Apocalypse Empire (Book 1): Apocalypse Origins (17 page)

At their nod Greg and James approached the house. They found
the door unlocked which hopefully meant the occupants had left. The entered the
house and began searching room by room. They saw signs the owners had left in a
hurry. Clothes were strewn everywhere and the kitchen looked as if a tornado
had hit it. 

"Looks good," James said as they returned to the
living room.

"Yeah, let's get that garage open and get everyone
inside." James nodded and they headed for the garage to let everyone in.
Once they had the door open, they brought the vehicles inside and everyone
headed inside the house.

"They were in a hurry," Laura said as she looked
around.

"Yeah," James replied, "maybe there's still
something of use though."

"I can check the kitchen for some food," Carol
said, "maybe they left something."

"Good idea," Laura said. "Come on, Maddy,
give us a hand."

"What can I do, dad?" Junior asked.

"How about you look for some blankets? Check the
closets. That way we won't have to unload anything from the cars."

Junior nodded excitedly and raced off in search of his
prize. Laura came over with a worried looked. "You sure it's safe?"

James nodded. "We checked everyone room, top to bottom.
Nothing in here but us."

"Alright," she replied as she returned to the
kitchen.

"Why don't we cover the windows?" Greg suggested.
"That way we don't have to spend the night in the dark."

James nodded and the two set to work looking for anything
they could use to cover the windows. Half of their work was done for them
already, the living room windows were intact and covered with heavy drapes. A
few minutes with some duct tape sealed the drapes at the corners so no light
escaped.

"We found some food," Carol called from the
kitchen.

Greg headed over and saw Carol triumphantly holding two
boxes of spaghetti. "It's not much," she said, "but it'll let us
save the food in the cars."

Greg nodded. "That's good. Anything we can take with
us?"

"Not much," Laura said. "Maddy found a couple
of canned goods, but that's it."

"Something is better than nothing," Greg replied.
Greg returned to living room and saw James standing with a frown on his face.

"What's wrong?"

James shrugged. "Just thinking about gas. We got what,
three cans?"

Greg nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"I'm thinking we need to hit a gas station before we
leave or siphon some cars or something."

"Good idea. Keep the cans for emergencies. Probably
better to do that in the morning."

"Yeah. So, what do you think? We safe here?"

"I'd like to think so, but we should probably sleep in
shifts just to be safe."

James nodded. "How do you wanna split it up?"

"Probably from six to midnight. Then midnight 'til six
or so."

"Sounds good. Since we're gonna be looking for gas,
maybe we should look at a few of these houses. Can't hurt to have more
supplies."

Greg nodded. That was a good point. They probably shouldn't
expect to find shelter in a town every night. Some places just might not be
safe be it from infected or other survivors. It was a good idea to stock up on
as much as they could while they were able.

"How much space left in the van?"

"A bit," James said. "The tents are strapped
to luggage rack so we've got some room."

Carol stepped into the living room. "Food's
ready."

Greg smiled as he and James headed for the dining room. The
girls had cleared away some of the chaos and set places at the table. The meal was
just spaghetti but there looked to be plenty of it. Everyone took a seat and
spent the next few minutes eating their fill.

"We found some tupperware," Laura said. "We
can take the leftovers with us. Stave off eating canned stuff for one more
day."

"Sounds good to me," James said after swallowing a
mouthful.

"Hey, Junior," Greg said, "any luck with the
radio?"

"Not yet. Still just a bunch of static."

"Alright. Why don't you grab after dinner and I'll give
it a try. I'll take first watch. Might as well have something to do."

"How do the watches work?" Carol asked.

"I think it's a good idea that someone be awake while
the others are sleeping. I'll stay about 'til around twelve, then James will
take over."

"That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I mean
you've been driving all day. Why not do shorter shifts? Laura and I can watch
to."

"That's right," Laura said, "you've both been
driving all day. We can both do our part. We'll wake you if anything
happens."

"Can't really argue with that," James said.

Greg nodded. "I guess you're right."

"Of course we're right," Carol said. "We're
all in this together. We can't afford to have able bodied people not pulling
their weight. Especially if we ever decide to bring someone with us."

She was right. It was good to get in to the habit of sharing
the workload. Especially if they added anyone to their group. That would give
people a chance to have a break. There wasn't that much to do right now but
just getting to sit for a while could do some good. Greg thought about his
group and felt they were holding up pretty well. It seemed they each had
accepted the situation and were determined to survive. 

"Alright," Greg said, “guess I'll help clean up
and get some sleep then."

"No," Carol said shaking her head, "you go
get some rest. Both of you."

"Not gonna argue," James said. I'll take last
watch if that's okay."

"That's fine," Greg replied. "Wake me up at
midnight." Carol nodded and Greg headed upstairs to find a suitable place to
sleep. He found two bedrooms and chose the smaller one. James and Laura would
need the bigger one for the kids. He found some clean sheets in a hall closet
and set about making the bed. As soon as that was done he lay down and realized
how tired he was. They didn't have to do any running today but the day had been
emotionally draining. Between the woman they’d leave behind and those thugs
that that had blocked the road, well Greg was glad the day was done.

He thought back to the guys they had fought earlier and
found he didn't feel any remorse. He didn't want to fight, but what they were
doing was wrong. How many people would they have robbed if he hadn't done
something about it? It bothered him a bit that he wasn't torn up about it but
maybe James was right. He was just a man trying to protect the people he cared
about. This was how things were. He was going to have to fight off infected and
other survivors to keep everyone safe. He did give those thugs a chance, he
didn't attack outright. He also couldn't stand by when people were doing
something like that.

The sound of the door opening interrupted his thought.
A few moments later, Carol slipped in the bed beside him. "Why aren't you
sleeping?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Just thinking."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"Nah, I'm okay."

"Come on Mr. Psychologist. It's not good to bottle
things up."

Greg chuckled. "I'm not. I think I've got it worked out
for now. I was just thinking about that fight earlier today."

"You alright?"

"Yeah. So Laura took first watch then?"

"Yeah. She'll come get me in a few hours."

"So we've got some time then."

"Time to sleep? Yeah, we've got plenty of time for
that."

"You know that's not what I meant," he said
chuckling.

"Oh? What did you mean?"

"I'll show you." 

"What's that up ahead?" Shirley asked pointing.

"Not sure," Jackson replied. He slowed the car
down and they saw several bodies in the middle of the road. There was also
someone poking around two cars that had had a head on collision. 

"What happened?"

"Don't know. Infected maybe." Jackson slowly
pulled the car forward when the figure standing near the cars suddenly turned
in their direction. They could clearly see her blood shot eyes and saliva
dripping down her chin.

"Definitely infected," Jackson said. He picked up
speed and drove around the roadblock. Shirley looked behind them to see the
infected giving chase. 

"Looks like it's already out of the city," Shirley
said as she faced the front.

Jackson nodded. "No telling how far it's spread by
now."

"What's our plan? How far do we go today?"

"We'll drive while there's daylight. If the roads were
clear I'd say we switch off and get as far away as we can. That's probably not safe
though. We might have to move some cars out of the way. I don't want to be
poking around at night."

"Yeah," Shirley replied imagining.

"We'll stop at the next town if it looks alright. Maybe
we can find some more supplies. I'd like to have more than just a few days of
food on hand."

Shirley nodded. They sat in comfortable silence for the next
few hours until they saw a road sign. "Cedar Forest. We stopping
here?"

Jackson glanced at the clock. "Yeah, I think we should.
We need to look for a few things. A map would be great. That way we could plan
out our driving for the day. "

"Alright, that sounds good. Do we find a place to stay
first?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea. We'll check it out and make
sure it's safe before we go looking for anything."

"So we need food, a map, what else?"

"That's all I can think of for right now," Jackson
replied as he took the exit ramp.

"There's a subdivision up ahead," Shirley said
pointing. Jackson nodded as he took the turn. 

"It's gotten here, too," Shirley said as she
looked around. 

"Yeah, we'll have to be careful. Let's find a house and
get the car in the garage. Might be better to go around on food so we don't
draw any attention to ourselves. No telling who's still around."

"Okay," Shirley replied. "What about that
house over there? Most of the windows are still there."

Jackson nodded as he pulled into the driveway she had
pointed out. "Let's check it out."

Shirley nodded and followed Jackson inside. The front door
was unlocked so they didn't have to break their way in. Shirley thought that
was good in case they had to rely on that door later. They checked the house
and were relieved when they didn't find any signs of infected.

"Everything is clean," Shirley observed.

"Maybe they weren't home when this happened. That's
good news for us though. Maybe we can find some food in the kitchen."

"Good point. Let's check it out." Shirley headed
into the kitchen and started opening cabinets. "We lucked out. Lots of
stuff in here. I'll set something out to eat and then we can put the rest in
the car."

"Good," Jackson replied. "I'll get the car in
the garage." 

Shirley nodded as she began taking items out the cabinets.
She found some canned goods which she set aside, they'd put those in the car.
She also found some spaghetti and set a pot of water to boil. 

"Car's inside," Jackson announced as he entered
the kitchen.

"Alright. You're up," she said pointing towards
the spaghetti.

Jackson chuckled. "Nah, I think it's time we started
teaching you how to cook."

"What? Now?"

"Why not? We've gotta eat right?"

"This isn't gonna end well."

"It'll be fine. I'll supervise." Jackson guided
Shirley to the stove. "Let's see what they have in the way of
seasonings." Jackson rifled through the cabinets until he found where the
spices were kept. 

"Here we go. Salt, pepper, and basil. Nothing
fancy."

Jackson guided Shirley and they soon had an edible pot of
spaghetti. "See," Jackson said, "that wasn't so hard."

"I guess so. I am kinda pleased though."

"This is seriously the first time you've cooked something?"

Shirley laughed. "Hard to believe right? My parents
were pretty well off. We actually had a chef that made our meals."

"Really?'

"Yeah, so there was never a need to learn. I figure
other girls learned from their mothers but mine just knew how to shop."

"Well, don't worry. I'll teach you everything I know. I
like my women to know their way around the kitchen."

"Watch yourself, mister."

Jackson laughed. "It's only fair. I won't feel like
cooking all the time."

"Fine, but done expect anything fancy."

Jackson chuckled as they sat down to eat. "Not
bad," Jackson said after he'd taken a bite. 

Shirley smiled. "That's only because you were watching.
This would have been a disaster otherwise."

They made small talk until diner was finished and then took
some time to load the other food into their car. After that a more thorough
search of the house turned up a few random items they thought might be useful.
One of the items they found was a deck of cards. They found themselves staying
up late as Jackson taught Shirley some of the games he knew. They were into
their third hand of poker when the sound of a gunshot rang out.

Shirley jumped. "What was that?"

"Gunshot," Jackson replied as he made his way over
to the window. "Looks like it came from across the street."

"What's going on?"

Another gunshot rang out, quickly followed by another.
"Looks like whoever is in that house is getting attacked. Get the lights,
we don't want anyone to see us."

"Good idea," Shirley said as she ran to flick the
switch. She rejoined Jackson at the window and watched as the fight played out.
They couldn't see anything except for the brief flash made when a gun went off
but they couldn't tear themselves away. They heard a piecing scream followed by
another gunshot and then everything was quiet.

"Looks like it’s over," Jackson said.

"Should we get out of here?"

"No, I don't think anyone saw us. Leaving right now
would definitely draw attention to us. We don't know who won over there, if
they're friendly or not."

James was about to say more when they heard a howl that made
their blood run cold. The howl was quickly joined by another and then another,
until it sounded like some sort of horrible attempt at song.

"Infected," Shirley whispered. "It's time to
get out here now, right?"

"Not yet," Jackson said. "Let's wait and see
what they do over there. We don't want to be the first ones to move. They
watched as dozens of infected descended on the house across the street. Gunfire
resumed and infected fell to the ground. More infected took their place and the
assault continued.

"Those poor people," Shirley said.

The infected broke the living room window and began crawling
into the house. Shots rang out but that didn't slow them down. They watched as
they infected beat down the front door and entered the house. More shots rang
out and a few infected fell through the doorway. "They're putting up a
good fight," Jackson said.

The garage door opened and two vehicles sped out into the
street. A few more shots rang out and then it was silent aside from the growls
of the infected. "I think we're okay," Jackson said.

"You sure?" Shirley asked.

"Yeah, I don't see any more infected arriving and they
killed most of them. A few of them followed that car and the rest are still in
that house. We should be okay until morning. They went to bed and got what
sleep they could. In the morning they ate leftovers from the night before and
got ready to leave.

"I only see a few infected out there," Jackson
said from the window. "Shouldn't be a problem."

"Ready when you are," Shirley replied. They headed
for the car and started it up. Jackson hit the button for the garage door and
drove off as soon as it was high enough. A few infected looked in their
direction but Jackson quickly left them behind.

They left the subdivision and got back onto the main road.
They drove for several minutes when Jackson began bringing the car to a stop.
Ahead of them the road was completely blocked. There were five or six cars
jumbled together and there was no way around due to the building on either side
of the road.

"What do we do now?" Shirley asked.

"I saw a side street a ways back. We'll take
that." Jackson put the car in reverse when a shot rang out. He cursed as
the car listed to one side. "They got the tire!"

"Oh no," Shirley said as a dozen figures emerged
from nearby buildings. They all had some sort of pistol or melee weapon. One
walked towards them dragging a chain along the ground.

"Get your gun ready," Jackson said as he grabbed
the rifle from the backseat. "Put your backpack on too. We'll have to make
a run for it."

"How? There's so many."

"See that store behind us? I'm gonna open up with the
rifle and you make a run for it. Send a few shots their way as you go."

"What? You only showed me the basics. I don't know if I
can hit anything."

"Doesn't matter. The fact that you're shooting should
make some of them run for cover. And if not, well maybe you'll get a few lucky
shots."

Jackson shrugged into another backpack. He hated to leave
all the stuff they'd gathered behind but they could get more. It was more
important to get away from these guys. "Ready?"

Shirley nodded. "Go!" Jackson shouted. He kicked
his door open and came out firing. The men approaching stood there in shock for
a second and then scattered in every direction looking for safety. Shirley
bolted from the car and set a few shots in their direction, a scream let her
know that she'd hit one.

She ran for the store Jackson had indicated and tried the
door. When she found it locked she stood back and took aim with his pistol. She
shot the lock and was relieved when it broke. She heard footsteps behind her
and whirled around ready to shoot.

"It's me!" Jackson shouted as he ran towards her.
"Get inside!"

They stepped inside and found themselves in a furniture
store. Jackson grabbed a nearby couch and dragged it front of the door.
"That's not gonna do much," Shirley said.

"It'll slow them down," Jackson replied.
"We're not staying in here. We'll head out the back." Shirley led the
way towards the rear of the store when the sound of the door being shoved open
caught her attention.

"Keep going," Jackson said as he slammed another
magazine into the rifle. He let off a few bursts and followed her through a set
of double doors. This was where the store kept anything they didn't have on
display. There were couches, beds, and tables taking up the space. 

"There has to be a back exit," Jackson said as he
move some furniture in front of the doors. Shirley looked around frantically
until she spotted another set of double doors on the rear wall. Shirley
sprinted for the door only to find that it was locked. It had a crash bar so
shooting the lock wouldn't work this time.

"It's locked!"

"Look for a key." Jackson arranged some of the
furniture to give himself some cover as the double doors began bumping against
the barricade he'd' set up a moment ago. He waited until they managed to push
the tables out of the way and stepped into the room. He squeezed the trigger
and several shots took the first man that stepped inside in the chest. The man
behind him was a bit smarter and quickly flipped the table over for cover
before Jackson could get another shot off.

Shirley looked desperately around the room. She had no idea
where they kept the keys. She spotted a desk piled with paperwork and quickly
made her way to it. She didn't see anything on the desk so she quickly pulled
the drawers and dumped out their contents. Shots from Jackson's rifle told her
she didn't have much time. He only had that last magazine and then he'd be out
of bullets. There! A flash of metal. Shirley moved things out of the way and
snatched up the keys.

She ran back to the doors and began trying to find which key
fit the lock. Luck was with her as she found the key on the third try.
"It's open!" she shouted as she shoved her way outside. She found
herself in a narrow alley. There was a dumpster to her left. As far as she
could tell, going right would lead her back towards the street. 

Jackson let off one last burst from his rifle to force his
targets to duck their heads then sprinted after Shirley. Spotting the dumpster,
he quickly grabbed it and pushed it in front of the doors. "I think that
way goes back to the street," Shirley said pointing.

Jackson nodded. "You go first. I've got a few shots
left in case they make out that door too soon." They made their way down
the alley as quickly as they could and turned left. Going right would take them
back towards their car which was useless at the moment with the busted tire.
They walked for several blocks, making sure to head north so they could get out
of the city.  Eventually they reached another barricade. There were two
cars blocking the road. 

They wouldn't get far on foot. Shirley wondered if one of
those cars blocking the road worked. "Can we take one of those cars? I
don't know how much further I can run." She really hoped one of them
worked. She was breathing heavily, their flight from the furniture store having
taken a lot out of her. Without a working vehicle, their best bet was to
probably find somewhere to hide. She didn't like the thought of being in this
town any longer than necessary with those crazy people running about.