A New Death (Savannah's Only Zombie Novel) (15 page)

For having been so hot the other day, there was a cold chill
in the air as they pulled the truck up to the building’s loading docks. Jeremy
backed it up like a pro to which he received a nod of approval from Tori. They
got out and walked over to the stairs that led up to the loading dock. The
truck’s bed was now level with the dock, so the men in the back of the truck
would be able to easily walk right out. Jeremy lifted the door and they did
just that.

“What do we do with him?” Tori asked, pointing her thumb at
LJ.

“He should be safe here,” Jeremy said. “We’ll just close the
door. This loading area is pretty tucked in here.”

The building was only accessible by a road that turned off
of Highway 80 and had a series of check points that you would normally have to
pass through. But being that it was the zombie apocalypse and all, they had no
trouble getting through said check points. The gates were all broken, but
broken
out
and not
in.
People were trying to leave this place,
not get in.

This thought comforted Jeremy, because he was not ready to
deal with anymore survivors. Granted, the hipsters downtown were probably a
little crazier than your normal survivor. Still, Jeremy really had no desire to
fight over territory, or supplies, of which they had little. Due to the
Lumberjack’s raid of the pharmacy, their shopping trip turned out to be a big
bust. They had some fresh fruit, snack foods, a few bottled drinks, tampons and
more condoms than anyone should ever really need or use.

“Alright, grab your guns and let’s give this place a look over,”
Jeremy said as he held up LJ’s pistol.

Lexx handed Ben the rifle.

“Here man, you’re probably the better shot.”

“Probably?” Ben asked with a smirk.

“Ok, ok. You’re the better shot. But I’d like to see you
jump from a second story balcony and shank somebody.”

The two men chuckled.

“Hey, when you guys are done jerking each other off, can we
get started already?”

Tori stood at the door into the building, tapping her foot.
She had the shotgun propped up on her shoulder. She looked business.

“Jeez, babe,” Lexx said. “What’s the hurry?”

“The hurry,
babe
, is that it will be dark soon, we’re
not at Ben’s parents yet, and we have an infected asshole in the back of that
truck with all our food and supplies.”

He walked up to her and grinned.

“Point made. After you.”

He held out his hand for her to walk in. She huffed and
swung open the door. The lights detected motion and flickered to life. Jeremy
closed the truck’s door and followed everyone else inside.

***

The place was a maze at first. Hallways twisting and turning
throughout the building. There were a lot of offices and work areas filled with
cubicles. So far, it only looked like a business, not a manufacturer of
construction equipment.

That was until they entered the main foyer. Two, bright
yellow machines graced the showroom’s floor on either side of the room. A
massive, spiraling staircase wound up to the second floor, where there was a
balcony and what looked like more offices. A walkway crossed over to a platform
on the front side of the building. The whole front wall was windows like Jeremy
thought. The windows were tinted on this side though, keeping the sun from
blaring through. The room was cool too, so it must help with the heat as well.
He would not be surprised if they were double-paned.

Good. A zombie wouldn’t be able to break through that.

A lone desk sat in the middle of the room. Probably to greet
visitors and the higher-ups visiting the building. They walked over to it.
Jeremy leaned over the desk to get a look behind it and gasped.

“What?” Lexx asked.

Jeremy shook his head and walked around to the other side of
the desk. They followed him and stopped. Tori put her hand up to her mouth and
Ben looked away.

On the ground lay half of the front desk secretary. Her legs
were completely gone, her tailbone hanging out of the bottom of her torso.
Intestines hung from the open cavity. Her blouse was torn open. She groaned and
held up a hand reaching for Jeremy. She was still alive.

“I got it,” Tori said.

She came up to the dead woman and brought the butt end of
the shotgun down onto her head. There was a sickening crunch as wood and bone
collided. It wasn’t the crunch that got to Jeremy, but the slosh of brain
matter afterwards. He threw up.

“You ok?” Tori asked, once he finished.

He nodded. He had seen a lot of gore and gross things the
past few days, and maybe it was finally just catching up to him. It was about
time he hurled. The only downside was now he was hungry. He tried not to think
about it too much. The thought of food was making him feel a little queasy.

It was then he noticed a sign with arrows on it. One arrow
pointed to the left and said, “AUDITORIUM” and the other arrow pointed right
with the word, “ASSEMBLY” underneath it. Jeremy looked at the others

“Auditorium or assembly?” he asked.

The consensus was auditorium first, assembly on the way back
to the truck. They walked to the left of the sign and entered a long hallway.
One side was all glass windows, the same as the foyer, and the other wall was
filled with pictures telling the history of the company. An old black and white
photo of a few men standing next to a tractor caught Jeremy’s eye. They stood
there proudly with their workmanship.

Auditorium was an understatement. More like full-fledged
theater. A huge projection screen, a stage and rows and rows of cushioned,
reclining seats filled the room. There was even a soda fountain. With Coke.

“Oh man, is that Coke?” Lexx said, running over to the
machine. He grabbed a cup from the dispenser and put it under the fountain
head. Taking a deep breath first, he then pressed the button. Cold, brown
liquid began to fill the cup. He began to jump up and down.

“It works! It works! I’m sleeping in here for sure!” he
yelled.

The others laughed and went to join him. After finishing
their drinks in silence, Jeremy decided to bring up LJ and what they should do
with him.

“I’ve been thinking about LJ and I don’t think he has much
longer,” he said. “I know I said after what he did, we would find somewhere
safe and leave him, but I don’t think we should do that anymore. I doubt he’ll
make it through tomorrow, maybe even tonight. I say we just wait for him to
turn, put him out of his misery and then make the rest of our journey to Ben’s
house.”

He paused waiting for Tori’s rebuttal. She said nothing.
They locked eyes, but still nothing.

“Tori, you ok with that?” Jeremy asked.

“Yes. If you think that’s what we should do, than yes. I may
have overreacted back at the store. We can wait for him to turn.”

She looked over to Lexx and he nodded. Jeremy began to wonder
if Lexx had anything to do with her change of heart. The two seemed closer
since the grocery store, but Jeremy had not thought to ask about it yet.

“Good. Any other concerns?” he asked.

Nobody said anything. They were all exhausted. The only
concern now was sleep.

“Well, I say we set up camp in here. Those padded seats are
looking really comfy right about now, or maybe it’s the fact that we slept in
warehouses the past two nights,” Jeremy said.

Everyone chuckled. They were tired, but their spirits were
high. They had a safe place for the night and tomorrow they would get out of
the city. Things would be good tomorrow. Jeremy started thinking about the
fresh eggs again.

Soon.

They eventually made their way back out to the truck.
Passing through the assembly area, they learned that they could cut through
directly to the loading dock, bypassing all the offices. It was a huge, open
room with giant ceiling fans. The blades had to be at least ten feet long each.
It was the biggest fan Jeremy had ever seen. There were many workbenches that
had a lot of hand tools, and a few power tools were spotted over in a metal
cage.

They brought LJ inside and set him up in one of the offices.
Lexx handed him a cup of Coke to drink. He was awake, but his fever continued
to spike and he was overheating. Lexx left and came back with several cups of
ice to help cool the man down. Once they got LJ situated, they informed him
that they would come back and check on him before they called it a night, and
then again in the morning.

He muttered something about his wife and daughter, then
passed out from the exhaustion. The group closed the door behind them when they
left and headed back towards the auditorium. They picked up several hand tools
while passing through the assembly area, just in case they found anymore
straggler z’s and they needed to take them out quietly.         

***

Tori leaned back in her chair, stretching out like a cat.
She let off a big yawn, which set off a chain reaction of yawning.

“Sorry guys,” she said. “I guess I’m more tired than I
thought.”

“It’s okay Tori, I think we’re all tired,” Ben said.

He was munching on some fruit snacks that made the trip from
the grocery store. His feet were propped up on the chair in front of him. He
was tossing the tiny snacks into the air and catching them in his mouth. The
others would applaud when he was successful.

Lexx got up from his seat to go over and fix another cup of
Coke. When he sat back down, he had a grin on his face.

“What’s so funny?” Tori asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just love Coke,” he said.

He sat back down and started sipping his drink. Jeremy was
happy that they found somewhere safe for the night. As much as he wished they
were already at Ben’s place, this was a great secondary option. There was still
power here. The plant must be on its own power grid. They had Coke. Which was
more important to some than others. And they actually had something comfy to
sleep on. Not a makeshift bed on a shelf or a crummy office chair and desk. The
theater chairs’ cushions were still plump. They weren’t worn down with overuse
like the ones in a normal movie theater. These seats probably don’t get much
action.

“I guess we won’t find out what happened to LJ that day he
has no memory of.”

Ben broke the peaceful quiet.

“Not that we would, he didn’t even remember,” Tori said.

“Yeah, I know. Maybe he would though. Sorry, I was just
thinking out loud.”

“It’s cool man,” said Lexx. “Speaking of the Lumberjack,
should we go check on him? I’m getting pretty tired, so I’d like to turn in
soon. Screw it. I’ll go check on him.”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” Jeremy answered.

“Don’t look at me. I’m about to fall asleep over here,” Ben
added.

Lexx tuned his gaze to Tori. She looked up from her own
comfortable spot and shook her head no.

“Do not ask me to leave this very, very comfy spot.”

“Tori, you want to come with me?” he asked.

She let out a groan.

“Ugh. Ok, ok…”

He smiled as she stood up and they walked out together. Ben
sat up for a second and looked over at Jeremy.

“They together?” he mouthed.

“Yeah, I think so,” Jeremy said.

Ben smiled and drifted off to sleep. Jeremy reached for his
bag and pulled his Mother’s Bible out of his bag. He flipped through the pages,
which were covered in handwritten notes. The thought of maybe finding some help
in this thing was soon overpowered by the sight of his mother’s handwriting. He
placed the book back in the bag.

I’ll go through that later
, he thought.

Her death was still too fresh in his mind. He promised
himself that he would read it, just not yet. The Padre’s journal caught his
eye. Maybe he could find something encouraging in it. Something to give him
hope. He pulled out the leather-bound book and began to read.

***

March 31
^st
, 2011

It has been thirty days since my last contact with the
Church. They have ceased all communication with me and according to the priests
in the nearby towns, with them as well. I am not sure what is going on. I will
continue to shepherd my small flock until I hear from the diocese.

September 13
^th
, 2011

It has now been six months since my last entry and seven
months since contact with the Church. The other priests and myself are
concerned with the absence of communication with Rome. Our Bishop is missing
and I am hearing the rumor that all Bishops of México are missing. Only the
local priests are remaining. It seems that the Church has abandoned México all
together.

I have arranged to meet with some of the other priests to
study the scriptures. As of right now, it is all we have. We will continue to
administer the sacraments to our flocks and read from the Holy Scriptures.
Praying that we will hear from the Church.

April 4
^th
, 2012

It has now been over a year since contact with anyone
outside of México. The other priests and I have given up on hearing anything
from Rome. Our flocks have remained faithful, and some, including my own, have
actually grown.

In accordance with the scriptures, we have cut back on some
of the sacraments, finding them, unnecessary. The Lord’s Table and Baptism have
remained staples, as we see them administered in the scriptures. The changes we
have made are radical, but Rome has abandoned us, and the scriptures are all we
have. They are now our authority.

Not all priests are happy with these changes. They accuse us
of dividing the Church and say that we are acting like the reformers of old.
Maybe it has something to do with the two Baptist missionaries from the States.

They have been here in the village for several months now,
working construction, and helping the locals. At night time, they hold Bible
studies and teach the people about the Lord Jesus. I cannot complain as it is
bringing the people back into the church. Their house meetings have grown so
large that I have allowed them to use the church building for their bible
studies.