Southern Zombies Three Book Box Set: A Story of Survival, Southern Hospitality, and Southern Blood (13 page)

“Who is that shooting from the roof?” I ask.

We look towards the house. And what we see… well, something we would have never guessed at. Brittany, Marc’s daughter, and Gabby, Trey’s wife, are on top of the house firing their asses off. I burst out laughing. They have their babies in a baby backpack on their backs. Now I am about to die laughing at this point.

“What the hell are they doing?” Marc asks Becky.

“Looks like shooting zombies.” Becky replies.

Diane and I are still cracking up. Marc is having a stroke and Bobby is laughing. Trey is yelling, “You show them baby.”

“Y’all get the damn rifles out and start shooting. Marc, get my 50 cal back up and get your ass up there and fire it.” I tell him.

“Oh, did it kick your ass earlier?” Marc asks.

“Maybe. Just shoot.” I reply.

I can see Burrell, Diane’s husband, firing from a bedroom window. Gabby and Brittany probably wouldn’t let him on the roof so they wouldn’t have to worry about him falling off.

Marc gets the 50 cal set up and starts mowing down zombies.

We continue to fire for another fifteen minutes and get a clear path to the house. We get out and turn to start firing at the lingering zombies in the driveway. Brittany and Gabby come down off the house and come around to where we are.

“What happened?” Marc asks them.

“The battery power for the fence quit apparently. They started piling in and soon had pushed the fence in. We didn’t know what else to do. We didn’t know how to fix the battery pack for the fence so we found the guns momma got out for us when they left and we started shooting. Paw had his gun out firing so we joined in. We weren’t going to leave the babied inside alone, so we made a quick backpack for them and put them on our backs.” Brittany says.

“Yeah, we weren’t going to let them get too close to the house. But they started coming in droves and we couldn’t keep them all out.” Gabby says.

“Y’all done well.” We tell them.

Well, hell. More work to do at home. Now we have to redo all the fencing and refortify the barns so the zombies can’t get into where the livestock and horses are.

We start unpacking. Kelley goes in to cook us a meal fit for a king. I hope. Diane goes to help her while the rest of us start putting away the items we brought back.

I make it into the house and I am bombarded by Riley. He is so happy to see me he is peeing all over himself. I pick him up and love on him so he will settle down. Not sure why, as he did the same thing when Bobby came in. He is excited to see us. Gabby says he has been howling the whole time we have been gone. Poor them. I know how he howls.

“Daddy, a man came by looking for you while y’all were gone. He said he needs help with some marauders around his area. He said he lives in Jackson, Mississippi and wants to know if you can help. He left me a card with his address and name.” Brittany tells Marc.

Marc takes the card from Brittany and reads it.

“What do y’all think?” Marc asks us.

“Well, I think we should help if possible since we just went through the shit we did getting kidnapped. These dumb ass people need to learn that just because we are in an apocalypse doesn’t mean you act like a band of idiots. I do think we need to only have three of us go this time. We still need to work on stuff around here and we can’t leave our home unsecured.” I tell Marc.

“So who will go?” Marc asks.

“I’ll go.” I say.

“Me too.” Bobby says.

“I think we should rest a couple of days before we head out. That will give us time to sort through all this stuff we got and rest some. We also need to pack up some supplies.” I say.

“I will pack that for y’all.” Diane says.

I go to take a shower. And it feels like heaven. I stay in an extra-long time. When I get out, Riley is waiting for me. He sees Bobby getting clothes together and knows we are going somewhere. I dry off and put my clothes on, pick up Riley and head out to where Bobby is.

“What are you doing?” I ask him.

“Just getting some things together. Making sure we got what we need.” He says.

“Ok. I will pack some things in the morning. Go to bed, get some rest.” I tell him.

I go back in to talk to Diane for a minute.

“Are you still cooking?” I ask.

“Yeah, so I don’t have to tomorrow. I’m going to rearrange the storage building tomorrow, so everything will fit and be on a shelf. It’s getting full in there now.” She says.

“I hope this trip goes better than the last two.” I tell her.

“Me too.” She says.

Marc comes in and sits Tammy down and puts her in charge of… security?

He tells her she needs to make a rotation for everyone to take turns being on watch. All day, every day.

Make sure everyone has a rifle with them and a walkie-talkie too so they can communicate.

He said he is going to set up the ham radio again and see if we can use that while we are on the road to check in with them.

He puts Becky in charge of those communication devices and tells her to have someone on them always just in case.

I tell Becky that we will set up a call schedule so we can connect daily and have Trey walk the fence daily to check it from the inside. We will have it back up before we leave.

“How long will y’all be gone this time?” Becky asks Marc.

“Not sure and that’s hard to answer since we don’t know the conditions that way or what we may run into. I hope no more than a week, but that isn’t a guarantee.” Marc tells her.

I go to bed. Well, I fell into bed. Bobby was snoring soundly and Riley was beside Bobby snoring not so soundly with his feet up in the air laid out on his back. He is rotten. I lie down and pass out as soon as I hit the sheets.

The next morning Bobby is up and gone when I wake and Riley is sitting there staring at me again. So I get up to let him out and Diane and Kelley are cooking breakfast. Well, Kelley is cooking lunch.

“What are you cooking now?” I ask Kelley.

“Sancocho. It’s a stew with five different meats and a lot of vegetables and………

I cut her off.

“I know. It’s a Dominican dish. I ate it when I was in the Dominican Republic. They put goat in theirs’s. Does, or did, Marc have a goat?” I ask her.

“Well, I didn’t kill one if he does, or did, if that’s what you are asking.” She says.

“I have to keep a check on you. We never know what you may come up with. But, Sancocho is great.” I tell her.

I start taking things out to the truck. Bobby has most of ours out there. There are a few things left to take. Marc has his stuff loaded.

“Do you want to take the 50 cal?” Marc asks me.

“I don’t think so. If something happens and we find trouble, I don’t want anyone to take it. I am going to take the grenades and my flash grenades though.” I tell him.

Are you taking the grenade launcher?” I ask him.

“Yeah.” He answers back.

Bobby has some grenades and knives placed in the cab of the truck on the back seat so we can reach them.

Riley is following me all over. He knows I am leaving at this point.

We eat breakfast and get started on the “see you later” and “be careful” lines. We hug one another and promise we will be careful and call every day on the radio. I hug and kiss Riley. Yes, he is my baby, and I hand him back to Diane.

“Wish us luck and safety.” I tell everyone.

They all nod.

And we are off.

I hope we don’t have as much trouble on this trip as the others, but you never know. We just have to be careful and watch our backs. You can’t trust people now. You at least know what the zombies want, but you never know what others out on the roads may want. Most are up to no good. And I just hope we can avoid those this time around.

Marc and I are on our way to Jackson, Mississippi. There is so much destruction. Vehicles are everywhere. We haven’t run into any trouble yet, but we are still on the lookout for some.

“What is that up ahead?” Marc asks.

“Hell, I can’t tell yet.” I say.

“It looks like a semi-truck on fire. Don’t get close it may blow.” I tell Marc.

As we get closer, we can see it is exactly that, a semi-truck burning.

“Get your guns, grenades and whatever else we have ready.” I tell Marc.

“I don’t see anyone around.” He says.

“That doesn’t mean they aren’t.” I tell him.

Then we hear…” Get out of the vehicle with your hands up”

Are you fucking kidding me? Again? What are we, magnets for shit happens?

Again, we hear, get out of the vehicle.

“What are we going to do now?” I ask.

“Damn, can we get a break on occasion?” Marc asks.

“Apparently not.” I reply.

Southern Blood

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events and incidences are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Text copyright © 2015 Ann Riley

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used, reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Self-published by Amazon Publishing.

Cover design by Ann Riley.

Copyright © 2015 Ann Riley

All rights reserved.

The world we live in now is one where you have to fight or die. There are no exceptions. If it isn't zombies trying to make a snack out of you, there are people who try to take what you have because they are lazy. The world may never be the same again. I’m thinking it won't. How could it be? We have lost 75% or more of the human population. Since there are no communications, that number doesn't even include the whole world. No one knows how it is in other countries. We have always said the government was incompetent, well they finally proved it with the zombie outbreak.

I sit and think about this new world we live in. Will things ever go back to normal? Will they find a cure for this? Will we be able to rebuild? I don't know. But I know we have to continue to try and not give up.

I feel too old for this. I am 48 years old now. Isn't this the time we should be planning for retirements and stuff? I should be tending to my house plants, my little Riley and working. Reading on my Kindle and watching favorite TV series like Game of Thrones, WWE Wrestling and The Walking Dead. Yeah, ironic isn't it. Now we can see the walking dead up close and personal everyday. I guess we have to get used to the fact we may never be able to do the simple and enjoyable things again.

I miss working. That is insane, I know, but I miss my job. I was a supervisor for a major satellite company, I'll let you fill in which one you think it was.

I still have family in other states that I haven't had any contact with since this started. My husband has family we need to find.

Besides the zombies, we have to be aware of the surrounding survivors. You can never tell if they are bad people or not. It's amazing how people that had the thin line of restraints totally lost those in an apocalypse. Don't get me wrong, the apocalypse hasn't changed anyone from good to bad. If you were good before it, you will probably still be good during and after. But those who were at the brink of turning on society have used the apocalypse to do just that. They use it as an excuse because there are no consequences for actions now. They steal from those of us who are trying to make a decent, safe life.

Surviving has become the top item on your to do list these days. There is no more going to the bank, grocery store, work, shopping, paying bills or any of the mundane stuff we did each day. We simply try to survive each day now. Yes, we have a pretty nice place that we have fortified to keep the dead out, but still, you can never be relaxed and comfortable. You always have to have someone on watch to stay safe.

I have always been one who could get things to work. If it didn't, I would think of a way to make it work. My daddy was a mechanic who could work on and fix anything so I guess I picked that up from him. I use my knowledge and sense of surviving, oh, and common sense, you can't not have that if you are trying to make it these days. My nephew Marc is the same way. He is a hunter, and an all-around handy man who can make anything work.

I grew up with my nieces and nephews. Being sixteen years younger than my sister, she took on the task of helping mom raise me. Her oldest child, Kelley is a couple years younger than me. So we all were raised feeling like we were siblings instead of an aunt and nieces and nephews.

When this first hit, I knew the best place to go would be my sister’s as Marc lives close and I knew he would be getting things ready for defending. Marc is a jack of all trades. So he was the one I knew would have his shit together when the zombies came. He says he is too old for this shit too. He is 44 and said he didn't see his golden years being spent killing zombies.

We are trying to help people. We are trying to do the right thing. But marauding idiots make it hard. I guess if you had no morals before zombies, then you had no chance of gaining any after.

The truck hits a bump in the road and I come back to my senses. We have been driving for about three hours now. My rear end is asleep and now I'm squirming.

“What is wrong with you? Be still.” Marc tells me.

“How can you not have an ass ache? Do you have padding back there?” I ask.

“I'm looking for somewhere to stop for a minute.” Marc says.

“Thank you much.” I say to Marc.

And stick my tongue out at him when he isn’t looking. Hey, we have to have some form of entertainment.

Marc sees a Chevron store and pulls in. The window in the door is broken which tells us it has been ransacked probably and it has a zombie or two in it. Lovely.

We get out and stretch. Rifles slung over our shoulders, we are on alert. The last thing we need is to get caught unaware.

I walk over to the door and look in. There is still some stuff left in the store so I go in and grab a couple of bags and fill them with chips, jerky and a few candy bars. I head to the Pepsis and grab what's there. I look to see where Marc is, and it looks like he is watching me and checking out the storage room in the store. So I walk over to the cooler and pull out a case of Bud Light. Yep, nectar of the Gods and I'm getting some.

“You got everything?” Marc asks me.

“Cigarettes. Grab some.” I tell him.

I walk back to the truck and take my bags and put them in the box in the back Marc put in to hold our food and drinks.

“We ready?” Marc asks.

“Was there not any gas?” I ask.

Marc shakes his head no.

“So I guess we are ready.” I tell him.

We get ready to leave and coming from behind the store are a couple of zombies looking for a meal. Well, we just had to be so lucky.

I take an aim and drill both of them in the head.

“Let's go.” I say.

We get back on the road and to keep my mind from wandering I pull the map out and see how much longer we have. A few more hours.

I glance at Marc. He is looking out to his left at something.

“What is it?” I ask him.

“Don't know. It looks like something on fire, but it's hard to tell.” He says.

“Yeah. It looks like flames coming off something.” I say.

I start looking. I slide through the back and tell Marc to stop. I stand up in the truck bed and can see something big, like a big truck, house or something on fire. It's so far away, I can't get a good view.

“It's definitely a car, house or something.” I tell him.

“Keep going. We don't know what is going on and who, if anyone, is out there.” I say.

So we continue on our way. We enter a little town called Durant. There isn't much here. Well, there wasn't much before the zombies and now, after, there sure isn't. Stores have been ransacked, a few buildings are on fire and there are zombies ambling around. They turn their attention to us. Oh goody, followers now.

“We need to try to find some gas somewhere since that last store didn’t have any.” Marc says.

“Well, that may be a little tricky.” I tell him.

Marc laughs.

I look around for a store that is zombie free and have no luck. I get back into the bed of the truck and tell Marc to drive slow but fast enough to where we can't be car jacked by zombies.

We finally come to a store that seems to be free of the deaders. I tell Marc to pull in and I keep a watch.

He gets out and starts trying to get gas. I pull out the manual pump we brought and through it down to Marc and he gets the in ground tank open.

And here come the amblers. I start picking them off one by one. Do I feel bad for killing them? Sure I do. But would I rather kill them or leave them to be in the form they are now? I wouldn't want to be left to crave human flesh and roam in search of it. So I keep that in mind when we have to kill them.

Marc gets the gas started.

“Want me to throw one of my famous Molotov cocktails?” I ask him.

“NO!” Marc yells.

I think I should be offended at that.

We finish with the gas and start loading back up. There are a few zombies left, but mostly they are far enough away so that they aren't a concern to us right now.

We head out the drive to get back on the highway leaving our friends behind.

We leave out of Durant city limits and Marc seems to floor the truck.

“Do you really have to drive this fast?” I ask him.

He ignores me.

I turn to look back in front of us and see something, a glint maybe, on the right side of the highway in the grass that just happens to be about waist high now. I keep staring in front. Before I can yell at Marc to stop, a spike strip flies across our lane. And we run over it.

“Damn, hold on.” Marc yells.

We are weaving all over and holding on for our life now. Hitting a spike strip at 80 miles per hour is not on my list of entertainment items.

We continue our skid sideways, then the truck flips over and over. It seems like we flip a hundred times, but finally we come to a stop, upside down in the ditch with the high grass. And darkness takes me.

I like I am floating in a tunnel. I can't see anyone or anything around, but it's very colorful and bright. Finally, I lose the floating feeling and look down to see my boots are covered in lush, green grass. I look around and it is utterly beautiful here. Flowers, all colors. Birds, animals walking around. A beautiful blue sky. Where am I? I have a feeling of being in a place I never want to leave.

I stand there and gaze at the beauty, then I feel someone watching me. You know that feeling you get when someone is watching, but you can't see them. I look out in front of me and see a figure, shrouded in a fog, is the only way I can describe it. It comes closer and I can see it's a woman.

“Hey Tracie Ann.” The figure says.

I keep looking and tears fill my eyes. There is only one person who ever called me by my whole name.

“Momma, is that you?” I ask.

“Yes, it is.” She says.

I start a full on crying spell now. My momma was the most important thing in my life and she passed away when I was 25.

“Oh momma. I miss you so much. I have always wanted to see you again. You don't know how much pain I felt when you left us.” I tell her through the tears.

“I know and I miss you too. I miss all of you. But see how beautiful it is here? I am in no pain anymore. I am happy here.” She says.

“Where am I?” I ask her.

“You are in the garden. Or, what most call the gateway. And you shouldn't be here. It's not time yet.” Momma says.

“Why momma? I want to stay here with you. I don't want to leave.” I tell her.

“I'm sorry baby. It isn't time. You still have things to do at home. One day, we all will be together again. Until that day, you have to finish your life out and continue to do good and take care of everyone.” She says.

“Is daddy here with you too?” I ask.

“He is.” She says.

“My heart was ripped out when I lost you. I still think of you all the time and miss you momma.” I tell her.

“I know baby.” She says.

“So why did I come here? Am I dead? Did we die in the accident we just had?” I ask her.

“No, not dead. But you have to be careful. There are people out there to hurt you. And you have to take care of yourself and my grandson. He has grown into a very good man. And your husband is a good man. I wish I could have met him.” She says.

I can't see anything at this point, but tears.

“Go back now baby. Go back and survive this and live out the rest of your life. Get everyone to safety. Take care of your sister and my grands and great great grands. They need you. Go on now.” She says.

“Ok, I love you momma.” I tell her.

“I love you too Tracie Ann. Always.” She says.

And she's gone.

I try to open my eyes and it's really hard. They feel glued shut. I finally keep trying and get one open. I am hanging upside down by the seat belt. How am I going to get out of this? I wipe across my eyes and face and see why they are glued shut. I have blood on my hand. Which means I have a wound somewhere. I feel around for the seat belt latch and find it. I press the release button and fall. I wasn't prepared for that. I sit on the inside of the cab for a minute to try to get my balance back. I look over at where Marc was in the driver’s seat and he isn't there. Where is he?

I lay down on my belly and start crawling out of the truck. Oh the pain. My chin is killing me so I feel of it and find a big gash. That's where the blood came from. When I was upside down it run down into my eyes. And it hurts. Damn it hurts.