s eyes.

“Sam, Karen, please help Mike and Lois as much as you can.  Mike, take as long as you need.  I’ll lock up the bus.  He’ll be safe while I dig the grave out back.”

“I’ll come help you,” said Mike.

“No, stay with your mother,” I said. “The living are more important right now.  Come out back only when you’re ready.”

I went out to close up the bus, breaking my own rules.  I should’ve had a lookout, especially now after what happened.  Back in the garage, I closed the door and grabbed my two shovels.  I had to take care of Michael and I also had to be quick.  The bus full of supplies would make a great target if someone was looking.  Before leaving the garage though, I opened the door into the house and called for Thor.  He was happy to come out back with me.

Despite being in a hurry, I threw the tennis ball for Thor every few minutes.  The dog was beside himself with happiness at chasing the ball.  There was no reason that the zombie apocalypse had to me hard on the dog.  And it gave me a chance to smile.

Mike came out about 30 minutes later and grabbed a shovel.  He went straight to work on the grave.

“How’s your mother?”

“A little better.  She seems to be getting angry rather than sad, though.”

“Who’s she angry at?” I asked.

“Not you,” Mike said.  “Or me.  She’s just angry at the situation.”

“That could be good, I guess.  How are you?”

“Also pretty fucking angry.  Sorry…”

“Hey, you just lost your dad.  You can be pretty fucking angry if you want.  I’m pretty fucking angry myself.  Just try not to say it in front of the kids, okay?”

“Okay, I just thought the zombies were bad enough.  I don’t want to have to kill survivors.”

“I don’t want to either,” I said.  “But, I want to stay alive and keep my family alive.  So, I’m gonna do what’s necessary to come home to my family.”

“I get that, Ryan.  I do.  But I shot that guy today because I was angry.  That, I don’t feel good about.”

“We both fired out of anger at those guys.  And maybe they all had families, too.  But they tried to kill us today Mike.  And they succeeded in getting one of us.  There was no way I was going to let them go so they could try again.  I do not regret what we did.  That doesn’t make it easy or right.  But it was necessary.”

“Yeah, I see that.”

“Good, dig for a bit.”

A few more throws of the ball made Thor happy enough to bark several times.  I hadn’t meant to do that.  Sure enough, a couple of minutes went by and 3 zombies came into the neighbor’s yard and staggered up to the fence.

“All we need,” I said.  “Is another fence over there next to that house and that‘ll keep them away from here.  It would make us a little safer.”  Mike looked over and nodded.

“Shouldn’t be too hard to put up a fence with all the stuff that’s lying around.”  He pointed to the zombies.  “You want a hand?”

“Nah, I got this.  And I need the practice apparently.”

I took my time killing the 3 zombies.  They couldn’t climb over the fence and 3 weren’t gonna to push it over, either.  So, it was more like target practice.  I hit all 3 without missing then hopped the fence to collect the bolts.  A few more throws for Thor then I picked up the shovel and went back to work.  Thirty minutes later we were done.

“You and your mom decide what you want to wrap him in.  We could use a blanket from our house if you’d like or grab one from next door.  Or, maybe you have something in the RV?”

Mike went back into the house with Thor and me on his heels.  Sam and Karen were sitting on the sofa with Lois.  It looked like they were taking good care of her.  Mike went over and sat down on the floor in front of the sofa.  She did her best to smile down at him.

“All done?” she asked.

“Yeah, Mom.  We just have to decide what to wrap him in.”

“We’ve been talking about that.  If it’s all right with you, there’s a blanket in the RV that we brought from home.  The quilt that your grandmother made.  I think he’d like that.”

“That’s fine with me, mom.”

“I’ll go and take care of that.”

“No, Ryan.  Thank you.  That’s my job.  Mine and my son’s.  I would like very much if you would watch over us.”

“I will.”

I went first, raising the garage door slowly to keep the noise down.  The front was clear.  Mike and Lois came out next and went to the RV.  When they came out of the RV Lois had a beautiful patchwork quilt.  Michael’s mother had indeed put a lot of work into that.  I opened the driver’s side door to the bus and reached in to toggle the passenger door.  Then I closed the door quietly and stepped away.

Without so many humans, the world was beautifully quiet.  It was strangely quiet at first but I had come to appreciate the lack of noise.  But, not today.  Today it was too quiet.  I could hear Lois singing a hymn softly while crying.  I had been in the church choir as a boy but that had only been because my mother made me.  And, it was a long time ago.  My mother was surely dead now.  Or a zombie, which was almost the same.  Still, the cry laced hymn and Lois’ dedication to her husband brought tears to my eyes.

I sensed movement and turned to see Lois exiting the bus and coming around the front towards me.

“Ryan, can you help Mike carry him?”

“Of course, Lois.”

I handed her my crossbow and ducked into the bus.  Mike and I carried Michael’s body through the garage and into the backyard next to the grave.  We laid him gently on the grass.  I went back into the garage and found that Lois had already closed the passenger door to the bus and was closing the garage door as well, even in her grief.  I turned to find Sam at the door to the house.

“Is it time?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“My mom is going to play with the kids while we’re out back.  I want to keep… all this… from them as long as possible.”

I nodded.  We held hands as we walked into the backyard near the shed where Mike and I had dug the grave.  I stopped suddenly and shuddered.  Sam must have seen something in my eyes that she didn’t like.

“What, Ryan?  You look terrified suddenly.”

“It’s just that… I had an image pass through my mind’s eye.  But it’s gone now.”

“What was it?” she asked.

“More graves back here near the shed.  Like a family plot or plantation graveyard.”

Sam didn’t know what to say and she just looked into my eyes.  I thought she was searching for something but I wasn’t looking at her.  Not really.  I was looking past her at the graves in my mind.

“Ryan, I hope we survive all this and generations later the image you saw comes true.  But, not because we’re dead.  Because we lived.  And you and I are buried here.  And Tabby and Mal.  But because we lived long lives full of love and we never left our home.”

The thought was mildly comforting and I managed a little smile for her.  I had no beautiful illusions like that though.  We walked to the other side of the grave from Lois and Mike.

“I’d like to say a few words, Ryan,” Lois said.

I just nodded.  Lois took a deep breath and turned her face toward the heavens.

“Dear Lord, I know that we don’t talk much but I hope that you can see in my heart that I am a believer.  Michael was a good man, a worthy husband and a patient father.  He did his best and that is all anybody can ask of a person.  I loved him very much and I will miss him very much.  Please take him into your arms and grant him everlasting peace in these trying times.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.”

Lois looked over to her son who shook his head.  We all grieve in our own way and I thought Mike was handling this very well considering what we’ve all been through.  Lois then looked at me.  I hadn’t planned on talking.  This wasn’t my kind of thing but I found myself nodding back and clearing my throat anyway.

“If you had asked me just a few weeks ago if I had ever believed that something like this could happen, I’d probably have laughed at you.  And yet, here we are at, what could be the very end of the world fighting for our very survival.  It’s hard to believe that I’ve only known you folks for just over 24 hours.  But, we’ve all been through so much in such a short amount of time.  Michael stepped up and did what was needed to protect his family.  You can’t ask anything more of a person.  His death will not only be felt by your family but by my family, our family as well.  I am truly sorry for your loss and I am happy to have known Michael.”

“Thank you, Ryan.”

“Thanks, Ryan,” added Mike.

I nodded toward Michael’s head and Mike moved to his father’s feet.  We reached down and grabbed our ends of the body and lifted.  A few side steps later we placed Michael down into the hole, getting on our knees to do so.

Lois reached down and carefully took a handful of dirt.  She got down on her knees and whispered a few words to her husband that I couldn’t hear.  Then she gently sprinkled the dirt onto his body.  Then she stood and patiently waited for Mike to do the same.  When he was done, Mike led his mother back into the house.

Sam and I grabbed the two shovels and silently covered the body.  It only took a few minutes to fill the hole which had taken so long to dig.  After, I leaned on the shovel and stared down at the grave.  Sam came over and put her hand on my shoulder as Thor laid at our feet.

“We’re gonna need a marker of some kind,” she said.

“We can work on that tonight, if Lois wants us to.”

“Okay, that works.”  I put my arms around my wife and pulled her tightly to me.  “I don’t want to do this again.”

“What can we do differently?” she asked.

“I don’t know yet.  But we need to unload the bus for starters.  Then I want to move it.  It draws attention.”

We picked up our crossbows and carried our shovels back into the garage.  I opened the door quietly and looked out front.  Clear.  After toggling the passenger door, we went into the bus.  Sam looked down at the blood on the floor.

“We’ll have to clean that up.”

“Damn, yeah I forgot.  Gimme a minute.  Keep an eye out.”

I went back into the garage and emerged with some rags and some cleaner.  A few minutes later there was no longer any evidence of Michael’s death on the floor of the bus.  I was not sure if that was good or bad.

“Where are we gonna put all this,” asked Sam.  “You guys got a lot and that’s great.  Don’t get me wrong.  But, it’s a lot of supplies.  Should we move the Land Cruiser and put it in the garage.”

“No, no way,” I said.  “It’s important that we keep the Land Cruiser in the garage so we can load it safely in case something really bad happens and we have to leave in a hurry.  We’ll have to stack this in the craft room.”