Haven: Life Goes On Read online

  Chapter 2

  "How much farther down the road is the next house?" I asked Jenny. "I don’t know, maybe two or three miles." she said. "Have either of you shot a gun before?" I asked. "Sure, Grandpa took me hunting last summer, but Jenny never went with us." Bobby said. "Well I guess Jenny will need to have some lessons then. I want to see you both shoot before I let you walk behind me with a loaded gun." I told them. I pulled the truck over, got out and walked around to the passenger side, both Bobby and Jenny got out.

  I reached into the truck picked up the Winchester. I loaded six rounds into the .30-30 and gave it to Bobby and pointing to a fence post about 30 feet away, I said, "see if you can hit that post." Bobby fired and missed. "Keep trying." I told him. The next round clipped the side of the post. "Aim, take a breath, exhale, and squeeze the trigger." I said. The next shot hit the post near the top. The fourth shot hit the post again. "Good job" I said with a smile. I handed him the box of ammunition. "Load it" I said. I pulled the carbine from the truck, removed the clip and loaded a handful of 9mm rounds, then reinserted the clip. I passed it to Jenny and had her shoot at the same post. The first round was way off the mark. I showed her how to aim through the sights. "Now try." I said. Another miss. "Try again." I told her. By the eighth shot she was hitting the post. "Not bad for the first lesson." I told them. I showed Jenny how to remove, load, and re-insert the clip and then charge the rifle.

  We loaded back into the truck and continued down the road to the next house. You guys stay here inside the truck. If you see any Zombies, just stay inside and wait for me. Don’t come to the house unless I call you. I held up the keys. Bobby grabbed them, "OK, don’t shoot from inside the truck. I don’t want my windows shot out." I said. I shrugged on the bandoleer of shells, pulled the sawed off shotgun and tote bag from the backseat and started walking to the house. Just as I entered the front yard, I heard the howling. Rushing toward me was a fast moving Zombie. I raised the shotgun and hit him mid body. He staggered but continued to run toward me. My next shot was to his legs. He dropped but continued to crawl toward me. I shifted the shotgun to my left hand and pulled my machete from its sheath. I placed my boot on his head and chopped at his neck until his head separated from his body. Looking up, I spotted a slow moving woman shuffling toward me. I broke the shotgun down and ejected the spent shells. I reloaded and I took aim and shot at her. The first shot was wide and although it peppered her face, it didn't put her down. The next shot hit her full in the face. She toppled over into the bushes by the house. I reloaded the shotgun again. The 11 inch barrel had made the shotgun look cool but two shots per kill made it ineffective. I stowed the shotgun in my tote bag and drew my .9mm.

  Pulling my Scarf over my mouth and nose I opened the front door. Inside there was a guy sitting in a recliner facing the TV. There was a half bottle of whiskey, an empty glass, and a half box of shells on the table next to him. I walked around the chair and saw that he had shot himself in the head with a .38 caliber revolver; I pried it out of his hand. I wiped the revolver clean on the couch cushion. I dropped the revolver and ammunition into my tote bag and continued to search the house. In the first bedroom I found a dead woman lying on the bed. The woman had been shot through her temple. In the next bedroom a boy of about ten was stretched out on the bed. He had been shot in the chest and head. The bathroom and the kitchen were both clear. As I put my tote bag on the table. I noticed a piece of paper. It was a note someone had written. "I had to shoot Tommy, he was crazy! I found him chewing his mothers arm, she was screaming for him to stop, but he wouldn’t listen. Tom only stopped when he spotted me come into the room. He stood up and charged me. I hit him knocking him to the floor. Tom jumped up and came after me again. I grabbed his shoulders and tried to shake some sense into him. He just kept trying to bite me. I wrestled him into his room and shut the door. Tommy just started pounding on the door, he never even tried to turn the door knob and open it. I got my pistol and opening his door I shot him. The first shot killed him, but the TV news said you had to shoot them in the head. I lifted Tom up from where he fell on the floor and lay him on his bed. I shot him again only this time I shot him in the head. Next, I went and tried to calm June. She was just screaming and screaming. I hugged her and shot her in the head before she could turn into a monster. Now I’m going to have a drink and kill myself."

  The note was signed Ward. I dropped the note and muttered "Damn, I thought I had some bad days." I rifled through the cupboards and found a dozen or so canned goods. I loaded the tote and leaving it on the table I opened the door leading into the garage. In the garage there was nothing of interest, just a dirt bike and an old sedan. I went back inside and dragged the guy and his wife into the room with Tommy and shut the door. I started going through the closets, but I didn’t find anymore weapons or ammo. I grabbed my tote from the table and walked to the road. I motioned for Bobby to drive the truck into the driveway. When Bobby pulled up in the truck, I emptied the tote onto the back seat floor and got into the passenger seat beside Jenny and told Bobby to drive back to my camp.

  When we arrived at my base camp I grabbed a bucket and walked over to the pond and dipped it in the water. "Can I go swimming?" asked Bobby. "I don’t think that’s a good idea. You never know what’s in that murky water." I said. "Oh yeah, that’s right, I keep forgetting." Bobby said. I put the water on the fire to heat; at least we could wash up. That evening we ate our supper of vegetable soup thanks to Ward and June. We ate our meal sitting on the tailgate of the truck. "You know what I miss? Bread, bread for sandwiches, bread for toast, and buttered bread with dinner." Bobby said with a look of hunger on his face. "When I get you back to the neighborhood, I promise, you will have some bread." I said.

  That night inside the container I lit a candle, barred the door, and we settled in. I was using my sleeping bag. Jenny and Bobby had blankets they had brought with them from their granddad’s house. "If you get cold tonight, I’ll try to find a couple of sleeping bags for you guys tomorrow." I said. As it turned out, 3 people in an 8 x 10 steel box, generated more than enough heat to stay warm, very warm.

  The next morning I jolted awake as usual. I lay there listening. It was quiet enough to hear the kid’s rhythmic breathing. Then I heard the foot steps; slow, shuffling steps. I put my hand over Bobby’s mouth, and gave him a shake. Bobby awoke and struggled against my hand until we locked eyes. Bobby sensed there was a problem and stopped struggling. I motioned for him to stay quiet. I woke Jenny in the same way. Jenny’s eyes snapped open when I lay my hand over her mouth but she didn’t struggle. I signaled her to be quiet, she nodded her head signaling she understood.

  I quietly got out of my sleeping bag and put on my gear. I pulled on my Leather jacket, and Jenny handed me my shotgun. I pulled my scarf down and I whispered for her to bar the door when I got outside. I told her I would retreat to the truck if I needed to. I looked at them and whispered," You will be safe in here. Do not open the door until I tell you to." I sat my shotgun on the floor by the door and I pulled the 9mm from its holster, I handed it to Jenny. I handed the .38 revolver to bobby. "I will want these back." I whispered. I checked my waistband 9mm, flipped the safety off.

  Gripping the shotgun in my right hand, I told Jenny to lift the bar and I eased the door open. I stepped out of the box and cautiously moved to the right. I heard Jenny close the door and drop the bar in place. I still hadn’t located the Zombie. I moved around to the right side of the container, and I saw it. It was moving away from me along the side of the container. I rushed up behind it and I placed the shotgun to the back of its head and pulled the trigger. The Zombies head exploded and the body crumpled to the ground.

  I saw four more Zombies stumbling this way about 200 meters down the road. I quickly surveyed the camp and didn’t see anymore Zombies in the immediate area. I had plenty of time before the four got here so I yelled, "Bobby, Jenny, come out here. Bring your rifles with you." They came running up to me with their rifles. They
handed my pistols back to me. "Can you shoot those Zombies?" I asked. Bobby immediately took aim and snaped off three shots as fast as he could work the lever, all of them were misses. "Slow down Bobby, take careful aim then squeeze, don’t jerk the trigger." Bobby fired off another shot and one Zombie falls forward but continued to crawl toward us. I told Bobby, "As soon as they go down, target the next one. You can walk up and finish a crawler. Always shoot in this order, the runners first, and then the slower shufflers, the crawlers last."

  I looked at Jenny, she was just staring at the Zombies. I told Jenny, "If you can’t shoot them, don’t worry Bobby and I will. But just remember, if they get close enough to bite you, they will. The people they used to be are dead. This is just the virus keeping them moving, kind of like they are possessed by aliens or demons. They are no longer living people." Jenny looked me in the eyes and nodded. Then she raised the little CX4 Carbine and started firing at the Zombies. I put my hand on Bobby’s shoulder. He stopped shooting. Jenny dropped the other three Zombies after a 10 shot barrage.

  The three of us walked over toward the four Zombies. I told them, "The only way you can be sure Zombies are killed once and for all is by destroying their brain." I pulled my 9mm and shot each of the Zombies in the head. "You have to shoot them in the head or they can just get back up and attack. And if you find yourself surrounded by them, you need to make sure they don’t get back up, and come up behind you." I told them. Jenny’s eyes started to tear up and she said, "It just seems wrong, and ugly". I looked over at her and said, "It is ugly, but remember, they will attack you, they will kill you, and then you will become one of them. I don’t want you to get to the point where you enjoy killing them. But remember, if you kill them to survive it’s not wrong."

  I inspected the four bodies in the road for ID's. The first was a young woman in a vest from a home improvement store. "Is there a Building Supply around here?" I asked. Jenny replied, "I don’t think so. The closest one is in Gettyville, about 45 minutes away from here." I pulled the wallets from the pockets of the other three Zombies; all of them had Gettyville addresses. I dragged their bodies to the side of the road and tossed their wallets on the bodies. I grabbed the heels of the one by the container and drug him to the pile of bodies.

  I walked over to the truck, unlocked and opened the passenger door. Pulling the road map from the glove box, I located Gettyville; it is about 18 miles southeast of here. I marked the kills on the map and marked Gettyville. Refolding the map I returned it to the glove box. When we returned to my base camp, I hooked up the trailer to the truck. I backed the truck and trailer up to the rear of the container. I connected the trailer winch to the container and pulled it up onto the trailer. Pulling the binders from a storage box on the trailer, I tied the container securely to the trailer. I stood back and admired my work. If it had some gun slots, I would have the perfect Zombie proof RV. At least we will have somewhere to sleep without fear of getting bit in our sleep.

  I checked my spare fuel barrels, one was full but the other was down to half full. I still had three quarters of a tank in the truck. But I topped it off from my spare barrel of fuel. Although that would be enough fuel to get me home, I preferred to fill up before starting home. I liked to keep the tank topped off. I sure didn’t want to run out of gas surrounded by Zombies because I had to take an unexpected detour. My plan was to cut over to 99 and head south. "I need to make a few stops first. But then I’ll take you guys back to the neighborhood and get you settled in." I told Jenny and Bobby.

  The truck had no problem pulling the trailer but I needed to keep in mind the handling would be affected. No quick swerving or stops with it back there. I came north on highway 5 which bypassed most of the smaller cities and towns. I planned on returning home by highway 99. It was the old road and it goes right through a couple of medium sized cities and several other small towns.

  The first small town, Los Robles, was pretty much a wide spot in the road, a couple stores, a post office, and a gas station. I stopped at the gas station, opened the filler cap on the underground diesel tank. I fed the hose of my electric pump down into the storage tank and connected the pump outlet to my spare fuel barrel. I switched on the pump. I kept lowering the hose until I heard fuel splashing into the barrel. When the fuel neared the top of my barrel, I switched off the pump, and I pulled up the hose. I closed the cap to the storage tank and coiled up my hose and tossed it in my storage box. I replaced the cap on my spare fuel barrel. I got back in the truck and pulled out onto the highway and continued south on highway 99.

  At the next small town, I spotted a store with a large sign that read "Groceries & Hunting & Fishing Supplies". I slowed down and stopped at the front of the store. Without warning, a shot rang out and a bullet smacked the passenger side fender. I floored the truck as I heard additional shots being fired but detected no hits. The container on the trailer shielded the truck from any more bullet hits. I drove on down the highway. "I guess we’ll take our business elsewhere" I told Bobby. "Aren’t you going to stop and see if they need help?" asked Bobby. "I’ll stop next time I come through. Right now I probably would just return fire." I told him. Jenny said," They are probably just scared." "Maybe, but how many Zombies have you seen driving?" I asked her. We need to get you guys geared up before we get into a gun battle. "Geared up?" asked Bobby. "Yeah, you need some bullet proof vests and stuff before you start getting shot at. You also need some protective gear before you engage Zombies in close quarter battles."