Part 2

The second part of The Outbreak. Where two brothers come face-to-face with the walking dead for the first time.

The shot could be heard echoing throughout the small gas station, shortly followed by a second shot. He walked up to the two dead bodies making sure both were indeed dead, they had a bullet hole in each of their heads and were not moving. He then went throughout the store getting supplies always keeping his Springfield XDM .40 close. When he was done he moved back outside to the truck that was waiting next to the gas pump. He climbed into the passenger seat.

“So did you get anything good?” Caleb asked his brother.

“No just the usual, a few canned goods and what have you. Nothing worth shouting over and no ammo either.” Josh said throwing the two grocery bags into the back seat, “Let’s roll out.”

Caleb stepped on the gas and the truck sped out of the parking lot and onto the highway, the sun setting to their right. They sped off down the road, in the tan Chevrolet Silverado, with a cattle guard on the front. The bed had a topper on it and inside where two small foam pads, two totes (one with food, one with ammo), two backpacks, and two duffels with clothes. Josh reached into the back seat and pulled out two bottles of water from the case, handing one to his brother. He looked around at all they had in the back and smiled, they were off to a great start. There was one whole floor board section with cases and bottles of water, and the other was canned goods and non-perishable foods. The seat behind Caleb had boxes of ammo and other miscellaneous items on it, the middle and seat behind Josh had two rifles, two shotguns, and an AR-15.

Josh looked down to his side at the AR-15 with bipod, fore grip, tactical light, 1-4 magnification scope, and 30 round mag. It was a beautiful firearm and had been through a lot in the last day. Never would he have actually thought that his gun would kill zombies for real, not just in his imagination…

 ~*~

Joshua and Caleb had always been a little different from “the norm”. They had grown up in the woods learning to shoot at the age of seven. They had been homeschooled for the first half of their schooling and had always lived outside of small towns. They lived and breathed hunting and guns, had a few close friends, and didn’t like being in big cities surrounded by crowds of people. They would go out to the ‘bush’ in Alaska for at three months every year and live in rustic conditions. No running water (besides the river next to camp), no electricity, no internet, and no phone (besides a satellite phone). They loved it, the whole family plus the help would go out and live and hunt for that time. Little did they know at the time, but all this would prepare them for the outbreak.

The day had started off like any other, with Caleb up first and getting Josh up, then both of them doing a workout before breakfast. They had the home all to themselves today as they had for the past three days and would for another week. Their parents were both in Nebraska visiting Diana’s parents and extended family. So the two brothers had been just messing around while their parents had been gone, shooting and watching movies. Today though they had the guns loaded up in Jack’s truck to head out to the ranch to do a bit of prairie dog and coyote hunting. They also had a bag each of cloths and some food; they were planning on staying out at the ranch for a few days.

They both got on their computers to check their Facebook pages quickly before heading out. There was nowhere on the internet you could go without seeing something about the killings around the Arclea Mountains. It had started a couple of days ago when there had been mass murders in Hill City, Oklahoma and then the town went dark. There had been cops sent in, but nothing had been heard from the town for a day. The same thing started happening to the smaller towns surrounding the Arclea Mountains, then the National Guard had been sent in. That had been two days ago, and now rumors were circulating around the internet and national media.

There were rumors about a company LifeWork being involved, and the dead coming back to life. Of course all the crazy apocalypse people were claiming zombies and the end of the world. But the more rational public were just curious and wondering what was going on. Now today it seemed like there was a video floating around of soldiers shooting assailants that would not die. Then the video suddenly cut out, of course most people thought it was fake, or a hoax. “Have you read this yet?” Josh asked his brother pointing to a new article on his screen. Caleb came over and started to read it. It was about a few other small towns in the middle of nowhere that were experiencing similar scenarios, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, and Vermont. This was all just speculation of course, but still it raised some questions.

“Wow, this is getting serious,” Caleb said as he headed over to the phone. “I’m going to give mom and dad a quick call before we head out and let them know we will be gone for a few days.” Caleb dialed the number as Josh read the rest of the article. Caleb hung up the phone a few minutes later telling his parents that he loved them and Josh did too. “Well they are alright and said not to worry about them. This will probably blow over soon and to have fun hunting.”

“Well then, no use burning more daylight. Let’s hit the road and go shoot some coyotes!” Josh said shutting his laptop and putting it back into the case next to the couch. They put their boots on, grabbing the last box of ammo and headed out the door, locking up as they left. They jumped into the truck and did a quick check that they had everything then Josh turned the truck on and they drove down the driveway. Twenty minutes later they made a stop for fuel in the small town of Cowton set in the plains of eastern Montana.

Forty minutes later and they were in the heart of the ranch at their hunting camp. They unloaded the truck, putting their cloths in the bunk cabin, the food in the cook shack and their gear and guns in the green Ford Expedition. A few minutes later they were making dust fly down the bumpy dirt road to the first prairie dog town they were going to hit today. They pulled up to a small rise above the dog town and parked the “Death Wagon”, as they called it. Getting out they each grabbed their AR-15s from beside them. Both of the ARs were a thing a beauty, with both of them having a collapsible butt stock, fore grip, bipod and attachment on the side for flashlights. Caleb’s was a Bushmaster, with a 16” barrel and Trijicon ACOG 4x32 scope, while Josh’s was a Colt with an 18” barrel and Leupold VX-R 1.25-4x illuminated scope.

They each shoved a 20 round mag into the assault rifles and jacked a round into the chamber. They went prone and looked down to the prairie dog town spread out before them. “I have two dogs spotted,” Josh said, “about 200 yards out. Go to the right of the lone tree about 10 yards then down just a little.”

“I got them,” Caleb said before Josh could even get finished. “You take the one on the left and I’ll get the one on the right. You take first shot.” Josh had his crosshairs rested on the vermin the whole time Caleb was talking. When he finished Josh slowly exhaled and squeezed the trigger the prairie dog did a backflip as the 55 grain FMJ bullet collided with its little body. Before the dog could land his flip Caleb had let his round fly, blowing the head off the other one.

“Good shot!” Josh congratulated his brother. “Okay, I got another set a little further out, 300 yards this time. The big black hole straight out from us.”

A second later came Caleb’s confirmation, “Target acquired. I’ll take point on this one, same side as always.” They both aimed through their scopes at their prospective prairie dogs putting their radicals on the vermin. The shots were merely a second apart and both vermin were dead after the dust settled. They continued to do this for the next few hours picking out some dogs and blasting them. They did not always hit their mark, but they were sure to correct it the next time or be careful not to ‘pull’ the trigger again.

By the end of the day they were back at camp cooking up a hearty supper. They had shot close to a hundred rounds each and killed over a hundred prairie dogs. All in all it had been a good day hunting and they had had a blast. They ate supper watched Shooter on the small TV at camp then went to bed. They woke up the next morning, doing a coyote hunt in the early morning. They called in three coyotes, killing two, but the other one got away. Then during the middle of the day they were out prairie dog hunting again, as they liked to come out in the middle of the day when it was nice and hot. They spent four beautiful Montana summer days out on the ranch. Three days they hunted and on the fourth they fixed up camp and repaired the fence around it.

On the fifth day they woke up packed up their food, closed up the camp and threw everything back into their dad’s truck. They coyote hunted on the way out and were able to get another on shot; this brought their total up to half a dozen. They bumped along the rugged dirt road and finally made their way onto the gravel road that would take them into town. They drove into town around lunchtime; they had not passed a single car on the gravel road the whole way back. Which was not uncommon, but now they were in town and once again they had yet to see a single car on the road.

“This is weird,” Josh mumbled as they started to turn onto the main street of town headed for the grocery store. They turned the corner and gasped, there were now cars on the road but none of them were being driven. Most of them still had the doors open and looked like they had been left in a hurry, there were also a few cars crashed. But that wasn’t the worst of it, there were bodies, dead bodies lying on the ground all over the street and off to the sides. “What the…” Josh started as they fully took it in.

“What happened here?” Caleb said in a barely audible voice. The truck slowly rolled to a stop as they came upon the first abandoned car. Josh drove around the car, they looked inside as they drove by and there was no in it. Then they were on the first body lying in the middle of the road, it was face down. They drove up to it and Josh threw the car in park, and the brothers got out of the car. They both took their handguns out of the truck and put them behind their backs in their belts. Josh had his Springfield XDM .40 with 16 round high capacity mags, and Caleb had his Kimber 1911 .45 ACP with standard 7 round mags. They slowly walked up to the body. “Hello? Are you okay?” Caleb said to the man lying there. Nothing, he didn’t even flinch, his chest was not moving.

“I definitely think he is dead.” Josh said walking up and bending down to flip him over to check his fatal wound. Then the smell hit them, the stench of meat rotting in the hot sun, they had both smelled this before, but always with dead animals not people. Josh reached down and rolled him over Caleb stayed a little back with his hand at his back; something did not feel right to him. His training was kicking in, being a Marine once had meant he had been trained to kill and trained to survive. His Marine instincts were kicking in and he was treating this like a warzone. The corpse rolled over, it was bloated and there was a gaping wound at the neck and a hole in the head. “Holy…” Josh whispered as he took in the gore of the wound. “There is a gaping wound at his neck and a bullet hole in his head.” Josh told Caleb, as he was now looking around them half crouched. “Not sure which was the death blow but both were fatal. He has been dead for a while.”

“We need to get back into the truck and keep moving into town. See if we can find anyone who knows what’s going on.” Caleb said, he was on edge, this whole scene was not right. Why was everyone dead, if it was an attack by another country where were the soldiers, the guns, tanks, anything. And if it was not that then what was it, did it have anything to do with all the killings and blackouts that had been taking place? They both had these thoughts in their heads and they turned around and started to head back to the truck. Then they heard a moan coming from behind them, they both turned around quickly drawing their guns.

There was no one there only the body they had just examined and a few more laying farther out. Then there was movement farther out, about ten yards, one of the bodies started to move. “Someone is alive!” Josh said running towards the body putting his gun away, Caleb started moving too but kept his gun out and ready. The girl rolled over and started to rise on shaky legs, “Don’t move, we’re coming to you.” Josh said to the girl. He was only three steps away when he came to a sudden stop and his eyes went wide.

She was standing now but she should not have been, her right leg was twisted, the bone was showing through the break. But that was not the worst of it half her face was so mangled they could hardly tell she was human. The pupil of the one eye you could see was pale and dead, the surrounding eye was bloodshot. She started to slowly limp their way dragging her broken leg, her arms came up and she was groaning. The smell, she smelled terrible, she smelled dead, like rotten meat.

Josh took a few quick steps back to where he was now level with his brother; he drew his handgun again training it on the woman. As Josh was backing up Caleb slid the slide on his gun back chambering a round. “Are you kidding me right now? What is going on?” Josh said, in complete shock.

“She is not what I think she is, is she?” Caleb asked almost as shaken as Josh. She was still coming at them slowly but she was picking up speed and her groans were intensifying. “She can’t be, can she?”

“Stop now or we will shoot you.” Josh said chambering a round, then to his brother, “What do we do?”

“Let’s get back as we figure it out, she’s not coming too fast.” They both started backing up while keeping their guns pointed at her. Clearly she should be dead, they could both see that, but somehow she wasn’t. But she wasn’t exactly acting alive either, she was acting very strange.

“This is not happening,” Josh said to his brother. “She’s… a zombie. That is the only thing I can come up with look at her wounds; she should be dead right now. What do we do?”

“Shoot her, I mean it, shoot it plain and simple.” Caleb said, he had come to terms with what she, what it was, and he was ready to deal with it. Caleb moved his sights from her chest to her whole leg. His gun went off and hit her in the thigh but she kept coming she just shrugged it off like it was nothing. He moved his sights lower and fired, it passed clean through the knee, shattering the bone. She fell to the ground, but she kept coming, dragging her body and useless legs behind her.

“What the hell, this is unreal.” Josh said watching it all with horror. Caleb aimed his gun at her middle of her back and squeezed the trigger. The bullet flew out of the gun slamming into the middle of her back, a little off to the right of the spine. Once again she acted like nothing had happened, her body shuddered with the impact but that was all the respond that she gave, and she was still coming. He aimed at her head ready to end this, his left index finger squeezed the trigger and her head jerked back. She fell onto her face, unmoving, blood pooling around the wound on the blacktop road. Caleb lowered his gun, feeling a mix of emotions inside. He pushed them all away, he would deal with them later, but right now they knew what they were facing and they had to survive.

Josh had pulled out of his stupor when she was finally down. “So that is it, she was a zombie. That’s what happened here, a zombie outbreak. The rumors had been right, the blackouts, the mass murders, the undying assailants, it had all been real. It really was zombies all along, I can’t believe it, I never thought it would happen for real.”

“Well it has and you better get used to it, because we are going to be facing more. And I don’t want you to hesitate or freeze up when I think you have my back.” Caleb said a little harshly. That woke Josh up, he knew his brother was more determined than him and could control himself better but he had just killed someone. Yes she may have been a zombie, but she had also been human a few days ago, and a human in the town they lived near. They could have both known her, it was hard to tell by her face but they could have.

“Yes brother, I do have your back and don’t worry I would never hesitate to pull the trigger. You know that, against a zombie or a real person.” Josh said putting his hand on his brothers shoulder, “You did what you had to, now let’s get out of here. We don’t need anything from town and I want to get back to the house.” Caleb sighed, his brother knew him so well, and just with those six words his brother had eased most of his doubts and calmed him. They quickly walked back to the car keeping their guns at the ready.

Josh jumped into the driver’s seat, and put the truck into drive. He turned the truck sharp to the left going across into the other lane then into the shallow ditch as he righted the truck heading back the way they had come. Meanwhile Caleb had reloaded the mag; keeping a round in the chamber with the safety on and put it into its holster attached that to his belt. He then got into the back seat and pulled his AR out of the case and loaded a 30 round mag. He chambered a round and smiled at Josh, “At least we are prepared and have a plan for this, right Joshua?” Josh couldn’t help but smile a little. It was true they did have a far fetch plan for this; neither had thought it would actually happen, but they still had joked about it at times. Now it was for real, and they would put their plan into motion. It was a simple plan really: get their family that was still alive, maybe a couple of close friends too and head off to their remote camp in Alaska. Once there they would be self-sustained with a few supply trips in a bush plane back to civilization.

Once on the interstate they knew for sure that this was real, there were cars on the sides of the road, in the middle of the road all abandoned. There were a few bodies here and there, and every once in a while a walking corpse. They made sure to check every moving corpse to make sure they were not alive then they would continue on. The drive to the highway to their house took longer than normal as they had to go off-roading to dodge some car crashes. They drove in silence all the way to the dirt road that lead to their house, each absorbed in their own thoughts. Josh slowed down and turned onto the dirt road leading to their house.

“So how do you think it spreads? It has to be airborne right, how else would it get to our little ole town?” Josh asked his brother, knowing his guess was as good as any.

“It must be. We must have missed a lot in the last few days. I hope the internet is still up so we can get caught up and I hope the phone lines work.” Just then it hit them both, their parents were not at the house all safe and sound they were hundreds of miles away in Nebraska. “We need to get home quick and call mom and dad.” Caleb said urgency in his voice.

“On it,” Josh said as he stepped on the gas and the truck sped off down the dirt road. Once they arrived at the house he turned the truck off and ran inside, Caleb unloaded the truck putting everything on the porch as they would need to repack for a road trip. Inside Josh took a breath and said a quick prayer before picking up the phone, there was still a dial tone. He quickly dialed his mom’s cell phone number and waited. So they still had power and phone, which made sense not like the zombies, would attack the phone or power stations. But how long that would last without anyone working them was anyone’s guess. She picked up on the fourth ring.

“Oh thank God you are still okay, we have been so worried and have tried to call the house every day.” His mom said relief clear in her voice.

“Yeah, we were gone and didn’t know anything was wrong till we came out today. We need to be filled in quickly; I know grandma is always watching the news.” Josh said trying to laugh but just made a chocking sound instead.

“It would be hard to miss now, even if she didn’t always watch the news. It happened the day after you guys left, the truth came out. It is some kind of virus or infection, most likely airborne, and it spreads quickly. It basically like in all the movies you guys watch, they are brainless, and they die then come back with a hunger for flesh. They are unthinking and can be killed with a fatal injury to the head. As of right now it has still not hit all of the cities yet but it is just a matter of time. We are safe for now; we have some firearms and are hole up in a defensible place.” Diana said her voice starting to crack, “Josh, honey, we are all scared, this doesn’t seem real.”

“It’s okay mom, it will all be okay. We are packing up the truck now and will be heading down as soon as we can. We will meet you there and then we will all head off up north; we need to get to a plane and someone who can get us to Alaska. You know the plan Caleb and I have for the zombie apocalypse?”

She chuckled a little, “Yes I know it, but always thought you guys were silly for having it.”

“So were we, until today. But either way we are putting it into motion and I will call the rest of the family to see if they are still alive and let them know, also some friends. But you need to stay put and stay safe, remember double tap to the head. Get the whole family and stay safe you hear me, stay safe!”

“We will Josh, can you get Caleb on I’ll give you to your dad quick he wants to talk. I love you son, and I hope to see you soon. I will be praying for you two.”

“Thanks mom, I love you too, and we’ll need the prayers if we are to survive this.” Josh could hear her pass the phone on to his dad.

“Son are you there?” Jack said worry in his voice, but it was still strong. There was a determination in his voice that always comforted Josh and gave him courage.

“Yes dad, I’m here. Are you guys really safe? What is the weapon situation?” Josh asked wanting to protect his parents at all costs.

“Don’t worry about us son, we have enough guns and ammo thanks to some of your mother’s uncles, and I always have my hand gun on me. We are safe and secure for now, the… virus or whatever it is has not hit us yet. We will be fine; you just watch your back and your brother’s okay? I’m counting on you two.”

“I will dad, we will be okay, and we are as prepared as anyone. We will keep in contact; I don’t see why our cells shouldn’t work for a while. I love you dad, be careful.” Josh said emotion clear in his voice.

“I will son, you too. I love you, now remember son, we are Andersons. We never back down and we never give up. Mess with the best, die like the rest.” His father said, and that was exactly what Josh needed to hear. He wiped the tears from his eyes and handed the phone to his brother who had just walked in. He took the phone and started talking to his dad, relief clear in his voice. Josh started to move towards the back of the tiny house and the basement. A great sadness had been washed away replaced by determination and a desire to survive. His parents were alive and safe as could be and his mom said she was praying for him. Which means she still had faith, and if she had faith so did he. He didn’t know all the philosophical answers, reasons, or questions on how this could happen or why God would allow this to happen but he did know a few things. The end times are talked about in the Bible as a time when God lets evil reign for a period of time. But most importantly he knew his savoir and knew where he would go after all this, where his family and most of his friends would also be. He could still feel deep in his heart that even in this, God was with him.

He quickly ran down into the basement getting all the ammo he could in one trip and headed back up the stairs and out onto the porch. He walked in just as Caleb finished talking to their mom. “I love you too and we will call you soon.” He hung up the phone and looked over to Josh and smiled. “They are safe and secure, I feel so relieved.”

“Yes they are brother, and God is with them and us.” Josh said going up and hugging his brother tight. Caleb had a little doubt on his face for a second after his brother’s last comment, but then it disappeared.

“Yes we do, even in these times.” He said they broke the embrace and stood there looking at each other. “And we also have each other.” Caleb said grasping Josh’s forearm and Josh grasping his back. “We will always have each other, brothers till we die.”

“Amen to that brother.” Josh said, “Now let’s get packed and head out.”

They spent half an hour getting all their gear together. Luckily they were hunters and keen on buying ammo in bulk when on sale. Together they had thousands of rounds of .223, hundreds of .45 and .40, and hundreds for their 12 gauges and rifles also. They had a multitude of guns, and took all they could fit. Luckily they had moved all their stuff from storage into the house they were building fifty yards away from their tiny house they lived in now. They took their main guns out and put them in a separate pile then took all the other ones like the older hunting rifles, .17s, .22s and the like and put them all in a duffle then into the back of the truck. They grabbed their little foam pads they slept on and threw them tied up into the bed, along with a duffle each of clothing. Once again they were hunters and had a lot of durable camo gear, which they hoped would give them an edge with the zombies too.

“I’m glad our Kryptek box got here early, because now we have great gear that we also look bad a*s in.” Caleb said to Josh, as they packed their small duffels. They also had quite a few canned goods and nonperishable food stuffs at the house. They loaded up two totes of food and all the ammo cans. They also had a case of water left over from their last road trip, although this road trip would be a lot different. Once they had their food, ammo, bedding, clothing, and miscellaneous gear, including packs, sat phones, first aid kits, and rope, in the back they went about getting stuff put in the rear seat. Josh had his Benelli semi-auto 12 gauge, his custom .300 WSM, and his cheap katana, which he didn’t think would last one blow. Caleb had his .308 Remington, 10 gauge pump-action shotgun, and his old machete. They both had plenty of ammo for each gun in the back seat along with the case of water, some food, and other miscellaneous gear they may need to get in a hurry.

“Well I think we got it all.” Caleb said to Josh looking at the truck loaded up.

“Yeah I think so too, food, water, guns, ammo, clothing, bedding, survival gear, and computers. We also have our backpacks filled with enough gear, ammo, and food to survive out of if we have to. I filled up the two 5 gal gas cans we have with fuel from my car and put them in the back also in a tote so they won’t leak everywhere.” Josh said. Looking at the truck they were both satisfied with what they had.

“Let’s lock and load,” Caleb said looking at the little bit of gear they had left out. Caleb had on his Kryptek camo shirt and pants, combat boots, boonie hat, and aviator sunglasses. He then put on his tactical vest which held his 1911 three extra mags for it, along with six extra 30 round mags for his AR, a tactical knife and Leatherman. He picked up his AR, chambered a round and put the safety on, he then loaded it into the car in the front passenger seat. Josh also had on his Kryptek camo shirt and pants, hiking boots, camo ball cap, and his sunglasses that were new to him as he had just switched to contact lenses. He also wore a tactical vest but of a different style, he had his .40 on it along with two mags for that, and six 30 round mags for his AR, he also had a pocket with his Mutt Leatherman.

They both had attached their flashlights to their ARs when they got back, so now they were fully decked out. Josh sat down in the driver’s seat and stuck his AR next to him. Caleb ran around the house one last time making sure everything was secure and that they hadn’t forgotten anything. While he did that Josh said a quick prayer for protection and guidance. Caleb sat down in the seat next to him and shut his door. “We are all good to go bro, let’s hit the road.” He said putting his seat belt on, Josh followed suit and they were off down the dirt road.

“Hey Caleb, put on some tunes.”

“Are you kidding me right now, you actually remember to bring your iPod?” Caleb said as he reached down and hooked the iPod up to the aux jack then started flipping through it.

“Well just because it is the end of the world doesn’t mean we can’t have some music playing!” Josh said cracking a smile as they turned off the dirt road onto the highway. After a few minutes, “What is taking so long bro; I would like some music today.”

“One sec you will thank me when I am done.” Caleb said. Just then the music came on. It was Zombie by Family Force 5. They both started cracking up when the song started; it was just too ironic not too.

“Let me guess you were making a zombie playlist?” Josh said still laughing a little.

“Close, it is our Apocalypse Road Trip playlist!” They both continued to smile as they drove down the road. “You know what? This isn’t going to be that terrible. I mean don’t get me wrong, it is horrible and I still can’t believe it. But we are still alive; our parents are still alive, we are armed to the teeth and have all the skills to survive. We can stay alive and make a new life; it is not the end yet.”

“You are very right brother, and most importantly we have each other. As long as we have that we will stay alive. Don’t ever forget; we ride together.” Josh said.

“We die together,” Caleb responded.

“Bad a*s brothers for life!” They both replied as they sped off down the highway to Nebraska, and their parents.

Author's Note

Rough Draft: Subject to change.

Reviews

[Katiya K]

Your details are so on point! Even though I know nothing about guns I feel like I really just learned something here. I love how your details are short and quick to the point. This whole atmosphere and sort of slow panic rising from the outbreak is excellent. And I especially liked how you presented a new scenario with a new set of characters. I really feel bad for the prairie dog though :(
This story was great and really kept me on edge. I enjoy your writing style that is quick to the point and lends specific emotion to spots where it's needed. And of course I love the fact that these two guys can kick butt and keep their wits even though they KNOW the zombies are coming for them. Ahh, so good!
Only minor grammatical errors. And I was surprised to see the mom keep her cool. The only thing I would have liked to see was that some one was freaking out during this outbreak a little more. Everything else flowed very well. Great job well done!

[Joshua Hunter]

Thanks so much for the review I'm beyond glad you liked it! Yeah, you are right on the freak out part... i tried to portray her freaking out a little but i need to work on it some. Thanks for the correction and help, I will definitely take those and try and improve it! Thanks again!

[Krystle Lewallen]

You have me completely hooked. As I was reading I was playing the scenes out in my mind, that's what good story telling does. I could visualize it. I love the brothers. I especially liked that you added that part about faith and God being with them, although Caleb must struggle with his faith it seems. Their humor was great at the end. I watched the Zombie video by Family Force 5 on YouTube and I could picture Caleb and Josh cruising down the street with there vehicle full of weapons, Zombies walking everywhere outside. Thank you for that great piece of apocalyptic literature.

[Joshua Hunter]

I'm so glad you read this and enjoyed it so much, as this is one of my favorite stories to write. I'm also glad you picked up on the faith part because it will come into play later as most people of course will not understand that these two brothers still have it. I plan on making it a big aspect in a few parts and not sure how I will play it out yet. Thank you so much for a great review!