Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Sanctuary (21 page)

“Well,
well,” said Briana, into the radio. “Imagine that.” Her voice was quiet.

“What is
it?” demanded Lizzy. She was at the rear of our little convoy. That had become
the norm, largely to ensure there was an experienced shooter on both ends in
case anything happened.

“A
campsite, full of living people, and they’re waving at us.”

*
* *

As
before, we’d found an organized group of survivors. First we had Edwin and his
folk in
Anadarko,
Oklahoma
. While they
were in a precarious position, they knew what they were doing. Then there was
Stan and Joan and their foolish quest to reach the sea. Between what I saw and
what Simon related, I’m pretty certain they were clueless. This new group
seemed to be more closely aligned with Stan’s bunch than Edwin’s. What a pity.

To start
with, they were living in tents. With a few precautions that might be
reasonable, even safe. However, I saw none. The tents were spread out around a
small lake. Some were on high ground, some on low. That showed a lack of common
sense right there. Anyone who’s camped a lot knows not to put the tent where it
might flood during a storm. Additionally, there were no sentries, no one
keeping watch. Children were playing unsupervised. Two men were fishing, and
there were quite a few people milling about doing nothing whatsoever.

“See
anything wrong?” I asked, as I stopped the Jeep.

“I see
zombie snacks waiting to happen.”

Briana
knew what was what. It’d be hard not to after all we’d seen and heard.

“Let’s
see if they’re any brighter than they appear.”

“Wouldn’t
count on that Jacob.”

We got
out and were immediately surrounded by a large number of people. My hand
slammed down on my pistol with Briana following suit. Lizzy had hers drawn as
she headed our way. The crowd parted to give her ample room.

“Now,
everyone calm down,” ordered a voice.

A
graying man, slightly stooped, moved to the forefront.

“Don’t
be scaring them by running up like that,” he continued. “They must have been
through a great deal.”

I
nodded. There was no indication of possible violence, but I did not want
strangers, especially nowadays, mobbing me.

“I’m
Thomas Wills, pastor of the Living Bible Church of Christ,” he said as way of
introduction.

“Jacob,”
I replied, “and Briana. That’s Lizzy, Lois, and Mary.” They had joined us. “The
family over there is Simon, Julie, and Michael. And that’s Cherie.” They were
also out of their vehicles but holding back.

“Where
are you folk from?”

“Texas,”
said Briana.

Upon
hearing this, whispers and comments began to spring up.

“But
only us,” she continued. “Cherie is
Minnesota
. The Bransons are from
Iowa
, and Lizzy, Lois, and Mary are from
Kansas
. We met them on our way here.”

“Well,”
said the pastor, “that is quite a variety. We are mostly from
Illinois
ourselves, here for a religious
retreat. A few others were campers or visitors to the park who stayed after the
Devil’s work began.”

Lizzy
snorted loudly. She seemed to be picking up Briana’s habit of doing that
anytime she thought someone was spouting nonsense. She did holster her pistol
however.

“You
don’t believe the dead coming back to attack the living is the work of Satan?”
asked a woman, rather angrily.

“No way
to tell who or what caused this,” I countered.

“Well, it
is clearly the end of times. Judgment Day is coming. It has been foretold.”

I really
did not like this woman, but since she wasn’t to be around much longer, it
didn’t matter. I never did learn her name though. I should ask the others about
that later, in case someone knew what it was. Come to think of it, I hadn’t
learned the police officer’s name either. Poor guy was certainly a zombie by
now, if he hadn’t killed himself first.

“You are
referring to the Book of Revelations I presume?”

“Of
course,” she sniffed.

Yep, she
was a bitch.

“I’ve
crossed a good part of the country, and I’ve seen nothing to indicate that’s
the case. There has been no rapture, but I have my doubts concerning the more
popular Biblical interpretations concerning that concept. No wars or other
signs. Nothing in the current zombie apocalypse matches anything in Revelations
or in the Bible as a whole. This has nothing to do with Judgment Day.”

She
began to turn purple as anger threatened to overwhelm her. Hee Hee. It was fun
to annoy the self-righteous. Now, I like religious people. I was fairly
religious myself, although I admit I rarely attend church, preferring to sleep
in on Sunday mornings, but I always disliked those who knew, with absolute
certainty, everything and would make facts fit their beliefs no matter how
convoluted the logic became.

“We have
had this very discussion many times,” said Pastor Wills, defusing the
situation. “You, Jacob, are correct in that the current situation has not been
foretold. That does not mean it is not part of God’s plan or of divine or
hellish creation.”

“I’m
leaning toward the alien theory myself,” I said.

“What
alien theory?” asked Lizzy. “How come you haven’t shared this with me?”

“Yeah,”
added Mary. “Shame on you.”

“I want
to hear the alien theory,” said Briana.

“You
haven’t even told your girlfriend,” admonished Lizzy. “That’s double shame on
you.”

There
were quite a few questioning glances directed my way. I was clearly much older
than Briana. It would get worse when they found out she was only seventeen.

“Yes,
Jacob,” said Briana, “shame, shame, and a few more on top.”

I
noticed she made no comment about Lizzy referring to her as my girlfriend.

“Just
something I’ve been mulling over. Look at it this way, we are surrounded by
zombies. The zombies eat human flesh, are driven to do so above all else. They
die only if shot in the head. Those bitten reanimate a few minutes after death,
as zombies. All of this matches up eerily well with the general zombie mythos,
starting back with
Night of the Living Dead
. That cannot be coincidence.
Then, the zombies do not rot, aside from a little bit at the very start, and
they don’t fall apart or break down with time. That is far, far removed from
any laws of science. I think aliens with super advanced technology could have
decided to destroy the human race in a very evil and artistically entertaining
way. We could even be part of an extra-terrestrial reality show.”

Lizzy
laughed. “I want a copy when it’s done.”

“Such
things,” interrupted the pastor, “could more easily be of divine design. There
is no evidence aliens exist, though it is of course possible given the scale of
creation. We, however, do know of God’s glory and power.”

“True,”
I admitted. “Either way, I don’t see how it much matters. Survival is what’s important
right now. If we get the answers great, but looking for them is secondary,
especially since we probably won’t ever be able to find them. Not much point
dwelling on the matter either.”

“Which
is why,” said Lizzy, “I want to know why you people are so fucking stupid.”

There
was a lot of grumbling at this. One could always trust Lizzy to be counter
diplomatic.

“Whatever
do you mean child?” asked Pastor Wills.

“To
start with, don’t call me that. I’m too old. But really, look at all of you.
You’re scattered about without guards. Don’t you worry about zombies getting
in? This is like a twisted church buffet.”

“There
are none of the walking dead here,” explained the pastor. “Yes, we lost many
good people when the change hit that night. We were awake, having gotten up
early to watch a meteor shower. It wasn’t one of the large ones, but it was
quite beautiful out here without the glare of city lights obscuring the
heavens. I digress. We experienced that terror, and we dealt with it, once we
understood what was happening.”

“How
many did you lose before you finally knew that?” she demanded.

The
pastor looked somewhat ruffled, but he was exceptionally good at remaining
calm.

“I had
the same Lizzy,” said Simon, “and you didn’t know what was happening when you
first saw the zombies either. You told us so yourself. You can’t imply they
should have realized what was happening right away. No one understood at
first.”

“Well,
yeah, that’s true. Didn’t mean the bad parts.”

“Still a
valid question,” said Cherie. “A great many died or were infected in the
initial hours, possibly more than fell in the original change. How did you
fare?”

“We
didn’t lose that many,” said Pastor Wills, “too many though. We did, with the
help of others in the area, grant the fallen some final peace, and when those
bitten succumbed, we provided them the same courtesy.”

“So you
shot them in the head,” said Lizzy, “or bashed their skulls in. Tire irons work
great for that. Can be a bit messy however. Get all sorts of nastiness on your
clothes.”

“Okay
Lizzy,” I ordered. “Quiet time now.”

She
glared at me but stopped when Lois grabbed her arm.

“Yes,
Lizzy,” added Cherie, “listen to your lover and stop being so disruptive.”

It
didn’t take long for the gathered people to realize what Cherie was alluding too,
a few seconds at most. More talking, little of it good, began. Julie was
smiling.

“Whatever
you say Jew girl,” snapped Lizzy.

Cherie
blushed as more, though far less virulent, whispers began. The people here
certainly seemed to enjoy gossiping.

“Now, now,”
said Pastor Wills. “Enough of this bickering and nonsense. We are all God’s
children, and we welcome all with open arms. While we may disapprove of choices
some make, we will always try to bring you into the light.”

I found
myself liking him even more. He was a pleasant man, and I never faulted anyone
for trying to convert others to their faith. Most religions mandated you try,
so it was to be expected. It’s the senseless haters who annoy me.

“But
this is an awkward way in which to discuss matters,” continued the preacher.
“Let’s move to the tables and sit down. You can join us for dinner and tell us
of your journey and travails.”

“Do you
like beans?” asked Mary. “We have plenty to contribute.”

“We are
running low on food,” he admitted, “so if you can spare some we will be most
grateful. You are welcome to spend the night here as well, or join us
permanently if you choose.”

“We’ll
have dinner,” I said quickly. Lizzy had been opening her mouth to say
something. “But I don’t know if we’ll stay past tomorrow morning. We do want to
remain in this area permanently, but I’d like to drive around and find the best
possible spot to settle in.”

“The
lake is quite nice,” said Pastor Wills, “but I can understand looking about. We
have not done that so much ourselves, preferring to wait here until the
government resolves matters.”

He
thought the government would fix this? That was a bad sign. Briana shot me a
look that let me know she felt the same. We would definitely leave in the
morning, and tonight we’d sleep in the vehicles, parked well away from their
tents. They were careless, and I didn’t want to get stuck next to them if
something bad happened.

*
* *

The
dinner went well, and we finished several gallon cans of beans lighter. I
didn’t particularly like parting with so much food, but it was appropriate to
share. Besides, we’re talking about beans. The pastor’s group contributed a
fish chowder made from what they’d recently caught and a variety of fresh
vegetables taken from a nearby garden.

We also
discovered that the church group, and those who’d banded with them, knew full
well what had befallen the world, but other than one early attempt to go
outside the camp area, which apparently did not go well, they’d stayed put and
waited for help. No zombies had attacked, and we were the first outsiders to
arrive. Due to this isolation, they truly believed they were safe, provided
they remained in the forest and away from the highway. The shamblers did prefer
easy paths, no doubt about that, but this place was close to several back roads
and trails. It was only a matter of time.

We told
them what we knew, what we had seen, and they listened to our stories, although
most seemed to think the horrors we experienced were bad luck on our part.
Several believed there had to be at least a few cities that survived, using
Edwin’s example as justification. Personally, I had no doubt that quite a few
small communities pulled through, but I’d be very surprised to learn any large
cities had made it. There might be enclaves within them, probably were, but I
couldn’t see how a place that once held hundreds of thousands or millions of
people could have been maintained.