Chapter 3: Time to get Going
Finishing the text message, Mark tossed his phone onto his unmade bed. Letting out an exasperated sigh while pushing his blonde hair back with his hand, Mark thought of what he needed to do to keep his promise to Rachel. “Well first clothes would probably be a good idea” he said to himself as he looked down at the only piece of clothing he was wearing; some simple gray Nike shorts. Slipping off his shorts, he opened his dresser and threw on a pair of dark blue jeans and an ash grey muscle t-shirt. Slipping his wallet, keys, and phone into his pockets Mark headed to his closet. Sliding the door open he pushed his hanging clothes aside to get to the safe behind them inside the wall. Dropping to his knees Mark push into the keypad ‘zero-six-one-five’, the same numbers that made up his birthday. Then turning the lock 2 full circles left and then one circle to the right, the safe clicked open and Mark saw the items he was after. Reaching in with a hand he withdrew the first object: a Sig Sauer P226 Scorpion TB along with a silencer and 3 clips full of 9mm rounds. Grabbing the holster as well and attaching it to his left hip Mark loaded a clip into his gun and made sure the safety was still on and then holstered his gun and latched it into place. Reaching in to the vault again Mark withdrew the second object: a 7-inch Jagdkommando Tri-dagger used by the Austrian Special Ops. Not only did the knife look intimidating but the formation of the knife would make anyone bleed out in minutes if struck by the deathly weapon. Strapping the knife onto his right hip, Mark closed the safe and looked at the shotgun, a Benelli M4 Super 90, that was leaning against the safe. His father had given it to him the day before the rest of his family had left for Idaho. Mark remembered only a year ago working two jobs trying to hopefully get ahead in life, while also trying to help keep the family afloat, when he came home from work one night to find out that an investment his family had made came in. Going from low middle class to millionaire overnight was a game changer for Mark and his family and they used that money wisely. Part of it went back into investments and the other part was to secure the life each person wanted. Being the oldest Mark wanted to now focus on just training to become a firefighter. His father on the other hand wanted to move so that he could get away from everything: technology, government, and people. Idaho was the perfect place for him and the family to start over and have a simple life as farmers. It had only been six months after that the investment had come that the family moved to Idaho. Multiple times Mark’s dad Russ tried to convince his oldest son to come with them, but each time Mark had to turn him down. On the last attempt, the day of the move, Russ tried to argue that there was nothing left for Mark in Wildomar and the family could use his help on the farm.
“Dad, this is where I grew up and I still feel like I should be here, plus I got accepted for my internship and I’ll be starting in a month. Besides you could hire help on the farm for multiple life times and still have plenty of money left over. That’s even if you don’t make any money on the crops. I’ve made up my mind to stay, okay?”
Sighing in defeat Russ looked at his son slowly one last time. ‘Where has the time gone’ Russ thought ‘he’s all grown up.’
“You’re stubborn you know that, I guess I take blame for part of that. Anyways with you staying here at least I don’t have to find a renter. I also want you to have my shotgun since I’ll get plenty more when I get up to Idaho. Well, I’ll tell your mother you are staying for sure.”
Stepping forward father and son embraced in a hug. “I love you son, and I’m proud of you” Russ said as he stepped back from the hug still having a hand extended onto his son’s shoulder.
“Thanks Dad, I love you too” was Mark’s reply “and if I get some time off maybe I can drive or fly up to Idaho.”
“Just let me know son and I’ll send the private jet.”
“WHAT!? You don’t have a jet” Mark said astonished.
“It was a joke, but you never know, it wouldn’t put much of a dent in my bank account these days” Russ said jokily.
“Get going dad before I start calling you 1 Percent instead.”
With the memory fading from his mind, Mark looked at the shotgun but decided to leave it behind. He knew it was too bulky for this rescue mission and instead grabbed his Emergency backpack that was also stored in the closet. Along with a couple pairs of clothes and some snack food and water, it held a couple more clips for his gun. Opening the backpack Mark shoved his extra clips and silencer in and zipped it shut. Mark didn’t have an open carry permit, but he might convince an officer that he feared for his own safety with the chaos going on outside. A silencer on the other hand was another case as they were illegal in California. It had cost more than he wanted to obtain his gun, silencer, and knife but money really wasn’t a concern to Mark. He wasn’t a fool to just spend his money or show it off to everyone but at the same time he was willing to spend money when he thought he needed something. He had also trained with an instructor on how to fire and maintain his gun, along with being taught how to use a knife in hand to hand combat. Mark felt that he invested enough extra time to make up for the extra money he had to pay. In the six short months since his family had moved, Mark had spent his time and money wisely.
‘Okay I’ll meet up with Rachel and then we will head out to Idaho where I know there will be food, water, shelter, safety and weapons to protect us.’ With this plan in mind, Mark looked out his window and saw nothing. No infected weird cannibals waiting to eat him when he left his house. ‘Huh maybe they don’t do so well in the sun’ Mark thought ‘well their loss is my gain.’ Speed walking to the garage Mark opened the door and grabbed his combats boots he wore to work. Thanks to repetition and the training they beat into him at the station, Mark had put new socks into the boots last night. Sliding the socks and boots on, Mark stood again and eyed his car and motorcycle. He loved his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee as much as he loved his 2012 Kawasaki Ninja, so he thought instead of what he would be facing.
‘The car would be more durable and could hold more people but there could be traffic and obstacles that only the motorcycle could fit through. And Rachel has ridden on it before so she’s not a worry.’ Decided, Mark walked to his motorcycle, threw his leg over the frame, put the key into the ignition and started his bike. The ninja purred to life before quieting to a low idle, another little modification that Mark was able to afford. Opening his garage with a push of a button on the wall Mark walked his bike out until he was able to turn it around. Squeezing the throttle after changing into first gear, Mark sped away. Knowing the garage was on a timer and would close by itself in 10 minutes, Mark left his street and sped towards the highway when suddenly the empty gas light flicked on forcing Mark to look down at it. Sighing but glad that the light came on before he got onto the freeway, Mark revved the engine and zoomed down main street before turning left into a gas station. Rolling to a stop in front of the station, Mark shifted into neutral and killed the engine and kicked out the kickstand. He hopped off his bike to pay for gas. Reaching for his wallet Mark stopped halfway as he read what was flashing on the screen, “See Cashier inside for payment.” Shoving the wallet back into his back-pocket Mark headed into the gas station store. Pulling the double doors out so that Mark could walk in, his senses told him something was wrong. It was almost 8 am and there were no customers in sight including no one behind the counter. Besides the faint music in the background, there was virtually no noise. Lastly, the smell made Mark scrunch up his nose in disgust, like something went sour or rotten. Hand on his left hip to ready himself to draw if needed to, Mark walked slowly forward into the store and called out.
“Hello, I just need some gas. Can anyone help me at the front desk?” Several seconds past and Mark continued to walk slowly down isles looking for any sign of life. Seeing and hearing no one, Mark dropped his hand which was slightly trebling and let out a sigh of relief. He tried to act and sound professional, but Mark felt like he was in an unknown territory surrounded by things that were ready to attack any second; like a rabbit put in a lion’s den to see how long the rabbit would last. Ignoring the feelings of stress Mark hopped over the counter and in the process knocked over a rack of magazines with his foot. Pausing in a half crouch as he landed, Mark looked left and right quickly with his eyes before straightening back up and looking at the buttons that controlled the pumps. Fiddling with the buttons for a few seconds Mark finally figured out how to give his pump gas. Mark hopped back over the counter and headed for the front doors when he noticed the Gatorade section towards the back. Pausing for a second Mark thought to himself ‘why not’ and then asked out loud with his arms up “unless someone objects to me taking a free Gatorade for the trip.” He put his arms back down and made his way to the back section of the store. Mark shook his head a little bit as if ashamed of himself “The world is possibly screwed and in less than a day I’m already talking to myself.” Opening the glass door Mark felt the cool refreshing air before bending down and grabbed a red Gatorade from a lower shelf. Mark straightened up and let the door close on itself as he started to twist the top off. Something in the reflection of the glass caught his eye instantly and his mouth went dry. Spinning around Mark dropped the Gatorade as his left hand drew for his gun. Less than 20 feet away and coming down the aisle were two dead looking humans. Both shambled forward and the smell that hit Mark when he first came into the store intensified. Now it was overwhelming as he realized the humanoid figures were the source. Grabbing at his pistol Mark grunted in frustration as he struggled to free it while continuing to back up. Looking down at the holster Mark’s frustration turned to anger at himself for forgetting to take off the latch. Finally releasing the latch Mark drew his P226 and turned the safely off. Less than 10 feet away one of the humans, the closer of the two, lunged awkwardly at Mark forcing him to either stumble backwards to void it or be hit and knocked over. Aiming as best as he could Mark pulled the trigger of his gun twice before scrambling to the side. Turning and running down the next aisle Mark then turned halfway and lifting his gun to chest height, he aimed down the sights just as he was taught. Slowly a figure rounded the corner and exhaling slowly Mark squeezed the trigger. Wincing slightly at the noise the shot made, he lowered his gun and went over to inspect his work. Aiming for the head was the obvious choice since a bullet to the head kills everything and this time was no different. Mark stepped over the corpse and made his way over to the next aisle to find his other attacker. Mark didn’t have to search far because apparently one of his two shots that he fired in rush had clipped this thing’s shoulder, putting it off balance so that it fell to the floor. It had started to slowly rise when Mark came back. Upon seeing Mark in lifted itself up with renewed strength and with its hands stretched out to Mark, it started to try and run right at him. Well, it would have been a run if it could manage that, but to Mark it was more of a weird drunken gallop. Aiming again down the sights Mark downed the second target. Clicking the safety back on, Mark holstered his weapon and looked more closely at the two weird looking bodies. Their bodies didn’t have healthy looking hue to it at all, both had bloodshot eyes and, upon examining more closely, Mark noticed that both of the bodies had bite marks.
“Zombies???” Mark said out loud. “But that’s comic book stuff, horror stories to tell around the campfire; they can’t be real.”
Grabbing his Gatorade off the floor, Mark shook his head in disbelief and thought to himself ‘I’m living in a nightmare. New checklist, number one don’t get bit.’
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