Apocalypse Z (A Zombie Novel) (12 page)

With a petrified look on her face, she nodded.

“See, Lisa? Now, let’s all calm down and go inside.” Lisa slowly turned and walked away, Jeff ushering her back to the house. He looked at Dedee and nodded for her to go over to Tami.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Todd and Amy were in the kitchen with Sheryl while she looked through the cabinets. After the dinner Lisa and the girls put together last night, she was hoping to find something that would at least come close. The only thing she was finding in the cupboards were cans of corn. She wasn’t quite sure why, but the people who had lived there must have had a corn fetish.

Todd started to become antsy and wanted to go outside. Amy liked the idea and asked Sheryl if she minded coming out with them. Searching the kitchen, she found a large cleaver in one of the drawers. The house and surrounding area had been zombie free, but she thought it better to be safe. Before they left the house, Sheryl leaned into the room where Mark and Jet were talking to let them know they would be out front.

Todd opened the front door and the bright light shined into the room. He walked out with Amy by his side and Sheryl followed. She saw movement and a hand with gray skin reached from the left and grabbed Todd’s arm. At the same time another come from the right and grabbed Amy by her hair. Amy let out a high-pitched shriek as it bit down on the top of her head.

Acting quickly, Sheryl swung and hit the zombie across the forehead with the cleaver. Bone cracked and split as the cleaver sank deep into its skull. The zombie fell straight back and landed on the grass. Sheryl pulled Amy toward her and shoved her back inside the door. She turned just in time to see the other one put Todd’s left hand in its mouth and bite down.

Todd screamed as his finger bones snapped under the zombies powerful jaws. Before Sheryl could take a step, Jet ran through the door with her sword. Jet swung, there was a hollow swoosh as her blade easily sliced through its head and completely removed the top part of its skull. The zombie let go of Todd’s arm and dropped to the ground, taking three of Todd’s fingers with him.

Todd cried out and drew his hand into his chest as blood ran down his arm. Jet stepped back and did a quick visual check of the area. She stood ready out front until Sheryl got Todd back inside, then she carefully backed into the house and closed the door behind her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tami and Dedee stood outside the back door while Jeff and Lisa checked the kitchen and pantry. Jeff found five full cases of bottled water and took it outside to put in the van. On his way back in, he told Tami and Dedee to follow him and he took them to the back bedroom.

When Tami saw the spatter on the wall along with the devoured bodies and the smell, although faint by now, hit her, she ran into the bathroom and started heaving. When she couldn’t heave anymore, she returned. Lisa gave her a cold stare and shook her head. They went through the closet and dresser taking any clothes they thought would fit. Lisa left the room and went back into the kitchen to give it a second going over.

Tami whispered to Dedee, “Is your sister always like that?”

Dedee said as she dug through the drawer, “She’s really nice once you get to know her. She’s just very protective.”

“She scares me; I thought she was going to kick the crap out of me outside.” Then she asked, “Is she like a Marine or something?”

Dedee smirked. “No, but she is Miss Ventura County.”

Tami’s jaw dropped and she looked at Dedee. “I knew I saw her somewhere before. She really looks a lot different in those clothes. You must be really proud of her.”

Dedee nodded as she said, “I am, but she wasn’t after the title. She only needed the scholarship for college. You see, our dad worked at a gym and didn’t have the money for her to go.”

Lisa yelled down the hallway, “Bag that stuff up and get it in the van.”

When Tami passed by the kitchen, she noticed Lisa was watching them. Trying to avoid eye contact, she lowered her head and pretended not to notice. Jeff and Lisa brought out more boxes from the house and put them in the van. Once they had everything, they started for the little store.

When they arrived, Jeff pulled up to the front and stopped. They all got out and assessed the area. The front door of the store had already been broken and from what they could see of the inside, had already been gone through. Lisa had Jeff and Dedee go in and look around while she stayed outside with Tami.

They had only been inside for five minutes, when Lisa heard a low moan coming from the side of the store. Peeking around the corner, she saw only one. It was walking slowly and dragging is right leg. She waved Tami over and said to her, “I want you to go and take it out, but don’t worry; I’ll be right behind you.”

Tami began to tremble. “I don’t know. I’m not really used to it.”

“Well, here’s your chance to get used to it. There’s only one and it’s slow.” Lisa gestured to it as she spoke. “So go kill it.”

Tami took a few steps toward it and started to cry. Lisa shook her head as she said, “Will you quit?” She gestured toward the zombie again. “Just kill it. Now go!”

Sobbing, Tami took a few smaller steps and stopped. Lisa asked her, “What the hell are you doing? You plan on dancing with it or what?”

Tami turned and pointed to Lisa’s pistol. “Yeah, but you have that. I only have this.” And she held up the pipe.

Lisa went over and jerked the pipe from her hands. “Here, hold it like this with your hands together. Then swing it like a bat.” Lisa walked over to the zombie. “You can break arms.” She swung and hit the zombie’s elbow. It made a sickening pop and its forearm dangled, held only in place by some decomposing tendons. “You can take out legs.” She swung and caught the back of the zombies left leg. There was a crack and the zombies went down to its knees. “You can cave in a rib cage.” She swung again, striking it in the chest. There was a series of rapid cracks and crunches as its chest cavity caved in.

Tami could almost feel it and rubbed her hand across her own chest as she said, “Ouch!”

“Or you can mash heads.” She stood behind it and brought the pipe down on the top of its head. The top of the skull cracked as it caved in and the sides shot out. Nasty smelling black slime shot out of the eye sockets and splattered all down the front of Tami.

Tami shrieked and jumped back. Pouting, she tried to shake it off her hands and arms. Lisa held out the pipe and she took it. Lisa looked at the mess and said, “That’s it for today’s lesson. Next time, you’re doing it.”

Lisa walked around to the front of the store, followed by Tami as she heaved. When they got there, she saw Jeff tossing empty five gallon water jugs out through the front door. After he had thrown out about a dozen of them, he and Dedee emerged from the store.

Lisa picked one up. “What are you going to do with these?”

“We’re going back to that farm house and fill them up. That way we’ll have water, just in case I can’t get the generator going.”

Dedee held up a bottle of bubble bath. “We can take a bath tonight.” And she excitedly ran to the van and put it inside.

Lisa glanced at Tami and said, “Good, some of us are past due for one.”

He looked over and saw Tami covered in zombie pus. “What happened to you?”

Still visibly shaken, she answered, “Lisa showed me how to kill a zombie.”

After the empty bottles were loaded up, and filled up at the farm, they started back for the house. When they pulled up, Lisa and Jeff saw the bodies laying in the front yard. Jeff drove around the barn and the back of the house to make sure it was clear.

When they stopped in front of the house, Jet was waiting outside for them. Before they went in, Jet told them that Todd and Amy had been attacked. One tried to eat Amy’s brain, but only got a mouthful of her hair thanks to Sheryl. But Todd had three fingers eaten off his hand by the other.

Lisa rubbed her head after hearing the news. There was no doubt Todd had been infected and it was only a matter of time before he turned into one. Tears began to fill her eyes as she thought about what had to be done and how Amy would take it. Somberly, they went into the house. Todd had a blood-soaked bandage on his left hand. Both he and Amy were sitting at the table crying. Sheryl tried to hide it, but she, too, was emotional.

Lisa went to Sheryl and looked down at her without saying a word. Sheryl wiped her tears and said, “I’m really sorry, Lisa. I know I was supposed to keep them safe and I screwed it up.”

Lisa knelt down and put her hand on Sheryl’s. “I’m not blaming you. You fought and saved Amy. That’s worth something.” She looked down at the floor before she said, “Jeff, let’s go talk to your brother.

They went into Mark’s room and closed the door behind them.

Mark looked at them both. “You know what has to be done. We can’t have him turn and kill or infect any more of us.”

Lisa rubbed her temples frantically with her fingertips. She took a deep breath and spoke. “I’ve known that kid his whole life. I can’t… There is no way I can do it.”

Mark pointed to his wound. “I can’t even walk yet. Hell, I try to just stand up I get light-headed and fall down.”

Jeff looked at them both in the eye and sighed. “Well, I guess it fuckin’ sucks to be me right now.” He shook his head as he said, “I don’t know how I’m going to do this.”

Mark sighed. “I don’t know… Just take him for a walk and do it. Make it as easy on him as you can.”

Jeff sat there for ten minutes thinking before he stood up. “This isn’t going to be any easier the longer I wait.” And he went over to the door.

Lisa looked at Jeff with tears in her eyes. “I’ll make sure Amy stays in the house.”

They both stepped out into the living room. Lisa sat down on the couch and Jeff went over to Todd. “C’mon, buddy, we need to go for a walk and talk.”

Todd looked around the room as if someone would tell him what to do, but no one spoke. He got up and walked out the door with Jeff. Walking across the back yard and out into a field, Todd began to cry even more. “Jeff, I don’t want to die, man. I don’t want to die.”

“Todd, we can’t let you stay here. You’ve been infected. Not too long from now, you’re going to turn into a zombie. We can’t have you bite or kill anyone else.”

“But, Jeff, I won’t do that. I swear I won’t. I don’t want to turn into a zombie and I don’t want to leave.”

Jeff pulled his pistol from the holster and pointed it at Todd. “Go now, Todd. Just walk away and don’t ever come back.”

Todd slowly turned and started walking across the field. He took about ten steps and glanced back. Jeff raised his pistol again, pointed it at Todd, and said, “Go. Keep walking and don’t look back.”

He turned back around and took a couple more steps. Jeff aimed and fired the shot. Todd’s head jerked as the bullet entered the back of his skull, his body flew forward, landing face-down in the soft dirt.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The room was silent. Amy looked at everyone, but they all turned their gaze away or looked at the floor. Her voice cracked as she asked, “He’s not coming back. My brother’s not coming back, is he?” She continued to look around the room, but no one looked up. Even though it was expected, everyone flinched when they heard the shot from outside. She let out a loud cry as she jumped up, ran down the hallway, and into the bedroom slamming the door behind her.

Dedee said as she got up, “I’ll go see if there’s anything I can do for her,”

Lisa said, “No, stay here, Dedee. She needs to be alone right now. Let’s give her that.”

Jeff came back in the house an hour later. Every one watched as he sat down at the kitchen table. Without looking at anyone, he said, “I got a shovel from the barn and buried him.”

Jet grabbed a chair and sat next to him. She rubbed the back of his shoulders and softly said, “If you need to talk, I’m here.”

Without looking up from the table, Jeff said, “I know he was infected and didn’t have much time, but all I could see was a scared nine-year-old kid. For a minute there, I actually thought about letting him… just walk away.”

Jeff heard the front door open and saw Lisa going outside. When she came back a few minutes later, she had some of the things they had gathered earlier. Jeff and Jet got up and helped her bring the things in. When Jeff asked where she wanted the big jugs of water, she just pointed to a spot by the living room wall.

Jet looked into the boxes and started pulling things out. Cans of soup, a variety of veggies, some candles, but when she came to the bubble bath, she looked over at Dedee. She grabbed a large pan from under the counter and started opening cans of vegetables, then mixing the contents into it.

When they ate, appetites were small and there was little in the way of conversation. Lisa took some to Amy, but she turned it down. She tried to talk to her, but Amy responded to everything with a shrug as she lay in bed, facing the wall. Lisa finally set Amy’s food on the dresser and went back into the living room.

IX

Lisa stood in the doorway watching Mark. When he realized he wasn’t alone, he invited her in. Patting the edge of the bed, he said, “Have a seat.”

Lisa sat down and looked at his wound. “It looks like its getting better.”

Mark ran his hand over it. “Yeah, but I’m worried about Amy. How’s she handling the situation?”

“She’s still in the bedroom. She didn’t eat last night and skipped breakfast this morning.” Lisa watched Mark as he stared up at the ceiling. The urge to lie down and hold him was overwhelming and she barely managed to maintain control.

“If I wasn’t stuck in this damn bed, I could have saved him.”

Lisa saw the anger in his eyes as he said it. “Mark, you don’t know that for sure.”

He sat up and said, “Give me a hand; I’m getting out of this bed.”

Mark slid over to the edge of the bed. She held onto his arm and helped him up and out into the living room. Lisa watched him grit his teeth every time he put weight on his leg. She wanted him back up and moving around, but started to think it might be a little too soon. Sheryl and Tami watched as she helped him over to the couch and sit down.