Zombie Wild West

by Eric Baker

  Jackson felt the heat on his cheeks flushing all the way to his ears. Whether he was embarrassed or angry, he wasn’t sure. Yes, he had said those words to her in anger, just proving her point about his temper. But now wasn’t the time to rehash their history.

  “Daisy, all I’m asking is that you come with me and we get you somewhere safe and secure until all this blows over. If the deputy is right, we could have a major problem on our hands in a very short time.”

  “So, the only way a woman such as myself can be safe is to swoon into your arms and let you take care of me? Is that really what you mean?” It was Daisy’s turn to get angry. She wasn’t a damsel in distress, no matter how she dressed. And if this silly man didn’t get that after standing side-by-side in danger earlier, then he had even fewer brains than she thought.

  “You know what I mean. I’m just trying to protect you. And if it matters to you, I’m sure the Sheriff would back me up on this.” As much as he hated it, he knew she would have gone willingly if the sheriff had asked.

  Daisy’s eyes went wide at Jackson’s comment. She knew he was trying to manipulate her, and yet he was right, Eli would want her safe. She felt herself worrying again over Eli’s safety, and it made the process of getting a retort out at Jackson even harder.

  “Well, Mr. Mayor, I know that, um, the Sheriff would want all of us to be safe, but, well…”

  From the street a shot rang out, followed a second later by a scream, people hollering, then more shots. Everyone in the saloon turned to the front door when it popped open, and a man rushed in, looking around wildly until he spotted the Mayor.

  “There’s more of those dead people in town. They’re here!” Then he turned and ran out.

  Jackson looked at Daisy, Frank, and Doc.

  “Barricade the doors and protect yourself. I’ll be back.” With that, he ran out the door.

  ____

  The man stumbling his way down Main Street had gone unnoticed when he walked into town earlier. He had been unseen when, just past the town sign, he fell to his knees and then stood up. No one paid him any attention during the confrontation between Josh and the infected Lucy. And as the street was cleared of the bodies of Lucy and the man she had bitten, he had gotten ever closer.

  The man had paused when the shot had taken down Lucy. He was still standing there when everyone either ran for shelter or jumped to their various duties of getting the town ready for the impending storm. He seemed overwhelmed by the movements of all the people, reaching out when someone passed close by him.

  Then he seemed to sort out what to do and turned toward a group of women on the walkway in front of a store. They were animatedly discussing the events of the morning.

  “…happened to a more deserving woman. Why, the way she threw herself at any man that looked her way was appalling.” The woman with the blue dress was fanning herself, obviously feeling she was the leader of the group.

  “I declare, I think you may have been jealous of our poor Lucy if I didn't know better.” The remark from the woman with the yellow shawl earned her a snide look.

  “Just because she had the occasional eye of our Mayor, I would never condescend to be jealous of a woman of such… ouch!” She grabbed at the bodice of her blue dress as it was pulled from behind by a man falling over the stairs and onto her hem.

  “Why, how dare you, sir! Unhand me at… AH!” The scream cut through the air like a knife. The women standing nearby looked toward what had caused it, and pandemonium ensued.

  The man on the stairs was gripping the dress and pulling himself closer to the woman as if he were trying to climb a rope. All the other women scattered, screaming and running in different directions in what they all would consider very unladylike ways.

  The woman in the blue dress was twisting and turning every which way. Trying to get away from the clutches of the man holding her dress, her screams had devolved into fear-choked, overwhelmed sobs of terror. The man on the ground, pulling at her dress, was to her mind the black eyes and horrible grin of death. All her sins, the back-biting and back-stabbing gossip and more, flashed through her thoughts as she faced down her mortality.

  Josh was in the center of town, directing all those that were able to help. He knew they couldn’t block all entrances to town, but by putting trash and debris in the alleys, they might slow down any who tried to get in from those directions. It was a good plan and easily implemented, one he and the sheriff had spent hours discussing in their downtime. Only, they had assumed it would be to prevent an attack from an outlaw gang, not an impending horde of half-dead people.

  When the scream sounded across town, Josh felt an almost instant sense of helplessness. They weren’t prepared. Besides, they should still have an hour or more before the horde got to town. That is, assuming they stayed on the road.

  Shaking off the dread, he ran toward the sound of the commotion. Women were scattering in all directions, but it was obvious the main problem was the man on the steps, clawing his way toward a woman whose name he couldn’t recall. All he could remember was that she was known as one of the chief troublemakers about town. And it appeared that trouble was about to climb up her dress. Josh wasn’t going to allow it.

  Drawing his pistol as he ran, Josh knew there was no way he would get a clean shot. Holstering the pistol, he sped up. Still about ten feet away, he could see the terror on the woman’s face as she clutched her dress in the front, trying to get away from the man pulling on her dress in the back. Josh saw her turn and lock eyes with the man, and she froze in terror.

  The man let out a low, rumbling growl. The sound proved to be the last thing her overwhelmed mind could take. And then the woman in the blue dress did the very worst possible thing she could have done: she fainted.

  Josh arrived none too soon. As the woman fell backward, Josh grabbed the man’s feet and pulled. The dual force of opposite motions at the same time ripped the dress in the man’s hands. Josh slung the man around and tumbled him into the street. Dust flew as the man rolled.

  Not allowing him the chance to stand and attack, Josh drew his pistol once more. This time he aimed at the man’s head and fired. The man on the ground had turned toward Josh, intent upon finding another living soul to take down, when the bullet dissolved his nose. It then blew out the back of his head, black-red blood splattering the ground behind him.

  There was a pause in town. Everyone on or near the street had stopped. The quiet following the gunshot was so intense the wind could be heard moving through loose boards on the stores.

  The man on the ground continued staring at Josh for a few seconds that felt like an eternity. Josh prepared to fire again when the man fell backward and lay still. The adrenaline in his body hit him like a hammer.

  Josh clenched his eyes shut and holstered his weapon. He had killed before and he didn’t doubt he would do so again. But it never felt good. Even though this man had been attacking, and already looked dead, it didn’t help. He had fired his weapon and taken a life.

  Opening his eyes, Josh felt someone nearby. Turning around, another half-dead man was reaching for him, hands grabbing for his face. There was no time to react, no time to draw his pistol, no time to get away. He had time to register the black-red eyes, the horrible grin of ripped mouth pulled back against grinding teeth, and the flap of skin ripped from his forehead and down across his eyes.

  Then the head of the man jerked to the side as thick, black blood sprayed out. Josh continued to stare at the man in shock. He watched the man’s eyes glaze and roll up, the entire face going slack. Then the man crumpled to the ground in a heap, one hand falling on top of Josh’s boot.

  Someone walked up and stopped next to Josh, both looking at the man on the ground for a few seconds. Josh kicked his booted foot forward, dislodging the hand. A dusty shadow of where the hand had landed remained on his boot. Josh felt a shudder go through his body as he realized how close he had just come to being bitten.

  “Deputy, I think we’re out of t
ime. Let’s get these people off the street.” Jackson Grieger holstered his pistol with a shaky hand. He knew he had come out of the saloon at just the right time to save the deputy’s life. But even though he had been responsible for taking lives before, he had seldom been the one to actually pull the trigger. Now he’d pulled the trigger more than a few times, all just in the past hour.

  Josh looked at Jackson and nodded. For once, the Mayor was acting like a decent human being. Maybe it was the attacks, or maybe he truly cared. Whatever the reason, Josh would take it.

  “You’re right, Mayor. You get everyone you can and hole up in the hotel. Block all the windows and doors. I’ll get the deputies set up in the Sheriff’s Office. As soon as I’m able, I’ll get to the hotel to check on things.” Josh looked around and was almost surprised to see that everyone had gone back to their preparations after what had just transpired.

  Jackson nodded his agreement and turned to head to the hotel.

  “Oh, and Mayor?” Josh remembered one more thing he had meant to ask the Mayor earlier. “I heard that the Sheriff went to the mine. Do you know why? And when he’ll be back?”

  Jackson winced a little at the questions. He faced the deputy, composing himself as he turned.

  “I believe the Sheriff was investigating something to do with these… creatures.” He motioned toward the two dead men in the street. “And I wasn’t privy to his plans. Sorry.”

  As Jackson headed away, Josh ruminated for a moment on the telltale sign of deceit he had picked up from the Mayor. He obviously knew more than he was letting on. His only hope, at this point, was that the Sheriff was safe and that he would make it back soon. If he was right, they would need all the help they could get.

  CHAPTER THREE

  It was important for a sheriff, the upholder and defender of the law, to comport themselves with dignity, compassion and respect for the people and the law. As Eli ran through the small canyon, he wasn’t worried about his dignity since he assumed that his life as a typical lawman was over. If he lived beyond today.

  Having just seen his horse eaten by what he could only describe as a horde of half-dead crazy people, his only thought now was getting to safety. He was tired, worn out from the fight at the mine, and his stomach was reminding him he hadn’t finished breakfast. If he was lucky, he’d find a way out soon and get back to town. And now it would take even longer without a horse.

  Coming up on another bend in the gorge he was running down, he slowed and glanced back to check how closely he was being followed. None of them were in sight. Slowing further, he peeked around the bend. He didn’t need another run-in like the one that killed his horse.

  What he saw around the bend brought Eli to an abrupt stop. In the distance, the gorge looked as if it was about to open into a proper canyon, but before it could, it had been blocked by a landslide. There was no way out. Then he noticed that about twenty feet ahead, with their backs to him, was a woman and a small boy. They were holding hands, facing the landslide, shoulders slumped in despair.

  As winded as he was, Eli’s breath still caught in his throat, and his chest tightened. If he didn’t know better, he would say this was his long-gone wife and son. The way they were dressed, the brown hair pulled back, even holding hands the same way he had seen them do so many times. His heart ached to hold them one more time.

  “Lorelei? Matt?” Eli’s voice came out in a croaked whisper before he could stop himself. He almost ran to them before he got hold of himself. No, this couldn’t be them.

  Shaking off the melancholy, he once again verified that he was clear from behind before walking forward to the pair. Now he not only had himself to protect but also these two. He kept his voice low but firm so as not to startle them.

  “Ma’am! Don’t be alarmed, I’m the Sheriff from Dire. We need to get moving. There’s a horde of crazies on my tail and…”

  The woman and the boy turned as Eli was talking, and then he saw it: the bloody-black eyes, the chunks of flesh missing on their necks and arms, the dried-out skin and lips revealing a death mask of skull and teeth.

  The shape of the woman and boy, the bites so much like the ones on his own wife and son, just accentuated the likeness. Eli felt as if he had been hit over the head with a shovel. His mind went blank. He fell to his knees, and an explosion of tears fell from his eyes.

  “No, please God, NO!” A whisper at first, then a scream as the anguish he had held inside over the past year boiled over.

  As the scream echoed around him, it returned with loud shrieks and groans, getting ever closer. Eli didn’t hear the noise, though. His mind was a whirlwind. He could only envision the two before him as his beloved wife, his precious son. The two people he would have gladly given his own life for. And yet, in the end, the two people he could not protect.

  Arms by his sides, slumped down in the dirt, Eli could only watch as the two approached. Through his tear-blurred vision, he could see his wife’s face was smiling, forgiveness in her bright blue eyes. Eli knew down deep that this couldn’t be her, but he didn’t care. The events of the day, the madness, the weariness, had taken its toll. He was willing to do whatever it took to be with them once again.

  Looking from her to his son, Eli felt again the anguish overwhelm him. His beautiful, wonderful little boy, named after Eli’s father. Taken from him before he had the chance to pass on the one family heirloom he had: his father’s pistol.

  He watched his son let go of his wife’s hand and walk ahead of her, eager to greet him. Eli held out his arms. It was time to be a family again. Out of the corner of his eye, Eli saw his wife stumble and fall to the ground. He wanted to help her, but his son was almost in his arms.

  Reaching for his son’s arms, he felt him grab his wrists. Tight. Hard. Pain flooded up his arms as the boy’s skeletal fingers dug deep into Eli’s flesh. The tears in his eyes were pushed aside by his squinting at the pain. Looking back in his son’s face, the vision faded away, and he saw the boy’s face for what it was. Bloodied, weathered, and dead.

  Eli twisted his hands around and grabbed the chest of the boy before he could bring his dead mouth close enough to bite. The sorrow he felt was still there, though, and it overwhelmed him as he realized that here was another child he hadn’t been able to save. The thought weakened him, and the boy pushed him back, falling on top of him as Eli held him up.

  His strength failing, his heart breaking, Eli decided this was good, the way it should be. He should die the way his family died, now he knew how it had happened. Besides, the woman would be on him any second, the horde not long behind. Eli looked once more into the black eyes and decided. Closing his eyes, he once more pictured his Lorelei, his Matt, and let go.

  ____

  Takoda pushed his horse to the limit. They were only a short distance from the landslide and the ground was treacherous. Sand and rocks weren’t the only problems. There were also small and large breaks in the ground, almost invisible. More than once his horse jumped without warning, almost throwing Takoda from his back. But he held on, and they made it to the end of the small canyon.

  Grabbing his bow and arrows, Takoda ran to the edge. And he jumped back in shock. Just over the edge, somehow standing on a small outcropping, was a man. As he watched, a weather-beaten and skeletal hand reached over the ledge, grabbing for purchase. Carefully walking back to the edge, Takoda peered over.

  The man was looking into Takoda’s eyes. They were the darkest, blackest, most evil eyes he had ever seen. In the sunlight, though, he realized they weren’t really black, just the color of dried blood. His face was weathered, and the teeth were protruding, snapping at him like a cornered dog.

  The man let out a whispered groan and continued to grab with his right arm. Looking for the other arm, Takoda realized there wasn’t one. But the man didn’t seem to mind. Takoda could only assume that this was what the other braves had seen. And also what was chasing the lawman.

  Pulling his bow and an arrow in one swift motion, he let
the arrow fly. It flew straight into the man’s left eye and out the back. A small burst of black-red fluid splattered out around the fletching. The man dropped his hand and toppled backward, down the side of the cliff face, and out of sight.

  Takoda knew he didn’t have long. He needed to find a way down, and it looked to be a death-defying climb no matter where he descended. He jogged back the way he had just come, searching for a better way down. Stopping, he made his choice at an area that looked at least a little easier than the others.

  Takoda took a moment to survey the area before descending. He would come down near a spot that turned back into the canyon. That worked out, since he could surprise anyone that came around the corner. As he looked, though, he realized he was being watched.

  Strangely, what appeared to be a woman and child holding hands were watching him from the canyon floor. They did not appear to be in distress, so Takoda ignored them and began his descent.

  Starting at about fifty feet above the floor, he could slide down before doing any climbing. He heard weird animal cries echoing around him. That just made him move faster. He didn’t know how long he had before the lawman got there, but it had to be soon.

  Reaching a shelf over half-way down, Takoda took a moment to catch his breath. As he turned to look down at the valley, a loud, anguished cry came from below.

  A surreal scene spread out before him. The woman and boy were walking toward the lawman, who was on his knees as he watched them. Crying, the lawman appeared to be in torment, and Takoda couldn’t understand why. Then he saw that the movements of the woman and boy were like those of the other group that was chasing the lawman. And there was blood on their clothes. He must know the pair. Not good.

  Takoda ran to the edge of the shelf, pulling his bow. He didn’t understand what was happening to the lawman, but he had obviously been through enough. He was giving up. If Takoda didn’t act fast, he would be dead.