Darlings of Decay

by Chrissy Peebles

  Closing the doors behind me, I noticed how empty the streets appeared, even though it was now mid-morning. I could only see one man, far off in the distance, who stood staring at a brick wall, swaying back and forth.

  Another drunk? I wondered as I began pushing the trolley down the hill.

  Taking the rubbish out wasn’t the most glamorous of chores, but there was one aspect I really loved about it. I smiled as I started running down the street, picking up speed. In one movement I jumped onto the back of the trolley and closed my eyes to feel the wind on my face as I flew down the sidewalk.

  After a few seconds of exhilaration, I opened my eyes and jumped back onto the ground, skidding to a stop just in time to turn into the alley and pull up alongside an open dumpster.

  Lifting the bags over my shoulder, I flipped them into the dumpster one at a time, holding my nose to avoid the smell of rotting food and filth.

  I started making my way back towards the diner, pulling the trolley behind me with one arm, when I heard a moan coming from behind me. I paused to look back, but saw nothing.

  I kept walking, only to hear it again. A low, rattling growl echoed from within the metal container. I had never heard anything like it before, and it sent chills rushing down my spine. This time, I walked back over to it to investigate. I held my nose again as I edged closer to peek inside. All of a sudden, something jumped up from inside the dumpster, groaning and covered in garbage.

  I screamed as I jumped back in fear, my heart pounding inside my chest.

  It rose to its feet unsteadily, and it took me a few seconds before I realised it was a woman in ragged clothes.

  Her face was a sickly grey, her skin sallow and glistening with sweat. I tried to contain my shock, but I could see she had been eating rubbish.

  “Oh. Sorry…You scared me,” I said as I backed up against the trolley.

  The woman let out another low rattle as she continued chewing on something that made disgusting crunch sounds when she bit down. A long, fleshy rodent tail fell out the corner of her mouth, hanging there as she struggled to climb out of the dumpster.

  I cupped my hand over my mouth in an attempt to prevent myself from throwing up in disgust, and grabbed the trolley as I started running out of the alleyway.

  By the time I had made it back into the diner I was dry reaching. Jo asked me what was wrong as I ran into the bathroom to wash my hands furiously, but I couldn’t tell her what I had seen.

  “Nothing. Just smells bad down there,” I lied.

  Knowing how sick Jo had been the night before, and how hungover she felt today, I thought it would be best not to say anything. Besides, I didn’t think I could repeat the story without making myself sick, too.

  “It’s so quiet today,” I said as I walked back into the diner, trying to forget the sick feeling in my stomach.

  Ben and Wyatt stood by the fryer, cooking themselves some french fries.

  “I know. It’s weird,” Ben said, looking out the window. “I barely saw anyone on the drive in this morning. I’ve never seen the city so empty.”

  Before I could reply, I saw a man stumbling across the road towards the diner.

  “Customer,” I said to the others as I walked over behind the counter to greet him as he pushed the door open and walked inside.

  “Hi, here for breakfast?” I smiled, handing him a menu.

  “Yeah. I’m starving. Feels like I haven’t eaten in weeks,” he replied as he sat on one of the counter stools.

  From the look of his bloodshot eyes and cracked lips, I figured he had been out all night. Wearing a light blue pin-striped shirt with an assortment of stains down the front and torn dark blue jeans, he didn’t look well at all.

  “Big night?” I asked, switching on the coffee machine.

  “I think so. I don’t really remember. I feel like shit,” he said, rubbing his eyes with his palms. “I woke up in the gutter with some homeless dude trying to eat my leg. The freak tore right through my jeans.”

  My jaw dropped.

  “What the hell? Are you serious?” I asked in surprise.

  I turned around to see Wyatt and Ben still standing by the fryer. Wyatt looked as surprised as I did, but I could see Ben was trying not to laugh.

  “Yeah. I had to kick him off then I got the hell outta there. I’ll have the Big Breakfast please. And coffee, lots and lots of coffee,” he handed the menu back to me casually, as though he hadn’t just escaped being a Big Breakfast to a homeless man.

  I started making his coffee while Wyatt and Ben put gloves on and prepared his meal.

  “So, did he actually bite you? Maybe you should go to a hospital?” I asked the man as I carried his coffee over to him, but he didn’t answer.

  He just sat there, slumped over the counter with his head in his hands.

  “Are you okay?”

  “No,” he snapped. “I’m hungry. Just make my food.”

  I wanted to return his animosity, but after all the rude people I’d served as a waitress, I had quickly learned to bite my tongue and shrug it off.

  Wyatt walked out of the back room holding frozen sausages and bacon and placed them on the stove. I saw the customer’s head snap up then, and he began sniffing wildly and glaring at the meat.

  He looked even worse than when he walked in. His skin had fast become clammy and pale, and I could have sworn I heard a low growl coming from his throat. It instantly reminded me of the deranged woman in the dumpster, and I cringed.

  I walked behind the kitchen island and stood next to Wyatt. The pain of his hurtful words still lingered in the back of my mind, but I instantly felt calmer in his presence.

  “Something doesn’t feel right about this guy. Cook his food quick then let’s get rid of him,” I whispered, watching the customer carefully.

  Wyatt looked over at him suspiciously and nodded, flipping the bacon over as it sizzled.

  “I think he’s still drunk or something,” whispered Ben as he took freshly popped toast out of the toaster and threw it on a plate.

  I looked back towards the counter and saw the man had his head down in his arms again.

  Once the Big Breakfast was ready I carried it over to him and placed it on the counter next to his head.

  “Sir, you’re breakfast is ready.”

  He didn’t move.

  I leaned in closer to him, trying to see his face, but it was covered by his arm.

  “Excuse me, sir? You’re breakfast is here.”

  He still didn’t move.

  I watched him closely, waiting for the rise and fall of his back as he breathed.

  Nothing.

  Slowly, I reached my hand over the counter and gently nudged his shoulder.

  His head slipped off of his arm and he slowly slid sideways off of the stool and slammed onto the tiled floor. Even with that hard knock, he didn’t wake up.

  I gasped, my eyes wide as I stared down at his lifeless body.

  He was dead.

  Chapter Five

  “Crap!” I gasped as I stepped back, walking into the kitchen island.

  “What’s wrong, Eva?” Jo asked as she walked out of the office.

  “Ben! The customer… I think he’s… He’s not moving!” I called, motioning to Ben to come over.

  Ben ripped off his gloves and ran around the outside of the counter towards the man.

  “Call an ambulance! Wyatt, help me turn him onto his back,” he yelled as he checked the man’s pulse and he and Wyatt carefully laid him flat on the floor.

  Jo ran back into the office to get her phone then ran back out again as she dialed.

  “I can’t get through!” She yelled as she dropped her phone on the counter and hurried back into the office to use the landline. “The landline is down! There isn’t even a dial tone!”

  “There’s no pulse,” said Ben as he opened the man’s mouth in preparation for CPR.

  He was about to begin mouth to mouth resuscitation when the customer’s eyes flew open.
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br />   Wyatt and Ben moved back in shock.

  The man didn’t move, he just lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling.

  Ben slowly leaned in closer, lowering his ear over the man’s mouth.

  “He’s still not breathing.”

  “I… I don’t feel a pulse,” Wyatt said, his fingers on the lifeless wrist.

  Ben knelt back just as a gurgling sound emerged from the man’s mouth, sputtering blood all over himself. His bloodshot eyes started darting around the room, his arms slowly rising, reaching for Ben.

  Ben and Wyatt stood up and backed away, and for a moment we all just stood there, staring, not knowing what to do.

  “Guys?” Jo called from the office and we hurried over to the entryway to see her. “I tried the landline and all of our mobiles, but there’s nothing. Just silence. I don’t understand.”

  She explained, pushing her red hair behind her ear.

  “I’ve never seen anything like him before,” said Ben, his face white with shock. “I mean, granted I haven’t completed training yet but… He’s not breathing. He doesn’t have a pulse. He’s… dead. But he’s moving. I don’t know what to do.”

  I’d never seen Ben look so defeated.

  I jumped at the sound of a loud crash and turned to see the plate of food had disappeared from the counter. Slowly, I walked closer and glanced over to see the supposedly dead man had managed to sit up and begin tearing into the bacon and sausages like an animal.

  He had reached up and pulled the plate down onto the floor.

  “Ben!” I whispered and pulled him over so he could see. “He’s not dead! He’s okay. Sort of.”

  The man’s head snapped up at the sound of my whisper, and I gasped when I saw his face. His skin was a sickly grey now, looking even more like the woman in the alley.

  He munched furiously on the bacon as he grabbed hold of the counter stool and tried to lift himself up, glaring at us just as he glared at the meat before.

  Instinctively, I pushed Ben back and we moved towards the office. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew we were in danger.

  My heart started beating faster as I saw his bloodshot eyes slowly appear over the counter, with the same gurgling sound rumbling in his throat, only now it started to grow into more of a growl or a screech.

  The four of us backed into the office, slid the door closed and turned the lock.

  “Something creepy is going on today,” I said as I turned to face Ben, Jo and Wyatt.

  “First, the streets are completely deserted. Then, I saw a woman eating a rat in the dumpster, now this. That guy out there said someone tried to eat his leg!”

  “Someone what?!” Jo gasped. “Maybe something’s happened? Has anyone seen any news today?”

  Ben and Wyatt shook their heads, but what Jo said had triggered something in my memory.

  “I saw something last night, on the TV in the bar,” I replied. “Something about an ‘outbreak’. It was in Sydney though, not here.”

  Their eyes widened at the word outbreak, and Wyatt turned to switch on the television as we cramped together in the tiny room, gathering around.

  The same news story appeared on every channel, all showing scenes of violence in the streets. Police officers bleeding, men fighting, women and children running frantically. I gasped when some of the footage was clearly in Melbourne, only a ten minute drive from where we were.

  “I thought you said it was in Sydney?” Jo asked as she turned to look at me.

  Just then, I remembered the last words I saw slide across the screen the night before.

  'New reports of second Halienza outbreak in a Melbourne hospital.'

  “Oh no.” I moaned, unable to take my eyes off the screen.

  “Shhh!” hushed Ben, as the news reporter began to speak.

  For anyone just joining us, there has been widespread panic down the east coast of Australia as a deadly outbreak of the Halienza Virus has left hundreds dead and an estimated thousands more infected. What started as seemingly controlled leaks at Sydney’s Trinity Hospital and Melbourne's Infinity Hospital has already spread throughout New South Wales and Victoria. We’ve just had word that the virus has also hit Brisbane Hospital. The virus is expected to spread through to Adelaide and even up to Darwin over the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours.

  We all looked at each other, eyes wide in shock, struggling to believe what we saw.

  For anyone still in Sydney or Melbourne who are uninfected, you are urged to stay inside and lock your doors and windows. The infected have become severely deranged and extremely violent. We have received countless reports of the infected biting and even killing anyone they come across, including their loved ones. Do not approach the infected. I repeat; do not approach the infected. If you have been bitten, you are requested to go to the nearest hospital or medical centre for treatment as soon as possible.

  More footage of the streets was shown then, this time of the infected. Their eyes were an eerie white, skin grey and spattered with blood, their faces and arms covered in open wounds and lesions.

  “Zombies,” whispered Ben, staring slack-jawed at the screen.

  “Oh come on, Ben,” Jo scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. “The media always over dramatises things. I doubt it’s that serious.”

  “You haven’t seen the guy just outside the door,” Ben replied.

  Just then, more footage of the violence was shown.

  I watched in horror as at least a dozen police officers attempting to prevent a riot were attacked by psychotic men, women and even a few children, all furiously biting into their skin, tearing them to shreds. I felt sick as I watched the graphic scenes play out in front of me.

  “We need to get rid of that guy. He’s infected. He’s been bitten, and he’s starting to look just like them,” I said, motioning to the infected people on the screen.

  My stomach turned as I heard the sound of the bell ringing as the door of the diner opened, and slowly shut again.

  “I hope that was him leaving,” I whispered as I unlocked the door and slid it open an inch.

  I peered through the gap, but could still see the infected man trying to pull himself up onto the counter. “He’s still there.”

  “That means another one just walked in,” Wyatt said as he switched off the television and stood close behind me.

  Any other day I would have shivered in his close presence, but right now we stood on the edge of the end of the world, and we had to survive.

  I heard a loud groan and someone, something, shuffling through the diner, edging closer to the four of us hiding in the tiny office. I held my breath, trying desperately to stay quiet. Slowly, I began sliding the door closed, but it was too late.

  A rancid, decomposing face appeared on the other side of the entryway, its dilated pupils burning into me in desire.

  I screamed, almost knocking Wyatt over as I jumped back into him. It let out a terrifying screech as it crammed a long, freshly mauled arm through the opening in the door.

  The putrid smell of day old rotting flesh filled the room as its maggot infested hand swiped at me frantically. The mere sight of it filled my stomach with bile, but I knew I had to focus on keeping us alive.

  I threw myself forward against the door, pushing it sideways as hard as I could. Wyatt leaned over me onto the door, helping me slam it into the infected arm. Ben tried to grab it and push it back onto the other side of the door, but it was swinging wildly, its yellow fingernails covered in dried blood. Jo backed herself up against the far wall, screaming in fear.

  I put all my weight against the door and together Wyatt and I forced it closed, and by the sound of the sickening crack I knew we had broken the bone, but the possessed arm didn’t stop. Instead, it kept waving around, only now it couldn’t grab us. Ben pushed the shattered arm back through the door and we slammed it shut, locking it fast.

  For a moment, everything fell silent. I leaned off of the door and tried to catch my breath. I could feel my entire bod
y trembling. My heart pounded so hard I thought it would explode.

  I could hear it, the infected monster, groaning and sniffing at the other side of the door. The groan turned into a loud growl, and it furiously rammed itself into the door. Ben and Wyatt threw themselves against it to stop it from breaking in.

  “What do we do?” I asked, my legs feeling so unstable I thought I would collapse.

  No-one answered.

  I leaned my arms against the door again, helping Ben and Wyatt keep it closed, while

  Jo slid down onto the floor, her knees up against her chest as tears streamed down her face.

  Over the growling I heard the bell ring again.

  Another one had come for us.

  All that stood between us and these mindless creatures with an insatiable hunger for human flesh was a thin sliding door.

  We were trapped.

  Chapter Six

  “Please! I need help!”

  I froze at the sound of a desperate voice coming from inside the diner. It wasn’t another of the infected who just walked in, it was a woman.

  “Someone just attacked me! Hello? I need help!”

  The bashing on the door stopped then, and I heard the zombie shuffling away. I felt relieved for a moment, but fear struck me when I realised the danger the woman was now in.

  “Oh no. No!” she screamed as the shuffling grew faster.

  The bell rang, she had run back out of the diner, and when it rang again I knew the infected creature was close behind her. Tears welled in my eyes as I heard her screams fade as she ran further down the street.

  “We’ve got to get out of here,” I said as I unlocked the door and slowly peered through the gap. “I can’t see the other one. He must have gone, too,” I shivered.

  I wanted to run out of the diner and help the poor woman who had unknowingly saved our lives, but I knew it would be futile. Her far-off screams had already grown silent.

  Slowly, I stepped out into the diner to look around, but saw no-one. I turned to look back at my friends, who stood frozen in fear.

  Suddenly, I felt something plow into my side, sending me flying through the air and skidding along the tiled floor, slamming against the metal side of the fryer.