Free The Home: A Zombie Survival Short Story by Chris Stoesen

Introduction
    This book is the result of a conversation between friends during a summer writers challenge. I was in the middle of attempting to get my mother into a memory care facility. My friends were both sympathetic to what I was going through, but also helped me to laugh. The second helped me more than I will ever know.
    Given that two of the authors that I was conversing with having written books in the zombie genre, comparisons between some memory care facilities and the genre arose. I can appreciate dark humor at time and this was one of them. A parting comment at the end of the discussion resonated with me, "this could make a great scene in a story."
    It took a couple of weeks, but the story did indeed come out of that conversation. The thoughts that drove it were what would happen to people that need essential services once a major catastrophe like a zombie apocalypse occurred? What would happen to diabetics that were dependent on their medicines? What would happen to the elderly that are not able to help themselves any more?
    Furthermore, the story had to have its lighter moments. I have visited many nursing and retirement homes. One of the authors described one of the funnier moments he had while visiting a home. All of these elements started to congeal and this short story just flowed out from it.
    This may not appeal to hardcore fans of the zombie genre. There is little in the way of the typical blood and gore. I had honestly hoped to have it included in a larger work, but it took on a life of its own. So here it is.
    There are many worlds that already exist for zombie stories. There are more flavors of them than Baskin Robins has ice cream flavors. I decided to adopt a world to base mine in. Philip McClimon's Nicole's Odyssey: A Journey Through The Zombie Apocalypse and its prequel Substation: The Last Stand of Gary Sykes are the basis of the world in which this story resides.
    I hope that you enjoy this short story and will take a look at some of my other works.

    Thanks,

The three sat panting behind the brick sign. The opposite side of the sign faced the street and illuminated by the hidden lights at its base. It read Brighton Commons Memory Care. To the group's left was the driveway that swung in a small loop. This was to allow ambulances access to swing around by the front door of the building. That front door was now some hundred yards in front of them. Inside the loop of the driveway was a nicely kept lawn with a flag pole in the center of it. The parking lot was simply a bulge in the driveway to the left of the building with a mere dozen spaces.
    It was getting dark. The sun's rays still poked out above the top of the building in front of them. There were some lights on in the building as well as the perimeter lights. But much of the area was shrouded by shadow.
    The blond girl was in her early twenties. She was gasping for breath after her recent run. With a flushed face, her hair was stuck to her forehead with sweat. Her eyes were wide with panic. The man with them placed his hand on her knee.
    "Shhh. It's going to be OK, Mikayla. Relax, we can find what we are looking for inside."
    The girl on the other side whispered towards them, "How the hell do you know that? This is an insane asylum. We just went through the wreckage of three drug stores and nothing. If we had been there last week maybe, but now there is nothing left anywhere."
    "Shut it, Meredith," the man said with a good deal of heat in the whisper. He squeezed Mikayla's knee again before reaching down and picking up the machete.
    Using the blade as a pointer, he pointed across the parking lot. The parking lot had a small bus in the parking lot. There was also a single car in the parking lot as well. It sat across three parking spots with the front right wheel up on the grass behind the parking spot. The driver's side door was open. The interior light of the car had died out before the three had arrived. There were no other vehicles in the