Panic

Posted on Sun Mar 16th, 2025 @ 3:39am by Survivor Carmen Harris & Survivor Myles Harris & Survivor Jack Harris

885 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Settling In

Carmen and Myles were walking back from feeding the pigs when Molly came running out of the house urgently waving her arms. She got to her grandchildren and when Carmen opened her mouth to ask, Molly hushed her and waved her to the chicken coop. “Go, take Myles and hide there. Do not come out.”

Carmen, startled gripped Myles’s arm and did as her grandmother said. Carmen had just helped Myles onto one of the upper ledges of the coop when Jack joined them. The coop was big enough to house the many chickens and all three had used it as a hiding spot when playing hide and seek. Carmen looked at Jack with fear on her face. They could now hear the dogs barking. She scrambled up beside Myles and curled against the wall of the coop.

Jack used his body to shield both of his younger siblings, indicating that they stay quiet. Suddenly, the unmistakable sound of a large diesel engine could be heard, as a truck pulled up by the house.

After the engine shut off, the kids could hear shouting, their grandfather was saying something, and all of the dogs were barking. Suddenly, four shots rang our, and the barking stopped.

Jack tensed when he heard the shots. There was more shouting, but no more gun shots.

Carmen had pulled Myles close and had her hand across her younger brother's mouth to stop him crying out. They had to remain silent.

Jack continued covering his younger siblings with his body, when the door to the coop was yanked open. They heard a man's voice say aloud. "Take what we can fit in the truck. Leave the rest. We can come back for it all later."

It seemed like hours, but it was barely 30 minutes before they heard the truck drive off.

Then nothing, but the sounds of the birds. Carmen's face, stained with silent tears, lifted and she met Jack's eyes.

Jack looked into the faces of both of his siblings. He raised a finger to his lips, then signalled that they should stay there. He then slowly, and as quietly as he could, extricate himself from their hiding spot.

Once on the floor of the barn, he crouched and scuttled over to the window to the left of the closed barn doors. He couldn't see anything outside, though, from this window vantage point, he could only see a small portion of the yard. What was clear, however, was that the large truck and trailer were gone.

Carmen followed him after a moment, hovering at the edge of their hiding place. She watched him.

There was no movement and the dogs were all on the back porch. Laying there.

As Jack continued to move cautiously, Miles clung to Carmen's side, fear clearly etched on his face.

When Jack reached the dogs, he reached down and found the tranquilizer darts that were sticking in their sides. "They're alive!" He called back to his siblings. He pulled all the darts free, tossing them aside.

Off towards where Hale's house was situated, the sound of a fight of some kind could be heard. Then, closer, a shuffling and slight moaning sound could be heard. When Jack looked towards it, he saw one of the undead, shuffling towards him! "Get back!" He shouted to Carmen and Miles, aa he looked around for some kind of weapon.

He spotted his old baseball bat, on the ground to his left, about ten feet away. He moved quickly towards it, scooping it up as the walker got closer. After he picked up the bat, he managed to swing it, just as the undead reached him. The first hit, knocked the creature down. As it started to get up, reaching for Jack, gnashing it's teeth, he swung the bat again and again. A few moments later, the undead's head was a splattered mess, as it lay on the ground, unmoving.

Carmen chose to ignore the now dead dead and with Myles' hand in hers darted for the main house. Inside it was tossed but it was clear her grandparents were not there.

"Where's Granny and Grampy?" Myle's soft voice asked. It was painfully clear just how afraid he was, and getting more so as time went on.

"i.. dont know" Carmen said softly.

After Carmen replied, The door swung open and Jack walked in, carrying Daisy in his arms. He laid her down on the cool kitchen floor, hen turned to head back outside. He paused to look at his younger siblings. "Pack what you can. We're going to drive over to Mister Hale's place. Grampy told me that he can be trusted."

Carmen wanted to protest but she nodded and glad they had not really unpacked much, went and began packing again.

Less than an hour later, the stationwagon was fully loaded and the three siblings were seated inside. Behind the wheel, Jack fired up the engine, looked at the house that held so many happy memories and, just like their home, he slowly drove them away from this safe space. He drove to the end of the driveway and turned onto the gravel country road. He knew that he had to drive around to the fare side of Mister Hale's property, to reach his driveway.


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