In Hiding: A Survivors Journal of the Great Outbreak (11 page)

He
told us that there was no more room for hesitation and that anything that could
take three bullets to the chest and keep coming wasn’t human anymore and never
would be again. It had become us or them from that point on and there was no
saving them, there was no cure and whether it used to be a friend or it was a
complete stranger, man or woman, Zed was Zed and they were dangerous. The fact
of the matter was that he was right.

I
had only known Trevor for a few days at that point and my initial impression
had me convinced that he didn’t have that in him. But then I really didn’t know
any of these people all that well. A few simple introductions and a couple of
quick conversations wasn’t enough for me to know who these people really were
or what they were capable of. I know one thing however. Trevor was never really
the same after that day, none of us really were. We all needed to re-evaluate
who we were and what we were willing to do if we were going to survive the
outbreak.

It
seemed like it took us hours to pull ourselves together and thankfully we did
because we still had work to do. We had another body to dispose of and several
others we had neglected to do anything with. Letting infected corpses rot away
inside the building with us wasn’t the smartest thing to do. We needed to find
a safe place to get rid of them and we really needed to do it sooner rather
then later.

Luckily
for us the newly opened garage would provide us with exactly what we needed.
Now like I said it was an older building in desperate need of a renovation and
the garage was no different. Inside there were two long narrow pits that were
used for oil changes. There were no lifts lucky for us because those oil pits
became the perfect place to dump those bodies.

So
we wrapped Bruce and Scott’s bodies up in blankets and moved them into the
garage and dropped them into the pits. Some of the others uttered a few
prayers. Some said their quick goodbyes, while I just stood there in silence
out of respect. Once everyone felt like the appropriate amount
 
of time had passed, we went to work
cleaning up the other dead bodies. We wore gloves and covered our mouths and
noses with rags as we washed down every inch of the floor where the bodies had
been left. We dumped them into what was quickly becoming a mass grave and left
the garage.

That
afternoon things were mostly quiet. Ray watched the news. Anne and Kerri spent
their time with Tanya and Shannon sharing some of their favorite stories about
their old co-workers. Sandy went off somewhere to read, while Trevor and Paul
sat around playing cards. I sat up alone on the roof with a half case of beer
and my cigarettes trying to convince myself that all of this wasn’t really
happening.

I
think I probably drank those first two beers in record time. Watching it all
happen on the news was one thing. Actually living through it and actually
having to do some of the things I never imagined I would have too do was
another. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the whole situation. I
forget how long I was up there for but it was probably sometime just before it
got dark when I heard people coming up behind me.

It
was Kerri, Anne and Tanya. They didn’t understand that all I wanted was to be
left alone, but I couldn’t tell them that, not then. They only wanted to talk
to someone about what had happened and for some reason I was the one they
decided to talk too.

At
first, I sat there in silence listening to them discuss what they thought was
going on. It was apparent that they were upset with how everything had happened
and they wanted to know if I felt it really needed to be done. I wanted to say
what I had to say in a way that wouldn’t upset them any further. I knew that I
needed to approach that situation with a delicate touch. But once I started
talking it was like I couldn’t stop. I told them everything, about how Scott
just kept coming for us, how despite bullet wounds and taking an axe to the
knee that he just kept coming. I told them how he was no different then any of
the monsters out in that parking lot and that I had no doubt that it needed to
be done.

I
also tried to explain to Anne that as bad as it looked in that cage, Paul only
did what he did because he was trying to protect Shannon and everybody else.
They listened to what I had to say and the conversation remained civil the
entire time. Actually once I was finished we spent another few hours up on the roof
talking about a lot of other things. We discussed the outbreak and told stories
about our families and friends. Looking back we always talked about them in the
past tense like we just assumed that they were already gone.

We
talked about what had been on the news and how the vast majority of the eastern
United States was in a similar situation to ours. From Maine down to Florida it
was all the same. Cities had been overrun by Zeds or had been turned into war
zones. They told me about members of the military staying behind with pockets
of survivors as their units pulled out. They were going to try and help them
hold out against impossible odds until rescue became possible. Now that was
heroism. Most of those men and woman decided to stay and help knowing that
rescue wasn’t coming anytime soon.

That
made me appreciate what we had just a little bit more. It could have been so
much worse. Some of those groups managed to get out word to the media, I am not
sure how they did it but they did it. They would plead for help, food, water,
rescue, anything really. God only knows what was happening to the vast majority
of the survivors out there who we couldn’t hear from.

I
mean this store was still reasonably well stocked. How fast the outbreak hit
our area was actually a blessing in disguise. Most people were too busy
evacuating and racing to shelters so we never really saw the mass riots or
looting like we had seen in other parts of the country. There were always so
many reporters out in those areas. I guess it was just a little safer then
sending them into cities like ours.

It
had been another long day and I was extremely tired. But before I went to try
and get some sleep I decided to clean myself up a little. I went into the
washroom and washed my face and then changed into some clean close I found in
the men’s department. As I was headed to the back room I saw that everyone was
in the entertainment department watching the news with Ray. They were all quiet
when I arrived and once I saw what they were watching I realized why.

That
night they were trying to complete the evacuation of Chicago. The footage we
were watching was coming from a helicopter looking down on the streets of the
downtown area of the city. What we were looking at was absolutely incredible.
The streets were flooded with people. Well, some of them were still people.

As
the military raced to get people out by bus, boat or any other means possible
the massive crowd of Zeds that must have been thousands deep, pushed their way
through the blockades and the barriers and the army was desperately trying to
hold them back. It was incredible how many of them there were out there. One
massive horde of disease and death driving forward and it looked like there was
no stopping them.

Watching
what was happening there was a real wake up call for all of us. Reports were
that most military units were heading west to regroup as they evacuated cities
along the way. We knew what that meant for us. We knew then that it could be a
really long time before rescue would come and that was if it came at all.

So
with the realization that the store was going to be our home for much longer
then we originally anticipated, we knew we needed to do a few things just in
case the unimaginable found its way here. We knew if one of those giant hordes
of Zeds ever made its way to our front door that there was no way the doors
could withstand something like that. That many of them all pushing at once,
never stopping, never giving up until they were through. We needed to prepare
just in case something like that ever happened.

That
was the main reason we came up with the Last Resort Plan. None of the others
actually called it that. It was just the name that I gave it. The plan itself
was pretty basic but we all agreed that it might be our only option if
something like that were to happen. We spent most of the night hammering out
the details and nobody seemed to mind because as tired as we were I don’t think
anyone was going to be able to sleep anyway.

The
plan was to find a place that we could easily defend and stock it with plenty
of supplies so that if something did go wrong we would all have a place that we
could fall back too. After much discussion we decided that the roof was our
best option. So over the next couple of days we would stock pile bottled water,
canned goods, camping gear and everything else we thought we might need to
survive in case of an emergency. We would bring up blankets and pillows,
cooking gear and hunting rifles. We would turn the roof of the building into a
small tent city where we could survive for an extended period of time if the
lower level ever became overrun.

There
were two main reasons we chose the roof as our fall back position. First, it
was the only place in the store that gave us a view of our immediate
surroundings. If rescue did come the roof was the only place that would give us
a chance to see it coming. Secondly, it was easily defendable. There was only
one-way to get up there and that was the ladder. We didn’t even know if Zeds
could climb ladders, but even if they could, only one of them could get to the
hatch at the top at a time. Something heavy placed on top of that hatch would
be enough to keep them from pushing through. It was as good as place as any to
make our last stand. I just hoped it would never come to that.

We
starting making a list of everything we would need to move up there, batteries,
flashlights, radios and perhaps the best idea of all, a barbeque. Cody knew of
a smaller charcoal model that he could take a part and move it up there piece
by piece. It not only meant that we would be eating better. It also allowed us
to save most of the canned food for when we would need it most. We would be
able to use the frozen meat still inside the storage freezers before we lost
power. Believe me throwing all of that rotting meat out into the parking lot
was not pleasant when it came to it.

 
Not
only had we put the finishing details on our plan that night. We also laid out
a plan for what we would do if we lost power in the building. It wasn’t like
the utility companies were out there looking after it anymore. We had to assume
the worst and that was that we would eventually loose power at some point. So
we decided that we would move camping lanterns into key positions that we could
turn on once the store went dark. Not to mention we decided that we needed to
gather all the flashlights and batteries that we could find.

After
everything that had happened earlier that day I was happy to see us all pulling
together. Everyone was contributing and we listened to everyone’s ideas. We
even all came to an agreement on keeping the guns safely in one place. We
picked a central location in the back room and decided to keep all but a few
hunting rifles back there with most of the ammo. That way if something did
happen, everyone knew where to go and find the guns.

Those plans gave us a real purpose
and a reason to get up the next morning. All of our thoughts about our families
and the world around us were put on hold. For that brief period of time we were
able to forget about what we had done and the things that we had seen. We had
something else to focus on. We did it because it was what we had to do.

I
had never really been a sound sleeper before all of this began. Truth is I
usually struggled to sleep most nights anyway. Problem was that I was getting
less and less sleep as the days went on. I was physically drained. I needed
much more rest then I had been getting, but my mind just wouldn’t shut off. The
more desperate I was to fall asleep, the less sleep it seemed I was able to
get. The morning of that fourth day was hard and I wasn’t looking forward to
the work that I knew needed to get done.

All
the excitement of the previous night was long gone and the realization of the
strenuous work required had set in. We spent most of that day trying to move
supplies to the roof and believe me it wasn’t the best day to be as tired as I
was because the work was physically demanding and we were at it for hours. The
cases of bottled water and the canned goods continued felt heavier and heavier
as the day went on. We had to move everything up the stairs and then up the
ladder. It was pain-staking work and to be honest I don’t really think that any
of us had the energy required for the job.

We
worked in teams for the most part and I had plenty of interesting conversations
with a few of the others. It was pretty much all we could do to help pass the
time and make the work seem less repetitive. The conversations I had with Ray
were always the most fascinating. Ray was a really smart man. He was well
educated and we both shared similar interests in history and politics. It also
helped matters that he had been watching the news religiously and could tell me
just about everything that was happening around the world. Ray was almost
obsessed with watching the news and I was never sure if it was just something
that he had always done or if it was brought on by the incredible events that
we were living through.
 
Maybe Ray
felt that if he understood everything just a little bit more he could better
prepare for anything the outbreak might throw at us. Then again, maybe he was
just hoping to see his wife in the background of some news report.

The
two of us spent a lot of time talking that morning. We worked side-by-side
moving various supplies across the second floor hallway to Cody and Trevor who
then brought it up the ladder. We talked mostly about the things that he had
seen that morning before I had even dragged myself downstairs. He had been
watching reports from various refugee camps and shelters. The conditions were
as best as they could be I guess. Huge areas with rows and rows of tents set
up. Ray told me that they actually appeared to look somewhat safe. Reporters
were interviewing refugees about their stories of survival and what they saw as
they made the dangerous journey to the camps.

There
were groups of people who left early in the outbreak and made it out before
things became too bad. Other groups of people had to fight their way through
dozens of Zeds along the roads just to make it. There were some people who had
been with larger groups that had been held up in apartments, hotels, schools
and a variety of different places. There were some who had simply been out on
their own until they found a military convoy or another group passing bye. Ray
told me about the great stories of humanity and people helping others as they
made their way across the country.

He
also told me stories that showed how dark times brought out the worst in some
people. Some had to fight off people trying to steal their car or their
supplies. Even worse were the several cases of assault, rape, theft and murder
that were being told.
 
I guess I
couldn’t say that I was surprised when he told me stories like that. But I had
never really had that much faith in people to begin with.

However
Ray had told me about a few other reports that morning that had me feeling a
little more optimistic about the human race. A reporter had met up with this
group in western Ohio. A huge collection of people from various backgrounds
both men and woman who were traveling around armed to the teeth. They were
moving from small town to small town trying to help anyone they could. They
would go door to door searching for survivors and even tried to help those who
were surrounded by Zeds if they were able too.

They
helped everyone they could along the way and were willing to take anyone in.
They never asked for anything in return, they just did what needed to be done.
After hearing that I actually starting to hope that a group like that might
eventually find us and help us escape from the Zeds that surrounded our new
home.

There
was always plenty to talk about with Ray and it really beat working with some
of the others. Adam barely said anything and Trevor had become really quiet
since the whole Bruce incident. But truth is that everyone worked and they
worked hard. Paul had acted as our foreman and nobody else really objected. I
guess that was probably because it
 
really hadn’t been that important to any of us and it really seemed like
Paul embraced the leadership role.

In
the middle of the afternoon we decided that we had moved enough to the roof for
the day. We agreed that we would spend the rest of that afternoon organizing
the supplies we already had up there and start setting up some of the tents. We
stacked everything into piles and set up tarps to cover what needed to be
protected from weather. It was while we were up there working that afternoon
when things took an incredible turn that I don’t think anyone of us could have
seen coming.

I
remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I first heard it. I was
helping Paul set up one of the tents when all of a sudden I heard Tanya begin
to shout. It wasn’t a scream and it wasn’t out of fear. She was shouting out
and waving her arms like she was trying to get someone’s attention out in the
parking the lot.

As
I ran over to where she was standing I remember hoping to see an Army convoy
pushing its way down the street on its way to rescue us. But we weren’t that
lucky. Actually at first I didn’t see much of anything except for a parking lot
filled with zombies and a handful of abandoned cars. As the others arrived and
started asking questions, Tanya pointed out at a parked car at the far end of
the lot. It took me a few seconds to see it, but that was when I realized it wasn’t
the car she was pointing at, it was what was behind it.

At
first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me but there was a woman behind
that car and from what I could see she didn’t look to be infected. Even more
surprising was that there appeared to be someone hiding behind that car with
her. None of us could see who was with her, not from where we were standing,
but it was obvious by the way she kept looking over and reaching out that
someone was there. So Tanya kept shouting until the woman waived in
acknowledgment that she had heard her.

I
don’t think we knew what to do. After not seeing anyone for days we were
starting to think that we were the only ones left in the city. Well the only
people who weren’t infected that were left in the city. We had heard the
occasional gunshot in the distance but that had pretty much been it for signs
of life. Seeing that woman gave us all hope that we weren’t alone.

It
wasn’t until she stood up from behind the car and started running across the
parking lot that we finally saw who was with her. It was a young boy who looked
liked he couldn’t be much older then eight. She held one hand over his mouth
and had her other arm around his shoulder as she pulled him along side of her.
Together they made it to a blue van and they quickly ducked down behind it.

We
wanted to help them, we really did, but not one of us could think of a plan. We
didn’t know how to help or what to do.
 
I could still see the two of them hiding behind that van but I could
also see that there was a small group of Zeds heading right for them. It didn’t
look like they could see them coming and that was when Anne decided to take
action.

She
ran across the roof to where the hunting rifles were stored. She picked one up
and grabbed a box of ammo and then ran back to the front ledge of the roof and
got down on one knee. While she was loading the weapon she shouted for one of
us to find a way to get the two of them inside. She sounded like a drill
instructor yelling out orders and we all jumped into action. Problem was that
we still weren’t sure what we were going to do so most of us simply did nothing
but watch.

While
I was standing there rattling my brain trying to think of a way to get them
inside the store I looked over at Cody and could tell that he had come up with
something. He ran across the roof to the back end of the store overlooking the
receiving doors. He took one quick look and came sprinting back to where we
were. He told us how there were fewer Zeds at the back doors and that if we could
somehow tell that woman and child to get there we could let them in. Now that
we had an idea of where to get them in, the question became how to get them in.
That was when Anne came up with a plan. She would provide covering fire for the
two of them as they made there way across a parking lot that was littered with
zombies. Tanya and Sandy started shouting out instructions to the woman until
she waived to let us know that she understood.

Paul
grabbed the other hunting rifle and he and Shannon ran over to the ledge of the
roof that overlooked the receiving doors. Shannon would act as a spotter while
Paul tried to thin out those that had gathered around the back doors. Ray and I
stayed with Anne and acted as spotters for her. Our job was to keep an eye on
what was happening on her peripherals while she focused on lining up her shots.
Cody, Trevor and Adam went downstairs to open the doors for the woman and child
once they arrived.

Many
of the Zeds in the parking lot seemed to have heard all the commotion we were
making on that roof. That turned out to be a good thing because as most of them
began to focus on us, it meant that their attention wasn’t on that woman and
child. But there was still plenty of danger out there and the two of them were
going to have to make their way through it too get all the way to the back
doors. Not to mention that small group of Zeds that was still closing in on
them. Maybe the little boy had made a noise or maybe it was something else but
they knew exactly where they were.

Anne
fired a shot without any word from Ray or myself. The first round went straight
through the shoulder of the Zed closest to the van. The impact propelled him
forward and he slammed into the side of the van but he was soon moving again
and getting closer. Just as he started to make his way around the front bumper
of the van, Anne fired another shot that blew a hole right in the side of his
head. The Zed dropped to the ground and one of the others in the group tripped
over the body and fell down as well.

Anne
had led the protest against killing Zeds in those first days of the outbreak.
But at that moment I think they had changed in her eyes. Maybe it was the
mother in her but Anne never hesitated to put a bullet in anyone of those
things that got close enough to threaten that woman and child. I heard another
shot. That one had come from Paul. I looked back to see him standing at the far
end of the roof and pointing his rifle down over the ledge towards the pavement
below. As I was watching him, Anne fired another shot. I turned around just in
time to watch a Zed drop to the ground beside the van. I could still see it
twitching on the ground as brownish colored blood oozed from it’s neck. That
was when the woman and child started to run again.

Anne
fired again. A Zed wearing nurse attire dropped to the ground as the bullet
entered the back of her head. The woman and child ran right past the body as it
fell to the ground.

I
remembering hearing more gunshots then I could see Anne taking. Paul must have
been firing plenty of rounds into the crowd below, but I couldn’t take my eyes
of the two people running across the parking lot as they ducked and dodged
their way around Zed after Zed.

Finally
they made it to another car and they stopped just on the far side of it to take
a break. The whole scene was unbelievable. A group of about four Zeds started
right for the car. I could tell Anne was starting to rush her shots as the
first two in the group started to close in. Anne’s next shot missed entirely and
actually hit the hood of the car. That was when I saw the little boy take off
running and the woman was forced to get up and give chase.

She
pushed one of the Zeds right out of the way and knocked it to the ground. Anne
fired another shot and one of the nearby Zeds dropped to the ground as the
bullet hit in the mid-section.

The
woman caught up to the boy after only a few steps. She picked him up and ran to
take shelter behind a black pick up truck. I felt so helpless just standing
there watching. I couldn’t shoot worth a damn or run out there and save them so
I just stood there and watched. I could still hear Paul shooting on the other
side of the roof which had me questioning just how many Zeds were actually down
there and if those doors were really the best way to get them inside.

That
was when the woman ran out from behind the truck and she started for the corner
of the building. She was following Sandy and Tanya’s directions as they pointed
frantically which way they needed to run. She kept running pulling the boy
along as they turned the corner and started down the side headed for the area
behind the building. Anne got up and changed her position to give her a better
angle and Ray and I followed.