Clifton Falls: A Zombie Story [Part 1]

by Taylor, Lee Andrew

  “Take a seat,” he said, pointing to some chairs. “What I’m about to tell you isn’t pretty.”

  “I don’t want to take a seat. I just want to know what happened to them and to identify their bodies. As I was told to do.”

  Wayne knew he couldn’t say too much, especially something resembling the truth. He had to stick with what Mike asked him to do, but Karen’s sad face was making it hard for him. He knew she worked at the bank with one of the deceased because he was one of the officers assigned to that murder case a few months ago, so didn’t want to upset her by keeping something from her. But he knew Mike was right. It was too risky.

  “I take it you were down as a next of kin.”

  “We’re not related…I was just told to come here to identify them.”

  “Look, officer,” Blake interrupted, gripping Karen tight. “My wife was told that her name was on a list of contacts. That’s all. But I still don’t believe it’s real. That something happened to them.”

  “If I could give you a positive answer I would,” Wayne said, hopelessly trying to smile. “But I can’t.”

  “So, what happened to them?” Blake asked, hoping Wayne wasn’t going to go into too much detail. “It just sounds a bit odd to me.”

  “There was nothing odd about it…They were involved in an accident at home…That’s all I know.”

  Karen shook her head after seeing Wayne look to the floor. She knew he was keeping something back.

  “Why does it look like you’re holding information from us,” she said, removing herself from Blake. “I know you were there. I can feel it.”

  Wayne closed his eyes for a second and gulped. He had one major flaw and that was convincing people he was telling the truth when he was lying. He knew it was a problem but he still needed to stick with his story. He’d come too far to crack up and blurt out the facts.

  “I’m sorry,” he sadly said, shrugging his shoulders. “It was just a terrible accident.”

  “Did they feel any pain?”

  Wayne shook as Karen watched him closely.

  “No…It was quick.”

  Karen’s eyes welled up but she didn’t cry. She just breathed loudly and slumped into a chair.

  “What kind of accident?” Blake asked, sitting next to her. “I can’t think of anything going wrong for them inside their home, never mind killing them.”

  “Look, I know you have a million questions to ask me but I don’t know how they died.”

  “Are we able to see them now?”

  “I will need to check first but it shouldn’t be a problem…”

  Wayne silently hoped that Blake had run out of questions because any more could leave him on the brink of slipping up.

  “…Just stay here until then,” he said, walking towards the door. “I will ask my chief to have a word with you. Maybe he can explain how they died?”

  Wayne opened the door and left the room, walking back to the receptionist as she put down the phone.

  “I’ve got a job for you,” he said, pointing towards where he’d just come from. “Can you keep an eye on the couple?”

  “Yeah, sure,” the receptionist eagerly replied. “Anything you say, officer.”

  “Oh, and take them some food and drink.”

  “Anything else?” she asked, smiling.

  “Just one more thing. If any reporters come sniffing around, don’t tell them where the couple are. You got that?”

  “Sure. I got it.”

  Wayne knew the press could show up to pester the husband and wife very soon so needed them to stay hidden. It was only a matter of time before the deaths of the people inside the house and the ones on the road got reporters sniffing for clues. They were probably already gaining stories from the people who were outside the house of horror at the time of the killings. They may not have seen anything but they sure as hell would’ve heard something.

  “I’ll leave it with you,” Wayne said, walking away.

  ***

  He entered the morgue room to find Mike talking to Colin, a short, bald, middle-aged man who was the head of the department. He stood back, listening to the men discuss the identities of the corpses like it was a game of ‘Guess Who?’ before spotting Mike holding a driver’s license. He assumed it belonged to Frank but neither men discussed how he died.

  He looked beyond the chatting pair to see bodies sprawled out on tables, feeling sick to his stomach by how gruesome most of them looked. He stared at Frank’s corpse, shaking his head in disbelief at how the man suddenly died not long after he’d spoken to him, rubbing his chin and feeling lost from thoughts of the man running down a body before being attacked by another.

  “Did you know you had a patch of blood on your head,” Wayne said, staring at Colin. “Looks like a friggin’ tattoo.”

  Colin looked at his blood-spattered hospital coat, sighing at how much whiteness was left.

  “Do I?” he replied, not caring about it. “I get so carried away in my work that I fail to notice most of the time…”

  He took a handkerchief from his top pocket, spitting on it before dabbing it across his head, smirking as he walked over to the tables.

  “…I am baffled by these,” he said, touching a limb belonging to the torn-apart body of Rodney Wilson. “Looks like someone went through the person with a chainsaw.”

  “Yes, the poor sod,” Mike replied, closing in. “If you have any questions then talk to Wayne. He was involved in most of the events involving those corpses today.”

  Colin nodded.

  “Sure…I’ll tell you what I know,” Wayne said, fidgeting as Colin picked up a piece of Rodney’s skull.

  “I can’t wait to hear this,” Colin replied, noticing Wayne refocus on Mike.

  “The woman from the bank, the one who was told to come here to identify her boss’ body wants to have a few words with you.”

  “Don’t tell me you felt guilty about lying to her,” Mike said, shaking his head. “You won’t go to hell you know.”

  Wayne shrugged. “You know it’s not my thing, chief.”

  “I know…So, what did you tell her?”

  “That his wife and he were involved in an accident at their home.”

  “Damn! And you need me to elaborate on that?”

  “Yes.” Wayne patted him on the back. “You did say not to mention the truth…So, let’s see you come up with something believable.”

  Mike sighed before slowly walking away to leave the room.

  “Go on, do tell,” Colin excitedly said, pointing at the tables. “What did happen to make the corpses look like this?”

  “You probably won’t believe me but one of them attacked two of the others.”

  “So what…People attack people all the time. That’s nothing new.”

  “Even if the person had been dead for six months?”

  “Fuck! No way! You mean the stinking corpse that got run down by the truck was responsible?”

  “Not that one,” Wayne said, pointing at the half-blown away skull of Vincent’s mother. “That one did it.”

  “If that’s true,” Colin happily replied, wiping a bloodied hand across his face. “Then we may be dealing with the living dead…You know, walking zombies.” He held out his hands and groaned. “That’ll explain the bitemark on the truck driver.”

  “You think he was bit by a zombie?”

  “You tell me? What did you think when you saw the thing on the table attack someone?”

  “I don’t know,” Wayne awkwardly replied. “It all happened so fast. There wasn’t time to think.”

  “You have plenty of time to think now…You know I’m right…If we don’t get to the bottom of this soon then the whole town could become infected.” Colin grabbed onto Wayne, snapping his teeth together. “Who else knows the truth?”

  “No one because zombies don’t exist…It’s just made-up nonsense… You’ve been reading too many horror comics.”

  “Is it? How’d you know? What other answers h
ave you come up with?”

  The questions flew from Colin’s mouth quickly to leave Wayne puzzled. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, that Colin was so easily taken in by the story, but his words sounded so convincing that Wayne began to consider them.

  “Damn! You may be right…I’d best let the chief know.”

  Colin burst out laughing. “I’m playing with you…If you tell Mike zombies are real he will have a heart attack.”

  Wayne scratched his head and stared at the corpses.

  ***

  Mike watched Karen and Blake closely as he waited for one of them to speak. But they seemed to have gone all shy.

  He sat down and poured a glass of water, gulping it down quickly before placing the glass on the table; bracing himself for what was to come.

  “I was told you had questions for me.”

  “What happened to them?” Karen asked, squinting. “What seriously happened to them?”

  Mike nodded. He knew she was on the verge of collapsing from not knowing the truth.

  “Well, when Mr Smythe returned home on his lunch break, he noticed his wife was sprawled out on the kitchen floor. She’d been electrocuted by an appliance in the room. But, unknown to him, the electric charge was still running through her body.”

  “Damn!” Blake hollered after being taken by surprise. “I would never have guessed it to be that.”

  “And he was also electrocuted?” Karen sadly asked.

  “I’m afraid so…He bent down to touch her but the charge ran through his body, causing him to have a coronary.”

  “Wow! It was one hell of a freak accident,” Blake said, pouring himself a glass of water. “I’m going to need more than this to drink when I go home.”

  Karen shook Mike’s hand, thanking him for his honesty.

  SIXTEEN

  All was silent again inside the house next door to the Smythes’ as Sid Gilbert stood inside his kitchen, feeling guilty for his angry outburst when Mary was being murdered. He wished he hadn’t slammed on the wall to tell her to be quiet.

  He stared out the window and smiled at Bruno in the back yard lying face down in the kennel, waiting for his loyal dog to look up at him. But Bruno wasn’t moving, so he tapped on the glass.

  “Betty, do you know what’s up with the dog? He’s not touched his food.”

  Betty Gilbert entered the room with annoyance plastered on her face, glaring at Sid to make him frown. He knew she was about to kick off with him again. There wasn’t a day that went by when they didn’t argue over something, and Sid was convinced she did it on purpose. It was like some love-hate thing with her, something she preferred over an actual conversation.

  She closed in to stare at Bruno as curiosity took over, but within seconds she was back to glaring at Sid.

  “How the hell should I know what’s up with him? Do I look like a bloody vet?!” she shouted, as Sid backed away. “Did you give him that cheap food again?”

  “No,” Sid replied, whimpering. “I gave him the good stuff.”

  “I know you feed him shit so you can use the extra cash for your gambling habit…I watch you, Sid. I’m always fuckin’ watching you.”

  Sid backed away some more as he imagined her blasting out flames like a dragon; almost laughing to make Betty furious.

  “What’s so fuckin’ funny?”

  “Nothing…I was just wondering when you would give me grief today…I was only asking about the dog.”

  “Whatever!” she yelled, walking back towards the door she came through. “The next time you want to ask a question, ask one I can answer. You thick twat...”

  Betty had a way of manipulating Sid and knew which buttons to press, but it was her swearing that upset him the most. He’d told her many times to not do it, especially in front of the children, but Betty sometimes slipped up when they were around before punishing Sid for making her do it.

  “…I get more sense out of the kids than from you…Why do you always try to make me look stupid?”

  “I don’t need to try,” Sid said with a grin, hearing the children coming down the stairs. “You are stupid.”

  He waited for Betty to blow a fuse, knowing she was ready to, but the sight of the children racing into the room stopped her. She shook her head at Sid and scowled before breathing in deeply to compose herself; smiling at the kids closing in to hug her.

  “Look,” she said, grabbing Sid’s attention. “If Bruno’s off his food then he’s probably just tired or something…Just phone the vet if he’s still the same later.”

  Sid nodded as he glanced outside again, but he frowned when Bruno still wasn’t raising his head.

  ***

  Betty stood by the kitchen sink peeling potatoes, glancing at the clock to cringe because it was now 4:00 pm. She hated not having dinner prepared by a certain time. She had a ritual and that was eating dinner by 4:30 pm, so was now peeling potatoes at speed whilst cursing under her breathe because Sid had made her angry again.

  He watched her, knowing she was losing her cool, but he didn’t say a word as he looked out of the window again. He saw Bruno slowly lift his head but his bloodshot eyes and frothy mouth caused Sid to gulp hard.

  “What’s wrong with you now?” Betty asked, peeling another potato. “The dog will be fine.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Sid sadly replied, pointing at Bruno. “He looks ill…Take a look.”

  Betty brushed his attempt at grabbing her attention away, thinking he was going over the top. She knew Sid exaggerated over mostly everything just to annoy her so wasn’t falling for his frantic behaviour.

  “I’m doing the bloody dinner!” she snapped, dropping the peeler into a bowl. “I haven’t got time to check on him. I’m already behind on my schedule.”

  “You and your goddamn schedules…Just take a look.”

  Betty grimaced and nibbled her lip before snatching a tea towel to wipe her hands.

  “I told you already. If he’s ill then fetch the vet in…It’s that simple.”

  “Where’s the number for the surgery?”

  “It’s on your phone, under V for vets.”

  “Stop being sarcastic, you mad cow. This is an emergency.”

  Sid sweated as he stared at the dog again, seeing the froth form into a liquid beard to scare him. He moved away from the window and aimed for the back door, shivering as he reached for the handle.

  “Where are you going? Aren’t you calling the vet?”

  Sid stopped and nodded before opening the door. “Yes, but Bruno needs me first.”

  He left the house and walked towards the kennel, closely watching Bruno in the hope he would get up. But the dog just lay with its head on the ground, staring at Sid like he was a stranger.

  “Hey, boy. I’m gonna’ get you some help…”

  Sid closed in to hear a faint moan, fearing Bruno was struggling to breathe. But the dog slowly rose to stop Sid in his tracks.

  “…Bruno, what’s wrong, boy?...”

  The dog snarled, showing fangs before barking loudly; frightening Sid to almost trip over as he retreated towards the door.

  “…Bruno. It’s me…What’s wrong with you?”

  But the dog wasn’t recognising his voice.

  It growled again and again until Sid reached the house. He raced inside, slamming the door shut behind him, turning to see Betty stare at Bruno.

  “Jeez! Sid. What did you do to him?”

  “I did nothing to him,” he nervously replied, breathing heavily. “He’s just gone mental.”

  Sid placed sweaty hands onto her face but she freaked out, pushing him away before choking violently into her hand.

  “You filthy animal. Your hands stink!” she yelled, pushing him again until he quivered by the sink. “You’re starting to worry me, Sid. Why is Bruno making weird noises?”

  The low drone from Bruno’s growls sent shivers down Betty’s spine as she plucked up the courage to look out of the window again. But, after seeing Bruno cough up
congealed blood she quickly looked away.

  “Sort out your dog!” she snapped, feeling her stomach churn over. “And do it now before the kids see.”

  “But he doesn’t seem to recognise me anymore.” Sid grabbed his phone, squirming after more drones drilled into him. “This isn’t right…I’m phoning the vet.”

  “You do that…I’ll tell the kids to stay upstairs.”

  Sid watched Betty race out of the room as Bruno sniffed and scratched the bottom of the back door; the noises panicking Sid until more sweat poured out of him.

  “It’s okay, boy,” he whispered, dialling a number as he walked towards the door. “I’ll make you better.”

  He held the phone away from his ear as he listened out for more noises, but it was now too silent, leaving him guessing where his dog was? He sighed as he returned to the window, feeling sad to find Bruno wasn’t to be seen.

  “Damn!” Sid shouted, hearing a voice on the phone.

  He placed it to his ear, calming down to describe the condition of the dog, but, as he leaned over a worktop to get closer to the window, his heart pumped hard against his chest. He listened to what the vet had to say but the words – stay inside - worried him.

  “Okay, got it,” Sid responded, gulping after glancing outside again.

  “I’ll let my family know.”

  But Betty raced back into the room to startle him.

  “Where’s your dog!” she screamed, close to crying. “I can’t see him outside.”

  She opened a drawer and reached for a knife, releasing tears as she held it like she was about to attack; her eyes sore as Sid swiftly ended the call.

  “Wooh! Love!,” he hollered, taking the knife from her. “Keep calm…The vet’s on his way with the police.”

  “But what about the people outside?” Betty shivered. “Bruno has to be out front. Someone will see him…”

  Sid raised his hands as if not sure of what to say, muttering under his breath as he dazedly walked in a circle. And it freaked Betty out.

  “…Come on Sid…What are you going to do?”

  He stared at her and puffed out his cheeks, panicking to the point of hiding. But Betty’s glare stopped him.