WorldLost- Week 1: An Infected Novel (12 page)

“Amy to Matt.” The request over the two-way
radio brought me back to present time.

I was standing on the balcony of the apartment above Amy’s
waiting for Butch and her to get in place at the door to the stairwell on the
twelfth floor. We were trying to get to Amanda’s parent's apartment to see if
they were still alive.

I really doubted that we would find them. We hadn't heard any
noise from the tenants on the third floor and that meant the chances were slim
we’d find anyone alive up here.

“Matt to Amy. Ready when you are.” I replied

“Go ahead, break the sliding glass door.” She whispered in
return.

I took the pistol I had and shot the sliding glass door which
burst into a thousand pieces. The pistol shot reverberated throughout the
complex. If this didn't get the infected rolling my way, nothing would I,
though.

I moved into the apartment through the broken door, releasing
the lock and pushing it open in case I had to make a quick escape. I walked to
the front door and looked out the peephole.

I waited by the door, peering out the peephole to see what
would come knocking. After a few minutes, a few infected showed up at the apartment
door and started to bang on it.

It’s interesting how they can hear a sound and know exactly
where the noise came from. “I've got two infected at the door,” I said in a
loud voice so the infected would hear me. Both infected let out a moan, there
hunting call to let others like them know there was food close by. “Hold up a
minute. Let’s see if more come.” I said on the two-way radio.

“Let us know when.” Came the reply in a low whisper.

I banged on the door and yelled to entice the infected to try
and get me. The ones on the other side of the door continued to moan as more of
the infected began to appear behind them, now interested in what was causing
all of the commotions.

“There’s about eight of them here now. Might want to go
before they break the door down.” I held the doorknob and placed my foot to
help hold the door from crashing in.

“We’re moving in. Be careful playing with the zombies.” Butch
said over the two-way radio. I was pretty sure I heard him laughing through the
radio.

I yelled a few more times and banged on the door with the butt
of my pistol to keep the infected occupied while Amy and Butch made their way
to the apartment.

The door began to give way, cracks begun to appear in the
wood and the frame. I let go of the door and started to head back to the
balcony. I wasn’t going to be able to keep the door closed or together. It was
time to leave.

I moved as quickly as I could to the
balcony railing and began to climb over as the door finally gave way, crashing
open allowing the infected to begin to stream in. The first couple of infected
to enter the apartment were the fast variety and I was just barely able to get
over the railing and down to the balcony below.

I think they were surprised to see me disappear over the edge
not sure where I had gone. They were stopped by the railing but the slower ones
behind them continued to stumble into the backs of the faster ones putting a
lot of force on the balcony railing.

I was back against the sliding glass door of Amy’s apartment waiting
to see what would happen. “You guys in yet?” I asked Amy and Butch, using the
two-way radio.

The infected above me were pushing each other against the
railing and the ones in front were leaning over the rail trying to get me since
they heard my voice. The force of the weight was too much for the railing,
finally giving way and falling to the street below. The infected fell next,
passing by Amy’s balcony and hitting the ground below. I’m not sure how many
fell to the ground, but it looked like more than ten.

After no more of the infected fell, I looked over the railing
and saw the mess below Amy’s apartment. The infected splattered like water balloons
hitting the pavement. I’d seen some movies where the fall victim hit the ground
from a great height and this was more than any movie I had seen with a
splattered person on the ground.

There were body parts all over the street, a huge black blood
puddle of infected blood covered the pavement from one side of the pile to the
other, but still some of the infected continued to move on the ground, trying
to get up or crawling away.

“All of the infected at the door are gone. They’re on the
ground below.” I said over the two-way radio. “Be careful if you have to escape
from the apartment, there's no railing on the balcony.”

They didn’t respond so I figured they were busy sneaking into
the apartment and checking things out. I waited for ten minutes and then tried
them again since they had not responded. I started to get concerned knowing I might
have to head upstairs to check out what was going on.

I was concerned that I would cause more problems for them if
I continued to call them on the two-way radio so I needed to do find them and
do it quietly.

I headed to the balcony rail and climbed up holding onto the
floor above so I could peek over the floor of the balcony above to make sure
that there was no infected standing around.

I didn't see anything waiting so I climbed up to the
apartment above and walked through it to the front door. I checked the hallway both
ways before moving out to find Amy and Butch. I didn’t see anything, but I
could hear the moans of a crowd down the hall. I walked to the corner of the
hallway and peered around it.

I could see that that there were eight infected crowded
around a single door trying to get in the apartment and I noticed the two-way
radio on the floor just behind them. Amy and Butch were in the apartment and
had no way to get out.

I yelled at the infected to get their attention hoping the
trick would work a second time. They turned and saw me. They moved my way as I
stood in the hallway waiting for them to get closer. There weren’t any of the
fast kind in the group, so I felt pretty much in control. I headed backward to
the open apartment continuing to call them and lead them on. I banged on the
wall and yelled as I moved through the door and out to the balcony.

I was the pied piper of the infected. Once I saw them enter
the apartment, I lowered myself down to Amy’s balcony, yelling the whole time.
The infected bodies fell to the ground just like the others and this time I
counted them as they fell; eight in total, the same number I had counted at the
door.

“We’re headed back. Thanks for the distraction.” Amy’s voice
came over the two-way radio. I sighed in relief and headed to Amy’s front door.
Peering out the peephole, I saw them approach and opened the door for them. 
“You guys OK?”

They came in the front door, closing and locking it behind
them. “Shit, that was close,” Butch said as he moved into the kitchen to grab some
bottled water, handing one to each of us. “That was a stupid idea.”

“We had to try. Not trying would have been wrong and you know
it.” Amy said drinking her water and sitting down at the counter.

“Maybe, it was close though and we’re both lucky we are still
here, let alone bitten.”

“So, any luck with the parents?” I asked after drinking most
of my water.

“We didn't see them, but the apartment was a wreck with the
door wide open. Something happened in there.” She replied. “We should get
cleaned up, eat something, finish packing and get some rest so we can leave
tomorrow.”

“I thought we were heading out today,” I stated looking at
both of them. “Staying here is just asking for it.”

“Butch and I talked about it and we’re not ready yet. We need
to go through our plan to get out of here and make sure we are all on the same
page.” Amy replied finishing her water. “Plus, we still have some food in the
fridge. It would be good to have another good meal and leave on a full
stomach.”

“You’re over ruled, two against one.” Butch laughed. “Start
cooking, bitch.” He walked out of the kitchen and sat on the couch. I stood
there shaking my head.

“Don’t worry cupcake, we’ll leave tomorrow morning, bright
and early,” Amy said smiling at me. “Now, get cooking. Make us something
fantastic.”

Since I wasn’t going to win the argument and honestly,
staying another night seemed easier than going out, particularly after the
events of this morning, I started to whip up a meal while they went through the
supplies again and repacked everything.

After eating, we spent the rest of the day working on the
plan and we spent time loading magazines of ammo, sharpening knives and building
more spears. We used all perishable foods in the refrigerator and freezer since
it would only go bad.

We ate all day as we worked to get as many calories as
possible. The next few days was going to be junk food, canned food, and water.

At the end of the night, we had eaten like kings, had our
plans set, packed our bags so they weren't too heavy, and had our weapons
ready. All we needed to do now was get some sleep. Tomorrow would be another
day.

I woke with a start, smelling smoke coming from outside the apartment.
We’d left the sliding glass door open because the apartment was getting pretty
hot with the summer heat. I got up and headed out to the balcony, rubbing my
eyes to get the sleep out, but having to wait a minute for them to adjust to
the sun. I noticed that the building across the street was on fire with flames
and smoke coming out of multiple windows.

Looking down I saw a crowd of bodies; a mix of the living and
the dead, running around the street. The infected were attacking the living as
they tried to move away from and out of the burning building across the street.

Looking at our building I could see that there was smoke
coming from one of the apartments to the west of Amy’s. How our building caught
on fire was unknown, but it was creating quite a lot of smoke.

It was time to go. “We need to get out of here now,” I yelled
to my friends as they were getting up to see what was going on. As they went to
look, I started gathering my things.

We spent a few minutes taking care of the basic morning needs
and then grabbed the backpacks we put together the previous night. We each
loaded up on the weapons we would carry and start towards the door.

I had multiple spears attached to my backpack, easy to reach as
I needed them. I had a .45 caliber pistol strapped to my thigh, a couple of
hunting knives on my hip and a few small knives in pockets all over my body. I
thought about a rifle, but decided for now; this was enough to have on me.

Amy had her sword, which she sharpened last night. A 9mm
pistol on her hip, a couple of spears on her backpack and one of the AK-47’s we
had found in the pervert’s apartment.

Butch had his hatchet, a .45 pistol on his hip, an AR-15 we
had found in the stash of guns the perverts had. Butch was also carrying a bag
of other weapons and ammo in case we need them.

We had split the food and ammo across all three backpacks to
even out the weight and to make sure should we get separated, each of us would
have what we needed to survive.

“We should take the stairs to the parking garage. We didn’t
see any infected in the stairwell yesterday, it should be clear. All the
commotion out front should be drawing the infected away from the back alley, so
it should be pretty clear.” Butch said as he moved through the front door.

Amy moved out after him and then headed to the apartment that
we had left Shelby in. “What the hell are you doing? We have to get out of here
now.” Butch said.

“We have to get Shelby.” She replied opening the door and
walking in.

“We can't. We don't have the time.” Butch said while looking
at me like I'm supposed to do something. He knows Amy will listen to me more than
him and his look told me to get in there and get her so we could leave.

“Amy. We have to go. We don't have time to bury Shelby.” I
said as I walked through the doorway.

“I'm not leaving without trying.”

She continues into the living room as we follow. “How about
we do a quick service here and leave. She'll be cremated in the fire which will
burn this building to the ground. The building will be her burial site.” I
said, trying to come up with a compromise.

Amy stood over Shelby’s body crying and shaking her head. The
stench was unbearable; the heat of summer had increased the decomposition
process. I’d seen and smelled decomposing animals before in the woods, but this
was new and something I was sure I would continue to smell for some time. I
moved closer to Amy and put my hand on her shoulder. “Shelby Lynn Decker. She
was a good person with a soft heart. She cared for others more than she cared
for herself and she would do anything she could for you.” I started hoping Amy
would catch on.

After a few seconds of silence, “She liked to party, liked to
play hard and was the best friend I ever had.” Amy began.

With that comment, we knew Amy would leave Shelby here,
making this her final resting place.

“She provided stability in my life when I needed it the most.
She allowed me to lean on her after my mom passed away, providing emotional
support I hadn’t had in my life before.” Amy wiped her eyes and started speaking
again.

“I'm sorry I couldn't save you from this hell and didn’t keep
you safe when you needed it. You were my rock, someone I could always count on,
even during the tough times. Goodbye, my lovely friend.”

Amy turned to me and laid her head on my shoulder and cried
for another minute. She wiped the tears away and started to head out the door
into the hallway walking past Butch.

She led us to the stairway door with the furniture blocking
it and told us to wait.

She walked down the hallway to the old lady’s apartment and
knocked. We saw her says something through the crack in the door and then she turned
and came back to us.

“She’s staying.” It was a statement that any reply would be
wasted on. Time to leave. The old lady would die here.

We moved the furniture from the doorway and opened the door
with caution in case there was an infected waiting. We moved into the stairwell
and started to head down as quietly as we could. We made it to the first floor
and could really smell the fire. The stairwell was smoke-free, but the heat was
getting more intense and a touch of the first-floor door told us that the fire
wasn’t far away.

We continued down to the garage floor, entering the garage
through the door. We stopped just as we got in to make sure there were no
infected inside the garage. The garage’s gate was still closed, so we assumed
no one had left through the gate, which would also mean that no one had gotten
into the garage.

I snuck up to the garage gate to look around the alley,
finding it empty. That was good to see, at least we wouldn’t have to deal with
a bunch of infected as we tried to get out of the garage.

I moved back to Butch and Amy and said. “We should see if any
of these cars are open, maybe even have keys. Worst case, we could hot wire
one.”

“You know how to hotwire a car?” Butch said sarcastically.

“In fact I do. It’s really not that hard, particularly on an
older model car.”

“You’re shitting me.” Butch looks at Amy. “Can you believe
this guy?”

I go over to an older model ford truck and try the door. “My
dad lost his keys to his truck shortly after we moved off the grid up north. We
looked for them for over a week, everywhere we had been, but didn’t find them.
Since we didn’t have another set and getting a locksmith out to help would cost
too much, he hotwired it.”

The door to the Ford truck was locked, of course. I began the
search for a hidden key, reaching under the wheel wells and bumpers. “He was
very resourceful with those types of things. Where he learned to do that is
another story.”

Amy saw what I was doing and headed towards the Jeep Cherokee
a couple of spaces down. She began to check for a spare key. Butch just stood
there and watched me.

I got to the rear passenger side, inside the wheel well and
hit gold. “Found something,” I said as I opened the spare key holder. Inside
was the key to the truck. “Sometimes you get lucky,” I said to Butch with a
wink.

“Found the keys to the Jeep,” Amy said.

“See how much gas the Jeep has,” I said as I unlocked the
door of the truck and jumped in. I put the key in turning it so I could see how
much gas was in the gas tank. “The truck is full,” I said.

Amy walked over to the truck. “The jeep is only a quarter
full. Let’s take the truck.”

“The truck wins,” Butch said as he placed his bags in the bed
of the truck. “Plus, the heat is getting worse, so we need to get out of here
now.”

“How are we going to get the gate open,” Amy asked while she too
placed her bags into the back of the truck.

“Can’t we left it by hand?” Butch asked.

“No way. That things way to heavy. When it’s broken, the
super uses a hand crank to open it and leaves it open till it’s fixed. I don’t
have a clue where the hand crank is.” Amy replied.

“Use the Jeep to crash through the gate and then drive the
truck out behind it,” I said matter of factly. “That way we don’t risk damaging
the truck.”

Without argument, Amy headed to the Jeep and got it started.
I started the truck and moved my hand forward at Amy telling her she could take
the lead.

Amy punched the gas, cranked the wheel and headed straight to
the gate. The Jeep hit the gate and forced its way through causing the gate to
come off its hinges and crash to the ground. She cranked the wheel to the right
and stopped. Getting out as I pulled up. She quickly got into the truck and I
turned left and headed out.

“Crazy women drivers,” Butch said laughing as we headed out
of the alley and onto Jackson Street heading east. We had to skirt a few blocks
over to avoid the chaos that was happening in front of Amy’s building and it
would also take us closer to the bar where we might find some more supplies.
Having the truck allowed us an opportunity to grab a bunch of supplies if we
came across them.

The drive to 13th street was uneventful except for the
occasional infected that we had to maneuver around. “Just hit them and move on,”
Butch said.

“No need to risk damage to the truck unless we have to,” I
replied as I turned onto 13th street, heading north. I had been thinking of the
body armor idea we had discussed and was trying to figure out a good place to
find the type of gear that might work.

The bar was just a down the street from a sporting goods
store which just might have what I would need. Both of them were on 13th
street, so with luck, we could hit both on our way out of the city. Even better
would be an empty road and nothing would require us to backtrack or change our
plan.

Amy playing with the radio trying to see if she could find
any stations still on the air. Some news, any news, about what was going on
would be good. Most of the channels were either static or an emergency report
from the government stating the same thing they had stated a couple of days ago.
She switched the radio to AM and finally found a station that was still
broadcasting. She turned it up so we could all hear it and we listened as we
drove towards the bar.

“I’m not sure who all is out there, but if there are still
people alive, which I pray to God there are, be aware that everyone is should head
to Camp Pendleton to seek shelter and safety.” The person on the radio was
saying. “I’m planning to continue to dispatch as long as the backup generator
holds out. So far, we’ve seen no police or military, but we have seen military
helicopters and have been in contact with them. Again, they are asking that every
able body person moves to Camp Pendleton. You will find safety, shelter, and
food there.”

“They’re just asking for problems by getting everyone into a
single location like that. All it takes is a single infected to ruin the
party.” I said as we approached the bar.

“Take the alley and park by the back door,” Amy said as she
pulled the keys to the bar out of her pocket.

I made my way through the back alley and pulled up to the
back door as Amy had requested. I backed in so we could easily get things into
the truck bed and make a quick escape if we needed. We didn’t see any infected in
the back parking area, but the sound of the engine could have given us away.

We all jumped out of the truck closing the doors and moving
to the back door entrance. Amy took the butt of her rifle and hit the back door
a few times. Rule number 5, knock first before entering. “Good job remembering
the rules,” I said to Amy.

Since we didn’t hear anything, she unlocked the door and
pushed it open letting us all move in. The bar was dark, smelled of old liquor
and fried foods; the home sweet home I thought since I had spent many nights in
this place, it was like a second home to me.

Amy tried the lights, but the electricity was off so we got
out our flashlights and moved through the back room into the kitchen and then
out to the main bar area. The place was empty, which was what we had hoped for.

Amy started to place canned items on the bar top while Butch
moved to the front and peered out the windows. The bar windows had iron bars across
them as a security measure, so chances of something getting in was low. Above
the bar was a lawyer’s office, a small entertainment agency office and then
apartments above them. There could be people up there and we’d never know it.

“Grab the cans and let’s move to the back,” Amy said to us
both as she headed towards the back room.

“Hey, I’m grabbing the Macallan. I’ve always wanted to try
it.” Butch said as he grabs the expense bottle and heads to the back room.

“We’re in the middle of an apocalyptic event and all he
thinks about is booze,” Amy says moving towards the back room with her arms
full of canned fruit and condiments.

I thought, in reality, it’s just Butch coping, in his own
way, with this disaster. I guess if this was the end of times, that our lives
could end at any moment, it might not be too bad to crack open that bottle and
at least enjoy one good thing, one more time before you die.