Joseph Talluto - White Flag of the Dead

We finished eating, and feeling a few pangs myself, I went to the fridge and made myself a sandwich. I figured the power was probably going to last only a few more days, so I needed to eat the perishables before they went bad and were worthless. The freezer had a decent amount of food, since when I had stocked it I thought two people were going to be eating it. Hopefully it would last.

After a little while it was time for Jake to get his bath and get his jammies on. We went up stairs and I drew his bath. He was big enough to have a bath seat, so after soap and washing, I added some water and let him sit for a while. He enjoyed splashing and feeling the water, and was genuinely happy. I used the time to change into my comfy clothes and take a look at the neighborhood from my windows. I kept the lights off, as I didn’t want to advertise my presence, although it was still light enough outside for it to be difficult to see an interior light.

I saw activity across the street and realized my neighbor Rich and his wife were making a run for it. They had opened the garage door and were throwing what they could into the back of their Tahoe. Rich was standing guard at the door with a scoped rifle in his hands. Not much good in a close fight, but at least it was a gun. His wife Beth was loading the vehicle, and when she was finished, she shouted to him and he jumped into the car. They rolled out quickly and sped off into the evening. I couldn’t figure out why they were moving so fast.

I got the answer a second later, as their two daughters came stumbling out of the house. They were obviously infected, and their parents were running for their lives. The girls started after the car, but stopped after it turned from their sight. They stood there for a few minutes, and then the older one started walking off to the north, following the street. The other one stood in the middle of the street, swaying slightly from side to side. She was dressed in pajamas and was barefoot, her eyes sunken into her head and surrounded by dark circles. She looked around and I saw her eyes drift over to my house. I didn’t move, fairly certain that she couldn’t see me. I remained stock still, wishing with all my might that she would turn away or something would distract her. If I moved and she sensed I was there, she was going to come to the house.

A dog barked in the distance, and her head snapped around. She began a slow shuffle towards the sound, moving as if she wasn’t quite sure how she was supposed to walk.

I released the breath I didn’t know I was holding, and closed the blinds. I angled them until it was impossible for anyone in the street to see into the house, but light could still get in. I went and got Jake and dressed him, taking him downstairs and we played on the floor for a little while. I tried not to turn any lights on, as I didn’t want anyone to notice us. I wondered who else was doing the same thing, trying to survive by not being noticed.

I decided I needed to barricade the rest of the downstairs windows, just in case, and resolved to take care of it tomorrow. It wasn’t like I had anything else to do. Jake started to get a little cranky, so I made him a bottle and he went to sleep grasping my hands and putting his little head on my shoulder. I laid him down as the sun went down, putting the world into darkness. Figuring on tomorrow being a long day, I decided to go to bed myself. Reflecting on what the day had been like, tomorrow was likely to be lively. I wondered about the rest of my neighborhood, who was alive and who wasn’t. These days, it was hard to tell, and you couldn’t exactly stroll up to the door. You ran the risk of getting shot or eaten, neither of which was a fun way to go.

I placed my SIG on my nightstand and drifted off to sleep.

The next day was just busy, with me playing with Jake and putting boards up in windows. I tried to leave a little open area at the top, and I left a little two inch space about head high (on the outside) to “repel boarders” as it were. I had enough boards to cover the back windows, and I was thinking about covering the outside of the windows as well when I got a surprise. Without warning, my cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

“John?” The voice whispered.

“Mike?” I asked, not believing it could be my brother. I had figured him for lost like Ellie. Relief flooded over me at the sound of his voice. “Where are you?”

Mike sounded panicked. “We’re trapped in our house on the third floor. We held out for a while, but they’re everywhere! I got separated from Nicole and Annie, but I have Logan with me. I think Nicole and Annie are in the basement, but I can’t get to them!”

I tried to calm him down. “Have you spoken to them at all?”

Mike took a deep breath. “We’re talking through a vent. I don’t know how long they’re going to last. They don’t have any food and the zombies know they’re there because Annie keeps crying. I can hear them pounding on the door!”

I thought fast. “Mike, listen to me. Do you have a radio or anything on your floor?”

Mike paused. “Uh, yeah, there’s a little battery-powered one in the bedroom here. Why?”

I explained. “These things are attracted to sound. Turn it on as loud as you can, find some noise on it, and throw it onto the roof of your garage behind your house. You’re going to have to move as fast as you can, and tell Nicole to be ready to move as well. Grab what supplies you can and head out. Do you still have your 9mm?”

Mike grunted. “Stupid thing is on the first floorwith the zombies.”

I rolled my eyes. “Get it if you can. Grab a crowbar and your backpacks and get out. I know you guys have all that camping crap in your house. You gotta move as fast as you can, and don’t stop for anything.”

Mike sounded unsure. “Where can we go? I look out my window and there’s twenty of these things on the street at any given time. I watched a guy get eaten yesterday who tried to make a run for it.”

“You’re smarter than that, bro. Look out your front window. Your escape is right there. Get on the el tracks and you’ll be able to move pretty quickly. These things can’t climb, and you need to get out of the city.” I tried to sound reassuring.

Mike sighed. “Thanks bro. I needed this. Once we’re on the el, then what? We can’t walk to the country.”

I tried not to sound harsh. “The world as we knew it is over. We’re back in the middle ages and there are monsters all around. You gotta get busy living or get busy dying.”

“Wasn’t that from a movie?”

“Makes as much sense now as anything. You need to make a choice. Walk out of the city or try to get to the lake and get a boat. You might be safer on a boat.” I thought that one out and it seemed logical.

Mike sounded skeptical. “How do I get a boat?”

“Get your gun and you’ll get a boat.”

I could almost hear Mike mulling that one over. “All right, we’re gonna try to get out of here. I’ll try to call you back once we are out of here and on the el.”

“Keep moving. Don’t stand and fight if you can avoid it. If you have to face one of these things, always aim for the head.” I tried to give as much useful last minute advice as I could.

“Since when did you become an expert?” Mike was curious.

“Since Ellie died and I killed two of these things in my back yard yesterday.”

Mike had nothing to say to that. He at least still had his family.

“Good luck, brother.” I said. “Call me when you’re on the move if you can.” I didn’t want to waste his time talking. I also had no idea how the hell he managed to call me, but I was still amazed.

“Talk to you.” Mike said.

And that was it. Mike hung up and I prayed with everything I had that he and his family was going to be safe. If he managed to get his gun and get to the tracks, he had a chance. Not a strong one, but a chance. I went back to my windows and spent the rest of the morning reinforcing the wood that was already there and checking the rest of my defenses. I decided to play a little game with myself. What would I do if the zombies managed to get in here? I figured that the best place to be would be on the second floor, as the basement, although convenient, only left one way out. Deciding this, I went down to the basement and retrieved all my weapons and ammo that were still down there. I brought them upstairs and stashed them in the bedroom. I went back and retrieved my tools and supplies and brought them upstairs as well. I began bringing as much food as I could upstairs, leaving only a little bit downstairs as necessary.