Meet The Lucketts

  The emergency broadcast tone blared out from the television. The Lucketts stand haphazardly around the large black box. They had been enjoying a time-honored tradition of watching midday cartoons with the baby before the interruption. The youngest member of the clan leaps into the safety of her mother’s embrace. The seven of them were now transfixed as the blond haired local newscaster from “Channel 13” interrupted their daily routine. He cleared his throat softly his gaze never leaving the camera.  The man’s sickly blue eyes bored a hole into his viewing audience. “It has been confirmed through multiple sources that by some as yet unknown means. The dead are reanimating, returning to life, and attacking the living.” The man on the television let his words hang there in the air. “This is it!” Daddy Luckett shouted gathering his family near. “Kyle and Jaden food stuffs go.” He ordered his two middle daughters. “Sarah upstairs medicine bag go.” He barked to his eldest. “Lorraine you …” He called stopping to see where his wife had gone. “Over here J” She called from the tiny front hall closet of their townhouse. She busied herself donning a harness to carry the baby. “Ok Jorge you’re with me on weapons detail son. “Rally at the front door in five everybody knows the drill.”

 

    With that, they scatter about the two-story prefab home leaving the commentator on the television at least in this house without an audience. The anchor on the television droned on about the reported zombie sightings across the city and country as well. Four minutes pass before the Lucketts meet back up at their designated rally point. “Alright” J calls out to his family. “Honey” He begins handing his wife two black pistols. “Spare clips are in the diaper bag.” He points to the pink flower covered bag hanging from her shoulder. “Daddy” the baby strapped to her chest coos. “Sarah here you go,” He says giving his oldest daughter her shotgun. “And Kyle this is for you.” J continues placing a small black machine gun into Kyle’s hands. “Jorge” He calls to his only son a solidly built preteen who is bigger than some men are. “I’m here dad” The boy holds up his camouflaged compound bow. He has a matching quiver of arrows fit snugly across his right shoulder. The best graduation gift any kid ever received. “Annnd Jaden” He says looking around to find his eleven-year-old daughter. “Here dad here over here” The wiry tween bounces her hand raised high. “This is yours” He give her a polished black wooden baseball bat. “You remember how were practiced right?” He quizzes the girl. “Yep … yep” is her typical response. He pulls a large black backpack over his shoulders. “Just like we practiced team Luckett.” He draws the slide back on the assault rifle in his hands. “We get to the compound the rest of the team will meet us there.” J looks around at his family. He thinks of all the times that he drilled them in preparation for the zombie apocalypse. Even when their neighbors had laughed at them, they did not stop. Like a modern day “Noah,” he prepared his family for a day most scoffed “would never come.” None of that mattered now it was game time. “J we need to assess the situation before we just charge outside.” Lorraine reminded him as he searched his pockets for the keys to their minivan.

 

    The family moved as a unit to the glass patio doors. “Sarah turn the TV off please” J said seconds later the noisy broadcast was no more.  J takes the barrel of his rifle and gently parts the blinds slightly. The scene outside their door was pure chaos. Homes in the next apartment complex over the battered wooden fence burned engulfed by roiling flames. Smoke filled the air as a lone bloodied figure shuffled between them and their van parked up a slight hill. “Ok we got one zombie in the lot that I can see.” He cranes his neck attempting to peer as far out into the blind spot on his left as he could. “Okay Lucketts we have ourselves a classic ten twenty eight.” He announces. “No way are dad you kidding me.” Sarah calls from behind him. “Ummm we clearly have a nine fourteen are you blind?” J looks back to his oldest. “Sarah no way you’re nuts!” Kyle interjects. “It can’t be a nine fourteen it’s not night.” She moves up to peer through the blinds. “One zombie contact, no other victims we can see, and its late afternoon.” Kyle smirks “I say this is a clear ten twenty one.” Lorraine squeezes past her kids leaning over her husband’s shoulder. From the slit in the blind, she observes the lone zombie. The dead man with his wild red hair is simply standing swaying in place. Lorraine wonders why the walking corpse has not wandered away by itself. “You’re wrong here daughter.” She tells Kyle turning back over her shoulder. “The zombies have no idea we are here. Which means we still have the element of surprise. We have found ourselves in a seven nine sixty five.” Jorge peeks out the blinds for himself. He watches the fires rage unchecked over the fence. “I’m sorry mom and dad” Jorge speaks up. “It’s a five eleven guys there’s no police or emergency personnel present.” Lorraine sighs “J honey why the hell do we have some many damn codes?” She says clearly frustrated “Well honey …”J has his words cut off mid sentence as the front door bangs open.

 

    He watches Jaden as she bolts down the narrow concrete walk way. “It’s a one fourteen.” The girl utters like a battle cry. She runs forward bat held high over her head. Jaden updates her family on the run. “There’s a zombie on the ground too guys.” The zombie lurches towards the girl with an angry moan. She unleashes a wicked blow to the corpse’s knees. It goes down leaving its head exposed for the finishing blow. Jaden caves the zombie’s head in dropping it to the ground. “Jaden” Lorraine yells in panic. J pulverizes the glass in the patio leaping out. The rest of his family pours out behind him. Form their blind spot on the left side of the house there was movement. A half dozen zombies move in on the Lucketts. Out of nowhere a battered, gore, covered white car bounces over the curb. It skids sideways in the soft grass. A short husky man exits the driver’s side door guns blazing. Firing a pistol from each hand with a barrage of bullets, he cuts down the zombies. The gunshots stop and the man faces the family. “Uncle Ben!” Jaden screams running leaping into her uncle’s arms. “Where’s this compound you’re always telling me about?” J begins to relax coming over to his brother. “Everybody in we need to head out.” J looks out over their subdivision and sees the undead beginning to filter from open doors, backyards, and garages. The zombie apocalypse has sown its seeds across the globe. The Lucketts have made plans to beat back the undead harvest.