Dead of Knight: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale (27 page)

I climbed into the bus and put on my seatbelt.  As the convoy slowly pulled away I could see flames coming from the windows of our house.  In my mind’s eye I could see flames coming from Frankie.  I didn’t want to look at myself in the mirror.  Sam was doing a good job of distracting the kids so they wouldn’t see that fire.  She looked like she wanted to ask me a question then saw the look on my face.  I couldn’t help but think that even after all we’d been through; the hardest part of this day was just starting.

“I need everyone to check their weapons,” I said over the radio.  “Load mags if you need to.  Make sure your crossbows are ready to go.  And, keep an eye out for any trouble.”

I drove the bus taking the back way out of the neighborhood.  It was the least direct route to where we were going.  But, Preston’s group, coming from Ravenel, blocked the other two better routes.  This was going to be the long way since I already knew what the routes into downtown looked like from our trip to get the bus.  The day Michael was killed.  Well, justice had been served on that.  But, if Preston was really coming from Ravenel, this was the only other way off the island.

“Ryan, copy.  Ryan.”  I sighed because I really wasn’t in the mood to talk.

“Go for Ryan.”

“Hey it’s Mike.  I had a question.  Maybe a stupid question,” he said.  I sighed again.  “But where are we going?”

“We’re going to Ft. Sumter,” I replied.

“Ryan, this is Tom.  I thought you said that the connector was blocked and the Ashley River bridges were stuck open?”

“Right on both accounts.”

“Then why are we going this way?  Shouldn’t we be going in the other direction?”

“I got Frankie to tell me where his father was coming from.  Frankie said they live down in Ravenel.  So, this is the only safe way off the island.”

“Do you think that Frankie told the truth?” asked Tom.

“Yep,” was all the reply Tom got.  Why all the questions suddenly? 

“What’d you do with Frankie, boss man?” Mike asked.  “Did you give him a message for his father?”  I lowered my head before keying the mic.

“Yes, Mike.  I did.  Mike, I confirmed that it was this group that attacked us at the Costco.  Two of the guys in the pickup were Frankie’s uncles.”  I released the mic and paused for a minute.  Mike said nothing.  “They are the ones that killed Michael, the ones that killed your father.”

“What message did you give Frankie’s father?” Mike asked quietly.

I paused again and let my finger off the button.  Looking up in the mirror I could see my kids still huddled up against Sam.  All of them crying.  After all this work, all this effort to shield them from the zombies and what was going on, turns out I can’t shield them from the true evil in the world; other humans.  Or, what I’ve had to do, had to become to protect them and their mother.  I keyed the mic.

“I wrote ‘looters’ on the pavement in front of the SUV.” I said.  “And then I set Frankie on fire.”

Mike didn’t respond.  No one did.  And no one called on the radio about anything for 45 minutes.

By the time we got to interstate 26 and turned east to head downtown, the kids had stopped crying.  Samantha came over and sat on the floor next to me.  I had noticed her moving around but was still startled when she touched my leg.

“Sorry,” she said.

“No problem.  I’m just trying to stay focused on what I’m doing next and not looking back to what I’ve done.”  I paused to give her time to respond and when she didn’t I continued.   “I’m sorry about what happened back there.”

“About that,” she said.  “I know.  And I’m still mad.  But not really mad at you, just mad.  But we’re alive and we’re…”  Her voice trailed off.

“Sam?  What?”  I turned to see what she was doing and saw that she was looking down off the highway to the road below.  I got a glimpse of what she saw before a bend in the road blocked it from view.  Zombies.  Lots of zombies.  The radio crackled to life.  It was Mike.

“Hey, did anybody see that?”  Two others answered in the affirmative before I could.

“Yeah, Mike,” I said.  “We see it from the bus.”

“We’re not going down there are we?” Mike asked.

“This road doesn’t stay elevated forever.  Remember, we came this way to get the bus?”

“Dammit Ryan, that was like a week ago.  And a bad day.”

“Ryan this is Tom.  You know downtown better than I do.  Are we gonna to reach Aquarium Wharf before dark?”

“Not a chance,” I replied.  “We’re gonna have to make an interesting decision coming up here.”

“What are the options, you think?” asked Tony.

“We could stay in the vehicles, but I hate that idea as I say the words.  We could continue with the destination.  We’d just have to clear the dock and the boat in the dark.  Or, we could stop and clear the next reasonable building we can find.”

“Boss man, those options suck,” said Mike.

“No argument from me, Mike.  But that’s where we are.”

“Let’s be smart,” said Tony.  “Let’s stop and find a place to spend the night.”

“I agree,” said Tom.  I could see Sam nodding as well.

“Okay people; make sure you have everything you need for the night in your back pack.  That includes a first aid kit just in case.  We are not unloading these vehicles tonight.”

I led us off the highway at the next exit, Rutledge Ave.  There were zombies just walking down the street like they owned the place.  I guess, at this point, they did.  The first large house I saw was a two story colonial on a corner just up ahead.  There were only a few zombies in the yard.

“Mike, Tom and John, why don’t you meet us on the porch of this two story house coming up on the right.  Everybody else stay in the vehicles until we clear the house,” I said over the radio then turned to Sam.  “Close this door when we get out.”  She nodded.

I brought the bus up into the front yard of the house and toggled the passenger door open.  Two of Tom’s nephews ran out and I went out the driver’s side.  I could see Sam moving to close the passenger door.  Immediately we fired our crossbows and scored hits but then the zombies were too close.  We went right to the tomahawks.  Four more zombies down as Tom’s nephew’s and I fought our way to the porch.  Tom, Mike and John were already there.

“Crap,” I said.  “How’d you get up here so fast?”

“We didn’t stop to kill so many,” said Mike as he fired a bolt over my shoulder.

“Fine,” I said.  “Try the door.”  John walked over and tried the handle.

“It’s open,” he said.

“Okay, we clear right to left.  On three.  One, two, three.”

The house was mercifully empty of the living or the dead.  The front yard, however, was not.  The noise and commotion of us pulling up and getting in had attracted zombies from all around.

”We can’t fight that many,” said Tom.

“We can’t keep that many out of the house,” I said.  “Mike, do you have any more flares?”

Mike reached into his back pack and produced a road flare.  I grabbed it and ran upstairs.  Throwing open a window facing the cross street on the side of the house, I lit the flare and threw it as far as I could.  Which, it turns out, is not very far.  But, it did attract the attention of many of the zombies and they began to move off the porch towards the glowing light.

“I’m starting to think this was a bad idea.” I said.

“Anyone have anything better?” Tom asked.  Everyone shook their heads.

“Shit.  Let’s get everybody in then,” I said. 

We moved back out on the porch and killed the few zombies who were still there.  This was our window of opportunity to get everyone in before the zombies decided that the group was tastier that the flare.  I headed for the bus and Sam opened the door from inside.  We quickly got the kids together and headed off the bus.  Karen and Thor were right behind us.  As I went around to close the passenger door from inside, I chanced a look to see how everyone else was faring.  Beth and Barb were on either side of Tony headed up the stairs to the porch.  Lois was weighted down a little carrying a couple of back packs in addition to her own.  Tom’s two nephews provided security.  The zombies were already realizing their mistake.  Tom and John were helping Pat and her son William to safety.

Suddenly, Barb slipped and fell backwards off the porch.  She screamed and time seemed to stop.  Tom and John ran towards the most important woman in their lives, leaving Pat and William still not on the porch.  Lois dropped her packs and went to help them.  Mike ran down the stairs from the porch where he had been providing some cover and grabbed Tony and Beth who were in danger of falling back down the stairs on top of Barb.  Mike practically pulled Tony up to the porch and safety singlehandedly.  I was pushing Sam and the kids up and inside. 

Barb rolled once when she hit the bottom of the steps and ended up at the feet of two zombies who had briefly been distracted by the flare.  Tom’s nephews fired but one missed and that zombie bit into Barb just as Tom and John arrived.  Mike, Tom’s nephews and I reloaded our crossbows but there was nothing we could do for Barb.  All we could do was give John and Tom a moment but it was a brief one.  I ran to the bottom of the steps and grabbed Tom.

“We gotta go, Tom.  You and John have to live.  C’mon.” 

Tom sent John up the steps and took out his knife.  He looked over at me and I nodded and headed up the stairs.  When I got to the top, Tom was right behind me and blood could be seen oozing out of Barb’s right eye.

“Everybody in, now.  Go,” I yelled.  With the zombies curious about Barb, we managed to get everyone else inside safely.  Her death saved the rest of us in a way.  It gave us the time to get a large china cabinet in front of the doors to the porch and block the way.  Other furniture was placed in front of the windows and still more was placed behind to shore up the makeshift barricade.  A quick search of the kitchen netted a few things then I ordered everyone upstairs.  We moved all the furniture on the second floor over to the top of the stairs except for the beds.  In the event of an emergency maybe we could block the stairs with it and keep the zombies from getting to us.  As it turned out, the furniture wasn’t necessary.  When the zombies outside finished with Barb, they wandered off.  Either they were distracted by some other noise or just forgot about our group.

Once inside and settled a bit, the loss of yet another person in the group hit home.  For Tom, not only was this his wife it was also the fifth person he’d lost in just a few days.  Everyone cried or grieved in their own way.  Pat ended up holding Tom and John as they both cried.  After a while, Mike, Sam and I went over to Tom and John and sat down.

“I’m sorry Tom, John,” I said.  What else can you say?  We spoke for a few moments about how long they’d been married, how they’d met and so forth.  Then we excused ourselves to give them space.  Back in another room, I lost it some myself, banging my fists on the walls.

“Fuck, fuck Preston and his gang of murderers and looters.  We were at our home.  We were fine.  Now this.  Fuck…”  Sam came over and put her hands on my shoulders.  She looked me right in the eyes.

“You done?” she asked.  “I know, I get it.  But, it’s not helping anything.”

“It’s helping me,” I said.  “It’s just another day in a world gone mad, right Sam?”

“It’s scaring the kids.”  Sure enough, Mal and Tabby were watching me.  I looked over at Sam and nodded.  Then I went to Mal and Tabby and sat on the bed next to them.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you guys.  Daddy is just angry right now.”  They put their arms around me and stayed that way for a bit.

“I’m sorry you’re angry daddy,” said Tab. 

“Is it because of what happened to that lady?” asked Mal.

“Yeah, buddy.  It is.  Had you guys really talked to Miss Barb?”  They shook their heads.  “She was nice.  You would’ve liked her.” 

I stood up after a few minutes and headed off to find Mike or somebody.  Mike was getting bedded down in one of the rooms with his mother.  He looked up as I came in.

“What’s wrong, boss man?” he asked.

“Nothing.  I just think we need to set up a watch.  We don’t know the house or the area.”  Mike started to get up off the bed but I stopped him.  “You rest, Mike.  I’ll take the first one.”

“You sure, Ryan?  You look awfully tired.”

“Ha, you should look in a mirror.”  I paused.  “Mike, thank you.  You’ve been really great through all of this.  I don’t think we’d be here without your help.”  I turned to Lois.  “I mean that Lois, he’s been invaluable.”  I turned and left before she could respond.

Back in the room we were using the sleeping arrangements had been figured out.  Tabby was going to sleep with her grandma and Mal, Sam and I would take the bigger bed.

“Tabby, thank you.  I haven’t said it in a while but you’ve been really great about everything since all this started.    You’ve really grown up.  I’m proud.”  I held my daughter for a while then hugged my son and wife then went off to keep a watch. 

About halfway through the night I went to find Mike to have him take watch.  He wasn’t in the room with his mom, which was strange.  I found him and Tabby in another room.  Her head was on his shoulders as she slept.  I stepped back out of the room and sat on the floor, my mind reeling.  My daughter:  my little girl.  Just a few days ago, I thought of her as a tiny princess.  Now, here she was falling for the best young man I knew.  But, she was just a kid.  I couldn’t let this happen, could I?  My first priority was her safety.  If Mike could help me get her through this…