Zombie Country

Zombie Apocalypse #2

Published by Samantha Hoffman at Smashwords

© 2013 by Samantha Hoffman.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permissions of the author.

Chapter One

The sound of gunfire wakes me up from a horrid nightmare early in the morning. When I slowly open my eyes, I’m met by the same depressing view I’ve seen every morning for a while now: thin, dirty cots placed around the room with thin, dirty young woman lying on those cots. They all stare at the boarded up window in wide-eyed terror as the gunfire continues, but the sound doesn’t bother me like it does some of the others.

The guns go off at all times of the day, and we’re used to it by now. More than seven months of death, constant fear, destruction, and hopelessness is enough to make anyone hard and insensitive. So even though the guns are loud and I can hear whimpering from my younger bunkmates, I don’t really care enough to go reach out and comfort them. They should be used to the fear and gunfire by now.

I dress for the day in mostly clean jeans and t-shirt—they’re as clean as a washboard and hand scrubbing with very little laundry detergent can make them—and then I head out into the dimly lit hallway. There are still five other girls in the room we all share, but I don’t want to stick around and listen to them whimper and complain, because I know that it won’t solve anything and will just get on my nerves.

I follow the small stream of other survivors down to the school’s cafeteria, where a simple breakfast of powdered eggs, water, and pre-cooked bacon is being prepared. My fellow survivors all stand in line with their empty trays and, when they get their food, they don’t look nearly satisfied enough. I think some want to complain, but they know that our food stores won’t last forever. Meager shares now are better than full shares for a little bit and then nothing.

If the food runs out, this place won’t last long. The survivors and soldiers won’t be able to keep up their stamina, and then we’ll be overrun in a heartbeat. I can only imagine how much destruction will happen if just one creature manages to make its way into the fortified school. Just thinking about the chaos, the bloodshed, and the destruction makes me sick to my stomach, and I can feel my appetite failing. But this is the end of the world, and I can’t afford to not eat…just in case.

I take my place in line between Ms. Dexter and little Janine Evans, who is only eight years old. Her thirteen year old sister is behind her. She’s keeping a watchful eye on everyone in the room, as if she’s worried that at any second someone will start shooting up the place, killing at random. I guess nobody survives this long without some kind of damage or paranoia.

A burly soldier stands behind the cafeteria counter with his combat boots and handgun, looking slightly strange with his white apron and hairnet. He doesn’t smile or even speak to me, he just plops a spoonful of eggs onto my tray, hands me two strips of bacon, and shoos me on down the line. At the very end, I pick up a bottle of water that’s been collected from a nearby lake, strained, boiled, and then run through a filter, before being poured into the reused bottle.

I find a seat at a table that’s mostly empty, and start to silently pick away at my nasty, powdered eggs. I wash them down with the water, but it doesn’t help get the taste out of my mouth. As bad as they are though, it’s better than going hungry and starving to death.

The lights above flicker once, drawing my attention. I stare up at the ceiling for a minute, and I wonder how long until they go out and don’t come back on. “They’ve been doing that a lot lately,” a small voice says. “I hope they stay on because I’m scared of the dark.”

I glance over at Felicia and smile. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure they have emergency backup lights or something just in case the generators were to go out. And even if they don’t, there are probably hundreds of candles stockpiled up for just that situation. We’ll be alright, Felicia.”

“Good,” Felicia says, looking down at her mostly empty tray. “Because I am not sitting around in the dark, waiting for those things to come and eat my brains.”

“You know they don’t just eat brains,” Rose says, joining us. “They’re not quite so selective. They’ll eat whatever they can get their hands on: skin, organs, bone, and brains.” Felicia whimpers, and I elbow Rose in the side. She winces and starts to pick at her own eggs. “Sorry Felicia, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She sighs. “It’s alright. I should probably be used to it by now.” She perks up. “Hey! Did you guys hear the rumor one of the soldiers was talking about? He was saying some of us might be immune to the virus, so even if we got bit, we might not turn. What do you think?”

“I think its horseshit,” Rose says. “If you get bit, you die. Simple as that.”

“You guys, nobody is going to get bit. The soldiers are here to protect us. Don’t forget that,” Daisy says, sitting across from her sister Rose. Daisy and Rose Adams are seventeen year old fraternal twins, but they definitely don’t look like they’d even be related. Daisy has short, light blonde hair, and Rose has waist-length dark red hair that is usually kept in a single braid for convenience. Daisy is more pear-shaped while Rose is a bit thinner. They both have wide-set light blue eyes that have developed a hard edge in the past six months.

Seven months ago, the world ceased to exist as we knew it. Nobody ever gave an explanation for the deadly disease that spread through the nation faster than wildfire. There just hadn’t been time. From the moment the first zombie was created, it had taken only five weeks for most of civilization to crumble. The dead probably ranged somewhere in the billions.

I never heard anything about the other countries in the world, but it was safe to assume that they were as completely destroyed as this one. If the rest of the world is like this, the human race has absolutely no chance of survival. I’m not even sure that if a cure can somehow miraculously be found, it will save the world. Everything is too far gone. There is no science, no medicine, no military, no law, and no government.

This world is simply beyond repair.

Felicia sniffs, and I glance at her. She’s only fourteen years old and barely five feet tall. Her hair is short, feathery, and a dark cinnamon color. Her face is round and still slightly babyish, but months of little food and constant fear have given her a gaunt, hollowed-out look. Her honey-colored eyes are sad, but hopeful. She honestly believes that everything will be ok in the end so long as we keep faith, which she still miraculously somehow has. A small golden cross hangs around her throat on a thin chain, and she tends to play with it when she gets nervous.

I’m not so optimistic. I know that faith isn’t going to keep us alive for long. The only thing that’ll keep us alive is ourselves. I can’t depend on anyone but myself and perhaps one other person if I’m going to survive long in this dangerous new world.

“Madison?”

I realize that Felicia has probably said my name more than once, and I smile apologetically at her. “I’m sorry; I was a million miles away right now.”

“Oh, were you thinking about your family again? Because it’s alright if you were; I think about mine all the time. I mean, I know it’s been like three whole months since they died, but I still think about them all the time.”

I wasn’t thinking about my family, but I am now. My dad died in the initial outbreak, and my mom and I spent three more weeks hiding out in our attic, where she wished she had never moved out here to be closer to me. She and I ventured out only for supplies, and on one of our trips she was surrounded by a group of zombies. I managed to escape. A group of soldiers found me a few hours later, and brought me to a converted school in New York, where I had been going to college.

They put barbed wire fencing up around the entire school, and two makeshift guard towers on each wall. They house two snipers each, and they’re the main defense against the undead that are instinctively drawn to places with noise and the scent of living humans. I’m not sure how long this place can last, but I hope it lasts longer than the zombies.

“You know, I thought the zombies were supposed to starve to death. How come that hasn’t happened yet?” Felicia asks quietly as she stabs at a final piece of egg.

Rose snorts. “Please, the government just told the public what it wanted to hear. The infection spread too quickly for them to actually learn anything about these things. For all we know, the government created these things to use as weapons or something, and they just got out of hand. We don’t know anything about them except that they’re hard to kill, and they like eating people.”

I glare at her over my tray. “Do you have to be so negative?”

She glares right back at me, unfazed by my hostility since she’s every bit the bitch that I can be. “You’re always negative, talking about the inevitability of our demise,” she says, trying to sound more like I do when I talk.

I lean closer to Rose and lower my voice so Felicia won’t hear. “I don’t purposely dash what little hope someone has left. Yes, I’m a very negative person and I believe that we’re all going to die very horrible deaths eventually, but I don’t tell a little girl that just to be a bitch about it.”

Rose looks away, and I shake my head. She just doesn’t understand that with nothing left, those of us that have survived need to band together. She doesn’t care about anyone other than herself and her sister, and that’s a problem. I can’t trust her with anything—especially my life—and there may very well be a situation in the near future that lets her hold my life in her hands.

Daisy sighs. “What do you think we should do today once our chores are done?”

“Is there anything we can do but sit around and wait to die?” Rose says, casting a disgusted look at the rest of us. “I mean, it’s not like there’s any internet, texting, video games, or television to watch. We might as well just sit around waiting for the end, right?”

“There are books to read, games to play, and survivors to get to know,” I say, silencing whatever she’s about to say next. “We’ll find something to do with our time. If none of those options amuse you, you are more than welcome to join the training sessions later. You might actually learn to do something other than bitch about our circumstances.”

She narrows her eyes at me again, and I mentally prepare myself for a fight. Surprisingly, Daisy intervenes. “Rose, let’s go wash our clothes. That will give us something productive to do, and we can talk while we do it. Felicia, you’re welcome to join us while Madison is at training.”

Felicia gathers up her empty tray and follows the two older girls out of the cafeteria. She spares me a quick backwards glance and gives me a little wave before disappearing into the dimly lit hallway after them. I hope the older girls don’t hassle her too much, though I have a feeling Rose will get in as many little jabs as she can. I just hope that Felicia’s hide is a little thicker than it appears to be, because I won’t be there to save her.

I stand up and tuck my half-empty bottle of water in my sweater pocket, before grabbing my empty tray and making my way to the end of the line. I could easily eat more, but I know there isn’t a lot of extra food to go around at the moment. So instead of begging for more, I stack my tray with the other empty ones to be hand-scrubbed by semi-clean water, and exit the cafeteria without another glance at the remaining food and half-starved people waiting in line.

*****

The gym is mostly empty today, which is kind of surprising since the self-defense lessons are always wildly popular with many of the other survivors. Nobody wants to be stranded alone beyond the fence without the ability to take on a few zombies until help can arrive. These self-defense lessons are a survivor’s best chance of survival in this new world, and few people miss them.

Specialist Aaron Monroe is standing in front of the bleachers, surveying the small group assembled there with his hands behind his back. I do a quick count as I approach the bleachers, and come up with only twelve people. Only twelve people out of more than two hundred and fifty survivors. “It’s almost not worth even having the lesson if so few of you are interested in learning,” Aaron says, pinching the bridge of his wide nose with a sigh. “Twelve people.”

“Thirteen,” I say, sliding onto the front bench next to a girl of no more than ten. She looks at me with wary eyes. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get this training session started, Aaron.”

He sighs again, but nods his head once. “Very well. Let’s get started. Madison, can you be my helper today? Private Tucker isn’t feeling well, and he won’t be of much help. I need someone that at least knows the basics.”

I nod my head and give him a smile, which he slowly returns. “Sure thing, Aaron. Just tell me what you need me to do, and I’ll help out in any way that I can.”

“I knew I could count on you, Madison. What I want you to do is take our two newest recruits,” he says, nodding his head at the young girl and a teenage boy, “and see if you can’t teach them the basics. Once they get used to it, they can join in with the other more experienced trainees.”

“You got it, boss,” I say with a slow wink. Aaron’s cheeks turn a dull shade of red, just like I knew they would, and he turns away to gather the rest of the trainees. When I turn around, I find the two younger kids standing behind me, looking at me with wide eyes. “Well, it looks like the two of you are in my care, today. I’m supposed to teach you the basics. Are you up for it?” I ask, trying to remember if I’ve ever seen either of them around before.

The younger girl has her long black hair tied back in a thick braid down her back, and her eyes are dull and gray, testament to the fact that she’s survived for so long. Nobody looks like a beauty queen these days. In fact, many of the survivors look like little more than dead people walking, which is horribly ironic since the world’s demise came at the hands of the walking dead.

“How is a girl supposed to teach us anything? You’re not a soldier, are you?” the boy asks, narrowing his blue-gray eyes at me in suspicion. His brown hair is dingy and close-cropped, and he runs a trembling hand through it nervously. “You don’t look that strong to me.”

“What are your names? How old are the two of you?” I ask, eyeing them closer.

“I’m Levi and I’m thirteen,” the boy says proudly, puffing out his chest a bit. “And this is my cousin Lucy. She’s nine. When her momma got bit a few days ago, she said I had to look out for Lucy, since her momma couldn’t do it any more. We’re all we got left.”

“I know exactly what it’s like to wanna take care of your family,” I say, bending down to his level so I can look him in the eye. “I have a cousin out there somewhere. I don’t know if she’s still alive, but I really hope so. I know if she were here right now, I’d do just about anything to keep her safe. I’ll teach you how to protect Lucy in case she can’t protect herself.”

He nods his head slowly. “Alright. What are you gonna teach me first?”

“Well, Specialist Monroe wants me to teach you how to keep a zombie at arm’s length at all times. So what I’m gonna do is pretend to be a zombie and attack you and Lucy. That way, you can show me how much you already know, and we’ll go on from there. Alright?”

Levi backs away from me, and I’m more than a bit surprised when he pushes Lucy behind him for that little bit of added protection. The sight of him willing to put himself between his cousin and a “zombie” is a heart-wrenching one that nearly brings tears to my eyes. So many of these survivors are little more than children, and yet they’ll never have the chance to be children again. Even if the world can somehow repair itself, the damage is done. Every single survivor in this fortified school has seen enough death and destruction to last them a lifetime.

“Are you gonna attack us or what? I’m dyin’ of old age over here!”

Rolling my eyes at his impatience, I shuffle forward slowly, trying to simulate the awkward gait of a zombie. The newer ones move much faster and can easily keep pace with a human since they don’t get tired, but the older ones just shuffle along like mindless drones, incapable of thought or coordinated movement.

Levi’s eyes widen a bit as I reach out for him, and he reaches out and swats my hand away from his face. He wraps one arm protectively around Lucy and pushes her farther away from me, trying to keep her out of my reach. When I reach for them again, he swats at my hand, but I shift to the side, and it sails past my shoulder, leaving him open for attack. My other hand reaches out and my fingers close around his throat.

“You’re dead,” I say, releasing him. “You have to rely on more than just your hands, or else you’ll get yourself killed. Then Lucy won’t have anyone to watch out for her. I’ll start by showing you a better way to keep a zombie at arm’s length. One that doesn’t involve putting your hands near its disgusting mouth. When we’re done, you’ll be better equipped to take care of not only yourself, but those around you.”

He sighs. “Alright. Let’s get started.”

Over the next thirty minutes or so, I show Levi how to hook his leg around my calf to yank my foot out from under me. It sends me down to a mat on one knee, and it gives him time to run to safety with Lucy. We practice the move over and over again until he becomes able to do it without thinking too hard about it. When I’m convinced he can do it without being coached, we move on to the next move.

The next thing I show Levi is how to properly hold a knife. His grip is a little weak and uncertain, but he takes one look at Lucy, sets his shoulders, and tries his hardest to fend me off. I have to correct his grip on the knife several times, and he finally throws it down in frustration. “I can’t do it!” he shouts, startling a few people nearby. “I’m useless and Lucy’s gonna die because of me.”

I put my hand on his shoulder and give it what I hope is a comforting squeeze. “Levi, this is your first training session. Don’t let this get to you. We’re as safe here as we can possibly be, so you have plenty of time to train. In a few weeks, you’ll be able to do what I can, and you’ll be able to protect anyone you need to.”

He looks at me and sighs. “Lucy is counting on me,” he says, looking at his younger cousin. “I can’t let her down. I promised my aunt.”

“Levi, the two of you have survived this long. I think that means you’re better at this than you think. Just give it some time. We’re in no hurry here,” I say quietly, hoping he doesn’t catch the small lie. With the apocalypse at our front door, there isn’t really much time to take things slow, but he doesn’t need to know that right now. “Now, come back down here tomorrow, and we’ll do this all over again. Alright?”