Valli : Personal Journal of Valli Pillay, a Living Dead Pandemic Survivor

Entry 38

We backed away slowly from the surrounded building. Satish who was driving took us back to the highway to a better vantage point, away from Ebene and also out of earshot of the mass.

Dave said the living dead must have breached the fences and everyone made it to that building.

"What are we going to do?" I asked. "They're completely surrounded."

"We need a distraction," Stephan said.

"What if we were to use fireworks?" Maya said. "Like when you guys saved Mani and Valli."

"Bingo!" Satish said. "But, there are so many of them that we'd need a truckload of fireworks and then some to get their attention."

"The Shopper's Mate supermarket," Dad said. "I visited it a few weeks before the outbreak and they had a lot of fireworks. It's the one place where you get fireworks throughout the year."

"So, all the fireworks will still be there?" I asked.

"I think so," Dad said. "With all this shit going on, fireworks were not a priority on people's lists."

Maya didn't admonish him.

"We're going to need more than just fireworks," Dave said. "We're going to have to start a huge bonfire."

"And we need the people in the building to keep quiet," Stephan said. "The more noise they make the more difficult it will be for us to get those fiends distracted. Regardless of how many fireworks we have."

"I have an idea," I said. "If we can get to the building across the street, the one across from Uncle Nevin, I can signal them."

"Then we need to get the living dead as far away as possible, contain them in some way," Maya said. "And lead them away from the building."

"I got it!" Dad said. "There's a building not far from the one the people are stuck in. It has an underground parking lot. We lead them there."

"How do we get out, if those things follow us into the building?" I asked.

"There's a fire escape. We'll have to clear it first. It'll take us to street level."

The adults agreed to the plan. We were going to get all the fireworks and other loud, noisy and flammable things we could lay our hands on and start a huge bonfire in the underground parking lot. We would lead the living dead from the building using fireworks and some of the adults as live bait. And hopefully the folks in the building could get out with no casualties.

Maya and I were given the task of signalling the trapped people to keep quiet and wait until we gave them the all clear. The two of us were to go into the building across from the one with the trapped people. Dad was not happy about me doing this, but we had no choice. Getting the dead's attention needed two people and Stephan was our backup. Maya and I were more than enough to get the attention of those trapped in the building.

We went back into Ebene, Satish drove again. He was doing such a good job of driving slowly and quietly.

"Like taking my boat through the marine park. I have to navigate it gently to protect the corals," he said wiping sweat from his brow.

"Yeah, but the corals don't eat you," I said.

"True."

The supermarket was way on the other side of the surrounded building. Dad told us to be quiet. He went in first with Dave. They were gone for a while and I started to get nervous, until I saw Dave who signalled for Satish to back up the truck to the entrance. We all got out and went in to help. The supermarket had been picked clean of food. It made sense since it was in the middle of an encampment that once held a lot of refugees. However, the storage area was full of fireworks.