บท 4: Through The Back
My house was fairly small, but the location was important. It was positioned right behind or in front of depending on where I was standing at my grandparent's house.
We left through the backyard, seamlessly escaping through the opened fence and into their home through their own back door wall. The muddy backyards from yesterday's room were the only thing that captured our footprints.
My Grandma and Grandpa were people of strong ideals. My Grandma, who I called Gammie ever since I could talk, had bright red hair and bright blue eyes. Obviously, her hair was dyed, but she stood out a lot in the crowd. She did it after I got lost as a kid so I would never be in that position again, which I can only thank her for.
My Grandpa, who I called Papa because it was so easy, was a dark-skinned man with curly black hair. His intentions had never even been thought to be negative and was an overall positive man with everything that had ever happened.
"What's going on?" Papa asked, leading us all inside the door wall.
Their house, similar in design to ours, had one big hardwood floor at the base of the door wall, with a step-up that lead into the kitchen.
Dad walked into the kitchen first, and I sat by the door wall, waiting for Mom to tell me what to do.
"The military just lit a house on fire by our street. I don't like that, so I plan to go to the Elementary School. I'm hoping they're a little more diligent in their efforts to defend what they're supposed to, and would assume an Elementary School would be the last thing they burn down," Dad said
"Jesus Almighty... alright, we'll go with you. I can't believe they would do that, do you know why?" Papa asked my Dad, getting a suitcase out of the closet next to the kitchen.
"No clue, but it probably has to do with another one of those wobbling men on the street. They shot one in the head in broad daylight, and at night they burn a house down. Next thing you know, they're going to flood the streets and blow up the neighborhood," Dad exaggerated, helping Papa put stuff into a suitcase.
"Wobbling men? Do you mean the zombies they're talking about?" Papa asked. To everybody's surprise, we didn't think that word would be used. It was only an expression for a monster that had risen from the dead. This is the real world, people don't rise from the dead... do they?
"Zombies? Like in the movies and video games? No, they're still people, they have to be," Dad rationalized, moving to help Gammie next.
"No, not those kinds of zombies. The News was talking all about it. It doesn't seem like they're dead, but they're unresponsive and desolate things. They don't respond to verbal communication, as you've seen, but they haven't been violent, as far as I understand," Papa explained to everybody.
This amount of information was substantial, and also the most I received at this moment in time.
Zombies at their core, through all forms of media, were beings who ate, and ate, and ate. To hear that they aren't aggressive? That just simply doesn't make sense. Can they even be called zombies if they're not aggressive?
I was only judging the stereotype based on what I saw. They weren't aggressive, but what was that man doing staring at the army? Was he planning to fight them? Did he just want to talk? Was he trapped in his own body, unable to communicate?
It made me sick to think about it, so I stopped thinking altogether.
"Haven't been being the keyword. Even a worm will turn," Nikolas explained to Papa and Dad.
That expression at its core was extremely wise. A weak person, if that can even be defined, would fight back if pushed far enough. If Zombies weren't aggressive, but thrown around like they were objects instead of people, they would turn as well. There would be resistance, either way, no matter if they had control or didn't.
"They're not zombies! They're sick people, they need help. I can't think of somebody to be a monster like that, whether they're aggressive or not. This isn't a damn video game. Look, we'll just go to the Elementary School until President Rochester comes on the radio again with a message and then head back home," Dad said.
I listened to him without a second thought. He knew what was best for us, obviously, so I agreed to his plan and followed closely behind him, helping him pack a suitcase for Gammie and putting some canned food in it just in case.
"Assuming they are sick people, why isn't a cure being administered? The world has never frozen up like this, don't you think something else is going on?" Nikolas suggested, peering out of the closed blinds by the back sliding door.
"I wouldn't doubt it. Let's not think about it too much. We'll leave through the back by the creek, that leads right up to the school. Is there anything else we need to pack?" Dad asked, looking around Gammie and Papa's house.
"No, but are you sure leaving is the right call? I mean, our house isn't burned down yet, and we could easily leave if it was," Papa mentioned.
He was a timid man, and rightfully so. Abandoning his home just for a low chance of survival probably wasn't ideal... but this was the only solution. I was sure of it.
The burning isn't the problem, it's what happens if you come out while it's still burning. I'm sure they're handling those people just like they did with that man earlier. I don't trust it," Dad said.
He peered out of the glass to the front door, then back at me.
"We got our food, we'll be fine," He told me, rubbing my messy hair.
"The army is here to protect us, we're just helping them out," I added. He nodded with a slight smile, hinting at the fact that I caught onto the right idea.
While he was watching out of the front door to the house, more black smoke came from behind my grandparent's house. The house right next to ours had ignited, and this time around, bullets went flying.
That was the first time I ever heard a bullet being shot out of a gun. It was loud, nasty, and scary in every way. I knew bullets were dangerous, but I also knew that if I heard them, I wasn't dead.
We all bolted out of the door, and now that I'm thinking about it, were given the golden chance.
The military had a group of soldiers at the entrance to every neighborhood. The gunshots and the fire distracted the military at the street entrance and after three houses of running, Gammie, Papa, and my family escaped through and made it to the creek at the edge of the neighborhood.
It was muddy after a fresh rain last night, so it was a little slippery while entering.
We stepped on some scrap cement from the sidewalks nearby and a fallen fence from an unfortunate car accident, looking up the hill toward the neighborhood. I peeked with Dad, looking toward our house.
Multiple houses were on fire, and even more, gunshots were present now.
"I can see six houses ignited... none of them look like ours, but what the hell are they doing?" Dad asked, looking to Papa for answers.
"If I had to take a guess, maybe the bullets carried some flames or hit some cans of gas that ignited more of the houses? It's unfortunate, but I'm sure they'll be compensated when this is all over," Papa said. He tried to be optimistic, he really did.
"Sure, I'm sure they'll be happy with that. Come on, let's go, I don't want the kids seeing that," Dad said, scoffing at the sight, and walking further down the hill into the creek.
We walked further and further, following the rocks as stepping stones when we needed to cross, and using a stick as a cane to guide us up the small mounds that led into a vast forest, full of dead trees and bushes that followed right behind.
Leaves that didn't decay from the fall and hard snowfall earlier crunched beneath our feet as we made it to the halfway point. The water started to flow slower in the creek. Many logs fell into it through the bad winter this year, acting as dams and letting the water pile up in some places. When there wasn't a large quantity of water, the creek was frozen over, allowing for easy travel.
"Why are you so sure of this elementary school? What if that's on fire now as well?" Nikolas asked Dad. Mom was relatively silent, sticking close to Skylar's side as we moved forward through all of the fear and mishaps that were going on right now.
"That's a hub. It has food, shelter, and running water with showers. I highly doubt they'd light that on fire, only because it's a Government building, and will probably be one of the last ones standing," Dad said.
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