Tales of the Zombie Apocalypse (Issue #2 | September 2015) by Michael Anthony

 
    “ The Mayor has issued a mandatory evacuation order for Phoenix and all surrounding communities. Please evacuate the area immediately. The Mayor has declared a state of emergency in Phoenix and all surrounding communities.”
     
    The message droned on over and over again on every station. Then that annoying Emergency Broadcast System tone that did nothing but worsen everybody's anxiety and fear as well as cause headaches started blaring again.
     
    “ Please stay tuned to this station for further instructions. *Annoying Sound* The Mayor has issued a mandatory evacuation … click.”
     
    Jacob switched off the radio and wiped the sweat from his forehead. That emergency broadcast noise was like nails on a chalkboard, screeching through his brain and leaving a massive headache in its wake.
     
    “This is bullshit, Jake. Why didn't you get that damn AC fixed?”  His wife asked in her usual nagging tone.
     
    “In the middle of a god damn evacuation and you’re bitching at me about the AC??” Jacob shook his head in bewilderment then wiped more sweat from his forehead. First there was the dripping sweat then that irritating noise on the radio, and now he had to deal with his wife bitching and whining about the AC. His headache pounded in unison with her every word.
     
    But then again, he shouldn't really blame her, it was 110 degrees outside. But inside his cramped 1995 Corolla with no AC, it felt like 210 degrees. Even putting all the windows down didn't help much. With no breeze and the car at a stop on the freeway under the blazing sun, it was no wonder Jake, Susie and their 6 year old son Cody were baking in the old Japanese oven made by Toyota.
     
    Jacob switched the radio back on, hoping for some news about why this sudden evacuation was happening. No luck, the same Emergency Broadcast message kept playing over and over again. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, he wondered what could cause this, it sure wasn’t a thunderstorm.
     
    Horns started blaring behind them. They had been on Interstate 17 stuck and not moving an inch for more than an hour. Jacob wished more than anything that he had some ice cold Budweiser with him. Again no luck, drinking and driving was still illegal in Arizona.
     
    “Daddy, I have to go pee.” Cody whined.
     
    “Why didn’t you go before we left, Cody?” His mother snapped at him.
     
    “We’ve been stuck here for a long time, hun… Cody, go ahead and go to that bush right there.” Jacob pointed to a dried up shrub off to the right side of the freeway.
     
    Cody got out of the car and rushed across the two lanes of completely stopped traffic, hiding behind the bush.
     
    “Why would they evacuate the entire city? There ain’t a cloud in the sky?” Jacob wondered out loud.
     
    “I don’t know, but I really wish you had fixed the AC in this piece of crap.” Susie snapped at him again. She wiped her face with an old T shirt.
     
    “Why can’t you stop bitching for just a minute? Something weird is going on.” Jacob’s train of thought was cut off by the sound of helicopters overhead.
     
    Ten Apache choppers in a V formation were flying back toward the city, fast. The sound of the rotors was deafening.
     
    It wasn’t until the choppers had long passed that Jacob and Susie heard Cody yelling as he ran back to the car.
     
    “Monsters!! Monsters!!”
     
    Then gunfire.
     
    “What the hell?” Jacob leaned his head out the window to look behind their car. There were people outside their cars shooting at other people with rifles, shotguns and pistols.
     
    “Get in here!! Hurry!!” Susie opened the passenger door, leaned forward and pulled Cody into the back seat of the Corolla. “Stay down, sweetie.”
     
    “They just keep coming. Nobody could take getting shot a dozen times in the chest and still keep walking.” Jacob was baffled at what he saw behind their car.
     
    There seemed to be dozens, maybe even more than a hundred people walking up the freeway