Chapter 3

The truck slowed down as it drove through the twisted and bombed out remains of whatever Texas city had stood. Shadows, permanently burned onto the walls, gave a disturbing realization that was always felt when driving through the ruins. There was no way to tell who any of these poor souls had been before the blast, but now they were all identical, placed upon the still standing walls of reinforced structures like tattoos.

"Keep your eyes peeled for zombies, there's no telling how many could be lurking in the shadows" Hank said. He kept the truck at a good pace, in case any sprinters attempted an attack.

"I wonder how many of these people were happy before they were cut down..." Bill began.

"Don't think about that right now, Bill" Hank ordered.

Bill went silent.

"Yo man, megalo mart down the street, right there" Boomhauer pointed down a street. Hank turned the truck , but soon realized it was a dud as they got closer. The roof had caved in on one side. The glass was smashed and a few cars had crashed straight through the wall.

The truck slowed to a stop in the parking lot. They climbed out and looked at the ruins of the megalo mart. Hank felt the distinct feeling of being watched. He switched off the safety on his rifle, just in case. Bill and Boomhauer did the same. Dale kept the machine gun focused on the none caved in entrance to the megalo mart.

"You sure about this, I get the creeps just looking at it" Lucky said.

"Just stay put, hold onto Lady Bird" Hank ordered. He knew Lucky would only draw attention, "Dale, keep the gun focused on the front, cover us."

"Can do" Dale said, waving Hank a salute.

Hank nodded to Bill and Boomhauer. They all crept forward together at a cautious pace, rifles raised.

"Yo man, too dangerous" Boomhauer mumbled.

Hank agreed, but a megalomart was a rare find. They passed by flipped over and crashed cars. Behind him, Lady Bird barked.

"Hank, this isn't a good idea" Bill said.

Hank ignored him, but his steps got slower and slower. The entrance was only twelve feet away, but if felt like a hundred miles.

Lady Bird continued to bark. The inside of the Megalo mart was pretty dark from what they could see, with a few beams of light penetrating the ceiling.

"Oh shit man, yo, check this out" Boomhauer said, waving them over. He pointed to the inside of a car, which had a dead body in it, smashed agaisnt the windshield, but held back by a seat belt. The injuries were so severe that even the gender of the corpse was unknowable.

"Jesus, Boomhauer!, we didn't need to see that!" Hank said, looking away.

Bill turned away and threw up a little.

"No man, bite marks!" Boomhauer said, pointing at bite marks all along one side of the body.

"Bite marks..?" Hank asked nervously. He sidestepped along the car, then looked away and threw up on the ground, "Oh god!"

Boomhauer looked around and his face turned green. About ten corpses lay along the ground, each one too critically damaged to reanimate, but enough for zombies to feast on.

There was a loud noise from inside the megalomart mart, and as if on cue, a dozen zombies charged from the entrance towards the three survivalists.

"Shit! RUN!" Hank shouted , fleeing back to the truck, with Bill and Boomhauer in tow.

The zombies spat and hissed as they charged after them, with even more coming out. A couple sprinters in the front quickly closed in on the trio.

Bill spun around just as its outstretched arms grabbed him. His shotgun blasted a hole straight through its stomach, sending it flying back. Another blast from the gun lifted the other zombie off the ground, decapitating it with the force of the bullet. A moment later, the air was filled with the sounds of the machine gun, cutting down the zombies like a million tiny saws.

"BILL! LET'S GO!" Hank screamed, his voice barely audible over the machine gun and Lady Birds barking.

Bill ran back to the truck and hopped into the back as Hank hit the gas and sped off from the parking lot. Dale lost his balance and fell back into the pick up. Lady Bird was struggling against Lucky, excited by the zombies and the machine gun fire. Dale had to join in resisting her as the truck sped down the road. Hundred's of zombies had come charging from all directions as they sped down the road.

"DALE! GET ON THE GUN!" Hank shouted. Up ahead, a couple dozen zombies had formed a human blockade. If the truck got caught up in them, they were toast. Dale let go off Ladybird and grabbed the handles of the machine gun, opening fire. Blood splatters as the crowd fell, before the pickup truck smashed through them with ease.

"We have to get out of here!" Bill cried out from the back. He was covered in zombie blood, and was attempting to slick it off.

"Yo man! Watch out!" Boomhauer shouted. He unrolled the window, pulled out a pistol, and attempted to shoot through the metal bars, but rarely hit a target.

"Boomhauer! You're wasting ammo, conserve it until we get in real trouble!" Hank said, just before doing an incredibly sharp turn and accelerating down a side road. The tires squealed under the force. Dale was nearly thrown over the edge, but kept his hold on the machine gun, saving his life. Lucky reached for him and helped pull him back into the pickup. Lady Bird continued to bark and try to shake loose of Lucky's hold.

"Jesus Hank! You trying to kill me!" Dale shouted, but Hank did not hear him, he was too focused on escaping the zombie horde.

They sped through the ruins of an old suburb , where the zombie concentration was less. Zombified suburban housewifes and lawyers hissed at them from inside the houses, but could not do anything more.

Eventually they were out of the zombie proximity, but adrenaline kept Hank going. Besides, he didn't like this neighborhood. The houses were all two floor duplexes, and it felt pretentious.

"We can;t come back to this city, it's not safe" Hank said.

"Agreed" Boomhauer and Bill said.

Eventually they reached a freeway, and headed to the next town.


"Bobby! Time for lunch!" Peggy called up from the bottom of Oak tree.

"Alright, lunch! I was getting the munchies!" Bobby said to Joseph and Connie. Joseph giggled.

"But Bobby, she'll see you're stoned!" Connie said.

"Oh no!... wait, I got a plan... I'll bring lunch up here!" Bobby looked down at his mom.

"Hey... uh... mom, JOseph and Connie are up here, and they're hungry too... and this jobs too important... can you just leave us food and I'll come get it?!" Bobby called out. Joseph and Connie laughed some more, "Guys, shut up, shhh, she'll hear you!" Bobby said, shushing them, but his face was red with laughter.

"Alright dear, I'll bring some more, you boys just stay up there!" Peggy replied.

"Alright!" Joseph said, giving Bobby a high five.

Peggy returned to the Hill residence. Minh was still sitting on the couch, looking out the window towards John Redcorn's trailer.

"Why you bring that boy lunch? He big enough to come get it himself!" Minh said.

"Now Minh, you know he's working hard up there" Peggy called out from the kitchen.

"More like working stoned" Minh said under her breathe.

Peggy returned with a plate full of Emu meat sandwiches, and a few bottles of water.

"I'll be right back" She said.

Minh smiled cheerily at Peggy, but then dropped it as soon as she was outside. She looked out the window towards John Redcorns trailer. She felt a little jealous of Nancy for getting John Redcorn all to herself. She wished Kahn had become more dominant after the apocalypse, but he seemed to become even more materialistic, focusing more of his energy on being better then Hank. Maybe this was his way of coping with the new realities of the world. Or maybe he was just stuck living in the past.

Peggy returned to the living room, "Now where were we?" She asked.

"Right about here" Minh said, pulling out a joint.

Peggy smiled.