Roxanne's Story (Book 1): Survival in the Zombie Apocalypse (15 page)

Brandon was about to exit the supply store when he spotted a magazine rack and one magazine had a cover picture of a dog so similar to Mutt that he stopped to pick it up. Roxanne had always been curious about Mutts webbed feet so Brandon flipped through the magazine while they drove further to the Drug Store. He was shocked to discover a Catahoula dog breed with that exact characteristic and learned that the breed was a tough dog bred to work in swamps and forests. The webbed feet allowed them to swim and work in soft, marshy areas and that they were herding dogs. They are protective of their owner but wary of strangers and were excellent judges of character as to who is and isn’t trustworthy. Brandon looked up from the magazine and knew that this described Mutt perfectly and how excited Roxanne would be to read the article.

At the Drug Store Sally found Morphine, Demerol, Ampicillin, and Amoxicillin and had the men look for things like Benadryl for bee stings, ointment for poison ivy, peroxide, even creams for muscle aches and pains.

It was on their way back that they saw the hitchhiker. They passed him at first so they could get a good look at what he was carrying in the way of weapons or if he drew on them and fired as they drove past. He did not, so they drove further down before pulling off and all but Sally got out of the car. Gene leaned against the trunk of the car and watched the hitchhiker as he ran toward them, while Brandon walked the left shoulder of the highway with his rifle drawn, searching the foliage for any possible ambush. Cami did the same on the right side of the road. Sally slid into the driver’s seat but watched for approaching cars that could be an ambush while glancing into the rearview mirror to keep an eye on the team.

The hitchhiker raised his arms and yelled, “I’m unarmed. I ran out of bullets a long time ago. There’s no one with me. I’m alone.” When he got to Brandon he stopped but Brandon told him to keep walking toward the truck. Both Brandon and Cami came up behind the guy and began to pat him down. Cami pulled a revolver out of his backpack but it wasn’t loaded. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to see other people,” he continued. “I haven’t seen anyone alive in over a month. I was beginning to think……beginning to think,” his voice cracked as he tried to control his emotions.

“I’m sorry to be a beggar as soon as I get in your car, but does anyone have some water or crackers or something,” the hitchhiker said. “Name’s Randy. Sure am glad you came along. I was about to give up. Was gonna find some farmhouse and just lay down to die. Can’t survive out here alone.” Cami handed him some crackers and a peach. “Your mind starts playing games with you when you’re alone”, Randy continued. “Like, you’re dreaming and can’t wake up. Or if you’re alive then you are the only person left in the world.” He bit into the crackers and drank some water that Brandon handed him.

“Where you coming from son?” Gene asked the boy who looked to be about twenty0 years of age.

“Coming out of PA. Me, my older brother and two of his friends decided we weren’t going to spend another winter in PA. Got as far as Knoxville on our motorcycles and then a gang of thieves and murderers jumped us in the night. I was the only one to make it…,” he voice cracked. “Was out hunting for a rabbit I saw in the brush. Know I shouldn’t have left the group but I’m good with a knife and hadn’t eaten in a couple days. I crawled off, tracking it and that’s when the rest of them were attacked and killed. I couldn’t do anything for them. There were eight of them and just one of me and there’s no way I could have picked them all off before they got me. They come looking for me since there were four bikes and they only killed three by the campfire.” He bit into the peach and wiped the juice off his chin with his sleeve.

“Sorry, I ramble when I’m nervous or excited. I only had the ammo in my revolver because they took my backpack. I picked this one up and some odds and ends along the way but that backpack had everything I needed in it, especially my knives. I’m real good with a knife. Can hit an apple off your head without touching your hair. Always wanted to be a knife thrower in a carnival. Studied and practiced the craft since I was a kid.”

“But why would you head south?” Gene asked. “The theory is that the zombies would be less active up north and perhaps die off in the cold. North is where we were heading before we found our place.”

“Didn’t happen like that. All it did was equal the playing field and not in your favor. In fact it gave them the advantage because they don’t feel cold. Hard to run when your feet are so cold that you can’t feel them hitting the ground. I was out in a blizzard and had to turn my back to the wind to keep the sleet from hitting my face and walked backwards. But they kept coming. Nothing kills them except a head shot. I’ve seen them on fire, seen them fall from a 4-story building and get back up, and seen them caught in a flash flood and get back up. How many are in your group?”

“Eight of us, you make nine,” said Brandon.

“Oh…..” Randy sounded disappointed. “Oh….that’s not good. Not for gangs like the one I ran across or the herds that I kept circling and backtracking from.”

“We may need to revise our evacuation plan,” Gene said. “Especially if north is out of the question.”

“Not going to be an evacuation for me,” Cami said. “I’m done. I’m not running anymore. The park is well protected and we now have the ammo, will have more if we could make that second run back to the NRA house. We have fishing in the ponds and rivers, plants coming up, our borders are fortified and if we could find some farm animals…”

“Chickens!” Gene interrupted.

“…then we have the foundation of a good beginning,” Cami continued. “I will die defending the place, but I’m not evacuating. This is the end of the road for me.”

Everyone was surprised to hear Cami say that. They had all felt that way at one time or another, feeling as if they just couldn’t go on. But they always went through the motion of pretending it was better someplace else, always had a backup plan, an exit door.

At that point Randy became nervous as he watched all four of them pull their handkerchief up over their nose as if they were thieves in the old world getting ready to rob a store. “What….?”, then the odor hit him as they turned off the highway onto a long entrance of some sort. He quickly pulled up his shirttail to cover his nose and mouth, “Jez, what kind of place are you people living in?”

The sun was just coming up when Brandon climbed the tunnel ladder to relieve Morgan and Caleb. Caleb would manage to stay awake for the first two hours, but Morgan usually had to wake him before their relief showed up. He knew the boy didn’t want anyone to find him asleep since he was trying to show everyone that he could be relied upon as an adult.

“Anything to report?” Brandon asked.

“Yeah, we think we saw a car,” Caleb said. Brandon stopped and looked at Morgan.

“Wasn’t sure but it looked like car headlights way off in the distance. Then it turned like maybe it was going to come up the entrance drive. Lost sight of it for a while but then I thought I saw it back on the highway again.”

“Maybe we should put a sign at the entrance,” Brandon said. “We don’t want to chase people off who can help. Randy’s story about that gang has me worried. He’s right. We need a bigger force. We’re going to have a meeting tonight to discuss that and change our destination if we need to evacuate. I was going to suggest that you forget tonight’s shift and join, but if you saw a car last night then maybe we better keep you up here again tonight.”

As Morgan and Caleb were walking back in the breaking dawn they could already smell breakfast of squirrel and goose eggs. Morgan almost broke his stride when he saw Lucky come out of Roxanne’s cabin. “What’s wrong, Dad. Did you trip over something?” Morgan looked down at the ground trying to hide his smile, “No…no son I didn’t trip.”

Lucky caught up with them and asked if he could join them for breakfast. Apparently the scene was also noted by Caleb, “How is Roxanne, Lucky? Is she better this morning?” he asked.

Morgan was struggling to hold his laughter when Lucky answered, “Why yes Caleb. Roxanne is much better this morning.” Morgan burst into laughter, patted Lucky’s shoulder and said, “I’m glad to hear that. Very glad to hear that, Lucky.”

Caleb gave them both a confused look, “What? What did I say?”

They let Randy sleep in that day knowing what an ordeal he had been through. None of them had forgotten what it felt like when they had first arrived. You needed a couple of days to adjust to living without the constant fear of losing your life. They remained alert and diligent but the horror of it was more bearable while living behind fences and barricades. Sometimes they felt that they had had a normal day and could push the thought to the back of their mind that humans were being hunted as food.

After Randy was up, filled with a breakfast and given a bucket to wash in, he sought out Sally inquiring as to the type of knives that were in the cafeteria. “I’d like to find three of a similar design for quick non-stop action. Needs to be a smooth handle of solid weight because lightweight knives will wobble after being thrown. Then I need to visit Morgan in the tool shed because I can throw hatchets too, hell I can throw anything with a sharp point and good balance to it. Those suckers stole my knife belt. I had everything I needed hanging off that belt.”

Sally had stood listening to him in silence and then shifted her glance to Cami who was standing off behind Randy. Cami shrugged her shoulders and made a motion with her hands to shoo them toward the kitchen. Sally turned to lead Randy away, saying, “Okay?”

That night Randy was starting to feel like a part of the group as his knowledge and information was sought during the meeting. His older brother seldom listened to his suggestions although he was admired for his strength and accuracy in knife throwing.

“I would have liked for Morgan to be here since only he, you Roxanne and you Lucky were not with us when we picked up Randy”, Gene said. He went on to tell them of Randy’s experience with Ze’s in the north and of the killing of Randy’s brother and friends. “This leads me to think that we should make some additional plans and change others. We need additional people to fortify our group, but how can we tell who to let in?”

“I’m street smart,” Cami said. “You should let me talk to them first.”

Lucky was silent, struggling to keep his past life in the past knowing that some people would think he was part of the cause of the ZA. Finally he spoke up, “I think between Cami and I that we should be the first to greet new visitors at the door. If you’re wondering why me, it’s because I was Secret Service. And no, I did not know that this was going to happen.”

At that moment the door opened and a confused Morgan stood there. “Morgan, is anything wrong?” Brandon asked.

“Uh……Ed just pulled up to the front gate………and he said he’s not leaving without his wife.”

“Wife”? Sally whispered.

Morgan’s eyes took in the group and settled on one person. “Roxanne.”

All eyes turned to Roxanne. They remained in silence as Roxanne nervously fingered the hilt of her knife. “But we were told that you arrived first,” Sally said. “Or was that a con too, Lucky?” she turned to him. “You tried to con me about Roxanne’s knife wound. Were you still at it when we first arrived here?”