The ZWD Trilogy (Book 1): Zombie World Dominance [The Destruction Begins] (28 page)

“The
colder it gets, the harder it will be to find food. We need to be in France
within a month, or six weeks at the most,” said Dmitry. “No more than that. That
is about 850 kilometers — a lot of walking. I am sure we will find safe houses
along the way, and more food as well, but we have to do all this without being
killed by the zombies.
That
is why we are pushing so hard. Do you
understand what I am saying?”

“Yes,
Sergei. It’s just that some days it’s harder for me than others. Today is a hard
day for me. I just want to stop, eat something warm, and lie down and sleep in
a clean bed. Is that so wrong? Remember, you work for us. You are acting like
we work for you.”

“Evdokiya,
we
did
work for you, but we don’t any more. Now, because of the zombie
outbreak, we are all equals. All of us are in the same crappy situation. We all
have to fight to survive. If I, or Grigori, or Dmitry didn’t push you so hard,
you’d be starving to death back in Russia, or dead, killed by the zombies or
the little people of Russia who hated the elite. So, yes, we do appear to be
the bosses. We are more experienced with this kind of thing than you. We are
trying to keep you alive to give you a chance for a future somewhere else — hopefully
a place with no zombies. Do you understand me?”

“Sergei,
you don’t have to speak to me so harshly. We didn’t do this. It wasn’t
our
fault that they died back there. The difference is that the three of you have
been trained for this, while we have always lived in luxury. We had people to
do for us. We had the money to afford that sort of lifestyle. It’s difficult
for us to change.”

“We
will stop for tonight at the first safe building that we come to. We will eat
the last of our food tonight. Then Grigori, Dmitry or I will stand watch
tonight, as we have done every night. At first light, two of us will go out to
search for food and whatever else we can find. We will try to bring back
clothing or shoes or both to replace what is becoming worn out. Fair enough?”

Evdokiya
and the others nodded.

“For
too long, your little group of elites has done nothing but complain about the
conditions we are in. It’s no one’s fault. This is the hand that we have been
dealt. We can either learn how to survive, or we can lie down and wait to die,
either at the hand of the zombies or from starvation. We’ve talked about this a
number of times before. From now on, you are no longer in charge and we are no
longer employees. We are all equals as members of this group. We will all carry
bundles of supplies. There are only seven of us now. We all have to pull our
own weight. Tomorrow we will start new. Tomorrow we will all be equals.”

“Sergei,
you speak to us like we are your equals, like we will do the same work as you
do,” said Boleslav. “The four of us are the some of the most powerful people in
Russia. We don’t do this kind of work.”

“Boleslav
Nikolayevich, neither my friends nor I care who you
used
to be. Those
days are over. Today you are merely one more person trying to stay alive. If
you want to try to hold on to your old life, go ahead, but you’ll be doing it
on your own. We will go our separate ways in the morning. The privileges that
you used to have are gone, and your best chance of survival is with us. We have
made you an offer, with terms, for us to stay with you. As far as I’m concerned,
you can take the offer or leave it. It is not negotiable. We will find a place
that we can make safe for us tonight, eat what we have… we will sleep on the
floor if we must. Then tomorrow, before anything else, you will need to make a
decision as to who you want to be with. The three of us are tired of your
complaining.”

They
walked for another half kilometer in silence. They found a small building, or perhaps
it was a large shed, depending on one’s perspective. They made sure that they
were alone. They entered the building, securing the doors behind them. They ate
their cold evening meal in silence and set up places to sleep, and the three security
experts started their watch.

At
first light, the night watch woke everyone up. They ate another small, cold
meal. It was very quiet in the building. The men were waiting for someone to
say something. Everyone knew what the issue was. It had to addressed now. Finally,
Sergei broke the silence.

“It
has been a long, quiet night. We stood watch and we talked. Grigori, Dmitry and
myself have decided that if you do not agree to our terms, right now, we will
part ways as friends. This morning, here and now, will be the last that we see of
each other. If your choice is to go on without us, we will divide what supplies
we have equally between us. Have you made a decision?”

“The
three of us talked about your offer last night,” said Boleslav. “We know that
we need your help to stay alive. We will accept your terms if you stay with us.
We want you to teach us how to do what you do. All we ask is that you give us a
little latitude because this has never been required of us before. We have
never had to walk more than a few hundred meters at one time. From today
forward we will carry our share of the burden. We will try to walk as fast or
as far as you tell us.”

“Boleslav
Nikolayevich, we accept your offer to work with us. We are equals now. We will
all do our equal share. At night, when it is time to stand watch, the four of
you will take your turns standing watch with us. This will give us a little
more rest by adding the four of you to the schedule. We all will eat whatever
we are able to find. We all will be wearing the same clothes. You are no longer
the power elite of Russia. You do not have any more money than we do. The banks
failed long ago, and any money that you once had is worthless now.”

He
looked grim. “We have a lot of ground to cover without much time to do it.
Dmitry and Grigori will take Boleslav when they go out to search this morning,
for two hours. I will stay behind to protect the ladies. We will be getting our
camp ready to leave when you get back. After that, we will start our day’s
walk.”

“Boleslav,
we need you to take one of these canvas bags when we go out on our search run,”
said Grigori. “We will move at a faster pace while we are out. Remember that
the zombies don’t start coming out until late afternoon. By that time, we will
be back. As a group, our goal today is to cross the border into the Czech
Republic. We want to make a total of 30 kilometers today before we stop for the
night. All right, Dmitry, lead the way. We need to hurry.”

Dmitry,
Grigori and Boleslav headed out to search through the small town of Chalupki,
Poland to find what they could to further their journey. Sergei remained with
the women as they all cleaned up the small building they were in. They packed
up the few supplies that they had into seven equal bundles to be ready to leave
when the three men returned.

The
three men searched through every building or home that they saw, collecting
anything that they thought would help them on their journey. While digging
through piles of clothes for all of them, Grigori made an exciting discovery.

“Dmitry,
come and look at this. I found a Polish Border Guard’s uniform with all of the correct
patches and emblems.”

“You
did good, Grigori. One of us could wear this to help the rest of us get across
the border. That is, if the border is even still being guarded.”

“Dmitry,
I think that might just work. Now all we need to find is the boots and the cap.
It’s getting close to the time we need to go back. Gather up everything that we
have. Take as much clothing as we can so everyone will have something warm to
wear.”

“Okay,”
said Dmitry. “Everyone gather up your bundles, and let’s get out of here. We
need to be back quickly. As I was watching, I saw two zombies go by in the
direction that we need to go. We need to be careful. Boleslav, you will carry
those two bundles over there. We will get the rest. Let’s go. Be quiet. Be
watchful.”

Hefting
the bundles onto their backs, they headed back to the safe house. They were
able to get past two zombies that Grigori spotted along the way. As they got
closer to the house, they were starting to feel better about the discussion
that they had all had the previous night. When they were back inside, they laid
out the items that they had found. Sergei was surprised about the uniform. They
had found the boots and the cap that made it a complete set.

“Gentlemen,
I believe you have found something that very well might enable us to cross the
border — that is, if it is guarded at all any more. With the food you found and
the clothing that you have, we will be in very good shape for nearly a week. I am
proud of all three of you.”

He
continued, “Ladies, please select some warm clothing and boots. Change into
them quickly. We need to be at the border before they lock it down. I would
guess they will close it by mid-afternoon since that is when the zombies will
come out. That is, if they are still staffing the border checkpoint at all.”

They
changed their clothing and repacked the bundles. Then they were out the door,
walking towards the border. They made the bundles a little heavier for each of
them so that Sergei, who was in the uniform, would not need to carry a bundle.
As a Polish Border Guard, he would be in charge.

As
they neared the border, Sergei had them walk in front of him. Surprisingly the
border was still manned. Sergei nodded to the guard in the shack as he started
to walk them across. On the Czech Republic side, he was stopped and questioned.

“Excuse
me, Sergeant, why are you taking these people into the Czech Republic?”

“Private,
my orders are to escort these people to their homes to retrieve Polish goods
that they have taken from our country. These items must be returned to Poland.”

“Sergeant,
I have received no communication about this from my superiors. I cannot let you
pass.”

“Private,
I need to get these people to their homes and retrieve the goods that they
stole from us. Then I must return before the zombies come out. I want to be
back in my home before then. You must let me cross. If there is a problem, I
can have my superior officer come up here to talk to you if you would like.”

“No,
Sergeant, that will not be necessary. I will let you pass this time. If you are
not back before the zombies come out, we cannot help you.”

“Thank
you, Private. All right, everyone, let’s get moving. You have work to do.”

As
soon as they got far enough away from the border, Sergei led them off the road.
He changed out of the Polish Border Guard uniform. He also took one of the
bundles that the others had been carrying for him. Then they continued down the
road, intending to make their 30 kilometers for the day. They would look for a
safe place to stay for the night.

They
walked in silence, for the most part. When they had covered what Grigori felt
to be 30 kilometers, he turned to face everyone.

“Look
at that building. I think it will work for us tonight. We first need to be sure
that it is empty before we move in. Come with me, Dmitri; let’s check it out.
I’m hungry and tired.”

Inside
they went. As they looked through the house, they found a welcome surprise in
the basement. Dmitri called to everyone who was standing outside.

“Everyone
come down here and see what I found!”

“Dmitry,
what have you found? I hope it is not something that is of no use to us. I’m
not going to carry it just because you think it has some importance.”

As
everyone went down into the basement, they all stopped at the bottom step. They
were shocked to see what Dmitry was shouting about.

“Look
at this! I haven’t seen so much food in months! Food, water, wine, and clean, warm
clothing. And to top all of that, come over here and look at what is through
this door.”

“Oh,
my word, Dmitry! It’s a truck. A four-wheel drive Mercedes! And it looks to
only be a few years old. Look at the back wall. Are those cans of gas? There is
a small, enclosed trailer to tow behind it. Look at the ramp! We can drive right
out of this basement if it runs. We have found something that will save us for
a long while.”

“Sergei,
I think we should consider staying in this house for a couple of days so we can
rest and get some good food in us. Then we can load up the truck and the
trailer.”

“Grigori,
before we think about staying here longer than tonight we need to know that the
truck runs. Dmitry, go try to start the truck. If it runs, we will stay for a
couple of days to search the rest of this house and get the gear that we want
to take. Then we can get it loaded and ready to go.”

“I
found the keys. They are in the ignition. Hold on, let me see if it will start.
Oh, my God. It runs. Is there any way that we are dreaming?”

“Guys,
come up here. Has any of you looked in the back yard? There are several dead bodies
back there. Perhaps they were the owners of this house.”

“Boleslav,
I saw them. They might have owned this house. Right now we can’t do anything
about them. We know the zombies were here at one time or another, so we will
need to stay vigilant.”

They
secured the house for the night and prepared something to eat. Their night
watch was now with all six of them. The watch would consist of one security man,
then one SRW, alternating in case someone fell asleep on watch.