As The World Dies: The First Days-A Zombie Trilogy Read online

  She fired.

  The headless corpse hit the pavement.

  "What the hell did you just do?" Katie looked utterly shocked.

  Jenni looked at her plaintively. "We have to kill them."

  Katie opened her mouth, then shut it. She looked shocked at Jenni's actions, but was more concerned at the moment with the groggy, half-grown German Shepherd. She climbed into the cab and shut the door.

  Jenni sighed and climbed in as well, slipping the safety back on the shotgun.

  "We don't kill."

  "You ran over the runners back in town."

  "I panicked. I..." Katie faltered.

  Jenni sighed sadly. She needed Katie to be strong. She needed her to be the strong one. She hadn't minded shooting the zombie as an example and she would kill them in the future, but Katie needed to lead. Jenni couldn't bear the thought of having to figure all of this out.

  Katie stroked the dog's fur as she looked at Jenni for a long moment. "We'll talk about this later. We need gas now. And Jack here, well, we need to keep him up here. Poor baby just had surgery. Good thing he was knocked out during most of our escape." She nuzzled the dog and kissed him.

  "Jack?" Jenni smiled. "I like that name." She wrapped her arms around the dog and pulled him onto her lap.

  "That's what his vet papers say."

  "It's a good name."

  Katie smiled slightly and nodded to herself. "Okay, gas station next. Gas, food, supplies, and we keep going until we figure out where the hell we are going? Sound good?"

  "Yeah," Jenni answered. Snuggling the dog tight, she sighed with relief.

  Katie was back in control.

  It would be okay.

  Chapter 2

  1. In The Shadow of the Dying World

  Katie sighed with relief when she saw the gas station sign up ahead. The needle on the gas gauge was dipping dangerously under empty. Despite the lack of any "zombies" out on the road, she did not want to get stuck walking anywhere.

  Beside her Jenni was busy lavishing attention on the German Shepherd. Katie was having a tough time understanding Jenni. The first time she had seen her, Jenni had seemed to be in a daze. The first spark of life she had shown was when she had blown the zombie's head off. Now she seemed more alive. Yes, that was it. A little more animated. It almost seemed weirder than her trance-like state when Katie had first saved her.

  But who was she to judge? What was normal when the world was dissolving around you and reality suddenly looked like a Dali painting.

  Pulling into the gas station slowly, Katie leaned forward over the steering wheel to stare across the expanse of the parking lot. There were no cars parked in the lot or tucked under the metal canopy over the gas pumps. It looked utterly deserted.

  "If we're lucky, the pumps are still on. I'll use my credit card, "she said.

  Jenni looked up, rubbing her lips against the dog's ear. "You should fill up the gas can, too."

  "Good idea. And if we can get into the store, we should load up on food."

  Katie slowly released the brake and let the truck glide up to a pump. Once more looking all around her, she turned off the truck. Reaching down, she picked up the shotgun.

  "Here is the plan. I'm going to pump the gas. You are going to keep a watch out and hold the shotgun. Obviously, you can use it. You see any of those things, you tell me immediately." Katie handed Jenni the shotgun, studying her intently. Now that Jenni wasn't looking like a zombie herself, Katie could see she was quite pretty with deep, alert eyes.

  "Okay. I can do that. But we should leave Jack in the truck. He's really groggy," Jenni answered. She looked frail in her pink nightgown and robe and bare feet.

  "Agreed. Now listen, again, carefully, we don't take any risks. We don't shoot anything unless we have to. That box at your feet-those are the only shotgun shells we have."

  "Oh," Jenni answered and frowned. "We need more."

  "I know, but a convenience store is not really the place to find them. So no fancy shooting, okay?"

  "Gotcha, "Jenni answered and slid out of the truck.

  Leaping out of the truck, Katie quickly slid her small wallet out of her trouser pocket. In this moment, she was so glad she despised purses, otherwise the wallet would have been far away in her old car. Swiping the card, she watched the digital display anxiously.

  It flashed "Authorizing" over and over again.

  "You have to come in and swipe it. The scanner isn't working out there," a disembodied voice said.

  Both Katie and Jenni started at the sound of a young man's voice.

  "What?"

  Jenni whirled around, shotgun ready.

  "You have to come in and swipe the card," the voice persisted.

  Katie realized the speaker on a column next to her was hissing. For a moment, she could not believe what she was hearing. The world was falling apart, Lydia was dead, and some teenager was still working his shift at the gas station?

  "I'll be right in," Katie answered and looked at Jenni. "He mustn't know."

  Jenni just blinked at her.

  Mystified, Katie strode swiftly across the parking lot and into the convenience store. The dimly lit interior threw off her vision for a moment, then she saw a very tall, scraggly teenager standing behind the counter beside a very short Hispanic girl.

  "The reader outside broke and we have to swipe inside," the boy explained again.

  "You don't know, do you?" Katie arched an eyebrow and the boy looked at her warily.

  Suddenly the Hispanic girl gasped and backed away from the counter.

  Katie ducked from the door, then realized it was Jenni holding the shotgun.

  "Look, please don't hold us up! We don't have that much money!" The boy held up his hands, his eyes huge.

  "We're not holding you up. You really don't know what is going on, do you?" Katie walked swiftly to the counter, still clutching her credit card.

  "Uh, no." The boy was trying to look calm and brave, but he was sweating profusely.

  The girl behind him was holding onto his arm so tight that Katie could see blood pooling under nails.

  "The city has gone insane. It's burning! People are dead and…and…"

  Should she tell him that the dead apparently were getting up and eating everyone?

  "Zombies. It's zombies, "Jenni said.

  Katie sighed, rolled her eyes and exhaled slowly. "What she said."

  "Yeah, right," the boy said sarcastically.

  "I don't know if they are really zombies, but there is something going on that has people attacking other people like maniacs," Katie explained.

  "Kinda like you two?"

  "No. With their bare hands." Katie watched the look of disbelief on the boy's face grow deeper. "Look, swipe my card. We need gas to get the fuck out of here."

  The boy frowned. "You're really not good with this holding up stuff, are you? You're not supposed to pay."

  "Just swipe the gawddamn card already!" Katie waved it in his face.

  "We really should get lots of food. And some more gas canisters," Jenni said behind her.

  The boy swiped the card and looked at them with growing unease. "You guys are on the run, aren't you?"

  "Yes, like I told you. The city has gone insane--"

  "With zombies," Jenni added helpfully.

  Katie really didn't think the Hispanic girl could get any paler.

  Suddenly there was a screech of tires outside and they all turned to see two cars pull up. Both were fully loaded with people, all Hispanic. Men with guns leaped out and ran into the store.

  "Papa!" The Latina girl looked relieved and ran toward one of the men.

  A flurry of Spanish followed and suddenly the girl looked like a ghost.

  "I'm leaving! My grandma ate my aunt!"

  And she was gone, running with her family out to their cars.

  Katie turned back to look at the boy whose mouth was hanging open.

  From behind her, Jenni said, "Told you."

 
"I don't believe you."

  "Then you are going to die," Katie said firmly and grabbed her card from him.

  The day was growing warmer as the sun rose steadily over the hills. The breeze brushing back her blond hair was almost hot and not very soothing. It felt grainy and harsh.

  Katie sighed and kept watch as the pump slowly clunked away behind her filling up the old truck's tank. Jack, groggy from his early morning surgery, sat behind the steering wheel inside the cab watching her. Every few seconds he would look around nervously. She wondered how much the dog had seen as he lay in his crate secured in the back of the truck this morning.

  The dog glanced toward her and their eyes met. He let out a light woof and she got the impression he was telling her so far so good.

  The pump clicked off and she quickly set about screwing the cap back onto the gas tank.

  She was struggling to feel real. This world felt real. Seemed real. A teenage boy manned the register of a country road gas station while she pumped gas on fresh spring day. That fact seemed real.

  But it wasn't the true reality.

  Inside, her new companion was rushing around filling plastic bags while the boy dutifully swiped each and every item, charging them on her credit card. Meanwhile, Katie held the shotgun in one hand and kept a keen eye on the terrain around her. Save for a small red hatchback tucked into the hedges next to the gas station, the white truck was the only vehicle around.

  This was not an ordinary day.

  Lydia was dead. And Jenni's son and husband were somewhere far behind them running amok trying to...trying to...

  Katie moved across the parking lot and swept her gaze back and forth, at times walking backwards, the shotgun at the ready, the shells jiggling in her pocket. Shoving the door open with her elbow, she entered the convenience store.

  Jenni rushed past her and Katie saw she had found some flip-flops on a shelf somewhere to wear.

  Jenni whirled about. "Do you want coffee? I didn't get my coffee this morning."

  Katie blinked and nodded. "Yeah. Black."

  Jenni nodded and ran to the dispenser.

  "Look, if you are not holding me up, you better put that way because my manager will be here soon to relieve me."

  Katie considered punching the boy.

  There were at least ten bags piled near the door. One of them had dog food.

  Jenni rushed up. "Give me the keys. I'm going to back the truck up."

  "Okay. Take the shotgun." Katie handed it over and whispered, "I need to go to the ladies room."

  "I already went. Stuff some toilet paper in your jacket pocket. I could only grab one half-roll. It's really way too expensive to buy here." Jenni was out the door. She rushed across the parking lot with her bathrobe flowing behind her with the shotgun held firmly in her hands.

  Katie looked over at the teenager. "Don't you have a radio or a TV somewhere around here to listen to? To check and see if what we are saying is true?"

  "It's against the regulations. Our owner is a man of principles and he believes that we should not inflict our modern music and bad news on our customers, but greet them with a smile and a friendly conversation."

  "You had to memorize that, huh?"

  The boy blinked blankly. "Yeah. Look, lady, zombies don't exist. I think you're criminals on the run. And Lucy is always flaking and running away from work. I'm not going to leave my shift and get fired."

  Katie laughed, her hands resting on her hips, then shook her head. "You're going to end up dead if you keep acting like a good little drone. The world is over. Finished. It's all different now. You better stop following and start acting." With that, she escaped into the bathroom.

  After a few minutes, she washed her hands in lukewarm water and gazed at her face in the spotted and scuffed mirror. The lighting did her no favors. She looked washed out and drawn. She looked older and tired. Just about how she felt, now that she thought about it. Reaching for the door, she heard raised voices and felt her body quiver anxiously. Her stomach fluttered and she hesitated.

  What if those things were outside and all she had were two pockets full of toilet paper and damp hands to defend herself?

  She realized the voices were arguing and not screaming and she heaved the door open and walked briskly toward the front of the store.

  A man in an expensive silk suit, minus the coat, was standing in the front of the store shouting at Jenni. She stood quietly, head down. Katie took notice that the shotgun was hidden in the folds of Jenni's bathrobe.

  "...and I don't need a mental case ruining my morning. I have a very important meeting at eleven AM in the city and I don't need to deal with retarded country hicks."

  "Is there a problem here?" Katie strode up to the man, hands on her hips, head tilted to one side and gave him her most direct look.

  The man was in his early to mid-thirties, dark hair, blue eyes, clean-shaven in that almost too clean look. He was holding his phone in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

  "Yes, I can barely get into the store because of some hick truck pulled up to the door. I get inside and this retard spills coffee on my shirt and trousers, and now I have a blond bitch giving me lip."

  Katie motioned to his phone. "Does that work?"

  He blinked, not expecting that response. "No, because we are in hicksville and there is no signal."

  Katie slightly nodded. "Or the world has gone to hell and the city is in ruins. Doesn't anyone listen to their radio anymore?"

  "Look, bitch, I make a six figure salary. I don't have time for radio or TV. I dictate letters that will bring in millions of dollars a year when I'm on the road. I work constantly. I am a busy man. My time is money. I am money. I have a meeting in one hour in the city and I'm running late thanks to your stupid friend here and that damn truck."

  Katie laughed in his face. "Well, buddy, hate to tell you this, but the world is over. The city is in ruins and you aren't going to make that meeting and you're not going to get a signal. Your six figures means nothing now."

  The businessman moved toward her and towered over her obviously trying to intimidate her.

  Katie looked up at him, her eyes cool, her jaw set.

  "I don't deal with crazy people. And no one talks to me like that," he hissed.

  "She does." There was an audible cha-chung! as Jenni raised the shotgun and cocked it. Her eyes were dangerous.

  The businessman stumbled backwards. "You people are crazy."

  "If you go into the city, you're the crazy one. You'll die. Something has gone wrong. People have gone insane and are killing each other. We barely escaped."

  The man shook his head at Katie's words and backed up to the door. His eyes were wide and unbelieving.

  "You're crazy psycho redneck bitches!"

  Katie looked at Jenni and they both started laughing.

  That was enough. The businessman ran out, narrowly avoided the back end of the truck pulled up to the doors, and ran to his Mercedes. Katie noticed he held onto his coffee and that made her laugh all the more.

  "You really need to put that gun away or I will call the police!" The teenager finished bagging the latest batch of food and supplies and slid it across the counter.

  "Will you really?" Katie arched an eyebrow.

  The boy ducked his head and mumbled.

  "Thought so."

  She grabbed up several bags and headed out the door. They needed to load up the truck and head out as soon as possible. She felt too exposed and too vulnerable. Jack gazed at her solemnly through the back window and let out a tiny woof.

  "We're hurrying," she assured him.

  Jenni slung some bags in and ran back into the store. Katie followed and grabbed more bags. A few more trips and their stockpile looked pretty healthy in the back of the truck bed. Jenni huffed past her lugging several gallons of water and Katie walked back into the store as her gaze flicked briefly toward the road.

  Still empty.

  "You need to sign your receipt."

/>   Would he never stop being annoying? Katie sighed and walked over and signed the receipt. It had to be at least three feet long.

  "I will never pay this. The bill will never arrive. You need to understand this," she said to him.

  "Look, I just want you to leave before my manager gets here, okay?"

  There was a loud squealing noise outside and Jack began to bark fiercely. Katie whirled around to see a car nearly clip the truck and slam into the side of the building. The walls shuddered and the glass windows cracked.

  From the steaming wreckage, a young woman, in the same color smock as the irritating cashier, stumbled out gripping an older man about the waist. He was barely on his feet and it took all her strength to carry him. He was covered in blood.

  "Mr. Carver! Rachel," the boy ran past Katie and out the door to meet them.

  Jenni looked at Katie and their eyes met.

  Jack's barking was frantic now.

  "We're out of here!"

  Katie ran after Jenni and they both swung open the doors to the truck cab.

  There was a scream of agonizing pain, then the boy's voice said, "Mr. Carver! Mr. Carver! Get off of her!"

  Katie slammed her door shut and started the truck. Jenni was still standing outside the truck, watching, transfixed as Mr. Carver took another large bite out of Rachel's spurting throat.

  "Just run!" Katie shouted at the boy as loud as she could to be heard over the dog's barking.

  The boy finally listened to her and ran for his car. He fumbled with his pocket to get out his keys.

  Mr. Carver now had Rachel down on the ground and was biting at her savagely as her body convulsed.

  Jenni slid into the cab and shut the door, locked it, and looked at Katie.

  Katie shifted gears and drove. She glanced into the rear view mirror to see a bloodied, resurrected-Rachel and Mr. Carver now in pursuit of the boy whose name tag she never noticed. He ran as fast as he could away from the gas station down into the valley behind the building.

  "You did tell him," Jenni said finally.

  Katie turned onto the highway.