zombiez

I looked over at Trip who gazed out the window, probably thinking the same thing I was. He looked calm, and contemplative, but I remembered all the times he’d seemed silly to me, being so paranoid about the zombies. All the times he’d told me about how when he was older he was going to build a house that he could live in and not worry about zombies. It would have so many lines of defense the zombies wouldn’t be able to get to him. He’d said I could stay with him, and so could my family. And how those times in the dead of night, when he’d call me scared to death. He’d ask me if it really was real, or if zombies were fake. He would tell me how scared he was, how he couldn’t breathe right, how his heart was jumping out of his chest. Once he was so tired he couldn’t think straight, but he was so scared he couldn’t sleep. I went over to his house that night, and he’d started to cry. I knew he often thought he was going insane because of his fear of these zombies that no one believed in. He’d told his dad, who hadn’t taken him seriously at all, making jokes about it. He’d told me, and through me, my family. And he’d told one other person, who’d laughed in his face and told everyone. That guy had spread it through the school so fast kids made fun of him later that day, and they never quite forgot. I wondered what he was thinking. How scared he really was.
I knew how scared I was. I started to think about my mom. My brother. I picked up a Resident Evil, starting to read and stopping thinking. I was pretty sure Trip couldn’t, and I felt sorry for him, but I just wanted to be away, so I kept on reading.
TRIP
We spent around another week, before we started running out of supplies. We had enough water, but the food was running out. It was dinnertime, day 13. 13. Always thought it was unlucky. I rationed out our food. We were eating no bake brownies, soup, and Old Ben’s Beans and Rice.
Zombies had come and gone over the last week, none of them had bothered beyond ‘looking’ for an entrance wherever they happened to be. They didn’t find one and they left. It was pretty hot and humid outside, but they hadn’t started majorly deteriorating yet. I’d kept contact with the lady from Kaltic, she said the police had a constant watch for zombies, but they’d only seen three, all of which were killed right away and properly disposed of. The police knew to watch for Sarah, my father, and I.
I took out my earplugs; Dad and Sarah followed my lead. “Guys, this is bad. We’re tight on food. We’re going to have to make a plan. Run, or try to get supplies and come back. Sarah has three bikes-“ I started, but Sarah cut me off.
“Two. One is in my mom’s car, she went biking the day before they left.” She was frowning, so was my dad.
I blinked, and rubbed my temples, “What?… Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
“I didn’t know we were going to leave, I thought we were staying here… I didn’t know, it never occurred to me… I’m sorry.” She replied.
My dad took on a determined look that I didn’t like, “Kids, it’s obvious what has to be done here. One of us has to go downstairs, un-barricade one of the exits, and go to our house. There we’d get food, and come back.” He fingered the gun at his side, “This person will obviously attract zombies, and have to lure them away after bringing the supplies back. It’s going to be me.”
I wasn’t about to let that happen, “No dad. No, you can’t.” I said, shaking my head.
“Then who’s going to? You? No, Sarah needs you. You know what to do. I told you, the oldest goes first. I’m going to go tomorrow, since night has already come. I’ll bring my backpacking backpack; I know how to work it and how to run with it. If I run, the zombies won’t be able to catch me. They probably won’t even make it back to the house. I’ll take the first watch, we’ll only have two tonight. Get some sleep. No, Trip, don’t try to dissuade me. I’m the father, and you will listen.”
Sarah hugged him, teary, and went to get ready for bed.
“You won’t be gone in the morning, will you?” I asked.
“No, I’ll be there.” He replied, beginning to clean the dishes.
“Ok. I’m going to pretend you’re back at home playing videogames and that I’m sleeping over at Sarah’s because we have a science project due tomorrow. I’ll wake up, and go to school with her, and when we get back, I’ll come home, and you’ll be there, playing again. You’ll be owning everybody, and I’ll wish I was as good as you, like I always do.” I went to Sarah’s room, and immediately went to bed, without putting my plugs back in.
SARAH
Mr. Bastian woke me up in the middle of the night, he took out my earplugs, “Sarah, would you please take this watch? All you have to do is come and tell us if a zombie tries to get in the house.”
I sat up carefully, so as not to wake Trip, “Of course Mr. Bastian, anything for you.” I took my gun and my sword, to feel safe. I watched Mr. Bastian brush his teeth and wash his face with soap flakes and a little water like he always did (we’d run out of face cloths pretty quickly), and this time he got into the bed where I once was, instead of where Trip once was. He didn’t put his plugs in; I figured he didn’t need them anymore. He put his hand on Trip, who snuggled closer to his dad.
“Mmmm, bad….mrmrm…” Trip mumbled to Mr. Bastian.
“Ssh, it’s ok. I’m here.” Mr. Bastian said to Trip. Trip settled back into sleep easily, as if he wasn’t ever even half awake. It reminded me of when I was little and I would sleep with my mom when I had nightmares. Trip looked like a child, and Mr. Bastian looked contented to be helping his son.
I tiptoed out of my room and sat in my mom’s. After all this time, we hadn’t been in it very much, and it still smelled like her. Memories I couldn’t avoid rushed into my mind, and I almost started to cry. But I had a mission to Mr. Bastian and Trip, and I kept the most alert watch I could, vowing to deal with anything coolly, and by myself.
Morning came without a problem. Trip woke first, and came to see me, especially quiet, but unusually affectionate. He immediately hugged me and buried his head in my shoulder. After a minute or two he gave me my plugs and went to find something to eat and a bit of water in Rob’s room. Mr. Bastian hadn’t woken up yet and we sat for a while after breakfast, just thinking. Our thoughts bounced off the emotionless walls and came back more than once.
He eventually did, later in the day, around 1 or so. He ate heartily, brushed his teeth, washed good, changed his clothes, surveyed his gun and his very sharp, very large kitchen knife, and he was ready to leave.
Trip and I took out our earplugs to say goodbye. I embraced Mr. Bastian tightly, “I am so grateful. You’ve always been kind to me. You did so wonderful, raising Trip. I can’t believe you’d do this for us.” I told him.
TRIP
“You’re a great kid Sarah.” Dad told her.
I hugged him so tightly, as if I could hug him and he wouldn’t leave. I memorized on the spot, how he felt, and sounded, and smelled. “I love you dad.” They were the only words I could squeak out.
“I love you too. More than anything.” He practically peeled me off of him, and he took the hammer he’d gotten and put next to the stairs. He stealthily jumped down, and started to move things. Sarah couldn’t watch, she went back to her room, but I felt as if it were a silent video I couldn’t rip my eyes from. I hadn’t put my earplugs back in, and I wouldn’t now. I felt it would be disgraceful, disrespectful.
He finally got all the boards off, and had pushed the bookcase aside. He turned and waved, and left. Sarah came out when he opened the door. I sat at the edge of the stairs and waited. Sarah tried to comfort me, by putting her arms around me, but I couldn’t find a reason to feel comforted.
We were trapped, and running out of food. We’d run out again. Which meant, since my house was the last place we could get food from, we’d have to go on the run. I didn’t know how long it would take, but I knew we would need to go. Right through the infestations and infected area. My dad was sacrificing himself so we could live. What was there to be ok about? We might not even survive, even after my dad brought us food. Assuming he could make it back.
SARAH
We’d sat for a while, when Mr. Bastian finally came back. He was huffing and puffing, his face was red. The backpack he was wearing looked heavy. He quickly unstrapped it and threw it up to us.
“Alright kids, stay alive, and have some fun. Try not to worry too much. Oh, don’t expect this gun back. Love you.” He turned and ran, slamming the door behind him. At first he made noise as he ran away, but gradually he quieted. Eventually we heard a few gunshots, but we never heard a scream. I’d always remember Mr. Bastian as one of the bravest men I’d ever met.
I pulled Trip into my room, very unnerved. He was silent and looked very white, his eyes had that far away look.
“We need an Alice.” My breath shaky I closed the door, not knowing what to do next.
“You still don’t get it do you? We may be the last two humans in this city! We’re more than ‘royally screwed’!  Is this all a game for you? A movie? A book? Umbrella Corp isn’t real! There is no way to stop the virus!  We aren’t the S.T.A.R.S.! We aren’t trained, these zombies aren’t smart, there aren’t any zombie dogs, but the zombies; they ARE hungry. And most importantly, we’re alone! All alone! There is NO ALICE!”
His sudden outburst startled me at first, but when his words finally reached my mind they echoed and pounded. I started to sob, to cry. My hope was shattered. I didn’t feel like I even had Trip anymore. I was just a lonely soul surrounded by impossibilities and no way out.
“Cry quieter, they’ll hear you and come.” Trip cocked his gun and watched the front door, listening, but nothing came.
TRIP
As the rest of the day drew on, Sarah and I put our earplugs back in. Silence no longer drifted between us. Instead it filled all the space around us to the bursting point and wrapped us in a suffocating blanket. Almost immediately I’d begun to feel bad for what I said, but I didn’t really know how to apologize. What would I say, ‘Sorry I snapped at you I’m just going through the hardest time and I don’t really know how to deal with my grief and I’m really worried about you and I’m struggling with my fear every moment of every day, and I’m just trying really hard not to show it?’
And then the thought occurred, couldn’t I really just say that? I had no problem being blunt with her about her mom earlier, but now I was having trouble being honest. Night fell, and we decided not to have a watch for tonight, a stupid decision, but we were both tired.
I started getting very paranoid, like I usually did. I started hearing things, even though my plugs were in. I started imagining things moving in the darkness of the room. And I started to think about all the zombies, and my dad, and Sarah’s family, and everything that had happened. I was shaking uncontrollably, and I started that silent type of cry that you really don’t want to happen, but you have so much inside you really can’t help it. I wanted everything to be over so bad I even briefly considered using Sarah’s sleeping pills to get me out of this mess for good… but I couldn’t leave her here, and it would be an insult to my father.
SARAH
Trip had started shaking, and I could just tell he was crying too. At first I could only taste the bitterness that welled up inside me. I’d simmered in my anger the whole day. But I knew he was just lost at heart, and I got over myself. I took out my plugs and turned over.
I leaned over Trip, and slid the plug out of his ear, “Come on Trip, talk to me.” I lay back down.
He turned over to look at me, but stayed silent. I took the plug out of his other ear as well. He took a few deep breaths, he started to talk a few times, but his breath was shaky. He broke down and cried, trying violently to stay silent. I pulled him to me, and held his head to my shoulder. “Sorry…sorry I snapped at you. sob I’m just going through the hardest time and I don’t really sniffle know how to deal with my grief and hiccup I’m really worried about you and I’m struggling with my fear… my fear... every moment, and I’m just trying really hard not to show it.”
“I should have been more understanding. I should have believed you. I’m so sorry. I wish I could make it all go away. But we’re together, and we’re ok for now.” I whispered to him. He started calming down.
“We should have left the first day, but we can go tomorrow. Zombies aren’t fast so they shouldn’t be able to catch us if we don’t stop. Kaltic is pretty far but… if we just don’t stop, we should be able to make it there ok. Of course we’ll get really tired and we might have to bike at night, but… I think we can get there… Oh god I’m so scared.” He quieted down, and finally his breathing settled, except for the occasional hiccup.
“Aw Trip… it’s not your fault.” I said. He scooted a little away and looked at me.
“Really? And you’re not mad at me anymore?” his blue eyes looked straight through me, even in the darkness.
“Really. How could I be mad at you Trip? I love you.” The words had just slipped right out of my mouth before I realized I’d said them.
“Love you too, Sarah.” Trip said. He promptly put his plugs back in and went back to sleep.
There was no question about it, we’d both been totally serious and not in ‘brother sister yay!’ way. Which was kind of scary. It would seem that extreme situations push people closer together.
TRIP
I woke up in the morning with a chill in my heart. I knew we’d be leaving today. I’d have to shoot zombies while biking, and probably shaking. I’d have to bike for more than a day straight. And I’d have to watch out for Sarah.
I looked over at her, remembering last night. I sighed, and ruffled my hair. Getting up, I accidentally wakened Sarah.
She yawned and stretched, like always. I took my plugs out, and placed them in the trash. Not that I would ever return, nor would the zombies care about cleanliness. But I wouldn’t need them again, one way or another. Half the worst part about fear is the constant dread. Nothing’s worse than the feeling of impending doom, and the wait for it to come down upon you.
I brushed my teeth and my hair, and I started putting a bit of food in my small backpack. I grabbed my gun, and Sarah’s gun, and set them aside, I made sure the silencers were firmly attached and that nothing looked like it would malfunction. I packed two more that we’d had on the very top of the pack, and I filled two bottles with water.
Sarah and I ate like kings, compared to how we’d been eating when we started. We ate whatever we wanted other than meat, my dad had brought home more than enough.
We showered and clothed and got ready to go. I looked at us in the mirror as I pulled on my shirt and smoothed my hair back into place.
“Sarah, you were serious, right?”
She looked at me, uncertain, “Yeah, why?”
“You know we might not make it out, right?” I left the room, and came back.
“Of course I know, Trip. What’s on your mind?” I could see gears working in her head.
“Um, just in case we don’t… if we do… do you think, you might want to...I dunno, get married or something?” I looked at my feet, and held out her mother’s wedding ring. We’d seen it and talked about why she must’ve left it. Sarah said her mother usually took it off when she went biking; it rubbed against the handlebars and hurt Mrs. Stan.
She looked at me for a moment, “You don’t think that’s going a little fast?”
“Well...I dunno, maybe it was a bad idea...I just had this thought that maybe we should ...I dunno,” I laughed, “Live what we could have? Even if it was only for a minute?” I shook my head.
She took the ring from my hand and kissed it before putting it on her finger, “No, I think you’re right. Confessions also then? We have enough time since we’re going to have to ride through night anyway.”
SARAH
We wrote one last message to the outside world, before putting the laptop in Trip’s pack and dropping down to the first floor.
‘We hope you read this, someone. We’re going to try to reach Kaltic, by bike. We won’t stop. Help didn’t come, but we hoped and didn’t expect. Our things won’t matter to anyone; no one cares if we write a will. My dad, and my foster father by marriage, is gone. Our families, our immediate family, at least, are gone. No one would die of grief if we didn’t make it. But we’ll try. We’ve outlined out route for you, in the last post.  We won’t ask for your prayers. We’re already praying we make it. We might. We might not. Don’t be alarmed if you don’t hear from us again. Just know. Take our story as a warning. In the face of death, you’ll see what life really means. Peace be with you.
-Trip and Sarah Bastian’
I vaguely remembered the recent movie Cloverfield…how similar it would have felt. Trip opened the house-garage door first, holding his gun at the ready. Nothing moved, and the garage door wasn’t the least bit open.
“Alright, you know where we’re going, right? I showed you already…we’re gonna go out the front door, and bike from there. Here’s an extra clip...just in case. I’ve got two more guns, also with silencers in the top of the backpack. Zombies are slow anyways, so they can’t catch us on the bikes, they can’t even run, or jog. The only problem is that we can’t actually stop…otherwise they might catch up. Um I just found these things of lighter fluid and gas, so I am definitely going to attach them to my bike and then open them a little so they gradually spill out, and then I’m going to light the end…yeah. I have a lighter right here… ” He took a deep breath, I could see him trying hard not to hyperventilate like he’d been when we first saw the two zombies outside, “Ready?”
We walked towards the front door, wheeling the bikes, “Are you serious? Trip…”
“I know, I was asking myself more than you…rhetorical question anyways...” he murmured under his breath.
I could see Trip freeze as he touched the doorknob, but the mechanization of actually opening the door was a reflex, and he continued. When he did open the door, the silence we’d talked about before engulfed me, forcing emptiness down my throat and choking me as if I was underwater, instead of under a heavy soundless air.
Trip and I didn’t see any zombies at first. I thought I could hear some shuffling around, but most of the zombies near our place had come and gone within a day. We lived on the outskirts of town, and there weren’t any major businesses around, so we were mostly riding past houses. When we finally started getting to wider roads, we started to see more zombies.
Soon we were biking past businesses with large glass windows. The carnage was much more apparent. Windows were broken, and items from the stores littered the sidewalk. I could see where fires had burned away at buildings- and hopefully zombies. I only saw dried blood around the remnants of bodies- picked clean by the zombies. Most of the remains were scattered, and if zombies had tried to fight each other for the food, but some were left in piles, as if the zombies had been too hungry to even move from the spot. In reality, I knew the wind and the shuffling zombies had moved the remains of the unfortunate people.
But really, were they more fortunate than us? They had horrible last moments, but their lives were over, they didn’t have to continue living in a city of undead. Trip and I wouldn’t either. We would get out alive, or die trying.
TRIP
Everything was as I predicted. The zombies, generated mostly from the hospital, had spread mostly from there. As we got closer to the hospital the concentration of zombies increased.
As I pedaled fast down the road, I tried to figure out the best way to hold my gun and my handlebars. I was slightly panicking, and my hands were beginning to sweat. Just as I was telling myself to get a grip and cool down, I rounded a corner and stared my enemy in the face. Not far ahead was a group of crouching zombies. I could hear the moan and groan and the slop of the feasting monsters. I was amazed that someone else had lasted as long as we had, and wondered if they’d tried the same thing. I slowed my bike and stopped. I aimed as well as I could towards the hovering zombies, who hadn’t yet noticed me. I wanted to bike around them, but there were too many for two people to safely bike around.
I fired one shot as Sarah stopped behind me. The zombies looked up. I tried to keep my senses open, where there’s one, there’s more. It was likely that most of the zombies in the area were here eating, but my two logics conflicted and I just tried to keep my reactions ready.
In search of the newest meal, the zombies stood up and started shuffling our way. Wishing my gun amounted to a hand cannon I shot one bullet after another. Using the strategy from the guide, I created a circle in my mind, and any zombies that entered the circle, I shot.
Seven zombies, one shot in the back, but he was still coming. I aimed for that one, trying to get him out of the game. My first shot missed him, my second shot hit close enough to my mark to kill him.
Zombies two and three were closing in at about the same rate, and I couldn’t decide which to shoot first. Left, right, left right, my magnum swept back and forth as if of its own accord.
I heard four rapid shots, and zombie number three fell to the ground. Without having to waste time trying to decide which one to shoot, I quickly took out zombie two. The impact of the bullet flung the zombie back. For a split second I thought I recognized the man, but I forgot his face as I focused on the next decomposing creature of the night.
Sarah was almost wildly shooting at the zombies. But, while she probably wasn’t killing the creatures, she was knocking them down, giving us enough time to go. Zombies five and seven were left. I, getting better, took them out with two shots each. I reloaded as quickly as possible, nodding to Sarah, who did also. We got on our bikes and pedaled, trying to escape the ghastly wail, which was only attracting more zombies.
SARAH
My heart raced as we’d biked past the zombies, I could see some of them already getting up. As we rode on, I kept seeing more zombies, but we didn’t really ever have to stop, because they were spread out enough that we could just bike by them.
I could tell we were nearing the hospital, because the zombies were becoming more frequent. Every once in a while Trip would stop and shoot a few, with me at his side, but eventually, he started shooting them from his bike. Every Thursday at the range came in handy from him in the long run. I couldn’t even hold the gun still without both my hands. Of course, I still had my small sword, but I figured if a zombie were that close to me, Trip would shoot it.
“Hey! Hey, like, you guys! Sarah? Skip?!” Trip and I stopped abruptly as the front door to a two story, white house broke open and a girl I’d known as Lisa burst out. Trip was immediately on edge. The noise would attract zombies.
Lisa ran over to us, “O M G, you’re like, alive? No way. I’ll like, get my bike, and like, come with you! You wouldn’t believe, yesterday one of those freaky things came in and started trying to like, eat me, and I like, totally ran upstairs and locked the door and it didn’t come and it like left or something I guess. See, look, I totally got bit, but like, I’m alive!” she showed us the bite mark on her wrist, “Ok, so like, brb.”
“Lisa, We’re heading over to the police station to get some help, so, why don’t you go back upstairs and lock the door, and wait for us? We’ll be faster that way, and we can come get you.” Trip told her, gesturing back to the house. A zombie shuffled over our way. He shot it without hesitation. Lisa looked scared.
“Like…wait here?” she whispered.
“Yes Lisa, we’ll be right back, ok? All you have to do is wait where the zombies can’t get you. You won’t have to shoot them or worry about them or anything, ok?’
She nodded, “Like, ok. You are like the expert. Like, hurry back, ok?” She hugged each of us and ran back inside. Trip shook his head and started to bike again.
TRIP
“So when are we coming back for her? I thought we were biking to Kaltic?” Sarah asked me. I frowned. She was still as naive about this as when we started.
“We’re not. We can’t. She’s been bitten.” I looked back at her, to see her reaction, “We’re- Agh!” In one swift moment I’d rammed into a metal mailbox and fell of my bike. “Shit. It’s broken. The wheel…shit.”
Sarah stopped, expressing her sympathy, but she didn’t speak. I knew she was mad. I looked over my bike. The front wheel was bent, and there was no question, I wouldn’t be riding it anymore. I looked at Sarah’s bike. It had actually been Rob’s, since she’d fit better on the smaller bike than I had. It was mostly black, with some red, and it had those pegs on the back wheel for tricks.
I could hear a zombie moan. “Sarah, the pegs.”
She crossed her arms, “No.”
“Sarah the zombies are coming! This is no time for-“
“Fine!” she snapped. I stepped away from the pool of lighter fluid and took the lighter out of my pocket.
‘Fvwhoosh’ one second and the fire flared up in a beautiful glow. I noticed it was getting late. The fire started traveling along the little line of lighter fluid and gasoline, and I was surprised it had lasted this long. In the distance I could see other things catching fire. I wished with all my heart that the entire city and the forest went down in flames.
Sarah and I started to head out, and this time, I couldn’t shoot from the bike. I was too busy balancing on those bars without shoving Sarah off course.
“We’re still biking to Kaltic, so same plan as before. And anyway, I’m sorry, all right? But she couldn’t come. You saw the bite. It was purple and red and green and yellow and brown… it not only looked gross but it was! The little veins that spread out...” I shuddered, “She’s infected, and she’ll turn into a zombie before tomorrow. I’m surprised she hadn’t turned yet. I only told her we were going to the police station so she wouldn’t find us if she tried to come after us. I could’ve told her we’d be going to the school, but somehow I didn’t think she’d buy that.”
“Hmph.” She replied, making a wide turn around a zombie.
“Try not to make your turns so wide, a zombie could come from the other direction… I can’t keep up with her anyway; she’s not…not…very smart. And she’s unarmed. At least she’ll live her last moments with hope, right?” Sarah still wouldn’t answer, and I was starting to feel like a jerk. What was I supposed to do? Let her come with us and have her turn and try to eat us? Shoot her right there? I choose the lesser of the evils, and I had done what I thought I needed to do to keep us safe. I felt bad for Lisa, but her doom had been spelled out d-e-a-d when the zombie had bitten her, which was probably the one I’d shot when we stopped to talk to her. Which we shouldn’t have anyway, it cost us time and allowed the zombies more time to catch up to us.
SARAH
Another dead to mourn for. Along with Lisa, I realized pretty much everyone I’d known in life was gone. Another downer. But I really couldn’t believe Trip had lied to her. And it was harder to pedal with him on the back. The bike really wasn’t made for two people.
I started seeing road signs and billboards for the hospital, and we started to have to stop every minute or two to take out the zombies. I would stop, Trip would shoot. One to two bullets for each. Then I would continue. I wasn’t a very good shot, but he was, and we needed to conserve ammunition or whatever, he was already on his last clip for his trusty .357 magnum. Whatever kind of gun that was, the name really didn’t mean anything to me. All I knew was that it killed zombies and that he was used to it.
As we came nearer the hospital I could feel trip start to shake, but after what he’d done to Lisa, I let him quake right down to his broken soul. And suddenly, I had a great idea.
“Sarah! What the-?” he patted my shoulder in a desperate attempt to get my attention, like he didn’t already have it, “What are you doing? This is the hospital?!?!?!?!?! Sarah, no! What? Sarah!”
I shrugged his hand off, and he eyed all the zombies around us. They’d all started ambling our direction already, he didn’t have enough bullets for all of them, even with his two extra guns.
I wasn’t trying to scare him, and I didn’t plan to leave him, “Trip, there’s an extra bike in my mom’s car. She told me she’d be parking close to the back because she feelt elderly people and sick people should get the best spots. It’s inside so we’ll have to break in, but maybe the alarm will distract the zombies.” I explained.
“WHAT?! WE DON”T NEED ANOTHER BIKE NOT FROM HERE WE CAN FIND ONE SOMEWHERE ELSE SARAH LOOK HOW MANY THERE ARE PLEASE JUST LEAVE!” Trip’s sentences all ran together, and he whispered with such emotion that I am sure if there weren’t zombies he would have been yelling hysterically. Luckily, we’d been biking enough that I already knew how fast the zombies would be, and I found I was quite clam and suited for this. I quickly and consistently biked to the row of cars nearest us, which would have, to my mother, constituted the back of the parking lot.
Finally, I found the black Mazda. The van I’d known for so many years. I pictured my brother complaining to my mom, “Why are we parking so far away? There’s a spot right there!” I laughed to myself, and I could feel Trip’s grip tighten. He thought I was laughing at him.
“Not you silly boy, now calm down.” I wanted to tell him, but I figured it would just make things worse. I felt so bad for him, but there wasn’t much I could do.
TRIP
With growing panic I surveyed the area around us. Zombie zombie zombie zombie zombie. There wasn’t any place I looked and didn’t see a zombie. I knew Sarah was mad, but I honestly hadn’t expected her to do this, or anything like it. Every cuss word I knew was screaming in my head, (directed towards the situation, but not to Sarah). Her reason seemed valid, even though I never would have chanced it myself.
I could smell smoke. And sweat dripped down my back. Every shuffle and every moan was magnified. The tread on the tires scraped against the ground. The air, underneath the smell of death and decay, somehow smelt wrong, I agreed with my dad. And then my senses blanked.
As we approached what I recognized as the van, I started to wonder if her plan with the alarm would actually work. She stopped and I hopped off the bike, wasting no time at all. I used a large rock from a nearby grassy divider thing and I hurled it with all my might into the side window. The window didn’t hold, and the alarm started going off. I reached into the car with my left hand, standing on tiptoe to avoid the glass.
As I was trying to unlock the door a mysterious hand griped at me from under the car, and I let out a yelp. I backed out of the space in between the van and the other car, waiting for the zombie. It appeared slowly, but as soon as its head was clear from the underside of the car, I shot it.
I quickly strafed closer, watching to see if it would move. It didn’t. I shot it once more just to be sure, and then I quickly unlocked the door, and scrambled inside.
Nothing was in the car with me, but I felt very paranoid. I opened the back, taking the bike with me, “Sarah, please open my pack and get me out another gun. I know you’re mad. I’m so sorry. Please help me.” something in my voice must’ve gotten her, and she quickly took the gun out and replaced it with my old one.
“I’m sorry too, this is scary, and I didn’t want to shoot while you were in the car, but the zombies are closing in a little. We’ll probably need to shoot our way out.” She replied.
I gazed out around us, and she was right. There was still space between the zombies, but they were getting too close for comfort. I noted which way Kaltic would be in, and I started shooting the zombies coming from that direction.
SARAH
Trip and I only had a few seconds to go, but once we did we couldn’t afford to stop. He shot the zombies and I did my best to follow closely behind, dodging the remaining hordes. Once we’d gotten out of the hospital parking lot, I wished I’d never gone in. The zombie wail was impressive, and if I’d had my earplugs I would’ve put them in. but Trip told me I wouldn’t need them because I’d also have to hear what he was saying if things got bad.
I looked only ahead as we rode on, Trip sometimes stopped, and when he did, I would help shoot the zombies too. Once a few came up behind us, and I took care of them. It was almost totally dark now.
“Eh, Sarah, it’s almost dark, and we look like we’re in the clear for a minute, so I’m gonna stop for a split second, ok?”
“Why? Are you hurt? Hungry? Tired? I thought we couldn’t stop?”
“No I just really, really, really need to go to the bathroom.” He replied. I almost laughed at the trivial matter, but I realized I needed to as well.
“Ok, I’ll turn this way then…” I turned around so that I faced away from him. In the distance I thought I saw zombies, but I couldn’t be sure. I still knew they were there, though, and they’d catch up to us sooner or later, and I could still hear the moan in the distance.
“You’re turn.” Trip said, I could hear a bullet or two from his gun, “yeah, sorry, I hadn’t seen em, but you’re ok now.”
It was awkward for me just to go to the bathroom right on the side of the road, but I didn’t exactly think there was a non-zombie-infested building with a convenient bathroom anywhere near. We had, after all, passed the area with the shops. We were now on the highway, avoiding broken down cars here and there, and soon we’d get to Kaltic.
Of course soon was a relative word, and Trip and I kept biking well into the night. He wouldn’t let me have the flashlight, he said we shouldn’t use it because our eyes wouldn’t adjust and we’d only train our vision on the light.
Fleeing from zombies was a lot more complicated than I’d previously thought. We biked for what seemed hours and hours on end. Well, it was hours and hours on end. I was getting tired, and hungry.
But as the sun started to come up, I started hoping. If all went well, we’d be at Kaltic by the end of the day. What a joke we must’ve looked like, riding our bikes into the sunrise.
TRIP
Sarah laughed, and I couldn’t help but smile. It was one of the things I’d always liked about her. “Why are you laughing?” I asked her, my words came slow. I was so tired I could barely keep my head up, and I was very scared I would fall asleep or miss my target one too many times. I’d stopped shaking, but only because I didn’t even have enough energy to shake.
I’d stopped shooting at everything I thought was a zombie. I’d shot at roughly three things that weren’t, and I was starting to scare myself with my inaccuracy, and I wondered if I’d started daydreaming while awake, and kind of hallucinating about zombies. I’d long past gone through my second wind, and now I felt slightly sick from pure exhaustion.
“Look at us, riding off into the sunset...er, sunrise, whatever. Haha, we’re married. So where’s our honeymoon going to be? And we really should get it official. We’re almost there Trip, I can feel it in my bones.” She replied. She was right, and we were close. But she sounded so far away…
SARAH
I could see it. Buildings appeared in the distance. I excitedly pointed this out to Trip, but it seemed he couldn’t hear me. He was lost in his own world again.
It was in the middle of the afternoon, and Kaltic looked like heaven. The air started smelling better, the wails had disappeared some time ago, though I hadn’t noticed. Birds were singing again. We were under a canopy of trees that protected us from the scorching sun, and it seemed as if it could protect us from zombies too.
I thought I heard Trip mumbling about the constant annoying moan of zombies, but I really wasn’t sure. He was so quiet. I was worried, but I decided to put off my worry until we reached Kaltic, where we wouldn’t have to be afraid of the zombies anymore. And hopefully never would need to be ever again.
As we really neared the city, I could hear civilization again, and I started to bike beside Trip. It was alarming, his skin was very pale, dark circles riddled his eyes, little beads of sweat dripped down his face, the miniscule red veins in his eyes stood out, his pupils were dilated, he twitched every few seconds, and he was continually muttering to himself.
“Trip, have you been bitten?” my voice was shaky; I hadn’t been prepared for this.
“No, I haven’t, but these goddamn zombies are getting to me.” he replied. I was sure he wouldn’t lie to me about whether or not he had been bit, but something was obviously wrong with him.
“We’re almost there so just hold on, ok?” it was strange, he was the one giving directions before.
“Hey! You there! Have either of you been bit?!”  , a man in blue with a gun shouted to us. A policeman. The lady in Kaltic really was friends with the head of the police force here then. Trip and I stopped, and the policeman started walking over.
“No, but-“ I stopped because Trip fired at the policeman, who quickly dropped to the ground and fired at Trip, who dropped his gun and collapsed.
“What is your friend doing? He looks horrible! Is he a zombie? Is he turning?” the police officer stared at me; I knelt down to Trip, who was out cold.
“No, he’s fine, well, not fine, but, whatever, he just needs some sleep.” I replied.
“Are you two kids Sarah and Trip? If so, I’m instructed to take you both straight to Mrs. Costicon.” He pocketed his gun.
“Yes sir, that would be great. We’re overjoyed to know she thought of us.”
TRIP
“Well, he seems to have recovered, and he hasn’t died, so he isn’t a zombie.” The clam and confident voice of a man floated between my ears
“So what was wrong with him?” she asked. She seemed worried, but she sounded kind, she was a woman I’d never met before.
“You said he was deathly afraid, that sometimes he’d called you? Officer Sanderson had walked towards you?” he paused, “Yes, well, by gathering the information about his personality and his situation, and analyzing it, I would say that he has a slight mental disorder that causes him to be overly paranoid, and, in certain conditions, leads him to hallucinate. In other words, he’s a little off kilter, and with the stress he’d been under and the lack of sleep, he basically went over the edge. I’ve seen similar cases, though admittedly none so outlandish.”
“So he’ll be ok, right?” this voice was new, and when I recognized it as Sarah, I started waking up and actually thinking. They must have been talking about me.
“What?…whaat?” I rubbed my eyes and started getting up, a something tugged at my arm, “Did we make it? Where are we? Are the zombies still attacking?”
The man spoke again, clearly he was of authority, “Lay back down, you shouldn’t be up yet. You want some water?”
Still sitting up, I looked around the room. The thing on my arm was hooked up to one of those pulse-monitoring devices; it was going steady, which made me glad. I was on a soft red couch, in some sort of living room with a television, and I could see into the dining room where Sarah and the two adults were sitting at the wooden table. A window to my left was open. The man stood up to get me some, even though I hadn’t replied.
“Trip! You ok?” Sarah came over and sat by me on the floor.
“Yeah so what’s going on?” I was eager to find out where we were, so I neglected to tell her about my immense headache and fatigue. The man came over with a glass of water, and the woman brought in two chairs.
“You, are in Kaltic. You shot at a police officer, so we considered detaining you, but on the grounds that you were in an unlikely and mind-wearing situation, we let you off the hook. Don’t expect it to happen again.” The man handed me the glass, and he looked at me as if assessing my soul. I politely sipped the water.
“Um, you’ve been here for about one day… we thought you might be a zombie so we kept a constant watch on you, but...you didn’t die or turn or anything, so we figure you’re ok. I’m Mrs. Costicon, the lady from Kaltic, this is my husband Rick, and he’s the head of police force here.”
“Well I guess that classifies as good friends then, doesn’t it?” I replied, she frowned, “Sorry, when I’m tired I snap.” I blushed and looked at the glass I was holding in my hands.
“It’s ok Trip. So, you know the city?” Sarah stood up, she looked eager to tell me her news.
“Yes, what about it?” I glanced at her, then to Mr. And Mrs. Costicon.
“The government actually bombed the place. Well, they set off a series of charges. And then they sent in a bunch of agents to take out the rest of the zombies! We were out just in time, and all the zombies are gone.” She looked very happy.
“And the forest?” I asked, skeptical about the thoroughness of the government.
“Well, they searched it. The entire thing. Twice. They’re not letting much information out though, so we don’t know if and how many zombies they found, but they are saying it’s all clear, and that after they try to find what caused the disease that people can rebuild there.” She replied. She sounded proud of the government. I wasn’t.
I still felt that if the government publicly recognized the disease and started to prepare people for it, that the number casualties could be greatly decreased.
“So, are you hungry? Do you want something to eat? More water? You really shouldn’t be doing anything except resting, so I don’t recommend going out or anything. Plus we still have to wait a day and see if you’re stable.” Mrs. Costicon told me.
A silence filled the room. It was obvious I was fine. Wasn’t I?
I listened very closely to everything. I could hear more than silence. The birds were chirping, the wind was blowing, and this time it smelled like real wind, though faintly of some strange smoke. And yet I thought I heard something behind me, I reeled around, and my hand subconsciously reached for a weapon that wasn’t there. I turned slowly back to the three people staring at me, but shadows danced at the edges of my vision.
“Yeah, another day might be nice.” I replied, “And I am kind of hungry.”
SARAH
Trip seemed fine, but I could see him twitch every once in a while, and look about him nervously. Then he would shake his head. But I had my own scar from the event. I pleaded with Mrs. Costicon and Mr. Costicon, and they let me learn how to use a gun better. They also arranged karate classes for me, and helped me find a job. Mr. Costicon started teaching me about camping skills as well. I’d been useless when we’d gotten stuck, and I vowed never to be useless again.
“Mrs. Costicon,” I asked, it had been the three days trip and I had stayed at her house. Trip was looking into a job as well, one that he could do after school, like mine (when we did go back to school) and he was currently rifling through the job section of the newspaper, “What’s going to happen now? We don’t have any relatives, but we are married, and, well, we don’t have a place to stay. You guys aren’t exactly our parents, and I’m sure we have relatives elsewhere.”
Trip looked up, but Mrs. Costicon, who was cooking something delicious, didn’t.
“Well, I suppose you will go to the relatives most able to take you. And you’ll go back to school, and everything will be fine.” She continued to stir the food in the pan, and watch the pot that hadn’t started to boil.
The door rang, “I’ll get it.” Trip volunteered.
TRIP
I opened the door and found a rather average heighted man with sunglasses coolly waiting.
“Ah, Trip Bastian, just the person I wanted to talk to.” He flashed me a badge so quickly I couldn’t read it, “Special agent Carlton, I need to talk to you out here for a moment.”
I turned my head, “Hey guys, be back in a second, someone out here wants to talk to me.” I stepped outside and closed the door behind me, “So what do you want?”
“You and Sarah are the survivors of the city. From what I’ve read, you were the one in charge. Also, seems you’ve always been afraid of zombies. And you were playing Super Smash Bros last month. And on your fifth birthday you received a large set of play dinosaurs.”
A chill crawled up my spine and drew its bony finger across the back of my neck. He knew information about me, and could find out whatever he wanted, “I’ve come to offer you a unique opportunity, to deal away with that horrible menace.” Of course he meant the zombies.
“What organization do you work for?” I was blunt.
“Division 52. We’re the covert operation that deals with the undead.” He was all business.
“I’m done with zombies. I don’t ever want to see one or hear about one ever again.” I turned to the door.
“You know, I’ve been ordered to give you what you want to join us, but also to tell you, that, Sarah really is a very very nice girl.” He was still cool, but I bristled.
I swiveled where I stood, and put my finger in his face, “Don’t you dare mess with her.”
He backed up and put his hands up as if in surrender, “Now Trip, we can work together on this. Your fear will be taken care of, and you can help. Clean the world kind of thing, except, only for the US of A. And, you’ll get paid well, and, like I said, this is all under orders, and I’m ordered to give you what you want to join.” He kept saying he was under orders. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I’d bet my life he felt sorry for me. I thought about Sarah. They’d probably hurt Mr. And. Mrs. Costicon too.
“Here’s what you’re gonna give me then. I want a zombie fortress as outlined by my specific plans, located on my site, I’m sure you’ve seen them.” He nodded.
“On an island? That’s expensive Mr. Trip.” He nudged his sunglasses up his nose.
“You want me, fine, I’ll work for you. But you’re going to have to comply with my conditions. You leave Sarah alone, you leave the Costicons alone, and, you fix it, so that Sarah and I can do what we want. If we don’t want to be shipped off to relatives, I don’t expect to be shipped off to relatives.”
“You got it. And Sarah, after you talk with Trip, if you want to talk to me, just call me. Here’s my card. I, won’t, however, be contacting you, because I’m going to have to leave you alone.” He handed his card to Sarah, who stood in the doorway. I hadn’t heard the door open. I needed to be more observant.

“Trip, I’m not letting you do this by yourself. You may have been technical leader, but I survived too. And I know Just as much as you now, if not more. And Mrs. Costicon and I were just talking, she’s involved in this already, so is Mr. Costicon.”
Trip hung his head in his hands. Something he did a lot when he wasn’t happy, but he finally looked up at me in surrender, “Alright, I won’t stop you. I guess we won’t have to worry about going to school. We were almost off to college anyway. We won’t have to worry about being displaced either. Or jobs.”
I rubbed Trip’s back and looked at Mrs. Costicon, “Come on Trip, time to set the table.”
“Of course, I can’t wait to eat.” Trip smiled dazzlingly at me, and we got to work setting the table as Mr. Costicon came through the door.
“Carlton here? I can smell ‘im form a mile away. Too much aftershave.” That got an appreciative laugh from Mrs. Costicon.