Leap into Despair

Leap Into Despair

Disturbing. That’s all Landon could think as he sat listening to the politicians and lobbyists discussing backdoor deals that lined deeply greedy pockets. The second floor room was stuffy despite being large and having a complete wall of glass doors that opened up to a balcony looking down on the streets of Washington D.C. The curtains were drawn across that windowed wall; many of the politicians were wary of being caught talking to these corporate hired hands. Being in this room made Landon ashamed.
Landon’s purpose here was to talk to members of congress and try to convince them that supporting fairer and less convoluted regulations was in their best interest. The difference between Landon and the other lobbyists? Landon wasn’t being paid, and he had nothing to sweeten the dish he set before the gluttons. Doing the right thing tastes bland, and if Americans liked bland things we wouldn’t have an obesity epidemic. Landon was tired of talking to the inflated egos of these shallow personas. There wasn’t a single real person in the room as far as Landon could tell. Slipping through the curtains and pushing open a sliding glass door, Landon stepped out of an artificial brightness into an ominous smog filled reality.
Tourists roamed the street in haphazard patterns. They passed by the outcast members of society with barely a second glance despite the dirty and broken hands reaching out for a token of kindness. Landon watched one insistent beggar get pushed to the ground and had to pick himself up; it all seemed so depressing. Landon wondered where society was going to be in the next twenty years. How could anyone expect society to advance when there wasn’t a single decent person who was humane enough to look at their fellow man and help him back onto his two feet? To add irony to the bleak prospect, a family not too far away was trying to encourage their son to share with his sibling. What is this world becoming Landon thought as he turned back to the meeting room. Sighing, he accepted that there was no escape from the madness.
Back in the atmosphere of fake smiles and appeasing lies, Landon was ready to call this trip a bust. As he passed a congressman that he talked to earlier, they made eye contact; the man quickly avoided Landon’s gaze and buried himself in the warm comfort of the deal he was brokering. Landon was working himself toward the door, weaving in and out of conversations, trying to politely excuse himself without stepping on people’s toes, both figuratively and literally. A rumbling sound became evident the closer to the door he got. He stopped his progress; inquisitively, he cocked his head to try and analyze the sound. The heavy wooden door gave a groan as if placed under an abnormally large strain. Landon’s instincts kicked in and he started backing away before he realized what he was doing. Retracing his steps through the group of people, many were oblivious to any imminent threat and were angry with Landon for his lack of courtesy and failure to obey social protocol. Almost as if someone flipped a switch everyone’s head turned to look at the door just as it began cracking and splintering. “Get away from the door.” Landon said calmly as he continued backing toward the balcony. The door exploded with a loud crash and the commotion, that was seconds before muffled and contained, erupted into the gathering.
People fumbled through the shattered door, climbing and stepping on one another in a consuming and confounding panic. Their groans and yells were deafening, and the shear number of people funneling through was incomprehensible. Landon tore his eyes away from the horror and hastily crossed over to the balcony. The sense of unknown danger at his back pressed him to the railing, but lucky for him the frenzy hadn’t swept him up. Others who made it to the balcony vaulted over the railing without assessing the situation. They tried to crawl away on broken and bloody legs. Landon turned around and spotted the curtains. He started ripping them down trying not to look at the hysteria ensuing within the room; however, the rapid movement in his peripheral caught his attention. He watched a fear stricken individual get tackled by another person. The man on top began to beat his victim until his screams died down. The most horrific thing was when the assailant began to dine upon his unconscious prey. A quick glance through the room showed that the scene was being played out at least a hundred times. The first man Landon saw being devoured was the lucky one; he was unconscious.
Landon ran with his tattered fabric back to the railing and began to tie off one end around the handrail. The sound of a child crying caused Landon’s stomach to jump and stick in his throat. He turned his head dreading what he might discover. A large muscular man barrelled through other men, stiff arming attackers. Clinging to his chest was a little girl. The man had cuts and bruises already and it was obvious that he had fought his way here. Landon looked down to the street. It was clear that the odds were only slightly better down there. “Hurry! Come here. You can climb down this curtain.” The man didn’t hesitate. Clutching the distraught girl to his chest he flung himself over the balustrade and down the makeshift rope. Landon wasn’t sure if the curtain would hold more weight so he refrained from climbing down as well, despite the growing anxiety as the sounds of massacre crept closer. With the shatter of glass Landon knew he couldn’t wait anymore.
Unable to risk ruining the large man and the girl’s chances, Landon spotted a tree that could serve as another possible option. A hand grabbed his pant leg and he jerked away and looked down. The fellow was reaching out for a savior, but only two feet away some monster was chewing on the muscles of his legs. Landon forced back the desire to vomit and climbed atop the bannister. He took a deep breath, braced himself, and then lept out of the confined nightmare and into open despair.

Flailing his arms frantically, Landon made attempts to catch branches as he fell through the sad excuses for limbs that the tree offered. Most of them he broke with his knees, back, or elbows before his hands ever made contact. They slowed his fall and tumbled him down to the sidewalk where he landed on his back, forcing the wind out of him. A strong hand grabbed him by the collar of his suit and yanked him to his feet. “We have to go.” The large man insisted. Landon struggled to suck in air and deal with the pain lancing through his body. Landon made to hold up his hand to request a moment reprieve, but the man grabbed the sleeve of his suit and pulled. “Now!”
Landon limped behind the large man as he pushed his way through swarms of people. The whole time the child wailed, terror evident in her wavering sobs. That same terror was trying to find a hold in Landon, but he swallowed it down. As they moved through the streets Landon was able to push aside the pain and keeping up was becoming less difficult, but as the pain subsided it freed his mind to try and deal with the current situation. Police, Fire Truck, and Ambulance sirens blared in the streets. The pop-pop of gunshots came in spurts. Car crashes held up traffic, and people had to abandon their cars. At some point a helicopter added a new droning bass sound to the mix. The sounds (Symphony, maybe?)of panic were(was) everywhere. Devoid of reason or logic, the events unfolding all around him left Landon unsure and a feeling of emptiness arose. The girl’s shrill fear echoed in that emptiness.
Landon wasn’t sure where the crazed flesh eating cannibals came from to begin with, so he didn’t know how far he had to go to escape. Every now and then the large man would roughly toss one aside. Luckily for the two of them these devils were single mindedly fixated on eating the flesh of their fellow man. The nearest flesh would do for them, and there was plenty of choices that had less ability to resist. In the mad attempt to flee peril many people had stepped on others to reach their own security. The injured and lame filled the streets as easy targets, and Landon found himself strangely glad. He tried to remind himself that their sacrifice probably wasn’t one of their choosing, but the thought that they probably deserved it kept floating in. Many of them were out of shape and fat after all.
Landon’s side began to develop a sharp pain, and he was cramping fairly bad. Despite the large man’s burden of the little girl, he seemed unphased. “Can we take a break? I can’t keep up this pace.” The man turned and saw the state Landon was in.
“Yeah, let’s take five. I am going to need you to pick up the pace though. My house is about two miles outside the city. We’ll be safer there.” Landon slumped to the ground, sweat dripping off his brow. His suit was soaked through as well. He loosened his tie and dumped the jacket. What did it matter now, he thought. The man set the girl down and consoled her. She seemed more stoic now, her tears apparently all dried up. The man searched some bodies in the street, the whole time he was acutely aware of everything around him. He collected some items and returned to the sidewalk. Dropping a pair of sneakers by Landon, he said, “I’m John. Thanks for helping us back there. That’s Kara.” Landon tried to smile to the girl, but she cowered behind hunched shoulders.
“Landon. I am sure you would’ve done the same.” He put on the sneakers, a little large, but definitely better than running in his shoes. The thought of putting on a dead man’s shoes seemed odd to Landon, and he didn’t feel comfortable with it so he pushed it aside. “We do what we gotta do.” He finished lacing up the shoes and looked over at the girl. “She going to be okay?” John looked at her. He was obviously concerned. Turning back to Landon, his look was one of doubt.
“I guess we’ll see. You think you can run?” Studying John led Landon to believe he was probably ex-military, special forces with the way he moved and surveyed the area.
“I’ll manage. I’ll need another minute though. What branch did you serve under?”
“That obvious, huh? I was a Navy Seal. Got out two years ago to be with my family. Where’d you receive your training?” John had a good eye; Landon decided his best chance might actually be to stick with this guy.
“Army, Airborne Ranger.” John gave an approving nod. He looked around one more time and then scooped up the girl into his arms. Landon pushed himself off the ground. He had been a ranger, but that seemed like another life now. This situation was nothing like anything he had to deal with while he was in. John shifted the girl to his back, her arms barely able to hold on around his neck. Landon gave him the suit jacket. “You might be able to tie it around to keep her more secure.” He nodded agreement and did such. When he looked ready Landon inclined with his head. “Lead the way.” They were off at a good pace, John showing that he was still in great shape.
As John and Landon ran they saw people barred in their homes, looking out their windows. Their faces were desperate, it seemed to Landon, searching for an answer or some form of salvation. As they moved into the less densely populated regions of the city, and as the suburbs grew up around them, the number of bodies lessened until it was almost as if the nightmare had been left behind. A part of Landon fought to believe it was true, fighting against the reality of his cuts and bruises. It was during this wistful line of thought that a ragged and dirty man jumped out from behind a parked car. John was just passing the car, the ragged individual went straight for John, who didn’t have enough time to turn fully to face the man. John put up an arm and tried to pull Kara off his back with the other. Still in a run, Landon came on them quickly and plowed into their attacker. The attacker hit the pavement hard, but came back to his feet not noticing the blood trickling down his face. Landon’s training came back as the monster came at him. He side stepped and kicked the man’s leg in. The crack of bone reverberated off the houses of the otherwise silent street. With a useless leg the unidentified person wasn’t able to walk properly and hobbled to turn around. Landon backed away from him and studied him.
The man’s eyes were dilated, staring into nothingness. Besides drooling and moaning and an immunity to pain, his eyes were the only indicators that something was abnormal. “What the hell is wrong with this guy? What’s wrong with all of them?”, Landon requested. John stepped up next to Landon and looked down, seemingly disgusted by the unknown affliction.
“I don’t know, but I bet they are reporting something on the news by now. We need to get going. We’re almost there now.” Kara was firmly latched to John’s back. She was squeezing her eyes shut hard and whispering something to herself over and over again. As John turned away, Landon noticed that he had been bitten.
“Your arm.” Landon pointed at a trail of blood tracing a path through John’s thick arm hair.
“It’s nothing. This isn’t some zombie movie. We don’t know what’s going on yet. Don’t make assumptions.” Landon just nodded, but caution was building its own fortress. Landon was already starting to doubt if John would be trustworthy. They set out again, this time Landon kept a distance, not just because he wasn’t able to keep up.

At John’s house, Landon was introduced to John’s wife, Kim, who was busy making dinner. Kim had been listening to the news all morning and was relieved to see John and Kara. She immediately set to comforting Kara as John showed Landon around. John broke out his guns and ammunition. He armed Landon and himself. They made minor chit-chat as they were both assessing the defensibility of the home.
Once Kara was laid down to rest John got Landon and Kim together in the kitchen. Kim filled the two of them in on what had been put out in the media. From her telling, it seemed like the extreme nature of the situation was being covered up as a way to try and mitigate pure chaos from erupting in the affected areas. The gist of the media coverage was that there was an obvious increase in human aggression, but the disorder seemed to have no external culprit. It was as if a large number of people were going crazy with no explicable reason. “Come on. Do you really believe that John? People are eating eachother out there for Christ’s sake! They’ve got be hiding something from us.” Landon was in disbelief that the government was trying to cover up something this big.
“It doesn’t really matter what I believe, now does it? I have to respond to the situation at hand regardless. I think until we know how long this is going to go on for it might be best to keep our close friends and family in one place.” John turned to his wife. “Kim, I owe mine and Kara’s life to Landon, so I trust him. Are you willing to trust him too?” She nodded consent. Turning back to Landon, John spoke, “Landon we’re willing to let you stay here with us, and I hope we can count on you to help us out. Do you have any one in the area who you’d like to stay here under our care?”
“No. I am just in town for a conference. I was staying at the hotel that we fled from. I have no where else to go. I will do the best I can to help you out.”
“Alright then, I am going to round up our neighbors. Then I’m going to drive to get my brother and his family. Kim can you call him and let him know that I am going to be on my way?”
Kim went for the phone and began dialing. John stepped out of the front door, he paused and turned catching Landon in his gaze. The look was a request to keep his family safe while he was out of the house. Landon met the gaze, eye to eye. It was a promise that he would.
From his view at the window, Landon watched John disappear behind some shrubbery. He took a moment to get familiar with the surroundings and then let the curtain fall back into space. He made his way around the first floor familiarizing himself with all the views and angles of the house, as he made these rounds he heard Kim’s conversations with John’s brother in broken spurts.
“Oh yeah we’re fine. John was....He met someone...he saved his life...Kara is shaken up...I don’t know when he’ll get there...Just stay put.” There was a knock at the front door. Landon looked through the peephole and saw a relatively normal looking couple standing nervously on the porch. Kim showed up, so Landon stepped to the side. Kim said her goodbyes with John’s brother as she was opening the door. The man and the woman entered the house quickly, but managed to show some hesitation at the sight of Landon. Kim made introduction; Carl and Michelle were their next door neighbors.
Over the course of the next half hour four more families showed up, adding eight adults and three kids to their numbers. The house was a decent size, but five families were starting to make it a little crowded. Kim set dinner out on the kitchen table; people were helping themselves, but it didn’t last long and some people began to complain. Landon realized there were too many idle hands and too much nervousness about the situation. He took Kim aside.
“We need to give these people something to do besides just sitting around watching the news and getting anxious. Can they inventory the food that we have, maybe start making something for breakfast in the morning?” She thought about it and nodded.
“Do you think we should ration food?”
“Yeah, definitely. Sixteen mouths to feed is a lot. I can’t believe none of them brought any food.”
“Their homes aren’t too far away, we can go get it if necessary.”
“I guess you’re right.” Landon stood there for a second thinking about how else they could keep people busy. Kim passed by him opening cupboards and the pantry. After the third pass she held her nose.
“Why don’t you go take a shower? I bet that would clear your mind, and make you a little more pleasant to work with. You can use the master bathroom in our room upstairs. John probably has some clothes you can wear too. You’re about his height.” For the first time since the world had been flipped upside down this morning Landon became aware of how dirty he felt and how much he smelled.
“Good idea.” Landon took the handgun from his waistband gave it to Kim. “Keep your eyes open. I’ll be back soon.”
Landon headed for the stairs; he needed to check out the view from the second floor anyways. On his way up the stairs his legs burned with resistance due the exertion of the hasty flight here. Maybe he would feel a little better after the shower. In the background he heard Kim gathering the women to count cans and other foodstuffs. He found his way to the bathroom with no problem. Turning on the shower, he got undressed and tested the water before stepping in. The warmth trailing down his back caused him to doze.

John had all the men gathered in the kitchen. They looked to John for answers, many asking questions that he avoided. Landon couldn’t understand what John was doing. Despite his earlier willingness to take the leadership role, he seemed to be trying to pawn it off. Landon listened while he examined the guns on the kitchen table. There were two 9mm pistols, a shotgun, an M16, and a 22mm rifle. Landon didn’t like that they wouldn’t be fully armed. The others around him were starting to talk over each other and argue about food and where everyone was going to sleep. “What do you think Landon?”, John questioned.
All eyes turned to Landon. They were all silent, waiting for his reply. He quickly gathered his thoughts; despite their pitifulness they were his best chance of survival, he just needed to get them organized. “We need to set up watches. There are thirteen adults. One of them will be in charge of the kids, the other twelve should be split into three teams of four. Dan, John, and I will lead the three groups because of our military experience. Two weapons will be turned over from watch to watch. The other two will go out with the off going watch to arm an expeditionary team that will search surrounding houses for food. ”
“That will involve the woman too. That ain't right.” Landon hadn’t been introduced to the man yet, but he already didn’t like him.
“Having four people on a team gives us the best view of the area. There are four angles that someone can approach our house by, and we have to keep an eye out.”
More protests of different kinds came up. Landon became angry. None of these idiots understood the severity of their situation. They would run out of food in a week. Who knew how long the hordes of tortured souls would progress from the city out into this suburb. They weren’t thinking; they were going to end up dead if they didn’t cooperate. Landon didn’t want his death to be a result of incompetence.
“Shut up!” Landon barked. “Let me put it into perspective for you. I watched a man bite and rip the sinew of raw muscle from another man’s arm. With that chunk of flesh still dangling from his mouth he targeted another person. Those crazed cannibals are going to make it here, and we don’t know when they will. None of you thought it necessary to bring food with you when you brought your extra mouths to feed, so if the cannibals don’t get us, we’ll probably die of starvation. My plan allows the most flexibility, and we can discuss finer detail points, but unless you have a better plan, or something constructive to add, then shut your mouths and follow orders.” There was an awkward moment of silence.
“Who is going to watch the children?” Dan asked. Dan was John’s brother. He was an ex-marine.
“I think we should take a volunteer from the women. Any objections?” Landon was greeted with silence. The men looked insulted and were grumbling with dissension. For a moment Landon wished that he had been a little nicer. They would see that he was right in no time, he told himself.

It was afternoon of the second day. Landon’s squad was on watch. Landon was staring at the road, watching a confused and befuddled fat man wandering haphazardly. Another minute and the watch on the second floor was sending out the alarm. Too slow, Landon thought to himself. John’s team was resting, but John was awake. Dan and John came up to Landon without a word. Landon pointed to the man. John and Dan studied him for a brief moment. John turned to Landon and Landon realized he was going to let the man stay with them. “Look at the size of him John. How are we going to feed him?” Dan seemed like he agreed, but he looked at John to see what he would say.
“I think he should stay, we’ll figure something out. He can be on a watch, and it’ll free up another woman, my wife needs more help with the kids anyways.” Kim was the one who volunteered to help look after the children.
Dan’s team was the expeditionary team so they went out to get the man. The man was suffering from the stress of what he’d seen over the last few days. It took over an hour to make sense of what he was saying. His name was Kevin Widrich, an Engineer from a big firm. He had experienced the same things that John and Landon had experienced, but how he’d escaped being eaten alive was beyond Landon’s ability to comprehend. The man was grossly overweight. The man seemed useless to Landon, just another burden like the majority of John’s neighbors. Fortunately they hadn’t seen too many of the crazed cannibals in this part of town.
The unfortunate part was that the news wasn’t broadcasting anything but junk. The government was putting out messages to stay in doors and stay calm. The day after the incident had broken out a military procession of humvees and one tank had passed by. The only new information that Kevin was able to bring from the outside world was that it was necessary to burn the bodies of the cannibals. It didn’t matter where you shot them, they would heal over time and start hunting down more prey.
Landon’s watch was coming to an end as the sun was setting. They had worked it out so that they didn’t go on night raids. That seemed to be when the cannibals were most active. Landon was tired so he grabbed a bite to eat and went to the sleeping area. It was a while before he fell into a fitful sleep with visions of being eaten alive.

A week after the initial leap into despair, Landon was still plummeting toward doom. His watch was out on a reconnaissance mission. They were looking for survivors, food, and weapons. There was a huge evacuation effort three days ago. Some of the people staying at John’s left; Kevin didn’t though. Yesterday power was shut off to the area. Water pressure was gone. Everything had been calm up until now. There was only three people per watch team now, and food wasn’t as much of a problem. They had already scavenged the houses and foraged for food within a block radius. Today was a longer ranging.
Landon was leading Carl and Michelle. Carl was extremely nervous about being so far away from their safe haven. Michelle was all business, straight faced and fearless. Her demeanor was a facade hiding a concerned wife underneath; it was the whole reason she was here with Carl to begin with. They both liked Landon, and trusted him with their lives. Landon was flattered by the sentiment, but overwhelmed by the enormity of the responsibility. He wasn’t confident in his own ability to keep them alive.
They were three blocks away from home, moving slowly down the street in John’s Jeep. Landon was nervous about using the Jeep because he was unsure how the undying would respond to the sound of the engine rumbling. They would have to get out and go door to door soon. It was nerve rackingly dangerous, almost stupid. That was what Landon had tried to argue anyways. He thought back to the conversation that him and John had out of earshot of the others. John had called Landon selfish and self centered. It had had hurt Landon more than he was expecting. Landon had never really seen himself that way, but he was noticing that he was more concerned with his own survival and how these people could be of use to him rather than truly being concerned with their well being. He wondered why he had helped John in the first place.
Carl stopped the Jeep, bringing Landon back to the present moment. They reviewed the objectives quickly since there would be minimal talking outside of the Jeep. Objectives: First, find other survivors willing to join them; secondly food and ammo.
They quietly left the Jeep, leaving the doors open to make less noise and for a quicker get away. Landon was armed with the hunting rifle and a 9mm. Michelle had the other nine and Carl toted the shotgun. They were all white knuckling their burdens, but keeping fingers away from the triggers. Landon knocked on the first door and after a moment of no response he tried the doorknob to find the house unlocked. He pushed the door open while Carl held the shotgun at the ready. Landon motioned for the two to go in, and shifted the hunting rifle over his shoulder and getting the nine ready. He took a look around ensuring they had no tails before heading in after them. He shut the door behind them. The sound of the door shutting caused Carl to whirl around. Landon grabbed the barrel and gave Carl a stern look. Sweat slid down Carl’s brow, but he gave a nod.
It didn’t take them long to figure out there wasn’t much to salvage here. They boxed a little of the food and dumped it off in the Jeep and moved onto the next house. A few hours passed without incident, and without finding a single survivor when their luck changed. Four individuals came out of a house. Two were armed, one with an assault rifle and the other with a shotgun. Landon held his hands up in a show of peace. The others seemed to relax, but only slightly. “We’re looking for survivors. We have a group of us staying not too far from here. We have food and weapons, and we’re organized.”
“Aye, figured as much. Name ‘s Tyler. We got weapons and food too. Why we ought to join ya?”
“We have trained military men in our group. Our house has been made defensible and we’ll accept as many as want to join. We have plans for if the group grows much more as well. We can offer you protection and survivability that you just couldn’t get on your own here.”
“Yeah? If you got all that, why ya lookin’ for others?”
Because John told me too was what Landon thought, but what he said was, “We want to help as many as we can. We want to give everyone the chance to survive.”
“Have ya had t’ deal with looters? What would ya do if ya did?”
“We haven’t dealt with any looters yet, but I’d shoot them on sight.” Carl and Michelle looked appalled, but Tyler spat out a foul black liquid and gave a nod.
“I reckon w’ll join ya then. Fisher. Bill. Go get our ammo. Let’s load up.” Two boys around fifteen years old said 'Yes, Sir' and went back into the house they came out of. The other armed man turned to Tyler and whispered something. “There was a husband and wife who stayed. They live a couple of streets down that way. They wouldn’t join us, but ya might try if ya like.” Landon considered Tyler. His first instinct was to leave the ungrateful bastards, but John’s words cut into his mind.
“We’ll have to come back for them. There’s not enough room in the Jeep for two more.” Tyler nodded and spat out some more foul liquid.
A larger group returned with more goods than that which had left. John was notably happy that the mission had been a success. They immediately began making plans with their new acquaintances and divided them up into the watch teams. The new recruits didn’t seem to mind, and while a little wary, still managed to seem more relaxed and relieved than they had on the road. Landon told John about the other two around the same area.
“You want to go get them then?” John asked.
“I think it’s only right to try.” Landon replied. John smiled at the response.
“Good. Take Carl and see if Tyler will go with you. I say the sun will probably set in a couple of hours, so don’t be long.” John and Landon shook hands and parted.
Tyler was willing to show them the way and Carl drove. They reached a small house at the corner of a street that Tyler had directed them too. Landon knocked on the door, but after a long silence he looked to Tyler. Tyler just shrugged. “Guess they’re not home.”
“Do you think that they have anything we can use?”
“Jim was a hunter; I reckon he’s got a gun or two.” Again Tyler spat.
Landon tried the doorknob to find it locked. Carl had become rather skilled at kicking open doors, so Landon cocked his head to the door and Carl picked up on his meaning. After two well placed kicks the door flung open, the door jam splintered. Landon immediately felt uneasy. His instincts told him something was wrong before he was able to recognize the smell of blood or process the disheveled living room. The curtains were drawn and there was little light in the house. Carl turned on a flashlight, but hesitated at the door. “You heard Tyler. The man might have some guns. We’ll just sweep the house real quick and head out.”
“I’ll watch the door” Tyler stood his ground where he was. There was no arguing with him, Landon knew. Landon turned on his flashlight and entered the house with his pistol raised. They checked the front of the house, but there was nothing. A long hall went from the front of the house to the back where the bedrooms were. Landon headed back there, almost against his will.
The smell of rot filled the air. Landon could hear Carl’s breathing and the floorboards creaking under his feet. One room had the door barely cracked open as Landon came up to it. He pushed the door open further with the muzzle of his gun. The door swung open with a small squeak of resentment. There was a man standing with hunched shoulders, with his back turned to Landon. “Hey man, you alright?” Even as the words were leaving Landon’s mouth he was looking around. Heaped in a strange pile of mess was a woman, her face locked in anguish. The man turned to face Landon, blood stains all down his shirt. Two shots from Landon’s 9mm rocked the man, but didn’t stop him. Landon was back peddling, but tripped over Carl’s boot. Carl screamed and let out a blast from the shotgun.
Landon saw that Carl’s shot had gone wide, nicking the man’s shoulder, but doing entirely too little damage. The man leapt onto Carl before he could fire a second shot. Carl went over backwards hitting the floor with a loud crash. Landon struggled to his feet taking aim at the same time. Carl and the man struggled too violently, thrashing around vigorously making it difficult to get a clean shot. Landon knew he had to do something or Carl would be a goner. Landon ran over and kicked the man squarely in the side, knocking him off Carl for an instant. Carl scrambled backwards, away from the exit; he had dropped his flashlight which was shining brightly in his face blinding and disorienting him. Landon fired four more shots into the creature circling toward the door while doing so. The shots merely kept the individual down. Carl was gaining some bearings when Landon reached the door to their freedom. The creature stood up quicker than Landon would have expected and dove at Carl. “Watchout!”
The warning caused Carl to turn around just in time to be bitten in the neck by his assailant. “Oh God!! Shoot him Landon, shoot him!” Carl cried out, but Landon knew it was too late. He raised his gun and took aim. Carl’s eyes met his, pleading for salvation. “No, NO!” Landon fired. The bullet took Carl between the eyes while the man gorged himself on Carl’s flesh. Without looking back, Landon took the opportunity to get outside. Tyler had a can of gas ready with a cloth burning in it’s mouth. He tossed it in the entrance and soon the doorway was ablaze, followed shortly by the rest of the house. Landon and Tyler went back to the Jeep in silence. It was what needed to be done Landon told himself as he drove back to John’s.

Day twelve since Pandora’s box was opened. Michelle was in a consuming depression from the loss of her husband. She was nearly useless on watch. This was causing Landon’s team to have to pick up her slack. It was understandable, but it was starting to make Landon irritable. Landon felt responsible for Carl’s death, after all he was the one that pulled the trigger. He felt that his condolences would be poorly received in light of the circumstances. He spent most of his day trying to avoid the melancholy woman.
“Landon, are we going on a ranging today?” One of the gangly boys they picked up with Tyler’s group asked. His name was Tim.
“No Tim, we are not going on a ranging.” The boy’s gaze turned to the ground as he shuffled away, obviously disappointed. How can we go on a ranging when there is no one trustworthy to watch their backs. Instead of a ranging they would be making fortifications for the house. So far the perimeter was dug out and spikes were put in place. The evil creatures that they found impaled on the spikes in the morning were burned in the pit. It seemed as if the number of creatures burned in the morning was going up. Their fortifications had to be reinforced, the spike wall made larger and the pit made deeper. They were also working on a rope barrier to intertwine between the spike wall and the house. Just in case any of the creatures made it through, and a rope obstacle course would be enough to slow them down.
After watch John approached Landon with a dour look on his face. “Any ideas what we can do about Michelle?”
“None. I have just been trying to keep her busy, but she’s so distracted in all her tasks.”
“Maybe we should take her off the watch teams and let her have time to grieve.” As John finished the statement two children ran by laughing. Landon watched John’s face light up with a smile.
“Yeah, maybe that’s what she needs.” After all, if the kids could find some way to be cheerful in all of this then maybe Michelle could do well in their presence; infected by their laughter. “I’ll let her know.”
John nodded agreement and Landon walked away. Him and John hadn’t seen eye to eye much lately. They didn’t argue, but they didn’t agree much either. John was too trusting. It was going to bite him in the ass one day.
Landon found Michelle by one of the windows on the second floor, talking with Tyler. Tyler was giving his condolences to her in his gruff manner. It wasn’t exactly awkward, it was merely a formality that Tyler was getting out of the way. He was probably just checking up on her to ensure she wasn’t too distracted from her watch. Tyler took his leave when he saw Landon approaching. He gave Landon a tilt of his head in greeting. Landon acknowledge with a similar gesture. “Hey Michelle, can I talk to you real quick?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“John and I were thinking that you might need a break from being on the watch teams.”
“No, I am good. I need something to distract me.” She wouldn’t make this easy, Landon thought.
“You need time to mourn, Michelle. You are distracted, and it concerns John and I. What happens if you’re not up to it?”
“I am just fine Landon. People die. Shit happens” She pressed her forehead against the glass of the window. “I am up to it.” She stated weakly. Her argumentativeness was being crushed by the weight of her grief.
“I am sorry Michelle. I know it’s not easy. That’s why we’re trying to help.” He reached out and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Landon saw himself taking aim and then Carl’s head exploding as the bullet passed through. He shook the thought off his mind. “You can help Kim out with the kids if you need to do something, but take it easy for awhile.” Michelle just let her breath fog up the glass in answer.

Landon awoke to the sound of urgent voices. He knew something was amiss. He bolted to his feet. Without bothering to throw on a shirt he went to find out what was happening. There were two men at each window. The on watch guys and the offgoing watch. Landon knew it could mean only one thing, they were under attack. Moving closer to the window to get a better look he overheard the two sentries talking. “They’re going to break those stakes if they keep impaling themselves on them.” Landon saw three zombies skewered through on one stake. Even dug in as it was, it was obvious that the weight was enough to make it sag, and the zombies weren’t dead, their kicking and would probably break the stake soon. As Landon moved around the house looking for John, he saw this similar scene being played out over and over again.
John was in the kitchen counting the ammo available. Tyler was standing by the sink with dip in his mouth. He spit his brown liquid into the drain and licked spittle off his lip. “How bad is it?” John asked without looking up from the ammo boxes. Out of habit Landon looked at the clock on the stove for the time. Tyler saw and looked at his watch.
“It’s only three o’clock yet.”
“It’s bad John. I don’t think the defenses are going to be able to take another wave. When did this all start?”
“About an hour ago. What do you propose?”
“Board up doors and windows. Let’s get some molotovs ready. Don’t start any shooting until they breach the defenses. I’ll wake up the guys from my team, we’ll get working on it.” Landon turned to walk away, but something about John made him stop. “What is it John?” John handed him a pair of night vision goggles.
“Head to the second floor and look south.” So that’s what Landon did. It was a disheartening sight. There were hundred of zombies, just standing there looking in the direction of the house. Some invisible force was holding them back, but when the horns of hell blew, the march would be on. The dread of it was gut wrenching, nauseating. Landon woke up his men. They tore apart every piece of furniture made of wood to board things up. They stacked the leftovers up at the weakest points. Then he heard a gunshot. Everything was really still for an incredibly long moment. The stillness was broken by the sound of feet and moans coming from the south. Landon braced himself for the long hours that were to follow; the trumpet had sounded.

Day fifteen since the horror story began, but day two of the gruelling siege. Landon was tying up a makeshift bandage on his arm. Twice now they have gone out to try and refortify the spikes, but it seemed like this would be their last attempt at that. Of the four that went out this time, only two came back. The lawn was a massive funeral pyre of half burned bodies, charred and smoldering. They were out of molotovs and flammables, so they couldn’t truly put an end to the bodies outside anymore. Everyone was dirty, irritated, and feeling the impending doom of the situation brewing outside.
Landon was ready to die. He steeled himself against the idea. It was inevitable after all. They couldn’t hold out forever. Their boards were broken, and so were their nerves. The only thing that had saved them was when noon came around the waves relented for a couple of hours. On the first day they had used this time to set fire to the trench around the house; however, by the time midnight hit the fire was dead. It had been a struggle to keep them out of the house, one that failed around dawn. Shotguns were deployed at the breach, but this seemed to only draw more zombies to that place. By noon there were three more holes in their defenses. Everyone was tired, another weak point. It was just a matter of time.
Despite taking her off the watch Michelle had been by their side shooting and slashing down assailants left and right. Now she was in the kitchen with John’s daughter. Kevin was in the refrigerator rummaging around.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing Kevin. We need to ration the food.” What the hell did you do to earn the right to eat, was Landon’s thought. “Get your fat ass out of there”
“I-I was--j-j-j- just…” Landon pointed the pistol in his face. Kevin ran out of the kitchen quickly, possibly wetting himself on the way. Kara looked afraid, Michelle looked disapproving and this just sickened Landon.
“That little chicken shit didn’t do anything to earn himself some food.”
“What’s gotten into you Landon?” Michelle fumed. Landon just ignored her. “Can Kara have a snack? She didn’t do anything either?” Landon cut his eyes at her. His makeshift bandage was bleeding through and he was feeling a little light headed.
“I thought staying with John was going to be my best chance at survival. Turns out I should have stayed on my own. I fucking doomed myself by getting locked away with these charity cases. they don’t have the guts for survival. Now we’re all going to die.” Kara started crying. It was that high piercing wail that had cut to the center of Landon’s soul on the first day of this calamity. This time it was too much. Landon stood up and took a step toward Kara, but Michelle must have saw his intentions because she moved the girl behind her. “Make her shut up.” Landon’s head began to pound and a sharp pain was exploding behind his eyes. He dropped the gun and grabbed his head. In the distance he heard someone cry out faintly “Here they come again!” "We’re fucked" Landon thought. I need to try and get out of here on my own. Landon suddenly became aware of how hungry he was. GOD, and the screaming needed to stop.

John was glad to see Kevin, he had sent him to fetch drinks and food for everyone. But as Kevin got closer it was apparent his hands were empty. Kevin was whimpering about a gun and Landon. John couldn’t really make sense of it because Kevin was stuttering in fear as he was prone to do. Landon had never grown fond of the engineer, so John rightly guessed Kevin’s condition was provoked. John was out of patience and picked up the shotgun by his side and stormed toward the kitchen.
As he approached the kitchen he heard an out of place noise. Kara was crying, but Michelle was screaming words that didn’t make sense. Underneath was the familiar sound of a zombie tearing at human flesh. John’s heart was in his throat and the feeling that the ground had fallen out from under him, his legs unsupported. They got in, was his only thought. Pushing past the debilitating feelings, John flung the door open and ready the shotgun at his waist. The scene was more confusing than the sounds. Michelle was pushed up against the refrigerator completely out of it, blood pooling up under her. She just kept screaming “STOP!”, over and over again. John could see Landon’s head behind the table. John tried to find Kara or the zombie, but there was no sign. Landon must have already taken care of it.

He went to Michelle’s side and tried to figure out where she was hurt. Her stomach had a gunshot wound in it. “Where’d you get this?” John took of his shirt and began to try to staunch the bleeding, but Michelle was fighting him pointing and continually yelling. John was forced to follow the direction of her pointing. Landon was hovering over Kara. Kara’s crying had stopped. There was blood everywhere. Again the scene took awhile to comprehend. It made sense when Landon pulled off a strip of flesh and tossed it into his mouth. Tears came unbidden to John’s eyes. He cocked the shotgun which caused Landon to turn. His eyes were dilated, and filled with a ferocious animosity. John pulled the trigger and made it all go away. John slipped on Landon’s cloak of despair and he was well aware of it. He hoped he’d be strong enough to wear it.