Z Day is Here (13 page)

We made our way past the Ferris wheel and
spinning rides and were on our way to the big steel coaster that
had just been opened earlier this year. Darcy and I had been
planning on coming out here to ride this big beast sometime before
the end of the year. One of the cars could be seen halfway up the
large incline. It looked like a couple of people were sitting
inside. However, their heads were slouched back, and I could
clearly see one of them was missing their arms.

As we passed the giant coaster, we walked by
a building that housed a little kiddies’ ride. Every amusement park
has this kind of ride. You ride on a boat through different "lands"
while animatronics kids sing a cute song in their native language.
When we got directly in front of the building, a group of about
eight zombies walked around the corner. We decided (without saying
a word) that we would all run inside the building to get away. We
ran through the doors and deep into the building. A long line of
boats was parked in the water, guiding us through the maze of
rooms. The animatronics kids were standing frozen in the pose they
were last in when the power went out at this building.

We bobbed and weaved through the rooms and
over the boats, steadily making our way to the exit. As we turned
one corner, the power to the entire area flashed on. The singing
children all burst to life singing their happy little songs and
dancing their happy little dances. The sudden noise was enough to
startle us all. Cole jumped back, lost his balance, and fell
directly into the water. We all turned to help him, no one noticing
the zombie that had made his way into the room with us. Just as we
pulled Cole out of the water, Dustin turned in time to be face to
face with the undead man. The zombie’s mouth came snapping down
towards Dustin's face. Out of instinct, Dustin leaned way back to
avoid the bite, but in doing so, he also fell into the water,
bringing a zombie right down on top of him. Blood began bubbling up
from under the water. We all stood back, not sure what to do. Cole
scrambled out of the water as if he were in a bed of snakes. After
what seemed like hours, Dustin came rising out of the bloody water
and the zombie came floating to the top. The zombie’s body rolled
over to reveal a deep gash in his forehead, presumably from hitting
his head on the tracks below the water. As we pulled Dustin from
the water, the zombie sprang to life, his body twitching and
writhing in the water but unable to stand. We stood and watched him
for a few minutes; Tonya began to laugh, and soon we all began
laughing at him. He looked as though he was having a seizure, but
he was fully coherent or as coherent as a zombie can be. He stared
up at us, blood flowing from his skull, looking like he would tear
us limb from limb if he could...and he would!

We began walking away from the flailing
zombie when we heard a noise behind us. We all turned to see at
least twenty zombies walking through the water straight towards us.
Without thinking, I grabbed one of the robot kids, raised it above
my head, its electrical cords hanging down, sparking and waiting
for me to throw it in the water. The zombies began moving faster
towards us, their mouths snapping in anticipation. I walked beside
the water. I imagined myself in a movie; everything went to slow
motion. My eyes on the water, head tilted down...slowly, I brought
my eyes up, looking straight through the living dead hordes coming
straight towards us. I mutter something witty and throw the
electric "bomb" into the water, waiting for the sights and sounds
of the soon-to-be-frying zombies. A split second before the
animatronic kid hit the water, the power went out! The horde
continued coming after us, never knowing what almost happened to
them. My movie moment was over. We ran fast.

We made our way to a building labeled,
"Employee's Only." This place looks like a break room for the
employees. We have decided to rest here for a while. I don't think
any zombie saw us enter here, so we should be safe, at least for
now.

Just as we were getting comfortable in the
employees’ lounge last night, we heard a crash in one of the back
rooms. We all decided to go investigate. After wandering around the
building for twenty minutes, we came across a room with a locked
door. We could hear noises coming from behind the door. I just
wanted to leave; bad things happen to people that investigate
strange noises. Dustin, Tonya, and Cole all wanted to see what it
was. Their curiosity getting the best of them, they voted and
decided to open the door. After looking around a little more, we
found a crowbar lying beside an old toolbox. I grabbed a large pipe
wrench and prepared for the worst.

Dustin put the crowbar into the door jam and
counted one, two, three . The door flew open as Dustin torqued the
crowbar. Inside the room were hundreds of costumes. We slowly
entered the room, carefully walking down the cramped aisle towards
the back. We’d only walked just a few feet into the room when a
zombie lunged out from between two costumes. The zombie looked to
be in her mid- to late-twenties. She had long blond hair that was
caked in dirt and blood. Her eyes were the normal zombie white, and
her skin color was a light blue. She was wearing one of the cartoon
characters’ outfits, minus the hat that would cover her head. The
sight was both frightening as well as a little funny. The speed at
which she moved was not funny at all. I have never seen a zombie
move as fast as she did. I really hope that is not a sign of things
to come.

She moved fast, but she didn't get very far
before Dustin's titanium crowbar came crashing down across the side
of her face. The blow was enough to knock her down, but she was
still "alive." I drove the wrench down onto her head. With my blow,
her head split open like a melon. After searching the room, we
found a letter presumably written by the girl. We took the letter
and closed the door behind us.

We decided to stay in that building one more
night. Tomorrow, I will post the letter she wrote. Tonight we are
going to rest as much as we can. Zombies that move as fast as she
did scare the hell out of me. I need to try to clear my head and
prepare for what we may face in the near future.

The girl’s note, written on the back of an
OSHA poster:

"To whoever finds this,

“I am going to die soon. I know this because
I have been bitten by one of those things. I have decided to lock
myself in this room so I cannot hurt anyone. For a long time, it
has only been my boyfriend and me. We have been surviving on
anything we could find. Since the outbreak began, we have been in
this damn theme park, hoping someone would come rescue us. Day
after day, week after week, we had been waiting for someone to come
help us. Two weeks ago, my boyfriend Shaughn went for help; he
never came back.

“I went looking for food a few days ago and
came across a group of those things. I fought them off as much as I
could, but one of them bit me on my leg. I got away, but I know
what happens when you get bitten. I saw my family change right
before my eyes. Now I guess I am going to be joining them. I don't
know how long I have left.

“It has been two days since I got bitten. I
feel really bad. My mouth is so dry, and my stomach feels like it
is being ripped apart from the inside. My head has never hurt so
bad, either. I am so cold. I am going to put on this stupid animal
suit. Hopefully, it will help warm me up a little.

“I don't know how much more I am going to be
able to write. My hands are cramping up so bad. I have been
vomiting all night and all day, even though nothing comes up except
for some blood every now and then. I never thought it would end
like this. I was going to be a lawyer. I miss Shaughn.

So cold. So sick. Won’t last much longer.
Things are getting dark.

“I hear people in the other room. I must be
hallucinating now. I think I'm going to sleep for a little bit
now."

She must have changed right after we arrived.
Poor girl. We will never know her name.

We were awoken early this morning by the
sounds of explosions in the city.  The explosions rocked the
walls and knocked things over throughout the room we were in. It
felt like a big earthquake that just would not end. I ran over to
the door to see if I could see anything going on outside. When I
looked outside, large pillars of black smoke were rising from the
heart of the city. From behind the building flew five jets directly
towards the city. Once they were right at the edge of the city,
they all let their rockets fly. Three large buildings were
destroyed within seconds! Five more jets roared above us, heading
in the same direction.

Tonya let out a yelp of happiness. She yanked
Cole up and began hugging him. Dustin patted me on the back. “It’s
just about over, buddy!” he kept saying to me. A great relief swept
over me; it will all be over soon. This is the first I had seen the
military since all this began. The military to the rescue! I don’t
know why, but I feel like everything is going to be okay now. Those
zombies are fucked now! The U.S. military, the best the world has
ever known, is about to open up all hell on them.

We sat back and watched them destroy the city
I had once loved. All day long, they have been bombing the city.
It’s the biggest fireworks display I have ever seen. Every two of
three minutes, five more jets come in to drop their payload on the
city. Tonya made a large sign on the roof so one of the jets will
know there are survivors on the ground. I am sure they will be
heading this way to come get us.

From up on the roof, we have been laughing at
the zombies we feared the past couple of months. These poor
bastards have no idea what is going to happen to them. My bet is
that in a day or two, the ground troops will sweep through here,
blasting any undead creature they see. They will rescue us, taking
us to their secure base. Yeah, everything is going to be just fine.
Hahaha! I bet Darcy is sitting at the base now, waiting for me to
arrive. I know she isn’t expecting me, but I know she will be so
surprised seeing me step off the military helicopter. We have made
it! We have survived! Things are definitely going to get
better.

The explosions are still going on. No one
slept much last night due to the light show. Every few minutes,
another wave of attacks would come bursting overhead. It looks like
the planes are getting closer to us, though. I am sure they have
seen us by now. Today, a helicopter flew really close to us; I
could see them looking down at us. We have been celebrating most of
the afternoon. Every time a bomb goes off, we cheer. Some zombies
have made their way to our location. I'm not sure how many there
are, but we're not worried. The ground troops will surely come get
us very soon. Ah! Even as I am writing this, I see three
helicopters making their way towards us. This could be it! This
could be the day we are rescued!!

The helicopters are circling our position.
They have waved at us! We are saved!

OH CHRIST! They are shooting at us! Dustin
has been grazed with a bullet. Why? Why would they do this to us?
We are survivors. I have to get somewhere safer than this place.
The bullets are coming through the ceiling.

Things have gone from bad to worse. Dustin is
hurt pretty badly. The bullet ripped through his right arm. We
bandaged him up with some old rags we found laying around in the
costume room. He is hurt, but I think he will be fine. None of us
knows what is going on. The military is supposed to be on our side!
They are supposed to be here helping us!

We made our way out of the building last
night, moving quickly over the ripped apart bodies of the zombies.
As we stepped over the bodies, they were still moving, trying in
vain to bite us as we passed. It was hard to see, but I remember
kicking a severed head across the street like a soccer ball. Cole
slipped on a pile of intestines. As he was getting up, the body
attached to the intestines began making its way towards him. All
that was left of the body was the upper torso and a few organs.
Cole jumped up, kicked the half zombie in the teeth, and leaped
over him. We all ran as fast as we could the rest of the way
through the theme park.

As we got to the far end, we helped each
other over the fence and down into a sewage drain. We followed the
drain as far as we could until we came to an opening directly in
front of a large subdivision. Just as we emerged from the drain
tube, two jets unloaded their ammo on the theme park, reducing it
to a pile of burning rubble, ash, and twisted metal.

We ran towards the nearest house to catch our
breath. As we turned the corner to move towards the front of the
house, we could now see the city in all its burning glory. The
sight of the city is more than I can describe. I remember seeing a
movie when I was a kid about what a town looks like after a nuclear
war; this was worse, much worse. The sorties the military flew on
their bombing runs had taken its toll on the city. At one time,
there were so many skyscrapers, you could not see the sky. Now,
where we are, just over a mile away from downtown, we can see no
skyscrapers. The whole area is covered by smoke and fire.

We all sat with our backs against the front
wall of one of the houses. No one said anything. We all just sat
and watched the city burn. I felt sick. The zombies want to eat us,
the military wants to kill us, and the city is a desolate
wasteland. Just when I was beginning to think things couldn't get
any worse, it began to rain.