Authors: J.A. Crowley
Next, I checked the garage, which was not designed with security in mind, to say the least. It had two large garage doors, three windows, and a steel entry door to the back yard. Fortunately, there was a window in that door so we could see out. I gave that door the same treatment as the basement door. I covered up the windows with some plywood, leaving a two inch opening in each that we could see and shoot out of. I needed to leave the garage doors operational so that we could get the cars in and out but I did bolt them closed. I drilled a couple of holes through the doors so that we could see out.
I decided that the garage would have to be guarded at all times since it was such a vulnerable spot. The back yard was fenced, which wouldn’t stop the zombies if they attacked in force but would at least give us some warning. The front was covered by Mike, who had a good view across the front yard and down the driveway. The west side seemed protected because the ground fell away on that side and the windows there were higher than a person could reach.
I asked Bill to patrol the back yard and the garage and stationed Mary in the kitchen. That wall had a glass sliding door, a major weak point. I grabbed my last two sheets of plywood and screwed them onto the frame from outside, using the last of my four inch screws. I drilled a couple of peep holes to look through.
That left me with only scraps to secure the front windows. I slid over two bookcases to cover a couple of windows and used some spikes to nail them in. I cut a couple of holes in each so that we could see out. That left three vulnerable windows in front, plus the front door.
I was out of lumber and screws, so I decided to pull up some of the boards on my new front porch. The boards came up easily, and I was able to reuse the screws. I decided to completely board up two windows and leave a firing slit in the third. As for the front door, I decided to protect it by removing all of the deck and support boards in front of it. Anyone trying to get in that way would come up the steps and fall three feet to the ground. Not much, but at least we’d get some warning.
With the last boards, I beefed up the structure of the front door as I had with the basement and garage doors. I kept a board to use as a bridge across the missing front porch. If we had to, we could open the front door, throw the bridge down, and use it for a quick exit.
I decided that, if we survived the night, Mike and I would dismantle the rear deck the next day and bring the wood inside to complete the barricades and build something to close off the upstairs stairwell.
If the zombies got inside, we needed a place to retreat to and an escape plan. I brought a roll of heavy duty chicken wire inside the house, without knowing what I might use it for.
Kate had been busy as well. She was a bit of a hoarder and we had lots of different supplies. Kate had located candles and matches and placed a few in each room. She lit a kerosene lantern and left it in the kitchen. Each of the kids was threatened not to touch the lights or play with the matches.
Naturally, all of our flashlights had issues and wouldn’t light. Again, Kate had hidden supplies of batteries and even a few bulbs and was starting to put them out on the dining room table. She had asked Mary to put new batteries in and generally check the flashlights. Mary had gotten two Maglites, two battery operated lanterns, and a motley assortment of the kid’s flashlights up and running.
We also had a couple of radios up and running but news reports were sketchy. The sirens had stopped but that we could still hear sporadic gunfire. I remembered that we had given the kids, over the years, an assortment of survival stuff, including a radio and a flashlight with wind up power supplies and some type of shortwave receiver. We also had a battery powered television somewhere.
I asked Kate, in her travels, to locate them and power them up. She said that stuff was in Mike’s closet. She was already making a pile of the many walkie talkies we had accumulated over the years. Some were on chargers and some on batteries.
It was now almost fully dark. The last thing that I did before night fell was to secure the fence gates with zip ties and put some bottles and cans across the driveway for a bit of advance warning if anyone approached.
Later that night, we all sat together and tried to figure out what to do. We included everyone, adults and kids, because there was no way to sugarcoat it. The world had changed, at least temporarily, and we needed to adjust to survive. Cable, telephone, and the internet were down. Cell phone service seemed to be working but all the lines were full. A few radio stations were broadcasting, but seemed to be on some type of automatic loop. The news stations that were broadcasting simply had too much bad news to cover it all.
We learned that breakouts had occurred in New York, Sao Paulo, Springfield, and Boston. Miami, LA, Beijing, and Paris were on fire. One dire report gave way to another. This was happening everywhere.
We each contributed to the meeting in our own way. I started out: “We’re pretty much on our own. We have to assume that we’re not going to get much help from police or fire. I bet a lot of them are zombies. Maybe the military can help but who knows.”
Bill chimed in: “We should expect to lose electricity pretty soon. The grid can run on automatic for awhile but it will shut down, probably in a few days, if it’s not serviced.” Kate told him that she was ready for that and we discussed the flashlights and candles and the need to conserve them. We discussed that we’d need a generator when the power went out.
Bobbie said that we should charge all of our cell phones and electrical devices so that we’d have them later if service was restored. She offered to check the internet and the cell phones periodically. Smart little kid. Sean, not to be outdone, told us that he had filled the tubs with water in case the water stopped running and that we should not flush the toilets unless we had to. Another smart little kid. I made a note to grab as many buckets as I could the next day and fill them up. Mike pointed out that we’d need to take an inventory of our supplies and begin to ration them. Also, we needed to conserve our ammunition. I was impressed by all of them. They knew things had changed but there was no whining or crying; they simply began to adapt.
“I agree,” Kate said. “Think about it. There are almost ten thousand people in our town and another fifty thousand within twenty miles. Based on what we saw today, most of them are probably infected. There are no police, fire, or medical people to help us or, if they survived, they are holed up and waiting for help just like we are. We need to assume the worst. We need to protect ourselves first. I think more of these things will be coming.”
“But what about the others?” asked Mary. “Maybe there are other survivors out there. We have to help them. We have to find out about the rest of our families and friends.”
“That’s true,” said Bill, “but we can only help them if we stay alive. Our first priority has to be to protect this group. When we’re stable here, we can help others—but not before then.”
Tyler chimed in: “I don’t care about all of that, I want to see if my parents are okay.”
Bill handled that one: “There’s no way we can get to them down the Cape. We just have to wait and see. They’re smart and resourceful. I’m sure they’re fine.” Tyler and Cody sulked a bit, but there was simply nothing we could do.
We all took a moment to think about our loved ones. There was simply no way to tell if they were dead, infected, or had survived. We feared that most of them were dead. I don't know what was worse—the feeling of loss or not knowing.
It was getting late and I wanted people to get some rest, so I offered Sean and me for the first watch and sent the rest to get some sleep. I told everyone to sleep up in the attic, to stay together, and to keep their weapons handy. The kids dragged mattresses and sleeping bags up and set everyone up with beds. Kate had found our emergency fire ladders and set them up at the east window. We could use them to climb down to the garage roof and from there swing down to the ground. We decided on two hour watches: me and Sean; Mike and Bill; Kate, Mom, and Bobbie; and Mary, Tyler and Cody. Mom and Mary insisted on taking their turns so I worked them into the schedule. That’s as far as we got for emergency planning that night.
During our shift, Sean and I moved around frequently and simply listened and watched. Molly stayed with us. We hoped that she’d bark if she heard anything. She was clearly tense and on alert but stayed quiet.
The street light was still on, and we could see a large fire off to the west miles away. There were many distant sirens and lots of gunshots. We each had a flashlight but we kept them off since we didn’t know if the creatures were attracted by light. When I had that thought, I ran up to the attic and asked Kate to cover the windows so light wouldn’t be visible from outside. “Already did it!” she said proudly. “We just have one small candle going--but I didn’t want any of those things to see it. By the way, Tyler and Cody are sharp little kids—they brought up the fire extinguisher from the kitchen in case we have a fire.”
“That’s great, but I wonder if we should stay in the attic. We could get trapped up here, and I didn’t think about fire.”
“I know, but I like our chances better up here than in the basement. I really feel trapped down there.”
“Do you think everyone can handle the ladder?”
“I don’t know, but maybe we’ll have a drill tomorrow. Let’s talk about it tomorrow, I need some sleep.”
I returned to the second floor when I heard Sean call quietly to me. “Dad, I see something.” I went to the front window and looked out. I saw three people coming down our driveway. One had a flashlight and another had a rifle or shotgun.
“When did you first see them?”
“Actually, I heard them, Molly was growling. I think they were calling to us.”
“What did it sound like?”
“I heard the word ‘help.”
“That’s interesting, I haven’t heard infecteds talking. They only moan. I don’t even know if they can talk. Maybe I’ll go out and talk with them.”
“Dad, that’s not smart. They could be zombies or they could already be bitten. What if they attack you?”
“Good point, Sean. How do you think we should handle it?”
“Let’s talk to them and see what they say and how they act. If they look okay, we’ll lock them in the garage but not let them into the house. Then, we can check them in the morning and see if they are still okay.”
“Sean, you’re brilliant. We’ll quarantine them for a bit to make sure they’re okay. They’ll be safe in the garage until then.”
I opened the front door and pointed my .45 at the group, who by then were within ten feet of the porch. “Please put your weapons down. We mean you no harm but we will defend ourselves. Turn out that light and speak softly. Who are you and what do you want?”
“I’m Steve and this is my wife, Julie, and my son, Jake. We live about two miles from here on Chestnut Street. We were attacked by our neighbors and they killed my daughter when she tried to help. By the time we saw what was happening it was too late. I saw my daughter’s throat ripped apart, and she died. Five minutes later, she got back up and started moaning like the rest of them. The rest of us ran away and hid in a ditch filled with water. I don’t think they could smell us in there and they wandered off after a while. We kept moving and came looking for our friend, Dave Snow. He lives on this street and always talked about how many guns and supplies he kept for emergencies. He told us we could come stay with them in any emergencies, so here we are. His house is locked up and empty. This gun is empty, by the way.”
“Are any of them following you?” I asked.
“I don’t think so,” Julie responded. “A few followed us for a bit, but we stayed as quiet as we could. An ambulance went by with its siren on and they all ran after it.”
“Are any of you injured? Did they touch or bite you?”
“No,” said Steve. “We haven’t been within ten feet of any of them. Nor do we want to be.”
“Okay, here’s the deal. Put your rifle on the ground and go quietly to the back of the garage. I’ll let you in the fence and into the garage. I’ll get you some food and water and you can stay in the garage until the morning when we can see you in the light. If you try to get into the house, you will be shot. If you make any loud noises, you may attract the zombies. Do you understand?”
They agreed to those terms. I had to cut the zip tie on the fence gate to let them through, then put them in the garage. I replaced the zip tie and went back through the garage, covering them the whole time with my .45.
“Stay in here and be quiet. Try to get some sleep. If you hear anything, knock quietly on the kitchen door. It’s barricaded, so you won’t be able to get in but we’ll check it out.”
When I got back into the house, Sean was waiting for me. “I had you covered, Dad.”
“Thanks, Sean. You're a good kid. Let’s go get some sleep.”
We woke up the next shift, told them about our guests in the garage, and hit the sack. I slept like a baby.
The next day was Sunday. We all woke up around 6:00 a.m. Steve, Julie, and Jake seemed okay so we let them in and introduced them to everyone. Steve and Julie were about forty and Jake was nineteen. We figured they’d come in handy. Steve’s rifle was a .22 so we had plenty of ammo for it, but I didn’t give it back to him since we needed to get to know him better before we could trust him with a gun.