The ZWD Trilogy (Book 1): Zombie World Dominance [The Destruction Begins] (26 page)

“All
right, if you are ready, let’s get to work. The sooner we get done, the more
quickly we can get out of this house.”

The
three of them spent the next four days scouring the house. They found weapons
and money. They found some hidden rooms in the basement that could be used to
imprison or torture people. When they found this room Zeyad had to speak up.

“Whoever
owned this house must have been a very bad man. No one has rooms like this in
their homes. It makes me want to get out of here as fast as we can. I think we
have found more than enough. It is time to bring the trailer into the garage
and get it hooked up to the truck.”

The
day before, they had found some lumber that they decided to use to build the
sides higher on the trailer. Once that was done, they decided that they would tie
a tarp over everything in the trailer once it was loaded, in order to keep
everything out of sight.

“These
last four days have been excellent for us. I don’t want to do all this work just
to have road bandits take it from us,” said Zeyad.

Whatever
they did not have loaded by sunup, they decided they would leave. “I want to
leave this house in the morning. I don’t want to stay here any longer than we have
to,” Zeyad said. “Sheref has been nagging me about getting done so we can go. I
know neither of you wants to stay here any longer than we have to, either. This
place makes me nervous.”

“I am
willing to leave tonight if you both want,” said Assem.

“I
agree that something about this house does not make me feel safe, but we have
to be smart about this,” said Zeyad. “We are going, but if we leave tonight, we
will be putting our lives at risk. People get killed being out after dark.
Either the zombies or the road bandits might kill us. Dead is dead no matter
who or what kills you. So we’ll stay here until morning. The faster we get the
truck and trailer loaded the better. Tonight we will take as much time that is
needed to get everything loaded, and we will leave at first light. The first day
of travel will be a short day for us — no more than 20 or 30 kilometers. Then
we will find another safe place with a garage in which to hide the truck and
trailer. We will rest tomorrow night. Tonight we work.”

All
three of them went out to load the items they had found into the truck and trailer.
The trailer was in one bay of the garage and the truck in the other. By early
morning, before the sun was up, they had finished loading. It felt good to be
ready to leave.

They went
into the kitchen to have quick breakfast. As they sat resting from their
night’s work, Zeyad let out a long breath. Then he said, “Gentlemen, we had a
long night. I am proud of you. We did it. Everything that needed to be loaded has
been loaded. Nothing was left behind. We can go out there, hitch up the truck
to the trailer and get the hell out of this place.” He clapped his two friends
on the back.

“We
must be careful that whoever is driving does not drift off to sleep. It will be
light in an hour, maybe two at the most. Let’s clean up; the clean clothes we
found upstairs will be nice to put on. It has been quite a while since we had
clean clothes to wear. Once we have all cleaned up, we’ll go. Let’s take, say,
a half hour to wash up and change. When you are ready, I’ll meet you back in
the garage.”

They
went upstairs to start washing up. They even shaved for the first time in
months. They each had a clean set of clothes to put on. They left their dirty,
ragged clothes that they had been wearing for so many months on the floor where
they fell. They felt so fresh with new clothes on their clean bodies. They even
found some men’s after shave to splash on.

Down
the stairs they came; new clothes, new boots, a splash of aftershave. If this
wasn’t the zombie outbreak they might well have been going to the office to
work, but today they were a world away from going to the office. It would be another
day of dealing with the zombies, of survival.

Zeyad
was the first to arrive back in the kitchen. As Assem walked in, Zeyad whistled
at him. Right behind Assem was Sheref. All three men felt elated at finally
being clean and having fresh clothing. Zeyad announced their schedule for the
day.

“What
fine gentlemen we are! Are the two of you going to work, or perhaps on a date?”
he grinned. “Did you not receive the message that today was canceled due to the
zombie apocalypse?”

All
three men laughed. “We had a nice rest. We all got a little cleaner. We even have
new clothes to wear,” said Assem. “Now, which one of you smells like a French
whorehouse? Did you know that a few drops of aftershave go a long way? I will tell
you what —don’t get too close to open flames. I sure hope the zombies don’t
like aftershave!” They laughed together some more.

“We should
take a handful of hard candies to help us stay awake,” said Zeyad. “I want to
set up driving shifts of an hour each. Nobody will drive today for more than an
hour at a stretch. I’ll put some canned peaches in a plastic container for us to
eat when we feel our energy sagging. We’re out of here in 15 minutes.”

They
finished up and got on the road. Zeyad took the first shift of driving. Assem
was soon fast asleep in the back seat and Sheref was dozing in the passenger
seat. The trailer was heavy; they did not try to set any speed records. They
would not be able to corner as well as if they didn’t have such a heavy load. However,
no matter how heavy the truck and trailer were, it was much better than
walking.

They
left Bani Mazar, driving north on the Al-Ibrahimeya Highway towards Cairo. By 1:00
PM, they had driven 32 kilometers and they arrived at Beni Suef. With another
95 kilometers to go before they reached Cairo, they decided to stay the night
in Beni Suef.

As
they started to look for a safe building for the night, they found a place that
met most of their requirements. It did not have a garage to put the truck and
trailer in, but the courtyard walls were three meters high. At that height,
they could put their truck and trailer inside and no one could see it from the outside.

However,
due to the amount of supplies they had in the truck and trailer, Zeyad decided
a night watch would still be a wise thing. They would take turns standing watch
for two hours each. They had completed checking the house. They backed the
truck and trailer inside the courtyard wall. They started locking everything
down by locking the courtyard gate.

Standing
together behind the locked gate, Zeyad told them, “Today was a great day. This
is a good place to stop for the night. Nothing went wrong. We didn’t see any
zombies or bandits, and I found a small stash of cigars. Please have one with
me to celebrate what we have done together over the last few days.”

Zeyad
passed out the cigars, and the three men lit them. They stood in the courtyard,
looking out through the small gate to the highway. They were relaxing, enjoying
their smoke. Holding his cigar, Assem said, “This is what it is all about. A
good smoke at the end of the day with good friends. I could get used to this if
nothing changes. I know it’s a pipe dream, but it’s kind of nice to dream once
in a while.”

“You’re
right, Assem,” said Zeyad. “This is a good end to the day. We have a little
more work to do before we can lie down to rest. We need to make sure that the
large gate cannot be opened from the outside, we need to make dinner, and we
need to set up our sleeping area. Okay, let’s make sure that this gate is
secure.”

“Tonight,”
said Sheref, “All we really need will be three guns, our sleeping mats, and
enough food for two meals. We can leave everything else where it is for now.
Whoever is on watch should check the truck every 15 to 20 minutes. Now that we
have these things, we don’t want to lose them.”

When
they were finished with their cigars, they gathered the things they needed for
the night and set themselves up in the house.

“Let’s
eat,” said Zeyad. “After last night, I’m worn out. We will begin our first watch
after we finish eating. I will take the first shift.”

“Zeyad,”
said Assem. “Have you been watching the traffic that is going by? It looks as
if it is coming from Cairo. It looks like everyone is leaving with everything
they own piled on top of their cars. Maybe we should have gone a little further
off the main road. I hope the road will not be this crowded in the morning.”

“Perhaps
we should stop someone to find out why everyone is on the road,” said Zeyad. “By
this time of day, they should be looking for a safe place for the night.”

“If
everyone is leaving Cairo, I would like to know why. I don’t want any surprises
tomorrow when we drive into Cairo.” Said Assem. “Come on, Zeyad, help me flag
someone down. We need to know what we will be driving into tomorrow.”

“All
right,” said Zeyad. “I will help you stop a car. But let’s choose a car that is
older. The owner will not be likely to have many government connections if they
are driving an old car. That should be safer. Sheref, I want you to stay here
by the gate with your gun ready in case we have any problems. Assem, are you
ready?”

Assem and
Zeyad walked out to the road. They chose a car to stop, an old white Toyota
sedan, with rust around the wheel wells.

They
stepped into the road to wave them down. The car came to a halt in a cloud of
dust. In the front seats were two women with what had to be their four children
in the back. Zeyad approached the car and motioned for the woman who was
driving to roll down her window.

“Good
afternoon,” Zeyad said. “My name is Zeyad and this is Assem. Where are you
coming from in such a hurry?”

“We
are coming from Cairo,” said the woman in the driver’s seat. “The zombies have
overrun the city, and everyone who has a vehicle is leaving. Our husbands left
our home to look for food over two weeks ago. We believe that both of them were
killed by zombies. They told us that they would be back in two or three days,
but they never returned. When the food ran out, and everyone else in the
neighborhood started to leave, we decided to do the same.”

The
other woman spoke up. “We honestly don’t know where to go. We are just
following the car in front of us for now. We have not eaten in the last three
days. We will run out of gas tomorrow or the next day. We are in trouble, and there
is no one we can turn to for help.”

“Ladies,
would you allow me a moment to speak with my partner, please?”

Zeyad
walked back to Assem. He put his hand on his shoulder, urging him back towards
the gate. He called to Sheref to join them.

“Sheref,
do not come out, but listen closely.... I cannot in good conscience let these two
widows drive to their deaths. When their car runs out of gas, they will not be
able to walk far before the zombies overtake them, and the zombies will be out
in less than an hour. They look so frightened. To let them go on would be the
same as killing them ourselves. We should take them in for the night to keep
them safe. What do you think?”

“I agree,”
said Sheref. “We cannot let women or children die. If there is something we can
do to help, we must do it. Have them bring their car inside the courtyard. I’ll
make sure the gate can be closed.”

Zeyad
walked back out to the car. Assem went to move their truck to make room. Sheref
unlocked the gate. Zeyad spoke to the woman who was driving.

“I’ve
talked to my partners. We would like to invite you into our safe house for the
night. We have enough food for all of you. We will have to find more sleeping mats,
as we only have three. Is that okay with you?”

“Yes,
it is,” said the woman. “Thank you so much. What do you want us to do with our
car?”

“Follow
Assem. He will open the gate for you and help you get your car off the road. Drive
into the courtyard. After that, please join us in the house to share our meal
with us.”

Assem
moved the truck forward. Zeyad guided them through the gate. Once the car was
inside the courtyard, he was able to close the gate. The women and children
followed the three men into the house.

Zeyad
was busy putting out more food. Everyone took a seat at the kitchen table. As they
prepared to eat, they all introduced themselves to one another.

“I am
Zeyad Sarraf. This is Sheref Essa, and behind him is Assem Qureshi.”

“I am
Atef Shammas,” said the woman who had been driving. “My three girls are called Nubail,
Renen, and my youngest —” she indicated a small girl tucked under her arm — “is
Teti. This is my sister, Kema Mifsud. Her daughter’s name is Hotep. As we said,
both our husbands left home two weeks ago. We believe that they were killed sometime
after that.” She began to weep. “Cairo has been overrun by the zombies. There
is nothing left. Everyone that could has left Cairo. We don’t know where to go.
Neither my sister or I have ever been this far out of Cairo. We are lost. Our
husbands did everything for us. They took such good care of our families.”

Sheref
said, “I am sorry for your losses. I was able to find other sleeping mats. They
are set up in a room for all of you. Tonight you may hear one of us walking
around. Do not be concerned; we will be keeping a night watch. We do not want
to scare you or make you feel uncomfortable. We simply feel it is wise to keep
watch for the zombies or road bandits.”