Zombie Wild West

by Eric Baker

  For a moment, the fingers held the door open. Then the door slammed shut, the fingers falling on the table top, rolling to a stop in front of Daisy.

  The three of them stared at the fingers for a moment. Daisy had a look of disgust on her face. The blood oozing from the fingers was blackish red and thick. Doc broke the silence.

  “Humph. Interesting.” Eli and Daisy looked at him, obviously questioning his idea of interesting.

  Another massive hit on the door brought them back to the problem at hand.

  Eli directed them, and they grabbed another table, turning it over and laying it face down on the table in front of the door.

  After another hit on the door didn’t budge the barricade, they stood back, taking a moment to catch their breath.

  Doc moved back over to the boy to continue checking him over. Eli and Daisy turned back to Alice, only to see her pull the tablecloth back from the head of the body on the table.

  Alice gasped, then dropped the tablecloth and stepped back. Her husband, the town’s favorite bartender and friend to many, lay on the table. His eyes were closed, and except for the deathly white coloring and the gash in his neck, he could have been asleep.

  Daisy moved to Alice, pulled the tablecloth up and held her tight.

  “Wh… what happ… happened? I don’t understand. He was just… just…”

  Alice broke down crying, then seemed to just collapse. Daisy grabbed her as she fell to the floor, and then she could only sit and hold the distraught woman.

  In the year that Daisy had been working at the saloon, she had never seen Alice seem so helpless. She’d seen her stand up to drunks, crooks, and even outlaws. They had all backed down from her intensity, a sort of righteous anger. Of all the things she had seen in the past day, watching Alice collapse seemed to make it more frightening.

  Eli watched the two women to make sure Daisy had everything under control. Then he walked over to Doc and the boy.

  “Doc. How’s your patient?”

  “Fine, just a bump with a cut. If I had my bag, I’d put some ointment on it. As it is, he’ll have a scar he can show off to the girls.” Doc patted the boy on the knee in comfort.

  “Well, now that we know you’re going to survive, mind telling me how it happened, Mr….?” Eli smiled and waited, knowing the boy would fill in all the blanks without much prodding. Most people would, especially when hurt or in trouble.

  “Tommy, sir. Metzer. I, uh, we were all at the hotel, but those men came in. My maw was bit on the arm, others were hurt, too. I volunteered to come get Doc and medicine to help her. And the others.”

  Eli had a hard time holding back his surprise, then his anger. What were they thinking over there?

  “You came from the hotel? How in the world did you get upstairs?”

  Tommy ducked his head a little at the tone of Eli’s voice. Eli chided himself, then got down on one knee.

  “I’m sorry… Tommy, you said your name is?” Eli waited for the boy to nod. “Tommy, I’m sorry for sounding mad. It’s not at you. I can’t imagine why in the world they would send a young guy like you.”

  Tommy looked up with tears in his eyes but holding them back.

  “I volunteered. I, um, I mean, we, some kids, we kind of know a few of the rooftops, and my maw needed medicine. So, I said I could do it.”

  Eli looked at Doc, both men incredulous at the idea of a child on the rooftops, in the middle of the night, with everything going on. But as he thought more, he realized it made a crazy kind of sense.

  The front door banged once again, the tables clattering but holding. Eli could only hope that the zombies wouldn’t coordinate. It wouldn’t take that many of them to breach the door.

  Tommy had jumped at the sound of the door, then looked back at the Sheriff, remembering the rest of the message.

  “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. The Mayor said to tell you we need help, in the Hotel. And that it looked like all the zombies were headed this way.”

  Once more, Eli and Doc exchanged glances, then back at the front door. They might need to do more for the barricade. Eli looked back at Tommy.

  “How did you hurt your head?” Eli pointed at the goose-egg on Tommy’s forehead.

  Embarrassed, Tommy just shrugged and looked down before answering.

  “I had to drop down on the balcony, the only way I knew to get in. When I dropped, I hit my head on the door, then landed on my back. That’s when the lady over there found me.”

  Eli thanked Tommy, then got Doc, and they walked over to the bar. He caught Daisy’s eye and waved her over. After a minute of settling Alice into a chair, she joined them.

  “Well, boys, is it time for a drink? Or is this meeting something other than social?”

  Daisy’s smile and flippant remarks made Eli smile a little. Doc just grunted.

  “No, no drinks. The boy, Tommy, came over the rooftops from the Hotel to get Doc. They sent him because they need medicine.”

  “What? They sent a child over the rooftops at night with all this going on?” Daisy felt her face turning red in anger. Eli grabbed her arm, trying to calm her outburst.

  “Daisy, he’s alright. He bumped his head dropping onto the balcony upstairs. I don’t agree with what he did, either, but it worked. Right now, there are bigger problems.”

  “There better be something big, for them to send him like that.” Daisy was still spitting mad, but calming down.

  “According to Tommy, there’s a number of people bit at the hotel. His mom is one of them, that’s why he volunteered to come get Doc. Also, the shot earlier got the attention of all the zombies in town. Looks like they’re headed this way.”

  Daisy turned and looked at the front door and the tables stacked in front of it as it all shook with another hit. Then Doc cleared his throat.

  “Excuse me, but there may be a bigger issue, at least for the people at the hotel.” Doc looked at Eli and Daisy with an air of someone that didn’t want to say more.

  Eli glanced over at the body on the table he now knew was Frank. “Doc, you said earlier that you’d been… investigating… and you said you may have some answers. Is that what you’re getting at?”

  Doc rubbed the back of his neck and gave them his best grumpy glare.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m getting at. I kept thinking how Frank there, and the ones out front earlier… you weren’t here for that, Sheriff… how they got bit by… what did you call them?” He looked at Daisy.

  “Zombies. I read once about how in voodoo they could bring the dead back to life, sometimes to help, sometimes to kill.”

  “Well, I don’t know about voodoo, but from what I can tell, it’s like an infection.” Doc shook his head, knowing it all sounded crazy. “Once somebody that is a… a zombie… once they bite somebody that isn’t infected, eventually it kills them. Or at least it kills the brain. They may as well be dead. And if that wasn’t bad enough... then they come back.”

  Eli felt a chill go through his whole body. He didn’t know what all this was, but an infection made sense.

  “So, you get bit, you die. Then you turn into a zombie. How long does it take? Can it be stopped?”

  “It seems to get into the bloodstream and go from there. I noticed black tendrils spreading out from the bites, more indicative of poisoning. But that’s what got me thinking about it as an infection. As to how long it takes, I think it all depends on where you’re bit and how fast the heart pumps it around. Frank got bit on the neck. He turned pretty quick.”

  Doc seemed to be wearing down as he spoke, the day’s events and helplessness catching up to him.

  “And as far as a cure goes, no. At least, not here. If I had medicine, I could try antibiotics, but I doubt they would help much. They’re not made for this. Now, if that’s all, I think I need to check on my patient, then lie down in a corner or something. Excuse me.”

  Doc walked away, headed toward the room Maggie was resting in. Eli and Daisy watched him go in silence, each thinkin
g about what Doc had said, praying for an answer to all that was happening.

  Eli straightened up and faced Daisy. Her gut tightened as she remembered the kiss from earlier. But the look on his face told her straight away he wasn’t going to talk about that. Not now.

  “Daisy, I’m about to do something I know we’re both going to hate, but I can’t think of a better way to do it.” Eli looked her in the eye, trying to judge her thoughts, but came up empty.

  “I’m going to ask Tommy to take a message back to the Hotel.”

  If Daisy had been looking anywhere but Eli’s face, she would most likely have blown up at the suggestion. The look on his face, though, gave her pause. She still felt angry at the thought, but she forced herself to think about it logically. Trying to keep her voice steady, she responded.

  “Why?”

  Eli was more surprised at the single word question than her not fighting him over the suggestion. Even so, her tone made it clear she wasn’t happy about it.

  “First, he only got injured when he dropped to the balcony. Helping him back up will fix that. Plus, he’s nowhere near the danger in the road, and he seems fairly confident about the rooftops.”

  The fact that there were boys running around the rooftops didn’t sit well with him, and he resolved to look into it once the current crisis was over.

  “And most important, the people over there need to know about people getting bit and coming back. Last… I have a plan, maybe a way to get rid of all the zombies out there. But I’ll need their help.”

  Daisy looked over at Tommy in the chair. Other than the bump on his head, he seemed to be handling everything. After a few moments, she gave a little shrug and sighed, looking back at Eli.

  “I don’t like it, but I think you’re right. But only if he wants to do it.”

  Eli nodded his agreement. Then, to both of their surprise, he leaned forward and wrapped her in a hug, holding her tight. Then he whispered in her ear.

  “Thank you.” Eli let go and walked over to talk to Tommy.

  Daisy watched him go in shock. After all that had gone on today, all she had done, she would have thought she would be past the ability to be shocked. But not when it came to Eli. Slowly, a smile came to her lips, and she even felt her face get a little warm with a blush.

  “Oh, my.” Her voice startled her a little as it came out unbidden. Shaking her head, she followed behind Eli into the main room.

  As Daisy walked in, Eli was explaining to Tommy what would happen if someone got bit. Tommy leaped to his feet.

  “But! My maw! She was bit!”

  His shout had the immediate response of a loud bang at the front door. Eli grabbed Tommy and covered his mouth. Doc ran back into the room with wide eyes. They all watched the door, but they didn’t hear another response to the outburst.

  “Tommy. Listen to me close.” Eli got down on one knee, hand still covering Tommy’s mouth. He looked him straight in the eye.

  “You need to understand something. They - the zombies - are attracted to noise and movement. You’ve been hunting before, right?”

  Tommy nodded his head.

  “Then you understand what noise and movement mean. I’m going to move my hand, but you have to keep your voice down. OK?”

  Tommy nodded again, a single tear dropping from his eye. Eli moved his hand.

  “Does this mean that my maw will become… one of those… a zombie?” Tommy’s voice was hoarse with emotion. After all he’d done to get here, it was for nothing.

  Eli looked at Doc and Daisy. Sadness and regret were evident on their faces. Eli sighed and looked back to Tommy.

  “Tommy, I’m not going to lie to you. At this point, we don’t know if it’s curable. We don’t have any medicine here, and we can’t get to Doc’s office until morning. We do know that the more you move around, the quicker it works. Kind of… well, kind of like getting bit by a snake.”

  Eli looked at Doc to see if his analogy was sound. Doc looked thoughtful for a second, shrugged and gave an affirmative nod. Eli continued with Tommy.

  “So, here’s the crux of the situation. We need you to get a message back to the Mayor and the people at the hotel. If you don’t think you can do it, no one will think any less of you. You did a brave thing coming this far. But the message could save lives. Otherwise, I would never ask. Can you do it?”

  Tommy was trying hard not to think about his mother. He knew he had only done it to save her. But if he could save other people, then maybe it would all be worth it. After a minute, he decided.

  “Yes, sir, I think I can do it. My maw would want me to try, even if I can’t save her.”

  Eli blew out his breath in relief, not even realizing he had been holding it in.

  “Great. We’ll help you get back on the roof, then you need to get back over there and first and most importantly, tell them to put anybody that’s bitten into a room by themselves. They need to be kept isolated in case they… change.”

  “But, but we’ve already done that!” Tommy looked at Eli with wide, confused eyes.

  “What? Are you sure? Who did that?” Eli looked at Tommy in confusion. How could anyone have known to do that?

  “Well, the Mayor said anyone injured or bit needed to be in a room by themselves in case there was problems. Didn’t want them getting in the way.”

  Eli remembered the words of the foreman at the mine. “This has happened before.” Did the Mayor know? Was he part of all this? Soon enough, he’d get answers. Right now, he needed to send the rest of the message.

  “That’s fine, just tell them what I said. Get them in a room in case they change. Next, I’ve been thinking about a plan to get all the zombies out of town. Hold on a second.”

  They all stood by while Eli pulled a piece of paper and a thick lead pencil out of his shirt pocket. Leaning on a nearby tabletop, he sketched out the plan he had been mulling over.

  “Here. Take this note and give it to the Mayor.”

  Eli gave the note to Tommy, who stood up and stuffed it into his pocket.

  “I can do it, Sheriff. And I think I can get up on the roof by myself. Thanks!”

  Before Eli could respond, the boy ran out of the room and up the stairs. They heard a door open and shut, then silence.

  Eli just shook his head in wonder.

  “Sure wish I had that kind of energy. I pray he’ll be safe.”

  Daisy walked over and put her hand on Eli’s shoulder.

  “I’m sure he’ll be fine. I’m more worried about you and this big plan for tomorrow. It sounds like you think you’ll be handling it alone. Care to share?”

  Eli looked at Daisy. The determination on her face told him not to argue. It wouldn’t do him any good.

  “Fine. I figure we’ll rest up, then at first light, I’ll make my way to the office and stock up.”

  “I’m going, too.”

  Eli was tired and worn out. He just shook his head at the fire in her eyes.

  “Fine. But let’s get some rest. We’ll figure it out in the morning.”

  Doc watched them and yawned. Doc knew Daisy wouldn’t drop it, and he knew Eli would put up a fight. It would be interesting to see who won this battle. But right now, he needed some sleep.

  “I’ll let you two lovebirds figure this out. I’m getting some shut-eye.”

  He turned to find a corner to try to get some rest. Eli and Daisy both turned a little red at the comment, then followed him.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  When Tommy returned to the hotel, once again there was chaos. Everyone wanted to know what he’d been told. The women were the hardest to get past, as they fussed over the cut on his head. When they heard he had been checked out by Doc, they relented. Some.

  It was a few minutes before Jackson could get everyone quieted down. Or maybe they heard the increased banging on the front doors from all the noise. Whatever the reason, it seemed at least a few of the zombies had stayed close by.

  Jackson took a good look at the boy a
nd realized he was worn out. Just like everyone else. Looking around, he could see everyone on pins and needles, wanting to know if there was a message, a plan to get them all out of this mess. As much as it hurt his pride to admit it, Jackson was also hoping for a plan. He put his hand up for quiet.

  “Listen up, everybody, let’s keep the noise down. We don’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves.” Jackson ushered Tommy toward the kitchen as he spoke.

  “Tommy and I are going to have a quiet conversation in the kitchen, then I will…”

  Jackson couldn’t finish his sentence over the uproar. It seemed he wasn’t going to have a private talk with Tommy. He was positive it was a bad idea, but he relented, once again putting up a hand for quiet. Putting on his best smile for the crowd, he knelt next to Tommy.

  “Well, son, it’s good to see you back. Did you get to the saloon?”

  Tommy nodded, overwhelmed with the quiet in the room and being the focus of so much attention.

  “Good, good. Now, no need for big explanations, OK? We just need to know, is Doc going to be able to get any medicine to us?”

  Looking around at all the faces, Tommy looked back at Jackson. Tears welled up in his eyes and his face scrunched up. Then he started quietly sobbing.

  Jackson was out of his element. He looked around at all the scared faces, unsure what to do. After a moment he lay his hand on Tommy’s shoulder.

  “It’s fine, son. Just take a minute. Would you rather do this in private?” Jackson looked at Tommy, hoping he would agree.

  “My maw’s going to die! There’s nothing Doc can do.” Tommy cried even harder, and a lady standing nearby came over to hold him. Tommy wrapped his arms around her for a minute before he could continue.

  “Doc said that anyone bit would turn into one of… one of those things outside. Zombies. That’s what they said. And Sheriff said anyone bit needs to be put into a room by themselves in case they turn into zombies, too.”