Love in the Time of Zombies (an Amish Romance Zombie Apocalypse tale)

Joseph Yoder wiped the sweat from his forehead as he looked out over his fields.

His fields... he rolled that phrase around his mind a few times. The rich black soil he'd been slaving to plow was his—but it was not something he had looked forward to owning. He’d had to take the farm over when his Dat passed a few weeks ago. He’d stepped up to run the seventy-five acres himself, just to support his Mamm and sisters,  He’d just put the last seed in the ground for his first crop of feed corn—it had taken a lot of effort, but he was pleased that the good Lord had allowed him to accomplish so much without help.

Help… the satisfaction he'd felt over the newly planted field faded as he now considered that word... that dreaded word that struck a painful chord in his heart. Bishop Isaac had taken the time after his Dat's funeral to speak to him about choosing an help-meet. He had looked him in the eye and spoke softly, his tone adamant… ‘Joseph, you may only be eighteen, but it is time to pick a wife.’

But he couldn’t do it… not yet. Not with Katie only being dead and gone a year. She had been his first love—he’d loved her since he was a wee lad of seven—and it was just too painful to consider any other girls.

His eyes cut involuntarily across the narrow lane to Levi Fischer's field. Levi's four daughters were working hard in the field; all of them straightened suddenly, as if they sensed he was looking, and started waving.

He waved to be polite and then turned away, walking slowly back toward his house. Four daughters, and according to Bishop Isaac, they were all marrying age. Of course, Bishop Isaac had inadvertently used the term ‘prize winning’ when he’d referred to them… for ample reason; they were all as ugly and large as his Mamm’s prize winning sow.

And that took some effort.

He shook his head sadly; he just didn’t want to marry right now. Even if the girl were pretty, it wasn’t Katie. He began to whistle a low tune as he walked down the edge of the field toward his house. It was nice and quiet here, and he…

Wait… His ears perked at a strange noise, and he stopped, listening intently.

Screams. From his house.

Mamm!

He began to run as fast as he could over the broken ground toward the house. As he neared the house, a wild looking Englisher ran out. He was covered in something that looked like blood and was heading straight toward him.

~~*~~

Allie ran hard across the parking garage. She could hear the zombies growling as they reached the barrier. They were getting closer to catching her. She just hoped the barrier would at least slow them down.

She vaulted lightly and slid across the hood of a parked Impala, then came to a quick stop against the short outer wall. As she paused to catch his breath, she threw a quick glance over her shoulder. Some of them were climbing the barrier.

She muttered under her breath and slipped over the short wall onto the outer ledge, then paused and studied the drop. It was probably twelve feet straight down onto bare concrete.

Not fun.

She took a few deep breaths to prepare herself for the drop. In the back of her mind she knew she had to roll when she hit, or she would break something.

And she knew that if that happened she was as good as dead.

She exhaled sharply and squatted, then threw one last glance behind her before she jumped outward away from the wall. Her feet struck the ground an instant later with a bone jarring impact as she tucked into a tight ball and rolled, coming to a stop by a street sign.

Dazed, she clambered to her feet and winced at a sharp pain in her right knee. She shook her head and stumbled off at a quick trot, favoring her leg. Her shoulder throbbed wildly, and she had scraped a deep furrow in her elbow... but overall, she was good. She just needed to put major distance between herself and the zombies. She had no interest in being caught like…

She didn’t want to think about Daryl and John. She didn’t see what happened but could guess.

She shook her head to clear that line of thought. She knew that she needed to keep moving; that was the main thing, just keep moving.

And not think about what the zombies did to them.

She turned into an alley and paused for a moment to catch her breath. She was glad Bryan had convinced her to take up free running this semester at school. She still wasn’t much of a runner, but if this had happened last year she would have been toast by now.

She flexed her leg and decided it was fine; just some light impact trauma was all. She blew out a sigh of relief; she had seen guys land badly after a fall. Her friend Jerome had blown his ACL just last week; the result of a poor landing from a jump off a park bench.

And was probably dead like pretty much everyone else seemed to be.

She cast another quick look around the corner; she needed someplace to rest, someplace to hide. She could see an unloading area for a thrift shop further down the alley and decided it looked promising. She jogged down the alley toward the door. She just hoped that it was unlocked so that she could take cover inside. She could hear the zombies shrieking again...

She needed to get off the street.

She paused at the door and stared at a trashcan full of old sports equipment; broken golf clubs and the like… stuff the thrift shop wouldn’t even try to sell. She grinned as she spotted an old wooden baseball bat and quickly pulled it from the can.

Good. Not quite cricket bat good, but still good.

She pulled the door open just enough to let her slip into the store. It was empty, thankfully. No bodies and no zombies. She moved through the store quietly; she wanted some food, something to drink, and most importantly, someplace safe to hold up.

She reached the front of the store and found the candy rack. She grabbed a few Payday candy bars from the shelf and immediately ripped one open with her teeth, devouring the stale bar in just a few bites. She chuckled to herself as she chewed; it was the bloody zombie apocalypse, and stores were open everywhere—but the only food she could find was a stale candy bar in a thrift shop.

But it didn’t matter what it tasted like; she needed the protein more than the flavor. She grabbed a bottled water out of the cooler to wash it down, then sat on the counter and started watching the street through the plate glass window.

She didn’t know what to do next.

~~*~~

Joseph turned and ran for the field, hoping to outpace the crazed Englisher… his Dat had told him about the Englisher’s penchant for drug use and how it affected their behavior. He guessed it had to be that, because he couldn’t think of any other reason why the Englisher would act so crazed.

But the blood. What happened to his Mamm? His sisters?

He had to get back to check on them. He threw a quick glance behind as he ran...

First, he had to get away.

More screams caught his attention and he glanced toward the narrow lane that divided his land from Levi Fischer's field. Three of Levi’s daughters were running toward their house, pursued by at least fifteen Englishers. The fourth daughter was being pulled apart by seven others.

Had drugs turned them into animals?

He wanted to help but had no idea what he could do other than get the Sheriff.

The Sheriff could do something to help.

Joseph angled toward the barn. He would get the buggy and ride for help.

~~*~~

Allie watched as the zombies moved around the parking lot across the street. They almost seemed like they were sniffing around for her, like animals. The sun was almost straight up in the sky, but the light was wonky—probably from all the smoke from the burning buildings.

This was crazy. Everything was fine last night, and now zombies were everywhere, and the city was burning down around her—on top of that there was no power, and even the cars didn’t work.

She gently felt her knee; it was starting to swell worse, and her hands—she studied the deep abrasions on the knuckles—she had picked some of the larger pebbles from them, but they still stung badly.

It was going to be rough if she had to run again. She wished she had a car that worked…

Or a tank.

She glanced back at the crowd; there were over two dozen zombies out there now…

She sat back, blowing out a long breath as she thought. Cars and tanks were a pipe dream, but if she could just wait the zombies out, maybe she could find a bike. That would make...

As she leaned against the counter, her elbow tipped over a metal shopping basket that clattered to the floor—and with a sudden rush, the zombies all rushed toward the thrift store.

Allie immediately jumped and ran for the side door. She hit the open air and ran as fast as she could. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder; there were several zombies following her out of the thrift store, and they were joined by others streaming from the right corner of the building.

This was going from bad to really bad quick.

~~*~~

Joseph whipped the horses faster to goad them past the large group of crazed Englishers that were blocking the highway. Everywhere he went there were more crazed Englishers.

Joseph tightened his jaw, knowing that statement wasn’t entirely accurate. There was a crowd of crazed brethren surrounding the Sheriff’s office. Once gentle, plain folk now they too were crazed. He had continued past them without stopping, because he knew that he would get no help from there.

He was driving north to the big city, hoping to reach those Englisher police. They could help.

But the closer he got to the city, the less it looked like he would find help. He had noticed the plume of smoke rising over the city when he was fifteen miles out—now that he was within a mile, visibility was down, and the smell was choking him.

He just didn’t know what he was still heading for, he just knew that he needed to keep going.

~~*~~

Allie ran, pumping her arms to give herself a little extra speed. She’d never been much of a runner but knowing that her life was on the line was propelling her to new speeds.

She shifted the bat to her left hand for a few minutes to give her right arm a rest. She’d thought about dumping it, but discarded the thought immediately. It may be a little extra weight, but it was going to come in handy when she ran out of energy. She knew it was effective; she’d already brained three of the things since she had left the thrift store.

She was heading south—at least, she hoped she was. She couldn’t tell direction in the haze. She just hoped she was nearing the city’s edge.

She chanced a quick glance over her shoulder. Through the haze she couldn’t see the zombies back there anymore. She had lost them.

Awesome.

The wind picked up, but it was only blowing more smoke in; a choking, noxious mixture of burning plastic and fiberglass—it was a smell she hoped to get away from as quickly as possible. Visibility was cut to a few yards and Allie slowed, shifting the bat back to her right hand. Her knee was throbbing, and to top it off, she was getting a headache from the smoke.

As if she wasn’t in enough pain already.

Allie slowed to a walk—there was a strange creaking sound in the smoke.

She stopped as a farmer’s wagon pulled by a pair of horses materialized out of the smoke and pulled to a stop right in front of her. A large man in black clothing looked down at her.

“Are you crazed?” The man whispered in a trembling voice.

Allie recoiled, “What? No! I…”

Without warning, two zombies ran shrieking from the smoke, making a beeline for the wagon. Although out of breath, tired, and in pain, Allie turned and swung the bat in wide arcing swings that struck one of them in the head and knocked it to the side. The second one stepped close, and she brought the bat down hard, dropping it in place.

As the zombie fell to the ground, she leaped awkwardly onto the wagon, “Drive!” she yelled.

The man immediately whipped the horses, and they jumped into a full run.

She climbed to the front seat next to the man. She recognized the clothing now—coupled with the wagon—it was obvious he was Amish. “Thank you so much for stopping. I’m Allie.”

The man, red-faced, nodded slowly, “Joseph.”

She breathed a sigh of relief as he turned his wagon toward the city’s edge. They were leaving. “Where are we going?”

Joseph jerked a thumb behind him, indicating the crowd of zombies running to catch them. “As far away from them as we can get.”

Allie nodded and relaxed in the seat. “Good enough.”

~~*~~

As the sun started its downward progression, Joseph tapped the horses with the whip, goading them to push the buggy a bit faster. The crazed Englishers were still behind them somewhere. He could feel them back there. He knew that the wooden bat that the woman carried could stop them... but she was sleeping, and he had always committed to non-violence.

He fingered the rough handle of the bat, reflecting on the totality of the situation. He may have to adjust how he thought of violence if he wanted to survive. This wasn’t like dealing with rude tourists. These crazed Englishers were killing people.

He glanced down at the woman. She was an Englisher herself, but not crazed. His breath caught as the setting sun glinted from the woman’s cheek. She was pretty, perhaps nineteen or so.

His age.

He didn’t know why that thought struck him as important, but it was. That, and the fact that she was pretty—even though she looked nothing like his Kate.

No, he shook his head. He couldn’t think of her like that. She was an Englisher. Allie. She had said her name was Allie. That didn’t sound remotely plain. Plus, she had been so violent when they first met.

But now that she lay resting, she looked…

He resisted the urge to tuck the loose strand of hair behind her ear... he couldn’t touch a woman, especially an Englisher.

Right?

Frustrated, he focused back on the road. He needed to stop and pray.

But he kept driving, scanning constantly for movement. The only sound was the creak of the wheels and the soft clicking of the horse’s hooves on the pavement.

He drove several more miles before the highway opened into a rolling countryside. There was still the occasional wreck or abandoned car; but overall, it was clear and looked like a fine day to travel.

He had just weaved the buggy around a stalled car in the road when a small voice whispered, “How much further?”

Joseph looked over at Allie—she was awake now and looking even more beautiful—and gave her a half shrug, “A long way.”

Allie leaned closer, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Joseph tried to focus on the road, but her nearness sent a thrill through him. She wanted to be a help to him.

“Not right now, but…” He trailed off for a moment, and then offered, “Maybe later I can teach you to drive the buggy?”

She gave him a broad smile. “That would be great. Just let me know when.”

Joseph offered a tentative smile and looked over at the sun. It was most of the way down now. They had traveled quite a few miles, and even though they could still smell the smoke, he was fairly certain they were beyond any imminent danger.

But he would still wait until later for the lesson.

He glanced back over to Allie. She was peering into the fields around them, keeping watch. He frowned, feeling thoroughly conflicted. Was it wrong for him to think about an Englisher as an help meet?

Or was that something else he would need to adjust how he thought, just to survive?

~~*~~

They took a quick break in a lonely spot that was free of zombies. Once they started moving again, Allie kept taking sideways glances at Joseph as he drove the wagon. He seemed nice. Evidently a hard worker, and not bad looking.

And his accent was so cute. She could get used to that.

Well, if you were going to survive the zombie apocalypse with someone, it should be with someone that seemed nice. Someone she could like.

After all, they might be the last two alive people on Earth.

She reached over and grasped his hand, holding it tightly. He tensed for a moment, but then relaxed, giving her a sidelong glance.

Allie smiled and focused on the road. After all, relationships had to start somewhere.