I had to move. The shots and screams had likely attracted attention, and I needed to get out of here as fast as possible. I moved to the baby aisle and grabbed bags of diapers. I headed to the back of the store, pausing to fire a shot at one of the kids who tried to move. He ducked as the bullet clipped near his head, then he held stock still. I went out the back door and loaded the trunk of the car. Jake was still sleeping, but I didn’t have much time. I ran back in and grabbed more diapers, pausing to snare a small first aid kit as well. I threw the items in the trunk and went back in one more time. I needed to know something and know it now. As I made my way to the front, I could see shadows in the parking lot, and I didn’t have any more time. I reached the camera counter and looked over, afraid of what I would see.
A small girl was one the floor, no older than 18 months. Her brown hair lay in small rings around her face. A large bruise was on her forehead, and she looked to have other bruises due to some rough treatment by the scum at the back.
As I reached down to check to see if she had a pulse, her eyes popped open and she jerked away from me. She immediately started crying and tried to crawl away behind the photo machine.
“Hey, sweetie! Don’t cry. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to take you out of here. Okay?” I tried to be as reassuring as I could, although I could feel a rising anxiety as some low groans began to start at the entrance of the building. “Come on, sweetheart, we need to go.” I can only imagine what I looked like in the darkened store, but I held out my hand, and as trusting as kids can be, thank God, she took it and came to me.
I scooped her up and ran back to the back door, just as the first zombies came walking in the smashed front entrance. I passed the two on the floor, who were just starting to edge away from their companions. “Good luck!” I shouted as I bolted out the door and ran for the car. The little girl started crying again, and I buckled her in faster than a NASCAR pit crew member. I jumped into the car and drove away, checking the building and seeing about ten zombies wander in the front door. Better than you bastards deserve, I thought, as I passed the three cars. Much better.
I made it back to my subdivision without incident, and the little girl had stopped her crying and started sucking her thumb. Jake had awakened and was fascinated by the new child in his life. He tried every method of flirting he could think of, from smiling to drooling to expansive farting. The little girl seemed oblivious. As I headed down the street I saw my neighbors, Todd and Naomi and their daughter coming out of the side street. I flagged him down and he stopped.
“We’re heading out, John. You and Jake want to come with?” Todd asked me.
I shook my head. “I think we’ll be fine here, thanks anyway. Where are you headed?”
Todd shrugged. “We’re going to try to see if the state center is safe. If not, we’ll head to the cabin outside of Jacksonville. We can live pretty well there till this blows over.”
I looked at him. “Todd, I need a huge favor.”
Todd got serious. “Sure, what do you need?”
“I need you to take this little girl with you. Her parents were murdered and I managed to take her away from the murderers.” I didn’t see any need to explain further.
Todd looked at me for a long moment and then at his wife. Naomi answered for him. “Of course we’ll take her, John. Erica always wanted a sister.”
That settled it. I went to the car and got the now-sleeping little girl from the seat. I carried her to the other car and Nola helped me put her in the back seat. “What’s her name?” she asked.
That threw me. I had no idea. I looked at her wrist and saw a little bracelet. In little letters, the name “Ellen” was spelled out with flowers. My heart caught in my throat and I couldn’t speak; I just pointed to the bracelet. Nola gave me a hug and went back to the front seat. I went around to Todd and shook his hand. “Good luck, and thanks.” Todd smiled. “See you again sometime.” I smiled back. “You bet.”
They drove off and I headed back to my house. Once inside I unloaded the car and took Jake back in. As I lay down beside him I thought about what I had done. I had no remorse, no regret. I felt absolutely nothing. Was this part of who I was becoming? Was this someone I wanted to be? Was this someone I wanted Jake to see as his father? I didn’t have the answers. But a small voice in my head told me I had done the right thing. If I had let those animals go they would have preyed upon others, likely leaving that poor baby to die. Part of me scolded myself for taking such a risk, but a much larger part simply accepted it as what had to be done.
My cell phone rang, interrupting my reverie. It was my brother.
“We made it! We managed to get out while they were going after the radio! We’re on the el, heading towards the lake. I don’t know what we’re going to do when we get there, but at least we’re moving.” I felt a huge relief flood through me. “Sounds good, Mike. Did you get your gun?” “Yes, I grabbed it right before they saw us and came back in the house. Two more seconds and they would have had us.” I exhaled at the close call. “Keep moving and trust no one. Get a boat and get away.” “Done. Where are you going to be?” Mike wanted to know. “I’m staying here for a while. No reason to leave.” I was serious, too. Unless I had to, I was not leaving. “Maybe we’ll head your way. Check the canals for us! Gotta go!” Mike hung up and I was left looking at my phone.
I thought about the events of the day and suddenly I was very tired. I went outside and got the sun-warmed water to give Jakey a bath. I needed some normalcy in this crazy world, but I couldn’t shake the feeling normal was a thousand miles from where it used to be.
After Jake was put to bed, an odd thought struck me. Could zombies swim?
7
We had power for another week before it finally let out. I had been expecting it every day since my run to the drug store, so it was not out of bounds. It was going to be hot, since it was June, but I was able to open the attic vents, and open the second floor windows for ventilation. The first floorwindows, being covered and boarded up, did a really good job of keeping the first floorcool. I was never so grateful for a brick ground floor. It was kind of dark, but it was cool enough that I didn’t worry about Jake getting too hot. We had enough light to see by, and the water still worked, so we were doing okay, all things considered.
I spent a lot of time working out and staying in shape. We had a treadmill in the basement, but since I never really used it much to begin with, I didn’t really care about it when the power went out. I liked jumping rope, so I did that in the basement. I hoped that I wasn’t making enough noise to be noticed, and so far I had been lucky. I really had very little else to do. If it wasn’t for the zombies, and the constant threat of being infected or eaten, I might actually have enjoyed myself.
I had no illusions about being able to withstand a siege. I knew eventually the zombies would get in if given enough time, and time was all on their side. I had to hope to try to remain under the radar and get through this as best I could.
That was a sobering thought that kept recurring to me through the days. What if there was not an end? What if this was the world we had to get used to? Zombies on the prowl, degenerate humans preying upon survivors, God knows what else waiting for us out there. Government control seemed to be lost, what government there was, in all likelihood, was hiding out and waiting for the day when someone else saved their asses.
So what then? I could accept the fact that I was on my own. I could accept the fact that no one was going to save me, and the only way I was going to survive and Jake was going to survive was to find a place that was secure from the zombies, had a source of food and water, and wait for the eventual rot and decay of the infected.
As much as I hated to admit it, Jake and I were going to have to leave. I did not like the thought of leaving my home and all the memories behind, not to mention a lot of resources that might be useful. But I needed to be realistic. This place was defensible, but against a large scale attack, it was going to fall, myself and Jake going with it. The attack might never happen, but I was not going to take the chance.
I began to see more zombies on the street. At one point, there had to be about thirty of them, and they just wandered down the street, not paying any particular attention to anything. They did get animated when a cat ran out in front of them, but they followed it to a house that had a cat door and began pounding on the doors. In a very short amount of time, they had broken in and all hell broke loose. I could see zombies wandering the downstairs, and they seemed to be still chasing the cat. I figured that little tabby was going to be a meal in short order. I was about to turn away from the window when I heard a scream come from the house and I could see a
