Episode 7: Separation

            Lee and Maddy Balusek are driving back home at night. The radio is blasting “Trouble” as the two scream the lyrics of the song at the top of their lungs. Lee starts screaming like a girl, humorously and Maddy starts laughing. The song then fades to an end. A new song turns on and Maddy changes to another radio channel.

[Maddy]: I freakin hate that song!

[Lee]: I know!

            Maddy flips to a channel talking about news.

[Lee]: Hold on, hold on, maybe they’re gonna talk about that thing going on.

[Maddy]: What thing going on?

[Lee]: Hold on, just listen.

            Lee turns down the volume so it isn’t so loud.

[News Anchorman]: -no cure as of yet. Doctors say that although the symptoms such as aggression, pain in bone joints, and hallucinations are treatable, the actual disease that they have picked up through bites and in rarer cases scratches has not revealed an antidote. Police men and doctors all over Oklahoma request that everyone be weary of anyone acting strange in personae. Avoid anyone appearing to be drugged or overly aggressive. We’ll give more information as we bring in intel-

            Maddy changes the channel.

[Maddy]: There you happy?

[Lee]: Dude it’s like the apocalypse!

[Maddy]: (sarcastically) Yeah, it’s like the Ebola thing that everyone freaked out about!

[Lee]: You say that now until you get sick too.

[Maddy]: Oh yeah, sure-

            Suddenly Lee spots a man standing in the middle of the road. He slams on the breaks and stops just before he ran the person over.

[Maddy]: What the heck?

            The man simply stared at the two in the car for what seemed like several minutes. Then the man started stumbling towards the car.

[Lee]: Oh my god oh my god!

            Speeding around the man they quickly continued down the road.

[Lee]: What the heck?! That was one of them!

[Maddy]: Dude it was just some guy standing in the street being stupid.

[Lee]: No that wasn’t. That was a frickin zombie ok. Holy crap.

            Maddy starts laughing.

[Maddy]: It’s funny because you’re sitting there freaking out and I’m just like “ok, whatever”.

[Lee]: (laughing) well, the tables will turn when a zombie eats you.

[Maddy]: Mhmm, sure.

·        

            Hannah is sitting in her old room with Haven, Emily, and Maddy. The four are laughing about something when Brittany walks into the room.

[Britany]: …Have ya’ll seen Zach?

            The four are clueless.

[Haven]: Last we heard he freaked everyone out when he almost killed Alissa.

            Brittany paused for a moment. Her reaction to Haven’s statement was completely blank as she couldn’t determine if her jab was a hint that Haven may be against what Zach did, or a word of sarcasm, simply.

[Brittany]: Ok, let me know if you find him.

            At that, Brittany walks out of the room. Maddy looks at Haven, silently.

[Maddy]: I think Zach was just trying to help.

[Emily]: He almost killed Alissa.

[Maddy]: (Chuckles defensively) No, we all saw what happened. He was right there the whole time there was no way Alissa would have gotten hurt.

[Emily]: Still though.

[Hannah]: I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like since the church he’s been different.

[Emily]: Yeah, he kinda went crazy after the church.

[Haven]: Emily!

[Hannah]: It’s ok. I don’t disagree with her. Zach was scaring me. But he got better, he really did. But he hasn’t been the same. Even now sometimes he scares me because he wants to go out there so bad.

[Maddy]: That’s not a bad thing though. It’s better for us to get used to the blood now, than later when the rovers are everywhere and we’re stuck with nothing to do to protect us.

[Emily]: I don’t think so. I think the longer Zach is here, the bigger the chance that someone would die.

[Haven]: You need to shuttup.

[Emily]: Think about it: if Zach wasn’t here, his grandpa and his grandma would still be alive.

[Maddy]: Emily!

            The four are dead silent for a few seconds. Hannah wipes her tears away from her face.

[Hannah]: No, Emily’s right. They would be alive today.

·        

            Lee is walking around the white house looking for Zach. He stumbles across his mom and Aunt Kay talking in the kitchen whispering to each other. They quickly stop talking when Lee enters the room.

[Robyn]: Hey Lee.

[Lee]: Have you seen Zach? We’ve been looking for him.

[Kay]: No I haven’t seen him. Is something wrong?

[Lee]: No it’s all good.

            Lee starts heading towards the front door when Zach walks inside and surprises him.

[Lee]: Dude where have you been?

[Zach]: I’ve been working on the fences.

[Lee]: Oh. Ok.

[Zach]: Anything you need?

[Lee]: No, we just didn’t know where you were.

[Zach]: (Chuckles) Ok.

            Lee walks away; Zach is still standing at the door. He watches Lee walk away, and notices that Robyn and Kay are still silent. Zach walks into the kitchen and grabs a water bottle and walks back out the door. He begins walking towards the fence line and kneels down into the tall grass. He opens a backpack and puts the water bottle inside the bag along with a handful of other supplies that would last him at least two days. He also had a jacket, and one of the machetes. Zach closed the back pack. For what seemed like several minutes he was simply staring at the ground contemplating what he’s about to do. Then he stood up and walked towards the green house.

            Stepping inside the house, Zach finds himself standing in front of Mr. and Mrs. Chance, Roger, Brittany, Shane, and Alissa.

[Brittany]: There you are. Where were you?

[Zach]: Working on the fences. Are Alissa and the rest of the girls around? I just wanted to apologize for everything.

[Mrs. Chance]: You’re not gonna go near them.

            Zach froze. He wasn’t crazy, and Zach knew he wasn’t. He had a clear conscious and he could think for himself. He didn’t feel crazy, and if he was, surely Zach would know it. In Zach’s mind, he wasn’t crazy in this new world full of the undead; he felt like he had the advantage to survive. He had adjusted to all the blood and the death that now he can stay calm and keep his wits when the rovers attack, which could mean the difference between life and death. Zach new he wasn’t crazy; he was just ahead of the curve. But these people, they weren’t adjusted yet, and all they saw was a monster. Zach had to leave. Not just because he was feared by half the people at the property, but because he didn’t want to be there when his friends lose their loved ones when Zach had the chance to show them how to live in this new world.

[Zach]: Ok. Let them know what I wanted to tell them today.

            At that, Zach slowly walks out the door. Returning to his items, Zach pulls on his back pack, and ties the sheath of his machete to his belt. He gives one last look at his childhood home.

·        

            Brittany looks over at Shane in response to What Mrs. Chance said.

[Brittany]: Zach was wrong, but he’s not a criminal.

[Mrs. Chance]: And until he proves that he isn’t, I want my kids safe.

            Suddenly, the people inside the green house hear the sound of a car horn going off.

[Shane]: Get the kids inside the closet in the master bedroom. Mr. Chance, the rifles are in the closet as well. We need all the adults out there to figure out the situation.

            Mr. Chance rushes into the room and comes back out with three rifles. He hands Shane and his wife a rifle and the three rush outside. They freeze in their tracks when they see dozens of Rovers pouring into the property after being attracted by the sound of the car horn.

[Shane]: Mrs. Chance, get to the other side and get the older guys to come out and help! get the kids inside one of the closets with their moms, and have at least one of the boys stay there and guard.

            Immediately, Mrs. Chance raced to the other house. Shane took a few steps towards the rovers and began firing off shots. Mr. Chance followed Shane’s lead. It wasn’t long before Josh, Tim, Mr. Merlet, Glenn Balusek and Lee group up with Shane and Mr. Chance.

[Tim]: We’re gonna run out of ammo really fast, I’m gonna get the melee weapons!

            Sprinting across the property, Tim burst inside the white house. Some of the Merlet kids were crying as Kay was trying to get them into one of the closets. Stepping into the master bedroom of the white house, Tim retrieved the machetes and axes. He ran towards the door and opened it, and standing just at the door was a rover, his lanky form outstretched to grab Timothy. Dropping all the weapons but one, Tim pushed away the rover, unsheathed one of the machetes and slashed in on top of the rover’s skull. Blood burst into Tim’s face as the rover slumped to the ground. Just as the corpse hit the ground a second and third rover stumbled towards Tim. Rushing the undead, Tim took both opponents down only to notice dozens more coming from the east side of the property. Tim growled under his breath as he notices a large portion of the east fence was pushed into the ground with the amount of rovers pouring in. Just before Tim retreated back towards the house, Kelley rushed towards the horde with a machete, decapitating a rover.

[Tim]: Kelly no! Get back inside!

            Taking down two more rovers, Kelly wiped blood off her face.

[Kelley]: I’m not going anywhere.

            Wasting no time to argue, Tim collected the melee weapons once more.

[Tim]: Get Mrs. Merlet to lock the door and barricade it. We gotta get these swords to the rest of the guys!

            Kelley obeys and runs back inside the house to get Mrs. Merlet to lock the door. Just as she left inside, Tim grabs the keys from inside the house, closes the door, locks Kelley inside the house. He races towards the front yard as rovers begin to swarm the east side of the property.

            Rushing back towards the door, Kelley tries to leave the house but notices that Tim locked the door. She bangs on it with her fist.

[Kelley]: Are you serious?!

            Just then, the rovers pile up against the door. In response, Kelley locks the bolt lock to support the door. Deep down in her heart, she knows no lock will won’t last long.

            Returning to the group, Tim hands everyone the melee weapons.

[Shane]: Lee, Tim! Get to your vehicles and see if you can draw the rovers out of the property!

            Lee and Tim run to one of the cars and drive to the east side to lead the rovers away from the house.

[Shane]: Mr. Chance, Glenn: get to the other side of the property and make sure nothing gets inside the white house. Josh and I will guard the front and Mr. Merlet, get to your van, get all the children and women, and get somewhere safe. Keep your remote on!

            With that, the seven went their separate ways. The rovers soon began to gather towards Josh and Shane.

[Shane]: Use the rifles till we run out of ammo!

            The duo proceeded to fire off their rifles taking down one rover after the other.

·        

            Lee and Tim accelerate across the property and stop just in front of the rovers collecting around the front of the white house. Tim blares the car horn and the rovers begin to follow the sound.

[Lee]: We’re gonna need to lead the herd back out of where they came from because if we take them back up to the front gate Shane and Josh are toast!

·        

            Back at the white house, all the Merlet children are hiding in the master bedroom closet with Kay and Robyn. Kelly, Alissa, and Dylan are watching through the window. Dylan is holding the crossbow that once belonged to Zach’s grandpa, Kelly has a shot gun and a machete, and Alissa has a revolver.

[Kelley]: We need to go help.

[Alissa]: No what we need is to stay here. If those things get inside, my family aren’t gonna have anybody to protect them.

[Kelley]: Dylan…

            Kelley looked to Dylan to see if he would support her. Dylan looked back at her.

[Dylan]: I want to, but we need to be here for them. Maybe if Zach were here…

[Alissa]: Where is Zach? He’s been missing all day!

[Dylan]: Last I heard he was building the fences.

            Kelley gasped in shock,

[Kelley]: The rovers broke through the fences…what if…

[Alissa]: I’m sure he’ fine. He’s probably out there with the rest of the guys.

            Mr. Chance and Glenn reach the front porch of the white house and begin shooting at the rovers in their area. Glenn runs out of ammo in his revolver and switches to his machete. Despite the fact he has a missing arm, he proceeds to cut down rovers as they come.

·        

            Mr. Merlet (Chad) jumps into his giant, black van and pulls up behind the green house. Mrs. Chance, Maddy, Brittany, Roger, Hannah, Haven and Emily rush out of the house and into the black van. Gathering guns from the closet from the green house, Maddy and Brittany were armed with a 1911 and a shot gun. As fast as possible, they pile inside the van, and Chad speeds to the white house to gather his family. As the van pulls into the side of the house, rovers begin to accumulate and grow in numbers.

[Chad]: Stay in the van, lock the doors.

            Chad rushed out of the van and into the garage. He knocked violently against the door and a few seconds later, Dylan opened it and they disappeared behind the door.

[Brittany]: They’re not gonna be able to get back in the van with all these rovers around!

[Maddy]: Role down the windows!

            Rolling the passenger window and the sun roof open, Brittany crawled through the sun roof and raised her shotgun at one of the rovers.

Taking her aim, she braced herself for the shot and pulled the trigger. The rover’s skull burst into chunks of flesh. Not hesitating to continue firing, Brittany swallowed the fear and anxiety and continued firing shots as Maddy picked off more rovers through the passenger side window. 

·        

            Still herding rovers around the east side of the property, Tim and Lee honk their car horn continuously.

[Tim]: Even if we did gather all the rovers where are we gonna go? We can’t lead them back towards Shane and Josh!

[Lee]: Then lead them back out the way they came: run through the compromised fences!

            Spinning the car around furiously, Tim speeds towards the fence lined up with poles and sheets of metal.

[Tim]: Hold on, Lee!

            Busting through the compromised fence, the vehicle’s two front tires pops and wriggles from the wheels, and the front bumper is bent into the ground, slowing the car down.

[Lee]: Keep honking the horn and keep driving!

[Tim]: I’m trying! We lost two of our tires and I think the front is pushed into the ground!

            Rovers follow the vehicle, slowly but surely catching up with the car.

[Lee]: Stop the car and open the sun roof.

            Setting the car in park position, Lee grabs his rifle and stands through the sun roof and begins picking off shots one after the other.

·        

            Shane and Josh are fighting for their lives as they continue slashing and cutting at the rovers.

[Shane]: I heard the van drive away from the front yard! We’ll get inside, lock the door, gather as much supplies as we can and get to one of the cars.

[Josh]: Got it!

            Bursting back inside the house, the two slams the door shut locking it. They rush into the kitchen with backpacks. They start stuffing it with as much food as possible. However, the rovers begin piling against the front door. The frames of the door begin to crack, the sheet rock begins to crumble, and finally, the remnants of the horde break through the windows and the door; damage beyond repair inflicted by the dead.

[Shane]: They broke through, let’s go!

            The two run out the back door and to one of the cars. As they do, rovers are already passing the house and towards the white house. Shane and Josh accelerate towards the white house to try to help the rest of the group escape.

·        

            Glenn and Mr. Chance are still battling out with the rovers at the front of the white house. Their numbers grow larger as herds from the front of the property reach them. Mr. Chance begins to realize how it is going to end for him and Glenn.

[Mr. Chance]: Get out of here, Glenn. I’ll hold them off as long as I can.

            Glenn decapitates a rover before replying, his clothes and face splattered with blood.

[Glenn]: We both have families, brother. Let’s make sure they get away before we start thinking about each other.

            Cutting down three more rovers, Mr. Chance nods, accepting his and his friend’s fate.

[Mr. Chance]: You were a great friend. God blessed me in getting to know you guys.

[Glenn]: Likewise, Chad. Likewise.

            Just then, a rover came up behind Mr. Chance and bit him across the deltoid of his neck. Yelling in pain, Mr. Chance backed away and cut down the rover that bit him. Blood ran like a river down his body but he kept fighting. He knew he had to keep killing if his wife and two daughters were going to survive. But he began to slow down, slow enough that he wasn’t quick enough to stop another rover from biting his arm. He decapitated that rover as well. Glenn continued fighting passionately for the group’s survival. Suddenly he heard a voice; a voice that brought him peace as rovers began to surround him; a voice that comforted him even as he saw his friend being overwhelmed by the dead. It was the voice of his daughter crying out his name: Dad.

[Maddy]: (Crying) DAD!

            Seeing her father from the van, she ran out towards her fathetr.

[Glenn]: Maddy get out of here!

[Maddy]: Not without you!

            Firing the last three shots out of her hand gun, she picked up Mr. Chance’s machete and slashed off a rover’s skull. Taking down two more rovers, Glenn rushed to Maddy and embraced her.

[Glenn]: I need you to get back to the van. I love you, Maddy. I need you to do this and protect mom and Lee and everyone else. Protect each other.

[Maddy]: (Sobbing) No, Dad…

[Glenn]: Please…go. I don’t wanna lose you too.

            Standing frozen and sobbing, Maddy watched as her father ran back into the herd and slashed one rover after the other. Coming up from behind her, Josh grabbed her hand and pulled her towards Shane’s car. Emotionally numb and covered in blood, Maddy didn’t resist. Joining her in Shane’s car, Brittany, Alissa, Kelley, and Dylan stashed as much food and weapons as they could before the rovers could get to them. 

           

            Outside the property, Tim and Lee are still picking off shots from inside the parked car. Suddenly Tim and Lee’s guns run out of ammo.

[Tim]: I’m out!

[Lee]: Me too! See if you can lead them farther from the property. We’re on dirt right now but if we can reach the road we’ll have a smoother ride.

            Slamming his foot on the gas pedal, Tim carefully drove the vehicle towards the road. The rovers were still within shooting range despite of Tim’s driving. The wheels and the bumper continued to provide problems until suddenly, a chunk of the bumper came loose and clanged and clattered under the hull of the car. Unbeknownst of Lee and Tim, the piece of shrapnel cut a gash in the fuel tank and gasoline began to gush out. By the time the car reached the road the vehicle ran out of gas and stopped in the middle of the street. The rovers surrounded the car banging against the windows.

[Tim]: Ok, we still have the machetes. We’ll crawl to the top of the car through the sun roof and stab the rovers from the roof of the vehicle, got it?

[Lee]: Yeah.

            Crawling through the sun roof as planned, the two began to jam their machetes into the rover’s heads. But as they killed the undead, more rovers gathered and began shaking the car.

[Tim]: Hold your balance! Don’t fall off!

[Lee]: Oh really?! Thanks for the advice!

            Leaning over to jab a rover, Tim chopped off a chunk of its skull. The body slumped onto the bumper that had been bent into the ground. The bumper scraped against the hull of the car and created a spark. The sparks rained on top of the leaking fuel, and in a bright flash of yellow light, the vehicle ruptured in a fiery explosion. Lee and Tim are thrown from the top of the car landing hard onto the concrete. Lee’s arm and the side of his face are singed with second degree burns and Tim’s left pant leg and the side of his jacket is on fire. The two are unconscious as the rovers who survived the explosion begin to stumble towards Lee and Tim.

·        

            Shane’s car and Chad’s van safely escape the property as they pull out of the west gate where no rovers were gathering.

[Brittany]: I saw Lee and Tim go in the other direction we need to catch up with them.

[Shane]: We will, but first we have to get everyone else to safety and away from all of this. They’ll be fine.

            Shane’s car was the last vehicle to pass the exit gate and onto the road when both the van and the car came to an abrupt halt. About one hundred feet from the two vehicles were three others: two trucks and a school bus. Outside the vehicles were six men armed with rifles. Shane reached for his rifle only to remember it was empty. He looked back at Brittany.

[Shane]: Run for the woods.

[Brittany]: What?

            The six men raised their guns and opened fire. The windshield shattered as bullets tore through. The four teenagers in the passenger seats screamed in horror as Shane and Josh were shot several times. Alissa grabbed her revolver and scrambled out of the car firing at the six men. Brittany was in complete shock and was frozen to her seat. Dylan grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the car.

[Maddy]: (Sobbing) Into the woods!

            The six men continued firing as they ducked for cover behind Alissa’s line of fire. One of the men managed to shoot Alissa in the leg and Brittany was also shot in the shoulder. Brittany collapsed to the ground but was dragged to safety behind a tree thanks to Dylan. Alissa toppled to the ground as well, bullets continuing to fly. Suddenly the guns stopped firing in her direction. She slowly stood to her feet when she realized that the six men turned their guns to the black van. Alissa was launched ten feet away from the road when the black van holding the rest of her family exploded under all the fire power. Maddy grabbed Alissa from the ground and dragged her further into the woods in case the men started shooting again. Dylan also helped Brittany further into the woods. Once the four found a good stopping point, they were all silent for what seemed like hours. Maddy finally dropped her machete and fell to her knees and yelled at the top of her lungs. Alissa, Brittany and Kelley began to sob. Dylan fell to the ground and hid his face with his hands. It was quiet since they stopped in the woods, till once again they heard gun shots nearby. It was coming from the other side of the fence within the property. The six men were now fighting the rovers inside the property. Maddy stood up and pulled out a box of ammo from the back pack she managed to take with her. She loaded her 1911 and began walking out of the woods. Kelley followed her.

[Kelley]: Maddy, wait! Where are you going?

[Maddy]: (Voice cracking) I’m gonna kill ‘em. Each and every one of them!

[Kelly]: Not on your own.

[Maddy]: Fine, then come along.

           

             The two reach the road outside the woods once again. Both vehicles were shredded with fire power. The three vehicles that were parked in front of their transports had already pulled into the property.

[Kelley]: We can’t do it alone.

[Maddy]: Does it look like I care whether or not we can or can’t?!

            Kelley grabbed Maddy by the shoulder to stop her, but she turned around and pushed Kelley away from her.

[Maddy]: Don’t you dare try to stop me!

            Maddy turned around and kept going until she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She saw something in the grassy ditch by the road. Kelley noticed it too. The two slowly walked towards the sight. It was dozens of dead rovers littered throughout the ditch with no signs of it being from fire power. Knelt down within the dead pile was a rover eating on a chunk of bleeding flesh. Maddy took her machete and decapitated it. When they got closer to what the rover was eating, the two began to sob once again. Maddy bent down and picked up two objects beside a body so mutilated that they couldn’t even identify it. The two objects Maddy picked up was a black back pack with some supplies in it and a piece of fabric from a Mim’s Youth Group shirt drenched in blood and torn in multiple places.

[Kelley]: Oh my god…it’s Zach’s.

            Maddy dropped the back pack and fabric and wiped her bloody hands on her face to dry the tears. The two heard rustling in the bushes behind them. Maddy knew it was a rover. She unsheathed her machete for a second time. She turned around and swung high to decapitate it when the bloody figure dodged it. Surprised that the rover evaded her swing, Maddy lunged again but suddenly the figure drenched in blood grabbed her hands. Kelley pulled her gun out and was just about to fire when the figure spoke.

[Zach]: NO stop it’s me; it’s Zach!

            Kelley and Maddy paused for a second to get a closer look. It was in fact Zach. He was covered in blood and little gobs of flesh, his machete still in hand.

[Kelley]: (Relieved chuckle) we thought you were dead!

[Maddy]: You’re not bit?

[Zach]: No. It’s not my blood.

[Maddy]: Ok, let’s go, because we’re gonna need your help killing every last one of those guys for killing our families!

            Maddy began to walk towards the front gate of the property but Zach stopped her. A tear rolled down his face.

[Zach]: I’m angry too. But we gotta strategize about this if we’re gonna kill every last one of them. I managed to help Brittany and Alissa’s wounds by stopping the bleeding. We gotta make sure that we who are left are the ones that survive.

[Maddy]: Okay, anything else?

[Zach]: Actually yeah. We’ll need guts…

            Taking his machete, Zach slashed open the waist of the rover Maddy killed just a few minutes ago.

[Zach]: …and lots of it.

THE END