Dead of Knight: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale (29 page)

“How are you holding up?” she asked.  I just turned so she could see my tears.  It was obvious she had been crying as well.  “It’s not your fault.”

“I’m the one in charge out here.  Of course it’s my fault,” I replied.

“You can’t save everyone,” she said.

“He was, what?  About 20 years old?  His whole life ahead of him and then this shit happens.  Then he volunteers to save all of us and he dies on the roof of a car because he wasn’t looking,” I was yelling again.

“Then that’s how we’ll remember him; brave and strong,” she was trying to console me.  It just wasn’t working at the moment.

“That wasn’t the plan, Karen.  I’m so fucking tired of people dying around me.”

“Even the best plans don’t survive contact with the enemy,” she said.   I had to turn and look at her after that comment.

“Did you just pull that out of your ass?” I asked.

“Heard it in a movie.  Thought it was appropriate.  Look you’re doing great, Ryan.  You’ve managed to keep Sam, the kids and me safe.  That’s all that matters.”

“Don’t jinx me, Karen.”

The convoy weaved through the zombies that were in the street.  They were getting thicker the closer we got to the city center.  Several times we were forced onto the side walk to get around a large group of zombies.  Once, I almost got stuck when zombies piled up under the bus.  But I managed to back out of the problem.  The steady rains made everything harder and take longer.  What should have been a ten minute drive took just under an hour.

I stopped about two blocks from our destination.  Just ahead I could see the group of attractions known as Aquarium Wharf.  The South Carolina Aquarium building was the centerpiece.  I didn’t even want to think about what that place looked like now.  To the north was an IMAX theater and assorted shops and restaurants; all empty.  For some reason, that part never did any business.  To the south was our goal; the Ft. Sumter Visitor’s Center.  From here boats came and went to Ft. Sumter out at the mouth of the harbor.  I was convinced that I could operate one of the boats and dock it safely at the fort.

“Tom, pull the Land Cruiser up on my right.  It’ll have no trouble coming up on the sidewalk.  Mike, pull up on my left.”

“Copy.”

“10-4.

The rain fell harder now, obscuring our view somewhat.  I could see a lot of zombies between us and our destination.  More importantly, I could see what we came for; The P.G.T. Beauregard was moored right where it was supposed to be.  I briefly considered what I would’ve done if the Beauregard hadn’t been there.  No matter.

“I’m open to ideas,” I said.

“What’s the layout up there?” asked Tom.

“The pier is short but wide.  The visitor’s center building, the brick one on the right side takes up most of the pier.  There’s space under the building for people, it’s where you wait to get on the boat for the tour.  But, no room for vehicles.”

“Can we block the pier with the vehicles?” asked Mike.

“That’s probably our best bet.  Just beyond the building is about fifty feet of pier.  If we could get the three vehicle end to end it could form a barricade and give us room to work without having to deal with a shit ton of zombies.”  There was a pause while everyone considered it.

“I don’t have anything better,” said Tom.

“Me neither,” I added.  “OK, Mike, drive down the pier to the end of the brick building hugging the right side and turn left.  Put the front of the RV on the fence.  I’ll come behind you and back up to the opposite fence.  Tom, you park the Land Cruiser in between us to complete the line.”

“I hope we have enough space for the vehicles,” said Tom.

“I’m more worried that we will have too much space and not enough vehicles,” I replied.

“Ryan, what happens if we don’t have enough vehicles to fill the space?” asked Mike.

“Well, we’ll have to plug the hole somehow.  There’s a loading ramp up there that might work.  Or, we’ll have to dedicate a couple of people to plug the hole with zombies.  Anything else?” I asked.  No one had anything else.

“Okay, this should be obvious but…  Make sure you get out on the right side of your vehicle.”  That got a chuckle from Mike.  “Let’s roll.”

Mike pulled the RV out in front and headed towards the brick building that was the visitor’s center.  He was forced to go slow and weave through a lot of zombies.

“Stay to the right once you get past the fountain,” I said.

“10-4.”

“I’m gonna beep my horn a few times.  Maybe we can get some of those zombies in this direction.  That’ll make it fewer on the other side of the barricade.”  The trick helped some.  Many, but not all, of the zombies started moving towards us.

The RV hugged the wall of the visitor’s center, driving slowly over any zombies that were in the way.  When Mike got to the end of the building he made a hard left turn and headed for the railing and a six foot drop beyond.  He put the front of the RV on the fence, bending it just a little and then stopped.

“That looks good Mike.  Real good.  Make sure you guys are geared up and ready to go when we get up there.”

I pulled the bus forward, weaving through the zombies as well.  When I got past the brick building I made a hard left and pulled up next to Mike in the RV.  He nodded as I put the bus in reverse and backed up to the opposite fence and a ten foot drop on the other side.  I hit the railing a bit hard denting it but not going through it.

“Your turn, Tom.  Bring the cruiser.”

“On my way,” he replied.

Tom brought the Land Cruiser up quickly, weaving through the dead as much as possible.  Although a rugged SUV the Cruiser was not going to be able to run over as many zombies as the bus and still keep going.  He pulled up on the driver’s side of the RV and parallel parked like he’d driven the Land Cruiser all his life.  It was a good as I could do and it was my truck.  But, immediately a problem became apparent.

“Crap.  Tom, good job, but there’s about a four foot gap between us.  Make sure the nose of the Cruiser is touching the RV and I’ll pull up to you.  I would rather have the gap behind the bus.”  I pulled the bus slowly up to the Land Cruiser and kissed it gently.  It was, after all, my truck.

“Okay, I see about two dozen zombies and we have to cover the gap behind the bus.  Everybody ready?  On three.  One, two, three.”

We did our best to exit at one time, but it was difficult at best.  Tony stayed on the RV since he still couldn’t stand.  He watched William.  Karen stayed on the bus with Mal, Tabby and Thor.  The rain played hell with our aim.  The group raised our crossbows and fired but only three of the first nine bolts found their targets.  In the small area there was no time to reload.

“Firearms.  Switch to firearms,” I yelled.  In the rain our chances of slipping and falling were too great.  We’d already lost Morgan when he slipped on the wet car roof.

When all nine AR’s went off the sound was the loudest thing I’d ever heard.  It was just deafening.  We didn’t do a whole lot better with the AR’s than the crossbows.  Only five more zombies went down.  It took five more volleys to drop the rest of the dead.  As the gunfire faded I felt good about the plan coming together but felt like I was forgetting something.  As I began to realize what it was I forgot I could hear Karen screaming on the walkie-talkie.

“Behind the bus!  Behind the bus!”

I spun around to find several zombies staggering through the forgotten gap behind the bus.  One had shambled up behind Sam.  She was in between me and the zombie and I didn’t have a shot.  Sam turned and tried to raise her rifle but didn’t have the time or space.

“Sam, no,” I yelled.

Then a bolt appeared in the head of the zombie reaching out for Sam.  I turned to see Tabitha standing just outside the bus still aiming her crossbow at the zombie she’d just taken out.  Her face was a mixture of fear and determination.  Determination had won.  A big smile crept across her face as she realized what just happened. 

Just then Sam disappeared, pulled under the bus by a zombie grabbing her feet.  I rushed the few feet to where Sam was reaching out to me on her belly as she tried to escape the zombie’s grasp.  I reached her almost immediately and dropped to my behind as I grabbed her hands and pulled.  Mike reached us and got down on his stomach, started firing his AR under the bus, being careful not to hit Sam. 

Sam screamed and I pulled her loose.  The way she had screamed made me sure that Mike had hit her with a stray round.  Sure enough, her ankle and foot were covered with blood.  I was beginning to realize that something didn’t look right when Sam started screaming.

I dropped to the ground behind her and Mike came around.  The bite mark on her ankle was no obvious.  I could only barely hear the shouting and gunfire as other members of the group worked to move the loading ramp and block the gap behind the bus.  Then all that faded away entirely.

“Ryan, we need to get her inside the bus,” it was Karen.  I nodded and lifted my Sam off the cold, wet pier and carried her inside the bus followed by Mike and Tabby.  Inside, Mal and Karen were sobbing while they held each other.

“Karen, Mal and Tabby can’t be here for this.”  I turned to Mike.  “Get your mom to come take them.”  He nodded and Lois was there quickly.  She saw what was going on and began to take the kids towards the door.  Mal stopped and knelt down next to his mom.  He was crying but being as strong as he could be. 

“Don’t cry mom.  You’ll be ok,” he said.  “Dad will make it better.”

“I love you, mom,” said Tabby.  Tears streamed down her face.  Then they was gone out the door with Lois.  I turned away as Karen knelt down and gave Sam a kiss.

“Be strong Samantha.  I love you,” Karen whispered.  She held Sam’s hand and cried.

“I’m sorry, Karen,” I said.  “I’ve failed everyone.  You, Sam, the kids, everyone.”

“You’ve done the best you can, Ryan,” she said through her tears. 

“I’m the one who should be sorry Ryan, I wasn’t paying attention.  Is it going to hurt?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know, Sam.  I don’t think so.”

She looked so frail, lying there on the floor of the bus.  She started to tremble and her skin was turning grey before our eyes.  I knew it wouldn’t be long.  This, I’d seen before.  I leaned forward and kissed her forward. Her skin was so hot.  Thor came over and nuzzled his mom; whining.  He laid down next to her.

“I love you, wife,” I said, crying.

“I love you, husband,” said Sam.

Sam shook violently for a moment.  Then she lay still.

“Ryan!” Karen screamed.  I looked up into her eyes.  I failed.  With all the success we’ve had through all this adversity, the one thing I promised everyone was to keep them safe.  I failed.  I could not see a way forward from this.

“I’m so sorry, Karen.  I failed.  And now my wife; your daughter is gone.  I failed.  Karen, I don’t know what to do.”  She reached out and put her hand on my face.  Her eyes were heavy with tears.  I could see Sam start to twitch.  I knew there wasn’t much time.

“You do what needs to be done, Ryan Knight.  You have children to protect and there are other people counting on you.”  At that moment the prospect of being responsible for Tabby and Mal was a lot to deal with.  I couldn’t even think about the others. 

I pulled my knife from its sheath on my belt and held it out over Sam’s eye.  There I stopped unable to do what needed to be done.  Karen reached over and placed her hand on top of the knife.  I looked up at her and she nodded.  I put my other hand on her and she did the same.  Then, together, we plunged the knife through Sam’s eye into her brain.  The twitching stopped.

I fell back onto the floor of the bus and howled.  Karen and I cried until we had no more tears.  Then there was nothing left to do but go on.  But, how?

“I need to check on the kids,” I said.  Karen nodded and we got up, trying not to look down. 

“What should we do with her?” asked Karen.  I thought on this for a moment.

“We take her with us.”

I stepped off the bus and looked around.  Keith, Beth and Lois were keeping watch.  Tabitha and Mal came off the RV.

“Where’s everybody else?” I asked Beth.

“Clearing the boat,” she said.  The she reached out and put her hand on my shoulder.  “Ryan, I’m so sorry.  I can’t believe…  She was such a good woman.”  I nodded but couldn’t meet her eyes.

Mal came running over and wrapped his arms around my legs.  Tabitha and Karen came up behind him and completed the group hug.  Well, not completed.  While we stood there in the rain, trying to figure out how to move on, the others came off the boat.  Tom and Mike walked over to us.

“Ryan? I’m so sorry.  God, I’m sorry,” Tom said.

“I don’t know what to say,” Mike said.  I just nodded.  How do I move on?  We had to go but I just wanted to stay on the pier with my wife.  Karen must’ve sensed my fears.  She put her hand on my shoulder and gently tugged.  I turned and leaned down to hear her.

“Tabby and Mal are depending on you.   Now, more than ever.  You can’t quit now.”  I nodded solemnly and turned back to Mike and Tom.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“The boat’s clear, we only found three,” said Tom.