Dead of Knight: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale (10 page)

“I’m not going first.”

“I know.”  With that, I carefully passed through the door.  Karen followed.  Once inside, we paused but heard nothing. 

“There should be flashlights and batteries on the cash wraps.   Let’s take a look.”

We grabbed a couple of baskets and two carts.  Karen opened one of the better flashlights and loaded the batteries.  The rest went into one of the baskets which, in turn, went into a cart.  The boating section was on the first floor and we made our way over and found several hand pumps.  We grabbed all they had along with some sections of hose in case we needed more length.

“The rest of what we need is downstairs and the escalator isn’t working.  Let’s park the carts up here and leave the one basket as well.  They should have carts on the first level, too.”

Down on the first level, we went right to the guns.  I had never hunted and because of that never spent much time around long guns.  But I watched enough TV and movies to know that I wanted the AR-15 platform.  Semi-automatic with a standard 30 round magazine, it would fire as fast as you could pull the trigger.  There were a dozen on a display behind the counter.

“Karen, get a cart.  There were some at the bottom of the escalator.  Then come back here and get ammo.  If it says ‘.223’ or ‘5.56’ I want it in the cart.  All of it.  Also, get all the 9mm ammo you can find.”

“You don’t want to leave any for someone else?”

“We come first.  Take it all.”

I got to work on the security bar that kept the AR’s from being stolen.  There was a padlock and a fairly substantial steel bar but the system was designed to keep people from stealing the weapons during business hours.  I had a crowbar and no one watching.  It took just a few minutes.  Among the dozen AR’s were several with red dot optics and several with low magnification scopes.  A couple had only iron sights.  They all worked exactly the same though.  The red dot optics needed batteries but there were some behind the counter.  One of the AR’s was done up in pink camo and I knew right away that I would one day teach Tabby and that would be hers.  Karen came back with a cart full of ammo.

“I didn’t find much 9mm but there was an entire end cap of .223.  At least a few thousand rounds.”

“That’s excellent.  On this aisle,” I pointed down the aisle behind us.  “There should be slings or shoulder straps for these AR-15’s.  Take all you can find.”

“We really need all those guns?  There’s only five of us.”

“We take everything we need, remember?  They break down or wear out.  What if we add more survivors to our little group?  Leaving something could be the difference between life and death.”

“Okay, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.  But, I’m that serious.”  She headed off to find the slings and I moved over to the handguns.  There is only one brand I trust, Glock.  Before I met Samantha, I would shoot with friends on the weekends.  I found the Glock to be the most durable and reliable of all the ones I came across.  Just like with the rifles, I wanted to get all the same.  It would be easier to train if we all had the same thing.  Plus, we could cannibalize for parts if needed and the magazine were interchangeable.  They had 5 Glock 19’s.  Perfect.  The compact gun would fit nicely in Sam’s smaller hands and Karen’s as well.  And it still held 15 rounds of 9mm.  After grabbing the 5 Glock 19’s, I grabbed the 4 Glock 17’s I found.  The 17 was slightly larger but otherwise the same as the 19.  Karen came back about the time I was finishing with the handguns.

“You do alright?”

“Yeah, I found slings.  Got all they had.”

“Good.”  We put everything in the one cart and moved down the aisle to get holsters.  We had to mix and match a few styles and brands but we got holsters for each of the handguns.  We even managed to snag magazine carriers for each holster we found.

“Ryan, I think I found knives if we’re done here.”

“Lead on.”  Just around the corner from the firearms were the knives.  I did not know there were so many different knives.  But, my eyes were drawn to something displayed on the wall.  Tactical tomahawks.  I didn’t know such a thing existed.  A hatchet type blade on one side and the other side came to a point.  That would be great for going through a zombie skull.  There were several different styles, manufacturers and lengths.  A few were much heavier.  And they all had belt holders.   I grabbed them all.  Karen and I also got a dozen ‘k-bar’ style fighting knives.  They all came with belt sheaths and had many uses.  We grabbed about a dozen multi tools too.

“Shit, that was dumb.”

“What?” asked Karen.

“We have a cart full of handguns and you don’t have one.”  I opened a Glock 19 box and handed the unloaded gun to her.  “How does that feel?”

“Pretty good.  It’s light.”

“Polymer frame, but it’ll be heavier once we load it.”  I grabbed a box of ammo and loaded all three magazines that came with the gun.  Before loading it, I went over the operation.

“I’ve actually shot one before.”

“Then show me how to unload it and then load it.”  She pressed the magazine release button and pulled back the slide to show me the chamber was empty.  The she pushed a magazine in and pulled the slide to load the chamber.  “Okay, you do know how to use it.  Since you have to be here helping me, I’ll give you first choice of holsters.”

“Gee, thanks.”  She made a face but picked out a nice holster and mag carrier anyway.

“Shit, again.”

“Now what?”

“Extra mags.  We have the magazines for the Glocks because they were in the box or case.  I didn’t get any for the AR’s.  C’mon.”  The same aisle with the slings had AR mags.  We ended up with three extra for each gun.  At 30 rounds a piece that was a total of 120 rounds that each person could carry.  For a weapon that we weren’t going to use much, that should be plenty.

The carts were getting full and we were going to have to carry this stuff up the silent escalator so it was time for a run to the SUV.  We took turns carrying the baskets up the dead escalator until the carts on the first floor were full.  Then we pushed them over to the door.  A quick look outside.  The coast was clear.  It took a few minutes to load the SUV, especially since we weren’t done with the shopping.  I wanted to make sure there would be more room for the rest of the stuff.  And one of us had to be on the lookout for zombies at all times.

“Why don’t you pull the truck up to the door so we don’t have to walk as far?” asked Karen.

“Good idea.  Hop back in.”

With the Land Cruiser backed up close to the entrance, we went back into the store to finish with what we needed.  Down on the bottom floor again, I headed over to the camping section to get what I came for:  a camp stove.  The first one I found came equipped with an oven.  I couldn’t think of anything other than baking that we would need an oven for.  Plus, it looked to use more fuel and that would be a finite resource.  I picked out two, 2 burner stoves and all the bottles of fuel there was.  It filled both carts.  Then Karen saw a cooking grate that was meant to be over a fire pit outside.  It might come in handy if we could keep the zombies out of the yard.  So, I grabbed it and threw it on top of one of the carts.

We were almost done loading the upper floor carts when I heard something I hadn’t expected to hear.  Voices.  They were coming from near the door.  Christ, did I lock the truck?  It’s habit but zombies can’t figure out handles.  Humans can, though.  Shit.  One look at Karen showed that she’d heard the voices, too.

“That stuff is ours.  C’mon.”

I drew my gun and ran for the door leaving the cart behind.  I didn’t turn to look for Karen.  I hoped she was right behind me.  Close to the door I paused and knelt down.  Karen appeared to my right and did the same.  Through the door I could see three men looking into the Land Cruiser.  One tried the door handle and it was locked.  Thank God.  The men had no visible firearms but it didn’t matter, did it?  My family needed that stuff.

“Hey, step away from the truck.”

It caught the guys by surprise.  Apparently, they hadn’t considered that he trucks owner might still be around.  They all backed away with their hands up.  The tallest of the three spoke.

“Sorry friends, we didn’t realize any one was around.”

I lowered my gun but didn’t holster it.  Karen did the same.

“There’s plenty of stuff inside for everybody,” I said.  “But that stuff is ours.  There’s more where it came from.”  I made a decision and holstered my gun.  “What are you guys looking for?”

“We wanted to see if there was any ammo left.  Mainly looking for shotgun rounds.”  The taller one answered.

“Why don’t you guys come in?  Store’s clear.”  I stepped back and let the three guys inside.  Karen looked concerned but I just shrugged it off.  I extended my hand to the taller of the men.  He seemed to be in charge.  “I’m Ryan Knight.  Sorry about pointing my gun at you.”

“Jack Taylor.  No problem.  We’ve found a lot of useful stuff in cars.  Just didn’t realize the owner was still alive.”

“I’ve had the same experience.  This is my mother in law, Karen.”

“This is Kevin.  He’s my useless brother and that’s Dale, my useless brother in law.”  Jack laughed as he said it like it was an inside joke.  Handshakes were offered and taken and the mood seemed to lighten a bit.  “Is your family safe?” asked Jack.

“Yeah, they’re in Charleston.  I came down to get Karen and bring her back.”

“How’re the roads?”

“Cars everywhere.  Some are wrecked some are abandoned.  I had to go off road and drive on the wrong side a lot.”

“Is Charleston Bad?”  asked Dale.  “I have family in Goose Creek.”

“Well, I live on Johns Island if you know the area.  A bunch of my neighbors have turned.  I had to kill my next door neighbor this morning.”  I saw Karen react to that news.  She liked Janice Thompson.  “The last report of downtown Charleston was bad.  North Charleston, last I heard, was on fire.  But, I don’t know anything specifically about Goose Creek.  Sorry.”

Dale nodded.

“Have you seen many zombies?” Kevin asked.

“Maybe 20 in my neighborhood, maybe a bit less.”

“There seemed to be a lot on my street,” said Karen.  “But my area is more populated that his.  You guys seen many?”

“Not really,” said Jack.  “There were only a few in the grocery store we raided earlier today.  We saw quite a few on the road but they seemed otherwise occupied.  I’m glad we live in a rural area.”

“Yeah, looks like the bigger cities are lost,” I said.

“I don’t think I’d want to venture into downtown Savannah right now,” added Karen.

“I’m worried about what’ll happen when the zombies in the cities run out of living people,” I said. “I think they’ll migrate.”

“I’m more worried about the living,” said Jack.  “Most people aren’t prepared for anything like this.  Sure, they’re hiding now.  But, what happens when they run out of food and water?”

“You think that we’ll all turn on each other?”

“You drove from Charleston to get your mother in law.  What will you do to keep your family alive if they needed water or food?”

“Good point,” I said.

“There are eight of us at home who can shoot,” said Kevin.  “We’d be a difficult target for raiders.  There’s safety in numbers.”

“I hadn’t thought about that.  I’m glad we ran into you guys.”

“I’m glad you didn’t shoot.”  We all chuckled at Dale’s quip.  But, privately I wondered if it would come to, shoot first – ask questions later?

“Guys, we’ve got more stuff to get and we left two loaded carts at the top of the escalator.  I want to get back home before dark.  We didn’t touch the shotguns or shells, so hopefully you’ll find what you need.”

“Ryan, let us help load the truck.  You’ll get on the road faster.   You’ve got farther to go.”  Jack offered.

“Jack, that is mighty kind of you.  Are you sure?  I don’t want to keep you guys from your family.”

“We don’t live too far away and this is our last stop.”

Jack, Kevin and Dale made short work of loading the SUV with the stuff in the carts.  Then I let Karen get some cold weather gear, gloves, sleeping bags and the like with Dale and Kevin while I had Jack show me how a crossbow worked.  I took ten of them and all the bolts they had.

“Jack, are you sure that we’re not taking something away from you guys?  You don’t need any crossbows?”

“Nope, we were ready for this.  Well, we were ready for something anyhow.  I didn’t think it would be this exactly.  But, the government finally taking away our rights completely, or letting China invade or the economy collapsing or something.  But, not zombies.”

“So you were full blown preppers?”

“Not like the freaks on that show, no.  But, we have everything we need to survive, sure.’

“How long?”

“Bout a year.  More if we’re careful.”

“Damn, Jack.  You were ready.”

“It won’t be enough.  Not even close.  This…”  Jack indicated the world around him.  “This is our new reality.  These things aren’t going away.  No one’s coming to help.  I wouldn’t tell my wife that, understand.”

“I know…”

I shook Jacks hand and went to find Karen.  On the way I grabbed a few battery powered lanterns and batteries I saw.  Karen was loading the Land Cruiser with Dale.  She had found these water filters that looked like straws.  They could filter out almost anything.  Called ‘Lifestraw’, the package claimed that you could drink out of a stream or even a puddle with the straw and be fine.  It took just a few minutes to get everything in.  Jack produced a pen and wrote his address on one of the boxes in the back of the truck.