Dead of Knight: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale (21 page)

After dinner, while everyone enjoyed a special coffee treat, I began to speak.

“First off, I want to say thank you to each and every one of you for putting up with me earlier today.  Maybe putting up with me in general.  I’m sorry about how I acted,” I said.  “You guys are right.  We have to celebrate every little win, no matter how small.”

“It’s okay, Ryan,” said Karen.  “You’re doing a good job.”

“You’re doing a great job,” added Lois.

Sam just smiled at me.  She knew I was doing a good job but she also knew I didn’t want the attention.

“Well, I appreciate your support,” I said.  “I want to go over some preliminary plans and get your input.  I realize that some of this might change based on the inventory.  Tomorrow, Mike, Tony and I are going to get firewood.  And the house inventory gets finished.”

“I want to go with you guys,” said Mal.

“I don’t know, Mal,” said Sam.

“I want to go, too,” added Tabitha.  Although I suspected that had more to do with Mike and less with wanting to contribute.

“Ryan…”  Sam sighed at me.

“We’re not going near any heavily populated areas, Sam I think it’ll be fine,” I said.  Sam did not look happy about her kids leaving the house.  “Mal, Tab, you have to understand that we’re going to get firewood,” I said.  “You’ll have to help carry the wood or be the best lookouts you’ve ever been.  It’s not a vacation or a trip to Wal-Mart like you remember.  It’s serious.  And, it’s not just up to me.  Tony?”

“We can keep them safe, Samantha,” he said.  “But, they’ll have to pull their weight out there or we’ll use em as zombie bait.”  Tony laughed and that made everyone else laugh.  Then the kids, who had looked nervous, started laughing, too.

“I’m good with it, too,” said Mike.  “But I agree with Tony, we’ll toss you guys to the zombies if you don’t do your jobs.”

“I’ll keep them safe, Sam.  They’ll be fine,” I said.

Tony and Mike both looked over at Sam and nodded.  She seemed to accept it for now.  I was sure I would hear about it later.

“Once we see the results of the inventory, we’ll have a better idea of what the next few days will look like.  But, I want to start thinking beyond that.  There’s a few big picture questions that we need to think about.  Here’s the first…  There’s 9 of us including the kids.  Which means that we only have 7 adults that could fight or keep an overnight watch.  More people would make our lives easier and safer.  But, it would mean more space and more supplies.  We need to be thinking about that.  The next big question is do we stay here?  With the windows boarded up we can probably keep the zombies out unless it’s a really big number.  But, we wouldn’t be able to defend ourselves against looter.  Bullets would zing right through these walls.”

“Or, they could burn us out,” added Tony.

“Right.  Our fences are low and easy to climb.  Ultimately, we wouldn’t be able to hold out for very long in the event of a determined attack.  But, it would also be difficult, even with bus to move all of our supplies to a different location.  And, finding a larger location with walls or ditches and ‘fields of fire’ would be a problem.  We’re not in Europe, with castles just lying about.  And then we wouldn’t have enough people to defend it anyway.”

“Do you think we’ll really have to move?” asked Sam.  I knew that she would not want to leave our home.  For that matter, I don’t want to leave our home either.  “We’ve only seen a few zombies out here.”

“You don’t want to see a large group of them, either,” said Mike.  “The horde we saw at Target this morning?  If they knew we were in here, they’d get in.”

“I believe we’ll see more out here eventually,” said Tony.  All heads turned to look at him after the comment.

“Look, they are driven to eat.  We’ve seen that over and over, this single-mindedness.  They have a need to eat live flesh, not each other.  What happens if they can’t get any live flesh?  There can’t be too many of the living left in some places.  I think they’ll migrate to find food.”

“You mean they’ll come looking for us?” asked Lois.

“They’ll come looking for food, but it’s the same thing,” replied Tony.

“The bridges will help us out, there,” I said.  “The Ashley River bridges are up and the connector is blocked pretty well with vehicles.”

“That’ll help, sure,” said Tony.  “But, it’s just a Band-Aid.”

“That’s sobering,” said Karen.

“No kidding,” commented Sam.

“You guys are all doom and gloom,” said Mike.

“Which is why we have to plan,” I offered.

“You already have a spot picked out, don’t you,” said Sam.

I looked around the room to make sure I had everyone’s attention.

“I think we should retreat to Ft. Sumter.”  Everyone took a moment to let that soak in.

“That would be cool,” yelled Mal.

“Very cool,” added Tabby.  I loved my kids, the history buffs.

“Where would we sleep?” asked Sam

“You’ve been out there.  They have the WWII facilities from when there was a gun battery on the fort.”

“Interesting,” Tony mused.  “It would be easy to defend.”

“There are walls on four of the five sides,” I said.  “The fifth side is a large grassy slope.  It would be difficult for a zombie to get up the slope I think.  And, except for low tide, the fort is surrounded by water.”

“Then how do we get to it?” asked Mike.

“By boat.  And I think that might be the problem,” I replied.  “I can drive a boat.  We had one growing up that I went offshore fishing with.  But, I can’t think of a boat on this side of the Ashley that is big enough to hold us and our supplies in one trip.”

“So, we’d have to get to Aquarium Wharf?” asked Sam.

“Yep, we’d have to get to Aquarium Wharf,” I replied.

“What’s Aquarium Wharf?” asked Mike.

“That’s where the boats that go out to Ft. Sumter live,” I replied.

“That’s not the problem Mike,” said Tony.  “Aquarium Wharf is in downtown Charleston.”

“We were downtown, it wasn’t that bad really,” he said.

“Someone was working overtime to get the zombies attention while we were down there.  I don’t know if that’s what they were trying to do, but it worked.  There’s roughly 120,000 people living in Charleston at last count.  I’d say that there’s not more than 10% left alive from what we’ve seen.”

“That’s a lot to think about,” said Lois.

“Yeah, “I said.  “And we need to be thinking about it.  All of us.  Let’s discuss it over the next few days and we’ll get together and see what everyone thinks.”

We all agreed to think about what I had brought up and dinner was cleared.  The Millers prepared to leave and were thanking everyone for the hospitality.

“Do you want help getting home?” I asked.

“I think we’ll be fine.  I’ll call you on the walkie-talkie when we get in,” said Tony.

“Call if you need help, too,” I replied.

Tony called about 15 minutes later.

“We’re in,” he said.  “There was on in the yard, but we took care of it.  What time we leaving in the morning?”

“7:15 I think will be good,” I responded.  “We coming to get you?”

“Nah, we’ll come to you,” he said.  “Have a good night.”

“You, too.  Be safe.”

After everyone was settled in for the evening, Sam and I laid in bed and talked.

“You did good in there tonight, lover,” she said.

“You think so?”

“Yep.  It’s good that you’re getting everyone involved.  Our family has gotten bigger.”  I looked over at her, a little surprised.

“Is that how you look at this?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure,” she said.  “The Millers and the Picklers are part of our family now.  You don’t look at it that way?”  I thought about that for a moment.

“I suppose.  If one needed rescuing, I’d put myself in harm’s way to help them.  I tried like hell to get Michael out alive yesterday.  But, if it was a choice between saving Mike or saving Tabby?  Or, Beth and you?  My family comes first.”

“I know you love us, Ryan.  But, we’re all family now.”

“Speaking of family, have you seen the way Tabby looks at Mike?”

“Yeah, it’s hard not to notice.  Are you worried about it?”

“I suppose so.  It’s not something I really want to think about.”

“Ryan, he’s the only person anywhere near her age.  I think it’s more about that than any kind of puppy love.”

“Well, keep an eye on them.  I don’t want em sneaking off somewhere.  We’ve been through that with her already.”

“I’ll keep an eye on them.”

Monday, December, 22 2014

The next day dawned overcast and cold.  A good day for gathering firewood.  I decided to wear an extra layer under my vest today.  It was painful getting out of bed.  Every muscle hurt.  I’ve never worked this hard in my life.  By the time I got downstairs, Mike, Lois, Tony and Beth were already talking in the kitchen over coffee.  Beth smiled and handed me a cup.

“You look like crap, boss,” said Mike.

              “Feel like it, too,” I replied.  “Don’t worry, I plan on letting the kids do all the heavy lifting.”

“And where are the children?” asked Tony

“I guess I’ll go and fetch them,” I said.

And with that, the kids appeared from around the corner, all geared up and ready to go.  Sam was right behind them.  She couldn’t help herself, she just smiled.  I handed her a cup of coffee and she asked the kids if they wanted any coffee.

“Hot chocolate.” was the reply.

“Very good,” Beth said.  “I think we can manage that.”

Mal asked if Thor could go, too.

“No, honey.  He’ll be a lot safer here.” I replied.

“But, he doesn’t get outside to play much now,” said Mal.

“Well, I want him to be happy and safe, too.  Maybe when we get back, you and I can go outside and play with him for a bit.”

Fifteen minutes later we were on the bus and moving.  As we pulled out of the driveway, I glanced up in the mirror.

“Alright, everybody,” I said.  “Keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times.”

Mike and Tony laughed at that, then the kids laughed, too.

“Mal, Tab, seriously, we have a lot of work to do today.  So, make sure you listen to Mr. Mike, Mr. Tony and me.  Got it?” I asked.

They both nodded.

“And when we say ‘jump’ you jump, okay?” Mike said.

They both nodded again.

“And when we say ‘sing’ you sing, got it?” asked Tony.

They looked at each other, confused.

“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,” sang Tony.

“Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one horse, open sleigh,” sang both Tony and Mike.

“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,” now I joined in.

“Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one horse, open sleigh.”  The kids joined in on the last line then everyone laughed so hard they couldn’t continue singing.

“Excellent, good job everyone,” said Mike.

There were three places that I could think of where someone sold firewood in front of their house.

At the first one, I had both Mal and Tab carry firewood and I took a turn at lookout.  It took too long.  Poor little Mal tried but he could only carry two pieces at most and Tab wasn’t too much stronger.  Meanwhile, Tony was stacking 5 and 6 pieces in Mike’s arms.  So, at the next stop, the kids kept watch together and things went a lot faster.  After the third stop the mini bus was nearly half full of firewood.  We’d only seen maybe 20 zombies and only 5 were close enough to pose a threat to the group.  I shot 2, Tabby got 2 and Mal got his first.  There were high fives all around for that.  I was definitely proud of my son and he positively beamed with happiness.  But, I couldn’t help also think how surreal this was.  We were celebrating my 7 year old shooting what had been, until recently, a human being in the head with a crossbow bolt.  No arguing that things would never be the same.  Just past the last firewood stop were two places I wanted to stop. 

The first was a little Mom and Pop gun store.  We were able to get 2 more AR’s, one Glock and a few hundred rounds of ammo.  I also made sure we got slings for the AR’s and a holster for the Glock.  Tony found a few mags for the AR’s.

The second stop was a True Value hardware store.  With more adults, we needed more tools.  Hammers, screwdrivers, pliers and wrenches.  Nails, screws, nuts and bolts.  But, more importantly, I wanted shovels, rakes, hoes and other gardening implements.  The True Value was much larger than the little gun store and we left the kids inside the bus with instructions to call on the radio or just beep the horn if they saw anything at all.  The three of us cleared the store and found 6 zombies.  After the Target experience, I couldn’t help but think of them as ‘only’ 6 zombies.  If I had run into 6 zombies’ coming out of the Thompson’s that first day I would not be here today.  It didn’t take long for us to get what we wanted in the hardware store and get back on the bus.

“Are we done?” asked Mike.

“I’d like to get more,” I replied.  “But, I’m afraid that would be house to house now.”

“I know where we can get some more,” said Tony.  “And, it’ll even be easy to carry.”

Mike and I looked at Tony rather expectantly.

“There was quite a stack of bundles outside the Bi-Lo when I was there last.”

“Huh, I didn’t even look over there when we drove by.”

“Is it out of the way?” asked Mike.

“Nope, we can drive right by it.  Might as well take a look,” I replied.

We could hear the gunfire before we could see the Bi-Lo.

“I hope that’s not coming from the Bi-Lo,” said Tony.

“This won’t be good,” said Mike.

“Check your rifles.  Sling your crossbows.  Kids, you’re staying in the bus.  No discussion.  When we get out, you two get flat on the floor and don’t get up till one of us tells you.  Got it?”

They both nodded and they both looked really scared.  Shit, Sam was gonna kill me when we got back.

“Tony, Mike, I know we want to help these people, but not at the expense of my kids.  Are we clear?”  They both nodded.

When the Bi-Lo came into view it was the Target all over again.  It looked like the glass store front had been shot out.  There was a horde of zombies shambling out of the Bi-Lo directly towards 2 mini vans parked in the lot.  There was what looked like 6 people outside the vehicle shooting at the zombies.  But, they were in danger of being flanked by other zombies from their right side. 

“Ryan,” said Tony.  “Get around on their right side.  Those zombies coming from the other part of the shopping center are going to roll up their flank.”

“I see it.  You two ready?”  They both nodded.

I pulled in to the shopping center and around to the right of the mini vans.  I could see there was one zombie out in front on the right and I hit him with the bus as we stopped.  Toggling the door as I was braking, Mike and Tony got out quickly and got to work.  I stepped out my side and shot the road kill zombie in the head.  Looking over at the human woman closest to me, I yelled as loud as I could.

“Hey, we’ve got your flank.”

She looked startled to see us there.  She also looked like she was gonna break at any moment.  The people in front of the min vans were shooting wildly and had a lot of misses.  My guys were firing steadily and scoring a hit almost every time.  I looked to my right and could Mike covering our flank on the far side of Tony who was closer to me.

“Mike,” I yelled as loud as I could.  “Mike, check our six.’

Mike spun around and didn’t like what he saw.

“Behind,” he yelled.

I spun around and found more than ten zombies coming up from behind us.  Mike and I quickly took out the staggering zombies, including several that were farther over behind the mini vans.  Once cleared, I turned back around to the front and continued firing.  A few minutes later it was almost over.  Shit, these rifles were loud.  I yelled again at the top of my voice.

“Cease fire, cease fire, cease fire.”  I kept waving my hands, trying to get everyone’s attention.  After a few moments the firing down the line slowed then stopped.  I walked over to the bus and yelled inside.  “Mal? Tabby? You guys alright?” 

They both stepped out of the bus.  Tabby was holding Mal who was crying.  I took a knee and tried to console him.

“Loud, wasn’t it?”

Mal nodded.

“You know what?”

He shook his head.

“It’s too loud for me, too.  Like the crossbow better?

He looked up at me and nodded.

“Tab, you okay?” She smiled weakly.

“Yeah, honey.  I know.  That was no fun for anyone.  Why don’t you and Mal get your crossbows and come out here with Mr. Mike?”  Tabby wrinkled her nose slightly at ‘Mr. Mike’.

I turned and walked over toward where the other people were gathering.

“You guys alright?  Anyone hurt?”  The woman who had been closer to me just stared like she didn’t speak the language.  But she stepped aside to let a man walk up.  He looked like an accountant if anyone could look like an accountant.  He stuck out his hand and I took it.

“I’m Tom.  Tom Morgan.  Thanks for stopping.”

“Ryan Knight.  You looked like you were in trouble.  That is my daughter, Tabitha and my son, Mal.  Over there is Tony and the younger one is Mike.  Tom smiled and said another round of thank you.

“Are your people okay?” I asked.

“No,” came a shout from further back.  “JoAnne is hurt.”

“Mike, Tony, stay here and keep a lookout with the kids.  We made a shit ton of noise and I don’t want to get snuck up on.”

They nodded and I ran through Tom’s group over toward the far minivan.  JoAnne was on the floor of the vehicle.  She had a shirt or something compressed against her lower leg.  It was bloody.

“Mal, bring my back pack,” I yelled.

“How was she hurt?” asked Tom.

“I don’t know,” said a young man who was sitting next to JoAnne.  He had a very concerned look on his face.  Mal appeared with my back pack.  I took it and sent him back with the others.

“I didn’t get bit,” said JoAnne.  I looked over at Tom.

“We need to take a look,” I said.  Tom nodded and moved closer.  When he reached out to remove her hand, she recoiled.

“I told you.  I didn’t get bit,” she said.

“Dad,” said the concerned young man. “If she says she didn’t get bit…”

“John, we have to look either way,” said Tom.  “Any wound now has the potential to be life threatening.  There are no hospitals anymore.”

“Tom,” I offered.  “I have a decent med kit in my pack if you need it.”

“Yes, thanks.”  Tom reached for Joanne’s leg and she recoiled again.

“JoAnne…”

“Dad, she said she wasn’t bit,” pleaded John again.  I felt bad for him.  She was obviously important.  A fiancé or girlfriend.  Maybe a wife but I didn’t see a ring.  However, the way she was acting, it was clear she’d been bit and knew it.

“On the other hand,” I said.  “If she was bit, then she’ll die in a minute or two and reanimate.”

“What do you know?” John was barely containing himself.

“I’ve seen it.  We lost one of ours just 48 hours ago.  Mike over there,” I pointed.  “His father was bit, died and turned all in a matter of minutes.  I’m sorry to tell you this, JoAnne but I think you ought to know.”

Tom reached out and grabbed the bandage off of JoAnne’s leg while she was listening to my story.  It was obviously a bite.  You could see where the flesh had been torn away right through her stretch pants.  I looked over Tom’s shoulder at the wound as she collapsed onto the floor of the vehicle.  John was trying to get her to sit back up.  Then, suddenly she was dead.

“We need to get these people back now,” I said to Tom.  “I’m sorry but this won’t be pretty.”

Tom tried to get everyone to step back but John wouldn’t go.

“Barb,” said Tom.  “Can you help me…?”  Barb was the woman who had been next to me before.  She tried to coax John away.  She was obviously his mother.  But she wasn’t having any luck.  Reluctantly, I stepped up.

“John, who is she to you?  Wife? Fiancé? What?”

“Fiancé,” he said, crying.

“Did you love her?”

“Yes, very much.”

“Then remember her from happier ties.  Step away with your mom and dad now.  You don’t want to see this.  Not this.”

I could see JoAnne’s eye twitch a little.  I wasn’t sure I’d seen it, but then it did it again.  Shit.

“Tom, now.  We’re out of time.”  As I said it JoAnne, or actually, zombie JoAnne grabbed John’s hand and started pulling it towards her mouth.  I moved as quickly as I could, pushing Tom out of the way and in a moment had my knife through her eye into her brain.

John screamed and Tom recoiled at the shock of what just happened.  Barb was able to pull John away.  I took two steps back, turned and threw up on a dead zombie.  After I recovered from the vomit, I walked over to the bus and checked in with Tony, Mike and the kids.  I also need to rinse my mouth out.

“Tabby, you got a water bottle in your pack that I can have?” I asked.

“Sure, dad.  What happened over there?’

“Oh, honey.  I don’t think you really want to know.  Maybe later.”  I took the bottle and swished some water around in my mouth and spit.  A few more times and it was mostly gone.  I drank the rest.

“Tony, Mike, everything good?”

“Yeah, boss.  We’ve taken care of a few stragglers coming up but nothing bad,” answered Mike.  Tony just nodded.  I was glad to have such great people.  They switched back to their crossbows as soon as the worst of the onslaught was over.  No point attracting more to the party.