Zombie Fallout 5: Alive in a Dead World (15 page)

I didn’t so much as flinch. That was far from
the craziest thing that had happened to me, and I’m just talking
about today.

When she realized I wasn’t going to try and
have her committed, she continued. “The voice said I should help
those as I would want them to help me. And when I saw you and the
other two running from the zombies out there, I put Josh and myself
in your places and thought what would I want someone to do, so I
opened the door.”

“That was very brave of you,” I told her,
meaning it.

“Did I do the right thing?” she asked me.

“Well, I think so. You saved my brother and
my lives.”

“But were you worthy to be saved?” came her
next question.

“My brother is,” I told her flatly. She left
it at that, and I silently thanked her.

“What of the other man?” she asked.

“BT, his name is BT and he’s quite possibly
the best friend I have ever had. We’ve traded saving each other’s
lives so many times, I’m not even one hundred percent sure who is
in the lead, although I suspect it is me. I have got to go and try
and find him.”

“Not for a few days,” Mary said, turning back
to the kitchen window. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled the
shade to the side. “The zees will stay out here for a few days
before they go to wherever they go or some other hapless idiot
starts running down the street and then it starts all over
again.”

I’m pretty sure she just called me a “hapless
idiot.” I’ve been called worse, but it still stung.

“When they first came, they were out there
for a couple of months.”

“You never had a breach?”

She turned back to me. “No my ex-husband
ended up being a paranoid delusional. He spent more on the security
of this house than the actual worth of this place.”

I’m a paranoid delusional, but my house fell
in the first few days. What I wouldn’t have done to have talked to
her ex beforehand. “Where is Mr. Hilop?”

That was a pretty personal question, and I
was still some guy she had just let into her home. I thought she
might lie and say sleeping upstairs, but she came out with the
truth. “It ended up being his sickness that got the best of him. He
was convinced that the zees would be able to get through the back
basement window and he went to the hardware store to fix that
problem and get some supplies for my son’s hobby, he’d do anything
for him. That was three months ago. I’m figuring he’s not coming
back, although Josh is still holding out hope.”

“Food isn’t an issue?” I asked.

“You heard the part where I said he was
delusional?”

“Gotcha,” I told her. “So you said a couple
of days?” I asked, coming up to look through the barred window.

“Yeah, they go somewhere and only come out
when someone rings the dinner bell.”

“They go into a stasis,” I said as I quickly
pulled the shade back into place. Three zombies were fighting over
some sort of scraps and I had no desire to discern what it was.
“They all pile up into this giant mass of decayed flesh and stink
and sort of hibernate. Our best guess is that food is becoming
scarce and this is a way for them to extend their lives, such as
they are.”

“They’re cognizant?” Mary asked
incredulously. “They have thought beyond hunger?”

“It’s some sort of parasite, so it has a
survival instinct, but beyond that…” I shrugged my shoulders.

“How long have you been on the run?” Mary
asked.

I got a faraway look in my eyes. “Since the
beginning,” I told her.

I know she wanted to press me for more
information. She and her son had ridden out the entire storm in the
relative safety of this house. Luckily, Gary saved me.

“I can’t see!” he screamed from the living
room.

Josh had pulled down all the blackout blinds
when the zombies had returned. Besides a few strategically placed
emergency candles, the house was as dark as the inside of a
coffin.

“You’re fine, Gary,” I said. “Shit!” I yelled
as I slammed my shin into a table leg.

“Mike? Mike? Is that you? It’s so cold and
dark where I am. I can’t see you, brother. I’ve been shot in the
head and I think it’s the end for me. Mom, is that you?”

“No, my name is Mary,” Mary said, getting to
his side quicker than I could. Being familiar with the house, she
was able to navigate through it more rapidly.

“Mary? Such a beautiful name. Are you my
guiding angel?” Gary said dramatically, maybe a little too
much.

Mary produced a small flashlight and checked
Gary’s wound and his pupils, then turned to me. “Does he have a
flare for the dramatic?”

“You tell me,” I replied.

“You know that your wound is not much more
than a scratch, right?” she asked Gary.

“Are you sure? Because I see the light,” Gary
said.

“It’s a Ray-O-Vac penlight,” Mary told
him.

“Oh,” Gary said, sitting up. “Then I’m fine.
Mike, you know I’m going to have to tell Dad that you shot me.”

“I figured as much. Good to see you vertical,
my brother.”

“Are we in a safe house?” he asked.

I nodded my answer. For someone who a second
ago couldn’t see anything, he did have a fast response.

“What about BT and the rest?” he asked,
getting more comfortable.

“Josh, could you please get me some water and
aspirins?” Mary asked her son.

Josh had been at the far end of the room,
almost completely obscured in the shadows. I thought I may have
detected the glint of a weapon. I couldn’t fault him that. In fact,
it was quite the opposite, I thought it was admirable that he
remained vigilant over us, protecting his mother and his
homestead.

“I don’t know about any of them. BT was too
far down the street to turn and make it back. And I haven’t heard
anything from the rest.”

“The rest?” Mary asked as she gave the glass
of water and tablets to Gary.

The ham made a great show of effort in
reaching out to get the meds.

“We were with another three people besides
the big man you saw.”

“What were you doing?” Mary asked, helping
Gary more when she realized he was having a difficult time. He was
completely soaking it up. Even Josh from across the room could tell
he was over-exaggerating. The only one who was missing it was
Mary.

“Payback,” I told her vaguely.

“Against who? The zombies? But you just said
they don’t really have any feelings beyond survival,” Mary said as
she checked Gary’s forehead for a temperature. “You feel a little
warm.”

“Yes, I do,” Gary said as he slouched in his
seat like that was now the most difficult thing in the world,
sitting up straight.

“Oh, you poor baby,” I told Gary. “I hope
you’re going to be alright.”

“He’s been shot in the head!” Mary shot back
at me vehemently. “And you did it! Maybe you should be a little
nicer to your brother!”

Gary was smiling over Mary’s shoulder at me;
I could tell by the flash of his white teeth. “Yeah nicer,” Gary
said weakly, slouching even further into the couch cushion.

“I’ve got to find BT,” I told Mary.

“Unless you’ve got a machinegun on you
somewhere, you’re not going to get past the zees,” Josh said.

“Any chance you got one?” I asked.

“Even if I did, mister, I wouldn’t be giving
it to you,” he told me.

“Fair enough. Do you have anything you could
spare?” I asked.

Mary was shaking her head from side to side.
“Greg took his rifle and a pistol with him when he went. The only
reason he left behind the pistol Josh has is because he had no
bullets for it.”

“Mom!” Josh said hotly. “Why would you tell
them that?!” he said, storming out of the room.

“I don’t think he’s yet convinced about your
intentions. You’ll have to forgive him. He has a lot of Greg in
him.”

“That’s probably a good thing these days,” I
told her.

“Didn’t help Greg out much,” she said.

“But you two are safe,” I told her. There was
an awkward silence as Mary thought that through. Gary saved the day
with a soft moan.

“Oh, you poor baby,” Mary said, stroking the
side of his face.

“My ass,” I said.

“What was that?” Gary asked with strain in
his voice.

“Mary, do you mind if I walk around the
house, looking for a way around the zombies?”

”You won’t, but feel free.”

“Thank you,” I told her.

She had already forgotten I was still in the
room as she turned back to Gary’s ministrations.

I did a complete circuit of the house. In
typical zombie fashion, we were surrounded. It wasn’t thousands,
maybe a hundred or so. My OCD half thought about counting, but the
asses wouldn’t stay still long enough for me to get an accurate
tally. One would go, two would come, a few would just run endless
circles around the house until I started to recognize them and I
had counted them more than once. With two full clips, I might be
able to cut a path through, but then what? Most of these zombies
were speeders and I was no track star.

I walked up the stairs to see how
disappointed I could get with an aerial view. I had just pulled the
shade to the side when Josh spoke.

“I’ve kept her safe all this time while we’ve
been waiting for my dad to come home.”

I don’t know what stopped me… Divine
intervention? A brain? My conscience? I don’t know, but I had just
about turned and said “You know he’s not coming home, right?” If
Tracy had been here, she would have smacked me just for thinking
it; and somehow she would have been able to tell. I was stuck. I
had been so intent on flat out telling him the truth, I couldn’t
think of a viable alternative. I came out with the lame, “That’s
nice.”

He gave me a look I’d become all too familiar
with seeing.

“How long are you going to stay?” he asked.
I’m not sure if it was because he wanted us gone, or it took the
burden of protecting his mother off his shoulders.

“Just long enough until there’s a way through
the zombies and I can get back to my friends.”

“What about your brother? He’s going to need
time to heal.”

“Him? He’s faking.”

“I thought so. He’s not a very good
actor.”

I laughed. “Your mom is buying it.”

He stopped to think about that for a minute.
“That’s alright; it gives her a chance to stop worrying about
me.”

“You’re a smart kid.” He was probably on to
something. Mary, on some level, probably knew Gary was hamming it
up, but it was a diversion from the nightmare outside.

“Yeah, I usually like to build
radio-controlled cars, but guarding this house is a full time job,”
he sighed heavily.

“Can I see them?” I asked. We’ve all
established that I’m just a larger version of a kid so I wanted to
see them; and the word “diversion” was now stuck in my head.

The kid’s room was crammed with at least a
dozen different vehicles that I could see. There was a lunar module
with six wheels, a tank, that fired projectiles, some racing cars
and other sets that were in various states of repair or
disrepair.

“I’m still working on this one,” Josh said,
picking up what looked like a waste basket on wheels. “My dad went
out to get me some parts for this. He had come over to work on it
with me and then the zombies had come.”

“What’s it going to be?”

“A half scale R2D2.”

“No way? That’s awesome. You have some
incredible stuff here.”

Josh sat down heavily on his bed. “I haven’t
touched any of them since he left. He didn’t come back and he was
out getting stuff for me.”

Man I hate the serious talks. I sat down next
to him. “Listen Josh, I’m a father too.”

He looked up at me with “Really?” written all
over his face.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my kids,
from giving up my life all the way to seeing a smile flash across
their lips. You’re dad went out, trying to do just that. You can’t
blame yourself for his actions, it was something he wanted to
do.”

“Thanks mister, you seem like you’d make a
good dad.”

“Thanks kid, now if you could just tell my
wife that, I’d really appreciate it. Can you show me how a few of
these work?”

Josh’s face lit up. He was back in his
element, tinkering with the small machines. We spent a few hours
going through his wheeled assembly. It was nice to forget for a
while what lingered mere feet away outside.

Mary finally had to come up and get us for
dinner. Her first two shouts had fallen on deaf ears as we
recreated the chase scene from Mad Max.

Mary had made us a simple meal of beef stew
and corn, but it was warm and we were safe. I said a silent prayer
for my family and friends before I sat down. I noticed only two
settings at the table. One for Josh and one for me. “I’m sorry
we’re late. Did you guys already eat?” I asked from the
kitchen.

“No,” Mary said. “Your brother is still in a
lot of pain, so I set up a tray for him out here and then it didn’t
seem quite right that he had to eat alone, so I’m staying with
him.”

Josh rolled his eyes as he sat down. I
snorted out a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Mary asked a little
peevishly.

“Ah nothing,” I said, trying to stall for a
more acceptable answer. “Josh had just told me a funny joke before
we came downstairs.”

“Josh, it had better not be that one you
heard at school!” Mary yelled from the living room.

Thanks, Josh mouthed.

“Better you than me,” I said quietly.

“What are you two whispering about in there?”
Gary moaned. “The noise is hurting me.”

“You two stop it or I’ll make you eat
upstairs!” Mary yelled.

Funny, Gary didn’t seem to complain about her
volume and she was right next to him. And actually, going back
upstairs sounded like fun. Josh’s myriad of radio-controlled
vehicles was a good diversion from the cold hard truth.
“Diversion.” There it was again. The word kept popping up in my
head inadvertently; maybe I should actually pay it some heed. I was
three spoonfuls into my stew when I looked over to the wastebasket.
Gary’s blood-soaked shirt and a bunch of bandages dominated what I
could see.