Roxanne's Story (Book 1): Survival in the Zombie Apocalypse (19 page)

Lucky walked up to Chen Le still sitting in the driver’s seat and hit Chen Le’s torn, bleeding arm with the butt of his rifle to get his attention. He screamed out and yelled, “Death to you. Death!”

“Are there more of you?” Lucky asked.

“More coming…..every day……more coming.”

“From where?”

“Florida…..Florida toast. Everyone leave…..go north…..but they come here to you. I found you….they will too,” he attempted to laugh but only managed to spit up blood and began to gurgle. Lucky shot him in the head as Roxanne pulled up in the car with Cami and Brandon but Randy had elected to take the motorcycle. Lucky glanced in the back and saw that they had made a pretty good haul of weapons and food.

“We saw zombies starting to come out of the woods behind the houses,” Cami said. “We need to get a move on.” Lucky got in the front with Roxanne and Gene squeezed in the back with Brandon and Cami. Randy followed behind in the chopper and looked like he was having fun doing it.

Everyone was silent until they passed the car that Roxanne had abandoned. “I can’t believe that we pulled that off,” Gene said. “I was expecting more after the methods they used to hit us last night.”

Roxanne turned on the headlights not being able see the road without them anymore. “They were a terrible force to others less fortunate than us,” she said. “We had the weapons, the ammo and had built a small fortress. They’ve probably been killing people all along the way and became overconfident because of it.”

“Which is why we need to get back to that NRA house and get the rest of those weapons,” Cami insisted.

“We haven’t forgotten Cami,” Lucky said. “Sally needed to get medical supplies and then this happened. We need to get that bus out of the way so we can get in and out of the park by the front entrance. It’s been shot up all to hell and we don’t know if it will start anymore to move it. We can’t leave the tunnel open so we need to find a replacement. We should work on some ideas but we’re all too tired right now.”

Roxanne stopped when the highway turned north and her headlights caught an unmarked road leading off to her left. “Is this the service road?” she asked. “You would think that it would be marked for deliveries but I didn’t see any signs that it goes to the park.” She backed up so her headlights would shine down the road. Randy pulled up beside her and said that he would look on the side of the road for a downed sign. He got out his flashlight and walked the cycle along the road until he spotted something and got off the bike to investigate. He went into the brush and they could see him lift something. When he got back on his bike he motioned for them to follow him.

It was slow going for both of them since the concrete was broken and washed away in places. The trees hugged the road not allowing the moonlight in to help them and to make matters worse the fog was drifting in. Randy almost fell off his bike when a deer suddenly darted across the road. They rounded a turn to see the fence but they couldn’t see the truck that they had parked up against the gate because of a crowd of Ze’s. “Oh shit” Gene said, “I’m really not up to this. I just want my comfortable cot.”

“Just don’t shoot up the truck while we deal with these zombies,” Lucky said. “We need to be able to move it to let us in and then move it back into place again until we can fix that gate. Leave your headlights on Roxanne,” he said as he opened the door. Randy was sitting on his motorcycle in front of their car and had his pistol out shooting the zombies coming toward him. The rest of the group lined up on each side of him and started firing at the twenty to thirty Ze’s that had been attracted by the noise the night before. The mist made it more difficult to get a head shot but the zombies were easy targets since they hadn’t eaten in a long time and were slow. Brandon and Cami were on the two ends of the line and watched the woods for more Ze’s coming out of the fog unnoticed. They alternated their focus between the herd coming toward the headlights which gave the area an eerie nightmare affect and any possible attack from the sides.

After several reloads of ammo the herd was put down. Lucky ran forward to open the gate and move the truck that had been abandoned by Chen Le’s group. After the cycle and car went through Brandon ran back to Lucky and said he had found a chain and lock in the station wagon. They chained the fence and after Lucky put the truck in place he got back in next to Roxanne.

“Morgan, Sally and Caleb must be worried sick about us,” Gene said.

“To say nothing of Mutt,” Roxanne added. “I told him last time that I wouldn’t leave him again. I hope he understands that he was more help to them than to us.”

CHAPTER 5

A
s they drove to the Admin Bldg. they did not see any Ze’s or signs that their hidden members had faced any danger on the grounds while they were gone. They parked the car at the admin bldg. and went on foot to reach the Entertainment Section. They had not used or visited that section often except for Cami, so they let her lead the way through the overgrown grounds and shattered debris caused by a storm sometime in the past.

Knowing that Morgan, Sally and Caleb would hear their boots on the hardwood floor of the theater Gene started calling out their names so as not to frighten them. “Sally, are you OK? It’s safe,” he yelled as he used his flashlight to thread through the overturned seats of long ago audiences.

The trap door opened and Morgan stuck his head out. “Damn it! We know you said it could possibly be two days but we were worried sick after it got dark.” Roxanne could hear Mutt barking below as Morgan climbed the ladder from the trap door. He almost tripped on the last rung when Mutt darted up the ladder, jumped off the stage and ran to Roxanne.

She laughed and got down on her knees so he could lick her face, “Good Boy. You did good. You kept them safe” she rubbed and kneaded his skin the way he liked it.

Sally was helped off the ladder by Gene and given a big hug. “Everything was quiet here,” Morgan said. “Too quiet. Damn spooky place at night. Wouldn’t want to spend another night down there, but I suggest we leave some supplies there for this very purpose. It was a good spot to hide in, Cami,” he said as he patted her on the shoulder.

“I wanted to go,” Caleb said as he shut the trap door. “I could have helped.”

“Yes, we know that,” Gene said. “But with both Sally and your dad injured we needed you and Mutt here to protect them.”

They all began to leave the theater when Morgan pulled Roxanne aside. “Had trouble with that one while you were gone,” he nodded toward Caleb. “Wanted to go out and search the grounds. I don’t know what last night’s attack on the park has done to him. I’m afraid he’ll get reckless. Once, when I couldn’t talk him out of it Caleb started to climb the ladder until Mutt grabbed his pant leg and wouldn’t let go,” Morgan grinned.

Roxanne gave him a hug and said, “Last night is still fresh in his mind. You are not alone in raising him anymore Morgan. Everyone here is his family now and will be giving him guidance.”

The walk back to their living quarters was more treacherous than the hike up the mountain and a few of them fell over unseen roots in the dark or tripped over debris. “We’re exhausted,” Brandon said as he picked himself up off the ground. “Morgan, did you and Caleb get any sleep? Can you relieve us this evening?”

Morgan stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. “Are we expecting trouble? I just assumed since everyone is OK that the mission was accomplished. What are you saying? Did you not find them?”

“We found them,” Brandon said as he got everyone walking again. “And we took care of it. It’s not them I’m worried about, it’s the fences. Until we can search the park in daylight we don’t know if they cut other sections of it and there was a large gathering of Ze’s at the back gate. We’ve only temporarily fixed the breaches that we’re aware of but I’m hesitant on all of us going to bed without a spotter on duty.”

Morgan nodded, “OK, we can do that. Can’t guarantee you that we can stay awake all night though, without backup”.

Once they were back to the path that split into different directions Morgan and Caleb peeled off toward the front entrance. After they went through their inner barrier Lucky and Roxanne started to peel off toward her cabin when Brandon spoke up, “Wait a minute you two. Don’t you think you ought to stay in the Admin Bldg. tonight? We don’t know what’s out there in the park and I don’t like the idea of you being separated from the rest of us.”

Lucky had been walking away with one arm around Roxanne’s shoulder. He didn’t miss his stride as he threw up his right hand and gave Brandon the finger. Randy started laughing. “Leave them alone. Don’t think anybody is gonna show up asking for Roxanne again. And what was that all about anyway? I came in late on that.” No one answered him.

Roxanne barely had a candle lit when Lucky took her in his arms and gave her a long kiss. Then he held her to his chest and whispered, “I didn’t know what to do.”

She looked up at him, “What do you mean? You did just fine. The plan worked.”

“No,” he kissed her on the forehead. “I didn’t want you to go with us in case anything went wrong. I didn’t want to watch you die if it did. But I didn’t want to leave you here either, in case the park was hit and you died without me. I would never have forgiven myself either way. I didn’t know what to do.”

Roxanne pulled away from him, “You can’t start thinking like that. You’ll make mistakes and the wrong choices if you think like that. We all have our talents here and work as a team and that is how you must look at us, all of us, as a team.” She stepped up to him and put her hand on his chest. “In this cabin we are Lucky and Roxanne but out there you must continue to see me as a team and nothing more.” He touched her face and looked deep into her eyes seeing that she was emotionally strong about what she had just said. He knew that she would not have become confused over the issue as he had done. A silent agreement was met in their stare until Lucky reached out and began to unbutton her shirt. She smiled as she reached out to unbuckle his belt. “You stink like a man who has been in battle” she whispered.

Morgan stopped at the ladder to the mound after leaving the rest of the group and asked Caleb not to follow him up. “Just let me check a few things first and then I’ll call down to you,” he said as he started climbing. Caleb looked confused but since they had disagreed on most things during the day he decided to keep his peace.

As Morgan topped the mound and the stench hit him he knew it was as he had feared. They had left the bodies of Chen Le’s men as they had fallen, not having the time for clean up before getting their group out of the park unseen. But they also left the bodies for a more evil intent that if another attack was planned by Chen Le perhaps the sight of his dead men would send the message that they were not to be screwed with.

Morgan flattened out and crawled to the edge of the mound to peer below. The zombies had smelled fresh meat and had moved in during the day. There was very little left of the bodies but it was not a sight he wanted Caleb to witness. Dried blood and pieces of bodies were strung throughout the circle with a few zombies still lingering. He was not going to sit up here all night and look at this carnage, nor would he be able to endure the smell. He crawled back to the ladder not wanting the zombies to spot him and become more active.

At the bottom of the ladder he told Caleb, “We’re not sitting up there tonight, I don’t care what Brandon wants.” When Caleb asked why he just sighed and answered, “Because it’s not something that I can stomach and there are Ze’s out there. It’s best they don’t see us. Come on. We’ll walk the fence line and you can practice your shooting with the crossbow if we see any Ze’s. But we won’t be retrieving your arrows tonight. We’ll wait until morning.”

The next day the crew covered their mouth and nose, put on gloves and threw the remaining bodies in the back of the only truck that Randy did not blow up with grenades. This was the mounted machine gun that Gene wanted before he knew that the same type vehicle had entered the back gate. Morgan was unsuccessfully trying to get the bus started not only to bring the vehicle into the park, but to give them access when they wanted to leave. Randy and Cami tossed and kicked debris caused by Randy’s explosion, out of the parking area to allow Gene and Brandon to drive the bodies down to the park entrance and toss them in with the others, now adding human to zombie bodies.

Morgan got out of the bus and approached Lucky, “I don’t think we’ll ever get that bus started,” he said. “They shot it up pretty bad. We would need a tow truck, and one designed for heavy equipment to get that thing out of there.”

“Maybe we can just leave it there,” Lucky said as he walked around it. “It makes a hell of a good barrier. We’ll try to create our own exit, between two buildings perhaps with two wooden doors and put a couple of bars across it.

“I see what you’re saying,” Morgan nodded. “I saw some concrete bags in one of the sheds. I could encase the frame into cement, but the problem would be a road. Only road we know of is the back entrance and we need two exit points. If Ze’s should take that gate down, we need another way out and I’m not talking about driving across a field or through the woods.”

Cami overhead the conversation and came up to them, “That would mean the west side since the east side is where we hiked up the mountain. What about that logging road that Ed was so keen on using? It is on the west side of the fence but it runs north and south. South should take us down to the highway where we’re dumping the bodies.”

At that moment Brandon and Gene came back in the truck and Lucky filled them in on their idea. “Cami, you go with Brandon and Gene back to the highway and see if you can find where that trail comes out. It may be overgrown and hard to spot at first. I don’t remember seeing one, but then I wasn’t looking either. And be careful,” he nodded towards the woods where he saw movement. “Zombies are starting to come in from that direction again.”

Cami got in the back of the truck and stood holding onto the mounted machine gun, “Damn, wish we had ammo for this thing. I’m telling you, we need to get back to that NRA house” she yelled as Gene pulled off.

They had driven a mile when Cami banged three times on the roof of the truck. “Over there,” she pointed. “See the high voltage power lines? There would be a dirt road following them and dirt bikers like to use them for fun. They must cross the highway somewhere and that would be our entrance.”

The power lines crossed the highway further up but they could not see a road. They stopped the truck and got out to walk through the bushes to see if they could pick up any signs of a trail. As soon as Brandon stepped off the road he could see a ditch in front of him. “Nothing is getting through here,” he said. “We wouldn’t be able to cross that ditch and climb onto the road with a vehicle, especially if it had rained.” He looked up to survey the area and saw a farmhouse in an open field. “Let’s try that farmhouse with the barn in the back. Looks like the power lines back up to their property. Maybe access would be easier from that angle.”

They drove to the driveway of the farmhouse and continued driving around to the back of the house to see if any Ze’s appeared. They stopped and let the truck idle while waiting but there wasn’t any movement from the house and the barn door was shut. “Think we ought to check it out?” Gene asked.

Brandon shook his head, “No, maybe on the way back but finding where that gravel road leads at the park fence is our priority right now. Drive around to the back of the barn but take it easy in case there is equipment or tools hidden in this tall grass.”

There was a cleared area leading from the back of the barn as if a tractor always used that route to go out to his fields. They followed it until Cami banged on the roof of the truck again. “I see it. Over to our right and its easy access from here.”

They drove through some dried corn stalks with Cami guiding them as she had a better view from the back of the truck. Then suddenly they were through the wasted crop of years ago and at the site of the trail. Cami yelled for them to hold up and got out of the back. She opened Brandon’s door and said, “Move over, I’m riding the rest of the way with you. The back is getting too rough for me to hold on. I’ll get thrown from the truck if you hit a ditch or something.”

It wasn’t a bad trail although bumpy and wouldn’t make for a quick get-a-way but for an emergency back-up plan it wouldn’t be bad. They were encouraged as they followed it until they crossed under the wires and started driving into the forest toward the park. Then it became dense with the woods brushing up against the truck. In some places there was loose gravel making the truck slide as it tried to get traction. As the forest began to thin out again they came to an area that Brandon was not pleased with.

“This looks like a flash flood area,” he said. “See those banks over there and how they’ve eroded? That was fast moving water that did that and the trail went through here. I can see where it picks up again on the other side. We could get trapped here in rainy season.”