Infected: They Will Eat You!: A Story of Family Survival in a Zombie Apocalypse (14 page)

By the time I reached Washington Boulevard I had shot two. They were not here the other day so those had been attracted to the area. I detoured east to check out the “battle ground” I had seen before and I wanted to check out the gun store.

I stood for a few minutes assessing the area. There was one infected close to the Penn Street intersection a block away from where there was a barricade of vehicles and bodies scattered on the ground. Every building in the area had bullet holes in it and window glass covered the sidewalks.

On the right was a church that spanned the entire block. If there’s a place to find survivors, or a mob of infected, it would be a church. On the left were three smaller buildings housing restaurants downstairs and apartments upstairs and an old bakery, not a small shop but a four story baking plant. It was partially renovated into office space and a restaurant but was mostly vacant. The next block was lined by various businesses and their parking lots. In the following block, about mid-way, was the gun store. Most of the south side of the street was an old cemetery.

There was no danger evident so I started to walk toward the barricade.

At mid-block I stopped to take aim at the infected and fired. The round went through its head and made a dull ping as it collided with a vehicle behind the target. Immediately the infected beyond the barricade turned and started moving in the direction of the noise. There were nine that I could see coming on the right, more could be hidden by the trucks and cars and from around the corners.

I stood frozen for a moment. Finally glancing around to make sure nothing was coming up behind me I decided to stay put and just shoot any infected that came within range. This was an open intersection with plenty of escape routes.

“
Let’s move forward a bit
.” I encouraged myself and walked slowly. “
Here we go, this is close enough.
”

I was within eighty yards of the intersection when I stopped and started picking off the infected as they rounded the barricade. Two came around the corner to the left followed by four from that side of a truck. I put a bullet through the chest of one that collided with the truck. The infected turned. I shot another, and another, each time the bullet hitting the metal of the truck attracted the infected.

By now they were coming around the barricades from both sides heading for wherever the last bullet hit. Within a few minutes twenty-six lay heaped in the street by the trucks. I looked around, switched magazines and took a deep breath. This was the first large group that I had encountered. One and two at a time, and at a distance, they had not been an issue but a group that had become aware of your presence would be another matter.

Walking slowly toward the barricade I could see that there had been a bigger fight here than I first thought. Bodies covered the street to the north and south of the intersection. Most were obviously infected others appeared to not be. Most of those were half eaten, the body cavity torn open and entrails spilled out or missing. The stench was unbearable, so much so that I had to quickly move past without checking for ammo or usable items. It was not quickly enough, I stopped and started puking and gasping for air, eyes watering and flies swarming around me. With every gasp flies were sucked into my mouth. I was spitting and gasping and now running holding my breath. I needed to escape the cloud of stench and bugs.

It was nearly two blocks away that I stopped. I had run out of the stench and most of the insects and right into a group of infected. Backing up I fired as this mob of more than a dozen moved in my direction. I turned to find cover and realized that in my haste to escape the oppressive air and bugs I had run past infected that were now converging on me.

My choices were, stand and fight two groups coming from opposite directions, try the door of the closest building not knowing what was waiting inside or heading for the cemetery. I ran for the cemetery gate.

This cemetery was a city block square with a two foot stone wall topped by five feet of rot iron fencing built in the early 1800’s. I pushed the gate closed hoping this would slow the infected, and then ran along the fence, all of the followed me down the fence line ignoring the gate.

Backing ten or so yards away the fence I started firing. Their focus was directly on me. They were reaching through the iron bars snarling and hissing, not one tried to climb or find a way in. Their single focus was on me and they took a direct line to my location. Once I fully recognized this the stress level diminished and in less than a minute they were dispatched. They had been in such a mass at the fence that some shots took out two at a time. Scanning the area I could see more but none were responding to the recent commotion. I sat on a tombstone and took a drink of water and called home.

“Hey, over”

“Hi honey, I miss you, over.” Christine answered.

“How are your guys? over.”

“We’re fine, nothing new here. Are you OK? over.”

“Yeah, but just had some excitement. The intersection of Washington and Penn has a barricade of trucks and cars and there are corpses all over. They smell so bad it made me throw up and the flies are swarming all over that area, over.”

“You threw up? over.”

“Yeah, the smell got to me. I ran from the flies and smell and didn’t pay attention and attracted infected. I got them all though, over.”

“You should come home now, I’m worried about you, over.”

“Everything’s fine now. I learned a few more things that’s all, and put down more infected, both good things, over.”

“Just be careful and stay away from bodies, over.”

“Yeah, I’ll call back on schedule, I love you, out.”

“I love you too, out.”

The day was getting warm, the sky was vibrant blue and void of clouds. I sat and watched two Robbins in a tree and a squirrel digging in the grass. One more swig of water and I let out a groan as I stood. My mussels were tense and stiff.

“
I need a vacation
.”

I stretched then got moving. My first stop was the gun shop about fifty yards back toward the barricade. It shouldn’t be so close that I’d attract the flies but within thirty steps in that direction the smell was getting more oppressive. As I got closer to the gun shop I could see the mess inside, the windows and door were broken and bullet holes riddled the outside of the building. Standing in the doorway I could see that the scattered glass was not caused by bullets alone, there were bricks and a four foot pipe lying just inside. The gun cases where hand guns were displayed were empty as well as the racks on the walls that held rifles. Ammo was gone.

“
Now what
.” I had two objectives today and I’d done both to the extent that I was willing but I had no contingency plans. “
How ‘bout along the river, bridge, downtown, Wegman’s?
”

I was still expecting to find a huge group of infected somewhere, they could be spread out like what I’d been finding but people congregate so places where there were more people may have more infected. Or had people tried to leave and they were on the highway or in other towns? The way sound attracted them maybe a noisy place would have more standing around. That made a lot of since. I started walking toward the beltway, a highway that looped off of I-80 connecting a number of smaller towns to the major east-west artery in the state. Once there I hopped the fence and walked onto the road. It was surprisingly clear. What few cars there were sat on the shoulder or in the median so that the highway was open. I headed west, toward town and the bridge heading to Southside.

It was a half mile to the first exit where small stores and restaurants were. I could see infected through the windows at Starbucks. That exit also led to the collage just a few blocks north. From the highway I could see enough of the area to determine that it looked a lot like what I was finding, scattered infected simply standing. There were no groups or large mobs anywhere but some doors and windows broken, a few shot up buildings and cars but for the most part quiet.

The next exit was for downtown, Market Street. The bridge crossed the river where another twenty thousand or so people lived. Approaching the bridge I could see vehicles barricading the south end and as I approached I could see concrete barricades toward the middle and around to the north end. At the south end was a larger group of infected than I had seen, two or three hundred milling about.

From the bridge exit I could see Wegman’s and Kohl’s, a couple hotels and restaurants there were more infected there scattered in the parking lots. It didn’t look like that many at first but when I looked through the binoculars and started counting I determined that there were over a thousand.

Wegman’s doors were smashed and there were carts with food in them scattered in the parking lot. There was food on the ground.

“Looks like the morning after a Dead concert.”

Kohl’s windows and doors looked intact. Perkins next door was smashed up, the hotel doors looked OK. There were windows that were broken on various floors in the hotels and other buildings, probably caused by bullets.

I scanned building windows particularly the hotels and saw no movement. I looked back at the grocery store
“If the virus causes them to have an insatiable appetite I wonder why they don’t eat the food.”

Moving away from the bridge on Market the vehicles, walls and fencing became sparse. I turned down Fourth and walked past City Hall aware now that just three blocks away there were a thousand or more infected. The trucks and hummers here were the ones I planned to use when we left, knowing that the infected were so close made me question that idea.

Walking down Fourth I quickly reached houses, many had been turned into apartments servicing the collage on the west side of town. This was an area of large homes, mansions, built in the 19
th
century. At one time Williamsport was the “Lumber Capital of the World” and had more millionaires per capita than anywhere in the United States. The part of Fourth Street I was walking was known as Millionaires Row. I chose one with a large wraparound porch and sat down.

“Hi, over.”

“Hi daddy, over.”

“How are you guys? over.”

“Good, mommy’s making lunch and Caleb is helping, over.”

“Good cause I’m hungry, over.”

“Are you coming home? over.”

“I’m on my way, probably another 20 minutes or so. I’m on Fourth Street just past Maynard, over.”

“I’ll tell her you’re coming, over.”

“Good, I’ll….” I stopped talking and listened. I could hear a car, then tires squealing. “I hear a car. I’ll call back in a few minutes. Out”

“OK daddy, out.”

I was aware of Jesse’s response but was listening for the car. Tires squealed again and the engine revved. It was coming closer….maybe on Third. Then there were more tire squeals and a crash. Seconds later there was a shot, then another. I was listening so intently that I was startled by infected moving past my position toward the noise. Up and down the street they were moving slowly but all in that direction. I sat still then shot two in the back of the head as they passed through the front yard.

“Now what?”
I asked myself.

“You’ve got to go see.”
I answered.
“They may need help…..Crap.”

I stood up and shot two more to begin clearing a path. I could see infected in all directions but so far they were spread thinly. This I felt I could deal with I just didn’t want a large mob.

Another gunshot then another. I heard some very faint yelling. They were moving west.

I started to trot in the direction of the shots pausing only to shoot infected that were within my comfort zone. When I reached Third Street I could see the car, it had plowed into a tree and had three infected under it and ten or so scattered on the street. The driver must have run through a group and lost control. There was now a fairly large mob walking down the street a hundred yards in front of me with more coming behind and from every side.

I heard two more shots and started moving and firing at any infected that flowed between me and the group I was following. The yelling was getting louder. There was one more shot. I heard a scream and someone yelled “NO!”

There was a pizza shop on the corner coming up on the left and a large parking lot for the collage across the street. I slowed as I saw a group of infected in the street around the corner. As I crept forward I could see that group was huge and the middle was a frenzied mass. More infected were coming none stopping for another as they approached they hurried until the furthest back was clawing at the ones in front of it. I moved to the side of the street further away and looked back the way I’d come, hundreds were now following and more were coming from all directions.

Quickly I moved between the closest houses and hopped a chain link fence into the back yard.
Phut, phut
two went down in the alley and I jumped the fence out of the yard.

By the time I had gone five blocks the infected within view were dormant. The sound of the crash and gun fire had either not traveled this far or had not been loud enough to attract their attention. I slowed to a walk and headed home.

-——————————————

I had gone to bed early last night, now I was getting up late and in between I had not slept well. Yesterday had taken its toll physically but mostly mentally. The feeling I had when I stepped into the armory, the smell in the street, shooting kids, they had stayed with me but most of all it was the thrashing mob of infected that I kept seeing. They were like frenzied sharks biting at prey and tearing at each other. I laid there wondering if it was the smell of blood that caused them to act like that or if it was just infectious behavior.

I went to the kitchen for some coffee, Christine was there, the boys were in the living room playing a game.

“Good morning, over.” she said grinning and gave me a kiss.

“Hi.”

“You didn’t sleep well last night.”

“No. I woke up three or four times and had a hard time going back to sleep.”