Week 11: Zombie Encounter

I did find some good local maps at the library and after studying them I circled whatever schools and hospitals I could find (didn’t see any prisons in the area). Caleb and I made preparations to go out and search for the safe houses and then we left. Or at least we tried to leave.

While we were loading into the Wagoneer some zombies emerged from around the corner of the library. I was on the far side of the Wagoneer and unfortunately Caleb was getting in on the side closest to the zombies. To make matters worse it was almost noon on a pretty warm day. The zombies charged at Caleb at a full run.

My mind was racing so fast that it all seemed to unfold in slow motion. I saw the zombies running. I saw Caleb look at the zombies. I saw fear transform his face and his body froze. In just seconds I saw the zombies had crossed half the distance from where they had been. I saw Caleb with the car door open, head turned toward the advancing zombies just kind of fall into the passenger seat and curl into a fetal position.

While I was observing all of this my body had reacted without me even realizing it. I had already opened the driver’s side door and with the shot gun in hand I thrust myself into the car and shoved Caleb down into the floor board. The shotgun shuddered in my hands as I fired at the advancing group. The zombies were still too far away to sustain any real damage but it was enough to slow them down. With my free arm I grabbed Caleb in a clumsy headlock (it was the only portion of him I could get a hold of) and drug him through the car and out the driver’s side door.

The first of the zombies made it to the passenger door and tried to crawl through after us. I managed to raise my shotgun in time to wedge the barrel under its chin and pull the trigger. The contents of the zombies head blew out the back of its skull and coated the interior of the Wagoneer in a thick and chunky mist.

The second zombie tried to follow its friend through the Wagoneer. This zombie was of the big and tall variety and found it very difficult to maneuver around the body of the first one. As it struggled to break through I slammed the driver’s side door and turned my attention to the third and more intelligent of the three. This one had decided to go around the rear of the car instead of following his peers into a bottleneck. In fact it was already on top of me when I turned around.

The meat puppet and I fell to the ground and my shot gun went flying off to the side. I wrapped both my hands around the thing’s grimy neck and did my best to keep its teeth away from me. I saw the look of shock on Caleb’s face as he sat on his butt trying scuttle away from us on the heels of his hands and feet.

“The gun,” I shouted. “Get the GUN!”

He just kept backing away.

I managed to toss the zombie off me and pulled out a hunting knife I had tucked in my belt. The zombie landed on its stomach and I jumped on its back before it could get up. I lodged my knife into the base of its skull and began twisting. It seemed to go limp so I stood up and took a step back. It started floundering around on the ground but for the most part it was incapacitated. I picked up my gun and finished it off.

The heavy zombie was still in the car. I watched it for a minute as it continued to try and get the driver’s side door open. There seemed to be some knowledge left in its brain that told it this door could be opened. Instead of just banging against the window it was clawing at the controls on the armrest. Like it knew there was some magic button or lever that would release it.

Finally Caleb cried for me to make it stop. I placed the barrel of my shotgun against the window and put an end to it. Again the interior of the car was coated with zombie giblets.

Caleb and I returned to the library. Eventually I managed to calm him down. He was sorry for not helping me but I can understand the terror he felt. I told him it would be fine, not to worry about it.

There is no way I can carry him around with me while I search for a safe house. I’ll have to set the library up as a home base and leave him here when I go out again. As soon as I find a safe house I’ll come back for him and take him there. For now this will have to be his home.

Soundtrack: The Jim Carroll Band - People Who Died

Amazon MP3