"You know, for a bunker in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, this ain't too shabby," Louis said. "Plenty of room for the eight of us to move around."
"Until a Tank breaks down the door, then we're all screwed," Nick said. "I don't trust these damn safe houses to keep the zombies out, do you?"
"Quiet, you two," Bill said. "We need to start discussing options moving forward. The four of us had a plan for when we got to this city, but we didn't expect company."
"And what was your bright idea, old man?" Nick asked. "Were you gonna find a wooden stake to stab these things through the heart, or did you think you'd find silver bullets in one of these ammo piles?"
"Uh, Nick?" Ellis suggested. "I think that's vampires and werewolves you're thinking about, not zombies."
"For Christ's sake, that's the joke, Ellis," Nick retaliated.
"Would you babies quit whining?" Francis hollered. "Listen to the guy with the real wartime experience."
"Didn't think I'd ever say this, but thank you, Francis," Bill said. He lit up a cigarette and started puffing at it before continuing. "Now, the four of us were going to commandeer a sailboat and head out for the Florida Keys. Figured the outbreak hadn't spread to any of the islands yet, so we'd stand a good shot at survival out there."
"Yeah, there's just one little problem with that," Zoey said bitterly. "The four of us are carriers. So even if there is still some semblance of civilization left on those islands, we'll be bringing the Green Flu out there to wipe out whoever is left."
"Sounds like a pretty shitty plan," Nick remarked.
"You got a better idea, jackass?" Bill asked.
"Allow me, Nick," Coach said, before Nick had a chance to shoot some smart quip back at Bill. "We were gonna head out to New Orleans. There's a military base out there, should still be safe from the zombies, and from there we'll be safe to figure out our next move."
"Oh, that's good for a laugh!" Francis said. "'Trust the military. They'll solve everything.' You know what? We did trust the military, and we got completely screwed over because of them, so sorry if I ain't buying your idea."
"Hold up a second," Rochelle said. "What happened to you folks?"
"We came out of Pennsylvania," Bill said. "Took us two damn weeks to get our asses saved by the military. When we got there, we were told we were 'carriers' and we would have been held captive there, isolated from the rest of the world, until they could figure out what to do with us. Well I wasn't ready to give in and be someone else's POW, so we had to get the hell out of there. There was a train on the base, and we were able to commandeer it and ride it all the way down here."
"What Bill neglects to mention is that we left some good people back in that base to die," Zoey said. Bill sighed, but didn't try to keep her from objecting. "We had two military officers and a doctor on our side, and we could have waited up for them before taking off on the train, but he decided to leave without them."
"What the hell, you couldn't wait like an extra five seconds?" Nick asked. "Trained soldiers and a doctor, those sound like the kind of people who might actually be worth a damn at a time like this."
"The base was being overrun by the Infected," Bill said. "If we stayed there any longer we were likely going to be killed. I did what I had to do to keep us alive."
"Whatever, I'm sick of arguing about it," Zoey said. "So we ended up down here, just the four of us, and now we have this bright idea to infect an entire island and say to hell with the rest of society."
"Well it sounds like both of our plans suck ass," Nick replied. "Anyone got any better ideas?"
"I don't know," Francis quipped, "do you have any ideas, wise-ass, or are you just gonna bitch and moan the entire time we're here?"
"You think I'm scared of you, tough guy?" Nick asked. He and Francis stood up and glared at each other, but Coach stood between them and held them apart.
"I think you two might be forgetting that we're on the same side here," he said. "Those zombies out there, the ones trying to tear our flesh off, they're the enemies. Now why don't you just sit down, put the measuring sticks away, and help us figure out how the hell we're gonna survive this shit?"
Nick and Francis gave each other one last dirty look, but both regrettably followed Coach's advice.
"Well I for one like the idea of heading out west," Louis said. "The outbreak's much less severe out there, and it'll give us an opportunity to find some other people who are immune so we can work to defend ourselves."
"But Louis," Zoey said, "who knows who's immune and who's not? Hell, the four people we've just met tonight might not be immune. We could be making them sick right now!"
"Uh, cupcake," Nick said, "hate to break it to you, but I've been puked on and bitten way too many times to not turn into some flesh-eating maniac by now, so you ain't getting rid of me that easy."
"The news company I worked for specifically chose me to go down to Georgia because I was immune," Rochelle added, "and I think what Nick said applies to Ellis and Coach as well."
"Well we know for a fact that we're still carriers," Zoey said, "and any place that has survivors is a place we might contaminate if we decided to be selfish enough to try to settle down. Whatever we decide, we're gonna have to get by on our own."
"Why the hell should we care about the people we 'might' infect?" Nick asked. "They're probably gonna get hit with the illness no matter what the fuck we do, so I think that argument is superfluous. Did you get that word right on your SAT test, sweetie?"
"Go to hell," Zoey barked.
"Nick, why don't you shut the fuck up and quit acting like such an asshole?" Rochelle asked. "She has a point. If it turned out more innocent people got sick because we ended up bringing the outbreak to their community, I don't want something like that on my conscience."
"Not even if it meant we could save ourselves?" Francis asked. "To hell with everyone else, it's every man for himself."
"Uh, guys?" Ellis asked meekly.
"And what happens if we're the last ones standing?" Rochelle asked. "How the hell are we supposed to get food and water on our own? None of us knows jack shit about living off the land."
"Well then I guess we'll have to figure it out as we go," Francis said. "Hell, I don't think being a farmer could be that hard, could it? The cavemen had to start somewhere, right?"
"Please, do you even know what the hell you're talking about?" Nick asked. "Besides, didn't they say this infection originated in the US? What's stopping us from hijacking a plane and flying out to Europe? Boom, zombie problem solved."
"Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?" Zoey asked. "The four of us are carriers. That means we'll be bringing the Green Flu with us no matter where we go. And I for one do not want to be the reason this outbreak spreads worldwide, do you?"
"Guys?" Ellis asked.
"Well what the fuck else are we gonna do?" Nick asked. "As far as I'm concerned, the US is shot to shit, and it ain't ever coming back. We head out to Europe, there might still be civilization out there. None of this 'living off the land' shit, I want to get back to society."
"And totally destroy it in the process," Zoey said. "Seems fair."
"Hey, everybody!" Louis yelled. "I think Ellis here has something to say."
"Ah, geez, Louis, I don't think anyone wants to hear what my opinion is."
"Of course we do," Zoey said. "What are your thoughts? Can't be any worse than anything Nick's been saying."
"Well, shucks, that's mighty kind of you to say, Zoey," Ellis said, blushing. "Well, um, I guess my point is we don't have all the information we need. We need to find some way to tune into some emergency broadcasts, get a news feed or something. Hell, maybe people are posting stuff on Facebook, what do I know? We don't have all the cards, so we should learn as much as we can before we make any decisions."
"That's a great idea, Ellis!" Louis said. "Bill, did you get a chance to see if there were any ham radios left lying around here?"
"Not that I could find," Bill said, "but I think Ellis has the right idea. Perhaps there are some evacuation plans that we aren't even aware of. Maybe there's a community of immune people that are broadcasting out for people to come to them. We won't know until we get all the information we can."
"So now what, we just hope we stumble across a ham radio?" Nick asked.
"You sure the radio in Jimmy Gibbs' car wasn't working?" Coach asked Ellis.
"I'm positive. The first thing I tried to do was tune into my favorite station. WSGA out of Hinesville, all country music, all day and all night."
Nick stuck his finger in his mouth and made a fake gagging noise. Ellis glared at him.
"Well, we're in a pretty major city right here," Rochelle said. "Perhaps there's a communication tower somewhere nearby. They'd surely have some radio equipment near one of those things, right?"
"That's a long shot at best," Bill said, "but right now it looks like we don't have any better options. We'll set out tomorrow morning for the nearest radio tower, that's if we can even find one out here."
"Then it's settled," Coach said. "Come on, y'all, let's all gather around for a prayer."
Ellis and Rochelle gathered around Coach. Bill, Zoey, Louis, and Francis joined them as well, but Nick stayed in the corner away from the newly gathered circle of survivors.
"You joining in, Nick?" Louis asked.
"Had enough of that shit growing up with a strict Catholic mother," Nick said. "I ain't buying religion, not after the shit we've had to go through the past couple of weeks."
"Suit yourself," Coach said. "Everyone else, close your eyes."
The other six survivors in the circle shut their eyes and held their heads down.
"Dear Lord," Coach said, "we thank you for this safe house, we thank you for the supplies of ammunition and food to get us through the night. We're grateful to meet new friends along our journey through this outbreak, and we pray that we get through this safely and find a place to settle down and restart our lives. Continue to guide our path and bring us a safe journey, and we will forever be in your debt. Amen."
"Amen," the other six survivors whispered.
The survivors broke off into their own separate areas in the safe house. Bill sat down in front of the door to the safe house, looking out the window. Zoey started to chat with Louis about how they would go about finding a radio tower. Ellis couldn't help but stare at her as he crawled over to Rochelle.
"She is so pretty," Ellis whispered, trying not to be overheard.
"Zoey?" Rochelle asked, startling Ellis. "Yeah, she's pretty cute, I guess. Why don't you go talk to her?"
"Aw, hell, I wouldn't know what to say," Ellis said nervously, continuing to glance over in Zoey's direction, hoping she wouldn't catch him staring.
"Hey," Rochelle said, gently turning Ellis's head away from Zoey. "You're not gonna do yourself any favors if you keep staring at her like that. She's just gonna think you're creepy."
"What am I gonna do?" Ellis asked. "I wanna impress her, but my stomach's squirming and I get all clammy and I'm gonna look like an idiot."
"Ellis, you've been killing zombies for the better part of two weeks, and you're afraid to talk to a girl?" Rochelle asked. "She was the one who encouraged you to speak up when you were doubting yourself. She's obviously interested in what you have to say."
"So do you think she likes me?" Ellis asked. "How do I know for sure?"
"You just gotta stick your neck out there," Rochelle responded. "Just relax and be yourself. If she doesn't like you, big deal. There's plenty of other fish in the sea."
"Uh...no there ain't," Ellis said. "Zombie apocalypse, remember?"
"Well, shit," Rochelle said. "You're right. But hey, that's good news, isn't it? She can't really afford to be too picky, now, can she?"
"Wait, what are you saying?" Ellis asked.
"Think about it. Do you honestly think she'd go for Nick?"
"You've got a good point there," Ellis said. "And Bill and Coach are like older than dirt, so unless she's into that kind of thing, I guess that's not happening either. What about the other two guys she's been with? I mean, she's talking to one of 'em right now."
"I think something might have happened by now if it was gonna be one of those two guys," Rochelle said. "Although, I gotta say, lose the vest on Francis, he ain't too bad to look at."
"Yeah, guy seems alright," Ellis said. "Well, I guess the math's on my side, now, ain't it?"
"That's the spirit!" Rochelle said. "You go over and talk to Zoey and Louis, give yourself an in."
"What are you gonna do?"
"I'm doing the same thing you're doing. Life's too short and I'm starting to run out of options."
Rochelle crawled away from Ellis over towards Francis. Ellis saw her hit him up for some conversation, and they seemed to be hitting it off right away, from the relaxed expressions on their faces. Ellis took a deep breath and steeled himself, then crawled over to Zoey and Louis.
"Oh, good, glad you're here," Zoey said, welcoming Ellis into her conversation with Louis. "Love the plan, but we're a little unsure how we're gonna find a radio tower."
"They're usually on the outskirts of towns like these," Louis said, "and a lot of the time for aesthetic reasons they make them look like trees to minimize the effect on people's viewpoints. So how do you think we're gonna find one?"
"Um…" Ellis said, feeling pressured and put on the spot. "Well we gotta have access to some kind of map or something, don't we? Might be able to figure it out if we got our bearings."
"Of course, duh," Zoey said. "Why didn't I think of that? There's a map on the table over there. Come on."
Zoey led Ellis and Louis over to the map on the table. It didn't take long for the three of them to find the nearest radio tower.
"There's one just on the outskirts of town!" Louis said. "Let's go tell Bill. We'll be able to plot out a route right to it."
"Uh, sure," Ellis said.
"Hey, Bill," Louis said as he, Zoey, and Ellis approached him. "Look at this. The map shows us that there's a radio tower just on the outskirts of town. See? Right there." Louis pointed at the location on the map.
"Let me see that," Bill said. He pulled the map close and looked intently at the area Louis had been pointing to. He was able to see the name of the radio tower.
"Okay, this is good news. We now have a way to get directly there. We'll have to take this map with us so we don't get lost trying to find our way there. Think you can hold onto it, son?"
It took Ellis a minute to realize Bill had been aiming the question at him. "Who, me? Well, I mean, I guess I could take care of it. I haven't been on too many road trips, so I ain't the greatest at reading maps."
"It was your idea," Louis said, "so you should be the one with the honor of holding the map."
"Yeah, just make sure you don't drop it in Boomer bile or anything," Zoey said with a chuckle, patting Ellis on the shoulder. A rush of excitement came to Ellis at the unexpected contact.
"Study that map well, find the best path out of here, and we'll follow it to the nose so we can get to that radio tower," Bill said.
"I'll do my best, sir," Ellis said.
Feeling more confident, Ellis joined Zoey as the three of them stepped away from Bill. Louis went over to talk to Coach, while Nick was left sulking in the corner.
"You wanna look over the map with me?" Ellis asked Zoey.
"Sure, can't have too many pairs of eyes studying a map."
Because of the small size of the map, the two of them had to sit in fairly close proximity in order to both have a good view of it. Ellis's stomach was squirming uncomfortably, but he fought back the nerves as much as he could.
"Hm, it looks like there's only a few roads that lead out of town," Zoey said, tracing her finger across a road that cut directly through what appeared to be the downtown area.
"That's the road we drove in on," Ellis said. "Look, see? The train tracks run right alongside it."
"Oh yeah, that makes sense," Zoey said. "Yeah, it looks like that road's our best option. It's probably a bit more open than we would like, though, so I bet we'd have company if we went that way."
"Well, there's plenty of side roads and alleys we can go through if we get swarmed," Ellis said. "Keep the zombies from surrounding us on all sides, I guess."
"Yeah, there's definitely room to improvise," Zoey said. "I think you and I will be pretty good map readers tomorrow. I can help out in case you get a little lost."
"You'd do that? Well, thank you kindly, ma'am."
"Ma'am?" Zoey asked, laughing. "I'm eighteen years old, you don't have to call me ma'am."
"Was just trying to be polite," Ellis said with a chuckle.
"How old are you?" she asked.
"Twenty-three," Ellis said. "I turn twenty-four in a couple months or so, but it's hard to keep track of the days during an apocalypse."
"Yeah, I understand," Zoey said. "My birthday's right around Christmastime."
"Oh, so you probably got gypped on presents as a kid," Ellis said. "That must have sucked."
"Well, I was an only child, so it wasn't all that bad," she said. "I didn't have siblings to compare it to. And to think the biggest problem I had as a kid was that my mom and dad didn't give me the Barbie doll I wanted. Seems pretty silly now, don't you think?"
"Sure does," Ellis said. "Say, whatever happened to your folks? They just get infected, or…?"
Zoey's face drooped in sadness, causing Ellis immediate concern and regret.
"Oh, I'm sorry, forget I asked," he said.
"No, it's okay," she said. "You couldn't have known. It's not really something I want to get into right now."
"Shit," Ellis said. "Well, I promise I won't bring it up again."
"That'd be great, thanks," Zoey said, her spirits lifting a little as she gave Ellis a timid smile.
As everyone else around him was talking, Nick was starting to feel restless. He sighed and crawled over to the only man who was unoccupied with conversation.
"Hey old man, how's it hanging?" he asked Bill awkwardly as he settled down across from him.
"I'm tired, kid," Bill said. "Real tired."
"Well, I mean, you held your own out there with the rest of us," Nick said, "and you're like, what, a hundred years old?"
"Gee, thanks for the backhanded compliment," Bill said, but he gave Nick a smirk to let him know there were no hard feelings. "Shame about your suit. That looks like it cost a lot."
Nick looked down to see that his suit was torn up on the fringes and covered in dirt and muck. "Yeah, we should stop by a dry cleaners on the way out of town," he joked.
"You might be happy to know that kid Ellis you drove here with was able to find a radio tower on the map I glanced over when we first came into the safe house," Bill said. "Maybe it's just my prejudice, but I didn't expect him to be so sharp-minded."
"Kid's normally a dumbass, if you ask me," Nick said. "Boomer walked into our path in the hotel where the four of us met, and Rochelle had distinctly warned us that they would explode and cover us in that vomit and shit. But Ellis is the kind of kid to shoot first and ask questions later, so he got the four of us covered pretty good. We had to make a stand in a hotel closet so the zombies wouldn't surround us."
"Well, he's young, probably a bit trigger-happy," Bill said. "I'm sure he knows better now."
"I'll be honest with you, old man, I thought the kid was dead weight until now," Nick said. "He held his own though, he just needs to be more careful."
"Maybe you can teach him to control his reflexes," Bill suggested.
"I think that kid needs some Adderall or something," Nick said. "He had to have been an ADHD case growing up."
"Really now?" Bill asked. "What makes you so sure?"
"I don't know, just this vibe I get," Nick said. "I can sense people's vibe, you know? Get a feel for them before I even know them. It's a talent of mine."
"Sure it is," Bill said, laughing heartily.
"You think that's funny, old man?"
"Yeah, actually. You're talking about vibes, I can read your vibe from a mile away. You put on this coarse 'Fuck all of you, I don't give a shit' attitude, but I bet you're pretty insecure deep down, mister macho man."
"Bullshit. If you knew the shit I had to deal with growing up, you'd be just as callous as I am."
"I fought in 'Nam son. You think you've seen hell? I lived it."
"Okay, old man. How does it compare to this apocalypse?"
"Worse. At least the enemies I have to kill now don't have a trace of humanity left in them," he said. "And I'm a hell of a lot older than I was when they drafted me, so I know what to expect now. Can't get too relaxed, though, or these zombies will eat you alive."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Nick said. "You ain't half bad, old man. I could get used to talking to you."
"Son, just do me a favor, and lay off with the attitude a bit," Bill requested. "There's enough shit to deal with with all the zombies around, we don't need shit talk stirring the pot."
"Maybe for you, old man, but if anyone else tries to get on my nerves, I ain't holding back," Nick said. "Been burned way too many times. You can't trust anyone, especially when it's every man for himself."
"Well we take care of our own," Bill reminded him. "I came with my group of survivors, and they've become like family to me. You want to earn that right? You better step up to the plate, because the second you lag behind, I ain't coming back to pick your sorry ass off the pavement."
"The feeling's mutual," Nick said, "but trust me, you won't have a problem with me keeping up. I know how to take care of myself."
"Good to hear," Bill said.
Meanwhile, Francis and Rochelle were hitting it off quite well.
"You know, I probably shouldn't say this, but I've always been attracted to bad boys," Rochelle said. "You know the type."
"Hell, I am the type!" Francis said with a laugh.
"That's the point!" Rochelle said, and the two of them started laughing.
"Oh wait, you're serious?" Francis asked once the laughter had died down.
"Normally I'd wait for the guy to ask me out," Rochelle said, "but we don't have time for that bullshit in a zombie apocalypse. We just need to find ourselves a safe place and a little quiet time, and then I think we can really get to know each other."
"Wow, you sure are forward," Francis said with a chuckle. He looked over at Zoey and Ellis talking. "What's up with those two?"
"Young love," Rochelle said, "or at least I hope so. The poor kid could barely talk to girls when I met him. Look at him now."
"Yeah, but they're, like, a total mismatch," Francis remarked. "She was going to college and I'd bet money he didn't even graduate middle school."
"Leave him alone, Francis," Rochelle said, playfully slapping him on the arm. "Poor kid's been through enough already. Let him have this one."
"That ain't up to me, sweetheart," Francis said. "Here's hoping he can keep Zoey interested. I've really gotten to know her past couple of weeks, she ain't one to take bullshit from anyone. Tough gal. Hell, if I was a little bit younger, I mean, I can kinda see the attraction."
"I see. So that makes me old, then?"
"What, I didn't say that!" Francis said, holding his hands up defensively. "I ain't saying anything about your age. But Zoey's eighteen and she looks a hell of a lot younger than that. Jail bait, if you know what I mean."
"Well, you sure wouldn't have that problem with me," Rochelle said with a wink. Francis chuckled.
"Hey folks!" Bill said, beckoning everyone towards him. The other survivors circled around. "I think after the hell we went through today we deserve a little grub. There's a good amount of food here, but be conservative. We don't know how long we need it to last. After that we should get some shut-eye. Sounds good?"
"Yes, sir," Ellis said. "Boy, I could sure go for one of those cans of beans."
"Hope you like 'em cold," Nick said with a laugh. "You see a microwave anywhere?"
"Hey, I'll take what I can get," Ellis said. "Can't afford to be picky, am I right?"
"Suppose not," Nick said as the survivors broke the circle to get their food.