Losers vs. Zombies, page 2
“Two and a half billion.” I muttered to myself. That was two days ago. I could expect that number to have doubled at least.
According to the stories, some people began biting after they were infected. They would be as normal as anyone else until the biting started. There was no warning. Once someone was bitten, it usually took three to four hours before that person would begin biting. Smaller people and children might start to bite sooner than that. The only way to kill them was by damaging the brain severely.
I was in the middle of reading one of the articles when the power went out. Damn. Shit. Maybe it was my being fat talking, but being in Mobile, Alabama in July without an air conditioner was a fate worse than death.
I sat wondering what to do. I began by making a mental list of things I would need. I needed a gun. I didn’t have one. I needed a car that wouldn’t be totaled from hitting a zombie. I drove a Camry. Shit.
“This isn’t going well.” The sound of my voice made Mr. Johnson scratch that much harder at my door. Then it hit me like a really heavy thing hitting a stupid person. “I’ve got Mr. Johnson’s keys!” I looked out the window at Mr. Johnson’s Jeep Wrangler but it was too dark to see. I remembered he even had the cow catcher mounted on the front. “Yes!”
One thing down, now to figure out where I could get a gun. Pawn shops came to mind. I would think I would have heard some gunfire by now from other people. That’s when the really heavy thing hit the stupid person again.
That wasn’t fireworks I’d been hearing the last few days. Those were gunshots. Words can’t describe how stupid I felt at that moment.
Okay, pawn shops might have guns but other people would have known that and they might be gone now. I knew I might find a shotgun or rifle in a sporting goods store. The only other place I knew that had guns was the police station. Duh!
I really didn’t want to go out there this time of night when the power was off. I decided to try and get some sleep. That was stupid but worth a try. I laid in the bed tossing and turning. Who knew the end of the world would cause insomnia?
When the sun rose, I rose with it. After a few minutes of building up my courage I made myself get started.
I grabbed Mr. Johnson’s keys and prepared to make a run for his Jeep. I looked around one last time and decided to grab a Rockstar even though it was no longer cold. I went and grabbed a three iron out of my cobwebby golf bag. I couldn’t play anymore because of my back but I couldn’t make myself throw the clubs away. I held the club in strike position as I unlocked the door.
Mr. Johnson came in at a rush but I used my free hand to throw him to the side and hit him with my club before he could came at me again. The head of the club sank into his skull with a sickening thud and squish.
I grabbed my Rockstar in one hand and held my golf club in the other as I headed for the Jeep. I took Cottage Hill Road down toward the interstate. The grocery stores were full of zombies and wrecked cars. The glass was out in all of the windows. Shaking my head, I continued to drive. I knew there was a pawn shop on the way. One look at the pawn shop and I knew not to bother stopping. The windows were busted out and there were several zombies walking around, just like the grocery stores had been. I tried not to see the zombies eating a man, but I saw it anyway. I continued on to Pleasant Valley Road. This would bring me out on Government Street near the police station. Half way down Pleasant Valley, I needed to run over one of the zombies. There were several milling about. They turned and headed straight for me when they heard the sound of my vehicle. The rest of the trip to the police station went alright.
I went around to the back where only the police cars usually go. I figured there would be less chance of zombies seeing me there. I found an open door and went in with my golf club at the ready.
It was very dark inside the building. I could hear shuffling feet and felt my heart sink. There were zombies in here. With the little light coming in from the doorway, I saw the moving outline of a man coming at me.
“Are you one of them?” He didn’t answer. He just kept coming. “Are you one of them?” I asked again. When he didn’t answer, I braced myself. When he came into range, I hit him with the club. Again, there was a thud and squish. He went to the floor and didn’t move anymore. I looked around and listened carefully before I moved from that spot. When I was fairly sure the coast was clear, I felt around on the man to see if he had a gun. He did! I also found a flashlight on his belt.
Now with the flashlight showing me what was in front of me and the gun pointed in case, I headed deeper into the building. It took me a few minutes to find the weapons room. It took even longer to find the key to open the door. I didn’t want to shoot the lock since the sound would attract other zombies.
As I looked through all the weapons and figured out I didn’t know the first thing about guns, I started grabbing some of the handguns and clips to go with them. I saw enough movies and TV shows to know extra clips came in handy. Then I needed to know what kind of bullets I needed. I found them. There were 45 caliber and 9mm pistols and I grabbed boxes of each. I found a cart to load down with the guns and ammo. I grabbed some assault rifles along with clips and ammo as well.
I pushed the heavy ass cart through the hallways trying to keep the flashlight pointed in the right direction instead of constantly swinging it around behind me for the zombie who wasn’t there. I did see one more zombie but she was at the door when I was leaving the station. I decided to try the gun since I would be leaving before many more could show up. I aimed carefully and tried to pull the trigger. Damn, the safety! I looked frantically for the safety and found it but she was too close for comfort now. I hit her hard with the butt of the gun and heard the crunch of her skull. She fell to the floor and didn’t move.
I got her legs out of the cart’s path and made my way to the Jeep. I unloaded the guns in record time. I was driving away when several more zombies came around the corner. I gunned the engine and ran them over. I made it to the street and wondered which way to turn.
Now what?
Back in my apartment I decided I needed guns and a car capable of running over zombies. I have them both now. What do I do next?
I need to find other survivors. Where?
I needed to think.
“I should probably put together some supplies. The grocery stores are probably empty now. Wait, Fred’s Dollar Store still looked okay when I passed it on the way here. They have a lot of canned foods that I can stock up on. Plus I should go ahead and eat the candy bars before they melt. Woohoo! I like that idea.” I said as I pointed the Jeep back to Cottage Hill Road. I took a different route to avoid the cluster that I saw on Pleasant Valley Road earlier. It didn’t take long to find out what a mistake that was.
Highway 90, which is also known as Government Street, had a traffic jam of epic proportions. I used the Jeeps off-roading capabilities to maneuver around it well enough to get to Azalea Road. I used Azalea to get to Cottage Hill.
I drove at walking speed through the parking lot at Fred’s, passing the Auto Zone and other smaller businesses. I did not want to be caught unaware by a zombie. I pulled right up to the door. I grabbed the flashlight and pistol. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and pushed my way into the unlocked dollar store. I locked the door behind me. I went aisle by aisle making sure the store was empty. I didn’t see anyone, zombie or not.
Everyone probably knows the saying about not going grocery shopping when you are hungry. Have you ever imagined what a fat man can do to a grocery section after he has been on a damn diet for months? It wasn’t pretty but it sure tasted good. I felt like I ate my weight in chocolate. The bread was almost as good as the chocolate. I washed it all down with Coca-Cola. Not water, not diet coke, not sugar free. Real coke.
Who cares if I gain weight now?
I was almost in a sugar coma when someone started banging on the door. I grabbed the gun and flashlight and went to see.
“Let us in! Please!” There were two people, one man and one woman, there. I took their ability to speak as meaning they were ok. I unlocked the door and let them in locking it back after they were inside.
“You two weren’t bitten right? Please say you’re ok.” I managed after they were calmed down some.
“We weren’t bit but we need to get to the back of the store so none of them can see us.” The woman said in a rush.
“Have you seen any other survivors?” I asked.
“Not since yesterday morning. We saw your Jeep turn in here. We were hiding in the bushes back up the road a little ways. We were going looking for food.” The man said more calmly since the danger seemed to be over.
“I rode by here earlier and saw this place wasn’t a wreck like the grocery stores were. I figured the food would still be here.”
“I am Steve and this is my wife Amy. What’s your name?” Steve asked.
“Brad. Nice to meet you although it is in a pretty bad situation.” I looked more closely at them. “Have you guys got guns or anything?”
“No. We saw on the news where the pawn shops were being raided. I didn’t know where we would find any guns around here. That’s when I decided to take this crowbar. It was the best weapon I could find at home. Our food ran out and we needed to find someplace to stock up. We were headed to the grocery store down the road from here. We didn’t even think of this place.” Steve told me.
“That grocery store, I don’t remember the name, and the little Walmart grocery store are both wrecked.” I stood up looking out at the window to see if any zombies were there. The parking lot still looked empty. “I was asking about the guns because I have some extras I can give you. I went to the police station and grabbed a bunch of them.”
“Wow. I didn’t even think about the police station. That was smart.”
“I can’t take any credit for doing anything smart anymore. I was oblivious to all of this until last night.” The shock on their faces would have been funny if it weren’t caused by my stupidity. I hung my head in shame.
“How could you not know?” Amy asked.
“I live alone. I’m a writer so I don’t leave home for work. I hate watching the news. I only realized afterwards that all the gunfire I’d been hearing wasn’t fireworks like I had thought at the time.” I admitted.
“Well, you did good with the guns and this place. Let’s go get a couple more for me and Amy.” Steve said as we started walking toward the door.
“I guess I need to take inventory of what all I grabbed. I was loading down a cart so I wouldn’t have to make a bunch of trips. I never knew how heavy guns were.” I said as we reached the doors. “Let’s grab everything and bring it all inside. Agreed?”
“Sounds good to me.” Steve said as I unlocked the door and we raced to get it all back inside before we were seen.
“So, we have six pistols and five assault rifles. We have three clips and two boxes of ammo for each gun. You did real good, Brad.” Steve’s praise made me feel a little better after having to admit my stupidity from earlier.
“Do you know how to load these clips? I’ve never even held a gun before today.” I admitted to him.
“I don’t have a clue. I’ve never been around guns either.” Steve said.
We spent some time figuring out how to load the clips and the guns. We knew we needed to familiarize ourselves with how they worked. We also took some time to load all the extra clips. We figured we wouldn’t have time if we were attacked. It would be better for us to be as prepared as we could be.
“There were a lot more there but I wasn’t going back for seconds. I killed one of the zombies on the way in and one on the way out. So much for me being a nonviolent person. Oh yes, I shouldn’t forget my neighbor. I had to kill him too. Damn. I also ran over a bunch of people. Shit, I should be on America’s most wanted list by now.” I tried to laugh and failed. Steve patted me on the shoulder in sympathy.
“I killed one of my neighbors too. He attacked Amy and I got him with my crowbar.” Steve said sadly. “I always hated him anyway.”
“It looks like it will get worse. They seem to be everywhere.” I looked around and remembered they had been looking for food. “Why don’t you two get some food in you? There’s plenty for now.”
“How long will we be here though? How long will this food last us? If those things get inside we will need to be able to run somehow. Do we have another way out of the building?” Amy asked way too many questions.
“Baby, sit down and eat. We aren’t in any shape to be answering too many questions right now.” Steve suggested.
“I agree except for one thing. We need to check to see if there is a back door and to make sure it is locked. I only checked out here when I came in.” I said regretting that oversight. I looked at Steve to see if he agreed.
“Let’s check real quick.” Steve said as he stood up.
We each grabbed a gun. I grabbed the flashlight and we headed to the door leading to the back. I took a shaky breath and opened the door making sure to shine the light in before I stuck my head through the door. We went through the back area looking in every place large enough to hold a human. All clear.
Once we knew there were no zombies, we started going through some of the inventory. We found several boxes of canned goods. Soups, chili, ravioli, and a host of others were there by the case.
“We won’t be going hungry for a while. At least that’s one good thing we got going for us. Let’s hope our luck holds out and we aren’t attacked.”
“The three of us could stay here for a while, I’d say. It’s not just the food but the other supplies as well.” Steve added.
We headed back into the store to share our good news. Amy was happy to hear it. I grabbed a can of beef stew, a coke, and a plastic spoon. I sat down near them and ate. I tried to study them some while they were distracted.
They appeared to be in their late twenties or early thirties. I am not very good at judging people’s age though. They wore nice clothes, well, I guessed they were nice anyway. I don’t know style very well. They seemed nice enough but I knew from research that the nice ones are as likely to be serial killers as anyone. They were people! I could tell that!
We finished eating and sat there quietly. I am not a people person. I may have illustrated that by now. They seemed like they weren’t sure what to say either. So we sat there not talking. It was boring.
“What did you do for a living?” I asked. It seemed like an innocent enough question to me at the time.
“Well...” Steve hesitated. I was getting worried he was going to say he just got out of prison or something bad like that. “I was a florist.”
“Why’d you hesitate? There’s nothing wrong with that.” I asked surprised.
“There’s nothing wrong with it but most people think ‘oh he must be gay’ or ‘aren’t florist all really weird’ or something along those lines.” Steve said quietly. I laughed and had to hold my hands up to make sure he knew I wasn’t laughing at him.
“I was a writer. We are usually the weird ones.” I explained. Steve smiled now that he knew I wasn’t making fun of him.
“It would help if one of you guys had been a cop or a soldier or something. We need to figure out how to fight these things and we can’t do it with flowers or words.” Amy pointed out. She was right.
“Won’t they just die from hunger if they run out of people to eat? Can’t we just wait them out?” I asked hopeful we wouldn’t need to fight.
“The news had footage of cops emptying their guns into those things. They didn’t die from bullets through the heart. I really don’t think they are gonna die from malnutrition.” Amy said smartly.
“What kind of books did you write?” Steve asked trying to move on from Amy’s attitude. He wore a look that made me believe he had done this smoothing over thing before. I guessed he probably would again.
“Werewolves and vampires mostly. Too bad I didn’t do a zombie book.” I thought for a moment and added, “I am pretty sure I would mess up any zombie book I tried to write. That’s not my thing.”
We sat there going through some more small talk. I wanted to get away from them but knew we were safer together. My back was hurting from sitting on the floor. I got up and walked around some. I found some chairs and brought three over for us to sit in. Steve went for a walk around the store too. He came back in a hurry.
“There’s people outside!” He whisper shouted.
Amy, Steve, and I all grabbed a gun and headed for the door. There was a car in the parking lot that wasn’t there before. Two women were arguing about what they should do. Unfortunately, several zombies were approaching them. I counted six of them.
“Do we invite them in?” I asked.
“Hell no! They’re out there fighting and if we invite them in, the zombies will know we are in here.” Amy said vehemently.
“Of course we invite them in. Those are people, damn it. They need to be safe too. We have to protect them.” Steve said. He and Amy had a stare down for a few seconds before she relented with a sigh.
“Go ahead, invite ‘em in. If we get killed because of this I’m gonna kick your ass all over hell for it.” Amy shouted and walked to the back of the store.
I unlocked the door and walked out a little ways. I was careful to watch for any zombies that might have been close by. Steve followed me out. We were still a good ways away when the two that were fighting saw us. They came walking over in relief.
“Are we glad to see you! Tommy was bit and now he is changing. We were trying to figure out a way to get him out of the car without getting bit ourselves.” One of the women said. The other one was looking around at the zombies.
“Maybe we should go inside now. Those things are getting closer.” The other woman muttered worriedly.
“Hey, where did you guys get those guns? We searched all over the place and couldn’t find any. They were all gone from the pawn shops.” One of them asked.
