Chapter 2
The boat sputtered and died, allowing Ava to coast into the beach. The metal hull grated against the sand, rocking as the wave rolled around it. Sighing Ava grabbed the case and clamored out of the boat. Looking back at the lake she could see the outline of the plant fire spreading and smoke rolling. The boat had only gotten her as far as Southwicks Beach, before running out of gas. The extra cans they’d stored on the craft, had disappeared probably scavenged. At least she was out of the blast zone and the wind was blowing away from the beach.
Turning back toward the beach she headed for the road. She needed to find shelter, food, and something for the pain in her head.
Jogging down the road that lead out of the park, she glanced over to the camping area. A lump formed in her throat, how many summers had her parents drag her and her brothers here for camping. Pushing thoughts of her family from her mind she focused on finding a house or something. The yellow plastic suit and gas mask she wore, limited her vision. The plastic crinkled as she walked sounding loud in the stillness of the tree lined street. Even on her guard Ava didn’t see the dead man until it was too late.
He lurched at her from the brush a snarl on his decaying face. Instinctively she smashed her palm against his nose. The flesh squished under her gloved hand, the force of the blow making the creature stumbled back. Yet it didn’t seem fazed as it continued toward her teeth gnashing. Grabbing her arm with decaying hands, he pulled her toward his mouth. Cracked and yellowed teeth snagged on the plastic protecting her flesh. Out of opinions Ava brought the metal case down on the things head. There was a sickening crack, it’s body grew slack and fell away, it’s teeth ripping her sleeve as it did.
Swearing Ava backed away from the body. It was a putrid mass of gelled flesh that at one time had been a man and still wore a pair of ratty blue cotton pajamas. As her eyes scanned the body she realized this thing should have been a decayed blob, not walking around continuing to spread the virus. Something had gone very wrong with the plan.
Looking down at her compromised suit, she shook her head. Parting the shredded plastic she checked to see if the teeth had grazed her. Finding nothing she breathed a sigh of relief. While she was vaccinated from the walking death virus, she could still succumb to everyday infections and with no doctors handy those could be just as deadly. Turning from the body she jogged down the road. At the end she came to a four way stop, to her left were a few houses and another building she remembered being a store at one time. In the driveway of the brown and white house was a SUV. Approaching the house she fully expected the door to be locked, and when she grasped the knob it was. Groaning she gave it a kick and the door inched open. Surprised she inspected the door, realizing that it hadn’t been completely latched, rain had swelled the door jam causing it to stick shut. Putting her shoulder against the door and pushing she forced it to open enough so she could get inside.
After shoving the door shut again she looked around the entryway to the house and smiled when her eyes landed on a set of golf clubs. Setting down her case next to the bag she pulled out a seven iron and gave it a few experimental swings. It would do nicely to bash in the zombies mushy skulls. Continuing forward cautiously she listened for the shuffling and disjointed movement of the dead. Stepping into the living room, she looked around at the standard setup. Plush couch and chairs, a flat screen TV hung over the mantel of a fireplace, a shelf of knick knacks and pictures sat in one corner. A thick layer of dust covered everything. She noted that the metal mesh screen in front of the fireplace had been shoved aside, little foot prints lead from the fireplace to the kitchen and back.
Seeing this gave her hope that the house was clear. Raccoons wouldn’t have nested in the chimney with a dead thing shuffling around. Following the tracks she entered the kitchen, the little bandits had decimated the room. Cupboards hung open, contents tossed to the floor broken dishes littered the tile. Boxes lay ripped open, food eaten, then discarded. Even the fridge was open. The buggers had destroyed anything they could lay their furry little fingers on.
Looking around the kitchen, Ava noticed two doors. One stood next to the fridge, it was tall and narrow with a bolt fastened shut up high as though to keep kids out and a metal kick plate on the bottom. The other was a normal looking one, a few feet from the back door to the house. Not really wanting to but knowing she’d have to check just in case, Ava moved to the narrow door. Rapping her knuckles against the wood, she put her ear to the door and listened for movement. After a long moment of nothing happening, she tentatively unlocked the door and swung it open. Inside was a pantry, the walls lined with shelves full of non-perishable foods. Beans, peas, pastas, granola bars, were just a few things that caught her eye. On the floor sat cases of water, soda, and even beer.
Given the rural location of the house the occupants must have stocked up for winter, and hadn’t gotten a chance to use to extra. Lucky for her, the kick plate and lock had effectively kept the raccoons from getting at the food. Ava was sure any extra supplies would be welcome when she got to Big Moose. Maybe it would even soften the blow of losing the power plant. Probably not though. Shutting the door Ava shook her head as she re-locked it. The melt down really wasn’t their fault, this thing had just lasted too long. How were they expected to run something like that with no real man power. It had only been a matter of time before something had gone wrong.
Sighing she turned toward the door at the opposite side of the room. Kicking aside boxes and broken dishes she made her way over to it. Repeating the knocking and listening she heard nothing, cautiously she pulled the door open. It lead to a dimly lit basement.
“Oh no I am not going to be that girl who goes into the basement.” Clicking the lock on the door she shut it. Even if there was a zombie down there it wouldn’t be able to navigate the stairs much less open the door.
Heading back to the living room she explored the hall off the space. The doors to all the rooms hung wide open. The first room clearly belonged to a little girl, pastel pinks and purples dominated the room. A Barbie dream house sat in a corner, dolls still waiting for their owner to return and play with them. Blinking back tears, Ava moved on to the next room. This had belonged to someone closer to her own age. Clothes spilled out of the closet, a mirrored vanity was covered with various cosmetics and hair products never to be used again. Swallowing the familiar lump in her throat Ava moved farther down the hall. A quick looked revealed the large bathroom clear. Continuing to the end of the hall, she found the master bedroom. Like the rest of the house it was empty and covered in undisturbed dust. A little of the tension eased from Ava’s body, turning she focused on her next task decontaminating herself, before she touched anything else. Turning back to the bathroom she doubted she would get lucky enough for this place to have running water. In the bathroom, she stripped down to her underwear and shoved everything in the garbage can. Just for shits and giggles she reached into the shower and turned the knob. At first her mind couldn’t process the noise, as water fell from the shower head. Well she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, yanking off the last of her garments she jumped in gasping at the cold spray. It felt good after being in the summer heat and stifling plastic suit. Scrubbing herself with some apricot body scrub and washing her hair several times she climbed out and wrapped herself in a fluffy towel. Padding down the hall she paused at the door to the older girls room. Rummaging through and putting on some other girls clothes felt wrong, yet she really didn’t have any other choice.
Entering the room, she walked to the closet. Inside she managed to find an unopened package of underwear with a post-it note that said, “Mom, take back to big.” In the bag with those were a couple brand new sports bras. While they may have been too big for the teen, they were just Ava’s size. Although that didn’t bode well for finding the rest of her clothes. After a few minutes she was able to locate a pair of yoga pants and an oversize t-shirt, which ironically read “Zombies just want a hug” on the front,
that fit.
Looking down, Ava snicker, “Sure they do.”
Pulling her hair back in a ponytail she glanced in the mirror and noticed a large bruise forming near her hairline. Must have been where she’d hit her head on the boat. At least the headache had disappeared. A black canvas backpack caught her eye, as she was leaving the room. It would be easier to carry than the metal case and less conspicuous too. Scooping it up she dumped out the books inside and took it with her back to the living room. Glancing out the window, she saw no sign of movement. Taking in where the sun was she still had plenty of time before it went down. It only took her a few minutes of looking to find the keys to the SUV hanging on a rack in the kitchen. Palming them she looked at the pantry door. She needed some boxes or something to carry the stuff in. Racking her brain she remembered seeing totes in the little girls room that contained toys, which would work. Tucking the keys in the hidden pocket of the yoga pants she headed back to the little girl’s room.