ILLNESS (Zombie Apocalypse)

Chapter 17

Billy woke up to arguing down the hall. Picking up his watch, it was six ten in the morning. Grumbling to himself he got out of bed and stomped to the living room where everyone was shouting. "Shut up!!!" Billy screamed. They all turned to him. "What the hell is going on here?" he yelled.
"Carter says us women need to stay here with Ty when the rest of you scavenge for supplies" Haley griped.
"I just think it would be safer for them. Im just thinking of there well being," Carter defended himself.
"We're stronger in numbers" Mattie retorted.
"You gals haven't learned to handle yourselves enough with the weapons" Davis remarked. "How dare you try to tell us what to do" Courtney said. They all began yelping at each other again. "HOLD UP!!!" Billy yelled. They stopped to look at him again. "You all make good points. But lets be civilized. Everybody will have to pitch in to get things done. But first thing we have to do is secure the perimeter then we worry about who goes out" Billy said.
Davis looked at Anthony cowering in a corner. Trying to lighten the mood and make Anthony feel better he said, "What do you think we should do Anthony?" Mattie gasped at the sight of him. He looked at each of them as she ran to him trying to reassure him. "I'm sorry Anthony. We didn't mean to frighten you. We were just having a discussion ok?" He pushed her away and looked at Davis then shrugged his shoulders. Mattie felt hurt. She walked to Courtney. "Could you see if he will talk to you again" she asked quietly with a tear streaming down her cheek. Courtney smiled at her then walked over and put Anthony on her lap. "Your a part of the team to" she told him. "We need you to speak up and tell us what you think also." Anthony looked at everybody then at Courtney, putting a finger to his mouth. "I think you do what you want to do" he whispered to her. She smiled at him and nodded her head. "Could you talk louder, like we were, so everybody can hear you" she asked. He looked around then back to Courtney. "Don't be scared. Your a big boy, show them that your part of this team, ok" she said. He looked at everybody. "DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO!" he yelled at them. They all chuckled. "Well you heard him. Get to it" Courtney said to them then smiled at Anthony who was smiling shyly at the group.

Haley went to take a shower. She came back out grumbling, "theres no water." "If you want water you have to pump it from the pond" Billy said. "I didnt know we would lose electricity. Now we have no water. What's next, phone?" Haley argued. "Who would you call" Carter said. "Stores shut down so no more fresh food. We will have to ration food and grow our own. The stores stuff will only last so long" Davis said. The sudden realization made Haley's throat feel constricted. No more shopping, hot showers, college or dating. "Each day will be survival of the fittest. Fighting every hour of everyday and for what? It's pointless" Carter complained. "We don't give up or they win. We fight with what we have then we improvise" Tyrone said. "After there is no food to find in the big cities and the lone survivors. A horde will be drawn to this place" Carter said. The girls had a shocked look on there faces. "Well lets get started then. Make this place zombie proof" Billy grumbled. 'Theres no such thing' Carter thought.

They done inventory around the house first. Then at first light they walked out on the porch. "Looks like we need a plow" Tyrone said. They couldn't see much further now then they could last night. The weeds were almost taller then the cars. "I haven't been here in years. I will bush-hog so we can see, then we'll check the fence" Billy said. He walked off the porch toward a barn sitting way off in the field. The others went back in and everybody chipped in to clean the cabin. Dust and cobwebs had taken over the place.
Billy didn't come back in for hours. "How about lunch" he said.

After lunch everyone walked back out on the porch and into the yard. "Where isolated in the middle of nowhere. The closest neighbor is or was ten miles away" Billy said. Surrounding the cabin were fields that went on for miles. They would be able see a zombie coming from a long distance away in any direction. Surrounding the fields was a fence of eight feet tall fence posts side by side. "This place looks like a fort" Mattie said. "Yeah it took gramps and dad a long time to put up all that fence. Grandpa was what you'd call a doomsday preparer. There's a bunker underground out there" he pointed far out in the distance. "You can't see where its buried even when you walk on top of it, there's a hidden entrance under the house. There's a tunnel that leads to it.." he stopped when Courtney gasped. "Something wrong" he asked. "No" she said, "just a lot to take in." "Anyway" he resumed, "that bunker has enough guns, ammo, and food to feed an army for a year. I will show it to you later but right now we need to split up in groups and check the fence. We'll meet up in the middle. Lets start at the gate. I want to get barbed wire to roll over the top in case of thief's and chain link fence to put in front of the posts for reinforcement." "Could we get a swing set or trampoline for Anthony" Mattie asked. "We'll see" Billy said.

They all got in Billy's truck and went to the gate. Half started on one side of the gate and the other half on the other side of the gate walking in opposite directions. It took hours to check the whole place. Behind the fence was woodland as far as you could see. It was five thirty in the evening by the time they met in the middle. "All looks good" Davis said. "How big is this place?" asked Tyrone out of breath. "It's about 250 - 300 acres" Billy said. "It will be getting dark soon, lets head in and I will show you the bunker."

Billy rolled back a rug in the living room. Underneath was a trap door. He took a fire poker and lifted it up. Under it was another door that looked like a large entrance to a man hole. Jumping down he twisted the handle until it clicked, then lifted it open. "Hand me a lantern" he said. He led them down a long ladder and through a extra long tunnel. After walking what seemed like forever, they reached a steel door with the same lock on it as the entrance to the tunnel had. Billy turned the levers until it clicked. The door opened and they walked inside. The walls and ceiling were steel. The floor had white tile. "There's a big backup generator above ground in a smokehouse but its out of gas. Dad was working on hooking up solar panels and running wires underground. He got them paid off and delivered but never got to hook them up. He wanted to get a wind turbine but that was out of the question. He ran a water line from the pond down here, so it has running water. A filtration system was put in the pond before it filled up so the water is clean. The cabin is above ground so it has to be pumped. I don't know if you noticed but there is a brass hand pump hooked up in the kitchen next to the faucet. It was for power failure. If you will help me we will get those solar panels going to here and the cabin. When the electric is on you wont have to pump the water in the cabin yourself" he said leading them from room to room. The bunker was huge. It had a kitchen with a steel stove that burned wood for cooking, eight bedrooms with fireplaces and private bathrooms, dining area, large stocked pantry, a gym with basketball hoops and games and laundry room. "Theres vents for fresh air and vents to let out smoke from the fireplaces and stove." The rooms were furnished, with even toilet paper in the bathrooms. "This area had to be dug up three or four times to get large items in here. The tunnel entrance was to small." He led them to another huge room. "This is our ordinance." It was stacked floor to ceiling. "How did you get all this" Davis asked bewildered. "Well it started with great gramps and passed down. Each heir added to it. Now its mine. The debt on this place was also passed down. But I guess I don't have to worry about my bank payments anymore" he chuckled. "There are probably guns down here you've never seen the likes of. Not counting knives and so on. The food is really old and needs replaced. Put that on a list. We take this food to the cabin. Except for those military packs. If any of its good we eat it and throw out what we can't. Digging through boxes there were weapons and ammo sealed in bags. "I would like to build a chicken coop and fence in a area for some cows and pigs and maybe a horse or two. We can hunt deer too. This area is good for hunting. Dad got a deer almost every year."

By nightfall they were all sound asleep from a long day. The food from the bunker took an hour to get out then another to sort it all. A wheelbarrow wouldn't fit down the ladder. Tomorrow they had to go scouting.