Deadrise (6 page)

Chapter 4

Thursday, June 21, 2001

Salt Lake City, UT

10:13 AM

Four days had passed, the four longest days of all their lives. They did little besides eat, sleep, and huddle around the radio, listening through the static for change in the Emergency Broadcast System which continually looped the conditions of martial law, turning in the sick and dead, and established rescue stations.

It was on the fifth day that the power went out. They had been huddled around the radio, as usual, a breakfast of soup and water in their hands when the lights flickered and went out, plunging the room into darkness.

"Oh shit." Frank muttered. "I knew the power would go out eventually."

"Where is the flashlight?" David's voice came from the darkness.

"I got it. Just a minute." Matt said. He fumbled under his bed and found the flashlight. The beam sliced the darkness, casting all of their faces in shadows.

"What are we going to do?" Sharon asked. "How are we going to get the power back on?" They could all hear the edge of panic creeping into her voice. Frank reached out in the darkness and took his wives hand.

"I think it's just about time to leave this place." Frank said. He felt her hand tighten, and he could sense her about to protest, but he gave her hand a gentle squeeze and she remained silent.

"I don't know if I can face those things again."

"Sharon you've got to be strong now." Frank's voice was low, but there was no masking the seriousness. "You've got to. All of our lives depend on us looking out for one another. This is no time for weakness. I know it's hard, but you've got to stay strong." He hugged his wife tight, trying to feel the strength he portrayed.

"Load up with cans of food." Zack said. "Who knows when we'll see another chance to resupply?"

In the feeble light provided by the flashlight, they loaded their packs with spare cans of Spam, soup and pork and beans. Frank had been smart enough to bring a trio of canteens and he filled them with fresh water from one of the barrels. With that accomplished, they gathered their weapons, and left the safety of the bomb shelter, into the lurking danger of the school above…

Zack opened the storage room door a crack and peered out into the dark hallway. At the west end daylight poured in from the doors on the south wall, the hallway was quiet as a tomb and just as empty.

"The coast is clear." he whispered, and emerged into the hallway. As everyone moved into the hallway, Zack crept towards the main hall T-junction. To the right were the main offices, and one creature was stumbling in circles near the main doors. To the left, down the long hallway at the south end of the main hall three more zombies roamed and beyond them was the doorway they had first come into the school. Zack crept back and relayed the information.

"We need a bigger vehicle." Frank said. "One we all can ride in and make it easier to defend ourselves."

"What about those school buses?" Zack asked.

"Good idea." Frank piped up. "There were three of them out by the driving range. We can pile into the wagon and drive over there. I can hot-wire the bus and we can get the hell out of here."

"A bus will plow through those deadfucks like bowling pins." Matt said.

"Lets move." Zack said. They charged down the hall, killing the three creatures long before they reached them. Matt reached the door first and peered out the windows, being careful not to be seen by the creatures outside.

And there were creatures aplenty. The nearest was several feet from the doors, but just a few steps from the station wagon and 4x4, which still sat undisturbed where they had parked them.

"OK, now remember the plan! No matter what happens!" Zack said. The plan had been formulated during the three days of tranquil boredom. The plan was simple. Reach Rainbow Lake, where there was refuge at their friends cabin. They had told Frank and his family how to find the lake and exact directions to the cabin just incase they became separated. In that event, Rainbow Lake was to be where they regrouped with one another. Matt flung the door open, stepping out into full view, attracting the attention of every zombie within two hundred feet. Zack and Frank joined him out on the concrete landing, and they began blasting away at the creatures near the vehicles. Over a dozen zombies went down in a hail of bullets and they moved towards the station wagon.

Frank unlocked the drivers door with shaky hands as Matt and Zack killed the few straggling zombies that wandered towards them. Once everyone had piled into the wagon, (and it was quite a tight fit) Frank had them rolling across the lot. When they reached the row of yellow buses, Zack was out of the wagon before it even stopped rolling. The nearest zombies were at least one hundred feet away, but steadily advancing. Matt kept watch while the Young's pulled their luggage and food from the back of the wagon. Zack tried the door of the bus.

"Its locked!" he screamed. But wasting no time, he moved ten feet down the side of the bus and smashed out one of the passenger windows with the butt of his rifle and pulled himself up into the bus. He ran to the front of the vehicle and pulled the lever to open the door open.

While his family carried their luggage and supplies aboard the bus, Frank clambered beneath the wheel to hot-wire it while Zack and Matt stood guard outside, watching the zombies who were now only fifty feet away.

The bus engine roared to life. "Let’s hit the road!" Frank called from the drivers seat. Zack and Matt hurried aboard, Frank closed the door behind them and got under way…

Chapter 5

Thursday, June 21, 2001

Salt Lake City, UT

7:06 PM

The morning hours melted into afternoon and with it their hopes of an easy escape from the city. While many of the residential and business districts were fairly free of abandon cars, most of the major traffic arteries, as well as every freeway exit or entrance in the city were so crammed with wrecked or abandon vehicles that they were impassable, especially for a school bus. To make matters worse the number of zombies roaming the streets had increased tenfold in just a few days and were nearly everywhere in the city. Rarely did they make their way through some neighborhood without seeing several zombies scattered down the street, wandering aimlessly up and down from yard to yard. And whenever the bus passed the zombies it drew their attention, and the zombies began to stumble awkwardly after them. As for those that got in their way, the bus steamrolled them like bowling pins, just like Matt said.

The summer heat also added to their discomfort. By noon the inside of the bus was stifling. By four o'clock, it was sweltering. They had opened all the windows on the bus, but the breeze was tinged with a sweetly sour aroma of decay. Their single bright light was the C/B radio, set on a frequency where a live newscast was ordering the evacuation of Salt Lake City. There were emergency relief stations located at the University of Utah Hospital Campus, The Salt Lake International Airport, Hill Air Force Base, and Fort Douglas. In a voice that sounded borderline hysterical, the announcer reported of fires raging uncontrollably across the Wasatch Front. That power was off in over half of the city, and the rest expected to fail within a week’s time. The reporter cleared his throat and also reported that rioting and looting was widespread. And finally, as if an after thought, it was confirmed that the recently dead were returning to life and attacking and devouring the living.

The afternoon became evening, and the temperature cooled. They had rotated drivers, and now Frank was seated behind the wheel once again. The live report on the radio was gone and now it repeated the same EBS information they had heard on the radio down in the shelter. Sharon slept a few seats back, curled into a ball. Matt and David passed a Gameboy back and forth, while Susan sat at the back of the bus, staring out the window. Zack rode shotgun, standing in the stairwell with his back against the handrail.

"I think we're beating a dead horse." Frank said wearily. "If we want out of this city, were going to have to ditch the bus."

"There has to be a way." Zack said.

"The only way is through one of the rescue stations. And the military will be there."

"You know they will take our guns." Matt said from behind.

Frank looked at the instruments disapprovingly. "We’re practically on fumes. Twenty more minutes and we’ll be pushing this bus."

"Well then that should be our first priority. Find someplace to refuel."

"I knew we should have left with Adam and Kelly." Zack said. Everyone fell silent again.

Matt looked to the back of the bus where Susan stared out the window, her eyes haunted. He walked back there and sat beside her.

"How you doing?"

"About as good as could be expected I suppose." her voice was flat, and her eyes never left the window.

"I know the situation looks pretty bad."

"Bad? It's totally fucked!" She said, her voice suddenly angry.

"You're right." Matt said with a wry chuckle. "It is pretty fucked. But once we get out of the city and up to our friends property, everything will be ok." He wondered if he was trying to convince her or himself?

"Whatever." she said. "Don't you think there will be zombies up in the mountains? I mean, everybody left the city, and a whole bunch them must have went up into the mountains." This was the most she had talked since they had fled the house after the firefight with her ex-boyfriend Benny.

"Probably, but there won't be as many of them. And the rough terrain will make it hard for them to get around. We can handle them easily." Now he knew he was trying to convince himself...

It took them half an hour, which was ten minutes longer than Frank had given them, but they finally found a gas station that wasn't clogged with abandoned traffic or swarming with zombies. As they pulled into the dark lot, the headlights illuminated five zombies lurking about.

"I sure hope the power is on." Zack said.

Frank looked about. "The street lights are on." He pulled the bus into a refueling slot, but left the engine running. In the side mirror, he could see the first zombie bump into the side of the bus.

"What do you guys think?" asked Zack.

"The lights on the pump are off. I don’t think they have power." Frank said. "We're going to have to go inside and turn them on." In the side mirror he could see the zombie moving toward the bus door. Another one appeared behind it.

"Open the door Frank." Matt said, shouldering his rifle. Frank pulled the lever and the double doors swung open. Matt stepped outside, aiming at the first zombie; a gangly, teenaged boy wearing blue jeans and nothing else. His naked torso looked brutally mauled. It was six feet away when he put a bullet through its brain. It crumpled silently and he took aim and killed the second one.

Zack joined him outside the bus. "Close the door. We'll go inside and turn on the pumps."

They ran across the dark lot to the main building. The door was locked, but Matt put a round through the lock and the door opened.

"Definitely a habit." Zack muttered and turned on his flashlight. They followed the beam behind the counter.

"Here are the pump controls." Matt said. "But I don't see a power switch."

Zack swung the beam around. "Here's a door."

Matt held his rifle ready while Zack stood to the side and swung the door open, aiming the flashlight beam inside.

"Clear." Matt said after a moment. They stepped inside to a small room. There was a desk with a floor safe beneath it, a large ice machine for the fountain machines, and a large gray power box. A small digital clock plugged into the wall sat on the desk, reading 9:35 PM.

"Jackpot. Look at the clock, we still got power." Zack said smugly. He scanned the flashlight around the door until he found a light switch. He flipped it and a small bulb above lit up.

"You take care of the pumps. I'm dying for a candy bar." Matt exited the office, plucking the flashlight from Zack’s hand. Zack opened the electrical panel and studied it a moment before flipping the breakers for the pumps.

Matt had unwrapped a candy bar and was eating it and was now busy loading a plastic bag with candy and chips. "I'm so sick of Spam and sardines. After we gas up the bus were going to have to clean this place out for food."

"Agreed." Zack was examining the pump controls. He pushed a few buttons. "That should do it. I think we-"

"Oh shit!" Matt’s exclamation cut Zack off. He looked up to see an old Army jeep pulling into the station behind the bus.

"Get down." Zack said, ducking below the counter. Despite the light in the office, the interior of the station was still dark, and there was a good chance they hadn't been seen. He crawled from behind the counter to join Matt near the door.

"We're screwed." Matt hissed.

"We have to stay cool Matt. We have to stay cool. You saw what they did to the Clancy's." The memory was still fresh in both their minds.

"I hope Frank doesn't try anything stupid…"

"Shit." Frank muttered as he watched the jeep roll up on the driver’s side. A spotlight attached to the driver's door shone into the bus.