Zomb Book 2, Chapter 3

(Suspense-esque) Jackson's team seek out a hideout after discovering that the city has been quarantined now that the zombie infection has spread to northern Virginia.

“This is the very essence of bullshit,” Aaron commented.

“We’re just going to have to manage,” Jackson replied. “Chances are that since the city’s quarantined, we need to find another hideout until we can escape the city.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m getting sick of hiding,” Jessie retorted. “Let’s grab some guns and shoot our way back out. The ramp isn’t that far away.”

“Yeah, and neither are the zombies,” Sarah commented.

“Why not just go and find out?” Jessie asked.

“Because we need to restock on resources,” Jackson told her. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to run into some more zombies, and chances are they’ll exhaust all of our remaining resources.”

“What’s with you and chances?” Jessie asked. “If there’s a chance we could die, there’s also a chance we could live.”

“Not if the chance of death is a hundred percent,” Jackson corrected her. “We don’t have time for this Jessie. Let’s go.” Jackson headed away from Franco Plaza and then Sarah, Derek, and Aaron followed. Jessie sighed. Hiding was not her ideal method of survival. She knew she had the skills and the perseverance to take some on. She had survived for over a week with just a scratch and two more didn’t seem to be turning her into a zombie at all.

But she gave in and followed them as well, scoping out the streets as she put away her knife and readied her gun. She sped up to be beside Aaron, who was deliberately getting as close to Derek as he could. She rolled her eyes, still a bit jealous of Derek.

“Where to?” Sarah asked.

“Well, if we find a still-standing home that looks abandoned and clear out any zombies, we should be good,” Jackson replied. “Derek, do you remember where the residential areas are?”

“Well right now, we’re in what’s called the Growth,” said Derek. “Remember like ten years ago when they expanded the town into a city? The only houses in this area were the ones we passed on the way here. We need to find Pennsylvania Avenue. That’s the only one left.”

“Great,” said Jackson. “Lead the way.”

“I’ll follow support,” said Aaron.

“No Aaron, I need you and Sarah behind me at all times if possible,” Jackson told him. Aaron wanted to say something, but decided not to. It was because of Jackson that they hadn’t gotten devoured by zombies back in Laconia, so he just had to keep his own ideas to himself until they were needed. But he felt so anxious with Derek so far away from him, worried that something bad would happen.

“Hey Aaron,” said Jessie.

“Hey,” he replied. “What is it?”

“Nothing, just saying hi,” Jessie replied with a sort of smile.

“Oh, well hi Jessie,” said Aaron.

“Hi there Aaron,” she said back, checking him out. Aaron shook his head at her and continued looking left and right for signs of anything, especially zombies. He wasn’t particularly thrilled that Jessie still had a crush on him, even though he still had a crush on Derek.

The walk was miserable and uneventful. Derek had consumed about three bottles of water across a distance of ten miles while the rest had only needed one. Jackson was still a little wary of keeping Derek around, even if he was the only one who knew his way around northern Virginia. Derek was the one who ate most of the food because he needed more. Jackson didn’t want to upset anyone, but at the same time, Derek didn’t provide enough for the group to be eating the most.

The good news was that a couple more miles later, they began to see what looked like a neighborhood. But some of the houses they passed were burned down. Others had been completely trashed. Derek’s face had become less and less hopeful. Jackson was starting to doubt that there were places they could hide at all. But even if they had to find a cave or go underground, Jackson was determined to find a hideout of any kind by any means necessary. He knew when to lay low and when to strike. That was his best quality.

“Nothing here,” Jackson observed. “So the zombies got everybody here?”

“It looks like it,” Sarah responded. “Maybe we can just take one of the nicer-looking houses and raid it.”

“Well, do you see one?” Jackson asked.

“There was that pink one as we came in,” said Sarah.

“I don’t think I noticed anything pink,” said Jackson. “Show us Sarah. Derek, you get behind me.” Derek nodded and swapped places with Sarah, who led the others down two blocks and then turned onto Seventh Street. They stopped at the first house. It was actually white, but the window panes and the roof were a bright magenta color. Jackson gave it a sweeping glance.

“Well?” Sarah asked.

“It looks nice,” said Jackson. “Let’s get a peek inside.”

Jackson headed towards the house first. He moved slowly and methodically towards the porch. Jessie and Sarah came second. Then Derek and Aaron followed behind them, protecting the rear. Jackson kicked the door down, unconcerned of who was in there. If there were people there, they would just help them fix the door. If there were zombies, then they’d have to kill them anyways.

“Boring house,” Jessie commented. But Jackson shushed her. They had to listen out for zombies. The noisiness of the door was enough; if there were zombies in the house, they would surely be making their way to the front door. Jackson signaled everyone to spread out, since the house was too small for everyone to be going in the same direction. But everyone knew to stay in pairs. Jessie paired with Sarah and headed upstairs. Derek paired with Aaron and headed down to the basement. Jackson kept his eyes on the floor he was already on, checking doors and rooms with caution.

There was the balcony door, which was obviously clear. There was the door that led to the backyard, which was clear. And there were the seven closets, all of which were clear. Jackson sighed in relief. He began to let his eyes wander. The house didn’t look as bad as Jessie made it seem. Hardly anything had been destroyed. It was almost like the owners abandoned it before the zombies attacked. And so with his floor clear, he started checking stuff out in particular, like the kitchen cupboards and the living room drawers. The TV noticeably didn’t work, but he wouldn’t have tested it anyways, figuring that it would cause too much noise.

Almost as much noise as he had heard a split-second later. He dropped the remote he was examining, locating the source of the sound to be coming from downstairs. He quickly opened the door to the basement and, seconds later, he could hear Jessie and Sarah making their way down the stairs. He dashed down the basement stairs as fast as he could, where he heard several gunshots. When he got down there, Derek was on the ground, his gun by the foot of the stairs, and Aaron was shooting at numerous zombies. Jackson took the AK47 off his waist and shot at some zombies too. Aaron quickly turned around to see Jackson, smirking at him.

“You’re a lifesaver,” he called. “I could have died.”

“We’re a team,” Jackson replied. “We need each other.”

“Looks like I need you more than you need me,” Aaron said with a grin.

“That ain’t true,” Jackson said back. “Now let’s see if there are any more zombies down here.” By this point, Sarah and Jessie were making their way down the stairs as well. Derek finally got up, looking defeated. “Cheer up, Derek.” Derek gave a half-smile, but Jackson gave him a pat on the back.

“How is it up there?” Aaron asked the girls.

“Clear,” they replied. “Well, we didn’t exactly get to check the attic.”

“We’ll do that together,” said Jackson. “It wouldn’t take long otherwise, so it should be a pinch with all five of us.”

“Will there actually be enough room?” Jessie asked.

“Of course,” Jackson replied. “The attic is as wide and long as the house. At least it should be. Aaron, any unchecked spots?” Aaron pointed at a wall. Jackson raised an eyebrow. Aaron gestured him to follow. He took his gun and shot at the wall until a person-and-a-half-sized chunk of the wall came crumbling down.

“How’d you know that was there?” Sarah asked.

“I knocked on it,” said Aaron. “I’ve knocked on all the walls down here. We can’t trust what’s just behind a bunch of doors. These things could be in the walls too.”

“But how would they have gotten there?” asked Jessie.

“The vents,” he answered. “Maybe they even dug a hole from outside. It’s all possible. One came bursting out of the wall when we thought it was all safe. I stabbed it in the head over there.” He pointed at the small washing machine in the corner, where a knife had pinned a zombie’s head to the washing machine’s door.

“You realize we were going to need that right?” asked Sarah.

“Not if we’re actually finding Franco like we planned,” Aaron replied.

“It might take days to restock on supplies,” Jackson told him. “Make sure that zombie is dead and then get rid of it. Burn it if you have to.” Aaron nodded and had Derek help him. Aaron dislodged the zombie from the washing machine, smashing its head in with his foot and then cleaning his knife off with a hand towel above the washing machine.

Jackson meanwhile explored the hole Aaron had made while Jessie spotted the one Aaron was talking about and took Sarah through it to explore it. Jackson didn’t see much. There was a hole in the ceiling behind the wall, which appeared to be one of the vents. Aaron had been right. Jackson backed out of the hole and turned around. He had almost expected someone or something to be right behind him, but there was nothing. He then jumped at the sound of a gunshot.

Sarah was the first out of the small hole that had been made in the floor and then came Jessie, who fired another gunshot before exiting the hole and then staring down into it. Jackson quickly joined the girls and then so did Aaron and Derek after tossing the zombie into another yard and then sliding back through the basement window.

“Looks like there’s more to worry about than the walls,” Jackson commented.

“What if we seal off the basement door?” Sarah suggested. “That way they’re trapped.”

“Sorry, but there’s still vents down here,” Jackson told her. “We’re going to have to clear it out eventually or risk getting bit at night. Plus if they can dig through the ground under a house, they can bust through wood, no matter how hard.”

Suddenly, they felt a rumble. Jessie looked under her feet. Everyone else was looking all around. Then, they felt it a second time. Jessie took a few steps back. Derek had then noticed where the rumbling was coming from. Aaron looked right at Derek.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“I think the house is caving in,” said Derek.

“I think so too,” Jessie agreed.

“How can you tell?” Sarah asked. But then their attention was caught by the falling wall beside them, the one Aaron put a hole in. But not just that had took them by surprise. Seconds later, water began spurting out of random places through the wall behind the washing machine. They all took another look around the basement and jumped at the occurrence of another rumble, and then realized that they needed to get out of the house as quickly as they could.

They raced up the stairs, making it out of the basement with only seconds to spare. But the ground floor was starting to fall apart as well. Derek and Jackson both nearly fell through holes that appeared along the floor. They had to bounce their way across the hole-forming wooden floor, but then a large gap stretched right at the doorway, swallowing the door with it. Only Aaron and Jessie had made it past before it had formed.

“We can’t make it,” said Sarah.

“We have to go upstairs,” Derek suggested. “Jump out of the window.”

“Upstairs is probably as trashed as downstairs,” Jackson told him.

“You guys can make it,” said Aaron. But Jackson was looking for a ladder or something long enough to safely get them across. He sprinted across holes and falling structures and beams were he dragged a fallen door all the way back to the gap and stood it up and let it fall. Aaron caught it. Jessie helped him stabilize it.

“Derek, you go first,” said Jackson.

“Why me?” he asked.

“Because you’re the lightest,” Jackson replied, holding down the door on his end. “You aren’t putting a bunch of weight on it like me. Derek sighed. He dashed across the door, jumping astonishingly over his crouched teammates. They nearly dropped the door. “Keep it steady.”

“Wait, who’s going to hold the door down for the last person?” Sarah asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jackson told her. “Just go.” She hesitantly walked across the door, which began to crack. “Go faster Sarah.” She walked a little faster, turning sideways to squeeze between Aaron and Jessie. As soon as Sarah was safe, Jackson looked around, spotting a dresser he could use. But the house was seconds away from falling apart completely, so he ran as fast as he could.

But he fell, predictably.

The door had slipped under his quick feet and was falling with him. He found himself falling diagonally towards the wall ahead, but only because his arm had been caught by Aaron, whose legs were being held down. Jackson watched the rest of the house gradually fall down into a pile of devastation. He was hit by a few pieces of stray material.

“You alright?” Aaron asked.

“Yeah,” he replied. “Looks like I need you more than you need me.” Aaron chuckled.

“Piss off,” he said with a wide grin. “I was giving you a compliment.” He shook his head. “Hey Jessie, Derek, pull me up.” But then the ground below Aaron gave in and Aaron began to fall too. He felt Jessie and Derek’s hands press down harder. He wasn’t sure if he would make it, especially after being able to see their faces as he started descending. But something was saving all of them. Or someone.

“It’s ok,” said Jessie. “Sarah’s got us.”

“She’s not that strong,” Aaron replied. “How’s she carrying all of us?”

“Her feet are around the porch railing,” Derek told him.

“It’s not attached to anything anymore,” said Aaron. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s still nailed to the ground idiot,” Jessie retorted. “Stop complaining. Hey Sarah, can you pull us up?”

“I can’t,” she replied. “Jackson’s going to have climb up.”

“She said you have to climb up,” Aaron told Jackson.

“I heard her,” Jackson replied. “Keep completely still.”

“I know,” Aaron replied. Jackson was a bit hesitant, more worried about having to climb up either Derek, who had a terrible enough grip, or Jessie, who would drop Aaron if she lost her grip. But he trusted Jessie. So he decided to climb up her. Everyone besides Aaron and Jackson had to tighten their own grip as much as they could, while Jackson tried his best not to cause anyone to fall.

He quickly managed to get to the surface, where he helped Sarah pull up the others. It was definitely a close call. But they had survived, as usual. They all lay on the ground to catch their breath. Sarah began to ache, especially her knees. But she toughed it out. She was the first to stand after five minutes of idle rest.

“Well, that was exciting,” she said sarcastically.

“Funny,” Jessie replied. “You were in the least danger.”

“She’s right,” Aaron agreed. Jessie smiled at him.

“Let’s be grateful that none of us died or fell into that ditch,” said Jackson.

“You know,” Aaron said getting up with everyone else and then approaching the ditch, “that hole is loads bigger than it should be. D’you see that?”

“Yeah,” Jackson replied. “It’s because the zombies must have been digging tunnels underneath the house. That’s how most of them got in.”

“And where’d the dirt go?” Jessie asked. “They can’t dig a tunnel without throwing the dirt above ground.” Jackson shook his head.

“Not true,” he replied. “They may have moistened the dirt and pushed it against the solid dirt, and, considering what their saliva can do, it’s not impossible.” Jessie looked away, unable to argue against it.

“Ok, so where to now?” Derek asked

“There,” Sarah answered. They all turned in her direction and then looked in the direction she was pointing. They couldn’t see anything but trees and tall buildings in the distance. Everything else appeared to be just road.

“I don’t see anything,” Jessie commented. Aaron and Derek nodded.

“What are we supposed to be seeing?” asked Jackson.

“That mansion, way over there,” Sarah clarified. They all looked again. But they couldn’t see it. “You all seriously don’t see it?” They all nodded. “It’s magenta and it’s like three stories tall. It’s behind the bushes.”

“Do you have a new eye for girly colors Sarah?” Aaron asked.

“Do you want a slap to the face?” she asked.

“I’m just saying,” Aaron replied.

“Well no one asked you so shut up,” Sarah shot.

“Aaron, Sarah, stop it,” Jackson demanded. “Sarah, we don’t see a mansion.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll lead the way again,” said Sarah with a sigh. Jackson shrugged and followed Sarah.

“Aaron, get behind me,” Jackson ordered. Aaron shook his head and did as told. He was hoping to be behind Derek; however, to his surprise, Derek had chosen to walk behind him. Aaron glanced behind him, where it appeared as if Derek wanted to say something. Aaron turned his head to look at Derek, gesturing him to speak.

“Sorry about the basement,” Derek apologized.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Aaron. “It’s not your fault. You’ve just got to get better at using that gun of yours.” Aaron smiled and then faced forward again, glancing left and right. He peered around Jackson, wary of where Sarah was about to lead them next. They had traveled back down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the Growth, Derek taking another bottle of water from out of the backpack he was carrying.

A white van unexpectedly burst through the house right beside them and nearly took out Sarah and Jackson’s heads. They had managed to duck in time, gaping at the airborne vehicle as it landed roughly on the ground and lost one of its side mirrors to a tree. It had gone straight through a fence before it had come to a complete stop. Everyone exchanged looks before deciding to find out the driver’s identity.

They all kept their guns at the ready. There was no telling what kind of maniac they would find at the wheel of the van. It probably belonged to some old guy who had been trying to get away from zombies. But they couldn’t be sure. It literally could have been anyone, even a teenage girl. But in fact, it was a teenage boy who looked terrified out of his mind as Jackson and his team approached the van.

“Don’t shoot!” he cried.

“Relax,” Jackson reassured him. “We aren’t going to shoot you.”

“Although we should,” Jessie added. The boy gasped frightfully.

“Stop scaring him,” Jackson ordered. “He’s going to help us, since he did nearly kill us.” The boy looked away guiltily. “Do you know anything about a magenta-colored mansion around here?” He shook his head.

“The only mansion in the city is the Jefferson Mansion,” the boy replied.

“Where is it?” Jackson asked. He pointed in the same direction Sarah had. Jackson looked at Sarah with a convinced face. “Take us there.” The boy nodded. “What is that, a six-seater?” The boy nodded again. “Let’s go see if this mansion is worth checking out.”

“But,” argued the boy, “they aren’t just going to let you in.”

“If there are still people there,” Jackson replied, “we’ll just kindly ask them to invite us in. Chances are, the zombies already got them.” The boy seemed convinced enough. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. He unlocked his doors and Jackson and his team filled in the car.

Despite having crashed through a house and lost its mirror to a tree, the car ran as smoothly as possible. Jackson was in the passenger seat. Sarah and Aaron were right behind them. Jessie and Derek were in the back, looking out the back window. Jackson turned on the radio, even though he knew it didn’t work.

“I don’t suppose you have a CD you can pop into there?” Jackson asked. The boy shook his head. “You drive without music?” He nodded.

“I can’t focus with music playing,” he told Jackson. “When my dad gave me the car, he took out everything; the CDs, the bobblehead, the cupholders. He didn’t want me distracted by anything.”

“I think a missing piece of your car would be a distraction by itself,” Jackson said. “Plus I don’t understand why music is a distraction if you aren’t listening to it like listening to it.” The boy awkwardly smiled. Aaron and Sarah exchanged glances.

“I have a question,” said Aaron. “Why haven’t you bothered to clean your windows since the American civil war?” Jackson looked around. The driver window was the only one winded down and all the others were covered in something that looked like dyed vomit. It could have been zombie saliva, but it was too dried for Jackson to be sure.

The boy wasn’t sure whether or not to answer the question.

“Ignore him,” Jackson said. “He’s just making fun of you.” He looked out the front window, which was hardly transparent. Whatever someone had attempted to wash off was extremely persistent and had probably mixed with whatever kind of water, soapy or not, was used to wash it. But Jackson could vaguely still see things out of the window. He supposed it was much more visible on the driver’s side.

While Aaron was still complaining to Sarah about the window quality and Derek and Jessie were making small talk, Jackson decided to try and get to know the boy, figuring he was just an innocent kid who was forced into survival mode, with all the zombies everywhere. He probably just needed protection.

“I’m Jackson, by the way,” he introduced himself. “You?”

“Uh, Dylan,” he answered.

“Hmm, I had a friend named Dylan,” said Jackson.

“Cool,” Dylan replied. “What happened to him?”

“She moved,” Jackson answered.

“Oh,” Dylan replied. “I hope she’s still alive.”

“Doubt it,” said Jackson. “But if she is, she’ll probably die soon. These zombies are relentless.”

“You can say that again,” said Dylan, nodding.

“You’re not much of a conversation-kind of guy are you?” Jackson asked.

“Well, not really,” Dylan answered.

“That’s ok,” Jackson replied. “I don’t really like to talk either, but I have to. I have to get to know the people I encounter because I have to be able to trust them and make them trust me. What happened to your family?”

“Zombies,” Dylan answered. “Mom came home a zombie and got my sisters. Dad told me to take the car and run away. I couldn’t at first, but then mom bit dad and dad turn him into a zombie, and then I knew I had no choice.”

“Sounds normal,” Jackson replied. “It still sucks though. Have you met anyone else before us?” He nodded.

“A boy from high school,” he answered. “I didn’t know him that well, but I did have a crush on him.” Jackson noticed how much attention both Aaron and Sarah were now paying. “We went around stealing stuff from stores. It was great. I think he liked me back, but I never found out. One day, we robbed a store and then a bunch of zombies came into it and chased us out the back. I went out first because I was smaller. He was almost out but then the zombies got him and chewed him up and I ran away crying and nearly fell into a manhole because I couldn’t really see anything. And ever since, I’ve been driving from city to city, trying to escape them.”

“Hey, why are you slowing down?” Jessie asked from the back.

“Red light,” Dylan answered.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, there is a zombie outbreak going on,” Aaron told him. “You�"”

Dylan was yanked out of the driver’s seat. Jackson whipped out his handgun and took off his seatbelt to get near the driver’s side window. The zombies startled him but Jackson dodged their attacks and shot both of them with one bullet. He stuck his head out of the window. They appeared to be the only zombies around.

His gun was knocked out of his hand by a zombie above, unexpectedly, but Jackson broke the zombie’s jaw with a clean punch, making it fall off the roof of the car and on to the ground, where it slowly got back up. He stuck his hand out at Sarah, who gave him her gun. Jackson shot the zombie straight through the head. It was dead.

But then Jackson noticed Dylan, who was getting up from the ground. He had more than just scratches. His entire arm had been clawed into. Jackson took a few deep breaths before getting out of the car and holding Dylan at gunpoint. His eyes widened.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m sorry Dylan, but look at your arm,” Jackson told him. Dylan didn’t want to do it. He refused to accept the fact that he had been attacked. “Look at it!” He glanced at his bloodied arm, glanced at the ground, and then back at Jackson.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” said Dylan.

“You know it does,” Jackson replied. “I’m sorry. I have to.”

“You don’t have to,” Dylan replied. “I’ll leave. You can take the van. I don’t want it anymore. Just don’t kill me.” Jackson looked at him sympathetically. “Please…” Jackson shook his head.

“You don’t want to become one of these things,” said Jackson. “It killed your crush, remember?” Dylan looked away. “You really want to be one of these things?” Dylan shook his head.

 “But I don’t want to die,” Dylan argued. “I can’t die. I’m not ready.”

“It’s ok,” Jackson told him. “You’ll go to the afterlife and you won’t even remember any of this. I can promise you that much.” Dylan shook his head. “Trust me.”

“I can’t,” said Dylan. He started to run away, but Jackson shot him through the neck. Jackson looked away. It was an intensely sickening thing to have to do to a young boy, but one less zombie could have been the difference between life and death for the rest of the world. Jackson hung his head for a moment, slowly trying to clear out the remorse in his heart. The times were definitely getting harder. Dylan didn’t seem fit for the world anyways. Jackson believed he would have been better off in another world.

“You alright?” Sarah asked, poking her head out of the driver’s side window. Jackson nodded.

“Let’s go,” he said. “I see the mansion anyways.”

He got in the van and sped off, leaving the dead boy behind, free of the zombie-infested world. The van was silent the whole way there. No tears were shed; no words were spoken. There was just a spiraling jumble of awkwardness and melancholy. Jackson winded the window back up, seeing a disgusting amount of dried blood on it.

The rest of the ride was about ten minutes long. Jackson parked the van on the lawn of the luxurious property. It looked like something the president would live in. Everyone slowly got out of the van, still shaken from the Dylan incident. But then they became a little intimidated by the imposing appearance of the mansion itself, realizing how small they were compared to it.

The mansion was mostly brick red, while the ajar front doors were a rusty brown color and were barely hanging on. The group approached it with apprehension. Naturally, Jackson entered first. Aaron was right behind him, followed by Jessie, Derek, and then Sarah. They were all amazed at how it looked inside. Despite the size, the inside of the mansion had a rather simple design. But they realized how little time they had. If the mansion came tumbling down like the previous house, they were doomed. They secured the foyer as quickly as they could. None of the doors inside were open except for one on the third floor. Jackson noiselessly pointed it out to his teammates and led them the way there by his own intuition.

The mansion seemed to get weirder and weirder by the second. Medieval suits of armor lined a pink and purple hallway. A few pictures of a small little girl were cracked and hung crooked on the wall. One fell as they passed it by, startling Derek. Paint seemed to be starting to peel, one of the vents was busted open, and Sarah almost tripped over one of the floorboards. The mansion seemed more like a deathtrap. But they kept moving forward, listening for any noise of any kind. As they cautiously crept up the stairs to the third floor, they made sure not to make any noise of their own.

The third floor seemed to be the safest part of the mansion judged solely on appearance. But that would turn out to be a mistake. As they continued through the third floor, navigating the mazy hallways, Derek easily fell through the floor, saved by the carpet alone, which, at a certain point, could not pass through the hole along with Derek. But then the problem was, no one could get Derek out.

And then the problem seemed to worsen. Someone else was in the mansion with them. And they were holding them at gunpoint. A girl and two guys, none of them seeming to be over the age of twenty. But they looked like they meant business, as well as they could at least. But the girl looked just a little familiar; none of them could figure out where they had seen her.

“We don’t have anything,” said the girl. “What do you want?”

“A hideout, if you could spare us one,” Jackson replied.

“Sorry,” she replied apathetically. “We can’t. We don’t have the space.” Aaron chuckled.

“Seriously?” he replied disdainfully. “Three floors and about a hundred doors and you don’t have space? You take us for a bunch of idiots?”

“As far as we’re concerned, you’re a bunch of intruders,” she retorted, “so get out!” She firmly gripped her gun. Aaron chuckled again. “What’s funny now?”

“Do you three even know how to shoot a gun?” he asked derisively.

“Do you want to find out?” she shot back.

“Look,” said Jackson to his teammates. “Obviously she doesn’t have any space. I guess Dylan was right. We’re just going to have to find an actual abandoned house and clear it out. Let’s go.”

“Wait, what do you mean clear it out?” the girl asked. Jackson paused for a second, observing her changed demeanor. He realized just how much she didn’t know and could tell just how long she and her friends had been hiding.

“Don’t you know what’s going on out there?” Jackson asked. She raised her eyebrows. “The city’s infected.”

“With what?” she asked.

“An undead parasitic viral strain,” Jackson answered her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.

“Zombies, you idiot!” Aaron shot. She gave him a look of disbelief.

“He’s not lying,” Jackson told her. “Take a look out the window. You see that neighborhood way over there.” Tessa approached the window, following Jackson’s finger. “Notice anything?” She shook her head. “Look closer. It’s the middle of the day on a weekend and ain’t no cars out, no animals on any of the farms, and all of the houses are destroyed to some degree. You didn’t notice that?”

“Why do I get the feeling that this is a prank?” she asked with a frown.

“It’s not,” Jackson replied. “The whole city has been quarantined. The infection here is spreading faster than anywhere else because the people don’t got anywhere to run to. Nobody can get in or out. We just need a way to stop the infection here before it spreads.”

“So there are zombies out there and none of them has come in here,” Tessa questioned.

“Well I wouldn’t say that,” Jackson replied. “But by the looks of things downstairs, they only made it to that purple and pink hallway. I don’t know why the zombies haven’t come up here, but we wouldn’t be armed like this if we were lying. Food, guns, maps, flashlights, everything. You can search our stuff if you want.”

“Are you serious?” Aaron asked.

“What do we have to hide?” Jackson asked back. Aaron had no answer. The girl looked at Jackson and then Aaron and then the backpacks Jessie and Derek were carrying and then back at Jackson. Her suspicions seemed to have alleviated a bit.

“So, what are you guys planning to do with all of these zombies on the loose?” she asked, still unconvinced.

“We just need a place to restock on supplies before we find a guy named Justin Franco,” Jackson answered. “If anybody has a way to cure the infection, it’s him, supposedly.” Aaron gave Jackson a look.

“Where is he?” the girl asked.

“Somewhere in Maryland,” Jackson replied. “He was last seen in Rockville.”

“Oh,” she replied. “So all you need is a place to stay for a little while?” Jackson nodded. “And you just want to stock up on supplies?” Jackson nodded again. “Well alright then. I’m sorry about all that. It’s just, my father left me in charge before he left, but never came back. The government’s been sending me food and stuff in guise of my father, but I know it’s not him.”

“Wait, you three are related?” Aaron asked, noticing that one guy was black and the other one was blonde but looked nothing like the girl. She shook her head.

“Of course not,” she replied. “These are my friends Craig and Eric. And I’m Tessa. Craig’s mother never came home either, so he’s been here for a couple of months, and Eric’s been living with me and my father for about a year. Our parents knew each other.”

“So what exactly does your father do?” Sarah asked. “Is he a spy?” Tessa shook her head.

“He’s one of the senators of Virginia,” Tessa answered. “He used to be a criminal lawyer.”

“No wonder you live here,” Sarah commented.

“How long has your father been gone?” Jackson asked.

“A month and a half,” Tessa said, looking down at the floor. “Oh, your friend’s still stuck in the floor. We should probably help him.” Jackson and Aaron immediately looked behind them, where Derek tried to look as innocent as possible. Jackson and Aaron both grabbed an arm and pulled as hard as they could, but he was still stuck.

“No dice,” said Aaron.

“It’s because you have to do this first,” said Tessa. “Craig, hop down to the second floor.” Aaron glanced over the nearest rail. The jump was at least a story and a half high. But Craig did it without question and landed neatly on the floor. He stood up and gave Tessa a thumbs-up. Tessa then proceeded to stomp on the carpet around Derek. He tried to watch her as she was doing this, though seconds after she stopped, he fell straight down along with the carpet, but sorted of rolled to the right as the carpet was unable to take the loveseat sitting on top of it with it. Craig caught him. Everyone was peering over the guard rail by this point, though Tessa and Eric were the only ones not looking on with anxiety or awe.

“Looks like you three have some skills,” Aaron commented.

“Of course,” said Tessa. “Craig does karate and parkour. Me and Eric took a self-defense class from the government.”

“The advantages of being important,” Aaron mumbled.

“Aaron, stop it,” Sarah replied. “There’s no need to be a dickhead.”

“Sorry,” he said insincerely.

“It’s fine,” said Tessa. “I’ll show you guys to your rooms. If you need us, we’ll be in there.” She pointed to the room with the open door. She then led Jackson and his team downstairs to the second floor while Eric leaned against the guard rail and Craig waited for Tessa. “So who are you all?”

“I’m Jackson,” he introduced himself. “That’s Sarah, that’s Aaron, that’s Jessie, and that’s Derek.”

“A lot of names to remember,” said Tessa with a chuckle. “But I’ll get used to it. Sorry if I don’t remember your name.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Jackson replied.

Tessa smiled a bit as she sauntered down the stairs and then turned the corner where she led them down a dimly-lit hall and stopped at the end of the hall. She opened the three doors at the end on the left side of the hall.

“We get a lot of guests, so we have a lot of bedrooms,” Tessa explained. She peered inside the door closest to the adjacent wall. “This is the only queen sized bed. The other two only have twin-sized ones.”

“You mean two people have to sleep together in a twin-sized bed?” Aaron asked.

“Yeah, unless, someone is ok with not sleeping in a bed,” Tessa answered.

“I don’t mind,” Sarah volunteered.

“I’m not letting you sleep on the floor Sarah,” Aaron told her. Sarah rolled her eyes.

“I’ll do it,” said Jackson. “I’d like to keep an eye on the front door anyways. If you wouldn’t mind me moving that loveseat to the second floor, that is.” Tessa nodded.

“Be my guest,” she said with a chuckle.

“You sure like to make people feel comfortable,” Jackson commented.

“Well, that’s how I’ve been taught to act,” Tessa replied. “It’s called hospitality.”

“I know,” Jackson replied. “I’m just saying. You’re already making jokes.” Tessa smiled.

“Well, you guys get settled in,” said Tessa. “If you plan on leaving or making a trip, let me know.” Jackson nodded.

“Will do,” he replied. “Actually, I’m going to move that loveseat now so I don’t make a bunch of noise late at night. Oh, and I should close the front door too.”

“Just worry about the loveseat,” Tessa told him. “Me and Craig have to go to the basement anyways.”

“You have a basement too?” Aaron asked.

“Yep,” Tessa replied. “Anyways, have fun.” She swiftly headed back down the hall and Jackson awkwardly followed behind her.

While Jackson made Eric help him move the loveseat, sleeping arrangements seemed to be causing an argument downstairs. Predictably, Jessie was trying to sleep with Aaron, who was trying to sleep with Derek, who was trying to sleep with Sarah, who was already comfortable sleeping alone. Jessie was intent on Derek and Sarah sleeping in the twin beds, since they were the smallest. Aaron was persistently claiming that Derek needed protecting and, as a light sleeper, that he should be the one to do it. Derek’s argument seemed to change from feeling most comfortable sleeping with Sarah to feeling awkward sleeping with Aaron and Jessie.

“You know what,” Sarah said finally, holding her hands behind her back, “here’s what we’re going to do. I’m thinking of a number between one and one hundred. Whoever guesses the closest gets to sleep with whoever they choose. Fair?” Aaron, Jessie, and Derek nodded. “Ok, Jessie, you go first, then Aaron, then Derek.”

“Forty,” she guessed.

“Thirteen,” Aaron guessed.

“Uh, fifteen,” Derek guessed. Sarah nodded expressionlessly. The others all looked at each other, unable to read her face.

“Derek,” Sarah began.

“Yeah,” he said optimistically.

“You’ll be sleeping with Aaron,” she said, bringing her hands forward, holding up three fingers. “My number was three.” Derek’s optimism gradually faded as a small smile stretched across Aaron’s face. Sarah turned to Jessie. “Jessie, you have my clothes in your backpack.”

“Yeah, I’ll bring it to your room,” Jessie replied. “Let’s go.” As the girls got settled in Sarah’s room, Aaron moseyed into his own room, excited at sharing a bed with Derek. He tried to hide his excitement, but he was sure Derek could feel it anyways. It was in his body language. Aaron examined the room, trying to be as calm and critical as possible. Derek merely hopped on the bed and lay there. Aaron raised his head, hitting it on the bed frame before peering over the mattress.

“Hey, you alright?” Aaron asked Derek nodded mechanically. Aaron glanced away, shaking his head. “Look, I’m sorry you didn’t get to sleep with Sarah. I know you really like her. And I know you don’t like being too close to me and all. I just, I love you, and I want to be able to protect you.”

“It’s ok,” Derek replied with a sigh.

“No it’s not,” Aaron replied. “I’m always trying to get close to you and you don’t do anything about it.”

“Why should I?” Derek asked. “I mean we’re still friends.”

“Yeah, but mate, you don’t fancy me,” Aaron replied. “If I make you uncomfortable, say something.”

“You don’t,” Derek replied. “I told you that you don’t. Honestly I would rather sleep with you than by myself.” Aaron wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He raised an eyebrow at Derek.

“Are you scared of the mansion?” Aaron asked. Derek shook his head.

“I told you, ever since the zombies took over, I’ve been having nightmares, especially when I sleep alone,” Derek told him.

“I thought they went away,” Aaron replied. Derek shook his head again. “Oh, well, you know if you want, I could ask Sarah�"”

“I told you it’s fine,” Derek replied.

“It’s obviously not,” said Aaron. “Look at the way you’re stretched out on the bed, like you don’t care about anything anymore. What’s gotten into you?”

“I’m fine,” Derek said. Aaron sighed.

“I’m going to get my things from out Jackson’s backpack,” Aaron told him. “You’ll be all right?” Derek nodded. “Good. I’ll be back.” Aaron calmly exited the room, closing the door behind him, catching a quick glimpse of Derek before heading down the hall and noticing Sarah behind him, heading in the same direction. He turned his head to look at her.

“What?” she asked before he could say anything.

“Eh, just wondering where you were going is all,” Aaron replied.

“Outside,” she answered. “I need some fresh air. Where are you off to?”

“I was just getting my stuff from out Jackson’s bag,” said Aaron.

“What’s the matter with you?” Sarah asked.

“Nothing, just still fancying Derek,” Aaron answered.

“Aaron, he’s straight, you know that,” Sarah told him, shaking her head with a sigh.

“I know, but it’s just he’s so cute and sweet and funny and�"”

“Aaron, it doesn’t matter how much time you spend with him, he’s never going to bat for the other team,” Sarah tried to persuade him.

“I can’t help how I feel,” Aaron rejoined sharply.

“If you get your heart broken again, I warned you,” Sarah replied matter-of-factly, “twice.” They quickly ran into Jackson, who was casually heading back up to the third floor. He almost didn’t stop to talk to them. “Where’d you put the loveseat?”

“It’s around that corner way over there,” Jackson answered.

“Blimey, this place is humongous,” Aaron commented. “It’s like a king’s castle.”

“Can you see the front door from over there?” Sarah asked.

“Of course,” Jackson replied. “That’s why I put it over there.”

“Hey!” The three of them turned around to see Tessa in the direction Jackson was about to point in. “Can you guys come here for a second?” They quickly joined and then followed her all the way downstairs and to the front door, out which Craig was peeping. Jackson instinctively tried to open the door, but Craig closed it.

“Stop it,” Craig demanded.

“What for?” Jackson asked.

“They’re outside,” Craig snarled. “I saw them.”

“Relax,” Jackson told him. “Are they heading this way?” Craig peered back out the door. But he didn’t answer immediately. He seemed to be studying them. Craig snatched his head back out from the doorway and shut it as quietly as he could.

“Nope, they’re heading towards the golf course,” Craig confirmed.

“You have a golf course too?” asked Aaron.

“They might be headed towards the snack shop,” Tessa said, ignoring Aaron.

“And a snack shop?”

“I don’t know why they’d be going there though,” Tessa continued, still ignoring Aaron. “There hasn’t been any food in that old shack for a while now.” Aaron took another sweeping look of the foyer. “Are you enjoying objectifying my house?”

“Technically it’s a mansion,” he corrected her, “and, since it’s an object, isn’t that what it’s made for?” Tessa and Sarah rolled their eyes.

“Jackson, what do you think?” Tessa asked.

“Why don’t we sneak out there and find out?” he suggested.

“Seriously?” Tessa questioned in disbelief.

“They could be digging tunnels under your mansion,” Jackson told her.

“Can they do that?” Tessa asked. Jackson nodded. “Zombies on TV don’t do that.”

“Well this isn’t a TV show,” Jackson replied. “These zombies are the result of a DNA mutation. They have every advantage of a living being with only one of the weaknesses: a headshot.” Tessa seemed amazed. Craig seemed slightly skeptical. “Anyways, we need someone here just in case we run into a trap.” He looked straight at Sarah.

“Craig can do that,” said Tessa. She looked straight at him. He nodded at her. “See.”

“You going to be alright?” Craig asked. Tessa nodded.

“I can handle zombies,” Tessa replied. “You just shoot them in the head, right?”

“Yeah,” Jackson answered, “but don’t underestimate them. A lot of them you won’t see coming and many of them are mutated far beyond what you’ve seen on TV. Plus, they travel in groups, so you have to be a target marksman to take out zombies without wasting a single bullet.” Tessa gulped. “I don’t mean to scare you, but you have to be prepared. Now let’s go… but quietly.”

Craig carefully opened the doors and, to their advantage, two zombies were headed across the hilly lawn by the wooded area, towards the golf course as Craig had said. Jackson drew lines in the air, looking left and right. Tessa looked at Aaron and Sarah, who were clearly used to Jackson’s military-esque attitude towards zombies.

“What are you doing?” Tessa whispered.

“Figuring out where they’re coming from,” said Jackson. “But let’s go. I don’t think anymore will be coming this way any time soon.” Jackson led the others towards the crooked golf sign and onto the golf course, which looked extremely unkempt, especially with the dying grass everywhere.

The two zombies led the four of them across three golf holes and then into the wooded area, almost parallel to the mansion. Tessa was clearly trying to figure out what was happening, but couldn’t. She thought of everything that was on her father’s property, but nothing significant came to mind. She looked all around, only coming to think that the zombies had indeed dug a hole somewhere and were trying to get underneath her house.

The walk was full of hills. Aaron was in the back. He was scouting out any zombies that happened to spot them from behind. Tessa was right behind Jackson, almost familiarizing him with the golf course even though the zombies would take them right to where they needed to go and that he really didn’t need to know the layout of the desolate golf course.

The risk of getting caught by the zombies ahead seemed almost nonexistent, seeing as they were intently focused on whatever the ones Craig saw were headed towards. Tessa had only a hand gun. Aaron had two guns and a knife, Jackson had a hand gun, an AK47, and a backpack full of goodies, and Sarah had a handgun and purse full of grenades. Tessa felt a bit unprepared compared to everyone else, in addition to how unafraid they seemed to be. But then she ran into Jackson.

“Sorry,” he said.

“I’m ok,” Tessa said back. “Why are we stopping?”

“I don’t know how, but I lost track of those zombies,” said Jackson. “It was when we were going up the hill. I blinked, and they were gone. I don’t want to keep moving forward if�"”

“What’s that noise?” Tessa asked.

“What noise?” Jackson asked.

“It sounds like someone’s eating like a pig,” said Tessa. Jackson didn’t seem convinced. But then he heard something similar for a split-second. “You hear it?”

“I heard it,” Aaron said.

“What was it?” Sarah asked. And then they all heard what sounded like a fire starting. It was just behind a bunch of trees on the hill ahead. They instinctively headed towards it, gradually being able to see a tall stick that seemed rooted into the ground and had somehow caught on fire.

What they saw next was perhaps the most disturbing thing they had seen in their lives. Jackson had the clearest view of it. Nearly thousands of zombies were surrounding the ablaze stick with a pile of rotting army men in the center. Someone had evidently set it on fire recently, but the only way they would have gotten past the zombies is through the air or ground. But then upon a closer look, the four of them tiptoeing closer, they could see ash sprinkled all over the rotting men. The smell wasn’t as bad as the sight of it, or the realization Tessa came upon. She tapped Jackson on the shoulder.

“What?” he asked quietly.

“Let’s get out of here,” Tessa requested. “I know what they’re doing.”  Jackson was hesitant, feeling like he was understanding it on his own, but then decided to go along with it, since it was Tessa’s property after all. But a zombie fell over right beside Tessa, startling her. Aaron had already stabbed it in the head. Unfortunately, its death seemed to catch the attention of the crowd of zombies ahead of them.

“Uh oh,” said Jackson.

“We’re fucked,” Sarah said as everyone started to run.

“What do you mean?” Tessa asked. “Is this really the end?”

“We’ll live if we kill them all, but we don’t have the ammo so we have to outrun them all,” Aaron told her. “But do you really think we can outrun all of them?” Tessa looked at him and the approaching zombies, compelling them to run for their lives. It was insane; Tessa could feel her heart trying to escape from out of her chest. She could feel her breathing increasing, especially as Jackson, Aaron, and Sarah were calmly yet doggedly dashing across the golf course as fast as they could.  

 

[to be continued]

 

 

 

Author's Note

How is it? Good? Bad?