Free Knight Terrors: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale by Stephen J. Beard

I miss my husband.  He’s never going to meet our child.  It sucks but there’s nothing we can do about it.  We have to go on.  Nothing matters if we don’t get our kids through this; if these people don’t get through this.  There’s a lot of people depending on you, including me.”
         I stood up and tried to thank her but couldn’t bring myself to look her in the eyes.  She put her hand on my chin and lifted my head up.
         “Hey,” she said.  “You don’t have to be embarrassed.  I cry myself to sleep every night.”
         “Not in front of someone you don’t really know.’
         “We are all family now.  It’s okay.”
         “Thank you.”
         “You’re welcome.  Now, did you get food?”  I nodded.  “Good,” she said as she started down the steps.  “Ryan,” she stopped and turned.  “You’re wife would’ve been proud of you, what you’ve done.  You got all these people out here.”
         I nodded and smiled a little.  She was right.  Sam would be proud.  I just wished she was here to enjoy it with me and the kids.
         About two hours into my shift, I called Mike up and let him in on a little secret.  In the parking lot of the Teeter there was a trailer selling fireworks.  I cut the lock and got all I could fit in my pack.  They weren’t professional grade but they would do. 
         I had originally planned to surprise everyone but Mike agreed that fireworks going off suddenly would scare the shit out of everyone.  And we were all a little on edge.
         Mike left to go tell the other adults and let them in on the plan.  About 11:45 I set up everything on the grassy area at the top of the Battery, not far from Sam’s grave.  Mike brought everyone up just before midnight.
         The kids were scared initially but I promised them that nothing was wrong.
         “Tabby, do you know what day it is? No?  Mal? Willie?”  They all shook their heads.
         “It’s New Year’s Eve.  Tonight we celebrate the start of a new year.”
         “I wish Mom was here,” said Mal.
         “Me, too buddy.  Me too.  But she would want us to go on living and doing the best we can.”  I got down on one knee and hugged my son.  Tabby joined in.  “I think your mother would be proud.  We made it out here to safety.  And the both of you have been awesome.  She’d be proud of us for sure.”
         We hugged for a few moments.
         “And now it’s time to celebrate the start of a new year!” I said to Mal.
         “How?’ he asked.
         The fireworks were a big hit.
     
    Thursday, January 1, 2015
         The New Year dawned cold, rainy and just miserable.  I was especially tired and achey this morning.  We had a tough exhausting time of it the day before.  And we were all up late.  I remember when seeing 12:30 in the morning was a common occurance but things have changed.  Without much artificial light and no TV we’ve been going to bed just after sundown and getting up with the sun.
         I went over to the fire which was under one of the casemates today. Some warmth and a cup of coffee would probably do me good.  Tom was already brewing some coffee.
         “I’m sorry I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Michael,” Tom said.  “His son, Mike is a great young man.  But I would’ve liked to have the opportunity to thank him for this percolater.”
         “It does make a fine cup of coffee.  Youd’ve liked Michael.  He was a good man; a good father.  Kept his family safe when the shit hit the fan.”
         “Ryan, I think the fireworks were a bad idea.”
         “Oh?”
         “Everyone for miles heard and saw that.  People will know where we are.  We even saw those folks at Patriot’s Point yesterday.”
         “People know where we are already, Tom.  We blew the horn the first day.  We fired our weapons the next day.  And,