Life After Death, Page 3

  Rosie, keeps herself occupied playing with Smurfette (who cleaned up well) and my Pooh bear. I let her play a few games on my IPad. I've always enjoyed matching games, where you find a matching pair. Thankfully, I have two different games on my iPad for this. So, she plays with that too. I tell her stories. We don't talk about what happened or the zombies. She hugs and I fall asleep holding her every night.

  I, myself, haven't seen any other zombies or people for that matter since the 12th... A week has gone by... Still no word from my dad. I wonder about going down to the house or to venture out and see how friends or the town are doing. The smell of smoke and fire are all but gone. So, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I know I shouldn't. I'm as safe as I can be up here.

  I daydream a lot and write in my journal! Ha! Will there be anybody to read it, I'm not sure. I wonder if any of my friends are holed up in their houses like I am. Are they running out of food? Are they dead? Are they zombies?

  The not knowing is the biggest thing. It can naw at you. I know the power is still off because I do have one regular outlet up here. It would suck to be up here and like maybe the government actually did stop the virus or zombies. I hadn't checked it in a few days. (Well, I did, since I was writing about it. Nothing.)

  So, I sit back and think about making some bread for us and maybe some oatmeal. Mental note for any survivalists... Don't forget the spices. Your food will be bland enough... At least don't forget the salt and pepper.

  I wish I knew what the weather was going to be. I miss the weather forecasts... Even the wrong ones. I guess way back in the day, you had to wake up and just see how the day was and just know the seasons to know if it will be hot, cold, or a chance of snow.

  I know I am rambling, but I'm bored. I've already read my "The Count of Monte Cristo," twice. See ya, for now.

  October 27th

  Rosie, has a bad cough and runny nose. I gave her a small dose of cough syrup and half a Benadryl. My dad and I didn't plan on any small children to be with us. So, I'm dosing as best and safe as I can, while trying to save as much at the same time. I gave her some chewable vitamins. We have an abundance of those and have her drinking tea. I'm letting her play longer on my iPad today. The medicine makes her sleepy and she fell asleep with the iPad propped up against her knees and her head propped against the pillows. I feel her head for a fever and don't think she has one. I cover her up and grab the iPad.

  I deserve a break! I play a quick match game and almost beat my best time. None of the online games work, but I play some dominoes and a game of monopoly. I plug the iPad in to charge and get dressed in the super quiet. I guess I'm just used to it. I grab my mug of tea and head out of the fort house to look around the yard and house like I always do.

  I don't see anything.  I'm seriously thinking about going down to the house. My dad saved some of my clothes when I was a baby and about Rosie's age.  Her clothes are very dirty with dried blood and getting a bit stinky, to put it kindly.  I'm sure I don't smell the best either, but just so, she wouldn't have to be in her clothes or my huge sweatshirt all the time.

  I could easily climb down.  Run over to the house.  Climb the stairs.  Pull down the attic stairs climb up and find the box and bring some clothes back. The hardest part would be finding the box or boxes of clothes to search through. 

  When Rosie wakes up, I will do just that.  The idea of not leaving the fort, even for the house, goes out the window.

  I'm eating some oatmeal and drinking some tea, when she wakes, with a cough, a sniffle and rubbing of her nose on her dirty sleeve.  "How are ya feeling?"

  "Sniffy," Rosie replied, sounding a lot more nasal.

  "You sure do, little one.  You want some oatmeal?"

  "Not really."

  "Okay, at least drink some hot tea.  I added extra honey for you."

  Rosie didn't fight me on this. She took the cup and took a timid first sip, making sure it wasn't too hot.  She sat on the bed and drank a bit more, before coughing.  

  "Can you read me a story?"

  "I can, but I am going over to the house for a few minutes.  You need some new clothes."

  "I'm okay."

  "No, you are not.  I'm going to get you some of my clothes when I was your size."

  "You have some? Are they nice?"

  "Ja-yaaah."

  "Can you get me a dress?"

  "I'll look."

  "Can you get me another stuffed animal?"

  "That I can do," I said and gave her a hug.  I got a smile and a rubbing of her nose on my sleeve.  I think she agreed to the terms. I really thought she would want to come with me.  

  I got ready and got my empty backpack and strapped a gun to my hip and a folding blade in my pocket. I got the brightest flashlight and headed for the side of the fort.  I took another look through the binoculars and lowered the ladder. 

  My feet hit the ground and I almost didn't trust them.  I look around and for whatever crazy reason, I crouch ran to the house. I look at the one big dark spot of what was blood in front of the house.  I did that.  It didn't really bother me what I had done... More that the stain was still there!

  I wave to Rosie before I go in the house. 

  The house was cold.  I'd never experienced the house to be cold like that.  It might have been about five degrees warmer than outside, but that was it. I ran up the stairs and had the attic stairs lowered in under a minute. I climbed up in to the darkness.  There was only a bit of light coming in at either end of the attic. I guess there are vents for the heat or cold. There is not enough light from them to see and not enough to calm the initial fears of an animal or bat up there. 

  I turn on my flashlight and my fears dissipate.  My dad, being a survivalist, or just anal, had the boxes of mostly the same sizes, stacked up in the same spots.  They were also marked in a big sharpie with the contents of each box.  I only walked about six feet until I found the boxes marked "Clothes - Davina Nursery School."  I took the two boxes above it and moved them. I grabbed the box and took it to the stairs. I also grabbed the one below it, that read "Kindergarden / 1st Grade."

  I slid them down the stairs. They crashed to the hallway floor.  The noise made me cringe.  I climbed down and closed the attic.  I took my knife and opened the first box.  I found Rosie size clothes... 4Ts. I found: T-shirts, a pooh and a Mickey sweatshirt.  I found a pair of jeans and a pair of light brown corduroys.  The other box had two good long sleeve shirts, a pair of winter boots, 3 footie pajamas, and a heavy jacket.  There were also two dresses.  One cream lace with a baby blue bow and a green velvet dress I must have worn around Christmas time.  

  It was weird I didn't remember wearing these things. Well, I remember wearing the green dress to see Santa and I did remember wearing the Mickey sweatshirt a bunch.  We got it at Disney World.  I wondered how Mickey and the park were doing right now.  I refolded what I had to and put them in the backpack. I looked in the boxes again and found a three pack of underwear with Care Bears on them.  Looks like I didn't wear them, but dad kept them.  

  "Thanks, Dad for keeping everything." 

  I went in my room and grabbed the small stuffed panda my grandma got me when she visited the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.  I also grabbed a stuffed minion for Rosie.  I looked in my closet and found my ladybug costume.  I folded it and took it too. 

  I looked around.  It didn't seem like anything had really changed. All my stuff was there.  The power was just off.  I felt my bed and saw the alarm clock flashing "12:00."

  I grabbed it in my hands.  

  The power was on.  

  I flipped on my bedside lamp. The room brightened. 

  "O-M-G!  There's power."

  What did it mean?  Did the government find a cure?  I ran to my tv and turned it on.  It turned on, but there were no channels as I flipped through them.  There was just snow or black screens.  I ran down the stairs, through the li
ving room and out the front door.

  I smacked right in to two zombie men trying to get up the stairs to the house.

  I rolled along the ground. One of the men, with sunken eyes, half a nose, and long nasty greasy black hair, bit at my back pack. 

  I kicked with my feet and slid away on the gravel from him.  He reached for me with his bloated arm.  I kicked it quickly three times and it broke to the side with a sickening crack. The arm breaking had no effect. He still tried to grab me, but the tendons moved his fingers in the air, but not his arm.

  I looked at the other zombie.  It was still near the stairs.  It was trying to roll off his stomach, which was fat and had him almost like a weeble-wobble toy.  

  I heard a growl and refocused on the broken arm greaser.  I kicked his head and it flung back and then came back to look at me. It growled.  It's nose was crushed and mouth a jagged hole from my kick.  It's shriveled tongue darted at me.

  I yelled and kicked again.  It's head snapped back even more and I heard a dry, wet rip.  It was like paper ripping, and then like the end of a fart.  I'm sorry, I can't describe it any other way; like the last two or three reverbs of a quick fart.  

  Its head came forward and was tilted to the right. A jagged tear was on the side of its neck.  Dark black blood oozed out from the jagged gash.

  I kicked again with the heel of my boot.  A loud fart tear and neck bone crack stopped the growl.  It's head flew over its body.  It flipped twice and bounced off its ankle to the ground.  The rest of the body collapsed to the ground.  

  Weeble-wobble still swayed back and forth. I got up and wiped my jeans.  I shuddered and looked at the fort.  Rosie watched the whole thing.  I went to weeble-wobble and turned so my back faced Rosie and the fort.  I reached for my knife.  I opened the blade. 

  Weeble-wobble managed to turn himself, on his stomach, a bit towards me.  His mouth snapped at me and his tongue darted at me, until it bit its tongue.  It bit it again and again, until the first two inches fell to the gravel.  

  I grabbed my knife in both hands and swung it down at the back of its head.  It slid in with a wet crunch.  The four inch blade slid in to the hilt.  I was surprised how easy it was to go in the skull.

  Weeble-wobble stopped flailing and snapping at me.  I pulled out the blade and wiped it on its shirt.  I got up and looked at Rosie.  

  She was pointing behind me.  I turned expecting to find another zombie behind me, but there wasn't.  I saw one about ten feet out from the tree line.  It dragged a foot, but was coming this way.  Then, I saw a nude female zombie appear from the trees.  She was followed by two others zombies.  This time a male and a female.  

  I grabbed the backpack and ran to the garage.  I picked up the ladder and climbed it as fast as I could.  I grunted and pulled up the ladder and ran to Rosie at the wall.  I pulled her down, but we both peeked over the edge. 

  There were 13 zombies walking this way and more stepping out from the woods. 

  I ran to the fort and opened the armory.  I got the semi automatic rifle and three clips. The bow would not cut it this time.

  I ran back out and there were now even more zombies and still more coming.

  Rosie and I watch the throng of zombies approach the house and us.  I didn't want to start shooting in case I attracted more. I didn't even have to look through the scope to see the now thirty zombies. Mostly adult men and women trudged their way.  

  I look back at the fort. I need more ammo.  I run back and grab three more clips. 

  I hear "Fireworks" by Katy Perry.

  I stop and forget everything.  My phone is ringing.

  I trip on the chair near the table. I reach for my phone. The phone said, "Dad."  I slid my finger across it to answer. 

  "Daddy?"

  "Honey."

  "Where are you?"

  "-ville."

  "Where?  You are breaking up."

  "-most home.  ... Careful zom- hordes.  Are you .. for.."

  "Yes, in fort.  Where?  Almost home?  Zombie hordes?"

  "Yes, almost ho..  Two or three .. more... be home.  Don't shoot... Noises.. At.."

  "Two or three what, dad?"

  "Love you."

  The line went dead.  

  "Dad?  Dad?" I repeat. I look at the phone. He was gone.  He was alive and almost home?  Two or three hours?  Two or three days?  Weeks?  

  Zombie hordes?  

  Shit, zombie hordes.  

  I run outside. There are over fifty zombies. The first one was near the house and turned to the front doorway. He tripped over what was left of the greaser. He gets back up about the time the nude female bumps in to him and he went down again, but she kept moving towards the garage.

  The others obviously didn't see weeble-wobble or greaser. As some trip over them. As the walk towards the garage. The nude female bumps against the wall. I turn and look at Rosie. She is pale and shaking. I motion with my finger to my mouth for her to be quiet.  

  I unclick the safety and aim over the wall.  The nude woman bumps against the garage and shuffles to the side.  A male and an elderly woman hit the nude zombie and the garage next. They never looked up. They just kept walking, but the garage wall was in the way. I moved my aim back and forth.

  I am ready to shoot and it is Rosie that grabs my shoulder and shakes her head no. I pull back and we watch, as the zombies one by one trip over the dead zombies or entirely miss them. Some miss the garage and just walk on, oblivious to us being up at the fort.

  I guess they can't smell us, or maybe it is just hearing us, maybe a few can see us. Rosie and I are either up to far to be smelled, heard or seen. The zombies, all shapes and sizes of them, pass us by after about thirty minutes. Where they are going, I don't care. Rosie and I take a sigh of relief as we lose sight of the last one.

  "Whatcha bring me?" Rosie whispers to me.

  We walk inside the fort, our home, and I show her everything. She puts on the Christmas dress and hugs the panda and minion. She falls asleep still wearing the dress, after dinner of chicken noodle soup and a few crackers. Rosie is happy and I don't dare wake her to change her in to the pajamas I found. I sit at the table and write in my journal until the pen feels heavy. I trudge to bed. Rosie sinks into the crook of my shoulder and I fall to sleep. 

  Ready for the next day. I'm happy too, my dad is alive. He will be home soon.

  Homecoming?

  October 29th

  These slow moving days are driving me crazy! The idea of Dad being home in two or three hours after his call didn't happen. The idea of two or three days is about to expire too. What did he mean? Two or three weeks? How far away is he? He must be farther than Knoxville and maybe even Nashville? Maybe Louisville?

  I've been walking the perimeter a lot and sitting outside watching and waiting. Rosie doesn't seem to mind and has been playing with the Smurfette and minion. I finally got her to change out of the Christmas dress. She's wearing a jacket like me, right now. There's a good chill in the air. It'll be winter time soon enough.

  I go through the checklists. The solar panels are working like a champ and the batteries are keeping the charges. We still have plenty of food. Rosie is feeling better, but I have us both taking our vitamins every other day to conserve them.

  We have not encountered any more zombies since the traveling horde. We may be safe up here for quite a while, knowing, if we are quiet, they pretty much don't know we are here it seems. They don't smell. They smell and smell quite badly. Next zombie apocalypse I will remember more Yankee candles and air sprays. Whew!

  No new phone calls. I've had a signal only one other time the last two days. I tried to call Dad, but the call would never go through. And, in three minutes. The signal was gone.

  It's weird not knowing what is going on beyond my home and fort area. No police to check on anyone. No military or national guard to clear any survivors, if there are that many
or any to begin with. We have a police scanner and I tried to use it, but I get nothing. No chatter. Nothing. The police like the rest of the state, country, and maybe world are gone as we know it.

  So be it. I'm strangely not afraid of this. I thought I would be afraid. I don't think of my friends. I don't think of any celebrities. I mean I hope they are okay, but it is weird, I'm okay not knowing. I'm okay with just keeping me and Rosie alive, waiting for my dad to return. We have seeds and planters for the spring. We will be fine here for quite some time.

  October 31st

  It is Halloween. I decide we should dress up. I put on my lady bug costume and Rosie dawns the cream lace dress. She is Anna from Frozen. I have two big bags of m&m's up here for special occasions and for a quick sugar fix. I put about twenty in a baggie. It'll be as close to Halloween as I can get for us.