George became shy now. He hoped Blake would forget what he’d said but Blake was still staring.
“I was just being careful,” George nervously said, touching the holster. “I’m just edgy sometimes. Especially since what happened at the Christmas robbery…”
Blake nodded, accepting the answer. He knew how hard it’d been for Karen seeing as she was still having flashbacks, so thought it to be natural. But still, it was unusual for an officer to carry a gun.
“…So, you already knew about the deaths but you still wanted to come here to let the chief know,” George said acting curious. “That’s weird.”
“I came here to have it out with him because he lied to me…He said Mr and Mrs Smythe died from an electrical current passing through them and not a domestic.”
George sucked his bottom lip as Blake’s words washed over him. To him, it was all new.
“Look, mate. I wish I could help you but I’ve only been on duty for a short while. I’m still getting to grips with what’s been going on today.” George patted Blake on the shoulder and returned to the other side of the desk. “Look, I’ll tell you what I’ll do…I’ll ring the chief right now, get to the bottom of it for you.”
***
A disturbing sound echoed inside Mike’s home as five rings sounded, but he wasn’t answering the phone. Seconds later, the sequence was repeated but still, there was nothing. Mike was too smashed from alcohol to wake up.
George smiled at Blake as he pointed at the phone, shaking his head to confirm nothing was happening. He tried for a third time but gave up after two rings, shrugging his shoulders and replacing the handset.
“He’s probably just busy.”
“But this can’t wait…The couple who died were like family to my wife so I need to find out what happened. There can’t be two versions of events.”
George felt sorry for Blake now. He was desperate.
He’d shown that by coming here without a plan, George thought before holding up a hand to say, “Don’t worry, I’m not finished yet…I’ll call someone else.”
He dialled another number as Blake watched him closely; both smiling as it was answered within three rings.
“Hey, Wayne, it’s George…You sound tired.”
Wayne rubbed his eyes and swallowed hard. He was surprised to hear from George but he soon panicked, thinking Mike was behind the call.
“You tell the chief I’ll be there as quick as I can,” he said, frantically reaching for his trousers.
“Mike’s not here.”
Wayne slowed down, rubbing his eyes again before catching his breath as he sat on the edge of the bed.
“Right…So why are you phoning me at this time of night?”
George peered down at his watch and scrunched his cheeks.
“It’s only a quarter to nine…Were you asleep?”
“Yeah, man,” Wayne replied, lying on the bed. “It’s been a hectic day…I came home and crashed out.”
“Damn!”
George glanced at Blake, noticing he was intrigued with the conversation before explaining to Wayne his reason behind the call. But, after Blake’s name was mentioned, Wayne’s mood changed. He knew why the man was at the station long before George finally filled him in. He’d dreamt it would happen.
FUCK! Mike’s story has been rumbled.
“I missed the news report,” Wayne said, rubbing a hand across his face. “So, what did the newsreader say exactly? It was just a domestic between two households?”
“Yep…and Blake is raging over it…”
Wayne cursed under his breath before looking for his shirt; finding it to put it on as shaking fingers did up the buttons.
“…Wayne! Wayne! Are you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m still here,” the reply came as Wayne reached for his shoes. “Just keep him there. I’m on my way…Do you know if he’s blabbed to anyone else?”
George smiled at Blake to make him feel more at ease before quickly finishing off the conversation with Wayne.
“Only his wife, I think.”
“Let’s hope you’re right.”
Then the line went dead.
TWENTY-ONE
Colin had ploughed through the hideous corpses to leave him shattered. He’d taken Blood and DNA samples before writing notes on what he thought had happened; feeling excited to be in line for employee of the month due to all the overtime. But, of all the years doing this kind of work he’d never had a day as stressful as this.
He stared at a blood-soaked table, sighing from thoughts of what was recently lying on it, as a reminder of what Wayne told him earlier crept inside his mind. He knew it was farfetched and outrageous but it was also the most realistic theory of them all.
Did someone come to life again?
He glanced over at the refrigeration unit to see the written names of the identified people, but the torn-apart corpse of the person rundown by the truck and the woman killed by the driver were still unidentified. He turned away to scrub the table clean but jumped out of his skin when a ‘THUD’, ‘THUD’ echoed around the room. He panicked, thinking someone was trying to enter, but, as he opened the door, saw no one there. He returned to the table but another loud ‘THUD’ almost crushed his heart.
“Who’s out there?” he shouted, tripping over a bucket of red coloured water to see it splash over the floor. “Come out.”
He watched the door to see if it would open but more bangs frit him into almost hiding inside a storeroom. He breathed deeply as he listened out, but, as more thuds gave him a clue of its whereabouts, he fought with his mind over whether to believe it. He stared at one of the units, sweating as the sound happened again; knowing now that was where it was coming from.
“No! I don’t need this right now…I’m meant to be going home.”
He thought about leaving it as he was too tired to check and just sort it out in the morning, but he felt guilty now. He knew he needed to check the unit to make sure it wasn’t faulty, but cringed from the thought of having to remove the body.
He pulled the handle to see the coffin-like shape slide out like an upright filing cabinet; surprised that the noise had stopped. He shook his head and reached for the body bag, sucking in a deep breath as he struggled to lift the corpse.
“Where’s Ted when I need him?” he asked himself, attempting to lift it again.
He flung the body over a shoulder and walked towards a table, making sure to avoid the wet patch of water as he reached it. But, as he slowly placed the body down he gripped his now aching shoulder. He cringed from the pain as he walked towards the storeroom, entering to grab a toolbox before quickly walking past the table to aim for the unit; not noticing that the body was moving inside the bag. A lump appeared, working its way to the top in a frantic motion until the two-way zipper slowly moved a few inches before two decaying fingers slipped through to rest on the outside.
Colin grabbed a screwdriver from the box as he peered inside the unit. He banged the sides to listen out for the sound again, but nothing happened.
“Maybe I’m just overtired?”
He was so concentrated on the task that he didn’t notice the fingers gripping the other side of the zipper, pulling it down another foot until both hands were free. The corpse sat up as the zipper raced down to the end; its evil eyes glaring at Colin as it got down off the table to knock the bag onto the floor. The noise alerted Colin instantly, but, before he had time to turn around, the banging noises started again to make him shudder. And this time they were coming from other units.
‘BANG! BANG! BANG!’
Colin dropped the screwdriver as a fourth bang drilled into him.
He was unaware that a slobbering, naked, dead version of Frank was standing behind him, watching him closely. It twitched its head from side to side as it grunted towards the other units; its tone being used to communicate with other corpses to leave Colin momentarily frozen to the spot. But fear had left him now and curiosity had taken its place.
He concentrated hard, lifting his head to follow the sounds until locating two more units, but the ferocity of the noises stopped him from hearing the dead person close in. He flinched, feeling faint as he fell against the units, holding the back of his neck to feel the warm blood stick to his fingers. He screamed in a disturbingly high-pitched squeal, close to collapsing to his knees, turning agonisingly to face the reason behind why he was bleeding; choking at the sight of a man who was supposed to be as dead as a dodo chewing on his flesh.
Colin tried to scream again but the sound was muted.
He teared up as the now alive again man with the tag attached to his toe closed in, licking lips as if satisfied with the taste from the first morsel of fresh meat. The corpse lashed out to bite Colin again but he was quick to push it away before running past; his heart pounding from the fear he now felt as he aimed for the exit door. But he lacked concentration and slipped on the wet floor, hitting his head on the corner of a table with extreme force to leave him dazed and bleeding again. He sat on the floor staring at the attacker with blood dripping from its chin, wishing he was dreaming as it staggered towards him.
Colin shook his head, feeling it pound like a bad migraine as the corpse dropped to the floor in front of him, snapping teeth to scare him.
“Get the fuck away from me, please…I beg you,” Colin pleaded, trying desperately to get to his feet. “I just want to go home.”
The latest addition to the zombie race sniffed the air, grinning after the sweet aroma of Colin’s blood wafted beneath its nose before dripping onto the floor tiles. But Colin couldn’t get up. He tried and tried but was sliding on his life fluid, becoming covered by it as terror took over. He waited for the corpse to attack again, imagining the excruciating pain in advance before almost admitting defeat, but the zombie just watched him, giving him time to try to lift again.
He was almost back to his feet after sliding a few more times, but the monster grabbed his trailing foot, pulling him down again. He shook his leg in a desperate attempt to escape but the zombie bit deep into his calf, ripping away flesh mixed with the cloth from his trousers. Colin gritted his teeth, wincing as tears streamed down his face. He lashed out and swung an arm, connecting a hand against the side of the creature’s head to knock it across the floor; given another chance to escape. But he found it more difficult to rise so dragged himself towards the door.
He turned to see lines of blood escaping out of three wounds, choking in pain as the creature walked away to respond to more ferocious BANGS coming from the two units. Colin watched in shocked amazement as the zombie reached them, pulling them open to unzip the body bags, revealing more hideous, newborn creatures. He couldn’t believe what was happening. The corpses were rising just like the one that attacked him.
He rubbed his eyes, watching them roll out of the units to plummet hard against the floor before getting up like nothing happened; leaving the bags on the ground as they glared at him. Colin knew time was not on his side but he still didn’t move. He stared at the naked trio of flesh-hungry corpses sniffing the air, their mouths open as they followed the smell of blood towards him.
“Go away!” Colin bellowed, hoping that someone would hear him. “Help! Help! Please, can anybody help me?!”
But the light from the room slowly faded as the beasts hovered over him to block out the brightness.
Colin slapped at thin air in an attempt to fend the zombies off before covering his arms over his face to cry beneath them, not wanting to see what was to happen next.
Nash and Fank’s corpse leaned over him as Vincent followed the sound of his heavy breathing; gripping violently onto his arm to scare him into wetting himself. He shrieked as Vincent dug fingers into his flesh, tearing at it like a crazed psycho as the new Nash sunk teeth into the same arm. Colin hollered even louder than before as he removed his arms from his face; the pain becoming too much to take as he tried to back away. But Vincent tracked his voice and snapped teeth at him, ripping away a mouthful of his right cheek.
Colin was tearful and bleeding to death, but was desperate to let out a final YELL, hoping it would smash through walls and doors on its quest to find help. And this time his screams echoed out of the room to travel along the corridor.
***
Gary was mopping the floor in the lower region of the hospital, but, as he closed in on the morgue room thought he’d heard a scream over the music playing through his earphones. He stopped and turned off his I-phone, gripping the mop handle tightly as he listened out for it again.
It was unusual for him to be doing what he was doing as nursing was his main job role, but the hospital was low on staff so he’d been given the short straw to mop. But he didn’t like being so close to the morgue. It freaked him out. That was why he was listening to music. It was a distraction for him.
He was about to turn it on again but felt an urge to stare at the morgue room door, squinting after hearing something fall to the floor.
“Hello!” he shouted, closing in. “Anyone in there?”
He placed an ear against the door but heard nothing else, so returned to mopping the floor as the three walking corpses savagely fed on Colin. One had used the screwdriver to open up his stomach before pulling out his intestines, liver, and heart; sitting on the floor to smile sadistically as it bit into them. It had no remorse, just crazed hunger for food of a human.
Nash and Vincent fought over the dead man’s arm. They bit into it like hungry piranhas before wrenching it from the body, leaving Colin’s corpse looking like a jigsaw soaked in blood.
Gary thought hard as he tried to remember if he’d witnessed Colin leaving the room, knowing he couldn’t have without being seen. He placed an ear against the door again but backed away quickly, feeling confused after hearing a strange sucking sound.
“Colin! Are you in there?” he asked, shivering from not knowing. “Did a body fall from the table? Is that why you shouted?”
He waited impatiently for a few more seconds, sweating from the fear of realising where he was; wanting desperately to turn on the music again. But another noise came from the room to stop him. He reached for the door and turned the knob, but it wasn’t moving. Something was blocking it.
“What the hell is up with this door?!” he shouted, leaning a shoulder into it.
He puffed and puffed as it slowly moved forward, smiling to see it open to halfway, but he suddenly puked after spotting footprint shapes nestled in a pool of blood.
“COLIN!” he screamed, turning red with exhaustion after using up all his strength to fully open the door.
But, whatever had been blocking it was now jammed between the wall and the wooden object.
Gary saw more bloody footprints lead away from the spillage.
He thought at first that Colin had stepped into it with bare feet but knew that couldn’t be right unless Colin had grown extra pairs. It was obvious that more than one person had stepped into the blood.
What’s he playing at?
Gary cautiously entered the room before slowly peering behind the door, but instantly puked again after seeing the mutilated corpse. He shook his head vigorously until calming down to think, sensing the body may be one of the corpses brought in earlier, but was puzzled to see it so close to the door. He gulped as he prodded it with the mop before shuddering from an eerie sound closing in; turning to face the unclothed creatures appearing from the open stockroom door. He choked after seeing fresh stitches cover the area where a penis and testicles should be, feeling like he needed to puke again after staring at the blind zombie with stitches around its neck. He shuddered as they moaned at him, feeling too creeped out to move, but none were moving towards him. They were just watching him like naughty schoolboys.
But Gary’s mind didn’t register them to be dead. He just thought Colin had some fetish that involved naked people and blood.
“Shit me, guys, you startled me,” he nervously said, hoping they weren’t going to ask him to join in.
But his heart pumped faster within seconds.
He now knew something wasn’t right after glaring hard at one of the monsters; seeing it growl at him like a rabid dog.
“You’re the guy who was brought in earlier,” he said, whimpering. “But I saw you die…”
He attempted to locate Colin again but couldn’t see him anywhere. Then it clicked.
“…Colin!” he bellowed, releasing more sweat after facing the partly dismembered corpse by the door.
He noticed a nametag spattered in blood on the red covered lab coat. He shook fast as he kept one eye on the still staring freaks, reaching for the tag to pull it away before wiping the blood off to reveal Colin’s name. He dropped it and cried before suddenly facing the creatures, laughing out loud as they remained side-by-side, covered in blood and drooling onto the floor.
Gary fought with his nerves as thoughts of the zombies being nothing more than comical entered his mind. He laughed at them again to receive the same docile response before placing his earphones back into his ears, pressing play on his phone to listen to another song from Michael Jackson, as the events he now faced reminded him of the tracks - ‘Blood on the Dance Floor & Thriller’.
Oh, yeah, they surely resemble the dancers from that song.
Gary imagined them doing the same dance if he put the song on, so scrolled down the music list on his phone to find it. But he was still wary of them, sensing they were studying his every move.
He noticed the corpse of Frank slowly walk in front of the others, stopping a few feet ahead to scare him into acting with more caution as he searched for the track, but his sweaty fingers pressed play on the wrong song, leaving him listening to the nice one about the rat.
Gary giggled again but this time it wasn’t because he thought the situation was funny. This time it was because deep down he was shitting himself after realising the things in front of him was frightening.
Clifton Falls: A Zombie Story [Part 1] Page 15