Z Day is Here (19 page)

We buried Alisha in a shallow grave near the
entrance to the shelter. Jeremiah stood at the door, staring at it
as if he could kill Darcy through the door. He waited and, I am
sure, prayed she would walk out that door so he could end her life
like she ended Alisha's. He paced back and forth, screaming at the
door, and occasionally, he would turn and stare at me, as if I was
the one that killed her. I felt like everyone blamed me. I have
never felt so alone in all my life. Maybe it is my fault; after
all, I had pushed everyone into following me to the base. Maybe I
am responsible for Alisha's death.

After hours of the stares, Tonya went to talk
to Jeremiah, to calm him down a little. I could not hear what they
were saying at first, then as the conversation went on, Jeremiah's
voice got louder and more belligerent. He turned and looked
directly at me, pointed his finger towards me, and yelled in
Tonya's face, "If that bitch doesn't come out here in the next few
minutes, I will fucking kill that bastard who brought us here." At
that, I jumped up and went over to him. I was not going to let
anyone call Darcy a bitch. I didn’t care how big they were or, in
his case, how much military training he had. We got into a
screaming match for a few minutes until Mego and Tonya split us
up.

I can see there will be trouble, big trouble
very soon. This kind of hostility cannot last forever.

Cole just yelled about a group of zombies
heading our way.

I’ve got to go hide.

The looks from the others have almost become
unbearable. The only people still talking to me are Tonya and Cole.
Jeremiah has convinced the others that Darcy killed everyone in the
shelters, including Ed's family. I have no idea what to think. My
guess is that she went crazy from all the moans and—I don’t know
what you would call them except for “subliminal” messages. All I
know, though, is she is not herself in any way. Darcy is the
kindest gentlest person I know and has never even been in a fight,
until of course she stabbed Alicia to death. Maybe she just didn't
recognize me. I haven't shaved in quite a while now, and my hair is
out of control. I have been trying to contact her through the call
box but have gotten no response. I am going to assume the box is
broken.

Early this morning, after the stares and
shitty comments I had gotten from the other survivors, I told them
all to just leave me alone. No one left, though. I don't know if
they are staying because they need leadership or if they want to
see what will happen if Darcy comes out. I am not going to leave.
If I have to stay here forever, I will not leave this place without
Darcy. It has taken me this long to find her; I am not about to
leave her, not now, not ever.

The zombie sightings have been very low
today. Tonya told me she ran into a few earlier this morning while
searching for some food but nothing major. The ones from last night
were taken out pretty quickly. With every bit of anger and
frustration, Jeremiah took out three of them by himself with just a
broken piece of fence post. Ed and I took out the other two. They
remind me of roaches. As soon as you kill one or two, three or four
more take their places.

I have been busy coming up with a plan on
where to go once I get Darcy out of that shelter. There is mountain
on the outside of the city, just about twenty miles from here. The
mountain sticks out like a sore thumb, because it is the tallest
natural "structure" in the entire state. I remember Darcy and me
walking up it a few years ago with my sister and nephews. There is
only one easy way up that mountain. Every other way is too steep to
walk up, and unless the undead bastards learn to climb a mountain,
we can completely block off the path and be safe for a while. I
remember there is a huge garden located on top of the mountain that
we could use for growing vegetables, and there is plenty of
wildlife around there for hunting. We could drink the rain water
that we collect, so water would not be an issue. It's not the best
plan, but it is all I can think of right now. The only major
problem is lack of electricity. It will be like being back in the
Middle Ages all over again. Tonya and Cole have agreed to go up the
mountain with Darcy and me.

Now all I have to do is get her out of that
shelter and away from the others.

Last night, while we were eating, we were
surprised by a small group of zombies. I don't know how they got to
us without being spotted. Maybe we were all preoccupied with our
own thoughts. Jeremiah couldn't take his eyes off me. I now know
the meaning of "if looks could kill." The others looked like they
were confused about what to think. I had just opened my can of
beans when Cole jumped up and yelled, "Oh shit, behind you!"

I turned just in time to avoid having the
back of my neck turned into someone’s (or some thing’s) dinner. The
zombie lunged for me as I stood up. He fell directly face down onto
the ground. When he raised himself off the ground, his nose was
turned sideways now, clearly broken. As the zombie began getting to
his feet, Cole's friend Matthew landed a nice blow to the back of
its head with a brick. The blow didn't kill it, but it did knock it
down long enough for Mego to drive a steel beam through its skull.
Just as that one went down, three more were on us. Ed, Jeremiah,
and Shaughn were taking care of those three. As I went to assist,
another zombie ambushed me. This zombie appeared to be running! I
heard the footsteps before I saw him. That may be why I didn't
think anything about it, because it was fast, much faster than any
other zombie I had ever encountered. I guess I thought it was
someone coming to help. Maybe I wasn't thinking at all.

The zombie was running towards me so fast
that he almost tackled me. By the time I saw him, he was already on
me. As I fell back, he brought his mouth down towards my face.
Instinctively, I threw my hands up to block the bite. I caught him
just under his jaw, successfully keeping him from chewing on me.
While I was on the ground, I looked to the left to see if I could
find a weapon, anything that may help me get him off me. I looked
over long enough to see the shelter door swing open.

Darcy came running out, full speed towards my
location, carrying a sword! It was the type of sword that Marines
carry on their dress blues. As she ran towards us, sword held up in
the air, ready to deliver a rescuing death stroke to the zombie, a
single hand reached out from beside her. It grabbed her by the
hair, successfully yanking her off her feet, and she sprawled
backwards. I could hear her grunt of anguish, pain, and
frustration. She was screaming and crying.

Jeremiah was clearing the hair and scalp from
his hand from where he grabbed Darcy. He pried the sword out of her
hands. As she lay on the ground, facing up at the sky, Jeremiah
filled her line of vision with his body. I could not tell what he
was saying to her. I could just see the confusion on Darcy's face.
I wanted to be there holding her, helping her through this.
Jeremiah raised the sword over his head, ready to drive it through
her body.

I was filled with rage! With a force that
even scared me, I shoved the zombie off me and sent him flying into
the air. My adrenaline flowed as it has never done before. I saw
red. I lowered my head and ran quickly towards them. My shoulder
caught Jeremiah in his side, and by the sounds of it, I probably
broke three or four ribs. He let out a cry as he hit the ground a
few feet away. There I was, standing over Darcy. I could see her
eyes, and she could see mine. She recognized me but only for an
instant. Then her eyes glassed over, and to her, I was the enemy
once again. It was as if I were staring at a stranger.

I picked up the sword and helped Darcy to her
feet. I walked over to the zombie I kicked off and, with one quick
swipe, severed his head from his shoulders. Darcy grabbed onto me
as if I were her savior. Together, we made our way to a building
just across the way from the shelter. I invited the others to join
us but warned them not to attempt to harm Darcy in any way. I asked
them to give me one night with her before they came to the
building; I needed to try to calm her down.

After hours of crying and screaming, she
finally fell asleep, where she has been the rest of the day. She
still does not know who I am. She has, it seems, lost her mind
completely. I just hope I can bring her back at some point.

A few of the others are heading this way with
their bags. Jeremiah is not with them.

It looks like we will be heading for the
mountain soon.

Darcy slept most of today. When she was
awake, she was completely unaware of her surroundings. She had no
idea where she was or who I was. I tried to keep her calm as best I
could, though I have to admit I was very thankful when she slept. I
refused to leave her side. I know she will snap out of this. She
has to.

While I was busy taking care of Darcy, Mego,
Cole, and a few of the others went to find supplies and weapons.
While they were out, a few of the other survivors came in to check
on Darcy and find out what the plan was. It seems as if everyone
has either forgotten what she has done or has forgiven her because
of her mental state; either way, I am relieved. As much as people
asked, I refused to tell them the plan. I do not want to have to
tell everyone individually what we are going to do, and I also
don't want to have to argue with anyone about this. People can
either go with me or stay here.

Mego and the others came back about an hour
ago. They brought quite a bit of canned food, lots of bottled
water, enough weapons and ammo to arm a small country, and best of
all, they brought it all in a huge military vehicle. The truck they
brought looks like a personnel transporter, but it has plenty of
room for everyone and our supplies. With the truck already loaded,
all I have left to do is hold a survivor meeting to fill everyone
in at once and to map out our plan of action on getting there. We
are not too far away from there right now; in fact, I can see the
mountain from here. It is a strange sight to behold: a huge
mountain almost straight up on all sides except for one; that one
side has a very narrow path leading almost straight up itself, but
it is possible to hike up it, if you are fit enough...or undead. We
have lots of planning to do. I am thinking we will leave in a few
days. I want to give Darcy enough time to rest and relax before we
confuse her even more.

Someone is yelling something outside. I
cannot make out what they are saying, though. It sounds like they
are saying someone is coming. I think that is Jeremiah. Mego just
screamed at something or someone.

It is Jeremiah. He is covered in blood and
being followed by a migration of zombies as far wide as I can
see.

We are leaving NOW!

Yesterday, after Jeremiah got to us, we threw
everything and everyone into the truck and took off. Luckily, we
were able outrun the migration, though it was a little scary there
for a while. Zombies were jumping towards the back of the truck as
we drove off. Shaughn and Ed were in the back with the others,
shooting zombies as they got close to us.

All the plans are set in motion. We will get
to the mountain by the end of this evening. Once we get there, we
are going to set up the explosives around the base of the path
leading up the mountain. That should create a large enough barrier
and trench that nothing will get past. Just in case something does
get past, we are going to set up traps all along the way. We should
be okay for quite a while up there as long as we can keep from
killing each other.

Jeremiah has not said anything to anyone
since he got back with us. He has sat up front with Darcy and me
and has been staring out the window. As for Darcy, the only sounds
she makes are an occasional grunt in between hours of crying. She
has been sitting beside me for some time now, rocking back and
forth and waving her hands in front of her face, as if there were
bugs flying around her. Probably the last hour or so, she has sat
quietly with her hands in her lap just like she used to do when we
would take our long drives to the beach.

We stopped briefly to get the last few
supplies we need before we get to the mountain at a large shopping
center. Tonya and Mego took some of the other survivors to gather
clothes for the winters and summers to come. The rest of us
gathered supplies at the hardware store. We grabbed bags of seeds
and quite a bit of lumber, pretty much everything we should need to
last us a while.

As we were putting the last few items in the
truck, Darcy turned, looked me directly in the eye, and spoke to
me. She actually acknowledged who I was. She asked me for a teddy
bear to keep her company. At first I ignored it, thinking it was
another wild rant she was on, until she grabbed my arm and pulled
me to her. She raised her hand, rubbed the now thick beard on my
face, and said, "Please baby, I need something to remind me of you
once you are gone." It was Darcy again. She knew who I was. She may
not have been all there, but she seemed as though she was getting
better, more back to normal. We were done. We didn't need anything
else. But how could I say no to Darcy, my love?

Without thinking, I ran as fast as I could to
the closest toy store in the shopping complex. I ran to the stuffed
animal section. Never had I ever been this excited. Darcy was
coming back to me. I grabbed the best-looking bear I could. The
bear was dark brown with a cute smile plastered across his face and
a hard plastic nose. I held the bear up to get a better look at it
in all its stuffed glory. This was the one! I was too excited, and
I got careless.