Survive the Invasion

Two girls + Zombie invasion = epic phail?

In the small town of Gibsonville was a hidden street between two side streets and the woods. It was home to twelve trailers, two of them too old to be serviceable. Ten families were housed in the ten hidden homes. On the very end, where the street met a tool shed was a very nice home. The family living there had spent three years there, and were very handy with a spade and soil. A garden sprouted from the ground in a geometrical pattern of shapes. Flowers, shrubs, and small trees were just sprouting the first green of the season, but their beauty was unknown to the currently self-absorbed occupants.
“Emily, we’ve been over this before. I am going to your Uncle Johnny’s place. I’ll be back in a month or so to get you. The dogs will love it there. The moving trucks will be here tomorrow and everything else will be gone. No worries. I love you.” The brunette grabbed her daughters cheeks and kissed her forehead. The cab honked it’s horn. Alina picked up her purse and waved goodbye.

~~...................................................................................................~~
    Rose opened the door for the two of them and they settled down in the living room, laughing about random tidbits. The two were complete opposites, but the best of friends since freshman year of high school. Rose was shorter with long dark hair, soft brown eyes, and the natural tan of her Philippine origin. She had a stronger will and the shorter temper of the two. Emily was taller with short blonde-mix of hair and large gray eyes. She was the ‘Mother Mary’ of her friends. A loud vibration sounded from a colorful purse. Emily reached in and answered the phone blindly.
    “Hello?”
    Emily sat on the couch and tucked her feet underneath her. Almost immediately she sat forward and stared at the floor. The minimal of responses were issued from her mouth with a few questions that were often cut off. On the other end of the line was Sergeant Stevens telling her she needed to pack for an emergency situation. He did not explain much of what the situation was about, and oddly enough he kept the conversation short.
    “Yes, Sergeant.” Emily wanted to ask more questions but a click popped in her ear and dial tone resonated from the earpiece. Sergeant Stevens was one of the older recruiters at the Army Reserves station in Burlington. He was one of her favorite people and a friend of the family. He had a head full of gray hair, hard eyes, and a firm voice that commanded control. He was like a father to her, he even refused to enlist her and she was sent to a different recruiter. He drove her to her drill once a month in Greensboro and told her stories from his past experiences. It was rare that he ever addressed her as he had in the so brief conversation.
    “What was that about?” Rose asked around a mouth-full of cupcake.
    “I’ve been activated for an 'emergency situation'. It must be bad, because I’m supposed to bring you and your family too.” She went over possible situations in her head. “Maybe were are being attacked?”
    “Oooh! Modern warfare. So why do we have to go?”
    “I don’t know, but those are my orders. Call your parents.”
    Rose took the cell phone from Emily, too lazy to get her own sitting on the dining room table only a few feet away. She called her father first and explained to him what she was told, still munching on the cupcake while Emily ran around the house packing her backpack full of a weeks worth of supplies and things she considered a necessity. She changed from her bathing suit she had worn to the party they were returning from into a more comfortable set of clothes. She was in the bathroom taking her sweet time brushing her hair when Rose came lounging in for a set of clothes to wear. “My dad said he would come see what was going on when he got off work, and my mom didn’t answer. What am I supposed to bring?”
    “Who knows? I just packed a few pairs of clothes.”
    “Sounds good to me.” Rose agreed and put together her own set of things.
    The two of them sat down in the living room and flicked on the news to see if there was anything new in the news. An infection had been spreading from Mexico over the last week throughout the US. Emily was wondering if it had anything to do with that. If not, it would still be nice to learn a little about what was going on with that situation. It was not too hard to find a station talking about the subject large at hand.
    “- several companies have already begun working on making a vaccine for the lethal viral contagion. The U.S. Military has called a complete activation of the troops and is going to try to stop the spread of the outbreak.” Pictures and videos of blood soaked people in marred clothing appeared on the screen as the large-haired women continued to discuss how fast the virus was spreading and how dangerous it was proving to be. Fires and abandoned cars littered streets in most of the footage. “We have been told to ask the people to stay indoors until the situation is resolved.”
    Rose was already on her feet. “We have to pack.” She picked up her already full bag and dumped it out.
    “We are already packed.” Emily said confused, but dumped her own too.
    Rose looked at her and looked back at the TV. “Yeah, but not for this.”
They repacked the backpacks now that they knew what they would need. It worked out to be a pair of clothes, the little food Rose kept in her house, and a half empty first-aid kit. “Rose, you really need to go shopping.” She laughed as she tried to stuff the box of cupcakes into her bag. She finally agreed to leave it there along with everything else that would not fit. There was one sleeping bag strapped on to Roses bag with a belt, but she only had one, so Emily strapped a pillow onto hers. They both grabbed another belt from Roses endless collection of stylist belts and hooked it around their waist, but not through the loops. Emily was rummaging around for last minute supplies when the call came in.
    “Emily? It’s me.” Sergeant Stevens voice came out over the earpiece on the cell phone. “I’m sorry I can’t get you. Just stay inside where you are.”
    “Lenny? What happened? What’s wrong? Where are you?”
    “The outbreak has spread.” The was a crackle of static that was common in the country. “I was at the gas station when they hit. I’m with a group of survivors. We managed to lock all of the doors and board up the windows. I advise you to do the same.”
    “Lenny? Where are you?” Emily repeated firmly into the phone. He had at least answered what had happened. It was not in the least bit fun to extract information from the tight-lipped Stevens. She covered the microphone as she relayed information to Rose.
    “The Lowe’s in town. I’m not far. I’ll call you when I get the chance to get to you. Listen, if anything happens to me and I can’t make it to you, use the attic as your safe place if the outbreak gets near you. Be good and hopefully I’ll see you soon.” He did not even wait for her to say goodbye, or to even agree to his plans. What was going through her head was the exact opposite of what he just told her to do. He did give good advice though. It was the same advice that Rose passed on to her Dad in the message she left on her dinning room table, explaining where they went. Before they left, they raided her house for protection of some sort. Rose took up a hatchet from her sword collection and snapped it onto her belt.
    “A hatchet?” Emily raised an eyebrow.
    “Yeah, I trust it a bit more than any of the swords made for decoration.” Rose gave a mock sneer and held out a baseball bat. Emily slipped it through her belt the best she could. It was uncomfortable, but it stayed where she had put it. They got on the bikes covered by a tarp from the rain in the back of the house and set off down the road.