Dead of Knight: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale (20 page)

I pulled away very slowly to keep the noise down and headed around the back of the mall away from the zombie horde in front of Target.  A few zombies looked up as we left but none were interested enough to give chase.  The drive only took a few minutes.

There were only 20 or so cars in front of Sears.  A few had zombie occupants but the rest were empty.  And there, by the door, was a Blue Rhino propane exchange.  I pulled right up alongside and we got out.  A few blows from a hammer and the exchange was open.  There were ten full tanks and we took them all. 

“This will make one hell of an explosion.  But we also need a burn.  We still need gas,” said Tony.

“You’re right,” I said, burying my face in my hands.  “I’m just so fucking tired right now.  What time is it?”

“Almost noon.”

“Shit.  Four hours of this crap.   Let me get a granola bar.”  I grabbed an energy bar out of my back pack and wolfed it done.  I followed it up with some Gatorade.  When I finished, I said out loud, to no one in particular, “Whose idea was this anyway?”

“Yours, don’t you remember?’ said Mike, smiling.  “C’mon Ryan.  Let’s get this done.  Same as last time.”

We pulled the doors open a little and killed the few zombies there.  Most had probably been staggering down the halls of the mall to get to the music on the other side.  The outdoor section, what little there was with Christmas in full swing was just inside to the right.  This would be a ‘run in and grab shit’ operation.  We made it out with 9 gas cans and a few bottles of 2 cycle oil as 4 zombies were staggering up.

I drove across the street to a gas station and we used the hand pump to fill 7 of the cans with gas.  Then we filled 2 of the cans with diesel from the tank of a large truck with a very angry zombie inside.  While Mike put the diesel in the bus and refilled the tanks to take home, I put detergent and oil in the gas cans and shook them up.  On the way back to the mall, we went over the plan.

“I think we strap the flares to the propane tanks ahead of time.  Let’s use five and take the rest home to cook with,” I said.  “When we get there, we get as close as we can in the bus and toss the gas cans into the mob.  We light the flares next and roll the propane tanks toward them.  Then we move a safe distance away.”

“Then we shoot them with the AR’s,” said Tony.

“And we watch the bastards burn,” said Mike.

Turns out that tossing a gas can full of gas is harder than you think.  It’s heavy, at about 6lbs per gallon.  We ended up parking the bus, getting out and walking up as close as we dared before heaving the cans in the general direction of the zombies.  Some went where we wanted.  The propane tanks were easier when we set up a little method.  We got as close to the horde as we could and while Tony kept watch, I lit the flare and Mike rolled it towards the zombies.  The zombies paid little attention to the burning flares.  The whole process was ugly for sure, but nobody got hurt.  I parked the bus about 100 yards away and the three of us got out with our rifles and formed a line.

“I’ll take the one on the left, Tony the middle and Mike on the right,” I said.

They both nodded.

“Ready? On three.  One, two, three.”

The rifles were loud but the explosion was just as loud, and more than we could’ve hoped for.  Only Tony hit his mark on the first try but Mike and I fired again and connected as soon as we could see the targets.  A few more shots found two more tanks and they added to the fire. 

It looked like a scene out of a movie.  I didn’t think anything could survive.  Most of the zombies were burning, some more than others.  The ones closest to the gas cans were covered with the gooey, fiery mess.  Many more had been injured from the explosion.  Some were already on the pavement not moving.  I’m not sure I could be more pleased with the results.

“We’ll probably lose the mall because of the burning zombie mess.  Some are bound to stagger over that way,” observed Tony.

“I never liked that mall anyway,” I replied.

The looters bodies were still in the truck as we drove by.

Back at the house, the group ate lunch before unloading the truck.  Tabby was paying a lot of attention to Mike and he was paying it right back.  For the rest of us, the talk was about the next few days.  Everyone seemed happy about all the supplies except for me.  And, I was getting angry.

“I don’t think you guys understand the reality of our situation.  Let’s say we have food and water now for five months.  That sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?  But, it’s May.  That’s it, May.  How many times have you said ‘Gosh, where did the spring go?’  Or even, ‘where did the year go?’  Are we going to have a yard full of vegetables in May?  Will we have a smoke house full of meat?  Will there be enough rainwater collected?  I don’t have the answers to these questions, people.  What if our soil is crap?  Do any of you know how to process a deer?  I sure as shit don’t.  Can we even get enough water from rain to begin with?”

“Ryan, you make it sound like we’re on the verge of dying,” said Karen.

“We are.  Just ask Lois.  That was just 24 hours ago.”

“Ryan, calm down.  We always figure it out,” said Sam.  She put her hand on my leg to try to comfort me.  It didn’t work.

“How can I be calm, Samantha?  Modern life doesn’t prepare us for this kinda crap.  We’re all fat and lazy.  Can anyone make soap?  Candles?  If we get vegetables does anyone know how to can them anymore?  We can’t sit here and pat ourselves on the back.  And now we have to worry about other humans taking what we’ve gathered and killing us in the process.”

I stood up and grabbed my crossbow.

“I am not losing anyone else,” I said and headed for the garage.

Out back, I spent some time practicing with the crossbow.  I wanted to improve my reload time as well.  By focusing on quick and efficient reloads and hitting the target I was slowly improving.  More shots hit where I wanted them to hit and I was getting the shots off more quickly.

Suddenly, I realized that I wasn’t alone.  After reloading I turned quickly, half expecting to find that zombies had gotten into the yard.  But, instead it was the rest of the group coming out into the backyard.  As the anger of being snuck up on faded, it was replaced by a sense of both embarrassment and pride.  Each person was in their gear:  from knives, to tomahawks, to AR’s and crossbows.  Even Mal had his knife and a crossbow.

“Hey, boss man,” Mike called out.  “You’re right, we’re sorry.”

“Yeah, Ryan,” said Karen.   “We’ve got to stay on top of this stuff.  It’s life and death now and if don’t stay on top of it we won’t get through it.”

“I love you,” said Sam.  “You’re doing a fantastic job of keeping us all safe.  We’re all behind you on this.”

Lois came up and put her arms around me and held on for a moment.  This meant a lot.  Tony reached out his hand and I took it.

“You’re obviously doing a good job, Ryan.  Keep it up.”

“What’s the plan, daddy?” asked Tabby.

I had to pause for a minute as tears welled up in my eyes.  I’ve never felt so much love at one time.  It was overwhelming.  And, I felt horrible.

“No, it’s me who should be apologizing to you guys.  I was out of line in there.  We’re all doing our best and I was being mean.  My bad.  There’s always just so much to do.  It’s overwhelming.”

“Let us help, honey,” said Sam, taking my hand.  “God knows, we’re all in this together.”

“Okay, we’ll spend some time tonight after dinner going over ways we can divide all the necessary tasks that we’re faced with,” I said.  “It’s a good idea.  Thank you.”  I reached down and put my arm around my daughter.

“Now, to answer your question, Tabby.  The first thing we need to do is get the bus unloaded except for whatever the Millers need.  We need to figure out what the supply runs for the next few days are going to be, too.  I think we ought to also consider doing an inventory both here and at the Millers.”

“We should do that first,” said Sam.  “We don’t know what supplies we need until we see what we have.”

“True, if we keep getting water but run out of food, we’re just as dead,” I said.  “Can we get an inventory done by the end of the day tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I think so,” said Sam.  “With the ladies and the kids helping, of course.”

“We are definitely going to need firewood, though,” said Lois.

“We can make a firewood run tomorrow while the inventory gets done,” I replied.

“You know, boss,” Mike said.  “I see a lot of trees around here.”

“You have what we need to chop down one of these big trees smartass? Bedside’s, this time of year there should be plenty of places that are, well, were selling firewood.  I’m already thinking of a couple.  We should collect that first.”

“We also talked about clearing the neighborhood,” said Tony.

“And, I still think that’s something we need to do,” I said.  “Let’s get the firewood first. Then clear the neighborhood.  Then with the inventory done we can plan what to do next.”

“I like it,” said Sam.

“Works for me,” said Mike.

Beth, Lois, Karen and Tony all nodded in agreement.

“I like it, too,” added Tabby.

“Well, then,” I said.  “It’s a plan.  Why don’t the rest of you practice on the crossbow while we get the Millers home?”

Tony and Beth went with Mike and I to split up what was in the bus.  I had thought that most of what we got on the run today would go to the Millers but they seemed to disagree.  Tony certainly wasn’t going to take the entire haul.

“We don’t need all this,” he said.

“It’s just the two of us,” added Beth.

“We went out today, in part, to get you supplies,” I said.

“You guys are part of the group,” said Mike.

“And we’re helping each other out here,” I said.  “We need the extra manpower and I like having you at the other end of the neighborhood with a radio.”

“Thank you, guys.  We appreciate the help, we really do.  It’s just…” Beth was trying to voice her concerns but I stepped in as we pulled up to their door.

“Beth, I know we’re doing okay, but let’s look at this a different way.  What if we have all the supplies at our house and we get raided?  We’re screwed.  Even from just a security standpoint it makes sense to split our supplies up some.”

“That makes sense,” admitted Tony.

“If you don’t want all of this, that’s fine,” I said.  “But, let’s get most of it inside.  Beth, can you keep watch?”

She nodded and the three of us went to work unloading the bus.  It always takes less time to unload than to fill it up.  When we were done, Mike and I were invited to stay for a few minutes.

The Millers house was small but it suited them perfectly.  It had an efficient layout and the space was used effectively.  You could tell that they were already somewhat self-sufficient.  The pantry was organized and stocked.  It was decided that we’d come back and get the Millers in the morning.  Beth would spend the day at the house helping with inventory and Tony would help on the firewood run.

“Tony, do you have plywood to board up the windows?” I asked.

“Not like you, no.  I usually tape the windows in a storm,” he said.  “I’m not too worried.  As long as we’re quiet…”

“Well,” I replied.  “Think some more on it, though.  There’s a lumber yard over on Maybank that we’re going to go by on the run tomorrow.”

“I will.  You guys have a good evening.  Be safe,” Tony said.

“And thank the ladies for me, Ryan,” said Beth.

“I will,” I replied.

“Ryan…”  It was Beth again.  I turned around to face her.  She walked up to me.

“You’re doing a good job over there.  I’m glad you found us.”

“Thank you.”

Back at the house, Mal and Tabby were eager to show me their crossbow skills.  I was tired.  Well, tired didn’t quite cut it.  But, I hadn’t spent much time with them and couldn’t resist.  Both of them shot pretty well, even Mal, who couldn’t hold the crossbow up for long.  Of course, that was without something shambling up, trying to eat them.  Even Tabby’s kill yesterday had been with her standing next to me.  Neither could reload very well.  They just didn’t have the strength.  Still, I was impressed with their skill and their determination to learn and contribute.

Inside the house, the supplies were being organized by type, item and expiration date.  Everyone was helping and Samantha seemed pleased with the progress.

“Ryan, can you handle the inventory of the weapons for me?” she asked.

“Sure, as long as I can do it later.  How are you guys doing in there?” I asked.

“Good.  But, we’re really just getting stuff organized.  We’ll start counting tomorrow,” she replied.

I grabbed a soda, pad of paper, pen and a lantern.  It was dark with the windows boarded up.  I settled into my recliner and started taking notes.  I was unaware of what was going on around me.  People came and went from the room and the kids played nearby.  Dinner was started and apparently, I even answered a few questions.  I say that because I was truly surprised when the Millers showed up.  Sam had asked me if they could come back over for dinner.  I had no recollection of the conversation.  Which bothered me in two ways.  First, I was obviously more tired than I thought I was.  Second, how were they getting back after dark?  I guess Mike and I would follow them back.