Here's chapter one.  I've got more and it's still a work in progress so just let me know if you want me to keep updating.  

Update: If you don't feel like sifting through all of the posts you can go to the forum where I originally started writing the story.  There are no comments in my story thread so you can read it from beginning to end without interruption.  Here is a link to the thread.  The site has no ads, popups, spyware or any other crap.  It's owned and operated by an independent author (the author of Day by Day Armageddon) that built the site to promote his book and let aspiring authors post their own stories.  There's also a lot of firearms/gear, current events and end of the world type discussion.  I got this update cleared through TJ to make sure advertising the site was ok.  Anyway, on with the story.

It was hot. Being stuck on the interstate in traffic that hadn't moved for the last ten minutes didn't help, either. Eric was just returning home from his best friend's wedding. He'd been driving for a few hours when he drove up on the traffic jam. As he pulled up to his spot in line he silently cursed himself for not stopping at the last rest stop. Maybe he could have gotten some warning. He turned the radio to the channel with the traffic reports and found out that there had been a very big accident a couple of miles up ahead. Apparently there were casualties and until they could get it clear noone could go around. There was a concrete wall in the median and both sides of the road had guard rails blocking him in. He wasn't going anywhere. People soon started to get out of their cars. Following suit he walked up to the man who was getting out of the car in front of him.

"How bad do you think it is up there?" Eric asked.

"Fuck if I know man. My radio doesn't even work. Is there an accident up there or somethin?" the old guy asked. Eric couldn't help but notice how much he reminded him of Tommy Chong.

"Yeah they're saying it's really bad. They've got both lanes closed and they're not letting anyone by until they get it cleared off," he said.

"That sucks dude. Well I guess we're gonna be here a while," the old guy said as he pulled out a joint. "Might as well make the best of it. Hey you want a hit dude?" he asked Eric as he was lighting up.

"No thanks man I don't smoke," Eric said. He still had the remnants of a pretty bad hangover and the thought of smoking a joint didn't sit well with him.

"Suit yourself dude. Oh hey my name's Jon," the man put his hand out to shake. Eric shook the man's hand and introduced himself.

Just then a woman got out of the car behind Eric's and came walking up. She was about 5'6" with brown hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a pair of shorts with a skimpy top. Eric couldn't help but think how pretty she was until she opened her mouth. "What in the hell is going on?" she whined. Then she gave Jon a shocked look. "Oh my god are you smoking weed?"

"Yeah you want a hit?" he said as he offered it to her.

She looked at him disgustedly and yelled "Oh my god no! That's so fucking gross. Where the hell are the cops at?"

"Up there somewhere," Eric pointed in the direction of the accident. "There's a huge accident up there and we're not getting through until it's clear."

She rolled her eyes at him and said, "No shit Sherlock. I have a radio. It happend a few hours ago so they should have it cleared off soon doncha think? I tried calling my parents to see if they could find out something but I don't get any reception out here." At that Eric pulled out his cell phone and noticed that his wasn't working, either.

"We're out in the middle of nowhere man," Jon responded. "It could take em all day to get it cleared off. You sure you don't want some? You seem kinda edgy," he offered her the joint again.

"I already said no," she gave him another disgusted look and started walking back to her car. "Weirdo," she said loudly enough for them to hear as she was walking away.

"What a bitch," Eric said.

"Yeah no shit man," Jon said. "I'd still hit it, though." They both chuckled at that.

People all up and down the road were getting out of their cars and talking to each other to try and glean information but noone knew what was going on. By now the line of cars hadn't moved for at least half an hour and it just kept getting longer. The next exit back was at least twenty-five miles away and the highway was surrounded by fields on all sides. With the guard rails and the cement wall in the median and everyone packed together no one could go anywhere. The next exit was just past where Eric thought that the accident must be. That was a couple of miles up the road. Every once in a while a motorcycle would come by on the shoulder. What made Eric nervous about it was how fast they were going. The shoulder out here wasn't that big and they were really flying by.

Then he noticed someone approaching on a bike. He kept yelling at the people in the road as he was riding by. Eric couldn't understand what the guy was saying but whatever it was obviously had an effect on people. Some of them were getting back in their cars. Others were starting to walk towards the accident. Most of the people were starting to run towards them, though..

Finally the man got close enough that Eric could hear what he had to say. "There's a riot up there! The cops are shooting people! Everyone's going crazy! Get out of here!" he yelled as he was passing them.

At first the words didn't sink in. It was hot out but it wasn't THAT miserable. Why would people start going nuts just because they had to wait for an accident to get cleared up? More importantly why would the cops start shooting anyone? Eric thought about it for a second and then realized that a lot of people were coming his way. Then off in the distance he could hear gunshots. Instinctively he reached for his .38 to reassure himself that it was still there.

"Dude were those gunshots?" Jon asked.

"I think so," said Eric. He was still a little shocked.

"Fuck man we need to get out of here. Did you hear what that dude on the bike said? The cops are shooting people!" Jon said as he reached into the back seat of his car. He pulled out a Remington 870 and a backpack and spent a few seconds filling it with things in his car. "Hey Eric snap out of it dude," Jon said as he was finishing up. "Did you hear a word I just said?

Finally Eric snapped out of it. "Yeah I heard ya," he said. "Sorry I was spacing out." he ran over to his car and pulled out a backpack of his own and started filling it up. Jon followed him to his car with the shotgun at the ready. As Eric was grabbing what he could he couldn't help but think about what could be going on up there. He was also trying to decide what he was going to do next. He really wished that his cell phone would work. He turned the radio back on after he was done packing his bag and Jon and him listened to it for a few minutes.

"....accident several miles east of Denver. There were multiple casualties and the police have spent the morning trying to get the road clear. Several of the people stuck on the highway have resorted to violence and the police involved have responded in kind. There was a shootout but the police involved were reportedly overpowered and the rioting crowd continues to grow. Citizens near the town of Limon have been advised to stay in their houses until the authorites can get this under control." Eric turned off the radio.

"What now?" Eric asked. The flow of people from the accident was still moving towards them. He could also see several people getting off of the interstate and walking through the fields. He noticed some farm houses in the distance and decided that it might not be such a bad idea.

"I dunno man. I say we start walkin," Jon said. If they're gonna send in SWAT or whatever I don't wanna get caught up in it when the bullets start flyin."

"Good point," Eric agreed. "The nearest gas station is towards the riot. Other than that the last exit was twenty-five miles back. Maybe we should walk over to one of those farm houses and see if they can help us. If nothing else they'll know what's going on."

"Lead the way dude," Jon replied.

They started walking towards the guard rail when the woman in the car behind them got out and ran up to them, "Wait! Wait! Let me come with you please!" She yelled. As she approached them she said, "I heard what the radio said about the riots. They're shooting people up there! Please let me come with you."

Jon looked at Eric like it was up to him. The first thing Eric noticed was that she didn't have anything besides the clothes on her back and the purse over her shoulder. She also had a very effective "feel sorry for me" look on her face that he couldn't resist. He didn't really expect them to have to go very far so he agreed to let her come. "It's a free country," he shrugged. Her face immediately lit up.

As she was following them she said, "Hey I'm sorry I was such a bitch back there. I just never smoked pot before and stoners always kinda weirded me out," Jon just ignored her but she kept on talking. "My name's Amy."

"I'm Eric and this is Jon," Eric replied.

As they were climbing over the guard rail Eric couldn't help but notice that the gunshots were getting closer. As they were climbing down the hill that led up to the interstate from the field another man on a bicycle rode by yelling something about zombies eating everyone. While they didn't really believe that it didn't stop them all from picking up their pace a little. As they got farther away from the interstate Eric kept looking back over his shoulder. He noticed that now the crowd had finally made it to where they had just been. They were running. He could also see people getting violent up the road a little. They were banging on cars, breaking out windows and beating people up for no apparent reason. For now the rioters were staying on the road so Eric, Jon and Amy just picked up their pace again and kept walking towards the nearest farmhouse. It was still about a mile away in the distance.

"So how many rounds do you have for that thing?" Eric pointed at John's shotgun. It was every mall ninja's dream. It had a twenty inch barrel with an extended magazine and a collapsable stock. There was also a side saddle on it with extra rounds.

"It holds eight with six in the side saddle. I've got ten more rounds in my pack. So am I the only one with a gun or what?" he asked.

"No, I carry," Eric said as he pulled out a S&W five shot .38 special revolver. "I've got about forty rounds for it."

"My dad bought me a gun, too," Amy said. "He makes me practice with it every few weeks. I keep it in the glove box." With that she pulled out a Kel-tec P3AT. "I grabbed it before I got out of the car just in case. I've got two seven rounds clips for it."

Eric started to respond to the "clip" comment but held his tongue. Instead he said, "Well at least we're all armed. Hopefully we won't need to use them."

As they got farther away from the highway they could see more and more of the chaos. If they had stayed where they were they would have been knee deep in it by now. Noone seemed to notice them, though, and not many other people had left the interstate. After about twenty minutes of walking they finally made it to the farm house. There were no cars in the driveway and it looked pretty run down.

"Doesn't look like anyone's home," Jon commented.

"Let's go take a look," Eric said. They walked up to the front door and banged on it a few times but there was no response.

"Now what?" Amy sounded aggrivated as she asked. "The closest house looks like it's at least a mile away."

"Let's take a look around," Eric said. Now that they were closer they could see that the shutters were all closed on the windows. The front door was also locked. As they walked around the house they found a window that the shutters had come open on. Peeking in they could see that the house was furnished but there was a layer of dust over everything. There was a lot of stuff inside but there was also some furniture. It looked like it had been used for storage but the original furniture had never been removed. There was also a big storage shed in the back of the house that the driveway led to. They opened the door and found an old broken down truck inside along with a bunch of old tools and stacks of bricks, 2x4 studs, shingles and plywood.

"I have to pee," Amy said. "Maybe there's a toilet inside. It doesn't look like anyone lives here so it can't hurt to use it."

Eric rolled his eyes but he couldn't help but wonder if there was a radio inside. He also welcomed the idea of resting for a minute before they went walking off towards another one of the houses in the distance. "OK let's check it out if there are no objections," he said. He walked into the garage, found a crowbar and then opened the back door to the house with it. It came open easily and they stepped inside.

The house smelled like sawdust. It didn't look like anyone lived there, but there were tools and half finished projects lying around so they figured that someone must be restorying the old place. Eric tried the water and it worked. He also flipped a light on. That worked as well. Amy found a bathroom and squeeled with glee when she found that it was working. It was an old two story house and there was also a basement. Eric found a boombox in the front room and turned it on.

"....police are finally getting the rioters under control. The people in the Limon, Colorado area should be aware that, while the police have everything under control, they should remain in their homes until further notice," the radio went on into the weather so the small group stopped listening.

Just then their was a loud knock at the front door. "Hey! Let us in! We saw you go inside! Please let us in!" someone on the other side of the door yelled.

Eric got up and looked at Jon as if to say what should we do? Jon just shrugged and Eric walked over to the front door to unlock it. As soon as he opened the door a big man pushed his way in and let the two women and other man that he was traveling with in behind him.

"Thank you so much for letting us in man. Those fucking things could be coming any minute and we did NOT want to be stuck outside with them," the man said. He seemed to be completely winded.

"What things?" Amy asked. She had just finished in the bathroom.

"Those fucking things from the crash at the interstate," the man said. It was then that Eric noticed the Glock 17 in his hand. "They're attacking everyone and eating them. We saw em attack some people a few cars up from us so we jumped the guard rail on the interstate and came running for the first house we saw. This was it."

"I'm Jon," Jon said abruptly. He offered his hand to the man.

At first he looked a little shocked but he quickly calmed down. "Mark. Mark Cooper," the man grabbed Jon's hand. "This is my wife Angela.

The other man spoke up "I'm Dan and this is my girlfriend Megan." They both waved to everyone and Eric and Amy both introduced themselves in turn.

After the introductions were finished Mark got up and peeked out the window. His face went white as he turned to everyone else in the house, "I think that they followed us. I'm so sorry. Please we have to do something to keep them out!" He was already panicing again.

"Relax dude," Jon said. " There's plenty of plywood in the shed out back. Hell there were a bunch of 2x4s and bricks, too."

"The shutters on the windows are all closed, too," Eric said.

Dan spoke up, "Mark's got a point. We need to keep those fucking things out of here and I don't think that those shutters will do the job. We need to reinforce the door, too. I saw three of them rip the door off of a car, pull the man inside out of it and tear him to pieces. It's like they're not even fucking human." Eric was starting to feel the fear that these two seemed to be eminating. Megan had the thousand yard stare and Angela was trying to snap her out of it.

"How many rounds do you have for that thing?" Eric asked as he pointed to Mark's Glock.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "Bullets don't do shit to those fucking things. I shot one five times in the chest and it didn't even fucking flinch man! I guess I was lucky because there was another guy between it and me. It went for him." He looked like he was about to lose it right there.

"OK relax," Eric said. He was doing his best to comfort the guy. "We just heard them say on the radio that the police are handling it. They sent a bunch of units here from Denver and it's just a matter of time before they get the situation under control." Dan was tending to Megan. Angela turned her attention to Mark when she saw her husband get so worked up. Jon looked like he was trying to sort through what he just heard in his head.

"What if the cops aren't comin?" Jon asked.

Eric was dumbfounded. "What do you mean by that? They said it on the radio. The cops are going to take care of it."

"There are hundreds of those fucking things out there," Mark said. "I don't see how anything short of the national guard will stop those things. I shot one of them five times! Bullets don't do shit! How the fuck are the cops going to stop them?!"

That was enough for Eric. "I'm gonna go outside and check things out," he said.

He stepped outside and surveyed the area. He couldn't see what was going on on the interstate from the house but he could hear far off gunshots. He could also see some people walking around. About a dozen of them were walking towards the house. They looked like they were hurt pretty bad. They were constantly stumbling and picking themselves up. Before he could go to help them Dan grabbed his arm.

"Don't even think about it Eric," Dan warned him. "Those look like the monsters from the interstate." Just then a Blackhawk helicopter flew by overhead. Eric couldn't help but wonder what a military helicopter was doing flying by.

Eric looked again and suddenly a scene from Night of the Living Dead came to mind. He wanted to believe that his imagination was just getting the best of him but he couldn't help but think about how Mark was reacting. He ran inside and grabbed the small pair of binoculars that he'd grabbed from his car. Sure enough the things that were coming towards them were in bad shape. They all seemed to be covered in gore, their clothes were tattered and a couple of them were injured so badly that he couldn't see how they could possibly still be walking. "Holy fucking shit," Eric said under his breath. "OK let's go to the shed and grab some of those plywood sheets," he told Dan. "They're still pretty far away so we have time." He yelled into the house, "Jon we're going to go get some of that plywood out of the shed. Do you want to give us a hand?"

"Sure thing dude. I'll be right there." A moment later he appeared with his shotgun slung over his shoulder. Mark came out right behind him. He looked like he had calmed down a lot.

They closed and locked the front door behind them and Eric led them into the shed. They instructed Angela to watch the approaching group while they grabbed the wood. It didn't take them long before they had all of the wood inside. There were only ten sheets but it was enough to get them started. They left the radio on the entire time. While they were waiting for more news and putting up the boards Eric asked Mark if he had shot any of them in the head.

"What kind of question is that?" he asked. "If they can take five shots to the chest without flinching then what makes you think that a headshot will do anything?"

"I dunno," Eric said. "I just saw it in a movie once." Mark just chuckled at that and they went back to reinforcing the windows.

They started with the front windows and the door. With all of them working together it only took them about fifteen minutes to nail the plywood to the windows. They had also used some 2x4s to crossbar the doors. There were some shelves and tables that they broke down and used to board up the windows that they didn't have enough plywood for.

"Do you think this will hold them?" Jon asked.

"It looks pretty sturdy to me," Dan replied.

Just then they heard a crash on the front porch. Almost immediately the banging on the front door started. Soon after there were several more of them around the house banging away. Everything seemed to be holding up well.

The radio announcer came on shortly after that and started talking about the crash again. "The rioters have proven to be more resilient than the Denver police originally suspected. They've decided to call in the National Guard to help with the situation. They continue to assure the people in the area that everything will be fine and that the problem will soon be under control."

I think I've read this somewhere before.......................

how about some more.  is this on atz?
 mpi

dont leave me hanging the story was just getting good.if this is on another site let me know it is getting good.

I liked it.  It kept my attention well.

Here's chapter 2 before I go to bed.  

"So what do we do now?" Dan asked.

"We should just sit tight until the National Guard gets things under control," Eric said. "I don't want to be stuck outside when they show up. They might mistake us for zombies...or whatever they are."

"We've got nowhere to go, anyway," Amy said. "If we want to leave we'll have to get past those things. At least we're safe in here."

"If more of those things come they'll tear the damn house down to get to us," Mark said. "They were tearing cars apart to get to people. If enough of them show up they'll figure out some way to get in."

"No more of them have shown up yet," Eric said. "There's no reason for us to think that anymore will come. We're out in the middle of nowhere for christ's sake. You said yourself that they followed you here. I didn't see any more coming so maybe they'll stay on the interstate."

"What if more people come this way?" Amy asked. "This is one of the only houses that you can see from the highway. More people are going to show up."

"I've got a feeling that those things outside will change people's minds about trying to get in here." Dan said.

"But what if they attract more of them?" Amy pressed. "We could have dozens of them outside before long."

While everyone else was talking Angela was upstairs watching the interstate from a window. She could see more people getting off of the road but even with the binoculars she couldn't tell if they were zombies or if they were alive. She saw one couple in the distance jogging towards the house. Behind them several of those things seemed to be following them. She overheard the conversation and yelled downstairs, "You guys need to come up here and see this. I think Amy's right about people attracting more of them this way."

They all ran upstairs and started looking out the windows. From one of the windows Eric could look down and see a few of the monsters outside beating on the walls trying to get in. They didn't seem to be coordinating their efforts at all. It almost looked like they were trying to just bash a hole through the wall. Looking across the field he could see the couple that Angela was talking about. They were about halfway across the field now and there were several of those things following them from the interstate. He could count twenty of them. Some of them were moving very quickly after them. One of them even seemed to be running and it looked like it might catch up to them before they could get to the house. "We gotta help em man," Jon said.

"You mean go out there?" Mark exclaimed. "Are you fucking nuts?"

"We might be able to clear the ones around the house from up here," Eric said.

"How?" Mark yelled. "They won't fucking die!"

"Maybe you're just a bad shot," Eric said. With that he pulled out his .38, took aim and hit the one directly under his window in the top of the head. It immediately dropped.

"Fuckin a man!" Jon exclaimed. Then he leaned out of his window and took the head off of another one with his shotgun. The noise seemed to attract them because the ones on the porch stepped off and started walking towards them. Eric shot at another one but missed. Jon didn't and as half of it's face dissapeared it dropped and stopped moving. The ones from the other side of the house were coming around the corner. There were eight of them on their side of the house now so Jon and Eric quickly dispatched them. "That was easy," Jon said when they were finished.

"Yeah but how much ammo do you have left?" Eric asked

"I still have a fourteen shells man," Jon smiled.

"Well I wasted a dozen rounds," Eric replied. That leaves me with twenty eight. Look at the crowd that's headed this way. We're going to need a lot more ammo than we have. Eric could see Jon's expression change as the reality of the situation set in. Then he turned to Mark and asked, "How many rounds do you have left in your Glock?"

"I dunno," Mark said. "I guess I have about ten. I only kept one magazine for it in my car. I never thought I'd need more than that."

Then Eric turned to Dan, "Do you have a gun?" he asked him.

"No, I never thought I'd need one," Dan said.

Eric rolled his eyes at that. "OK well we need to see what we can do for that couple out there. I think that we got all of the ones that followed you here," he said to Mark.

"You're on your own man. I'm not leaving the house," Mark said.

"Fine then you can fucking stay here. I'm going out there to help them," Eric spat. With that Eric went down to the front door, pulled the boards off with his crowbar and he and Jon went outside. Dan followed them out.

"I want to help guys," he said. "Look, I don't even know that asshole. Megan and I followed him off of the interstate because he had a gun."

They could see the couple about two hundred yards away. They were still moving quickly but they were obviously getting tired. The man was carrying a bag and the woman looked like she was really struggling. Eric handed Dan his crowbar and started making a run for them. Jon and Dan both followed him. The runner beat the small group to the pair. As the thing closed on them they could see the man drop his bag and turn towards it. He pulled out a gun and shot several rounds at it. If they found their mark the thing didn't even flinch. Then when it was within arms reach the man shot it in the face. It immediately dropped dead. Then he picked up his bag, rounded up the woman and they started towards the small group again.

"Hey there!" Eric said waving.

"Hi!" the man yelled back. "Don't shoot!"

When they were about fifty feet away from each other they all stopped. "We've got that house over there all boarded up," Eric said. "If you want to come you're welcome to."

"Thanks for the invitation," the man said. He looked like he was in his fifties and the woman, who he was practically carrying by now, didn't look much younger. "I think my wife could use a break, anyway." He turned back around and noticed some of the zombies getting close so they all picked up their pace and helped the two of them back to the house as quickly as they could. Eric got to the front door first and tried to open it but it wouldn't budge.

"Open the fucking door!" Eric yelled.

"Fuck you man!" Eric recognized Mark's voice as he yelled at them. "Those things are too close! I told you not to go out there!"

"Let them in!" they heard Amy yell.

They could almost here Mark laugh, "What? Are you going to shoot me with that little thing?"

"Let them in," they could hear Angela say.

"Angela get out of the way. I'm not letting these people get us killed!" he yelled.

"Bullshit!" Angela yelled back. "You're going to let them in here right now!"

While the people inside were arguing Eric could see that some of the faster shamblers were only about a hundred feet away or so. He didn't want to risk having to fight them so he grabbed the crowbar from Dan, walked up to one of the windows and pried open the shutters. Then he swung the crowbar and shattered the glass. Just then he heard the sound of gunshots come from inside and he saw three bullet holes appear in the plywood that was nailed up to the window. Just then there were some more gunshots and he heard Angela scream. He pried the plywood sheet off of the window, cleared the rest of the glass out and climbed in. Mark was lying on the ground with Angela on top of him. Amy was standing there with the gun in her hand. "We heard the window break and then he turned around and started shooting," she almost whispered. "So I shot him." Then she dropped the gun to the floor, fell to her knees and started crying.

For the moment Eric ignored her and started prying the 2x4s off of the front door that Mark had hastily nailed back up. He quickly got them off and let the people inside. One of the zombies was almost to the porch so he pulled out his .38 and, after a couple of tries, managed to land a shot to it's head. Once everyone was inside Eric, Jon and Dan resecured the door and nailed the plywood back up to the window that he'd broken into. Then they pulled a heavy bookshelf in front of it to help secure it better.

"What the hell happened?" Jon asked.

Angela was still crying over her now dead husband and Megan was sitting in a chair, apparently still catatonic. Amy hadn't moved either so Eric went over to comfort her. "When you guys left Mark went nuts," Amy sobbed. "He started talking about how he wasn't going to let you get him killed and that you were stupid for going back out there. When you came back I tried to get him to open the door but he pulled a gun out and said that he'd shoot anyone that tried to get in. When you guys showed up he turned towards the door and started yelling at you so I pulled out my gun and Angela stepped in between us. Once he turned towards the window and started shooting I just reacted and shot him in the back." She started crying again.

"Thanks," was all that Eric could say.

Just then Mark started to move. "Honey oh god you're ok," Angela blurted out. She turned him over to check him out. The were two holes in his chest where the bullets had exited. His eyes were open, though. Before anyone in the room could react he grabbed Angela and sunk his teeth into her neck. Without thinking Eric took aim with his .38 and put a bullet in the man's head. Seconds later Angela bled out and stopped moving.

"Jesus christ, now what?" Dan asked. He stood there looking at the scene in utter shock.

They all just stood there for a minute trying to sort through what just happened. The silence was broken when Angela started to move again. "Fucking shoot her man!" Jon yelled. Without a second thought Eric raised the .38 and stopped her movement with a bullet to the head.

...

So where is a guy with a tricked out AR and LBE???  You need to put an AR15.commer in there!!

MORE!     Why isn't there a smiley zombie?

so far this story is awesome.,keep it up.

There isn't one thing I don't like about it yet.  Great work keep it up.

Enjoying it so far , Please continue

Nice read so far .

pretty good thus far.

cant have too many zombie threads..

Good work carry on just off to check under the bed

Thanks for the comments.  I'll have chapter 3 up tonight.

reads good, needs an arfcommer though.

Tag for Zombie Stories.  www.zombiehunters.org

Tag for more.

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Chapter 3

"She was one of them, right?" Eric asked. "She was already dead wasn't she?" He was starting to panic. He couldn't help but stare at the large pool of blood that was welling up around the couple.

"Yeah dude, she was dead," Jon said with wide eyes. "Look at that bite. Half of her neck is gone."

The man that they had rescued spoke up. "OK everyone, we need to relax. I don't know what's going on outside but whatever it is it's making people go crazy." He was trying to find the words to explain it without the mention of zombies. He was also having trouble keeping his cool.

Eric said it for him. "Just say it man. They're fucking zombies! People are dying, standing back up and eating other people!" He could hardly believe his own words.

"We should do something about the bodies," the man said. He was sitting on a couch comforting his wife who had a towel pressed to her arm. "We can't just leave them in the middle of the floor."

This helped sober Eric up. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. "You're right," he said. We'll have to dump them out a window upstairs."

"You mean you want to throw them out like trash?" Amy asked. She was just starting to calm down herself.

"Do you want to go outside and bury them?" Eric asked. By now the small horde of undead that had followed the couple from the interstate was outside trying to beat their way in again.

Amy put her head down in defeat. "Let me see if there are any sheets upstairs," she said. With that she walked upstairs and started looking around.

"I'm gonna check the basement, dude," Jon said. Dan got up and followed him as he dissapeared into the kitchen where the basement entrance was.

"My name's Greg," the man said. "And this is my wife Linda. Thanks for helping us back there. I don't think that we could have made it without you."

"It was nothing," Eric nodded. "What happened to your wife's arm?"

"I'm not sure," Greg said. "Everything happened so fast. I didn't even realize that she was hurt until we got into the house. It doesn't look too bad, though."

"Oh I'm fine," the lady smiled. "I think one of them must have scratched me when we were getting away. Some of them had ahold of me but Greg fought them off." She looked at her husband lovingly and he returned the look.

Eric noticed that the blood wasn't soaking through the towel so he didn't think anything of it. "So how did you get away?" he asked. "There were a lot of them chasing you."

"I'm not sure," Greg replied. "Like I said, everything happened very quickly. We were in our car listening for updates on the radio when I thought I heard gunshots. I got out of the car to see what was going on and noticed that a lot of people were coming our way. I decided that we should walk back to the nearest gas station so Linda and I got out and joined the crowd. Most of them seemed to be fairly calm but noone really knew what was going on. We just knew that we wanted to get to a safe place. Then some people started fighting. People towards the back of the crowd started yelling and screaming. The gunshots were also getting closer. That caused a panic and everyone started to push and rush to get away. We were just caught up in the middle of it." As he talked more of the events came back to him. "I decided that the road was dangerous so Linda and I pushed our way to the edge of the highway. When we were climbing over the guard rail someone grabbed Linda and tried to pull her back into the crowd. I remember seeing the man's bloody face. I swung my gun at him but it didn't even seem to phase him. The only thing that I could do was shoot him. I fired a shot and people scattered. The man let go of Linda and we rushed down to the field. At first it didn't seem like anyone would follow us. When we got away from the interstate we looked back and saw that the rioting had caught up with the crowd we were in. It was chaos. A few of the people noticed us and started climbing the guard rail so we started running. It's a good thing that my doctor told me to start running regularly or I probably would have dropped dead halfway here. Every time we looked back it seemed like more of them were following us. I remembered the man that grabbed Linda and the look on his face and decided that I didn't want to let them catch up and find out their intentions. One of them was running pretty fast and he eventually caught up to us so I had to shoot him. Right after that we caught up to you."

Eric took the whole story in and then said, "I think I saw a first aid kit in the kitchen. Let's see how bad your wife's arm is." He went into the kitchen and quickly found the kit. When he got back into the living room he sat down next to Linda and pulled the towel away from her arm. It wasn't bleeding badly but the scratch was fairly deep. It was also infected. He winced a little when he saw the spider web of purple veins that surrounded the immediate area. He immediately went to work cleaning and bandaging the cut as best he could.

"Thank you so much for all of your help," Greg said. "We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

"You would have done the same for me," Eric said dismissively. "Hopefully your wife won't need any antibiotics to fight off that infection."

Greg gave his wife a worried look. "I'll be fine," she assured him.

"What kind of gun do you have," Eric quickly changed the subject.

"It's a Taurus .357," he smiled. "I always keep it in the car just in case. Linda never did like the idea but I think that she's warmed up to it a little bit." she smiled back at him. "I keep a fifty round box in the glovebox with it. I think I only used about a dozen of them so far."

"Well I've got a feeling that we're going to need all of the ammo we can get," Eric said.

Amy came downstairs with some sheets in hand and offered them to Eric. "How are we going to do this?" she asked.

Greg and Eric stood up and took the sheets from her. "Greg and I will take care of them. See how Megan is doing," Eric said. Then he and Greg got up and started wrapping the bodies. Right after they were finished Dan and Jon both came back upstairs.

"There isn't much stuff in the basement man," Jon said. There's an old workbench, some tools, some more wood, some dusty shelves and some boxes but that's it."

"OK well for now let's just get these bodies out of here," Eric responded. Then they all worked together to dump the two bodies out the upstairs window. While they were upstairs they took the time to see how many zombies might be outside. Eric guessed that there must be at least twenty of them. He looked in the distance and didn't see any more approaching, though.

Its cool keep going

Very Good!!!!!

Originally Posted By pedro66: Its cool keep going

+1

tag for later...

tag, we're hooked

Where's chapter 4!!!!!

Here's chapter 4 and 5.  4 is short so I might as well give you two this time.

Chapter 4

When they went back downstairs Eric realized that the radio wasn't on. Mark must have turned it off while they were out rescuing Greg and Linda. As Eric turned it on everyone found a place to sit down and stayed quiet until they heard the announcer's voice. "Authorities have been unable to control the rioters near Limon. After the initial panic they were ordered not to open fire on civilians unless deemed absolutely necessary. When they were once again pushed back the National Guard was called in. They haven't fared much better. Apparently the rioters have proven to be almost unnaturally resilient to conventional riot control methods. The authorities have tried CS gas, tasers, rubber bullets and brute force. There have also been scattered reports of soldiers resorting to gunfire. Even that has proven to be generally ineffective." Everyone could hear the announcer's voice start to crack. "Unconfirmed reports of violent outbursts throughout the Denver area and in several of the smaller surrounding communities have also appeared. Colorado residents are advised to stay in your homes until the authorities get this problem under control. Authorities are still unsure of the source but we've been assured that they're working dilligently to find a solution."

Everyone stayed quiet for a minute while they let what the announcer said sink in. Finally Jon broke the silence. "I think we're pretty fucked man."

"That's the understatement of the year," Amy said. "What the hell are we supposed to do now?"

"Everyone just relax," Eric said. "They're going to find out what's wrong and take care of the problem. Everything's going to be ok. We're safe here. We can just ride it out."

"Don't kid yourself dude," Jon said. "The cops aren't always gonna be there for us. I'm pretty sure we're gonna have to get ourselves out of this mess."

"What do you suggest?" Eric blurted out. "What the fuck are we supposed to do about it? Even if we do get out of here where are we supposed to go?" he was starting to lose it now. That infernal racket that the walking corpses outside were making didn't help much, either.

"Eric, just calm down for a minute," Greg said. "We've got to think things through rationally or we'll never get out of here."

Eric quickly calmed down again. "You're right," he said. "This is all just too much to try and cope with."

Then out of the blue Megan spoke for the first time since they had all arrived at the house. "I'm hungry," was all she said. That silenced everyone in the room for a second.

"So am I," Eric realized.

Then Amy said what everyone was thinking. "So is there any food around here or what?"

"I've got half a sandwich and a bag of chips in my bag," Eric groaned.

"I've got some candy bars man," Jon said. "That's it, though."

"I just have some mints in my purse," Amy whined.

"We didn't bring anything with us," Dan almost whispered.

"I always keep some MREs in my car," Greg said as he pulled three MREs out of his bag. "They're probably five or six years old but they should still be good." He broke them open and divied up the contents between everyone.

"There's no other food in the house, is there?" Dan asked.

"I don't think so," Eric told him. "It looks like they were remodeling the place. This should last us a day if we eat sparingly. Don't wolf everything down and we'll be fine. Maybe the Guard will have this all cleared up by tomorrow."

"Maybe we should all try and get some sleep," Greg said. "It's starting to get dark outside."

"Shouldn't somone stand guard or something?" Dan asked. "Those things might manage to break in while we're sleeping."

"Good thinking," Eric said. "I'll take first shift. Can the guard use your shotgun Jon?"

"Yeah for sure dude." With that he handed Eric the gun.

Everyone tried to find a place to sleep for the night. Greg and Linda had a blanket in their bag. They took the couch and wrapped up in that. Jon slept on the floor with his shirt for a pillow. Amy found a small bed upstairs and slept on that. Dan and Megan found a matress in another room upstairs and used that. Once everyone was cozy Eric dug around in his pack until he found his flashlight and then began making his rounds. Dan was supposed to be next in line but since he didn't know how to use a shotgun Eric went ahead and took his shift. The rest of the night went smoothly and besides the constant banging and moaning outside there were no other disturbances. Noone slept well but at least they woke up the next morning.

Chapter 5

Greg was the last one to pull guard duty so he was the first one up. Miraculously everyone besides the guards managed to sleep through the night. It didn't seem to matter, though. Noone looked rested. Everyone got up one at a time over the course of an hour or so. Amy was complaining about not having a change of clothes but she went into the bathroom to take a shower, anyway. Megan was doing a lot better. She looked like she was back in control again. Jon woke up and snuck into the basement to smoke a joint. Dan followed him. Eric was the last one up. The first thing he noticed was how bad Linda looked. Greg was in the process of changing her bandages when Eric went to help.

"How's she doing?" Eric asked Greg.

"I'm doing fine," Linda interrupted. Eric could hear the irritable tone in her voice.

"She's doing fine," Greg smiled. He had removed the old bandage and was disinfecting the wound. "I know it looks bad but she'll get through it. She's a tough one."

It did look bad. There was yellow puss built up around the scab that was forming and the surrounding area was solild purple. It even smelled bad. As Eric looked at it he couldn't help but wonder how they were supposed to take care of her. Aside from the wound she was a lot more pale than she had been the day before. He wished that they had a doctor or a nurse handy. Without a car or a radio they were going to have trouble getting in touch with anyone. "You'll be fine," Eric did his best to reassure her. Then he went upstairs to see if their situation had improved overnight.

As he walked upstairs the door to the bathroom that Amy was using was open. Without thinking he peeked in to say good morning. "How're you doing?" he asked. She was completely naked. When she saw him she gave a little yelp and covered herself as best she could. "Sorry!" Eric said as he quickly looked away. "I saw the door open and just wanted to say hi."

As soon as he looked away she slammed the door shut. "I couldn't find any towels so I was air drying," she said through the door. "It was too steamy in here so I opened the door."

"Take your time," Eric said as he walked down the hall to the master bedroom. He walked up to the nearest window facing the highway and was shocked at what he saw. There must have been dozens of them out there. Some were walking in the direction of the house. There were obviously more in the immediate area. He walked up to another window that overlooked the field and noticed that a lot of them were walking right past their little hideout. He left the bedroom to check the windows from the room across the hall. Their were several of them continuing on past them. He ran down to grab his binoculars and went back up to the window to see if he could tell what was going on at the next house down the road. The binoculars weren't that powerful but he could make out a crowd of zombies around the house. It also looked like someone was on the roof with a gun.

That's when Eric realized how bad their situation must be now. The zombies weren't going to stay on the interstate forever. There must have been hundreds of cars lined up behind the wreck in both directions. Now that the commotion on the road had died down they were probably wondering around in the countryside all over the place. The army must not have gotten them under control. Just then he heard a helicopter fly by overhead. He ran to the other side of the house and saw it flying low over the field towards the interstate. Most of the zombies in the field turned and tried to chase after it. Eric didn't watch anymore. He ran downstairs to see what the radio had to say.

As he was exiting the room Amy was standing there. "What's going on?" she asked.

"We need to turn on the radio. Things look bad out there," Eric told her. He rushed past her and she followed him.

When he got downstairs Greg was still sitting with Linda trying to comfort her. She was staring at nothing with her head on his shoulder. Megan had gone upstairs to take a shower after Amy was finished. Dan and Jon were just coming up from the basement. They were both chuckling at some private joke.

"Don't you morons have something better to do than get stoned?" Amy spat.

"Hey, fuck you man," Jon said. "We just needed somethin to take the edge off a little. In case you hadn't noticed there's a little bit of tension around here."

She rolled her eyes and started to say something but Eric cut in. "Things are getting a lot worse out there guys. We're gonna need you to stay straight through this."

"OK," Jon said. "Just remember man. I'm at my best when I'm hiiiigh." Dan and Jon both broke out into laughter at that. Eric failed to see the humor so he just ignored them and turned on the radio.

The channel that they had it tuned to was static. Eric played with the dial for a minute and eventually found a channel that was running an emergency broadcast. "Citizens are advised to stay in their homes. Do not leave your homes unless absolutely necessary. Martial law has been declared. Military installations are NOT safe zones. Any citizen approaching a military installation in search of safety or supplies will be shot. Please check your local channels for available safe zones. They've been set up in all major cities."

"Martial Law? All major cities? What the fuck is he talking about?" Amy was starting to panic.

"I don't know. Listen," was all that Eric said.

"Do not approach anyone that appears to be infected. They are extremely violent and completely unreasonable. They're also extremely resistant to pain and injury and cannot be stopped by conventional means. If you've been injured by someone who's infected please seek immediate medical attention at a designated safe zone. Anyone caught harboring infected people without seeking treatment will be immediately arrested." Everyone looked at Linda. She was already crying.

The announcer continued. "The military and authorities are working together to get this epidemic under control. Please do not interfere with the military's relief efforts and follow their orders. If you're asked to assist somehow please give them your full support."

"What the fuck man?" Jon blurted out. "Now those fuckers are gonna be ordering us around n shit? Fuck that. If any of those fuckers come in here I'm blastin em." With that he picked up his shotgun.

"Relax Jon," Eric tried to calm him down. "I seriously doubt that anyone's going to come here. Besides, even if they do come and start bossing us around we'll be a hell of a lot better off than we are now." Jon seemed to relax a little and sat down with a sour look on his face.

The announcer kept on talking. "Following is a list of safe zones in your area. This list is constantly changing so please stay tuned." The announcer switched to an electronic sounding voice and it began rattling off the names of some of the well known gathering places in the area.

Everyone was quiet for a minute as they listened to the list of safe zones. Finally Amy broke the silence. "What in the hell is going on out there?" she shouted. "I have to call my mom and dad! My brother is at Ft Carson! How the fuck am I supposed to get ahold of him?" She was starting to cry.

"Amy get ahold of yourself," Greg said. "We've all got family and friends out there. You have to calm down."

"Greg's right," Eric intervened. "We need to take care of ourselves first. Then we can worry about our families."

Amy just looked at him with anguish in her eyes. Then she grabbed him, buried her head in his shoulder and started sobbing uncontrollably. All Eric could do was hold her. Everyone was quiet for a minute while they thought about what they were going to do. Then Megan came downstairs.

She had been in the shower the entire time and was oblivious to the message on the radio and why Amy and Linda were both crying. "What did I miss?" she asked apprehensively.

"C'mere baby," Dan said. She walked over to him and he told her what was going on. As he talked everyone saw her expression change. Her face took on the same blank expression that she'd worn the day before. After what Dan said sank in tears began forming and she joined the other girls. Through it all the pounding from outside never stopped.

u should change erics name to erik so i can be the hero in the story.Just playing i feel like a heroin addict its a great story and i cant wait for more

I like it

Good stuff so far, man.  Keep it coming!

tag. good story..

Very much tagged.  Good read.

fun read!

Good read!!

OK, so dude, like no munchies????????? Bummer,,,,,dude. What???

Write on.

next???

Chapter 6

Everyone stayed quiet for what seemed like hours. It was probably no more than twenty or thirty minutes but if not for the constant pounding on the walls you would have been able to hear a pin drop. The silence made every passing minute seem like an eternity but everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Eric couldn't help but think about how at this time yesterday he had been leaving his best friend's house. They had spent Friday night partying like crazy and he had married his wife Saturday afternoon. Eric had been the best man in the wedding. He had left Kansas City on Sunday morning after more partying and, after several hours, he'd pulled up to the accident. He wondered if Mike was still alive or if he'd turned into one of those things. He wondered if he'd been able to protect his new wife, Nichole. He wondered if his family was ok. He wished that he could call every one of them. Whatever happened had spread fast. Had it started here at this crash site? It couldn't have possibly spread that fast if it started in just one place could it? What if there had been isolated incidents like this all over the country and the news just wasn't reporting on them nationally? Was it happening only in the US? His thoughts were finally interupted by Amy's voice. "We need to get out of here."

"You're right," Eric said as his mind settled back into reality.

"How are we gonna do that, man?" Jon asked. "Those things are everywhere outside."

"I was upstairs earlier," Eric told him. "Several of them were way past the house. A helicopter flew by and a lot of them on the other side started chasing it in another direction, too. If we just had a map maybe we could figure out where we are and find the nearest town. Then we could create a diversion and maybe we could get past the ones outside."

"And then we'd be out in the open where every one of those things for a mile would see us," Dan moaned. "Going out there is suicide without a car or something."

"Is there a spot on the interstate where we'd be able to get a car off of the road?" Greg asked. "Those guard rails can't go on forever between exits."

"Good point," Eric said. "I think that they started about two miles back. If everyone left in a hurry there are probably a lot of cars up there with keys still in the ignition."

"And what car doesn't have a map in the glovebox?" Greg asked.

"What if they didn't leave the road, though," Dan whined. Eric was starting to get really sick of his negative attitude. "There's probably still a ton of them out there."

"We can deal with that problem when we come to it," Eric replied.

"Yeah, dude, but how are we supposed to get rid of those fuckers outside?" Jon asked.

"Ok, this is gonna sound really stupid but I think I have a plan," Amy interrupted. "I remember watching some zombie movie with an old boyfriend a long time ago where all of these people were stuck in a house together. My boyfriend wouldn't shut up through the whole thing and kept telling me what they should be doing. One of the things he said was that they could just break down the staircase and all go upstairs. Then they could open the front door and let them all in. Then when the zombies all get inside they could just climb out a window or something."

Eric thought about it for a second and then realized that it could work. "That's brilliant," he said. Amy beamed at Eric. He smiled back and then started giving directions. "We need to gather up the boombox and all of the power tools we can find. Anything that makes noise should work. We also need to find a ladder."

"What about Linda?" Greg asked. By now she was asleep on his shoulder. She looked very sick. "She can't walk around out there."

"We'll just have to help her," Eric said as he started gathering up a circular saw and a cordless drill. "We can't stay here Greg. Even if those things don't get in we'll just end up starving to death. Besides, she's not going to get better by staying here. We've got to find her some help."

Greg conceded and started to help gather everything up. "Well we should at least try to find some useful things around the house before we leave," he said. We don't have enough ammo to shoot our way all the way to the interstate and who knows what we'll find when we get there."

Eric had to agree with him. "OK guys if you see anything that might be useful that's not too heavy gather it up. We might be stuck outside for a while so first aid, camp gear and weapons are priorities."

With that everyone started to scour the house for anything that might prove useful. After about an hour they had cleared out the living room and laid out their findings to decide what they were going to take with them. They had actually come up with some useful stuff. Judging by the contents of the house someone had died and the family must have taken the valuables and left most of the mundane items while they renovated it. Everyone was now armed with some type of bludgeoning weapon and they each had a bag or a backpack for themselves. They had also found a few cans of food and a small bag of rice in the cabinets. The fridge and freezer were both empty except for condiments, though. Amy had found some clothes that covered her body much better and put them on. Eric found a leather jacket that fit perfectly. He found a pair of jeans that were a little loose but would be better than the shorts he had on, as well. They also found some warm jackets and blankets. There were some tarps laid out that Eric planned on using as a shelter if they needed them. They found some rope and several bungie cords, too. They even found enough flashlights that everyone could have one. After everything was sorted they got to work removing the staircase that went upstairs.

And then......

Originally Posted By joker1: And then......

You'll find out tomorrow.  Trust me...when I run out of chapters that are prewritten the updates won't be as fast

Then get busy!

Good Stuff! Keep em comin!

nice

Tagged for later reading...

Chapter 7

It took them an hour and a half to remove the staircase. When they were finished there was nothing left but a gaping hole into the basement. Before they started they had cached everything that they planned on taking with them upstairs. They also put Linda to bed in the master bedroom. Their plan was to pile the wood from the staircase up in front of the front and back doors. When the loose barricades were finished all but one of them would go upstairs. Eric volunteered to open the doors and let the zombies in. After opening the doors he'd have to climb the ladder up to the second floor. From there they'd plug in the boombox and several of the power tools and turn them all on. They hoped that it would draw them in and make enough noise to cover their escape. From there they would go to the highway and find a place where they could get a vehicle off of the interstate.

They had finished all of the preperations and Eric was climbing down to the first floor of the house to initiate their plan when he heard Amy scream from the bedroom. She had gone to check on Linda. Before Eric even made it up the ladder Jon, Dan and Greg were in the bedroom. As he climbed up to the second floor he heard Greg curse and Dan yell "Kill it!" He had a good idea what was going on so he pulled out his .38 and rushed into the bedroom. Linda was awake. Greg and Jon were both holding her down on the bed and she was trying to get up. Megan was still in the hallway trying to keep her composure. Amy was backed into a corner and Eric had to push Dan out of the way to get in the room. "Fucking kill it!" Dan yelled again.

Greg looked terrified. Judging by his expression Eric knew that it was more because he knew that his wife was about to be shot than the fact that he was holding down a zombie. Eric stepped in front of her and pointed his gun at her forehead. He looked over at Greg and with tears in his eyes Greg nodded and then looked away. Without any more hesitation Eric pulled the trigger. Greg let go of her and then covered her body with his own and began sobbing quietly. Jon stood up and Amy immediately ran over to Eric and put her arms around him. "She turned into one of those things," she cried.

"I know," Eric tried to comfort her. "There was nothing we could do for her. I think we all knew what was probably going to happen to her."

Greg looked up at him and nodded. So did Jon. Dan had left the room and they could hear him talking to Megan in the hall. Eric wasn't sure if he was comforting her or vice versa. After a few minutes Greg stood up and pulled a blanket over his wife's corpse. "We need to get out of here," he said.

Eric nodded and walked back to the ladder. He started to climb down but Greg stopped him. "Let me do it," he said.

Eric just smiled. "No way old man. I need you to help me up when those things start swarming in."

Greg just nodded and smiled back. As Eric was climbing down to the ground floor he realized how relieved he was that Greg was taking it so well. He didn't want to think about where they'd be right now if he hadn't accepted what was going to happen to her before it happened. When he made it to the ground floor he glanced up at Jon and Greg. They both gave him a reassuring nod and he went to remove the boards from the doors. He pryed the boards off of the back door first. That door led to a small porch that could only feasibly hold one or two people so he figured that it would hold for a while. He then went to the front door and removed the boards that were holding it shut. Then he put a door jam at the base of it and cracked it open just a little bit. Immediately the zombie on the other side of the door started to force the door open. Eric turned around and scrambled up the ladder to the second floor and before the zombie could make it's way inside he was up.

By the time Eric and the ladder were safe on the second floor the first zombie had pushed it's way in the front door and more of them were following it. Not long after that they heard the back door crash. They had breached both doors. The group turned on the boombox along with several power tools and left everything running on the second floor landing.

Their plan worked like a charm. Within twenty minutes all of the zombies that were outside had made their way in. Several of them fell through the hole in the floor into the basement. Some of them got themselves stuck in various rooms in the house. While the zombies were trying to figure out how to get up to their next meal the small group took their supplies and the ladder and climbed out onto the roof. There were no zombies on their side of the house so they climbed down safely. After they had all gotten down a straggler came around the corner of the house. It's attention seemed to be on the commotion inside so at first it ignored them. By the time that it noticed it wasn't alone outside Greg was already swinging his crowbar at it's head. With a dull thump it fell dead.

"Which way?" Greg asked as he wiped the gore from the end of the crowbar onto the grass.

"Follow me," Eric replied. With that he started walking towards the road with everyone in the group following close behind.

There were very few zombies in the field between the house and the highway. It seemed like most of them were badly damaged. This made them slow and clumsy. Greg suggested that they just use their bats and crowbars to conserve ammo. They easily dispatched five of them with their impromptu weapons on the way. They ignored several others. They were either crawling along slowly or the things seemed oblivious to their presence. As they approached the highway they didn't see any of the monsters roaming around on it. They decided that it would be best to follow it down until they came to a spot where they could get a vehicle off of the road just to be safe. They didn't know how many of them could be hiding inside or underneath cars.

OK, I'm hooked!

keep it coming man

another reader here.   Keep it up, man.  Good stuff.

Keep it coming