hidden shelves.
“I accidentally pressed a lever beneath a towel and it opened.” Alex said excited, “It’s a secret cupboard.”
Michelle and I stared at the now exposed hidden shelves and were amazed and shocked at what we saw. The shelves were full of whips, chains, handcuffs and all sorts of S&M toys.
“Oh my word.” Michelle gasped.
“Guess Bradley was into some strange hobbies.” I said.
I saw a coiled up bulls-whip and reached for it, but Michelle slapped my hand.
“You weren’t seriously going to touch those?” She asked alarmed.
“Why not?” I asked defensively.
“You don’t know where these toys have been.” Michelle insisted, “They might have germs on them or something.”
“People clean their sex toys regularly.” Alex said, “Or so I’ve read.”
Michelle and I stared at Alex and nodded. We both knew that he did not read it anywhere.
I reached for the whip and picked it up as Michelle rolled her eyes at me. I always wanted a whip like Indiana. I just loved the sound a whip made when it lashed through the air.
The whip uncoiled and the tip dropped to the floor. The whip had to be at least two meters long and amazed me with its simplistic beauty.
“I love it.” I whispered to myself as I studied the finely crafted handle.
“Zac?” Michelle asked annoyed.
I snapped out of my state of awe and glanced at her. She did not seem happy that I had a sex toy in my hand.
“You look ridiculous.” Michelle said.
“I think it looks awesome.” Alex said in contradiction.
“I like it.” I said, “And it might come in handy sometime.”
Michelle rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. I could tell she was not very impressed with the whip, but we just had to agree to disagree. I glanced at Alex who was more excited than Michelle and winked at him as I rolled up the whip again.
5
The sunrise was amazing and stained the sky with streaks of yellow, pink and orange. It was the first sunrise since the infection broke and the town of Kingston Valley was completely deserted. We stood in the front yard of Bradley the sex maniac’s house and it would have been awesome if tumbleweed blew past our feet.
Fluffy stood next to me wagging his tail and slobbering as he panted. I scrutinized our surroundings for any lingering danger, but all was quiet. Alex and Michelle stood behind me; Michelle armed with a piece of wood and Alex with my blood stained axe. I held the coiled up whip in my right hand and I have to say, the three of us looked pretty bad-ass.
“Where to?” Alex asked ready for action.
Alex was a complex guy; one moment he was grieving for his family and the next he was ready to kick undead ass. I think he got over the mourning period and wanted the dead bastards to pay for his family’s infection and deaths.
I thought for a moment as to where we would have the most success in finding survivors. If I were a survivor in a post-apocalyptic world with flesh eaters, I would probably be injured and be looking for medicine.
“I think we should try the hospital.” I said, “It’s only a few blocks away and we might find people barricaded inside.”
Michelle nodded at me and Alex tightened his grip on the axe. We were as ready as we would ever be to take on the dead. I led our trio (foursome if you counted Fluffy) into the abandoned street and we cautiously made our way towards the hospital a few blocks away. The town felt like a ghost town and the silence was deafening. There were no birds in the trees, no dogs barking… nothing. It was an unsettling silence that kept you on the tip of your toes for anything that might be coming for you.
Rattling bushes to the left made me ready the whip as I inspected the bushes. A rat scurried out from the bushes and disappeared into a nearby drain. I hated vermin but was rather relieved that it was not one of the infected.
We passed a gas station on our right and the three of us stared at the car which lay on its roof next to the pumps. The driver side door was open and had a bloody smear against the window. One could only imagine what happened there. The gas station appeared to be abandoned as the door to the office stood wide open. If anyone was inside when the infection hit, they were one of the infected.
“Keep moving.” I told them in a hushed tone.
We passed the gas station and approached a children’s park which had a few benches, jungle-bars, a few swings and a slide. A dark red, almost brown stain ran down the slide and was the only evidence that some poor victim was dragged down the slide by the infected.
I spotted something moving beneath one of the benches and inspected our surroundings as we approached the bench. The park was completely deserted and we were still in the clear from any infected.
As we got closer to the bench I could see that it was a severed head of an infected person. The head was still biting in the air as if trying to eat something. The head was covered in blood and long, blond hair pooled around it. Fluffy sniffed the ground near the head and I ushered the dog away.
“No.” I told Fluffy and pushed him aside.
“Oh my lord…” Michelle gasped.
The three of us stared down at the twitching head. This used to be someone’s wife, sister or even daughter and now it was a mindless eating machine.
“We should put it out of its misery.” Michelle said.
“It’s not bothering anyone.” Alex said, “It’s peaceful… in fact, it’s ahead of the rest of the infected.”
Alex chuckled at his little joke and I smiled. I could see that Michelle did not think it was a funny joke. The situation was a bit more serious to her.
“I bet she gave great head.” Alex said and laughed, “I bet she was heading to her boyfriend when she got infected.”
Alex laughed and I gave a little chuckle. Alex was being silly and it was good to embrace life’s little funny moments in a post-apocalyptic world.
“Are you quite done?” Michelle asked annoyed, “It is still infected and could, I don’t know, roll down the street and eat someone.”
Alex and I burst out laughing while Fluffy barked excitedly – he had no idea what was going on, but he wanted to join in the festivities. Michelle had made a joke without even knowing it. When she finally got the joke, she smiled.
“Fine.” I said with a smile.
I grabbed the head by its hair and dumped it into the trashcan next to the bench.
“There.” I said, “She’s not going anywhere.”
Michelle nodded approvingly. It was a bit unconventional to throw a human head in the trash, but it was effective nonetheless. We laughed quite loudly, so once all jokes were put aside, I checked our surroundings for any infected. We were still in the clear, which was a bit unsettling to me. Surely Alex’s loud chuckles should have alerted some of the infected of our presence?
“It’s too quiet.” I said concerned, “We should keep moving.”
We kept moving across the park lawn towards the hospital which was situated across the street. The glass doors all seemed intact from afar and when we were in range, I jiggled the doors. The doors were locked.
“It’s locked.” I said.
“To keep the dead out?” Alex asked, “Or keep them inside?”
“I don’t know which one is more frightening.” Michelle said.
I spotted a key in the lock of one of the doors. The doors were locked from the inside, so there had to be survivors locking out the dead. If there were survivors inside, they might need help. We had to get inside. I stepped back a few feet and inspected the exterior of the hospital and noticed that one of the windows on the first floor was left open.
“There.” I said and pointed at the open window, “I could climb through that window and open the doors from the inside.”
“Why don’t you throw us up there and we all go with you?” Michelle asked.
“Wait, what?” Alex asked confused.
I could throw them, but what
about Fluffy? He could not grab a hold of the windowsill and could plummet down and break his legs.
“I can’t throw Fluffy.” I said.
“What do you mean, throw?” Alex asked concerned.
“I’ll stay out here with him.” Michelle said, “Alex should go with you. You do not know what is waiting for you inside.”
“I can’t leave you here.” I told Michelle.
There was no way I would leave her in harm’s way.
“I have a bat.” Michelle said.
“It’s a piece of wood.” I corrected her.
“And I have Fluffy to protect me.” Michelle said and flashed me a smile, “I’ll be fine.”
Michelle had a valid point. I had no idea what was waiting for me inside the hospital. Perhaps there were no survivors; only infected inside. I could use some help, but then I would endanger Alex’s life.
“I think I should stay with Michelle.” Alex said.
He wanted to sound like the noble man staying behind to protect the girl, but he sounded like a scared little kid. I nodded at him. It would be better to go in alone. I hooked the coiled up whip over my head and underneath my left arm. I dusted my hands and took a deep breath while contemplating the jump. I got a running start, stepped against the wall with my right foot and thrust myself up towards the window. I grabbed a hold of the windowsill and pulled myself up while Alex’s gasp of ‘wow’ echoed beneath me. I looked back over my shoulder at the three I left behind and made sure that there were no approaching infected people before climbing through the window.
6
The window belonged to a private room of a comatose patient. The patient lay on his back in the dark while a breathing machine hummed next to the bed. I carefully stepped closer to the patient and studied his appearance. His skin seemed normal and uninfected, but I am no medical doctor and could only speculate.
“Hello?” I whispered next to his face.
How stupid of me. Did I really expect a coma patient to respond? I waited for a moment to see whether he would, but he did not respond. I walked over to the door, opened it and carefully glanced up and down the hallway. It was forsaken. I stepped out into the murky hallway and walked in the direction of the stairs.
To my left I passed a large window and paused for a moment when I saw the empty incubators. There were about twenty incubators which were a cold reminder of a world forever changed. We may never get the chance to raise children in this world. I noticed a tiny hand gripping the edge of an incubator to the far left and I gasped. Someone had left a baby on its own. The poor thing. I had to rescue it. I swung open the door and made my way past the empty incubators towards the one with the little hand. I could hear the baby moaning, but it did not cry. How could anyone leave such a precious little gem behind? Children were our future in this dark new world and every life counted.
I stopped dead in my tracks when I got to the incubator. The baby’s skin was blue and its eyes were black as night – it was infected. It moaned as its little head convulsed in the incubator. My heart was saddened by the sight and I wanted to put it out of its desolation, but I could not bring myself to kill a baby.
I heard the door open behind me and turned around. The door stood open, but I saw nothing. It was only when I heard screeching that I looked down and saw an infected baby crawling into the incubator room. It was a sight I was not prepared to see. Two more infected babies crawled in behind it, but they weren’t really crawling but rather scurrying like cockroaches and quickly making their way to me. They moved incredibly fast and got to me within a mere second. I kicked the first one and it squealed like a pig as it shot against the wall. I noticed another five infected babies dashing through the door on their little hands and knees, with their toothless mouths biting the air.
I kicked another baby and severed its head from its tiny body. I could not do this any longer. It was the most ghastly thing I have ever done – kicking babies. I grabbed a nearby incubator and threw it at the
Zac Zombie 2: World of the Undead Page 3