by Dan Yaeger
In that moment where chemistry created great unnatural forces, there was little left of Samantha Emery. She was obliterated in an instant, taken away and removed from her solid form. She transcended that place. She was a spray, a mist; tortured no more. Dr Penfould was rendered asunder and thrown away from her. That grenade gave her the power to shove him, in a violent and liberating instant, as far from her as was possible.
The explosion smashed the windows and burst a hole in the room. It was like a broken eggshell; a breach to the outside world. Air and the sound of the impending night entered the Rock. The Rock had been cracked.
But before that decisive explosion, where Sam was liberated and the Doc got his just desserts, the regime was being ended anyway. Moments before the explosion, people of the Pen were excited at having been cured, finally, and assumed they would just walk on out of there.
People were eating treats and packing their things, hugging each other and making plans and sharing ideas. They had hope and optimism and planned on heading who knows where; away from the Rock. Without fear of infection and turning, the whole milk economy and fear-factory of the Doc was finished.
Comments like “Penfould is nothing,”; “Such a pig,”; “Fuck the Doc,” and others illustrated the mood. Dr Kian Penfould held nothing over them and was gone in all ways. The mood of rebellion had come about rather quickly once stories of Jesse and his encounters with the Doc had spread. Some of the stories had made people laugh and mock the tyrant of the Rock and others shook their heads in shame that they had been duped into believing the lies for so long. A crack in the dam was all that was needed. The tyranny of the Doc was apparently over.
People were talking about Jesse, debating his intentions but unanimous in him being the change. With Jesse still alive, he was a symbol of defiance and that they too could resist being oppressed by zombie and doctor-alike. The people, cured, were empowered and making plans for themselves; nothing could stop them. They were inspired to endure. Well, almost nothing but nothing was ever as it seemed. That night would be beyond their imaginations.
Some people thought it would be too good to be true and weren’t taking any chances. The slightest taste of freedom had been infectious, however, and even the greatest cynic would have felt the elation of change. Anything that resembled a weapon was being gathered. Rob had naturally emerged as a protector if not a leader, a trusted guard that had shielded them despite the regime. Finding Wayan and the other students had proven that Rob was not afraid to do what was right. The people of the Pen were inspired by him too and had cared for those poor souls that had been imprisoned, trapped and tormented in the most horrific of conditions. Rob had made a stand and that counted for something in everyone’s eyes. Human decency had become the new normal and that was, in part, thanks to Rob.
Armed with a rifle and a shotgun, Rob was ready for trouble and was clearly on the people’s side. He had internally resolved for a fight with Elsom and the last two men of the squads. He told Alicia to get behind him if there was any trouble but had not explained his thinking. For the first time in a long time, Rob felt like a man instead of a boy. Armoured in the only body armour and helmet in the place (formerly Price’s), Rob was clad in protection like a virtuous knight of old. When those hurriedly preparing looked his way, they were calmed by an alert pillar of strength. He was indeed to have confrontation but it would be an entirely different enemy to what he was expecting.
While Alicia had been given instructions by Rob, Sirocco still sat high on the pecking order. Sirocco had given instructions for Rob to escape if he ell, to keep going and get clear.
Rob nodded and saw a side to Sirocco that he looked up to and respected for a change. Dimi overheard the conversation and found the deeper feelings for Sirocco were becoming inevitable. In a further act of selflessness, Sirocco said “Hey man,” smiling at Rob for perhaps the first time, “The people love you, man. Look after ‘em, get ’em out, tell them.” The young country boy from the alpine region nodded slowly and prepared to face a life-time fear of public speaking.
Rob addressed the group and said “Hey! Everyone!” He had their attention for a moment; all eyes and hopes on him. He felt the pressure and rose to the challenge. “Hi everybody. I’m not much good at this but I’ll try.” He had the room. He was human, honest and he had the people’s attention and respect.
“We’ve all suffered,” he started, looking downward. “God knows, some more than others,” he continued, looking to the crowd and finding Wayan and Shiva. They acknowledged him with a hand movement and smile. They looked terrible but would endure and survive. The fact that they could still smile almost broke him, he held back tears and too much of himself. He sniffed and breathed in to calm the nerves and emotion he was feeling. The crowd felt only more endearment for the country boy.
“But the worst is past us all. We’re cured! We are free again” There was a cheer and smiles; the optimism was infectious. Rob was nervous but continued “If you wanna stay you can, but a group of are, well - we’re going,” he said. Clarifying, he continued “’Leash and me are going to head off into-“ he was cut off by the sound and feeling of the doors swinging open and that rush of air flowing through when two separate air-conditioned zones collided.
Elsom was flanked by Rowso and Kim; what was left of Squad 4. They burst onto the scenes of smiling people looking to Rob with respect and admiration. The new entrants looked like dead men walking and the room saw the terror in their eyes; like they had seen ghosts. In some ways they had.
Elsom shouted: “Get ready everyone! The zombies are coming! Get something to defend yourselves! There are hundreds, maybe thousands of them!” Pandemonium erupted all around as people moved from one form of terror to the next. Then, through the noise of confusion and distraught people, a leveller came.
There was an explosion that rocked the Rock. Everyone looked at each other with a disbelief and uncertainty. Elsom, still on orders of a madman, yelled “The Doc!”
Everyone knew the explosion would be linked to him, no-one knew just how.
Meanwhile, I was out of my cell and had locked the door into the brig. Everything I could possibly need was there and I dressed in an old Australian army camouflage jacket and some other tactical clothing hidden away in a closet. These items were far too small for Barlow but he had kept them in some fantasy he would lose weight and get fit again like he had when he was in his army regiment. I strapped machetes and knives to my body, like being reunited with old friends and family. I enjoyed gearing up, in a sort of a ritual, preparation and rites that imbued me with greater strength in the expectation of a coming battle.
My backpack and all other kit had been kept; nothing was missing. The last and probably most mentally important reunion was with Old Man. I opened the gun rack and retrieved Old Man and Manila; both were my friends on that night. I noticed that there weren’t any automatic weapons left but more ammo than I could carry. By the end of my ammo gathering and packing my bag was packed to the max. I had 12 boxes of 20 rounds of .308 calibre, 10 boxes or 50 rounds of .22 ammo. “All this ammo may be excessive,” I thought but the night would prove otherwise.
I raided everything else in Barlow’s den that I could. I took plenty of things; things I knew would come in handy to the others of that place.
A few new pieces of kit were added to my rig. “Thanks Barlow,” I said out aloud. I was excited and nervous; the thrill of an escape, a battle and liberation. Freedom beckoned and I would fight with everything I had, like many times before.
Just as I was drinking some water and ready to head into battle, an explosion rocked me on my feet and my ears rang. Like a clarion signifying something dramatic, a change or some rite of passage, I knew that this was the end of days for the Rock. The explosion was going to be mass murder or mutiny. Either way, I knew the Doc was done for and I may not even shoot a single round in anger to overthrow him. In one way I was right but I would find that many shots would be fired on that bitter night. It w
as as though the zombies were a final insult from the Doc.
I paused and stalked toward the door. I pressed my ear up against it and I could hear people running. After a short wait, they passed and I followed, stalking quietly but quickly. There were screams and yelling and, as I got closer, people wailed and howled. “This is going to be bad,” I thought. It was.
I made it to the Doc’s former chambers and saw the crowd of people there. There didn’t appear to be an immediate threat, no-one wounded or no assailants, but strangely no Doc. I pushed forward, gently wading through the crowd as a free man. As people saw me, they became quiet and subdued, almost calm. “Jesse! Oh good- you are free!” Angela said from across the room. The room was a bloody mess and there were two dead; only sympathy for one.
The focus of attention was a destroyed room and an absolutely shattered and almost unrecognisable body against a far wall. Blood and dust was everywhere; a very dead man. “Sam?!” I said loudly, breaking the chatter like a gunshot. I looked around and could not see her face. “Gone,” one of the ladies said, not looking me in the eye as tears poured like rain. I could see an area around a blast-zone that had left a mark; all that remained of Sam. Everyone had worked out what had happened and I was last on the scene and the last to understand. It was their tragedy and I was largely a late-comer into their family but my lip quivered and cheeks reddened too; we all felt the loss.
Dimi was inconsolable. She was telling everyone she had given the grenade to Sam and Siro felt responsible for being careless. He was shaking his dark, smooth head with responsibility. His face said it all. Our eyes caught and I thought I was in for a fight for a moment. His initial squint and angered, furrow-brow relaxed. He looked me in the eye and simply said. “The Doc and Sam are gone, man.” I nodded and simply said, “I’m sorry for Sam, she was a good woman.” The whole room heard my voice and noted my words. It was like they were listening to a dragon speak. Many of them knew me from stories or when they had seen my battered form on a gurney but didn’t understand or know me.
We knew Sam would have initiated the event, that explosion and there was a sombre mood of thanks mixed with condolence. The blood-splattered area where there was a hole in the wall had bits of fabric everywhere was the last place Sam had stood before disappearing from this world. Dimi picked up a ragged little piece of fabric that was seemingly unstained by blood. It was like a metaphor for a pure piece of her friend that remained in memory. It remained, it was kept.
The breach in the Rock that had been left behind was a gaping hole onto the outside world. I felt that the grenade had opened a passage for Sam’s spirit to escape. A moment of emotion, a solemn moment struck me and a few tears welled and rolled from my face. “Poor Sam,” I said aloud. The whole room was doing the same. They were all stunned and everyone was so overcome they had ignored the imminent threat of the zombies.
“OK mate,” I told myself. “This is far from over. It is survival time.”
I scanned the room for threats, the capabilities of people and what I would do next.
“You need to work out what the threats are, who your friends are and what you need to do to get home”. I had forged a mission for myself and it would become a point of focus.
First, I needed to establish if Sirocco was still an enemy or a freed prisoner like everyone else. “Can we work together? They need us,” I said, gesturing at the cured people in the room. He flicked his head at me in a sort of a man-salute, a sign of respect. “You alright man. They cured” he said. “We good.”
“Everyone is cured?” my hopes had been answered. Sirocco nodded but I needed to hear it from someone else. “I’m sorry, but I have to know,” I said, looking to the faces in the group. “Are you cured or still staving the virus off with milk?” Angela wiped some tears and walked over to me. She gave me a warm hug. “Yes Jesse,” she said. “The remedy, your cure, your little antibodies that look like little Thor’s Hammers, they work! Almost everyone here-“I nodded but cut her off; three men stood on the periphery of the room with weapons ready. Elsom and the remnants of Squad 4 could still have been our end. We needed to be careful. A moment of automatic weapons fire and it could have been it.
I held Angela’s hug and whispered just to her: “Don’t cure everyone just yet. No Thor’s Hammers for them.” I gestured at the three armed men as discretely as I could.
She nodded, ever clever, and understood. Her lack of surprise meant that she too felt that Elsom and his two goons were a threat. Her opinion and reaction mattered. I knew we were right.
Elsom cut to the chase and shouted like a sergeant major on a parade ground, despite his lack of confidence, betrayed by his voice breaking. “Do you people understand? Quit your navel gazing! The zombies are coming! Thousands of them!”
Everyone looked to Rob and Angela, and then at me. They were shocked and confused and I looked calm and ready to lead. The people in that room looked for my reaction and what to do next. I didn’t know the scale of the horde of zombies on its way to attack but I knew I needed to create some calm. Despite the threat we all envisaged, I created a miraculous calm and order with just a few words.
“Many good things come this night: the Doc is dead and the Rock is over.” The people nodded and some wiped tears and replaced them with a smile or look of optimism and intent.
“Congratulations; but the fight for your lives continues,” I found the words easily and my audience listened intently.
“What we do here and now is your choice. For those who will join me, I will fight here until we can break through.” The words seemed to bring a greater strength and a resolve in people like I had not seen before. They were engaged and regarded me with accord; not listening out of threat but out of interest and hope. They were no longer subservient; indeed free to be and to think and work with me.
“I have a place in the mountains that we can share. It would be yours as much as mine; a community, make it a community with me!” despite the predicament, there were smiles and nods all around. I had the controls, seemingly accepted by these people. They needed to understand what was being offered. “My mountain home is a paradise; an orchard, a river, 12 homes, no zombies: freedom. Let us not give up on life! Together, let us survive and live!” There was a cheer and people were excited and trembling with fear at the same time. There was hope, more than ever before, and each and every person wanted to live and thrive and would fight for that. Some of us would live and thrive and others would fall. It was to be a zombie Battle Royale.
Chapter 13: Battle Royale
I had handed out the mountain of knives, bats clubs and other weapons from Barlow’s den. The duffel-bags had erupted and the people of the Rock raided the bags like pirates would a treasure chest. But the few of us who wanted to lead the fight knew this was not enough. “Ok people,” I said. “What else have we got?” Elsom did not disappoint; a good soldier who accepted the new mission and leadership.
“I will take Squad 4 to the roof. We have a 50 Cal machine-gun up there under a tarp and sandbagged in for a battle like this. We get a 360 degree view from up there. We will hold that point.” Elsom had a good grasp of the tactical situation. While I didn’t trust him personally, I trusted in his resolve to be a soldier and fulfil a mission. He continued talking about the state of the ammo and guns; relatively low and not many.
While Elsom was talking and people listened in, Angela pulled close and whispered in my ear, “I can shoot. Give me your spare rifle?” I nodded and handed her Manila and all of the .22 ammo I had. She loaded a magazine like a pro and slung the rifle over her shoulder like she knew what she was doing.
Rob gave his shotgun to Stephanie, one of the mothers who had her baby strapped to her chest in a baby sling. “Nothing will take my baby,” Steph said “I will blow their heads off if they wake the baby!” a few of us laughed but that true bravery and intent buoyed all of us. “A mother with a baby; nothing more sacred,” I thought. “I will defend them to the death.” I resolved and reminded m
yself.
Those formerly oppressed people from the Rock were good and I hoped we would all survive that night. Elsom got back to brass tacks and explained that we had a few vans, a couple of trail bikes and one ambulance left as an escape option.
“OK mate,” I said solemnly. “But you may get pinned down up there and if the lower level falls, you will be trapped on the roof.” We locked eyes and Elsom held my gaze. He knew the stakes and planned to show us the good soldier he was. Others may not have known it but it would seem Elsom signed his own date with death in making that commitment and plan for his squad. He was no friend to me; a common enemy brought us over to the same side and I was thankful he was so committed to protecting the people there.
“OK, I will hold this position here, given the breach. I think it is best if some of the ladies like Angela here,” I said, looking at Angela, she nodded as I spoke “back me up and we can hold this breach.” People thought that was a good idea. A small group got behind me and Angela. Elsom nodded and turned to Rob who was offloading all the 12 gauge shotgun shells he could to Steph, “What about you? Can you go check the vans to see if they are an option to get out of here?”
Rob rubbed his shaved head and nervously uttered his thoughts. “They’re probably on ‘em already but I will go check.” Siro, Dimi, Alicia and two of the younger girls clustered around Rob; they would go with him and all looked fit enough to run and fight. Leon then stepped forward, speaking rather than being spoken to for a change “I….I think: lock this place down. No trouble.” His head shook from side to side. “I’ll close off exits and brace windows and doors.” He was a little nervous and spoke fast. Everyone agreed, to his surprise. He had been unsure how people would take him after the passing of his dark master.