The next morning, I woke up with a headache. I initially didn’t remember where I was, and it took a few minutes of looking around before I realized where I was and what had occurred the day before. It was dark in the room, with a little morning light coming in through the single window in the room. I sat up, and looked around. My bike and trailer were in the corner, and my carbine was near the door. Jacob was still sleeping, snoring softly in the little crib I made for him using blankets and desks turned on their sides. I stood up and stretched, working out the kinks that accompany sleeping on a hard surface. I went back to the floor and did my morning routine of sit-ups and pushups, idly wondering when I might actually work out with weights again. Part of me wished we had made for the junior high, where they have a full workout room, but there isn’t a water source for a mile.
I dressed quickly and belted on my SIG. I had been wearing it for so long it was like an extension of me. I felt weird when I wasn’t wearing it, like something was missing. I imagine that’s how the old gunfighters of the West felt. The gun just became part of them that they couldn’t function without it. I wondered when I would be able to put my guns away, to bring them out when I just wanted to enjoy them. Lemons and lemonade, I thought as I went into the hall. I had about ten minutes before Jake started to stir, so I wanted to see if anyone else was up.
It was still pretty dark in the school, but enough light filtered through the windows to give a twilight effect. The school did not look as threatening as it did yesterday. The day before, the dark hallways and echoing moans punctuated by occasional shots and screams, presented a much more foreboding atmosphere. I could see where the cleanup missed a few spots here and there, and there were some scorch marks were we had burned some of the remains to remove any threat of infection.
As I walked towards the commons, I could see small piles of brass here and there, and sunlight streamed in through the back doors, giving an orange tint to most of what I could see. I could hear voices in the commons, so I headed that way.
In the commons, I had to navigate through a little maze of tables, but Tommy and Duncan and a few others were discussing some options regarding supplies. They were in the kitchen area, and had the door open to let in some light. One guy was standing watch for zombies that might have been attracted to our battle the day before. Way out on the grass, just at the edge of the property was a corpse of what looked to be a young girl and a mess of blood and bones. Decaying meat was scattered around, and a couple of carrion birds were picking at the corpse. I didn’t remember anyone being caught outside, so I was confused as to who that might be.
Duncan saw me looking and walked over. “I meant to tell you about that. Right before the zombies hit us yesterday, there was a weird little guy dragging a girl around out there. We yelled at him to get inside, but he spit at us and then proceeded to try and have sex with that girl until the zombies came and ate him. Wonder why they didn’t eat the girl?”
“That’s because she was already dead.” I told the story of what I had found here when I first arrived, much to the shock and chagrin of my listeners.
Duncan shook his head. “Good riddance, then. No ones needs a loony pedophile roaming around. Fitting justice would be if zombie kids had got him.”
I smiled. “Truth to that. What’s up for this morning?”
Duncan indicated the group. “We were talking about heading out to see about some supplies, but we had a little disagreement about where to start and what to do about safety, and what not. Usual stuff.”
“I can understand that. It’s not like anyone’s actually had experience with this sort of thing. But we can sort it out based on what we know about the zombies. What do you have so far?”
Duncan outlined the overall plan, which was to start searching the nearest houses for food and supplies. They would take only what they needed, no looting of non-essential supplies. If the house was occupied, they would deal with the zombies first.
After hearing the plan, I had a few questions. “Do you have a fallback plan, in case you get surrounded? How far do you plan to roam? What will you carry your supplies in? How many men do you think will work? When are you leaving?”
Duncan answered all the questions except for the last. They figured they would head out around 11:00am, and be back by 2:00pm. That seemed to be the time we saw the fewest zombies on the move outside. Maybe it had something to do with their eyesight, like maybe the bright light hurt them. Who knew?
“All right.” I said. “Assemble your team, I’ll see you at 11:00.”
Tommy spoke up. “You coming, too?”
I looked at him. “Of course. You two can’t have all the fun.” I left them smiling as I went back to feed Jake and get ready for the raid.
The building was stirring a bit as people started to arrange their assigned rooms into more livable space. We had enough rooms so there wasn’t going to be any crowding. We decided to leave the gym as a play area, and the garage would be a staging area for raids and such. The science room on the second floor was to be the food pantry, and there was an effort underway to use the water in the school’s boilers. The library was to be used as a meeting room/reading room, and the teacher’s lounge was the training area. The main office wasn’t really needed, so we were just going to leave it. The band room was a good observation point, and Tommy and Duncan thought it would make a neat little room for themselves. The room was octagon in shape, and attached to the northwest end of the building. There were two little offices, which would work as bedrooms. The weak point was the room had two sets of doors leading outside, but they could be secured.
Jake was stirring and rolling around his makeshift crib. He usually woke up happy, and today was no different. I made him a bottle and changed his diaper. I checked on our personal supplies, and realized I was going to need to make some acquisitions for Jake. We had enough food for about two weeks, but after that I was going to have to get creative.
I racked my brain regarding the area and remembered there was a store down the way. I’d have to check it out later.
Jake finished his bottled and gave me a very satisfied burp for my trouble. I dressed for the raid and had to think about what to wear, since I hadn’t done something like this before. I dressed in long pants, and put on my work boots. I decided on a long-sleeve shirt, and tucked my gloves and balaclava in my belt. I picked up a small backpack that I had found in the school, and packed some emergency supplies. In case things got nasty, I could hole up for a bit without worry.
I picked up Jake and went upstairs, pointing things out to him and just talking to him in general. He seemed interested in the stairs, and laughed when I ran up the last four to make him bounce in my arms.
I went to the first door I found and knocked on it. A sleepy head poked out and I asked if there was anyone they knew of who could baby-sit my son.
“You’re the new leader, hey?” the disheveled head murmured.
“Umm, yeah. That’s me.” I said, not clear as to why this was relevant.
“Pleased to meetcha.” A hand came out. “I’m Paul Yates. My wife is Elizabeth. We were in the mental hospital when you folks came by.”
I shook the hand. “John Talon, nice to meet you as well. Listen, I need to find someone to watch my son while I go looking for supplies. Any suggestions?”
Paul scratched his head, “Can’t say for sure, but there is a family down the way with a couple of teenage girls. They might be able to help.”
“Thanks, Paul.” I said as I headed down the hall
I knocked on the next door and a woman answered. “Can I help you?” she asked, sounding like she was not thrilled with the prospect of actually helping. She was disheveled and wearing a long t-shirt, which did double duty as pajamas. Her middle aged faced showed nothing more than impatience.
I decided to try a different tactic. “Yes, get in the hall. Now.” My tone took her aback, but she stepped into the hallway with her arms crossed.
I walked to the middle of the hallway and raised my voice to what I liked to call “principal level”, guaranteed to reach every student on a playground. “Everyone out in the hall now! This is John Talon! Everyone out! Go! Go! Go!”
I smiled to myself when people began spilling out of their rooms. Some were holding weapons and others were holding bags of stuff. Mothers were holding onto children and fathers were looking grim and determined.
“Thank you.” I said to the assembled mass. “I am sorry to have awakened some of you but I need a couple of favors and have not been able to find anyone to help.” I looked around and there were many frowns looking back at me. Good. “I am going on a raid in a couple of hours and need a babysitter for my son Jake, here. Second, I need a couple of good organizers to take over the food storage and distribution. We are hoping to have a working pantry this afternoon, so anyone familiar with food storage and such, please let me know. Also,” I added, “We need help with the burial of those we lost yesterday in the fighting. The north field is the designated graveyard, and the men there could use help.”
The looks around the hall got less hostile and two girls no older than thirteen raised their hands to watch Jake. I got two more women to organize the pantry, then went back down to my room, after thanking them for their assistance. Several men got dressed and headed down to help with the burials. I thanked them as well and I reminded myself that we needed to have a meeting to discuss the rules of the community.
At 11:00, the two girls came down to my room, and I introduced them again to Jakey. I could tell they were experienced baby-sitters when one of them sat down immediately to play with him while the other checked out where his supplies were. I put on my backpack and extra magazine pouch for the carbine. I had a double magazine holder for my SIG, and put on my knife as well. I felt like I was gearing up for battle, and in all seriousness, I guess I was. There was no second place winner when it came to battling the undead.
I picked up my rifle at the door and said goodbye to the girls. I smiled and waved at Jake, and he gave me a smile in return. He was almost at the point where he could sit up by himself, and was trying it out as I left.
I went back to the garage and met up with Tommy and Duncan and the rest. Everyone was ready and there was quite a variety of weapons, ranging from crowbars to AR-15’s. We had a wheel barrel filled with makeshift sacks, and some backpacks. Duncan noticed my pack was full. “What’s in the pack?” He wanted to know.
“Some food and water, and emergency supplies” I said.
Tommy was curious. “How come? We don’t plan on being out longer than three hours.”
“Never hurts to be prepared. If it goes down hard and we get separated or trapped, I want to be able to hold out as long as possible. Why, you think I’m nuts?” I asked sincerely.
In response, both he and Duncan left the room to get their own packs, and several of the other men as well. I guess it was a good idea after all.
When the rest of the group came back, we headed out into the day. Immediately, we could see several zombies wandering around, and they began moving in our direction. I motioned for Tommy and Duncan to follow me, waving the rest back. “Come on, let’s get to them before they bunch!” They quickly followed and we ran up to the first zombie. She was a tall female, stumbling slowly forward, but she increased her pace when we got closer. Her milky eyes locked on me, and she raised her hands to grab and tear. That was when Duncan nailed her in the gut with his pipe, and when she doubled over from the impact, I brought my crowbar up in an uppercut swing which slammed into her head, imbedding the hook into her skull. She immediately dropped to the ground, and I ripped the bar out of her head. Tommy was already running to the next one, a fat guy with rolls of grey flesh swaying as he stumbled towards us. When he came within reach, Tommy slammed him in the head with his straight bar, knocking the fat man to the ground. The zombie seemed stunned but he was still alive as he slowly tried to right himself. When he got to his knees, Duncan was already there, and pounded Fatso on the back of his head, cracking his skull and putting him down for good. I moved past them both and kicked a smaller zombie in the chest, knocking him to the grass. I stepped onto his chest and held him down as I crushed his skull with the chisel end. The last two were dispatched the same way, and we jogged back to the group who had watched us take out the zombies.
“Why did you guys run to them?” one of the men wanted to know.
I answered him. “It just occurred to me. Think of it this way. One on one, we can take any zombie out there. They’re stupid, they’re slow, and don’t really think outside the box. But when they come at you in twos, threes, or fours, then you have trouble. If your weapon sticks or you drop it, you can get to your backup. If you have two on you, you’re screwed. If you keep them from their greatest strength, which is attacking in force, then they can be dealt with pretty easily. Just keep your head and smash in theirs.” Anticipating the next question, I said “And we didn’t shoot them because shots attract them like politicians to money. They can hear better than we can and their sense of smell is better, too. We learned that in the gas station.” I told them about the woman smelling the door, looking for us.
Several nods occurred around the group as they took this in. Tommy, Duncan and I cleaned off our weapons and moved up to the front of the crowd. We headed towards the closest houses to the school, figuring to start there and just work our way down the street. I didn’t expect to find much, but we didn’t have much choice. If we went through everything people brought with them, we had two days at best.
We approached the first house slowly, looking in the windows and trying to see if it was occupied. I assigned four men to watch the street, and three more to stations outside the door. I figured to lure any zombies outside where we could control the killing and have room to move. I went up to the door and tried the knob. I expected it to be locked and it was. I knocked on the door and waited, listening intently. I didn’t hear any movement, so I worked my crowbar on the door, easing it open as quietly as I could.
I pushed the door open and stepped back. Nothing came out at me so I poked my head in. It was neatly furnished, and I could see no signs of struggle or violence. I immediately thought that this was a household that went straight to one of the state centers which was subsequently overrun. Poor choice there.
I moved into the home, Tommy and Duncan coming in behind me and spreading out. Duncan moved to the kitchen and immediately began checking the pantry and cabinets. There seemed to be a decent store of dry goods, so he went out and got a sack from one of the other men. He filled it and sent the man back to the school, to drop it off and come back to get some more.
I went through the house, looking for anything of use, and came out with linens and towels and a good supply of toilet paper. All this went to the wheelbarrow and back to the school. I found the basement stairs and went down slowly, whistling softly to stir any zombie that might be down there. I got no response, so I kept going. The basement held the usual bunch of junk, although I did find a small area that held a little promise. There was a box of pictures and mementos, and it seemed the owner of the house may have been a vet of some sort. Digging deeper, I found a cherry wood case that held a pristine Colt 1911. A little searching found an old box of shells, and I figured the old gun had not been fired much, if at all. I tucked the box and ammo into my pack, to give to another member of the community, since I was comfortable with my SIG.
Finding nothing else, I went back upstairs. Tommy and Duncan were waiting for me, and I joined them on the lawn.
“Anything good?” Tommy asked.
“I found an old. 45 and some ammo.” I said, flipping a thumb towards my pack. “I know you guys have your Glocks. I’ll give it to someone familiar with guns.”
Duncan nodded. “Ready for the next one?”
I waved him on and we went to the next house. This one was definitely occupied, although not by anyone living. The zombies had made a mess, stumbling around and knocking things over, drooling over things, and bumping into the furniture. They came out when we opened the door, and were easily dispatched as they tumbled to the ground.
I went in, and found a large cache of canned food and bottled water, and a good supply of batteries. I didn’t find any guns, but we did find the keys to a large pickup truck in the garage. Expecting the worst, I turned over the engine and was amazed when it coughed and came to life. I opened the garage door and surprised the hell out of everyone assembled out there. I pulled it out to the street and starting filling the back with the supplies. It was a huge truck, with a crew cab and full size bed. I grinned at Duncan and joked with him. “You need to come up with something pretty cool to top that.”
Duncan mumbled something about the luck of fools and we went to the next house, one of the other men driving the truck.
At the next house we got really lucky. Apparently the owner was a sort of survival nut, and there was a large supply of canned food, bottled water, water purification tablets, first aid kits, and emergency blankets. I idly wondered where the owner was, since he had enough to survive a long time. I got my answer when I went into the back bedroom. The owner was lying on his bed, pistol in his hand, and a large portion of his brains splattered on the wall. I figured he may have gotten infected and chosen not to be a zombie. Either that or the reality of the true end of the world was too much for him to handle.
I relieved him of his gun and stored it in my pack along with the other gun. Heading to the lower level, I bumped into Tommy, who was carrying a large bundle of military surplus rifles. Another man was carrying metal cans of ammo. Two other men had two handgun cases each, and another was carrying a box full of assorted ammunition.
“Guy had a regular gun room in the basement.” Tommy said, hoisting his load for a better grip. “We found a lot of useful stuff and a shitload of ammo.”
I nodded my head. “Good deal. The owner won’t want it anymore, and I’m sure he’d want us to have it.”
Tommy arched an eyebrow at me. “You find him?”
I nodded. “He’s upstairs in bed. His brains are on the wall. Must have been infected and ended it before he turned.”
It was Tommy’s turn to nod. “I’d probably do the same if I got nailed. Or hope someone would do it for me.”
“Yeah.” was all I said.
Tommy and crew hauled their load out to the truck and went back to get more. Duncan cleared out the kitchen and by the time we were done the truck was fairly loaded. I told the driver to head back and unload, but I had Duncan ride along and told him to store the guns until we could sort out what we had and make sure it was divided evenly. No one was to get anything until we got back. Duncan understood and hopped into the passenger side.
I watched the truck head back and looked toward the long line of houses. We had a lot of work to do, but I think we were going to be all right. At least for the time being.
A low moan on the wind was a poignant reminder that it was going to be a long fight. But we had gained a foothold, and were going to take it from there.