A silent truce formed. They told us that the store was devoid of the Undead and that while most of the fresh food had already been cleared out, quite a lot of the canned goods were still on the shelves. We thanked them for the information and left them as we went inside, still somewhat cautious of what we might actually discover.
Our plan was to hit all of the areas together in order to get what we needed and then get out quickly. We headed off to gather clothing first. Having memorized the sizes of all of the men I picked out lightweight pants and new (and clean) underwear for them quickly. Max and Bob were in charge of the shoes, boots and socks for everyone including the twins; hopefully they wouldn’t screw it up… Next I got shirts and t-shirts for the men and moved on to the clothing for the kids.
Once I was finished outfitting the children with everything I thought they might need, I got myself some lightweight pants, new underwear and a three pack of sports bras, t-shirts as well as a few shirts. Upon consideration, I grabbed enough cold weather gear for each of us in the event that we needed it. In the future, these items might not be as readily accessible. Seeing coats and accessories I grabbed those as well, making sure to get bigger sizes for the twins in case they grew. Thank goodness they had those items in stock and that no one else had thought to clear them out before we got here.
Once I’d put everything into the cart, off I went to the toy section to grab a few things for the twins. Max and Bob joined me a few moments later with a full cart of footwear and the ammunition they had found in the adjoining sporting goods section. With the toys and games taken care of, off we went to find some canned foods that were easy to eat and didn’t require heating. Thankfully, there were lots of choices and many still in full cases.
I was shocked to see what was actually left on the shelves. I suppose I would have expected most of the stores to have been cleared out long before now, but the circumstances that we’re in are not akin to a natural disaster. Most people probably didn’t have the time to stock up before the Undead showed up. Most people probably didn’t even react until the Undead actually showed up; and by that point; it would have already been too late.
Forks, spoons and a requisite can opener were next. Max grabbed a few cases of water and some juice and soy milk tetra packs for the twins while Bob loaded up on boxed goods like crackers and cookies and dry cereals. I found a supply of protein bars and transferred the remaining stock to my overflowing cart.
We had debated in the car about picking up a camping stove with additional fuel canisters. It was a good idea, but one that we discarded. The Escalade was partially full with gasoline jerry cans and it was dangerous enough travelling with it all. No need to add an ignition source to the mix. Sure, we could be careful and vigilant, but accidents happen. Better to not foster an environment that has the potential for accidents.
The next stop was the bath, body and pharmacy section. We had decided that over the counter medications could be useful at some point. We had planned to stock up on anything we could get our hands on; allergy medications, cold medications, pain relievers, sunscreen, bandages, peroxide.
We had hoped to find stronger pharmaceuticals as well; we wanted to have antibiotics on hand if we ended up needing them as well as a supply of heavier pain medications. It was much better to be safe than sorry if you ended up needing those items in a pinch and the closest source happened to be deep behind enemy lines.
Having gathered all the supplies that we needed, we headed back out to the SUV with three carts, not knowing if all of what we had gotten would fit in the back.
On the way out, Bob spied a public washroom and the urge to use it hit him. He waved us forward, telling us that he would join us in a moment. Max and I left the store, pushing our carts and dragging Bob’s, intent on getting to the Escalade and loading it as quickly as we could. To our amazement, everything fit in the back of the SUV with room to spare; you have to love the spaciousness of luxury automobiles these days…
Politely taking the time to return our carts to the side of the building, we got into the car to wait for Bob. Minutes went by. Long minutes. Thinking the worst, Max and I got out of the car to go back into to the store to see what was keeping him, hoping that he hadn’t walked in on one of the Undead in the washroom.
Just as we were about to activate the automatic doors, they opened and Bob walked out. There was a weird look on his face and he was doing up the buttons to a long-sleeved shirt, giving us the excuse that once he had gotten a look at himself in the mirror, he had to change. As much as he loved his favorite shirt which read ‘You’re a great friend but if Zombies are chasing us, I just might trip you’, he could no longer stand the feel of it against his skin. We laughed and then didn’t want to hazard a guess at what we looked like as we all got into the car and drove away.
Thinking back now, we should have asked those other survivors where they were headed or if they had a safe place to stay. It’s true what they say about hindsight; it’s always 20/20…
Day 27:
More and more heartbreaking stories are finding their way onto the internet. Accounts of other survivors trying to survive. Chronicles of dwindling numbers and of people making their last stands. It’s just so hard to look into that mirror and see what you’re living reflected back at you. The reality of it all was just too much to bear at times and I find myself looking less at the internet these days.
The accounts that I have read only reinforce that so many people didn’t realize that the Undead were an actual issue. I can certainly understand and appreciate confusion. If you don’t know what is actually going on, how can you react to it? And it’s not like everyone would have been able to find our account; to be honest, you’d have to be really looking for it. But some of you have and that’s all that really matters to me.
I received a message that gave us some much needed hope. I’ve included the letter as I received it so that you can fully understand the ramifications of what it was…
“Ahoy! My name is Sven Kanelstrand and I am a captain with Regal Caribbean Cruises; well, I was a captain for them prior to the current troubles. We were docked in Miami, waiting for a new group of guests to board the ship when the infection started to become a global phenomenon. As soon as we got word that Miami had been overrun and that the infected were moving towards the harbor, we set off and kept a safe distance from shore. With the number of infected growing and the number of survivors dwindling we’ve made it our personal mission to rescue as many as we can. We have travelled to Hudson Bay in the hopes that survivors can make all the way north to us. I know the journey might be long and arduous for you but I promise that we are free from the Undead. All that you need to do is make your way to the port of Waskaganish in the Canadian province of Quebec. I know that it might be far but it is the only place that we determined would be likely to be free from the Undead. We’ve been monitoring the Internet and so far the northern climes seem to be the safest place for a rescue. If the situation changes, I will be in contact again. We hope to see you there soon. We pray that you are able to stay strong and stay alive.”
With the news that there was a cruise ship waiting in Hudson Bay for us, for anyone that could get to it, we were relieved and elated. While we were happy and hopeful, we also wondered if this was somehow a trick. A cruel joke that some sick and twisted survivor was playing on the rest of the living world.
We figured that it would take us approximately three days to get to Waskaganish from where we currently were located. Were we going to take the chance and head up there? Of course! It was the closest thing we had to a plan at this point.
The closest thing we had to a chance at survival.
Feeling as good and as jubilant as we did, it didn’t take away from the fact that we still had to get there. We had no way of knowing what we would encounter along the way. And to make matters worse it looked as if Bob was coming down with a cold.
He had started to get feverish about six hours after stopping at the Rocky Mountain House Co-Op. Ben seemed to think it was nothing more than a flu and that it would pass in time, but we were all worried that the twins would pick something up being in such close quarters.
Bob was also starting to get vacant and withdrawn. I decided to chalk it up to the fact that he wasn’t feeling one hundred percent but I did wonder how much of a handful he was going to be if he got sicker. Would we be able to handle the Undead, the twins and a sick comrade? My hope was that this wasn’t something worse than the flu. We didn’t have access to a hospital but we were extremely lucky to have Ben and all of his expertise.
Since the Rocky Mountain House Co-Op did not have an actual pharmacy department and as a result no supply of antibiotics and such, we had to make another stop to pick-up those supplies. Driving through Jansen Saskatchewan we spied a small pharmacy in the middle of town. Its windows were still intact and there was no evidence of the Undead anywhere.
We decided to make an unscheduled stop. Ben wanted to pick up some more antibiotics and over the counter medications that he could use to treat just about anything that could come up in the course of the next few months. Our shopping trip went off without a hitch and we were in and out in less than thirty minutes. Ben immediately gave Bob something to help relieve his fever and some antibiotics just in case he had picked up some sort of bacterium along the way.
By nightfall, it was apparent that whatever had befallen Bob was much worse than we could handle while driving across country. He was pale and sweaty. His heartbeat was slow and irregular and he complained of feeling achy and extremely cold. When you touched him though, it felt like his skin was on fire. His skin was gauntly drawn over this face and there was nothing we could do to keep fluids in him. He needed a hospital and there wasn’t one that we could take him to.
To be perfectly honest, when I look back on it now, things would have been easier had we just done what we knew we had to do. Bob was probably going to die and we really had no idea what it was that was killing him. We couldn’t take the risk that he would die in the car with us and then come back as one of the Undead.
We still didn’t know what would happen to anyone that died of natural causes; and to be honest, we weren’t interested in testing any theories on the matter at this point. It was all too much to think about… More than we really wanted to think about at this point when we had a plan and a safe place to go. Why did things like this have to happen when you finally got good news?
Knowing that Bob had been sweating and had probably soaked right through the long sleeved shirt that he had put on in the store, I decided to change it for him while he was resting. Bob was really out of it by that time. He didn’t even wake up as I unbuttoned the shirt and started to take it off of his now gaunt frame. It was amazing how quickly his muscular physique had been transformed by this illness he was suffering from. It wasn’t until I had gotten the shirt off of his right arm that I received the shock of my life.
Plain as day, on Bob’s right forearm was the distinctive pattern that only human dentition can make. He had been bitten in that washroom and then hidden it from us. He had sacrificed all of our lives and put each one of us in danger. I was outraged and saddened.
Outraged that he would put us in this position.
Saddened to be losing a true friend.
You might wonder what made him hide that harbinger of death from us. To be honest, none of us really understood his decision.
We had assumed that none of us was willing to sacrifice the well-being of the group for a few more moments with each other.
Perhaps it was looking down the barrel of my gun in Lac la Hache, after the attack at the playground that changed Bob’s mind about being forthright.
Perhaps he thought that he would tell us shortly after, break the news to us while we were driving to Waskaganish.
What the wait would have served, I do not know. I cannot even begin to pretend to understand what might have been going through his head. The rest of us promise to never go off alone in the future and if we encountered a situation where it occurred, we were prepared to prove we were uninfected to the group. It was the only promise we could make to each other in our grief and anger.
I can’t talk about what happened after that just yet. The pain is just too fresh and too shattering. Just know that Bob will forever be remembered in our hearts and in our prayers. Good bye my friend.
I will miss you.
Day 28:
Max and Ben feel that I should tell you all what happened in the Escalade the evening that Bob turned into one of the Undead. I was hesitant to share the story mainly because as the person sitting in the backseat with him, I bore the brunt of the shock, the confusion, the fear, the revulsion and the heart pounding terror.
It brought back all those same emotions I had felt on the first day of the outbreak; of being trapped in my home, pursued by one of the Undead, with nowhere to go…
That’s a story you’ll likely never hear though; its pain is too private. But sitting in the back of that Escalade with Max and Ben ahead of me, Liam and Lily asleep in the space behind me and a freshly Undead Bob with eyes fixed on me, I found I could not move. I could not speak. I could not think.
I could not even breathe.
It seemed like hours went by, our eyes strangely locked into each other’s. I’m sure it was mere seconds though. I knew at any point that Bob would lunge for me, grab a hold of me and sink his teeth into my living flesh, infecting me. Killing me. Turning me into one of the Undead.
My biggest fear was about to come true and suddenly I was powerless to stop it. I was frozen in place and in time. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that what was once Bob was going to cause me to join the ranks of the Undead. My mind was blank, numbingly blank. Had you asked my name, I don’t think I could have told you…