Dale and Claire ate a cold breakfast and sat around in silence. Dale had taken a peek out of the front curtains just before breakfast and could see that even more zombies had gathered outside. The situation was starting to feel hopeless.
It was eerily quiet. No man-made sounds could be heard for long periods of time. No living man-made sounds that is.
Dale and Claire heard occasional crashes as zombies ran into things and knocked them over. There was a garbage can that had been knocked over yesterday and had rolled into the street. Dale imagined the thing was being played like a soccer ball. Every time the group of zombies moved, one of them would kick that can.
Whenever Dale and his mom heard it; they froze up. Especially one time, when after that all too familiar noise they saw a shadow pass right in front of their window.
They were so fearful of making noise that they didn’t even dare turn on the television.
They packed their bags in silence. Dale noticed that his mom had packed a bag for Tom as well.
It was getting close to noon. They were sitting in the living room when suddenly Dale had a bad case of cramping and coughing simultaneously. There was no hiding the blood spatters. His mom looked at him after the fit passed, her eyes full of concern.
“I’m ok, mom.” Dale said.
Neither person was convinced. “Hey mom.” Dale hesitated before continuing. “Do you think they’ll let me into the safe zone?”
For possibly the first time in his life, his mom did not reply with false optimism.
“I don’t know, Dale.” She looked at her son for a moment. “But if they don’t take you then I won’t be going with them either.”
Dale shook his head. “Mom. You have to!”
“I don’t ‘have to’ anything! I haven’t heard from Tom, or Darren. You’re all I have left, Dale. Tell me. What do I possibly have to live for if I lose you too!” She was getting upset.
Dale didn’t hesitate. “Live for yourself!” His mom started shaking her head, but Dale continued. “Do you think dad would want you to give up? Darren? What do you think all of us want more than anything? For you to survive this, that’s what.”
Her eyes had welled up. “I can’t. I can’t!” She repeated vehemently.
Dale moved over on the couch, so he could hold his mother’s hand.
“Yes, you can. Mom, you are the strongest person in this family. The strongest person I know ... You always were.” Claire was crying now, but Dale wasn’t finished. “Mom, Darren and Sheila might still be out there. Dad might be out there. You can’t give up on them.”
She nodded slightly as she cried.
“Mom.” She raised her eyes to meet his. “Even if they are gone... You need to go on.” She shook her head. “Mom. There will be other people out there that will need your help. That need you. I know that Dad and Darren would want the same thing. We all love you very much. We couldn’t bear the thought that you would throw your life away.” Dale was running out of steam.
Claire cried quietly for a few minutes. After she regained her composure, she straightened out the imaginary wrinkles on her clothing and stood up. “I need a cup of tea.” She announced. She looked at Dale, one eyebrow raised. He nodded and smiled.
“Just be careful you aren’t spotted.”
“Ok.” With a smile and a pat on Dale’s shoulder she made her way to the kitchen.
By the time she returned, holding two steaming mugs, she was the old mom again. They drank their tea and made small talk for a little while.
IT WAS IN THE MIDDLE of the afternoon when the sound of the phone ringing shattered the silence. Dale vaulted himself off the couch and hurried over. The phone was sitting on the kitchen counter, a few feet away from its charger cradle. He picked up as the second ring died down.
“Hello?”
“Hello. Is this” –a short pause– “last name Moore?” The last name was spelled out phonetically, so it sounded like ‘emm-oh-oh-are-eeh’. The background noise was that of a large vehicle.
“Yes.”
“I am confirming the evacuation for a Claire and a Dale.”
“Yes!”
“It says here there may also be a Tom and others. Are there any others with you?”
Dale’s smile faded as he reluctantly answered. “No.”
“Ok. My name is Corporal Garcia, we are on our way to your location. Can you verify your address?” Dale supplied the Corporal with their address.
“Keep the phone near you and get close to your front door. I will call again when we are getting close, which will be in about five minutes. You need to stay indoors until we have reached you!”
“Ok. Thank you.”
“Hang tight, we will be there soon.” With that the line went dead.
With a smile, Dale turned to his mom.
“They will be here in five min–”
“CRASH!” The sound of a window smashing spun Dale around. There was a zombie, right outside the back door, and she...
No. It.
It had just smashed one of the narrow windows beside the back door. The window was too narrow for the zombie to walk through, but it reached inside with a badly sliced up arm.
Dale turned to his mom and thrust the phone into her hands, while grabbing his bat off the ground. “Mom hang on to that. Grab your bat too. I need you to go stand by the front door.”
“But Dale!”
“Hey.” He gave his mom a confident smile. “I got this.”
Dale felt anything but confident though. He stepped through the kitchen and closer to the back door – and saw that the situation was a lot worse than he feared. There was not one, but three zombies at the back door. Dale guessed that one of them must have been close enough to hear the ringing of the
