Learning To Live (Zombie Overload Series) (9 page)

She
says she had been very sick the last week-
which Will and I
knew
-and had stayed in bed, sleeping right through the beginning
of the zombies up until just last night-technically two nights ago
now since it's after midnight.

She
got out of bed and took a shower, then went into the living room and
sat on the couch to watch some TV. She flipped over to the news as
she always did and couldn't believe what she was seeing! She was
watching a different broadcast than the one Will and I saw a few days
earlier, but I'm sure the one she did see, was just as bad.
No,
probably worse.
The undead multiplied quickly in those first few
days.

Bianca
watched in horror as people who should have been unable to breath,
let alone
move
, were
doing just that. She watched the killings from both the undead and
the living. Unable to comprehend that what she was seeing was, in
fact, real.

That
is, until she saw a fellow teacher-who was very strict and proper-rip
into another human being, tearing their body apart. Blood and gore
covered her face, hands, and body, which was completely
out-of-the-norm for the woman who taught-and enforced in her own
students-the use of manners, etiquette, and how to be socially
acceptable. Bianca then realized Miss Manners was gone, and in her
place was Miss Ima-gonna-eat'cha.

Living
alone with her little dog, Vayda, she
was
scared to death, and had no idea what to do. I can't even imagine how
terrified she must have been.

She
told us she turned all her lights off, hoping the undead killers
would pass her house by, but the darkness made her fear even worse.
Still, she kept them off and sat on her couch in front of her front
window, her curtains pulled and the blinds closed. Peeking out
between the slats of the blinds, she watched-seeing nothing, not even
any neighbors. She had the horrifying thought that she was the only
one left on her street, possibly in the entire town!

Bianca
lived just a block from the school she and Will both worked at and I
know Will is feeling just as guilty as I am that we hadn't checked on
her when we raided the school.

Bianca
vaguely remembers hearing the annoying ring of the doorbell several
times but was so drugged up on meds she couldn't have moved if she
wanted to. She is now certain that it was her neighbors trying to
warn her. They probably gave up, thinking she was already gone, her
car hidden in the garage offered no reason for them to think
otherwise.

Bianca
was uncertain of what she should do-staying home was probably not the
best option but it was the only option she felt she had. She has no
family and nowhere to really go, so she made the decision to stay.

She
armed herself with a couple knives from the kitchen since that's all
the weapons she had, and continued watching out the window. She had
no idea how long she sat there, but the next thing she knew, she was
waking up to sunlight peeking around the edges of her curtains and
blinds.

Confused
over why she had fallen asleep on the couch, her memory of the night
before flooded back when she saw the knives lying on the coffee table
in front of her. Vayda woke from her sleep and whined to be let out.

Bianca,
more confident now that the sun was out-and mistakenly thinking, like
a lot of us had, that the undead only came out at night-pulled the
slats open wide to check the outside, certain the news and all the
activity was just a bad dream. But what she saw outside, that she
hadn't seen in the darkness of the night before, quickly shattered
that thought.

Half-eaten
bodies and blood littered the street and lawns of the neighborhood.
Homes with doors and windows busted in and cars, some still idling,
left wherever they were when tragedy struck the owners. But the most
horrifying sight to her was when a real
live
-
she
said it, not me!-
zombie came
into sight, staggering up the road. When it came even with the window
she was sitting behind, it stopped. Slowly, it turned its head, as if
it had heard or smelled her.

Bianca,
hands shaking with terror, let the blinds close as slowly and gently
as she could and backed away from the window. Running into her
bedroom, she threw on warm clothes, realizing she probably should
have done that last night. Putting her socks and shoes on, she took
Vayda into the bathroom and pulled out one of the training pads Vayda
hadn't used in years.

Praying
Vayda would cooperate, Bianca sighed with relief when the little dog
immediately did her business with no hesitation. While waiting for
her to finish up, Bianca brushed her teeth and started throwing what
she knew she would need most into a suitcase and an overnight bag.

Her
garage is attached to her house and a connecting door in the kitchen
made safe and easy access for her to be able to load her car.
Grabbing what she needed for Vayda and storing it in the car, she was
ready to go-except for putting Vayda's sweater on, of course.

She
risks a quick peek out the window again, wanting to know what she
would have be facing once she opened the large garage door-and came
face to face with the undead she had seen earlier. It was just
standing in front of her window, looking at it but not moving-that
is, until he saw her through the blinds. Then he suddenly flew into
motion. Raising his arm and making a fist, he slammed it into her
window, glass flying, just as Bianca jumped away.

Bianca
knew she had no time to waste and snatched up Vayda, who that whole
time never once barked at all the chaos outside or even when the
zombie was outside her window. Bianca had always loved that her
little dog wasn't the type to bark, but she wished now Vayda would at
least let out a little growl every now and then as a warning.

Bianca
ran into the garage, slamming the door behind her to try and give
herself more time. She jumped inside her car, hitting the automatic
garage door opener after she had placed and buckled Vayda in her
doggy seat.

As
the door opened wider, Bianca turned her attention to the world
beyond, devastated to see all the zombies staggering up the road,
from behind homes, coming out from the inside of homes-all headed
straight for her. Some of them kids and parents she knew from school.

Slamming
her foot on the gas, she shot out of her garage and down her short
driveway, turning right, she almost flipped her little car in her
panic to get out and get out safely. Not knowing where to go, she
just started driving.

Having
lived around the Springfield area her most of her life, Bianca knew
all the back roads to get around it, eliminating the trauma of having
to get through the big city. She said her mind had stayed pretty
blank until about an hour past Springfield, feeling as if she was
being led in that direction, when the idea to call Will and I popped
into her head.

She
had talked to my dad and followed his directions, having to turn
around and find different routes a couple times because, where once
the road was open, it wasn't by then. She was doing ok until about
twenty miles from Snowden-when her gas light came on. That was the
last
thing she wanted to see.

Arriving
in Snowden, she found the town to be calm and zombie-free, but her
car refused to go another two blocks to the gas station and died in
the middle of the road. She sat in her car, watching for the undead
as she tried calling me-over and over.

I
duck my head, ashamed of missing her calls and unable to even come
close to understanding how terrified she must have been. I look up at
her and apologize for being such a shitty friend to her. She smiles
and pats my arm, assuring me it wasn't my fault and she knows I would
have answered if I could have and blah, blah, blah-just meaningless
words that can't change how I feel. I give her a weak smile and
encourage her to go on with her story.

She
had started seeing movement about that time, a few blocks behind her
and frantically tried to determine if they were alive or undead.
Noticing the awkwardness of the walk, she decided they were most
definitely undead-what she hadn't noticed, was the two zombies coming
for her from the front of the vehicle until they were almost to the
car.

Knowing
she and Vayda wouldn't have a chance in the little car, she grabbed
her dog and jumped out, dropping her cell phone on the floorboard.
She knew she needed it but had no time to pick it up.

She
ran to the back of a house, a horde of zombies lurching after her.
Going around to the other side of the house, she paused long enough
for a closer zombie to cross the front yard and then shot to her car,
snatching up her phone.

Gripping
her cell tightly, she ran to the green house and flew up the stairs.
She was already in the master bedroom when she finally got hold of
me. With the door shut on the bedroom and hiding inside the bathroom,
she stayed until we got there.

"What
about the boy?" I ask her.

"That
boy?" she asks, nodding her head to the back.

"Yeah.
We found him in one of the other rooms hiding under a bed, a zombie
doing her damnedest to get to him." I tell her.

"I
didn't know he was there! I heard the zombie-it scared the hell out
of me-but I had no idea there was any other living person in the
house. That poor little boy! I'm such a horrible person!" She
buries her head in her hand and her shoulders start shaking. I know
how much that has to hurt her, she loves kids-kinda have to if you
want to be a
good
teacher.

Will
and I both rush to reassure her that there was nothing she could have
done, not having a weapon and not knowing there was anyone living.
Who would
willingly
take on of these things if they didn't
have to? And she didn't
know
she had, too. Finally, she stops
crying but I know the hurt will torment her for a good long while.

I
see an old farmhouse set way back from the road and, not seeing any
threats, I turn off the highway and onto the long drive leading to
the house. Will asks what I'm doing and I tell him this might be
safer, being out of the way and all, than trying to stop in a town.
He nods and Bianca wakes Jake, who wakes the boy.
We really
need to find out that boy's name.

I
slowly pull up to the side of the house next to a door. We don't see
anything but, again, that doesn't mean much. We decide Jake and I
will check the house and the rest will wait in the truck, just in
case we need to leave quick.

Outside,
Jake tosses me a box of ammo for the handgun, telling me that's the
last of it. Startled, I drop the bullet I'm about to load into the
clip and it falls to the ground. Whipping my head in his direction, I
give him a shocked look.

"Yep.
No more ammo except that box and the one I've got. There's more back
at your sisters, but not much-unless they've had to use it all,
anyway."

Well, hell!
Just full of all kinds of sunshine aren't we, Jake? I'm not mad at
him
, just the
situation. Really.

"I
think when we get back we need to make a trip to Nebraska to the
other armory. Can't wait too long or we may be too late," he
tells me.

I
nod and look over at Will, who is hanging out the window. Sighing, I
tell Will to wish us luck and we give each other a quick, but deep,
kiss. He tells me to be careful and he loves me-then gives me a look,
which I know is to remind me to be good around Jake.

I
catch Jake roll his eyes but I ignore him. After an "I love you"
back to Will, I pick up the dropped bullet, load my gun, and follow
Jake to the door of the house. He knocks first, just in case a gun
from inside is pointed and ready to fire.
Hopefully, they know
zombies don't knock!

Hearing
nothing, Jake tries the knob and it turns easily. He slowly eases the
door open, and the damn hinges creak like a typical scary movie-the
lightning and thunder making it even more perfect.
Nice!

I
see a light switch just inside the door and flip it on. Shadows
disappear and objects are clearly not as menacing as they seemed in
the dark. Jake looks back at me and grins.

"When
do you think electricity will be a thing of the past?" I ask
him.

"Not
long now, I'm sure. I kinda expected it the first day, to be honest.
Too many scary zombie movies, I guess," he tells me, still on
alert, still clearing rooms.

"You
know how much that's gonna suck, right? No light to see the scary
shit. No way to charge cell phones. No hot showers. Oh God! I'm going
to miss those hot showers most!"
I can't help but bitch and
moan about it.
It
will
suck!

Jake
stops and turns to me, grabbing my arm. He leans toward me and
growls, "Do us both a favor-or at least me-and don't mention
showers and yourself in the same sentence. You may be all kinds of
happy having Will back, but I can't say I feel the same way. And I
really don't see why him being back has to change anything, anyway."