Kirk Allmond - What Zombies Fear - A Father's Quest

“Oh, sorry for your loss, mate,” Leo said.

“I’ll mourn when there’s time; right now I have to get Max to safety, and the middle of this street wasting gasoline isn’t getting me any closer. If you’re coming, grab your gear and let’s go.”

They both ran inside, I got Max a snack, and they were back with their packs just that quick. Just like that, there were four of us. John and I took the front, Leo in the back next to Max. I was learning to trust Max’s knowledge, however he got it, but we knew nothing of these people. I kept the pistol on my leg, just in case. The thought of shooting a living human was absolutely terrible, but no harm would come to Max.

I followed the GPS instructions all the way around Leesburg, winding through the back roads, bypassing a roadblock I’m certain was there, but I never saw a sign of it. After one final turn off a gravel road, I was back on Highway 15, heading south towards safety and security for Max. I hadn’t pulled my phone out since all of this started, I couldn’t bring myself to call or text. I couldn’t even bring myself to look.

The next, final town before the home-place was Culpeper, Virginia. It’s the smallest town along the way, but I was worried that there would be another trap there. For the next hour in the truck, I wracked my brain for where I thought I would set a trap. There were so many places, so many bottle necks. The farther south into Virginia I drove, the taller and steeper the embankments on the side of the road got. By the time I made it to the edge of Culpeper, I’d worked myself into a panic.

“Guys, I’ve been through two road blocks today. Both were controlled by a handful of zombies. The last one had four smart ones. Every time it was at a choke point in the road. I’m sure there was one in Leesburg, but I avoided it by taking the back roads and running into you two.” I said.

“Smart ones?” They both said in unison, “There are smart ones?”

“And fast. The last one I killed moved so fast she was a blur. She spoke to me; she’s after my son for some reason.”

“Tookes, what have you gotten us into?” Leo said.

“John, have you ever fired an AK?”

“No mate. We don’t have anything like this in Oz. I’m a crack shot with a .22 though,” he said.

“Okay. Turn it over. On the other side is a lever that goes from the receiver past the trigger. That’s the safety lever. The weapon is currently safe. See?”

“Yea,” he said.

“Push it up with your hand. In front of that, sticking off the side, is the bolt. Pull it back to insert a round into the chamber.”

“Got it,” he said. I heard the sound of a round entering the chamber and the bolt sliding home.

“Leo, have you ever shot a pistol before?”

“Nope.”

“Okay, you’re going to be Max’s last line.” I said. “If we run into a roadblock, and get stopped, don’t let anything near him,” I directed. “Max-monster, are you awake?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Buddy, if we have to shoot bad guys, it’s going to be loud. I want you to cover your ears, and don’t look.”

“Okay, Daddy, but you should stop here. Penelope is just ahead,” he said. I stopped just as we approached a curve in the road. I knew from making this drive so many times that the State Police headquarters was just ahead.

11. Culpeper

“Max, is anyone with her? Are you hiding from her?” I asked.

“I am hiding. She doesn’t know I’m here. Lots of bad guys, Daddy.”

This was not an option. I had enough ammunition, but not enough rifles. The element of surprise only works if you can kill them while they’re surprised, and if Penelope lived through a .44 magnum through the jaw, I had to re-think my strategy. This was not a force I could overcome with my current resources, and that meant evasion.

I threw the truck in reverse, turned off the headlights, and backed back around the curve in the road. If I hadn’t had warning from Max, we’d probably be dead.

In my head I started making a list of assets and liabilities.

“Guys, this is going to get way uglier before this is over. This isn’t your fight. If you want, I can help you clear out a house to crash in for the night. I have to get to my family, staying the night isn’t an option for me.” I said, trying to convince them to stay.

Leo spoke first, and she took some time to consider her words. “Tookes, there’s something about you that tells me I need to be here. I’ll stay.”

John followed with “There’s something special about Max, I don’t know what it is, and I don’t know if you’re being entirely forthright with us, but I’m not sure I would be in your place either. I’m with you.”

“It appears that they have a tactical advantage here. They don’t seem fazed by injury, the smart ones heal very quickly, they are faster than any human, and there are a lot more of them than us.” I continued, “But, this is my turf. I grew up riding horses through all these farms when I was a kid, I know the fields and woods as well as I know the roads.”

I zoomed out on the truck’s GPS, re-centered it on the farm, and marked a way-point. “If anything happens to me, you have to get Max here. Promise me.”

In unison, both of them said, “I promise.”

I was pulled over at a low spot in the bank. I cut the wheel hard, and nosed the truck into the hill, pressed down on the accelerator and felt my all terrain tires bite into the dirt as the truck strained to climb the hill. At the top of the hill was a corn field, the corn was almost seven feet tall here. It’s tricky to navigate and easy to get lost in corn taller than my truck.

Once inside the corn, I made an immediate 90-degree left turn, drove about thirty feet, and then a 90-degree right. If I drove straight into the corn, anyone walking by would see my path heading straight in to the field. This way, only a few stalks bent over would blend in with the standing corn a few feet back, and disguise the trail.

Back perpendicular to the road now, I headed straight for the middle of the field. I knew this field had a dry creek bed that ran south through the next three farms, and would get me past Penelope, and that was my primary goal. Even if she found me at the homestead, as long as I got there before her, I could start creating a defensive plan.

I turned down the creek bed, and started the final push towards home. We were going just above an idle, trying to keep the engine noise down to a minimum. We’d gone about a mile down the creek bed, when Leo opened her door and bailed out of the truck. She hit the ground running, passed the truck, and leapt up out of the creek bed. She was fast; in the middle of her leap she drew her machete and swept it downward like a golf club. A severed head flew into the creek bed just ahead of the truck and was smashed under the tire.

“Go!” She yelled, “It’s a trap!”

In one easy motion, John slapped the bolt back on the AK-47 I’d given him, flipped the safety up and climbed half way out the broken passenger side window, sitting on the door. He fired one shot off into the corn field, just as a handful of zombies appeared out of the corn seventy-five yards in front of us, heading towards us. Suddenly, both sides of the creek bed were lined by zombies, a hundred feet down both sides.

“Hold on John!” I yelled.

I smashed the accelerator of the truck, steered up and over the bank and started plowing down zombies on the right side of the creek bed. Body parts smashed up into the windshield; Max screamed. On the other side of the creek bed, John was systematically killing zombies, one at a time, each shot landing perfectly square in the middle of the forehead, despite the bouncing of the truck.