Knight Terrors: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale (6 page)

     “Ken, Nancy, remember to stay close.  We have headlamps and it’s going to be dark..  I’ll give each of you a flashlight, but remember, no shooting,” I said.

     “What’s that smell?” asked John.

     “Rotting meat and produce, I think.  It’ll be worse inside.”

     “I think I’m gonna be sick,” said Mike.

     “Well, do it quietly.  When we get inside we need to block the entrance so nothing sneaks up on us.  Maye some carts.”

     Inside, we only found two zombies.  Christ, they’re really terrifying in the dark.

     What we didn’t find was a store full of supplies. It looked like the aftermath of a hurricane rush only it smelled worse.  The water was gone.  So were things like batteries and flashlights.  We got carts and took what we could.  There was plenty of Gatorade and soda.  We got some canned goods and some peanut butter.  It would be enough for Ken and Nancy for awhile.  Outside there were about 20 bundles of firewood stacked up and we loaded them too.

     “Now what?” asked Ken.

     “Now, I think we get you home safely and get this stuff unloaded,” I said.

     Ken looked over at Nancy and suddenly they had their guns out.

     Damn, I knew I didn’t want them to join our group, but I didn’t see this coming.

     “All the help we’ve given you and this is how you repay us?” asked Lois.

     “Shut up, where are the keys?”

     “In the ignition,” I replied.

     “Okay, everybody slowly take your weapons off and put them on the ground,” Ken directed.

     “You just gonna leave us here defensless?” asked John.

     “No, he’s not,” I said.

     “I will shoot you, Mr Knight.”

     “No, you won’t Ken.  You’re a scumbag alright, but you’re no killer.  On the other hand, I’ve killed seven living people in the last three weeks.  One of them killed my friend Michael who was Mike’s father and Lois here’s husband.  That one begged for his life while I shot him in the face.  The last one I set on fire.  I’m a killer, Ken.  Not you.”

     With that, I reached out and grabbed his gun with my left hand while stepping up and punching him in the face.  He went down hard.  I drew my Glock and pointed it at Nancy.

     “Drop it or die.”

     She dropped it and fell to her knees.

     “Don’t shoot.  Oh, God, don’t shoot.  I told him we didn’t have to do this.  I’m sorry.”

     She crawled over to Ken who was out cold.  Nancy put his head on her lap and began to cry.

     “Mike, check them for weapons.”

     They each had a handgun but only a few rounds left.  Their packs were full of crap from the convenience store.

     “Get rid of that crap and fill both their packs with good stuff, something that’ll last,” I told John.  “Unload their guns and put them in their packs, too.”

     I got a box of ammo and put it in Nancy’s pack.

     “I didn’t trust your husband from the very beginning, but we would’ve helped you anyway.  I’m giving you a fighting chance, because I’m better than you.  You have 50 rounds from my own bag.  But, understand, Nancy.  If either one of you try anything I will kill you both without hesitation.”

     She nodded through her tears.

     “Do you and Ken have any tools at home?”

     She nodded again.

     “Good, a large kitchen knife or screwdriver will make a better weapon than your guns.  The zombies are attracted to noise.  Use the guns only as a last resort.  Do you understand?”

     She nodded again.  I looked up.

     “Okay, lets’ go.”

     We got into the bus and started off.  As I looked over, Nancy was till cradling Ken as she cried.

     “I’m sorry Boss Man.”

     “Why are you sorry?”

     “I’m always the ‘let’s help people’ guy.  That one didn’t work out so well.”

     “We’ll try to help everyone we can, Mike.  But did everyone get a weird vibe from them?”

     Everyone agreed.

     “Remember to listen to your instincts.  They will save your life.  And, we are alive and unhurt so we win.”

     “You’re a better human than I am, Ryan Knight.” Said Lois.  “I don’t think I’d have been as charitable.

     “Leaving them with nothing was the same as killing them right there.  I’d kill to save any one of us.  But, once I got the gun from him they were no threat to us.”

     “Still…”

     When we pulled into the CVS lot there were more zombies than expected.  Roughly 20 or so.  I parked to one side of the lot and we methodically took them out one by one.  Mike stayed in the back of a pickup truck to watch for trouble.  That included zombies and humans.

     But the CVS had been broken into and looted.  We cleared the store and looked around.  The water was gone along with a lot of the medical supplies.  The pharmacy was practically empty.

     “Okay, whatever soda and juice still here we grab.  Breakfast bar type snacks are good.  Whatever you think we need,” I said.

     It didn’t take long.  The people looting the store were in a hurry and missed a lot of things that are necessary.  We managed to get vitamins for Tracie and a cane for Tony.  Plus a few other medical supplies like ACE bandages.  A sprain that takes time to heal puts a valuable person out of action.

     We had one more stop.  Not 100 yards from The Harris Teeter was a True Value hardware store.  I was sure it’d be looted but what we needed might not be a hot commodity.  There was no sign of Ken or Nancy but I left a lookout just the same.  The store had been looted as expected but there were no zombies inside.

     We were here for ladders and they had not been looted.  But we managed to find more things we could use at the fort.  More nails.  An assortment of tools.  It would be really frustrating and potentially dangerous to not complete a project because we didn’t have the right tools.  We also found some plastic tubbies.  They would be handy to carry item from the boat to the fort but also could keep stuff dry.  Lastly, I found some seeds.  Not many but we’d need to grow our own food eventually.

     The trip back to Liberty Square and the boat was uneventful.  We got the boat loaded quickly and cast off.

     “Ryan,” Lois asked.  “Are all the supply runs like that?”

     I could see that Lois was reconsidering her decision to come along.  I didn’t want to scare her but she needed to know how things were when we left the safety of the fort.

     “No, Lois.  Sometimes we don’t have any living people trying to kill us.”

     We got everything packed into the tubbies.  They were really going to help.  The other thing that would be helpful is to have a way to get stuff from the boat to the fort without carrying it.  A cart or wheelbarrow would be great.  That walk was already starting to get old and we had only just moved into the fort.

     After I got past Castle Pinckney I picked up the walkie talkie.

     “Mobile one to base, mobile one to base.”

     “Go for base.”  It was Tony.

     “We’re about fifteen minutes or so out.  We’ll need some help at the pier.”

     “Roger that.  All hands on deck.”

     Damn, that hurt.  Sam used to say that.

     “Any problems, Tony?”

     “No, everything is quiet.”

     With the tide going out now, the docking wasn’t as pretty as I’d like.  In fact, I hit the pier pretty hard.  But, no one fell overboard and the boat seemed okay.

     It was obvious how small and vulnerable our little group was with the help at the pier.  Tracie was on lookout and Karen was watching Mal and William.  Tony couldn’t make the trip.  So, that meant Tom, Pat, Beth and Tabby were there to help.  Not many souls.  Even with the small group the unloading didn’t take long since we didn’t get much.

     “Trouble?” asked Tom.

     “Yeah, we’ll talk about it later as a learning thing.”

     Everything was put where it was needed.  The firewood went under the casemates out of the rain.  Tom had found some pallets under the battery and put them on the ground to keep the firewood from getting wet.  The ladders were placed against the walls.  We will practice with them later.  The rest of the supplies went under Battery Huger where they could be secured if necessary.

     I took the cane to Tony and helped him adjust the length.  Once he found his footing he seemed to do okay.

     “Don’t overdo it.  I need you back but I need you100%,” I told him.

     Next I took the vitamins to Tracie.

     “Thank you,” She said.  “ I heard you had some trouble.  Everyone okay?”

     “I see you’re in the loop already,” I said.  “We met some desperate people.  They do desperate things.  We’re all fine.”

     “What happened to the people?”

     In my head I replied ‘why does it matter?’

     “We didn’t kill them if that’s what youre asking.”

     “No, no that’s not what I meant.  You didn’t bring them back here did you?”

     “No, I’m not very trusting these days.  And these people just felt wrong from the beginning.”

     “Good,” said Tracie.  “After what I’ve been through, I don’t want to be around many new people.”

     “But, all of us are new people to you.”

     “Your group saved my life, that’s different.  And I can see you’re kind Ryan,  I can see it in your eyes.”

     I looked down at my feet.

      “You don’t know the things I’ve done.  The things I’ve had to do.  But, thank you for the kind words.” 

     With that, I went to find my kids.  Tabby had already found Mike and Mal was playing with William under Pat’s watchful eye.  They seemed to be having a good time playing army men or something in the dirt on the parade ground.  No point bothering him.  I wanted him to find a friend in William and I should just let that happen.

     I decided to climb up to the top of the fort and take over Karen’s lookout duties.  She had about an hour left of her shift but I wanted to clear my head and think about the near future.  First, downtown was a lost cause.  Too many people and not enough supplies.  Mount Pleasant would become the focus.  There were plenty of grocery store over there and the people were more spread out.  Plus, there was a Lowes, two Wal Marts and a new gun store.

     Next we were going to have to become self sufficient sooner rather than later.  Even Mount Pleasant is going to run out of supplies.  That means farming and fishing for starters.  We will also need to collect rainwater.  There’s just not enough supplies out there for the long term.  We might even need to get chicken or rabbits for meat.  Although I couldn’t see Mal or Tabby eating a bunny if they knew what it was.

     Lost in thought I didn’t hear John come up to relieve Karen.

     “Sorry, Ryan.  I thought you heard me.  I didn’t mean to startle you.”

     “No worries.  Just deep in thought.”

     “We did good today, didn’t we?”

     “We didn’t bring much back to the fort John.  But we didn’t lose anyone despite our troubles.  And that’s a good day.”

     As I walked back down to the parade ground I couldn’t help but notice how normal everything seemed.  People doing what they needed to survive.  But, I t was more than that.  People seemed happy.  People were smiling, they were talking and sharing and living.

     We all talked over dinner about what had happened on the supply run.  The decision to keep all newcomers outside the fort until they could be assessed made even more sense now.

     The future of our self-sufficiency was discussed as well.  Everyone was on board.  Some people would gravitate toward fishing, some toward farming.  It would work.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

     A dreary start with low dark clouds for the last day of the year.  Karen brought me coffee this morning.  I guess this is becoming a thing.  Thor woke up from where he’d been sleeping next to me and padded off.

     “Thank you, Karen.  How are the kids doing?”

     “They’re good I think.  Mal has become fast friends with Willie.  And Tabby has been helpful when she’s not been with Mike.”

     This got a look from me.

     “No, they’re good.  He’s a good kid and she’s matured a lot since this all started.”

     “Well, she hasn’t had much of a choice.”

     “No she didn’t, Ryan.  I want to go on the supply run today.  Lois went yesterday and now I want to go.”

     “Karen I appreciate that you want to help and I do not doubt your abilities.  But, you are not going.”

     She started to protest.

     “I’m not taking Lois either.  Here’s why…  Today I have to drop the team off downtown, where yesterday we were attacked by humans and zombies.  They have to take the bus up East Bay St and over the Ravenel Bridge to Patriot’s Point.  And we’ve not seen any of those roads.  They may be blocked or full of zombies or worse.  I need people that have done this before.  No on the job training today.”