Free Zombie Dawn by J.A. Crowley

come down.”  Jake and I carefully descended the stairs, turning on the lights as we went.  In the corner of the basement was a large pile of stacked hardwood.  Carol and the kids had climbed up on the pile, which had shifted, and they were partially buried.  Her daughter Jamie was 15 and her son Rick was 17.  Jack and I quickly dug them out.  As we got close, I told Jack to stop.  “Has anyone been bitten?” I asked.  They all said that they hadn’t even come close to a zombie, so we helped them out.
    I told them that their father was dead and that he had saved them.  I also told them that they were welcome to stay with us.  They immediately agreed to come.  I asked Carol if I could use her cars to barricade the street.  “Sure, Jack, anything to keep the kids safe.”  I asked if they had any supplies.  “Well, we have lots of wood and a few woodstoves; you can take that.  We also have some canned goods and some bottled water.  I know Ronnie just filled up the propane tanks.  We don’t have any guns.  I didn’t even know Ronnie had one.”
    Kate and Steve quickly parked Carol’s Camry and Ronnie’s Civic across the street.  It still wasn’t much of a barrier.  Kate took a brush trimmer and started to cover the cars with some brush to break up the lines.  It looked strange, but I knew that she’d eventually get it looking good.
    We made a note to get the Cliff’s supplies later and returned to the house to drop off Carol, Jamie, and Rick.  “You have to stay in the garage for 24 hours to make sure that none of you is infected. We’ll give you food and water but don’t try to get into the house, okay?”  They quickly agreed.  We told Julie about our new additions and went out for one more quick run before dark.  I told Jake to grab a bat, since the hammer didn’t work very well.  He grabbed Mike’s softball bat and we headed out.
    “We have time for one more house before dark.  What do you think, Kate?”
    “Let’s check the Schmidt’s house.  They didn’t go anywhere this weekend and hopefully there are survivors.  I know that Stan is a hunter and he might have some supplies we can use.”
    “Okay, let’s try the Schmidts.  It’s the next one anyway.”
    The Schmidt house was next to the Cliff residence.  It was a large ranch with a three car garage and an in-ground pool.  I made a mental note that we could use the pool water in a pinch.
    Again, I knocked on the door, this time loudly announcing myself.  I immediately heard Stan call out “Thank God. Marj, there are other survivors out here.  Get the boys and Christina.”  The “boys” were Stan’s son from a prior marriage.  Wes was 24 and a plumber and Stan Jr. was 26 and an accountant.  They frequently went hunting and fishing with Stan so we believed they’d come in handy.  Also, Stan was a Marine who served in the first Gulf War, as was Wes, who’d served in Afghanistan.  Christina was Marj’s 20 year old daughter, also from a prior relationship.  Christina was a nursing student.
    Stan opened the door and retreated to a nearby doorway.  “Jack, come in where I can see you.  Put your weapon on the floor.  I need to make sure that you are okay.”
    “Stan, before I do that I need to know if you or your family have been bitten or attacked by a zombie.  If you tell me that you haven’t, I’ll put my gun down.  I believe that you’ll tell me the truth.”
    “Jack, we’re all okay.  We’ve been hiding in the attic for two days.  We’ve seen them out there and we’ve seen you going back and forth, but we haven’t been within 20 feet of one.”
    I put my gun on the floor and told Jake to come in and do the same.  Stan, Marj and the kids came pouring out, hugging us and pounding us on the back.  It was a great moment to see our good friends safe and sound—and to know that we’d just made a great addition to our group of survivors. 
    “Stan, we have a group of survivors staying down