Just Another Day in the Zombie Apocalypse (Episode 1) Read online

  “Alice,” Mark turned back to the girl with the dark hair, the girl who had saved him from his nightmares last night. “You know Holbrook better than any of us. What do you recommend?”

  “As far as places to stay?”

  “As far as anything. Are there abandoned areas in town without a lot of people? Is there anywhere close by? What about farms on the outskirts? And how can we get there?”

  She looked at Kyle, then back at Mark.

  “I think we’re going to have to walk, you guys. There are a couple of roads leading out of town, but they’re going to be jammed and run over with cars and maybe even people. I doubt we’ll be able to drive out.”

  “She’s right,” Kyle said. “You don’t have to worry about me, though. I’ll keep up.”

  Mark raised an eyebrow. He was more worried about Kyle than he should have been. They were outgunned and outmanned and outmaneuvered if it really came down to a fight. The little group didn’t have a lot going for him, unless you counted hope.

  Then they had nothing.

  “Let’s go south,” Kyle said. “South of town there are a lot of farms.”

  “He’s right,” Alice agreed. “But maybe…maybe this is a dumb idea, but maybe we should take a couple of days leaving.”

  “Why?” Mark asked sharply.

  “Maybe we should, you know, try to gather some more supplies from the houses on the way out of town, you guys. Is that a stupid idea? I’m just thinking, you know, of Kyle and everything. Yeah, we can always come back and hit up a pharmacy and stuff, but chances are that those places are going to have been hit hard.”

  “She’s right,” Kyle said slowly. “We should get the supplies we need now. Then we can get out of town and fuck right off. We won’t have to come back into Zombie World, at least not for awhile.”

  Mark crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. The kids were right, he realized. There were a few kinks in the plan, like how they’d manage to get their supplies out of Dodge without a car, but Alice seemed to have thought of that.

  “Bikes,” she said. “We can use bikes.”

  “You can’t haul stuff when you’re on a bike,” Kyle pointed out.

  “I peeked in the garage,” Alice said. “There’s a kid’s trailer.”

  “What the hell is that?” Mark had never heard of it.

  “You know,” Kyle said. “It’s a thing you haul behind your bike and you can put your kids in it. They’re big, though. There’s a lot of space in one of those things.”

  “So we can fill it up. Hmm.” This might just work. He wouldn’t have thought of any of this on his own, but damn if Kyle and Alice didn’t have this handled.

  It was already mid-morning, but if they got started soon, they’d be able to gather up enough supplies to last them awhile at least. They could get stuff today and leave town tomorrow morning at first light. They could use the day to collect things.

  Mark wished there was some sort of guidebook for dealing with crap like this. Military policies? He could handle those. Group formations? Fine. Running P.T. tests? He had that down.

  But fucking zombies?

  How was he supposed to know how to navigate this?

  “We need a list,” Alice said, taking charge. “We need a list of things to look for, to collect. We should go to the houses on this road and then move on.”

  “What if the houses on this road aren’t all abandoned?” Mark asked. He remembered the day before, remembered passing houses where people were peeking out.

  “We’ll be careful,” Alice said. “Let’s go.”

  ***

  She had a problem of sounding too sure of herself, Alice knew. It was a stupid idea, wandering into houses. She gripped the list she had made, though. It was like a shopping list for the apocalypse: weapons, asthma medication, drugs, alcohol, bandages, water.

  The world had fallen apart only a day ago, but Alice truly believed more houses would be empty than they expected.

  People did a lot on Saturday mornings. They went to soccer games and to their friends’ houses. Some people went to church services and some sat at coffee shops. It was a straight shop from the suburbs to the rural plains of Kansas. Kansas was good that way.

  It wasn’t overly difficult to get to the countryside, to freedom. It wasn’t difficult to get out of town.

  Alice wondered how long this plague would last. She wondered if they would be wandering forever. Would her and Mark and Kyle find a place to live, then have to abandon it when an undead horde came to devour them?

  Would they have to find a new place?

  Would they lose some team members along the way?

  The guys really were her team, she realized. They were her buddies, her friends. They were more than that now, though. They were all she had. They were her family.

  They were her people.

  “Come on,” Mark said, heading to the back door. The plan was to scour the neighborhood and the nearby houses, then return for the night. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, they’d leave. They’d go somewhere new. They’d find someplace else.

  Alice wasn’t sure if it was a terrible or fantastic idea to try to get supplies before they left. She knew that when she stepped outside the safety of the house they’d found, everything would change. Everything would be different.

  The world would crash and burn or it would just be.

  Mark opened the door and they stepped outside. It was quiet.

  “It’s too silent,” she whispered. “It’s creepy.”

  “Shh,” Kyle said.

  Mark just locked the door. He pocketed the key.

  “Should we just leave it under the mat?” She asked. It felt weird to take someone’s key with them. Maybe they should leave it where they had found it. Mark and Kyle looked at her like she was crazy, so she closed her mouth and stepped down off the porch. They followed her quietly around the side of the house.

  Nothing.

  There was nothing.

  There was no noise and no cars and no people walking around.

  “Should we split up?” She asked, but Mark shook his head.

  “Best to go together,” he said. “In case there’s trouble.”

  They decided to skip the house where the woman had been killed yesterday. Even though they knew the house was empty, none of them liked the idea of going into a house where the virus had been. They still didn’t know how it was transmitted or how it had started. If it was airborne, none of them wanted to be in close proximity to where an Infected had been.

  If it was transmitted by blood or saliva, none of them wanted to accidentally touch any.

  They decided to start with the house next door.

  They circled around the house.

  “Looks empty enough,” Mark said. Alice trusted his opinion. A military man, Mark would keep them safe. He had the drive, but he had the skills, too. That was what really mattered.

  “Back door again,” Kyle said, and she followed the men around to the back. They checked under the mat again, but they weren’t as lucky this time around.

  “At least it worked yesterday,” Alice said.

  “It’s okay,” Mark said. He held up a towel he’d brought from the house. “I’m prepared this time.” He wrapped it around his hand and arm, then slammed it through the window on the back door. The sound of glass shattering rang out through the air, but nothing happened.

  Nothing bad happened.

  They waited, paused, holding their weapons. Kyle had brought his gun and Mark his bat. Alice had found a hammer in the house they were staying in. It wasn’t a great weapon, but she could swing it. She could bash a skull in if she needed to.

  “Seems clear,” she whispered after a minute. She was scared to speak aloud in case there was someone hiding inside. Even if there wasn’t a zombie in there, she wasn’t sure if there was a family holed up inside. The world left behind was going to be afraid. The world was going to be scared, nervous.

  “Cover me,” Mar
k whispered to Kyle. Kyle nodded and waited, watching. Mark cleared the glass from the window frame above the door and laid the towel over the broken shards that were left. He reached through the hole. The towel protected his skin, keeping him from getting a deep injury. Mark fiddled around for a minute and tried to unlock the door from where he was at. After a second, Alice saw the problem. The window they had broken was at a weird angle to the lock, and was too small to allow much freedom of movement. Mark couldn’t quite get to it with his arms.

  “Move,” she said. “My hands are tinier.”

  She wasn’t trying to be rude. Her words came across as harsh, or perhaps just motherly. Either way, Mark quickly stepped aside and Alice went forward. She made sure the towel was in place, protecting her from harm, then reached into the door.

  Visions of zombies running forward and grabbing her hand, biting her, filled her head. She took a deep breath and tried to reach the lock. Her hands touched the metal and she closed her eyes.

  “Feel,” she whispered aloud. “Just feel.”

  She turned the deadbolt and unlocked it, then reached for the main doorknob. She twisted the second lock and then pulled her arms out.

  “Ready?” She whispered.

  Mark nodded.

  Then he turned the knob and opened the door.

  Chapter 10

  The smell hit Kyle before anything else.

  It wasn’t death or blood or gore: it was fear.

  The house was filled with the sickly-sweet scent of sweat.

  “Someone left in a hurry,” Alice said, stepping over the threshold. They walked into the mudroom, which had clothing and shoes strewn about. The smell was overpowering. Maybe the family had left behind a lot of unwashed laundry, Kyle thought. He peeked in the washing machine, which was full. Maybe that was where the smell came from, but really, Kyle thought the family had been scared when they left. They had been afraid.

  “Not such a hurry that they forgot to lock the doors,” Kyle said. He wondered what had happened here. Had they seen the news reports and quickly left town? Had they made it? Had they been able to escape? He hated the visualization of the people who lived here that popped into his head. All he saw were corpses. All he saw was death.

  He tried not to see his own.

  He didn’t know if he could live with the idea that they were all going to die and it was his fault. It was all Kyle’s fault.

  Kyle hated knowing he was the reason they hadn’t escaped yet. He felt overwhelmed with guilt at the realization that he was the reason they couldn’t go where they needed to go. They couldn’t escape. Not yet.

  Soon, though.

  Kyle would make it up to them. He’d work hard and sleep little. He’d pull his weight. He wouldn’t let something as little as his asthma hold him back when it came to surviving with his friends.

  “Look,” Mark pointed. “Grab a bag.” There was a pile of reusable grocery bags on the floor. Alice picked one with the logo of a story she liked. Kyle grabbed a green one. Mark got one, too, then they stepped further inside.

  “I’ll take the first floor,” Kyle said.

  “We’ll go up,” Mark said. He motioned for Alice to follow him, and the duo disappeared upstairs. Kyle felt okay about clearing the first floor on his own. He didn’t have a lot of experience with this sort of thing, of course. He was an IT guy, after all. Still, he had his Glock and he knew how to use it.

  That was the one good thing about growing up in the country. His dad had made sure Kyle and each of his siblings knew exactly how to use various weapons. Kyle was a scrawny man: not buff and big like his father. Still, he could defend himself and the people around him even if he didn’t have physical strength on his side.

  Kyle could hear Alice and Mark walking around upstairs. Well, he could hear Alice. Mark was stealthy and quiet. For such a big guy, he walked with a light step. Maybe it was the military training, Kyle reasoned. Maybe there was some other reason. Either way, it was a little disconcerting that Kyle couldn’t tell where Mark was.

  That was beside the point, though. Kyle needed to explore the first floor and make sure it was empty. Then he could look for medications and other supplies they needed.

  For a second, Kyle considered yelling into the open living room.

  “Hello!” He could shout. “Any zombies in here?”

  He didn’t, though. Even though it would be easier than walking around, looking for an undead hiding behind the couch, he didn’t really need to announce his presence to the entire neighborhood. The world was so quiet today.

  The silence reminded Kyle of the way the earth sounded after a snowstorm. When you stepped out of your house and onto the freshly fallen snow, and you were surrounded by nothing but silence. That was what this felt like, only there was no snow.

  There was nothing.

  He walked around the living room. The room was disheveled. It looked like a normal living room: full of love and excitement and memories. Kyle tried not to think about his family as he looked around. The last thing he needed was to remember his mom and dad.

  The last thing he needed was to think about how much he’d lost.

  He wondered if they were okay and what they were doing. Had dad gone out and chopped extra firewood before locking down the house? Had mom hurried up and baked a bunch of pies to tide them over once the power went out? Had his brothers and sisters come up with lists of games to play and ideas for things to do while they waited out the zombie apocalypse?

  Did they view it like any other natural disaster?

  Or were they dead?

  Kyle ran his hand over a dusty bookshelf and checked the coat closet. He walked behind the couch to check for monsters or anyone who might be hiding, but he didn’t find anything. There was a bathroom on the first floor, which was also empty. He cringed before he pulled back the shower curtain. Nothing jumped out at him, though. He was fine.

  It took a few more minutes to finish examining the first floor, but Kyle confirmed there was no one there. They were alone in the house.

  He took his bag back into the bathroom and looked through the medicine cabinets. Toothpaste: it was mostly toothpaste. The people who lived here before must have been dental hygiene freaks. There were four types of dental floss and seven tubes of toothpaste. Beneath the sink, Kyle found a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, which he put in the bag. Nothing else was worth saving.

  He looked around the kitchen and filled the bag with snacks. There were lots of crackers and some beef jerky, which he was crazy about. Mark and Alice were still upstairs, and there was more food than they’d be able to take, so Kyle had a snack before he went up to them. His stomach rumbled as he bit into some of the jerky, but he ignored the sound and just ate.

  Damn.

  How long had it been since he’d had a real meal? Two days? Really? He hadn’t really eaten before they got drunk, so maybe three days. It was a bad habit: not eating. It was one he needed to work on. He was just always so busy with tech stuff that he forgot to eat. It was why Kyle was so thin.

  He wasn’t strong and big like Mark. He wasn’t muscular, even though he wanted to be. He was just scrawny. He’d get to working on a new project, whether it be coding or graphic design, and he’d skip a meal or two. He always told himself he’d eat later, but then he didn’t.

  It was catching up with him.

  Now he was starving.

  He grabbed for more food and shoved it in his mouth. Kyle knew he wouldn’t have a chance to eat like this for a long time. After this, after they left Holbrook, he’d have to ration his food. They all would.

  If this virus was here to stay, they’d all have to cut corners. They’d all have to be careful. They couldn’t risk emotional eating or eating just because they were bored. They’d have to be watchful of what they ate and how much.

  Every detail of their lives would have to be planned.

  He tried not to think too much about it. Instead, he ate what he could here. Kyle rummaged around the kitchen until he f
ound a soda he liked. He finished eating his beef jerky, then took a long sip. It was good. Tasty. Calming. It was amazing how much a little sugar could help you calm down, how much it could help you unwind.

  He sipped the drink slowly, listening to the emptiness in the house. It was only yesterday they had fled from their apartment building. It was only yesterday the world had gone to hell. It was only yesterday.

  When the family who lived here woke up yesterday, did they have plans for the weekend? Did they think they were going to go to soccer practice or church or to a party? Did they think they were going to go hiking? What did they think they were going to do?

  What plans did they have that had been disrupted by the dead waking?

  What hopes did they have that were squashed by this virus?

  Suddenly, Kyle didn’t feel like eating anymore. He set the half-finished soda on the counter and walked back toward the living room.

  It was time to find his friends.

  Chapter 11

  Alice stared at the pictures on the walls that lined the upstairs hallway. They had cleared the floor and aside from some dust bunnies, there had been no signs of life.

  Or death.

  The house was empty. Maybe the people who lived there had left yesterday during the initial outbreak or maybe they just never came home. She didn’t care. It didn’t matter.

  She looked at the pictures.

  Smiling faces all stared back at her. She thought of her own family, of her own parents, and of Timothy. They had taken pictures like this, long ago. They had worried about outfits and bought matching clothes and smiled and posed and taken pictures together.

  That was before everything changed.

  That was before Timmy died.

  Now her parents might be dead, too, and she had no way of knowing. She had no way of figuring out whether or not her folks had killed themselves, if they had been bitten, or if they had holed away somewhere safe.

  “Worried about your folks?” Mark asked, stepping beside her. She hadn’t even heard him get close.