Sundown Series (Book 1): Prepared Read online

  “Blake. Are you in there?” Alex pleaded. She hated how broken her voice sounded. She needed strength. There was no recognition in his face, no reaction to her except his face seemed to be set in a permanent show of rage. His teeth chomped at the air as he tried to make his way to her.

  The moment Blake was standing next to the entrance of the stairs, Alex realized she didn’t think she could stab him in cold blood. Taking a running start, Alex ran at him, and at the last possible moment she front kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards down the stairs. The body that didn’t seem to work correctly didn’t even know how to catch himself or protect the important parts of the body. Alex watched and felt her head swim, stars in front of her eyes, when the sickening crack of Blake’s neck reached her ears. She looked at the limp body, and in horror, realized his mouth was still moving as if to take a bite of something.

  What could live after breaking its neck like that? Alex knew it was broken, Blake’s head was at a sickening angle, which could only be a broken neck and severed spinal cord. She waited, seeing if somehow, he would stand up again, but after a few moments, it seemed the broken neck put a stop to the rest of the body trying to get to her. However, the face, Blake’s face with black eyes, continued to contort in rage, mouth reaching for her, teeth gnashing. His face was covered in blood, Lucy’s blood. His chest had drips of it where it had run down, when Blake had, eaten her? That’s what Alex saw, she was sure of it.

  Mind turning back to the kids, she stood for a moment weighing her next actions. She needed to let the kids know she was all right, but in no way could they see their father like this. Alex had a feeling that as long as she stayed away from his mouth, she would be ok. Making a plan, Alex stepped back into her bedroom, and grabbed the nearest jeans. Pulling them on, she unplugged her cellphone, noting the signal bars were there. She knocked on the bathroom door and leaned close, hearing the crying from the other side. The fear made her heartbreak more than it already had.

  “Billie, baby, it’s Mommy. Open up,” Alex said, her voice cracking as she choked on her sorrow. She held her bowie knife tightly, watching the bedroom door. She wasn’t sure Blake was really down for the count. She couldn’t be sure this wasn’t a completely nightmare actually. It seemed to take an eternity, but she heard the bathroom door lock click, and Billie’s tear streaked face showed in the crack it opened.

  “Mommy, is the bad person gone?” She whispered. She opened the door more, and Alex saw she had a pair of sharp scissors in her hand. Looking at her daughter for a moment, Alex almost wanted to burst directly into hysteria. This was what she looked like, at her age, learning to fend off any attack that her father threw at them. She never wanted that type of life for her children. But her father hadn’t been wrong, and now they were forced into whatever this was.

  “Not yet sweetheart. I’m going to handle things. I need you and your brother to stay in Mommy’s room, and do not come out for anything ok?” Alex said. Billie nodded quickly and little Henry grabbed her free hand.

  “You two are my tough kiddos right. Everything is going to be fine,” Alex said as she left the room, shutting the door behind her. Walking back to the entrance of the stairs she looked down, and found some relief that Blake’s body was still there. As soon as she came into view, he growled and his mouth began chomping again. The rest of his body was utterly still, confirming his spine was broken. How he wasn’t dead, she wasn’t sure. But she needed to get rid of his body.

  Remembering that she grabbed her cell phone, she pulled it out and dialed 911. The phone rang and rang, and eventually went into a fast busy sound. Alex pulled the phone from her ear and looked at it. Her signal was fine. She decided she needed to get to the house phone, which was passed Blake’s body. Taking a deep breath, she started down the stairs. As she got closer to Blake, his chomping became more erratic. A tear slid down her face, and Alex had to look away from her husband. Her heart was shattered in a way she didn’t know how to handle.

  Once she was beyond his body, she quickly took the rest of the stairs, only be stopped short by the gruesome scene in front of her. Lucy, oh god Lucy. Alex couldn’t handle looking at her body a moment longer, she quickly turned to the kitchen and grabbed the phone. Dialing 911 again, she placed the phone between her ear and shoulder. The time was 9:35 AM, which was well beyond when Lucy would have normally woken her and the kids up. As she listened to the ringing phone, she grabbed two bowls and the kids’ favorite cereal.

  After getting fast busy with 911 two more times, Alex ran back up the stairs with the bowls of cereal. The kids needed to keep up their strength, and she knew they had to be hungry. When she entered the room, Billie jumped up from the bed, holding the scissors over her head. Seeing Alex, she sat down sheepishly. Alex gave her a small smile.

  “It’s ok Billie. I’m proud of you for wanting to protect your brother. I brought some breakfast so you could eat while I’m waiting for the police officers,” Alex said as she handed them each a bowl and spoon.

  “We can eat in your room?” Henry asked surprised. The boy was her little rule follower, whether it was her rules, or the rules his sister imposed on him.

  “Yes bud, you can eat in here this time. Until I get things settled with the police, I rather you just stay in here ok?”

  After getting their agreement and making sure they understood how important this was, she left the bedroom again. Knowing the path she needed to take to get around Blake, she didn’t even look at his bloody face as she sped down the stairs. Not thinking about anything but getting the police on the phone, Alex didn’t see the figure enter her path at the bottom of the stairs. She crashed into the figure and fell back onto the stairs, striking her elbows sharply. But Alex didn’t have a moment to think of the pain, before she realized it was Lucy she had run into. And Lucy was coming at her, with no throat or stomach left, she was trying to grab Alex.

  “Holy shit!” Alex screamed. She backpedaled up the stairs, but then it occurred to her she was going to run into Blake, and lead Lucy to the kids.

  “Lucy? Lucy can you hear me?” Alex screamed. As it was with Blake, there was no look of recognition on Lucy’s face, only hunger and fury. Her teeth gnashed the way Blake’s did. Alex looked up and realized Lucy’s eyes were now black as well.

  In what seemed to be light speed, thoughts flew through Alex’s head. Lucy was most definitely dead on her living room floor not 30 minutes before. Looking at her body, she could tell there was no way anyone would still be alive with no throat, and their intestines still in the other room. Breaking a neck didn’t kill Blake. The only other thing Alex could think of was the brain. Once she got to this thought, Alex had just enough time to lift her bowie knife and plunge it into Lucy’s temple, as her head came down to try and bite Alex’s leg.

  As soon as the knife entered the brain, Alex twisted and yanked. Lucy’s body crumpled to the floor and she didn’t move again. Alex’s breath came in sharp pants. How was this possible? How could Lucy be moving after she had most of her living organs taken out of her body? Her eyes were the exact same as Blake’s. Whatever had made Blake go crazy, made Lucy be alive, even though she shouldn’t have been? But neither of them were the people she knew.

  Her thought process had her looking over at Blake’s body behind her on the middle landing. His eyes were on her, and she could read the hunger on his face. She looked at him closer. He was shirtless, in his pajama bottoms only. Thinking of everything she had seen, Alex remembered the black mark on his arm. What was it? Alex stood and went to Blake’s body. Putting her feelings deep back from the front of her brain, she grabbed his body by one arm and pulled until he was laid flat on his stomach. She found the black mark on his right arm, and she gasped when she saw what it was. A human bite.

  Alex dropped Blake’s arm and ran downstairs, to the front of her house. After checking the locks on the door, she peered through the front window. The street was eerily still. Where were the cars of people headed to work? Wher
e was her neighbor across the street, who usually sat at his window and read? She looked at his window again, and realized there was something smeared on it. Blood.

  Shit, Shit, Shit. Alex’s brain felt like it was frying. Had her father been right? Was this the apocalypse he tried to prepare her for? Alex cursed herself for not taking Mitch much more seriously when she got older. Running back to the kitchen, she flipped on the TV there. There was a newscaster, looking scared and shocked reading from a teleprompter.

  “Please, if you are just turning on the news, do not leave your home. The government is not explaining what is happening, but we do know there is a plague. A plague that is making people severely violent, with cannibalistic tendencies. Government officials are recommending you run if you come across any of these individuals. At this time a vector of infection has not been revealed, so staying out of contact with the infected is your best option. Again if you are just tuning in….” The newscaster continued to repeat the information. Video from around the United States showed fights, riots, looting all over the country. Alex wondered if this was only happening in the US. Where had Blake been bitten she wondered. A bite, that had to be the infection point. And if you don’t die, you get very sick. That’s why Blake was burning up the night before.

  Alex decided to try 911 one more time, though she knew now it was very unlikely for her to get through to anyone. Again, she received a fast busy. Years of survival instincts, and teachings began to play through Alex’s head. Stay out of sight. Be prepared with weapons and food. Find high ground when possible. Stay together. Do not trust anyone. Be smart. Right at that moment, Alex wasn’t feeling smart, she was feeling exhausted. She looked at the clock, 10:15 AM. She knew what she had to do.

  Grabbing the phone again, she dialed Rafe’s number. It went straight to voicemail, which immediately scared Alex. But she left the message she intended and hoped he got it and maybe called back before services started shutting off. So far, her father had been right about this happening, and he predicted the use of communication devices would be out very quickly.

  Next Alex dialed Max. The phone rang three times before Jack answered.

  “Auntie Alex?” She asked.

  “Jack I need your mom now please,” Alex said sternly.

  “Ok,” Jack replied uncertainly. She pulled the phone from her ear and screamed for her mother. Alex cringed at the loud noise. It made her look around her, afraid to find an infected watching her.

  “Jack?” Alex asked.

  “Yeah Auntie?”

  “I love you honey,” Alex said softly. Her breath hitched in her throat for a moment. She had lost so much so quickly, and she hadn’t even slowed to think about it. She wanted her niece to know she loved her.

  “I love you too Auntie,” Jack said cheerfully before she handed the phone to Max.

  “Hey sis, what’s going on?” Max asked.

  “Where have you been this weekend? Haven’t you seen the news?” Alex asked.

  “We went camping Saturday and got back early this morning. I let Jack play hooky. Why?” Max replied.

  “Max. It’s happened. We have to start Sundown,” Alex said quickly, using the code word their father had created and ingrained into their heads from a young age. The code word was to mean whatever had happened to cause the world to fall, they were all to head to Montana, to his compound. A compound he created and worked on for a long time, to be ready just for this situation.

  “Sundown? Alex are you kidding?”

  “Turn on the news Max! It’s happening. Living dead, Zombies, infected, whatever you want to call them,” Alex said.

  “Alex, slowdown. That’s crazy. I was just joking about the bath salts thing,” Max said. But she trailed off. Alex could hear the news playing in her apartment now.

  “Shit. Alex. The kids are they ok?” Max asked.

  “Yes. And I will do everything I can to make them ok. We have to start Sundown Max, do you understand?”

  “Yes, but…”As Max began to talk, the line became fuzzy and a distinct click cut them off. Alex looked at her phone, panicked. She hit the talk button again, but there was nothing. She grabbed her cellphone, and there was a no signal symbol instead of bars.

  Daddy had been right. Alex was now on her own.

  Chapter 4

  Alone. The word hit Alex like a sledgehammer as she looked at the dead phones on the kitchen table. Again, she found herself thinking about Mitch and one of his life lessons. He used to say “Alex, girl, you can’t depend on anyone. Someday you will be the one protecting others, and you need to be able to do that on your own.”

  Alex never believed she would be alone again. Not the way her father had warned her. But she also had never thought she would find anyone to share her life. She was different. In many ways she was tougher than the men she met. Her knowledge and prepping often made her intimidating to men she dated for any extended amount of time. Then she met Blake.

  The college party that brought them together was one of the few she had ever stepped foot in. She always needed to know exits and have evacuation plans in place. Part of her knew how strange her obsession with prepping was, but it was a part of her life and she could not find a way to stop. This obsession usually had men running from her, or downright laughing at her. But Blake didn’t.

  Alex went to the party. She drank more than usual, and found herself talking to Blake. He was so handsome and when he looked at her, she felt a sizzle down to her toes. The alcohol gave her a buzzy warm feeling, and she lost control of her mouth, admitting to a man she just met that she was an obsessive prepper by nature. He didn’t laugh or walk away. He did what no one else in her life had done, asked her why. The moment he asked, Alex had realized that was what she was looking for, someone to show interest in her quirks.

  Their love felt like a whirlwind. Alex felt completed by Blake. He filled a spot in her soul that she never admitted to herself existed. They lived together before they were married, and it was then that Blake was fully confronted with the seriousness of Alex’s prepping. She still waited for him to run from her, call her crazy and decide she wasn’t worth the trouble. Instead, he told her one night after insanely wild lovemaking, that eventually they would buy a house that had storage for her. Alex did not let him sleep that night, because she couldn’t stop the love she felt for him in that moment that he completely accepted her for who she was.

  Blake proposed under the stars in the quiet desert as they hiked by moonlight. Alex was so stunned she didn’t answer right away. However, when he slipped the simple band of diamonds on her finger, exactly what she would have picked for herself, she broke down in wracking, un-Alex-like sobs. Blake held her, sitting on a large boulder, as she let her emotions go. He had always known how she needed him to be. And he always took her and her quirks in stride.

  Alex found herself looking down at what was once Blake. She slid down the wall behind his body and let tears fall. Her quirks, her behaviors that were so random to many people. Those were what was going to save her children now. She rested her head on her knee, studying Blake’s back, and trying to picture him not covered in blood. None of her practice, or all of her prepping, saved Blake.

  Once Blake had questioned her desire to be prepared for the worst. It was at a moment of weakness for them both, the middle of a fight. Now Alex couldn’t even remember what actually started the fight. But one thing Blake knew how to do was fight, and he could be dirty about it. They argued and he threw her obsession at her, shooting the arrow right at her heart. The question caught Alex off guard, and all she could tell him was she never knew a time to not be ready. She had walked away from him, heartbroken that he didn’t really understand her. But Blake didn’t let her get far, before grabbing her and apologizing over and over.

  His understanding of Alex had extended throughout their lives. After she accepted his proposal, they locked themselves in their apartment, making love all day and night. They ordered take out and ate ice cream out of the carton. Bl
ake laughed at funny stories about her siblings, but was somber and consoling when she told him about some of the raw lessons her father taught them. They made love to the sunset and the sunrise, and everywhere in between. They talked about having a family, both of them certain they wanted at least two children. By the end of the third day, Alex decided she could not wait any longer to be Blake’s wife.

  He wanted all of the glamour of a big white wedding for Alex. He tried to convince her she would regret eloping. But Alex wasn’t a typical woman. Her childhood dreams never included weddings or men. All she ever dreamed about was the chance to play with dolls or have friends. Alex had left the apartment finally to find a white dress. She found a strapless dress, with a fitted bodice, that led to a medium length bell skirt. It was the most feminine piece of clothing she had ever worn. She wanted to be the most beautiful bride for Blake.

  They ran off to a Las Vegas wedding chapel, minus Elvis. The moment she stepped into the room and Blake laid eyes on her, Alex had been filled with a deep sense of certainty. His eyes were full of unshed tears as she joined him and took his hand. His hand was warm and solid and he squeezed hers with affection. They said I do in a quick ten-minute ceremony that could not have been more perfect.

  Blake whisked Alex off to a hotel suite after the ceremony. They popped a bottle of cheap champagne and toasted in front of large windows that framed the Las Vegas strip. People bustled along the street, streaming in and out of the casinos. But Blake and Alex had a quiet haven above it all. As they made love that night, they repeated their vows to love and cherish each other. Alex knew she had found her home.

  Alex did not want to hear the noises coming from Blake’s body. He knew her warm body, full of blood and meat, was sitting behind him. She couldn’t stop the choking tears. In her mind, she realized she needed to pull it together, she needed to protect Billie and Henry. Her heart was shredded, a part of it wishing Blake would have just taken her down with him.