The Silent Chronicles: Silent Birth

I sucked in fresh air as fast as I could. My head was spinning and my stomach was doing flip flops. I dropped to my knees and threw up. Tears, vomit and snot was all over my face. I had never seen such carnage as that before. All those small, innocent kids! What did they do to deserve to be eaten and torn apart? On the way home I caressed my belly while saying a silent prayer all the way to the U-Haul unit. I asked the Universe that my baby be kept safe, while I swore an oath to my unborn child promises to protect him or her. Vowing to never let anything bad happen to them if I had to save them with my own life.

Once back at the unit I dumped the contents of my hunt onto the floor and went through it all. I put the sandwiches in the fridge and the medical stuff in a plastic bin by the crib. I got undressed down to my shirt and panties and sat down in the recliner. I reached over to the table by the fridge and pulled a large pink book into my lap. It was one of those baby story books that you wrote in all during the pregnancy. I had gotten it on one of my earlier excursions to the babies R Us a few blocks away.

Pulling a pen off the same table I opened the lace covered pink book to the last page I stopped at. The pages were pink just like the cover but I ignored it. You c couldn't be choosy about stuff like that nowadays. The question at the top of the page said "7 month Checklist" it was a list of all the things that should be done by then. I scanned the page checking off anything that was relevant like "stocking up on diapers" and " picking out a crib". I scribbled out ones like "start planning baby shower" and "register for gifts". There would be no baby shower for me. The normal things pregnant women got to do before all this I would never get to experience. I started thinking of the loneliness and the big huge truth that I would be giving birth all alone, with no help or support.

I angrily skipped to the next page. It was a short summary of what to expect at 28 weeks. I had already figured out about the increased movement of the baby and how would be gaining more weight now. I'd been a big girl before the baby, around 250 pounds now I figured I was closer to 300 now. Which I knew from the medical books put me at even greater risk to both me and my baby. I was happy that I got that blood pressure cuff so I could monitor it now. I turned the page and rolled my eyes after reading the page headline "Daddy's thoughts at 7 months".

"Really?" I said out loud to no one. I scribbled down "Daddy thinks he's a no good rapist." Before letting out a hiss and scratching it out with my pen. I slammed the book shut and tossed it on the table.

I was still very angry and messed up over being raped on the day of the zombie invasion. But given my circumstances I tried not to think about it. I mean I couldn't just break down, could I? I was pregnant and surrounded by the undead. I had no time for my own feelings of hurt and violation. I had to think of the young inside me. But every now and then those thoughts would sneak in under the radar and the shock and pain would come over me, but even when I did get down about what had happened to me. Even when I cried or screamed I never once wished I would lose the baby. The baby had nothing to do with it. I had always wanted a child of my own but it never happened and it broke my heart. Granted I didn't see going about it quiet this way but I was happy none the less. I was nearly 34 and my life couldn't have been more insane than now. But I was determined to survive this for my sake and the sake of my unborn child.

Chapter Four

I've always loved music. Before the invasion I was a dancer. So for my 35th birthday I decided to go out to a club. Now you must be thinking, "There are zombies all around, she's pregnant, and she wants to go clubbing?" Let me explain.

There isn't much to do now that civilization had been destroyed. I watch DVDs on a portable player I have in the U-Haul unit and I listen to music very quietly sometimes but other than that there's not much to do. The boredom itself is enough to drive you insane. If it wasn't for my scavenging hunts I'd get cabin fever,

But back to my birthday wish. About 3 or so miles down Washington Avenue was an indoor gun range called Hot Shot. It's completely sound proof and was shut down for renovations on the day of the invasion. What better place to bring a boom box and some CDs to play music without any Lurkers hearing you.

I was 7 months pregnant and knew this was my last chance at really moving around freely, so I did something risky and went dancing. I wore my cargo pants as usual but on top I wore this pretty yellow taffeta dress with white flowers that I'd snatched from an Ashley Stewart's one night. I'd also found a pair of white low wedge sandals that matched flowers on the dress. I put the cd's in my pack and put the pack on, readied my gun and left. I must have looked crazy. A plus sized black girl wearing tan cargo pants under a yellow, floral dress with white flip boat shoes, a book bag a gun in my.

The first stop I had to make was to an Ace hardware that was in a shopping Plaza close by. The Plaza usually had a lot of Lurkers in the parking lot but I knew a way of going two streets over then cutting around back and going through one of the side doors that I kept obscured by a rust sheet of metal and some cardboard.

I went inside and got a couple light weight link chains with key locks. Then I slipped back out quietly making sure to cover the exit again as I left.

Next I stopped off I stopped at one of those Spanish electronic stores, the ones with the yellow outcropping over the windows and concert posters covering every inch of glass. I opened the door slowly and winced as a bell chimed sounding that a customer had just entered a store. Immediately, two Lurkers came running at me. One was an older woman; her face was a rotten and half eaten mess. She wore a dirty purple tank top and a white skirt. The other Lurker was a teenager, dressed in a Hollister t-shirt and jeans; I guess it was her son. They shrieked as they made their made towards me. I stepped into the store quickly and shut the door behind me without looking; I didn't want the shots to be heard. I fired twice at the mom, dropping her quickly. Then I aimed carefully and fired once at the boy and got him right in the chin. There was a thud like as his momentum made him slam into the wall beside me as he crashed to the floor.

I jumped back quickly and rubbed my stomach. I couldn't handle doing this forever. I took a few deep breaths in then went in search of my bounty. I found a small cd player that still worked and I found some bachata CDs lined up behind the register. I put it all in my bag then went to the door, making sure not to look at the corpses. I peeked out to make sure the coast was clear then I made my way to Hot Shot.

Chapter Five

Hot Shot was a one floor building made of painted over concrete blocks. Years ago they used to offer archer classes for kids in the summer and self-defense classes for women but it had been closed for renovations for almost a year by the time of the zombie invasion.

It was shaped like a long rectangle and painted blue with a sign over the black, tinted doors that said Hot Shot Gun Range, Archery and More! It looked pretty cheesy but it was a fun place to be. The windows were boarded up tight and it looked like no one or nothing had gotten in. I made a sweep around the back and found a Lurker by the dumpsters. I picked up a metal bar that was on the ground and snuck up behind it. I swung at its head and it went down. I swung a few more times just to make sure.

I looked down at my dress; thankfully there wasn't too much blood on it. I moved on and found a rubbish cargo dumpster. And it just so happened to be pressed up under one of the high boarded up windows. I grabbed a crate and stood on it and gingerly swung my legs up and over and plunged into the rubbish. It was awkward and hard to move especially with my belly but I eventually managed to wade through the trash and position myself under the window.

I went into my pack and pulled out one of the locks I'd gotten of the hardware store and used the key to prey the nails loose. The work was tedious and hard but soon enough I could pull the covered off and the window was exposed to me. I wrapped my dress around my fist, turned my head away, and punched the glass as hard as I could. It broke, with little noise and I reached to unlock it. I heaved it open and pulled myself in, somehow managing not to fall.

I brought the window covering inside and closed the window again even though it was broken. The nails were still in the board so I used the lock to hammer them back in, this time from the inside. Then I went about using the link chain and wrapping them around the handles of every set of doors I found and securing them with a lock. I didn't come across single Lurkers, thankfully.

After securing the building I found one of the rooms they used as a gun range. It had one door and there were booths lined up that were separated by a thin wall and a shelf out in front. And lanes ran down the front for a couple yards. Perfect.

I used my last chain to lock the door behind me then I walked around the booths to where the bullets usually would have been whizzing by to strike a paper cut out of a man with a bull's eye on his chest. I took of my pack and set the boom box down. Putting my hands on my lower back I did a few stretches first and did some deep breathing. Just getting there had been an adventure, but now it was time for a little fun.

I turned on the CD player and put in one of the CDs by some guy name Prince Royce. And slowly after I pressed play and the music started to come on I started to sway my hips. The beat making my body move of its own accord. I took off my dirty cargo pants and felt the coolness of the night on my legs as I danced to the sexy rhythm of the music. I held my swollen belly as the yellow dressed flowed out around me.

"Y ya me contaron, Que te acomplejas de tu imajen. Y mira el espejo ayy que linda eres sin maquillaje..."

I shook my hips and mumbled the words I didn't know like it was my favorite song. I spun around laughing as my belly kept going forcing me along.

"Y si eres gorda o flaca Todo eso no me importa a mi..."

I put one hand on my heart and the other on my stomach and swirled my hips in small circlers and stepped sided to side, letting the music flow through me.

"Y yo tampoco soy perfecto Solo se que te quiero asi.."

I started to cry as my limited Spanish translated some of the words for me and the beauty of the song came through and I closed my eyes and thought of my situation as the song palyed on. The lyrics of loving someone no matter what they look like; no matter if they were ugly or pretty, fat or skinny.

"Y el Corazon no tiene cara. Y te prometo que lo nuestro. Nunci va a terminar..."

But for once I didn't have to worry. For this short moment I could dance and be happy and safe. I didn't have to worry about the safety of myself or my baby. I could enjoy this normal, simple thing in this room with the fucked up world held at bay outside.

Tears flowed down my face but I was smiling. I could be normal for just an hour or two. Everything was fine right now, in this moment. So I danced and I sung and I laughed and cried and I screamed out "Happy Birthday!"

Chapter Six

As I went through my 7 month I started getting bigger and bigger. By my 8th month I could barely move. I had to sleep in the brown recliner because I could no longer make it out of the mattress on the floor. I had stopped going out a while ago. I was too big and slow to keep going out. It was too dangerous. My body ached and it seemed that my baby was going to be an acrobat because he or she never stopped fidgeting around in there. I was running low on supplies and knew I wasn't going to make it another month on the food I had left. All I still had was a case of sardines, some cans of hash, a couple cans of tuna and about a dozen more cans of mountain dew. There was always the option of eating the baby food, I had plenty but I didn't want to take from my unborn child's mouth to put into my own.

It was a couple days later when I decided to venture out for the last time before I gave birth. My pants barely fit over my hips. I had to cut a line down the front and back of them to get them to go around what used to be my waist. I pulled on a sweater from a pile of clothes on the floor. It was probably around October by now. I slung on my pack, checked my pocket for marbles and made sure my gun was loaded. I unchained the door and stepped out. My legs were already starting to cramp by the time I got down the block. I came into contact with a couple of Lurkers but I put them down easy enough. I just wished I didn't run into anymore. I decided to hit one of the corner stores close to the U-Haul; I didn't want to venture too far from home.

I entered through the front, my pistol raised in one hand and the other holding my flashlight. The store was completely trashed. The shelves were empty. I went up and down them looking for anything I could eat. I found some Spam underneath one of the racks and some chips over by the coolers in the back of the store. I put them in my pack and kept searching. Slowly waddling checking every nook and cranny of that store when I saw a 6 pack of Fresca up on a top shelve. It was high up, I couldn't reach it. I put myself flush to the shelves and reached as high as I could. I was straining to grasp the case but I wasn't tall enough.

Looking around I saw a small step ladder on the floor. I picked it up and set it under the case of soda. I stepped up, balancing awkwardly holding onto the shelves. My fingers gripped at the case and I slowly pulled it forward towards me. Then the next thing I know I hear a growl and I was falling. I let out a scream and I fell sideways to the floor. I crashed hard knowing my head on the floor, and slamming down onto the debris that littered it. I was stunned for a moment, my head ringing. A shooting pain raced across my abdomen digging itself into my stomach. I moaned and tried to sit up. A Lurker pounced on me.

Blood dripping from its mouth, its fingers crushed like they had been slammed in a door. I struggled with it, screaming, trying to wrestle it away from me. Its open mouth kept lunging for me, its fingernails tearing into the soft flesh of my arms. I couldn't die like this, so close to having my baby. I brought my feet up, and wedged them between the Lurker and me. I hollered out and kicked as hard as I could. The Lurker went flying, slamming into the freezer doors behind it and lay still. I found my gun where it had skidded under the shelves and dragged myself up off the floor painfully. Gripping my belly in agony I hobbled over to the Lurker and fired two shots into its head. I collapsed on the floor. The pain was coming in waves, crashing over me.

"Oh no little one, not yet, n-n-not yet. Ahhh!" My whole body wracked with agony. I braced myself against the wall and stood up as best I could. Inching towards the door I headed I the direction of the U-Haul facility.

I made it a few steps before my water broke. "No, no, no, no...oh my God please no!" Tears started streaming down my face. My eyes scanned the street frantically looking for a safe place to hide in. I let out a piercing scream as another wave of pain gripped me, bringing me to my knees. My screaming and the smell of fresh blood attracted the interest of what had to be a dozen Lurkers. They came from every angle, down every street, some even out of the buildings along them.

"Oh Jesus, no" I sobbed and fell against a fence. I had to hide, and fast. I shuffled along the sidewalk holding onto the fence and opened the first gate I came to. It was an old looking brownstone. There was blood smeared on the front doors and what was left of a torso on the steps. My knuckles were white from gripping the 9mm in my left hand. My legs nearly gave out as I climbed the stairs. The labor pains were debilitating.

I side stepped the corpse and went to shut and lock the first set of doors just as the first Lurker crashed into it. I ran and locked the second set as fast as I could. There was a walkway that led to an apartment on the first floor and a mahogany staircase that led upstairs. I chose the staircase. When I came to the 2cd floor I opened the first door in front of me. The door opened out into a posh living room, antique looking furniture was thrown around the room. I locked the door behind me and went in search of a safe place to have my baby.

As I passed a white couch I snatched a throw off the back of it and once in the kitchen I took some dish towels off of the counter. I headed right. There were 3 bedrooms branching off the hallway. I couldn't hear any Lurkers so they must still be having trouble with the two sets of doors down stairs, but they would break through eventually.

I went back to the living room and sat on the couch. The place seemed desert and I just collapsed onto the couch in agonizing pain as the contractions tore through my body. I tried to be as quiet as possible. If the Lurker had broken through downstairs they wouldn't think to come up the staircase for a while unless they heard noise. They'd immediately go to the apartment on the first floor.

I felt a burning sensation and my abdomen rippled and I hunched over clutching at my stomach as I fell off the couch to my knees onto the carpet. The contractions slowed a bit every so often but then they would return with more fury and vengeance than before leaving me covered with sweat and shaking from the pain and trying to be quiet.

This went on for about an hour or two until I hear feet shuffling up the stairs to the apartment. I heaved back up onto the couch painfully. I was panting and tears were streaming down my face but I remained silent. That is until the worst contraction yet zig zag through my side and deep into my pelvis and I let out a horrible, blood curling scream. The Lurkers outside immediately went into frenzy; banging and kicking at the door. There must have been dozens of them. I twisted my head around looking for a safer place, not so much out in the open. The bathroom was directly in front of me. Crying, I heaved myself up and dragged a kitchen chair behind me. I slammed the bathroom door shut and wedged the chair up under the door knob. I knocked over a towel rack and pushed that up against the door too.

I sank to my knees as the labor pains got more intense. I threw the blanket and dish towels on the floor near the toilet. I found alcohol behind the mirror and some gauze. I took it all and lowered myself down onto the cream colored rug. I kicked off my pants and panties. Opening the bottle of alcohol I poured it over my hands and braced my back up against the wall. I spread my legs wide; with one knee against the toilet and the other against the tub. I didn't know how long the front door would hold against the Lurkers but I hoped it would last until I could give birth safely. I doused the blanket it alcohol and placed it between my legs. I took one of the dish towels and rolled it up. I put it between my teeth and bit down. I was sweating and crying. The pain was unbearable and I braced myself for the next contraction. My abdomen rippled and the pain shot to my stomach and deep down into my hips and groin. I bit down hard on the towel and pushed.

I did this a number of times. During maybe the sixth try I heard the Lurkers break through the front door. They couldn't see me and the bathroom was dark, lit only by the moon. If I stayed quiet and they couldn't get in they would move on. I was panting and sweat rolled down my face. I saw feet under the door just when another contraction bit into me. I bore down, and screamed silently in my head.