Zed Days USA (Book 1) Read online

  I let his hand go and it slid off my shoulder. He sighed, ‘I know, let’s get on with it then. I can see the back of the shop and it looks like we’re clear. I have keys.’

  Mathew opened the back of the shop and we got inside without seeing any more Zeds. I’m going to use Zeds from now on because it’s easier. I had only been in the shop once and it wasn’t Mathew who was serving. I wasn’t a beach girl, I didn’t hang out there. Although I liked to swim, before leaving home I was miles from the beach and rarely got there. The shop sold dive gear and wetsuits but also a small selection of surf boards, boogie boards, beach clothes, sun cream, and a few sweets and ice creams.

  Mat stood in the centre of the shop looking flustered, his eye’s flicking back and forth. I smiled at him and although I really wanted to get to aunt Elle’s, I couldn’t resist saying, ‘Calm down. If this is a Zombie apocalypse I’d say we’re doing pretty well so far.’ I scanned around the shop, ‘Not much here to use as a weapon is there. Have you got a baseball bat or whatever they use for spear fishing maybe?’

  Mat jerked his head around to look at me, ‘Baseball bat, only one I’m afraid, upstairs, but yes. No spears, but I have some stupidly expensive dive knives, some yard tools, and some strong tape. I think we could bodge something together.’

  Then he looked me up and down again and it made me tingle. I still can’t explain why he had that effect on me. Maybe it was one of those high stress adrenalin things. Anyway I tingled, stared pointedly at him even though I wanted to smile, and resisted the urge to cover myself. He said, ‘Sorry, you’re really distracting, you must know that. I was just thinking what we could find you to wear. I don’t think any of the clothes I sell will keep you warm tonight.’

  I was about to say something when he blurted, ‘Wet suit. You need a wetsuit. It looks like they bite, and I’m not exactly a Zombie fan, but even I know that Zombie bites are supposed to infect you. If that’s true then we need full coverage. We should maybe even take some boots and hoods with us just in case.’

  I looked at him and said, ‘Good thinking. I assume even a thin one would probably stop a bite and it would be easier to move in. It’s going to get warm in an hour or two and I don’t want to die from heat stroke.’

  He smiled and pointed towards a rack of suits, ‘Those are the best 2 mil ones I have. I’ll go upstairs to gather some things while you change.’

  Mat went up the stairs against one wall that must have led to his apartment. I rummaged through the wetsuits he had pointed me towards and found one that looked like it would fit. It would be a bit tight across the chest, but I didn’t think there would be many that wouldn’t be. Then I looked down at my skimpy bikini and thought that I wouldn’t be in the wetsuit the whole time. I found a small rail of bikini’s with slightly more coverage, and found an old fashioned full pant one. I stripped off and was naked before the strangeness of being naked in the middle of the shop, with Mat just upstairs, hit me. I instinctively covered my chest with one arm, putting my other hand between my legs. Then I went all tingly again and as my eye’s wandered up the stairs I squeezed one of my boobs, pinching my rapidly hardening nipple, and pressed more firmly between my legs.

  For just a moment I felt warm and sexy and the tingles intensified, then reality hit me again and I cursed myself under my breath and slid the new bikini bottoms on. The wetsuit fitted as well as could be expected and I found some boots and a hood like Mat had suggested. Then I heard a voice, ‘Are you decent?’

  I looked up at the stairs and so many men I know would have peeked as they said it, but there was no sign of Mat. I smiled, shivered with one last flow of tingles, and couldn’t resist a little innuendo, ‘I wouldn’t say that, but I’m dressed.’

  Mat came down the stairs with a rucksack, a wooden baseball bat, and what I guessed was a wooden broom handle. He was still wearing his wetsuit. He dumped the stuff on the floor and looked at me, ‘That’s better, I can look at you now.’ Before I could reply he added, ‘I tried my computer, phone, and TV, and there’s nothing. No signal, no reception, no nothing. It doesn’t bode well for this being a local outbreak.’

  ‘The power and water are still on, but I’m not sure they’ll stay that way for long. I used to live on a station in Australia and we had to pump our own water with a generator. If the generator went down we’d have no water until we could get the backup working or fix the main one. Once we had a problem with the pump itself and we had no water for two days. It might not seem like much, and you get used to storing reserves of everything when you live hundreds of kilometres from anywhere, but you’d be amazed just how much water a few people get through when it’s hot. You die of thirst way before you die of hunger. I think we need to consider the worst case scenario that this is widespread and that we might be on our own for a while with no power, gas, electricity or running water.’

  He had a point. I replied, ‘Good point, but this is the panhandle and hurricanes are frequent, lots of people have backup generators in case the power goes down. I know the gas station down the road does, I think they have to by law. Water could be an issue, but loads of the shops around here sell cold drinks and if there is just the two of us, it’s gonna be a while before we can’t find any.’

  Mat nodded, ‘Right, good point too. Let’s see if we can get this spear rigged up and then we’ll be off. Where does you aunt live?’

  I replied, ‘Just a couple of miles down the beach in a beach front house. It’s been in the family since before the beach was so popular and she got it when my grandparents died. My mum was already a dope head and they knew she’d just sell it and piss away the money. Even though we struggled for money, Elle never wanted to sell it. My grandparents used to live there so I guess she wanted the memories.’

  Mat looked concerned, ‘A couple of miles seems like a lot when everyone we see wants to eat us. It’s only about a mile to the marina and it shouldn’t be busy. It’s up to you, but I vote we go get the boat and then take it down to your aunts.’

  I appreciated him letting me chose but I knew he was right, ‘Ok, you’re right about the walk. While I remember, I don’t suppose you have a lap top do you?’

  Mat looked confused but said, ‘Yes…’

  I said, ‘I wanted to be a writer, crime novels, gritty ones inspired by my shitty upbringing. That was what I was studying at college, English and creative writing. I don’t suppose there’s much of a market for new crime novels at the moment, but I promised myself I’d write a book one day. I’d like to keep a record of what’s happening. Who knows, I might be famous one day or it might come in useful for someone else, another survivor… in the future.’ I paused and my head was spinning from thinking about it all, ‘I guess there must be other survivors, it can’t just be us…’

  Before I could go on and lose myself in the rising desperation Mat saved me, ‘I don’t know, but right now it’s just us and we have a plan. I’ll get my laptop, you start taping one of the knives to this.’

  He handed me the long wooden handle and it seemed sturdy enough. I looked at the glass display cabinet with the expensive knives in and he was right, some of them were stupidly expensive. I picked one called the Atomic that was apparently titanium, it was $130. Before I started taping it to the handle I grabbed another one and strapped it to my thigh. I have to admit it looked cool against the blue stripe up the side of my otherwise black suit. I grabbed a really expensive watch and a small powerful water proof flashlight as well. Then I shoved a couple of towels, some drinks, sweets, and some normal beach clothes that would probably fit me into a big beach bag.

  I was only just getting to grips with attaching the knife when Mat came down. He stopped and put his hands on his hips, looking straight at me. His expression was blank and I felt suddenly embarrassed and guilty, I was wearing over a thousand dollars of his stuff. I was about to speak when he broke a big smile and said, ‘Suits you, very Bond girl, and a decent idea. The TI6 is a great knife, though still not worth the mark up, but I pr
efer something with a slightly longer blade, for gutting big fish at least.’

  He grabbed a knife himself and strapped it to his thigh while I carried on taping. It was an ugly job but the blade seemed secure and I’d taped around the handle below it so it couldn’t slip. Mat held up the bat and said, ‘I’m not quite sure what my role is in this operation, and my arm still hurts like hell, but I know I’m not the brawn. Why don’t you take the bat.’ I smiled and swapped the spear for the bat.

  Chapter Three – A Walk on the Beach

  We walked back passed the mess we’d left on the beach and we didn’t run into any more trouble. Looking back at the bodies in the water was gruesome. Without being able to see their faces they just looked like normal people. The tide had spread them out and some were already being washed up on the beach. We carried on at a brisk pace and we couldn’t see any trouble ahead. I couldn’t help glancing across at Mat as we walked. I figured he was in his early thirties and although he wasn’t what you would describe as muscular, he was obviously fit and I kind of liked the softer bits of him. I was used to the attention of muscle bound meatheads and it just didn’t do it for me. I liked a little softness.

  He caught me glancing and said, ‘What?’

  Flustered and not wanting to admit I was checking him out I said, ‘I was just wondering, what brings an Australian to the Florida Pan Handle to run a dive shop, aren’t there plenty of beaches in Australia?’

  He smiled briefly but then lines gathered around his mouth and he sighed, ‘I came here for a new life. Nothing too dramatic. My parents died a few years ago, one after the other, and left my brother and I the station. They knew that wasn’t the life we wanted and they had already started to run the place down. My brother was always smarter than me and he started up a small IT firm in Darwin on the north coast. I worked for him. Then he got cancer and died within the year. I had got used to living by the ocean and did a lot of diving, but I just couldn’t stay there with all the memories.

  My brother left me everything and I used it all to buy the business and the boat. It wasn’t lots, but it was enough to get me started. I hate the cold and I love the sea so Florida seemed as good a place as any. I admit the culture takes some getting used to, it’s very different from Australia, but I don’t regret the move.’

  I didn’t feel sorry for him, he’d had a loving family by the sound of it, but I was touched by the emotion in his voice and impressed by his commitment to totally changing his life. I replied, ‘Sorry, that’s rough. It makes me wonder just how widespread this thing is, Australia is a very long way away. Fuck knows what would have to happen for the whole world to suddenly change like this, it seems impossible, but I guess the whole thing does. Maybe we’ll start to see planes flying over to check things out in the next few days. Maybe some mad scientist accidentally created a super virus but it can’t cross the ocean. Maybe we’ll be quarantined for a while but then rescued…Sorry, I’m blathering.’

  Mat looked across at me, he had such a kind face when he smiled, ‘No you’re right, that seems about as sensible an explanation as any, it’s not like aliens have invaded!’

  I laughed but it was short lived. We were parallel with some of the more expensive beach front houses and a couple of restaurants, and there were at least ten Zeds milling around in a lose group on the beach. I could see a couple of bodies on the sand. The moment the Zeds saw us they started towards us, arms out stretched as usual. Ten was a lot and Mat whispered sharply as if making more noise would attract more, ‘That’s a lot, how do you want to play it?’

  I looked at the group and although I was only just starting to warm up, there were too many. I was just replying, ‘I think we need to take a swim again’, when one of the Zeds broke from the pack and ran towards us. It was more coordinated than the rest and although it struggled on the sand it was still fast. I glanced at the water but we wouldn’t make it out of our depth in time and I didn’t have time to aim the rifle and headshot a fast moving target. The others were still several seconds behind it so I dropped the beach bag, held the bat with both hands, and planted my feet.’

  When the running Zed was a few feet away from me it jumped headlong towards me. My martial arts training included moves to deal with charging opponents, but not with a bat. I improvised. I dodged to the side swinging the bat at its chest, as there was no way of definitely hitting its head. I hoped Mat was ready. I made a good contact with the bat and the sensation of it, of ribs splintering, made my stomach twist. I didn’t manage to dodge out of the way completely and it hit my shoulder hard as it flew passed me. The hit span me around and I lost my grip on the bat. I ended up on the sand next to it, sand stinging my eye’s, scrabbling blindly for my knife.

  In the second it took for me to blink and get orientation, Mat sunk the spear into the Zeds head and was reaching to help me up. His voice was urgent, ‘We have to go. Now.’

  I let him help me up and through watery eyes I could see the other Zeds had sped up and were almost on us. I went to look for the bat but Mat yanked me harshly towards the water, ‘Now!’

  We ran into the water and I splashed my face as soon as I could and managed to clear my eyes. By the time I could see properly again we were safe. The Zeds slowed down because of the unfamiliar sensation of the water or it might have been closer. Soon we were bobbing on our toes in the water again. I’m not sure it was any easier watching the Zeds drown the second time.

  When I got my breath I turned to Mat and said, ‘Thanks for that, I guess that makes us even.’

  I was expecting a wry smile or a quick comment but Mat looked back at me seriously and said harshly, ‘I’m not sure keeping score is going to work.’ Then his voice softened, ‘Let’s just say we’ll be there for each other when we need to be shall we.’

  The comment, and his seriousness, took me by surprise. I felt a mix of shame, confusion, and anger, and the shame part made me blush. With so many intense feelings and adrenalin surging through me I found tears in my eye’s. I was struggling for words when he paddled over to me and reached out to hug me saying, ‘Sorry, that was over the top.’

  I couldn’t bring myself to hug him back, finding my arms crossed over my chest like they always were when I needed soothing and there was no one there to do it. I let him draw me in though and before I knew it my head was resting on his shoulder and I was sobbing. He didn’t say anything, I didn’t need him to, he just held me tightly and rested his cheek on my head. It was what I needed, it was what I had always needed, and it took a few minutes for me to stop crying. When I began to shuffle so he’d let me go he said in answer to what I was going to say, ‘There’s no need to be sorry. I kind of needed that too. This is screwed up and we’d have to be monsters ourselves not be strung out by the whole thing.’

  As he let me go and looked at me all I wanted was for him to hold me again, and kiss me, but despite everything, I still had no idea if that was what he wanted. I had never met anyone like him before, at least not a man. He was kind and decent, emotional in an adult way, and there were no pretences or games. It was so unfamiliar I had no idea how to react, it was almost like learning to walk or speak again. All I could do was smile and trust what my heart was telling me. I said, ‘Thanks, that was nice. I guess you’re right, this isn’t exactly easy.’

  It was an awkward moment so we both headed back to the beach and retrieved our things. Mat had left the spear stuck in the fast Zeds head and he only paused for a moment before pulling it out and burying the blade in the sand, twisting it to wipe it off. I admit I had been having concerns he wasn’t capable of killing them, but he hadn’t hesitated.

  We started off down the beach again and we could both see two bodies on the ground near to the houses. I couldn’t see any detail thankfully, but they had been mauled. I looked away and so did Mat. Neither of us said anything. Looking back at how quickly our last encounter had turned nasty I said, ‘So, that complicated things a bit, that Sprinter I mean.’ Looking back at it I added, ‘Eve
n the rest of them seemed a tiny bit more sure footed than they have been so far. It’s like they’re having to learn to walk again, but they’re getting there.’

  Mat replied, ‘Mmmm, that was unexpected wasn’t it, I wonder what else some of them can do. We need to be more cautious from now on. No more conversations, if we see any, run to the water.’ He looked over at me for confirmation and I nodded.

  I was thinking about what it would be like if they carried on developing, and it was scary. I said what had been formulating in my head since we headed off, ‘We need guns and ammo. This is the Pan Handle, there are plenty around. I have a Berretta and a box of ammo at the house, but we need more, lots more. Can you shoot?’

  Mat glanced at the AR15 slung over my back, ‘I can use a hunting rifle. When you grow up on a big station you learn young. My brother and I used to hunt Dingo’s, wild dogs, and we were always competitive. He was always smarter than me, but I was always more athletic, and better with a gun.’

  Looking at the AR15 he added, ‘I’ve never shot anything like that though, and I haven’t been hunting in years.’

  Relief washed over me, ‘If you can shoot a hunting rifle you can shoot this. It won’t take you long to adapt. This is heavier than a 22mm, especially with a 30 clip, and it’s a bit more bulky, but you don’t forget how to aim a rifle when you’ve learned.’

  Mat replied, ‘I guess using guns is probably the safest way of dealing with them, but where do we get ammo from. I don’t fancy rolling into town.’

  I smiled and said, ‘How about steam rolling. I know various people who keep guns, but they all live on the other side of town. We need lots of ammo and there is only one place to go when you need ammo, Walmart. I know the store is over the bridge, so it could be busy, but it’s on the edge of the mall with its own entrance and most of the rest of the mall will be closed. It shouldn’t be too busy, but it will have been open for over an hour when it happened.’