The Fall: The Apocalypse Diaries Read online

  “No problem. They will be in good hands.”

  “I know that. Don’t let me down. If anything happens to my kids Randy, I will kill you.” I stated matter-of-factly.

  I stepped down from the driver’s side and shut the door.

  “Windows up you too. I don’t want to lose another person today.” I instructed.

  “We got this Commander. You guys be careful and come back safe and sound.” Karen replied. I nodded at her as she rolled the windows up. We watched as Randy drove to the front of the building. We could hear the sound of the horn blowing. We all stood and waited, giving Randy enough time to get their attention.

  Lucky for us, the roll up door to the bay was open. Well, it could be unlucky as hell too. While the zombies had a way out, they also had a way in. I didn’t have time to worry about that. It was time to make a game plan.

  “Ok, there are 18 of us so we need to go in groups of three. Six teams to cover the entire store. We have a chance to stock up here, so let’s do it.” I stated.

  Everyone came closer so they could hear.

  “Alex, you have Terry and Monica. Steve, you have Angela and Trey. Michael, you get Tony and Kenny. Sarah, Tommy and Jimmy are a team. Dustin, Chris and Ashley are going in, and Kevin and Linda are with me. Team one goes to the pharmacy. Team two you have the garden center. Team three, hardware, team four sporting goods, team five, grocery and my team does electronics.”

  There was the look I was waiting for. I knew that everyone was wondering why in the hell I would say electronics. “Ok, guys I get that you’re puzzled about electronics. There are plenty of cords and wires to make weapons. Plus we have a civilization and we have to have some form of entertainment if we are going to keep our sanity. Life can’t be about survival all the time. We need something to do when we aren’t on watch or raiding. Now, everyone knows where to go and whose asses to watch right?”

  “Right.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Got it Commander.”

  “You bet.”

  “Ok, in and out as fast as you can. Casualties are not acceptable. Let’s go.” I instructed.

  With weapons drawn, we each climbed into the bay of Star Mart. Using flashlights to see, we began by scavenging food from the stock room. There wasn’t much. Apparently, there were other survivors that had the same idea as us. I shined my flashlight on an entire pallet full of bottled water. Sitting beside the pallet was another pallet full of cases of soda.

  “Alex, grab a pallet jack. Terry, Monica, stand guard.” I instructed.

  Everyone moved into position. Seventeen people guarded one person as he loaded a pallet onto the box truck. So far, so good. No sign of the walking dead anywhere. The store seemed quiet, but I knew better than to trust it. The noise coming from the pallet jack rolling on the cement floor would definitely attract the undead.

  “Kevin, Sarah, go watch the doors. Let us know if you see anything.” I ordered. Kevin and Sarah did as they were told.

  “Michael and Tony, grab those other two pallet Jacks. We need to speed this up a bit.” They too followed the orders given to them.

  I turned my attention to Sarah and Kevin.

  “You guys see anything?” I asked.

  “Nothing. The store looks abandoned. No undead anywhere.” Kevin replied. Something didn’t feel right about this. How was it that not one single zombie was inside of the store? It didn’t make any sense. Still, I refused to accept the idea that one of the biggest stores in Cartersville was undead free.

  “Maintain your guard.” I instructed. Both Kevin and Sarah nodded that they understood.

  Alex, Michael, and Tony worked quickly to load all of the pallets of food and drink that would be useful to us. The contents took up half the truck when they were finished. I guess this raid is going to be better than I thought.

  “Ok teams, it’s time to raid the inside of the store. We need more food and things to make this raid worthwhile. No walking dead has been spotted, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any here so keep your guard up and watch each other’s backs out there.”

  Since they have done this so many times, my team knew exactly what to do. They took the six laundry carts we had taken from the county jail and dispersed them among the six teams.

  “Ok, fill them with anything and everything that we can use. You have done this a hundred times so you know what to do. I don’t have to tell you.” I stated.

  All of the teams gathered together as I had assigned them.

  “Now, I don’t have to go into detail about how this is done. You all have been with me long enough to know what we take and how to identify what is needed and what is not. So let’s get this done. The sooner we load the sooner we are out and home free.”

  The teams assembled into formation. One person was out in front to clear the path, armed with hand guns with silencers top avoid attracting a horde with the gun shot. The person in the middle pushed the laundry cart, and filled it with anything and everything we could possibly need from the area assigned to them. The third person brought up the rear to watch the backs of the team, and bring down anything that might come from the darkness.

  I led my team. I had the sharpest eye in the dark and I was the best shot of the team. I had the quickest reflexes. Linda pushed the cart, and Kevin brought up the rear. That was the best way for this to work.

  We made our way over to the electronics department. I mentally reviewed the list I had in my mind. I didn’t want to forget anything. While MP3 players and CD’s were not necessary, they would still be nice to have. The more important items to have were the cords and wires. We would go for those first. That way if the shit hit the fan, we would have the necessities first.

  On the way over to electronics department, we passed the book nook of the store. I remembered my promise I made to Tara. I removed the back pack that I carried from my shoulder and filled it with books as fast as I could. Once her pack was full, I continued to load books into the laundry cart. Tara wasn’t the only devoted reader we had back home. I made sure to grab cook books and survival guides of any kind. We also took hunting and fishing magazines. Once I was satisfied with the look of literature, I led my team to where the important stuff was. We reached the isle with the phone lines and Ethernet cables. I pointed to show them what to grab.

  I went around the corner to the case where the laptops and MP3 Players were kept. I removed my bolt cutters and went to work cutting the pad locks. I heard something behind me. I whipped around with my gun drawn. It was my team. I exhaled a sigh of relief.

  “A little jumpy aren’t we Commander?” Kevin asked with a smile. I holstered my sidearm.

  “Always.” I replied.

  “Now let’s get this empty. Grab all of the laptops and MP3 players you can. I also want CD players and CD’s.” I informed. Kevin and Linda both saluted me, another habit people in my village had gotten into. Truth be told, I had never held a rank in my life.

  Just as we finished loading the items into the laundry cart, a voice came over my radio.

  “Hey Commander, we have some unidentified noises over near the automotive department beside hardware.”

  “I will assist.” I replied.

  “Don’t you mean we will assist?” Linda asked.

  “No, I mean I. You get the stuff onto the truck.” I removed my weapon from the holster and made my way down toward automotives.”

  “I am coming up on your left. Hold your fire.” I radioed to the hardware team.

  “10-4 Commander.”

  I could see the glow of their flashlights. I continued searching the area leading up to where my people were. When I came to the end of the isle where they waited, I signaled for one of them to come to me.

  “Yes Commander?”

  “You come with me Kenny. Tell the other two to get the hell out of here. I am calling a mission abort.” I informed.

  “Yes Sir.” he replied.

  “Mission abort. I repeat, Mission abort.” I watched
as my soldiers began to evacuate.

  Once the area was clear of my soldiers, I turned back to Kenny.

  “Stay close. You clear the right and I will take the left. Are you with me?’ I asked.

  “Yes Sir Commander. All the way.” Kenny replied.

  “Good, let’s move out.” I instructed. We moved carefully through the center with guns drawn. If anything was lurking in the darkness, we would be ready for it. We occasionally turned back to make sure the others were alright and making their way out safely.

  As we neared the tire lube express, we heard a loud bang that sounded as though something had hit the floor. Kenny and I both jumped. We immediately drew our guns in the direction of the noise. Nothing was there that we could see. In a year of surviving the apocalypse, we knew that didn’t mean anything. These bastards may not have any intelligence, but they were damned sneaky.

  I signaled for Kenny to use his flashlight by retrieving my own from my side. We aimed our lights toward the Tire Lube Express. We turned them on, moving slow, afraid that we would make a noise by simply flicking the switch. As the beams emerged from our lights, we could see them. The undead were filing out of the doorway leading into the bay area of the service center. I noticed a chair as it was kicked around the floor. It must have been used to contain the undead in the area.

  “Commander?” I heard Kenny whisper.

  “Stay on guard.” I replied, also whispering.

  “Back away very slow and very quiet.” I instructed.

  Kenny and I began to back away slowly. I kept my light steady, careful not to draw attention to us. My beam was fixed on a walker that once worked the service center. Blood was dried to his face, and the skin of his cheeks was rotted around the severe bite mark where I was certain his end began. I glanced down every couple of steps to make sure I wouldn’t trip or stumble.

  We didn’t need to make a single wrong move or noise. So far, the undead hadn’t picked up on our scent or noticed that we were there. If we were lucky, we would be able to keep it that way until we could safely run for the truck. I turned often to watch Kenny as he followed my training precisely. It was times like this that I was thankful for my writing ability and creativity. It provided me with the need to pay close attention and to construct methods that might just save our lives. So far, I hadn’t been proven wrong. So long as my methods and ideas were followed precisely, lives were saved on every raid. I wasn’t sure how this situation would turn out for us, but I knew we would give it our all to leave this fucking grocery store.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  I turned to look back, contemplating how close to safe we were. So far, so good. I could see the gap in the isles where the double doors were that led to the back of the store. We had about 100 feet to go and we would be home free. We took our steps carefully, trying our best to make it out of this hive alive. I heard something at my feet and looked down. Kenny had nudged a can of spray paint with his foot. We froze in our tracks. We waited to see if the noise had drawn their attention to us. Rule number 10; never run unless you have to. They hadn’t heard us so we were safe.

  The crackling of my radio sounded in my ear.

  “Commander, what’s your 20?”

  I watched as the undead turned and looked at us. Blood dripped from their mouths as they foamed with some repulsive saliva substance.

  “Oh Shit! Run Kenny Run!” I ordered. I heard the growling and snarling of the creatures as they came after us. My heart was racing and it was already hard to breathe.

  “Run fucking Run!”

  I dropped my flashlight and held tight to my gun. I turned to look back quickly. The horde was getting closer. For dead, infected people, they could move really fast.

  “Faster Kenny!” I called. I took a lead on my soldier. I hadn’t noticed at first. We were like a military; leave no man behind.

  “Amber! Please don’t leave me.” I heard Kenny call out. I turned my attention to him.

  “Come on! Move your ass!”

  I reached for the button on my radio.

  “Alex, fire up the truck! Get ready to roll out!”

  “Amber, are you alright?”

  “It’s a fucking horde!”

  Kenny and I turned the corner and ran through the double doors. We could see the truck was running with the roll up door open. Angela stood there, armed and ready.

  “Jump Kenny!” I ordered. No sooner had the words left my mouth, we were both airborne. We hit the floor of the box truck and rolled into the other team members. Angela called to Alex. “Let’s go!” She climbed into the back and closed the door.

  Two of the soldiers helped me up into a sitting position. I was too frantic to notice which ones. Angela handed me an open bottle of water.

  “Who the fuck called me on the radio?” I demanded.

  “It was me Commander.” Michael replied. I stumbled to a standing position and walked over to him as best I could in the back of a moving truck. I swung my fist, and made contact with his nose, causing blood to pour.

  “You dumb fuck! Abort mission also means radio silence. How the hell did you forget that?”

  “Amber, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” Michael managed to say through the tears that streamed down his cheeks.

  “You weren’t thinking? The life of your brother and your cousin were on the line. How is it that you were not thinking?”

  I took a step back to keep from hitting him again. I had specific instructions for doing raids, what was supposed to be a fail-safe plan for surviving. I am very thorough and I was sure to cover every detail to make raids as safe as possible. Now, I had lost a member of my team and nearly become zombie food thanks to the carelessness of one individual.

  I heard the crackling of my radio. At least now was a safe time to hear that sound.

  “Are you ok back there Amber?” It was Alex.

  “Yeah Bubba, I’m fine.”

  “Kenny good too?”

  “Scared shitless, but no bites or scratches. We are both good.”

  “How about Michael?”

  “Nose is bleeding, and he’s lucky not to have a lip to match.” I replied.

  “I haven’t got a hold of him yet little sis. Hang tight. We are headed home.”

  “10-4 Alex.”

  I turned my attention back to Michael. I was still furious with him, but I felt bad for the broken nose. I carefully walked over toward him.

  “Here let me see.” I instructed as I knelt. I moved the light so that I could see his nose better. It was definitely broken. I knew exactly what needed to be done.

  “This needs to be reset Michael.” I stated.

  “C-can’t you let s-someone else do it?” he asked. I gave him a puzzled look.

  “Why does it matter?” I asked him.

  “Someone else may not m-make it h-hurt so m-much.” I couldn’t help but to laugh. Though that wasn’t my intention, Michael did know me well. Had the thought of causing him more pain entered my mind, I would have made him suffer just a little bit more. After all, he did almost get Kenny and I killed, eaten, and turned. I shuttered at the thought.

  I raised my hands and placed one on each side of Michael’s nose. He closed his eyes, bracing for the searing pain.

  “Here we go. 1-2-3.” I said. I moved my hands and the cracking of Michael’s nose could be heard over the noise of the box truck. He jumped and grabbed his nose with both hands.

  “I am sorry Michael.” I apologized. I could see the tears forming again in his eyes.

  “I knew you would do it.” he muttered.

  “What? It would have hurt just as bad if someone else would have done it.” I remarked with a grin. Hey, what could I say? It was his idea.

  “Don’t almost get me or anyone else killed, ok cuz.” I said as I patted his shoulder and turned my back to the wall of the box truck.

  Michael was my cousin. In fact, so were Tommy, John, and Kenny. As kids, Michael, Kenny, and I were the closest. I guess that was because the three of us were
so close in age. I miss those days of our childhood, having bicycle races, and throwing a football around for hours. Our dads had made us a small club area using cut up old tents nailed to trees in a small wooded area behind our grandmother’s house. Those were the days before the undead roamed the earth, back when zombies were nothing more than a product of the imagination.

  I remember the day my four cousins showed up in what was once Adairsville. Tommy was driving a pickup truck through town to raid one of the stores for supplies. So was I. Vehicles didn’t travel the roads much, and for four months, the only trucks on the road belonged to my village. Nothing was on the road without me knowing, at least not that close to home. I was coming off of Main Street when I heard a vehicle lock its breaks down and squeal tires. I managed to avoid a collision, but the other driver wasn’t as lucky. He slid right into an old F-150.

  When I stopped and gathered my wits about me. I got out of the truck. Alex was with me. We drew our weapons, not sure who or what we would find in that truck. A cloud of dust blocked my view, but I was ready to say the least.

  “Come out of the truck with your hands up.” I ordered.

  “Great. Even in the end of the world, there are still fucking cops.” I heard a familiar voice say. Even though the voice sounded familiar, I leave nothing to chance. I heard the door open and I could see four men get out of the truck; two were armed with shot guns.

  “Look, we don’t want any trouble.” one of the men said.

  “Yeah, and warrants aren’t any good anymore.” I heard another say. The dust settled, and I could see the faces of the four men. I immediately holstered my weapon, and wrapped my arms around all four men. I wanted to cry, but tears weren’t allowed anymore. Aside from Alex and my children, they were the only family I had left, and it was great to know that I still had them. Alex and I loaded them into the truck and took them home.

  I turned and looked at my cousin. The bleeding had finally stopped.

  “Hey Mike, I am sorry.” I said with sincerity.

  “Yeah, me too Amber. The store appeared clear throughout. I didn’t expect anything to be in there.” Michael said.