Geron Kees

Yep. And we can be the best, too. It's always going to be a problem, these rotten eggs, because the nice people of the world are too nice to get rid of them for good.

Yes, try one. Take notes. And pictures. Hell, movies, if you can!

Yeah. Imagination really can lay out a lot of things that would happen or that you could do in a situation like this that I glossed over or omitted entirely. Some would be important to survival, but just weren't really crucial to this particular story. In all possibility, had I set out to write a long tale in chapters, I would have included a lot more. Lesson learned.

Yep. If you sit down and look at every single species on planet earth, the one that always, ALWAYS, does the scariest, meanest, crappiest stuff to people...are other people.

That would do the job nicely. Got a spare mountain you're not using at the moment?

See? I'm not the only one that thought so!

Me, either. But....you can be the one that asks him to step into it, okay? Just sayin'!

What on earth is a stick of rock?

It's hidden in a big stone smithy hearth that's pointed away from the house. If the stuff went off, the blast wave would be away from the silo. Um...providing the hearth did not disintegrate and pepper the house with missiles made of stone. So...we would all prefer it not go off until it's time, as it might mess up the story a little!

Be nice to try one, anyway. Have to have a heat-seeker or some kind of guided warhead on it, or it would probably be a waste of good explosive.

I didn't think you were. I just thought maybe you were cleaning out your basement, and found a spare tank or something you'd forgotten about...aircraft carrier...ICBM...

Hey! Who let that Abrams tank in here?!?!

Shh! Bells attract zombies! Just come as you are!

Yeah, I didn't want to go into the inevitable loss of the animals. Not in a G-rated zombie story. People come in all flavors. The ones that leave a bad taste in your mouth seem to always wind up at the top of the heap. That's because they're ruthless, and take what they want, and step on everyone in the way on the road to getting there. In a survival situation, these can be counted on to be the very worst. Anyone surviving the end of the world and still being able to put a jet aircraft into the sky would have to be a top-of-the-heap type. So caution is definitely the watchword here.

I always liked that song. And I feel fine...

We want you with us at the end of the world, too. Consider this an invitation to survive!

If the world ends tomorrow, I expect you to be on our side!

Thank you!

I wondered the same thing. Trying to get inside the head of the zombie is difficult. After deciding at the outset of the story what they were going to be, I was left with kind of trying to figure out what it would do next, based on the parameters I'd set on how its mind might work. So I decided to let Richie and the others figure it out, and go with what they came up with.

You speak wisely, grasshopper.

Don't know that I would want to booby trap four sticks of dynamite located only thirty feet from the house, especially with all those kids about. I guess the guys were banking on the zombie being down for the count at the moment, healing, and not watching them.

Again, I did feel that the group would have pets. But dogs and cats cannot simply be locked away inside and never go out. I decided to trade a bit of reality away for not having to go into all the details of what keeping pets might entail.

Yep, you are absolutely correct. I always felt that the end of the world would be a crapshoot. And it is!

I have to agree with you, and at some point I would have gotten myself some animals. I considered that at the beginning of the story, as they are in farm country, and it seemed like a logical move. But then I considered that the zombie would simply kill all of the animals at some point, maybe in frustration at not being able to get at the people, or just because he could; and I decided I didn't want to write about that. Caution is different from refusing to take risks. I think the guys have taken a number of risks, but at least considered them. The thing with the aircraft is definitely a wait-and-watch thing. In their place, I would no more grab a radio and immediately attempt to contact a passing plane than I would step out into the road and flag down a passing vehicle. Especially if I could not determine what sort of plane it even was. Not knowing what happened to the world, I would consider everyone not in my own group a little suspect. Maybe that's a tribal mentality, but trust of strangers would be the first thing to go if civilization crashed. The world is just chock-a-block full of idiots, crazies, and outright killers. Without the restraints of civilization in place, I would expect them to follow their urges. And I do not intend, ever, to be the victim of some savage's urges.

Chapter Eight "Marnie? You there?" "Yeah. I can just hear you, Richie." "We're still a ways out. How's everything there?" "Been quiet as a church mouse." There was a brief hiss from the radio. "Are you guys okay?" "Yeah. We got what we needed, no problem." The relief in Marnie's voice was evident. "Oh, that's great. Mom and I are going to whip up an early supper. We'll have it hot when you get back." "Mmm. Sounds good to me. Holler if anything happens, okay? I'l