even want to live? Do we want them to live in this?”
“All we can do is take it moment by moment. But I know that I want to live, I need you to live, and I think the kids will be okay. But if anything happens to you, I’d have trouble continuing.”
I told her about my adventure down at the Snow’s, and what I had found there. I told her what happened to Bill.
“What a tragedy,” Kate moaned. “It didn’t have to happen. He got careless for one second and he’s gone. You need to tell Mary.”
“I forgot because I was worried about you. I’ll go tell her now. How about you stay out here with Molly and Shithead until midnight? If you haven’t turned, and I know you won’t, we’ll let you all back in then.”
“Okay, go talk to Mary. I love you.”
“I love you too, Babe. I can’t live without you.”
Bill and Mary had been married for over 50 years and I thought it was going to be hard. But when I got to Mary, the first thing she said was, “I know. I could feel it when he died. Please tell me how it happened.”
I went over the whole thing with her, including how I had to kill Bill myself at the end. “Thank you,” she wept. “This is a hard new world. Thank God I have the twins to live for. Please leave me alone for awhile. I need to think and pray.”
That night we had another meeting. It was a short meeting, because Kate wasn’t there. Mike had taken inventory and figured we had enough food and water to last three weeks if we were careful. He and I already knew that we would never have enough ammo. He pointed out that we might be cooking over a wood fire in the near future and also heating with wood. Winter was coming in a few months.
Sean had filled up ten buckets with water and had continued to refill the tubs. “New rule,” he said. “Use just enough water to get the toilet to flush. If it’s brown, flush it down. If it’s yellow, let it mellow. We’re lucky that the toilets work. Don’t put anything in there to clog it up.” He had really matured.
Bobbie had gotten another cell call from Mariana. The call was brief and full of static, but Mariana said that there was a huge group of zombies packed together and going from place to place, destroying everything. They were headed away from Mariana so she thought she was safe. Then the call ended. There was no internet service except for some type of emergency broadcast. I made a mental note that “away” from Mariana was probably towards us. The thought of them mobbing up and attacking in big groups was a real concern.
Bobbie begged me to save Mariana.
“Dad, you know her mother is dead. You have lots of guns and you can save her. The zombies will get her if you don’t save her.” That kid could always get me, and the seed of an idea that I’d had earlier started to grow.
Tyler and Cody had been manning the radios. Other than music stations that were clearly on autopilot, there wasn’t much on. One station had been interrupted with one of those emergency messages, which told everyone to listen at 8:00 p.m. for further information.
We set up a radio and waited. At 7:58, the emergency sound came on, then nothing. At 8:05, we heard the President’s voice. He told us that the entire nation and indeed the entire world had been overrun. The civil government was disabled and martial law had been declared. Each state was on its own and local messages would follow. The military had established regional “safe” zones but the public was told to stay away while the zones were prepared for refugees. Some Navy ships had survived, including three carrier groups. They would continue to patrol. They were not accepting new passengers because of the fear of contamination.
The end of the speech was chilling: “This is a new world with new rules. You will have to rely on yourselves and your neighbors. The government cannot help
“All we can do is take it moment by moment. But I know that I want to live, I need you to live, and I think the kids will be okay. But if anything happens to you, I’d have trouble continuing.”
I told her about my adventure down at the Snow’s, and what I had found there. I told her what happened to Bill.
“What a tragedy,” Kate moaned. “It didn’t have to happen. He got careless for one second and he’s gone. You need to tell Mary.”
“I forgot because I was worried about you. I’ll go tell her now. How about you stay out here with Molly and Shithead until midnight? If you haven’t turned, and I know you won’t, we’ll let you all back in then.”
“Okay, go talk to Mary. I love you.”
“I love you too, Babe. I can’t live without you.”
Bill and Mary had been married for over 50 years and I thought it was going to be hard. But when I got to Mary, the first thing she said was, “I know. I could feel it when he died. Please tell me how it happened.”
I went over the whole thing with her, including how I had to kill Bill myself at the end. “Thank you,” she wept. “This is a hard new world. Thank God I have the twins to live for. Please leave me alone for awhile. I need to think and pray.”
That night we had another meeting. It was a short meeting, because Kate wasn’t there. Mike had taken inventory and figured we had enough food and water to last three weeks if we were careful. He and I already knew that we would never have enough ammo. He pointed out that we might be cooking over a wood fire in the near future and also heating with wood. Winter was coming in a few months.
Sean had filled up ten buckets with water and had continued to refill the tubs. “New rule,” he said. “Use just enough water to get the toilet to flush. If it’s brown, flush it down. If it’s yellow, let it mellow. We’re lucky that the toilets work. Don’t put anything in there to clog it up.” He had really matured.
Bobbie had gotten another cell call from Mariana. The call was brief and full of static, but Mariana said that there was a huge group of zombies packed together and going from place to place, destroying everything. They were headed away from Mariana so she thought she was safe. Then the call ended. There was no internet service except for some type of emergency broadcast. I made a mental note that “away” from Mariana was probably towards us. The thought of them mobbing up and attacking in big groups was a real concern.
Bobbie begged me to save Mariana.
“Dad, you know her mother is dead. You have lots of guns and you can save her. The zombies will get her if you don’t save her.” That kid could always get me, and the seed of an idea that I’d had earlier started to grow.
Tyler and Cody had been manning the radios. Other than music stations that were clearly on autopilot, there wasn’t much on. One station had been interrupted with one of those emergency messages, which told everyone to listen at 8:00 p.m. for further information.
We set up a radio and waited. At 7:58, the emergency sound came on, then nothing. At 8:05, we heard the President’s voice. He told us that the entire nation and indeed the entire world had been overrun. The civil government was disabled and martial law had been declared. Each state was on its own and local messages would follow. The military had established regional “safe” zones but the public was told to stay away while the zones were prepared for refugees. Some Navy ships had survived, including three carrier groups. They would continue to patrol. They were not accepting new passengers because of the fear of contamination.
The end of the speech was chilling: “This is a new world with new rules. You will have to rely on yourselves and your neighbors. The government cannot help
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