Looking back on my articles before I explained Zero Hour, I see in retrospect that they were not exactly sunshine and lollipops. Admitting that I wanted to die was probably not the best of postings. And it certainly may not have left you with a lot of hope. Truth be told, we have it pretty good in here, even if we are locked down in the store.
Still, I have a theory and we are using the whole team to test it. What we are about to attempt is extremely risky but I feel it is justified. We are going to test a theory on the nature of zombies because I need to know if they are warm-blooded, cold-blooded, or no-blooded. Proving this will let us adapt our plans for the future. I guess if this is my last entry, you will know something went horribly, horribly wrong…
So, here is the deal.
From what we can tell, these zombies do not function like us. It is not a normal human being that can have his legs torn off and keep crawling after you. We have seen these things take decimating wounds and still keep coming. I have literally seen a zom cut in half and its top half crawls with his arms across the parking lot looking for food. Even with all the blood poured from its body, this thing still crawled on.
We have never been close enough to examine one of these properly but these things must not have a heartbeat, blood, or need oxygen to survive. Now, granted, this causes the massive cellular degeneration that we have seen in their rotting flesh. But it seems that feasting on human flesh manages to sustain them somehow and slow the degeneration process. This must be why they are so intent on feeding on anything they can get their hands on.
So let’s say that they do not have a pumping heart, blood, or organic functions to regulate their body or their body temperature. And if that is the case, whether they are undead or not, they still have to be susceptible to the laws of physics. And quite simply, all dead tissue will freeze if it gets cold enough. I have seen frozen road kill last on the side of the road for a week during particularly brutal winters when the temperature does not rise above freezing. I guess the microbes don’t break down dead flesh in subzero temperatures.
And if that is true, then that means zombies can freeze. And frozen tissue does not shamble along very well. These guys are slow and lethargic now and we are a stone’s throw away from being hip deep in the dog days of summer.
So what happens this winter? Granted, Oklahoma is certainly no Wisconsin or Michigan but winters over the last few years here have been pretty brutal. What if all these maggot bags start freezing? Dispatching them then would not be easy but it would certainly be easier.
Of course, proving this theory in June is a pretty difficult thing to do… unless you have a large, walk-in ice cream freezer like we do. And that is why we are going to lure one of the zom’s inside.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Day 48 – Zero Hour, Part V
Two of our survivors are Lance Wiggins and Hunter Woolsman. They are both high school kids but I could not be happier to have them with us.
Lance goes (or was going to Vo-Tech) to get his electrician’s license. Lance goes to Ketchum High School but if you are in the Vo-Tech program, you go to that school in the morning and then show up at school after lunch for your regular classes. But Lance was such a go-getter that he finished with his course on May 1st. So he didn’t have to show up to school until after lunch. Not one to just sit around the house and wanting money, he finagled his way into coming in and helping us set up the produce department before leaving for school. May 1st was his first day of helping us out. And I am thankful everyday that he is here.
Hunter… well, let’s just chalk his survival up to dumb luck. Hunter goes to Vinita but spends as much time out of doors as he does in. He is always hunting or fishing or working on his pickup. He is a first class welder (taught by his father since he was nine). And on this day of all days, Hunter decided he would rather spend time fishing and sitting in a classroom. So he was skipping school when zero hour began.
Working a lot of evening shifts together, Lance and Hunter became fast friends and drinking buddies. (Gasp! High school kids drink? Beer? Oh the humanity!) So thankfully, Hunter was pretty quick on Lance’s speed dial when things started to go south. Thankfully the cell service had not quite collapsed yet. Being out on Grand Lake, Hunter got to the store relatively easily and I thank God for that because he and Alex rolled up to the store at the exact same time.
Hunter carries at least two weapons with him at any time. He keeps his hunting rifle in the back window of his pick up in the gun rack and a pistol under his seat. And clearly, Hunter came charging in with guns blazing and with no compunctions about putting bullets in some zom heads. Clearly, he saved Alex and got him inside the store with me. So to Hunter, I owe a debt of gratitude that I don’t know I can ever repay.
With Alex inside, I started to turn my attention towards barricading the store. I know several people tried to get others inside but Alex and Hunter were the only successful steals into the store. Then, we started securing all the windows and started building the barricades that I told you about earlier. This took several hours to get the initial barricades built. Okay, we did some fast barricades to keep the zombies out initially but they we kept constantly improving them to the point that they are at now.
Today, my theory is that if the zoms were going to bust through, they would have by now. So I think we are pretty darn safe.
After we were secure, Kasondra thought of the roof access hatch and we went up to the roof to do some zombie watching. To see all these things milling around, the screams of people echoing across the wind…
I will tell you this, this may not be Hell but we can see it from here.
Lance goes (or was going to Vo-Tech) to get his electrician’s license. Lance goes to Ketchum High School but if you are in the Vo-Tech program, you go to that school in the morning and then show up at school after lunch for your regular classes. But Lance was such a go-getter that he finished with his course on May 1st. So he didn’t have to show up to school until after lunch. Not one to just sit around the house and wanting money, he finagled his way into coming in and helping us set up the produce department before leaving for school. May 1st was his first day of helping us out. And I am thankful everyday that he is here.
Hunter… well, let’s just chalk his survival up to dumb luck. Hunter goes to Vinita but spends as much time out of doors as he does in. He is always hunting or fishing or working on his pickup. He is a first class welder (taught by his father since he was nine). And on this day of all days, Hunter decided he would rather spend time fishing and sitting in a classroom. So he was skipping school when zero hour began.
Working a lot of evening shifts together, Lance and Hunter became fast friends and drinking buddies. (Gasp! High school kids drink? Beer? Oh the humanity!) So thankfully, Hunter was pretty quick on Lance’s speed dial when things started to go south. Thankfully the cell service had not quite collapsed yet. Being out on Grand Lake, Hunter got to the store relatively easily and I thank God for that because he and Alex rolled up to the store at the exact same time.
Hunter carries at least two weapons with him at any time. He keeps his hunting rifle in the back window of his pick up in the gun rack and a pistol under his seat. And clearly, Hunter came charging in with guns blazing and with no compunctions about putting bullets in some zom heads. Clearly, he saved Alex and got him inside the store with me. So to Hunter, I owe a debt of gratitude that I don’t know I can ever repay.
With Alex inside, I started to turn my attention towards barricading the store. I know several people tried to get others inside but Alex and Hunter were the only successful steals into the store. Then, we started securing all the windows and started building the barricades that I told you about earlier. This took several hours to get the initial barricades built. Okay, we did some fast barricades to keep the zombies out initially but they we kept constantly improving them to the point that they are at now.
Today, my theory is that if the zoms were going to bust through, they would have by now. So I think we are pretty darn safe.
After we were secure, Kasondra thought of the roof access hatch and we went up to the roof to do some zombie watching. To see all these things milling around, the screams of people echoing across the wind…
I will tell you this, this may not be Hell but we can see it from here.
Day 48 – Zero Hour, Part IV
Imagine this. You are a fourteen-year-old kid. It’s Monday morning around 9:00. You are home sick from school, on the backside of recovering from the flu. It is not a serious illness but you are pretty ticked off that you wasted a weekend in bed when you should have been going to a friend’s birthday party. So your dad is gone to work and your mom is off running some errands down in Tulsa. So you are chilling on the couch, watching television, wrapped under blankets, and you get a call from your dad on his cell phone. But this is not just a check-in call Ferris Bueller style to see how you are doing. He is barking orders and from his tone you can tell that there is no room for discussion. He tells you to look outside and see if anyone is around. You live out in the country and your nearest neighbor is several hundred yards away. When you tell him no, he tells you to pack a bag of supplies – clothes and essentials only – and then hoof it over to your grandparents house that is right next door.
Dad demands that you stay on the phone the whole time. You know where your grandparents hide the key. After all, you have been going over there to put out food for their dog in hopes of scoring some extra allowance money for a video game that you want. Dad’s demand is very curious. Go to the strip where Granddad keeps the keys. Get the one to his blue Dodge pickup. It is sitting unused in the garage while they are away on vacation down in Tunica, Mississippi.
This is where it gets really strange. He has you go to Granddad’s gun room. Yep, he has an entire room dedicated to his guns. Welcome to the home of a right-wing conservative living in Oklahoma. Dad tells you to load up all the guns and ammunition that you can. Put it in the back of the pickup that is in the garage. When you begin to protest, Dad tells you that you have a five minute clock. And you have to stay on the phone the whole time.
So you do as you’re told. Ammo is heavier than you think and your arms are burning by the time the five minutes is up. Then, he tells you to look outside through the garage door windows and make sure no one is outside. You confirm you are alone.
Now, get in the pickup, start it and have it in drive when you open the garage door via the remote control Granddad keeps clipped on the sun visor.
“Dad, I don’t even have my learner’s permit.”
“You’re learning today, son…”
Instructions are simple, drive to Highway 69 and cut across. Do not go into Adair. Go through Strang. Head into Langley from the south and cut down that side road next to the donut shop where we got donuts that one day. Make the first turn to the left on that paved road. Come up to Reason’s through the back service road. Come to the Produce Dock. Stay on the phone the whole time. Do not stop. Do not talk to anyone. Do not stop for anyone. Plow through Strang. If people are in your way… run over them.
You begin to protest, wanting to know what is going on. One word. Zombies. You can scarcely believe it. But you have two choices: Believe and live or disbelieve and die.
So you do as you are told. Thankfully, you don’t see any cars, even when you cross the highway. Strang is all but abandoned but it was not like it was a populated town to begin with. They couldn’t even keep a convenience store afloat. All they have is a post office, a volunteer fire department, and a few churches. Do they even have a cop?
Speed is not an issue. You put your foot down as fast as you dare to go. That 22 minute trip, you cut down to 16 flat. But once you reach Langley, and specifically the store where your Dad works, it is a nightmare like out of one of your video games. These things are wandering around in the parking lot and the engine on Granddad’s pick up is not quiet. So they come chasing after you. Dad is still on the phone guiding you in. Still, at fourteen, most of your driving skills come from XBox. And you crash into the Produce Dock, pinning your driver side door against the dock itself. So the only way out is through the passenger side door, out the driver side window or the sliding windows in the back. And none of these options seem appealing when zoms are swarming over your truck.
Then, from out of nowhere, there is a savior. A guy that your dad works with comes pulling along side you in a 4X4 pickup outfitted with a gun rack in the back window. He splatters the three zoms banging on your passenger window with the front brush guard of his pick up. Then he backs up, gets out, and starts blasting away with weapons of his own. Clearly, he is not in disbelief about the zombie apocalypse and has zero compunction about putting a bullet in each one of these maggot bags’ heads. Given the camouflage design on his dashboard and steering wheel and all the weapons in his truck, it is almost comical that his name is Hunter. But, sure enough, he more than lives up to his name. Clearing a path to the produce dock door, he kicks on the door, yelling for the door to be opened. Thankfully, you are still on the phone to your dad. The door opens, there he is, and he yanks you inside.
Somehow, defying all odds, you make it to a refuge inside a grocery store and you are safe with your dad.
This is the story of Alex Ryan Mathews and how he made it to Reason’s Foods in Langley, Oklahoma on May 1st, 2011. This is how my son survived to be with us. And I thank God every day for it. I just wish his mother was with us too…
Dad demands that you stay on the phone the whole time. You know where your grandparents hide the key. After all, you have been going over there to put out food for their dog in hopes of scoring some extra allowance money for a video game that you want. Dad’s demand is very curious. Go to the strip where Granddad keeps the keys. Get the one to his blue Dodge pickup. It is sitting unused in the garage while they are away on vacation down in Tunica, Mississippi.
This is where it gets really strange. He has you go to Granddad’s gun room. Yep, he has an entire room dedicated to his guns. Welcome to the home of a right-wing conservative living in Oklahoma. Dad tells you to load up all the guns and ammunition that you can. Put it in the back of the pickup that is in the garage. When you begin to protest, Dad tells you that you have a five minute clock. And you have to stay on the phone the whole time.
So you do as you’re told. Ammo is heavier than you think and your arms are burning by the time the five minutes is up. Then, he tells you to look outside through the garage door windows and make sure no one is outside. You confirm you are alone.
Now, get in the pickup, start it and have it in drive when you open the garage door via the remote control Granddad keeps clipped on the sun visor.
“Dad, I don’t even have my learner’s permit.”
“You’re learning today, son…”
Instructions are simple, drive to Highway 69 and cut across. Do not go into Adair. Go through Strang. Head into Langley from the south and cut down that side road next to the donut shop where we got donuts that one day. Make the first turn to the left on that paved road. Come up to Reason’s through the back service road. Come to the Produce Dock. Stay on the phone the whole time. Do not stop. Do not talk to anyone. Do not stop for anyone. Plow through Strang. If people are in your way… run over them.
You begin to protest, wanting to know what is going on. One word. Zombies. You can scarcely believe it. But you have two choices: Believe and live or disbelieve and die.
So you do as you are told. Thankfully, you don’t see any cars, even when you cross the highway. Strang is all but abandoned but it was not like it was a populated town to begin with. They couldn’t even keep a convenience store afloat. All they have is a post office, a volunteer fire department, and a few churches. Do they even have a cop?
Speed is not an issue. You put your foot down as fast as you dare to go. That 22 minute trip, you cut down to 16 flat. But once you reach Langley, and specifically the store where your Dad works, it is a nightmare like out of one of your video games. These things are wandering around in the parking lot and the engine on Granddad’s pick up is not quiet. So they come chasing after you. Dad is still on the phone guiding you in. Still, at fourteen, most of your driving skills come from XBox. And you crash into the Produce Dock, pinning your driver side door against the dock itself. So the only way out is through the passenger side door, out the driver side window or the sliding windows in the back. And none of these options seem appealing when zoms are swarming over your truck.
Then, from out of nowhere, there is a savior. A guy that your dad works with comes pulling along side you in a 4X4 pickup outfitted with a gun rack in the back window. He splatters the three zoms banging on your passenger window with the front brush guard of his pick up. Then he backs up, gets out, and starts blasting away with weapons of his own. Clearly, he is not in disbelief about the zombie apocalypse and has zero compunction about putting a bullet in each one of these maggot bags’ heads. Given the camouflage design on his dashboard and steering wheel and all the weapons in his truck, it is almost comical that his name is Hunter. But, sure enough, he more than lives up to his name. Clearing a path to the produce dock door, he kicks on the door, yelling for the door to be opened. Thankfully, you are still on the phone to your dad. The door opens, there he is, and he yanks you inside.
Somehow, defying all odds, you make it to a refuge inside a grocery store and you are safe with your dad.
This is the story of Alex Ryan Mathews and how he made it to Reason’s Foods in Langley, Oklahoma on May 1st, 2011. This is how my son survived to be with us. And I thank God every day for it. I just wish his mother was with us too…
Day 48 – Zero Hour, Part V
Two of our survivors are Lance Wiggins and Hunter Woolsman. They are both high school kids but I could not be happier to have them with us.
Lance goes (or was going to Vo-Tech) to get his electrician’s license. Lance goes to Ketchum High School but if you are in the Vo-Tech program, you go to that school in the morning and then show up at school after lunch for your regular classes. But Lance was such a go-getter that he finished with his course on May 1st. So he didn’t have to show up to school until after lunch. Not one to just sit around the house and wanting money, he finagled his way into coming in and helping us set up the produce department before leaving for school. May 1st was his first day of helping us out. And I am thankful everyday that he is here.
Hunter… well, let’s just chalk his survival up to dumb luck. Hunter goes to Vinita but spends as much time out of doors as he does in. He is always hunting or fishing or working on his pickup. He is a first class welder (taught by his father since he was nine). And on this day of all days, Hunter decided he would rather spend time fishing and sitting in a classroom. So he was skipping school when zero hour began.
Working a lot of evening shifts together, Lance and Hunter became fast friends and drinking buddies. (Gasp! High school kids drink? Beer? Oh the humanity!) So thankfully, Hunter was pretty quick on Lance’s speed dial when things started to go south. Thankfully the cell service had not quite collapsed yet. Being out on Grand Lake, Hunter got to the store relatively easily and I thank God for that because he and Alex rolled up to the store at the exact same time.
Hunter carries at least two weapons with him at any time. He keeps his hunting rifle in the back window of his pick up in the gun rack and a pistol under his seat. And clearly, Hunter came charging in with guns blazing and with no compunctions about putting bullets in some zom heads. Clearly, he saved Alex and got him inside the store with me. So to Hunter, I owe a debt of gratitude that I don’t know I can ever repay.
With Alex inside, I started to turn my attention towards barricading the store. I know several people tried to get others inside but Alex and Hunter were the only successful steals into the store. Then, we started securing all the windows and started building the barricades that I told you about earlier. This took several hours to get the initial barricades built. Okay, we did some fast barricades to keep the zombies out initially but they we kept constantly improving them to the point that they are at now.
Today, my theory is that if the zoms were going to bust through, they would have by now. So I think we are pretty darn safe.
After we were secure, Kasondra thought of the roof access hatch and we went up to the roof to do some zombie watching. To see all these things milling around, the screams of people echoing across the wind…
I will tell you this, this may not be Hell but we can see it from here.
Lance goes (or was going to Vo-Tech) to get his electrician’s license. Lance goes to Ketchum High School but if you are in the Vo-Tech program, you go to that school in the morning and then show up at school after lunch for your regular classes. But Lance was such a go-getter that he finished with his course on May 1st. So he didn’t have to show up to school until after lunch. Not one to just sit around the house and wanting money, he finagled his way into coming in and helping us set up the produce department before leaving for school. May 1st was his first day of helping us out. And I am thankful everyday that he is here.
Hunter… well, let’s just chalk his survival up to dumb luck. Hunter goes to Vinita but spends as much time out of doors as he does in. He is always hunting or fishing or working on his pickup. He is a first class welder (taught by his father since he was nine). And on this day of all days, Hunter decided he would rather spend time fishing and sitting in a classroom. So he was skipping school when zero hour began.
Working a lot of evening shifts together, Lance and Hunter became fast friends and drinking buddies. (Gasp! High school kids drink? Beer? Oh the humanity!) So thankfully, Hunter was pretty quick on Lance’s speed dial when things started to go south. Thankfully the cell service had not quite collapsed yet. Being out on Grand Lake, Hunter got to the store relatively easily and I thank God for that because he and Alex rolled up to the store at the exact same time.
Hunter carries at least two weapons with him at any time. He keeps his hunting rifle in the back window of his pick up in the gun rack and a pistol under his seat. And clearly, Hunter came charging in with guns blazing and with no compunctions about putting bullets in some zom heads. Clearly, he saved Alex and got him inside the store with me. So to Hunter, I owe a debt of gratitude that I don’t know I can ever repay.
With Alex inside, I started to turn my attention towards barricading the store. I know several people tried to get others inside but Alex and Hunter were the only successful steals into the store. Then, we started securing all the windows and started building the barricades that I told you about earlier. This took several hours to get the initial barricades built. Okay, we did some fast barricades to keep the zombies out initially but they we kept constantly improving them to the point that they are at now.
Today, my theory is that if the zoms were going to bust through, they would have by now. So I think we are pretty darn safe.
After we were secure, Kasondra thought of the roof access hatch and we went up to the roof to do some zombie watching. To see all these things milling around, the screams of people echoing across the wind…
I will tell you this, this may not be Hell but we can see it from here.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Day 47 – Zero Hour, Part III
If you look on our map, there are several entrances in the rear of the store. On the far west end of the building, there is the main dock where semi trucks back up and unload their pallets of merchandise. Near this dock, there is an emergency fire exit. There is no handle on the outside of the door and this thing is made of pretty solid steel. At the time of Zero Hour, a semi truck was backed into the dock, plus is stands a good five feet off the ground so that area is not really breach potential. There is the produce dock with a scissor lift ramp for our produce trucks to unload but I explained on my last entry how that area was secured. But not all vendors make deliveries in semis. Frito Lay, Coke, Little Debbie, Budweiser, all these companies bring their stuff in on pallets or on hand carts and they wheel them up a ramp entrance into the main section of the backroom. That ramp makes it easy for vendors to wheel in their product. It is also a straight shot for two zombies that made it into the store just before Kasondra called out for the lockdown.
And it was these zombies that incapacitated the two girls, Toni Peters and Lisa Paulson, who were working in the receiving office. So imagine Charles’ surprise when he comes walking from one of the freezers, carrying a box of product, as he heads back to the meat department.
As Charles tells the story, he was walking back to the department, when the call went out. It was at that time when Toni and Lisa were attacked. They managed to barricade themselves within the Receiving Office but the office has two thin-paned windows that the zombies smashed through quite easily
To be honest, I don’t know what lucky star Luke was born under but he managed to incapacitate the two zombies that were punching their way through the window. He rescued both the ladies, speared one through the bottom of the jaw with a piece of the shattered glass (thus brain injury, thus death) and then shoved the other zombies outside before shutting the door without managing to get bit.
Now, if you have not recognized the names of Toni Peters or Lisa Paulson, it is because they were not counted amongst the survivors. With their cars parked out back, both Toni and Lisa decided to make a run for it after assessing the situation. These are both family women with children and grandchildren and the last place they wanted to be was away from their families. Before escaping out of one of the security fire doors, the last we saw, they made it to their cars and drove away. What has ever become of them, I have no idea. Maybe they made it to their families and maybe they made it to a safe zone… but we don’t even know where a nearby safe zone is…
Still Luke locked down that rear entrance and probably saved us from letting an endless mob of those zoms from getting in here. But this is when we came to the hard part. I was not just concerned about getting all of the zombies out of our store. I was concerned with getting one person in…
And it was these zombies that incapacitated the two girls, Toni Peters and Lisa Paulson, who were working in the receiving office. So imagine Charles’ surprise when he comes walking from one of the freezers, carrying a box of product, as he heads back to the meat department.
As Charles tells the story, he was walking back to the department, when the call went out. It was at that time when Toni and Lisa were attacked. They managed to barricade themselves within the Receiving Office but the office has two thin-paned windows that the zombies smashed through quite easily
To be honest, I don’t know what lucky star Luke was born under but he managed to incapacitate the two zombies that were punching their way through the window. He rescued both the ladies, speared one through the bottom of the jaw with a piece of the shattered glass (thus brain injury, thus death) and then shoved the other zombies outside before shutting the door without managing to get bit.
Now, if you have not recognized the names of Toni Peters or Lisa Paulson, it is because they were not counted amongst the survivors. With their cars parked out back, both Toni and Lisa decided to make a run for it after assessing the situation. These are both family women with children and grandchildren and the last place they wanted to be was away from their families. Before escaping out of one of the security fire doors, the last we saw, they made it to their cars and drove away. What has ever become of them, I have no idea. Maybe they made it to their families and maybe they made it to a safe zone… but we don’t even know where a nearby safe zone is…
Still Luke locked down that rear entrance and probably saved us from letting an endless mob of those zoms from getting in here. But this is when we came to the hard part. I was not just concerned about getting all of the zombies out of our store. I was concerned with getting one person in…
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Day 46 – Zero Hour, Part II
I cannot remember how long I had been working at Reason’s when Zero Hour hit. I want to say seven years. In that span, I had two different bosses running the department. My first boss was literally the best boss I had ever had. He was my friend, he kept me insulated from all the corporate crap, and we would have lengthy conversations about absolutely nothing. So, when he decided to move on, it was a pretty rough day for me. Even now, I have to assume that Dave has been lost to this apocalypse. I would go and see him often on lunch when I wanted to get away from the store (if he wasn’t at school) and we would discuss World of Warcraft. He only lived a few minutes from the store by car. I would think most people would consider this place one of the few refuges in Langley so if he hasn’t made it here by now… he is not going to.
My second boss – Dave’s replacement – had some big shoes to fill. But I liked Holly and over the last year, she had performed quite well. My biggest complaint about Holly was that she was a smoker. Smoking killed my mother. I have no doubt that it caused her cancer and robbed me of years with her. I don’t know how many times I told Holly and those guys from the Meat Department to quit. It is easy for me to say having never been a smoker but because of Reason’s Breathe Easy program, smoking was not permitted on store property. So the smokers would head off property to smoke, generally right at the property line. It is not so far that you are not within shouting distance but it is too far a distance to run when a shamble of zombies emerge from around the corner…
When Kasondra’s call went out to lock down the store, I was in the produce cooler so I was the first one to the roll up door that leads out to our back dock where we unload our trucks. When I poked my head out of the plastic flaps that keep the air conditioning in to wave Holly inside, I emerged just in time to see her being overpowered and drug to the ground by three of these things.
I have to admit that I froze in my tracks. I mean your mind can barely comprehend what you are seeing. I mean I have seen all kinds of zombie movies and Alex plays that zombie level on Call of Duty but you never imagine that you are going to get thrown into that nightmare. I mean this is the kind of horror story that you only see in the movies, right?
But when those things turn their dead, yellow eyes on you, reality sets in pretty quick. If not… well, I wouldn’t be writing this. So I saw Holly drug to the ground and these guys are sinking in their teeth. I am sure that doctors can tell you (or at least they wouldn’t be surprised by this) but the human heart is a miraculous machine. And the force at which this wonderful vessel pumps our blood… I say this because on that day, I was shocked by how far blood squirts out when zombie teeth get sunk into an artery. That is what I remember most. I remember that blood spray. Thankfully, when Holly was hit, she went down fast and these monsters jumped on top of her so that I could not see her eyes. Truth be told, I am not certain if I even remember her screaming. She was gone so fast and there was nothing I could do.
I wanted to rush out there and save her but when I screamed her name, one of the three looked up at me, blood running down his chin and a savage look in his eyes. Then he jumped up and charged at our produce dock. I am ashamed to admit it but I was frozen solid in fear. Thankfully Lance responded fast to Kasondra’s call. He yanked me back inside and has the wherewithal to shut the roll up door. Thankfully, that door slammed down a split second before that zom collided with it.
We lost our manager but produce was secure.
My second boss – Dave’s replacement – had some big shoes to fill. But I liked Holly and over the last year, she had performed quite well. My biggest complaint about Holly was that she was a smoker. Smoking killed my mother. I have no doubt that it caused her cancer and robbed me of years with her. I don’t know how many times I told Holly and those guys from the Meat Department to quit. It is easy for me to say having never been a smoker but because of Reason’s Breathe Easy program, smoking was not permitted on store property. So the smokers would head off property to smoke, generally right at the property line. It is not so far that you are not within shouting distance but it is too far a distance to run when a shamble of zombies emerge from around the corner…
When Kasondra’s call went out to lock down the store, I was in the produce cooler so I was the first one to the roll up door that leads out to our back dock where we unload our trucks. When I poked my head out of the plastic flaps that keep the air conditioning in to wave Holly inside, I emerged just in time to see her being overpowered and drug to the ground by three of these things.
I have to admit that I froze in my tracks. I mean your mind can barely comprehend what you are seeing. I mean I have seen all kinds of zombie movies and Alex plays that zombie level on Call of Duty but you never imagine that you are going to get thrown into that nightmare. I mean this is the kind of horror story that you only see in the movies, right?
But when those things turn their dead, yellow eyes on you, reality sets in pretty quick. If not… well, I wouldn’t be writing this. So I saw Holly drug to the ground and these guys are sinking in their teeth. I am sure that doctors can tell you (or at least they wouldn’t be surprised by this) but the human heart is a miraculous machine. And the force at which this wonderful vessel pumps our blood… I say this because on that day, I was shocked by how far blood squirts out when zombie teeth get sunk into an artery. That is what I remember most. I remember that blood spray. Thankfully, when Holly was hit, she went down fast and these monsters jumped on top of her so that I could not see her eyes. Truth be told, I am not certain if I even remember her screaming. She was gone so fast and there was nothing I could do.
I wanted to rush out there and save her but when I screamed her name, one of the three looked up at me, blood running down his chin and a savage look in his eyes. Then he jumped up and charged at our produce dock. I am ashamed to admit it but I was frozen solid in fear. Thankfully Lance responded fast to Kasondra’s call. He yanked me back inside and has the wherewithal to shut the roll up door. Thankfully, that door slammed down a split second before that zom collided with it.
We lost our manager but produce was secure.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Day 45 – Zero Hour
It has been long enough. I guess I need to talk about this. Zero Hour. How this all began. I wish I could tell you that I have all the answers. Compiling our story with information that I have learned from Shannon working as a dispatcher, I have tried to piece this thing together. This is what I believe happened…
Migrating in from some unknown location, possibly through some worker, maybe through a visitor, I believe our local Patient Zero showed up at the Reedy Retirement Community, which is located about half a block from Reason’s. I say this because of the number of elderly people that were involved in that first wave of zombies that hit the store. Imagine one zombie loose in a nursing home especially amongst those with mental dementia. The place would be a damn smorgasbord.
I think this was the scenario. Someone was infected but was still not on their way to being incapacitated by the disease. They go to visit their nana in the home. Nana pats them on the face and the infected visitor responds with a bite that breaks the skin. Shocked by their behavior and not feeling well, the person apologizes and goes home to rest or maybe to a hospital. But now Nana is infected. When she starts to show signs of an infection, the responsible orderlies tend to an ill resident. Nana bites Orderly X in a fit of rage when they are trying to administer medicine. Orderly X chalks it up to some lady acting crazy. Nana is sedated and all seems fine.
Orderly X goes home after his shift. His girlfriend is there. The two have relations. Now, Nana, Orderly X, and Orderly X’s Girlfriend are all infected.
That night, Nana with her weakened immune system succumbs to the disease while under sedation. No one notices. She “awakes” at 3 a.m. How many people could she bite and infect within the midnight hours. The skeleton crew of orderlies and other overnight workers are quickly overrun. And now this whole host of zombies is just milling about bumping into each other when the day shift arrives.
As this is happening, Orderly X and his girlfriend have also died painfully but unnoticed in the midnight hours. They rise from the dead and suddenly their apartment complex or trailer park becomes a simultaneous hot zone. Now, zombies are popping up into locations – one north, one south – and these two groups of zoms converge in the center of town… which is right where Reason’s is. And suddenly, we are caught in the middle.
So, as I mentioned in a previous entry, zombies feature herd mentality. But they also use scouts. It is almost like they have some sort of psychic link with one another. A few of their shuffling brethren will wander away from the pack, looking for food. And if a big enough food source is found, it is like they put out a pheromone and the rest of the zoms come shambling.
So the first zom to show up on our doorstep was a scout – a wanderer – looking for food. What he encountered was a woman putting groceries in her car on the far west side of the parking lot. Now, you have to keep in mind. No one is anticipating some sort of zombie apocalypse. These guys are recently turned (within 12 hours) so they are not decaying or withered or even slightly resemble walking corpses. Patient Zero just looked like a sick, homeless guy. Granted, I have never seen a homeless guy in Langley but there are all over the place in Tulsa.
There were two managers on duty when the outbreak began. They were Kasondra Taylor (our assistant manager) and the store director Charley Montgomery. So some customer is bitten by a crazy homeless guy in the parking lot. This was witnessed by our CSM (Customer Service Manager) Becca Sutter. She pages for Charley to come to the front and go aside to make sure the customer is okay. Kasondra arrives at the front of the store (at the register) and stays inside to run the store as Charley goes outside with Becca.
As Charley and Becca are trying to help this customer, the zom goes to attack Becca. Charley defends her and the customer getting into a wrestling match with the zombie. Again, if this seems out of the ordinary, remember, they are not leaking blood out of their eyes or reeking of decayed flesh yet. Charley is just trying to help a customer and protect his CSM who is twenty two years old and has a baby boy that is only one year old…
And by the time they figure out that something is really wrong, a shamble of other zombies (Kasondra said they numbered at least twelve) lurch up onto the west side of the parking lot cutting Charley and Becca off from the west entrance. Now, this group that emerged, they seemed a little less than human and Kasondra had to make a hard choice. I know she has had nightmares regarding her decision but I thank her everyday for it.
Kasondra closed and locked the west entrance. She then got on the store intercom system and screamed – I mean literally screamed – for the store to be locked down. What she did not know is that two had already made it inside through the back entrance…
Migrating in from some unknown location, possibly through some worker, maybe through a visitor, I believe our local Patient Zero showed up at the Reedy Retirement Community, which is located about half a block from Reason’s. I say this because of the number of elderly people that were involved in that first wave of zombies that hit the store. Imagine one zombie loose in a nursing home especially amongst those with mental dementia. The place would be a damn smorgasbord.
I think this was the scenario. Someone was infected but was still not on their way to being incapacitated by the disease. They go to visit their nana in the home. Nana pats them on the face and the infected visitor responds with a bite that breaks the skin. Shocked by their behavior and not feeling well, the person apologizes and goes home to rest or maybe to a hospital. But now Nana is infected. When she starts to show signs of an infection, the responsible orderlies tend to an ill resident. Nana bites Orderly X in a fit of rage when they are trying to administer medicine. Orderly X chalks it up to some lady acting crazy. Nana is sedated and all seems fine.
Orderly X goes home after his shift. His girlfriend is there. The two have relations. Now, Nana, Orderly X, and Orderly X’s Girlfriend are all infected.
That night, Nana with her weakened immune system succumbs to the disease while under sedation. No one notices. She “awakes” at 3 a.m. How many people could she bite and infect within the midnight hours. The skeleton crew of orderlies and other overnight workers are quickly overrun. And now this whole host of zombies is just milling about bumping into each other when the day shift arrives.
As this is happening, Orderly X and his girlfriend have also died painfully but unnoticed in the midnight hours. They rise from the dead and suddenly their apartment complex or trailer park becomes a simultaneous hot zone. Now, zombies are popping up into locations – one north, one south – and these two groups of zoms converge in the center of town… which is right where Reason’s is. And suddenly, we are caught in the middle.
So, as I mentioned in a previous entry, zombies feature herd mentality. But they also use scouts. It is almost like they have some sort of psychic link with one another. A few of their shuffling brethren will wander away from the pack, looking for food. And if a big enough food source is found, it is like they put out a pheromone and the rest of the zoms come shambling.
So the first zom to show up on our doorstep was a scout – a wanderer – looking for food. What he encountered was a woman putting groceries in her car on the far west side of the parking lot. Now, you have to keep in mind. No one is anticipating some sort of zombie apocalypse. These guys are recently turned (within 12 hours) so they are not decaying or withered or even slightly resemble walking corpses. Patient Zero just looked like a sick, homeless guy. Granted, I have never seen a homeless guy in Langley but there are all over the place in Tulsa.
There were two managers on duty when the outbreak began. They were Kasondra Taylor (our assistant manager) and the store director Charley Montgomery. So some customer is bitten by a crazy homeless guy in the parking lot. This was witnessed by our CSM (Customer Service Manager) Becca Sutter. She pages for Charley to come to the front and go aside to make sure the customer is okay. Kasondra arrives at the front of the store (at the register) and stays inside to run the store as Charley goes outside with Becca.
As Charley and Becca are trying to help this customer, the zom goes to attack Becca. Charley defends her and the customer getting into a wrestling match with the zombie. Again, if this seems out of the ordinary, remember, they are not leaking blood out of their eyes or reeking of decayed flesh yet. Charley is just trying to help a customer and protect his CSM who is twenty two years old and has a baby boy that is only one year old…
And by the time they figure out that something is really wrong, a shamble of other zombies (Kasondra said they numbered at least twelve) lurch up onto the west side of the parking lot cutting Charley and Becca off from the west entrance. Now, this group that emerged, they seemed a little less than human and Kasondra had to make a hard choice. I know she has had nightmares regarding her decision but I thank her everyday for it.
Kasondra closed and locked the west entrance. She then got on the store intercom system and screamed – I mean literally screamed – for the store to be locked down. What she did not know is that two had already made it inside through the back entrance…
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