Zombie Outbreak: A Zombie Apocalypse Short Story (3 page)

***

“We have an important announcement.” Jay Jackson appeared on the TV again. “We have a report of safety. This will be our last broadcast because we have received help and are heading toward the safe zone. If anyone is out there, head for Washington DC. Outside the city limits, you will find a blockade with soldiers to help take you to safety.” He paused. “I urge all of you to go there. This is our last broadcast. Goodbye and good luck. Keep each other safe.”

The TV went black again.

Safety. Somewhere out there, there might be a safe zone, but was it true? I honestly had no idea what to believe anymore, and I knew we were pretty safe in this bunker with all these supplies. I wanted to believe Jay Jackson, but I was too afraid to have hope.

“What should we do?” Candy asked.

“Nothing,” Mikael said and turned around to go count his supplies again. “We are staying here where it is safe. We don’t know what is out there.”

“What if those things get inside?” Candy asked. “We should go to Washington DC.”

“We aren’t leaving,” Mikael said.

I wanted to argue with him, although I really didn’t know what the best option was. I just didn’t want to agree with him. Candy glanced at me and shook her head.

Mikael returned to counting his supplies, and Candy sat down to think. A few quiet moments passed before Mikael started getting angry. He slammed the clipboard he was holding on the floor with a loud crack.

Candy and I jumped. “ What the heck?” she asked.

“Where is it?” he asked. “Did you take it?”

“Take what?” Candy asked. “I wouldn’t touch your precious supplies without asking.”

“I’m not joking. We are missing a whole case of bullets,” he said.

“We still have plenty,” Candy said. “I don’t think one case is going to make a big difference.”

“We need them all.” He looked at the door. “I think I left them in the house. You said there was nothing out there?”

Candy shook her head. “But who knows if they’re out there now. I wouldn’t risk it for one case.”

He looked at his gun and then at her. “Go get them.”

“Excuse me?” she asked. “I’m not going out there for a few bullets.”

“You’ve already been out there. You know what to expect,” he said and held the gun out toward her.

She glared at him. “Go get it yourself, you coward.”

He glanced at me as if he was going to ask me to go, but he didn’t. Instead, he cursed and headed for the door.

“Open the door when I come back,” he said.

I opened my mouth to say we won’t, but I knew he wouldn’t quite get the joke. It would only lead to more shouting and fighting.

“We will,” Candy said. “Just make sure you’re quiet out there. Do not shoot that gun unless your life depends on it. I am serious, Mikael. Those things hear really well, and they go toward the noise.”

Mikael hesitated and finally left. As the door shut behind him, the air suddenly felt more breathable, and our bunker felt safer.

“Mae,” Candy said once Mikael was gone. “We have to leave this place. It’s not safe here. We need to go to Washington.”

“Do you really think there is some safe zone out there?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s safe to just wait here like sitting ducks,” she said.

I had no idea what was the best option, but I had grown to trust Candy, and she seemed completely convinced that it was better to leave. I decided that I would stick with her, whether she decided we should stay or go.

“I agree with you,” I said. “But we’re never going to convince him.”

“I know.”

We continued talking, trying to figure out a plan, but nothing seemed feasible. Suddenly, a loud boom broke our concentration.

“What was that?” I jumped to my feet.

“Let me in!” Mikael shouted from outside the door.

Candy rushed over and let him in. He clamored inside and shut the door behind him.

“What was that noise?” Candy demanded.

“One of those things was in the field, so I shot it,” he said.

“The field?” Candy asked. “That’s on the other side of the property. You had plenty of time to get back here. Why did you shoot it? We told you they are attracted to sound.”

“Don’t talk to me like that. If I see one of those things, I kill it.”

“You’re a freakin' idiot,” Candy said.

“Shut up.” He raised his hand to hit her but didn’t.

“Don’t hit her,” I said. “You’ve just put us all at risk.”

“They can’t get in here!” he shouted.

“Stop shouting,” Candy said. “You’re going to attract them.”

“Good!” he shouted. “Hey, dead people! We’re over here!” He looked down at Candy. “They can’t get to us. We’re safe in here. Maybe you’ll realize that now, and stop trying to leave.”

He went back to his supplies, and Candy began reading aloud from a book. I sat and listened to her intently, focusing on the story and forgetting about the real world. I found myself lost in a world of pirates and damsels in distress, and I desperately wanted to be there. A few hours passed when there was a bang on the door.

Candy dropped the book and stared at me with widened eyes.

“What was that?” I jumped to my feet.

“It was probably just the wind,” Mikael said.

“The wind doesn’t bang,” Candy said.

We approached the door and listened. From the other side, we heard scratching and moaning.

“They’re out there,” I whispered. “Look.”

I pointed at the door. It was bulging inward as they pushed on the door. It looked ready to burst open. In that moment, I did not feel like I was in a bunker. I felt like I was in a playhouse. The door didn’t look like it could withstand a large dog, let alone twenty or more dead ones.

Candy stared at the door with horror on her face. “We have to go. Start packing stuff.” She pointed at the supplies.

Together, her and I began shoving some of the most important stuff in our bags.

“What the heck are you doing?” Mikael asked. “That door is fine.”

“No, it isn’t,” Candy said. “It’s about to pop open, and I don’t want to be here when it does.”

I was completely confused. Mikael and Candy called this place a bunker. Couldn’t bunkers withstand a bomb explosion? I would think the door would be strong, but I had to agree that it did not look like it was going to last much longer.

“I thought this was a bomb shelter. Why is the door not lasting?” I asked.

Candy looked at Mikael and then at me. “This isn’t a bomb shelter. It’s just where we were storing everything. We were about to break ground on building the actual bomb shelter next year.”

“What?” I asked. “I’ve been hiding in a glorified shed? I thought this place was safe.”

“It is. It’s still safe and strong. I had to keep out the thieves, so the locks, doors and walls are solid,” he said.

“Those aren’t thieves,” I said. “Those are freaking zombies! They are coming in here to eat you, and that door is not going to make it.”

“Come on.” Candy grabbed me and motioned for the back of the shed. “There is an emergency exit back here.”

“Everything is fine,” Mikael said.

As soon as the words had left his lips, the door burst open. The dead ones began spilling inside. They just kept coming and coming, and outside, we saw more and more of them.

“Oh my God, it’s like the entire town,” Candy said.

Mikael stood, staring at them, unable to move. He was about to be taken over by them, but Candy grabbed his arm and pulled him with surprising strength. She shoved me toward the emergency exit.

“Go!” she demanded.

We ran to the far side of the shed as the dead ones continued to burst inside. They clawed at each other, ripping flesh as they tried to climb over each other to get to us. I finally allowed myself to look at them, and I muffled a scream with my hand. They didn’t just look dead anymore. They were rotting like decaying corpses. Some of them were missing limbs, but that wasn’t the worst of it. Others were ripped open, their insides falling out and spilling onto the floor. Their entrails trailed behind them like toilet paper stuck to their shoe. Bits of flesh fell from their rotting mouths, but I didn’t know if it was from their own decaying face or someone they had eaten.

“Go! Go! Go!” Candy repeated.

I collided into the emergency exit and opened the door, afraid what I might find on the other side. Luckily, it was clear. We rushed outside and headed for the truck, but there were too many of them surrounding it. Candy was right: it seemed like the entire town was in their yard, pushing into the shed where we had just been. They were now pushing themselves out the emergency exit, after us.

“The SUV!” Candy pointed at her vehicle.

“It can’t hold as much as the truck,” Mikael said.

“This is all we have. I’m not going back in to get more.”

Without listening to him, Candy threw open the driver’s seat and climbed inside. I crawled in the back seat and we threw everything into the far back. Mikael climbed in the passenger’s seat and we took off before he could even shut the door. Behind us, some of the dead ones continued to pour inside the shed. Others stood, staring after us and beginning to follow at their slow pace.

“Holy...” Mikael cursed and slapped the dashboard. “You let them follow you from her grandma’s house.”

“Bull!” Candy shouted back. “They came because you shot that gun. We told you to keep quiet.”

“My stuff,” Mikael said and looked back at his shed. For a moment, I thought he was going to stop and go back to get more supplies.

“Would you rather have died there with it?” Candy asked. “What did we manage to gather?”

I leaned over the back and went through the bags. “Some food, water, first aid supplies, ammo, a few knives and some flashlights.”

“A little bit of everything,” Candy said. “Good. We’re going to need it to get to Washington.”

“We aren’t going to Washington,” Mikael said. “We’ll go hide out somewhere until those things leave, and then we’ll go back to the shed.”

Candy responded by pressing her foot against the gas pedal, accelerating the car. Knowing it was pointless to argue, Mikael fell silent and we continued down the road to see what we might find now that our safe zone was no more.

***

We drove through the night, and I was glad it was dark, so I couldn’t see any of those monsters outside the window. For a moment, I forgot what was going on in the world, and I just pretended we were on a road trip. As the sun began to rise, however, we grew low on gas, and the fear crept in again.

“We need to stop at that gas station to fill up,” Candy said. “We won’t make it any further.”

Mikael nodded, and Candy pulled over.

“I’ll put the gas in. Mikael, take the gun and watch for any of those things,” Candy said.

“I thought we weren’t supposed to shoot them.”

She simply glared at him. They hopped out of the car, and Candy started to fill up the car. I decided to get out and stretch my legs a bit. Of course, I stayed close to the car. Just as Candy finished filling the car, there was a rustling in the bushes nearby. Mikael raised the gun.

“Help,” a man called.

From out of the bushes, a young man a few years older than me appeared.

“Stop right there,” Mikael said.

“Please, my friend is hurt,” he said. “Calvin, come on.”

Another man stumbled out of the bushes. He was covered it dirt and blood.

“Help me,” Calvin said. “Do you have a first aid kit?”

“I said to stop right there,” Mikael repeated.

“Mikael, stop it. They need help.” Candy took a step toward the men. “My name is Candy. This is my husband Mikael, and my friend Mae.”

“I’m Steve. This is Calvin,” Steve said. “Can you help him?”

Candy knelt down and looked Calvin over. “It doesn’t look that bad. Let me go get some bandages.”

She ran back to the car to grab the first aid kit. As she rummaged through the bags, Mikael stepped closer to the men.

“You’re lucky we came along,” he said, eyeing Calvin suspiciously.

“I think luck is on my side today,” Calvin said. “I thought I was going to die when one of those things bit me a little bit ago.”

The sound of the trunk shutting echoed through the silent gas station. Candy held the first aid kit in her arms, but she didn’t move toward Calvin. We all simply stared at Calvin, unsure what to do or say.

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked. “Aren’t you going to help him?”

“He was bitten?” Mikael asked.

“Yes,” Steve said. “But I managed to kill it before it killed him. Please, it’s going to get infected.”

Candy took a step toward them, and I was unsure what to say. It was probably pointless to help him, but maybe he wouldn’t turn. We didn’t know everything about the dead ones. Maybe Jay Jackson was wrong about getting bitten.

We didn’t find out. Before Candy reached them, Mikael fired the gun. The bullet shot through Calvin’s head. Pieces of his skull and brains poured onto Steve. I covered my mouth with my hand and dropped to the ground to hide my face. I didn’t want to see. Part of me was glad for what Mikael did. I didn’t want Calvin to change and kill us, but he was still human, and we didn’t know if he would have changed.

“What the heck, Mikael?” Candy said. “What is wrong with you?”

“Calvin?” Steve asked, shocked.

“He was going to turn into one of those things any moment. Would you rather I let him kill you?”

“I would rather you have waited. He was still a human. How do you know he was even going to turn into one?”

“That reporter said that’s what happens. You saw it happen to her grandmother,” Mikael said.

“Johnny immediately killed her grandma with his bite, but that guy looked fine and healthy. We don’t know for sure that he was going to change. Maybe he wouldn’t have,” Candy said.

“What did you do?” Steve stood and raced at Mikael. He approached him so fast Mikael didn’t have time to react. “You murdered him.” He grabbed Mikael by his shirt and shook him violently.

“Stop it,” Mikael said. “Your friend was already dead. If you get bitten, you become one of those things.”

“He was just injured!” Steve punched Mikael in the face.

Mikael stumbled backward a few feet and then steadied himself. Immediately, he aimed the gun at Steve. “You’ve probably been bitten too.”