Zombie Outbreak: A Zombie Apocalypse Short Story (2 page)

He looked at Candy, expecting her to argue, but she didn’t. It was one thing to help someone who came knocking on our door, but it was another to leave the safety of our bunker and go looking for trouble. Even Candy had to agree to that.

“We do have some information to provide,” Jay said. “These creatures are multiplying.”

“What?” Candy asked. “Did he just say they were multiplying?”

Mikael regained interest in the broadcast. “Turn it up.”

I turned up the volume.

“At first, it was only the people with the mutated bat flu. They got sick, died and then came back as these things. However, now we know that if a healthy person is bitten by one of these things, they turn into one. Whether the bite immediately kills them or not, they eventually turn into one.”

Someone from off camera said something to Jay and he nodded.

“I have to go now. We will report again this time tomorrow. Please send help.”

Without another word, the screen went blank.

“He’s a fool for thinking someone will come and save them,” Mikael said. “Now is not the time to worry about others. Now is the time to worry about yourself.”

“And your loved ones?” Candy asked, but he didn’t respond.

I didn’t care about Mikael’s grim view. I only cared about the new information regarding the dead ones: they were multiplying. Grandma was killed by Johnny, but Mikael shot Johnny before he ate her. She might be one of those things. She might be walking around as one of those monsters. I couldn’t stand it. I didn’t know much about life after death. I wasn’t sure if I believed in heaven or hell, but I knew I would rather see grandma dead than as one of those monsters.

“I have to go,” I said and jumped to my feet.

“She’s no longer human,” Mikael said, already knowing what I was thinking.

“Exactly, that’s why I have to go to her.”

“What are you talking about?” Candy asked. “Go to whom?”

“Grandma was killed by one of those things. She’s probably one of them now.”

“Oh God, no!” Candy said. “Poor Margaret. We have to go put her down. We can’t leave her out there like that.”

“We aren’t going. We aren’t going to risk our lives for a monster.”

“She’s my grandma, and she deserves to rest.” I headed for the door. “I don’t need you. I’ll do it on my own.”

Mikael laughed. “What will you use: your bare hands? She’ll turn you before you can even hurt her,” he said. “Besides, it’s too dangerous to keep opening that door. I won’t stop you from going, but I won’t let you back in.”

“I’d rather die out there alone than become like you,” I said and reached for the door.

“Wait,” Candy said. She grabbed my arm to stop me.

“I’m going.”

I didn’t care if it was dangerous or stupid. If this is the way the world was, maybe I didn’t even care about living. Maybe death was better.

“I know, but I’m going with you,” she said. “You won’t open the door again for me?” she asked Mikael.

Mikael snarled at her. “Go, but if you get yourselves killed, don’t blame me.”

“Are you going to let us back in?” she asked.

He wanted to say he wouldn’t. It was clearly written in his eyes. He no longer saw Candy as his wife. He now saw her as an extra mouth to eat his food and drink his water, but he simply nodded. “Just make sure none of those things see you, and if you bring anyone with you, no one’s coming back in.”

“Come on.” Candy grabbed the shotgun and a bag of supplies. “We’ll take the truck over there, put her down and come right back.”

I followed Candy, but as the door shut behind us, I honestly had no idea if Mikael would ever let us back in. Outside those safe walls, life was vulnerable and lonely.

We jumped in their beat-up pickup truck, and Candy started the engine. Before she put the car in reverse, she looked at me with a serious face.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked. “You know it’s going to be tough.”

I nodded. “I know, but I can’t stand the idea of her walking around like one of those things.” I thought of Grandma and smiled. “Besides, she’d ground me for life if she knew I let her be one of those dead ones.”

“Okay,” Candy said and put the car in reverse.

We drove in silence. Candy stared out the front window, and I watched out the side window. Everything looked completely normal. There were no dead ones walking around, grass still grew, trees still stood tall, the world looked alive. A rabbit hopped down the side of the road as if it was just another perfect day. We turned down grandma’s driveway, and still, everything looked the same, except for one thing. Grandma wasn’t standing on the front porch, waving to me. She always greeted me at the porch when I came home.

Candy parked the car and we hopped out.

“She was over there.” I pointed by the barn. “I don’t see her there now.”

Candy motioned me to follow her, and we headed over by the barn. We walked completely around the barn, but didn’t see her. There weren’t many places for her to hide. I glanced at the house, but all the doors were still shut, and I doubted a dead one could open and shut doors. I was so afraid that she had wondered off, and I’d never find her.

“Maybe she got inside the house,” I suggested.

I was about to head for the house, when something inside the barn caught our attention. It was a low, soft moaning. The sound shot fear from my feet to my head. It was the same moan I heard from Johnny before he attacked Grandma.

Candy and I just looked at each other in morbid silence. We both knew we had found her, which now seemed worse than not finding her.

“It’s her,” I said finally.

Candy lifted the shotgun and readied it. She motioned for me to push the barn door open farther, but I shook my head. She was my grandma and my responsibility.

“I’ll do it,” I said and reached out for the gun.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

I gave her a firm nod, and she handed me the shotgun. I took it with a shaking hand. As I readied it, I hoped with all my might that grandma wouldn’t look like herself. I wanted her to look like a monster, so it wouldn’t be so difficult.

“Okay,” I said to Candy.

She pushed the door, and it swung open with a great creek. Light poured inside the barn, highlighting all the places I used to play while I was supposed to be helping grandma. As the light stretched far inside the barn, it fell on a lone figure in the back. I gasped, and it turned around.

It was Grandma, and she looked exactly like Grandma. The only difference was the coloring of her face and eyes, but everything else was Grandma. I sniffed the air and felt I could still smell peppermint and tea, but I knew it was only in my head. Johnny reeked like death, and Grandma probably did too.

Grandma began shuffling toward me. I wanted to speak to her, but I knew it was pointless. She was gone, and this monster was the only thing left. If she reached me, she would attack, and I would become one of those things.

“It’s time, Mae.” Candy placed her hand on my shoulder.

I nodded and shut my eyes knowing that was dumb, but hoping I wouldn’t miss her. I squeezed the trigger, and as the bullet shot from the gun with a deafening sound, I screamed with it. I heard Grandma’s body hit the ground, and I opened my eyes. Grandma lay on the ground, motionless, silent.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered and fell to my knees.

I thought of a million different moments in that brief few seconds. I thought of every time I had ever spent with grandma: picking wild blackberries from the side of the road, the juice staining my hands. I recalled that bitter taste of tea when I first drank with her, and the times I was rude to her. I remembered the feel of her embrace and the sound of her laugh. I remembered it all. I even remembered all the moments we were supposed to share, but never would.

It was time to cry, but we didn’t have time.

“I’m so sorry, Mae.” Candy pulled me to my feet. “We have to go.”

I nodded, still staring at Grandma. “I need to get something out of the house.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. We need to get back where it’s safe,” Candy said, but she knew I was going in. “Okay, but let’s hurry.”

We raced inside the house. The urge to stop and look at everything surged through my body, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I could spend a lifetime looking at everything in this house, but I just wanted one thing. I burst into grandma’s room and hurried to her jewelry box. Inside was a small gold ring with different colored stones. Grandma used to always wear it, and I loved it because when she put it in the sunlight, it made a rainbow. She stopped wearing it recently because one of the stones fell out, and she hadn’t taken it in to get it fixed yet. It was the only thing I wanted.

I slipped the ring on my finger. “I’m ready. Thank you.”

We rushed outside and immediately stopped. Before we went inside the house, the yard had been completely empty. Now, about two dozen dead ones were walking across the yard to where I had been when I shot Grandma. Upon hearing us, they turned their attention toward Candy and I.

“Where did they come from?” Candy asked. “I didn’t see anyone when we went inside.”

“The gun shot,” I said. “I think it attracted them.”

“So we can’t even shoot them without attracting more?” Candy asked.

“We have to go!” I shouted.

We raced down the porch steps so fast that I thought I would stumble. I wanted to get to the truck without having to look at them. I was afraid I might recognize someone. The dead ones followed us as we moved to the truck, but they were slow. We easily reached the truck and hopped inside. Candy started the truck, and we were gone before the dead ones even reached us.

“That was like twenty of them,” Candy said. She clutched the wheel tightly to keep her hands from shaking.

“Where did they all come from?” I asked. “I was too afraid to look at any of them because I was afraid I might recognize them. Did you look at them?”

Candy glanced at me and nodded. “A few of them were people I’ve seen in town.” Her voice shook, and I wondered if mine was shaking too.

We made it back to Candy’s house and headed toward the bunker, toward safety. I had completely forgotten about Mikael’s threat not to let us back in. We reached the bunker door and banged on it. I knew banging on the door was not a smart idea. It would probably attract them, but I didn’t want to be outside another moment. I glanced around, fearing I might see some of the dead ones, but there weren’t any.

“Mikael, we’re back,” Candy said. “Let us in.”

“Are you alone?” he asked.

“Yes, now open this freakin' door,” she said.

“Why is your voice so scared?” he asked. “Are the dead ones near you?”

“No!” She banged louder. I wanted to tell her to stop because she might attract the dead ones, but I also wanted inside.

“Please, we are alone. We saw some back at Grandma’s house, but they didn’t follow us,” I said.

“How do I know you’re not lying?” he asked.

“If you don’t open this door, I’m going to make sure I live long enough until you have to come outside, and then I am going to rip you open!” Candy shouted.

I have no idea if Candy’s threat scared him, or if he just finally believed that we were alone, but he opened the door. He stood in the open doorway, blocking us from entering.

“Have you been bitten?” he asked. “If you’ve been bitten and are turning into one of those dead ones, I don’t want you in here.”

Instead of answering, we shoved our way inside and shut the door behind us. Together, Candy and I breathed a sigh of relief and shared a smile. Suddenly, our smiles turned into laughter. Perhaps it was the high of making it back in one piece, but we couldn’t stop laughing.

“What’s going on?” Mikael asked. “Why are you laughing? Were you bitten?”

At his question, we laughed even harder. I knew it wasn’t appropriate. I pictured Grandma, and wanted to cry, but my body wouldn’t let me. I was just so happy to be alive. I remembered just before I left bunker and how thought about death being better than living in this world, and I knew I was wrong. I was going to keep fighting to stay alive.

“Answer me!” Mikael shouted.

Finally, we managed to compose ourselves. Mikael did not look the least bit amused.

“Shut up,” Candy said. “We’re laughing because we’re happy we made it back alive. Of course, a coward like you wouldn’t understand that since you stayed here like a baby.”

“So you saw some of those things?” he asked, still inspecting us to make sure we weren’t slowly dying of a dead one bite.

“Yes,” Candy said in a calm and flat voice. “Mae shot her grandma, but that attracted about twenty of them. They’re slow, so we managed to make it out of there. We have to start being quiet. They seem to be attracted to sound.”

Mikael seemed thoughtful for a moment then he looked at me. “So you put her down?” It was as if he didn’t believe Candy and wanted to hear it from me.

I nodded.

“Good, one less of those thing to worry about.”

I’m not prone to violence. I hate arguing and fighting, but I hated Mikael even more in that instant. My grandma was not a thing. She was the only one who really cared about me. She was the only family member I had after the death of my parents. I had planned to take care of her after I graduated from college so she never had to worry about money ever again, but instead I shot her.

“Right?” he asked.

I turned my head to look at him, and I lost myself. I leaped at him, swinging my arms. Mikael screamed something about me being bitten.

“She’s not one of those things!” I shouted. “She’s better than you’ll ever be.”

I smacked him in the face and kicked his knee. Candy grabbed me and pulled me off him.

“You little...” He grabbed the shotgun and aimed it at me. He pulled the trigger, but the gun was empty. He pulled it one more time to be sure.

His eyes were filled with rage, and in that instant, he was more terrifying than the dead ones.

“Stop it!” Candy grabbed the gun from him. “She just had to shoot her grandma.”

A silence fell over us. I refused to take my eyes off Mikael, and he stared right back at me like a wolf eyeing its prey, but I didn’t know which one of us was the wolf and which one was the prey.