Kyle realized he had been hallucinating. Angel was dead, but yet, he heard her speak. He saw her beautiful face, the rosy red cheeks and the big blue eyes. In reality, the girls’ dead body had been decomposing. Her skin was gray and one of her eyes was half open. There was a large hole on the top of her head, as if someone had hit her with a hammer. And now her entire head was missing, thanks to Kyle.
“She was alive and I killed her mother. I had to kill her as well. So they could be together,” Kyle said, still looking at the dead ripping away at what was left of Susie. A mixture of blood, entrails and Victor’s vomit surrounded the dead bodies.
“Dude, she was dead! Did you not look at her? Don’t tell me you’re starting to go crazy, too,” Victor said, almost pleading.
Something snapped in Kyle’s head. He broke free from his daydream and saw Angel for what she was, just another dead body. “Sorry, I just got lost for a second. Are you ready to go?”
Victor nodded and held the gun out in front of him. Kyle saw a little opening to his left, then saw a clear path that led back to his truck.
“Okay, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to jump off the roof into the front yard. Hopefully they will be too occupied with Susie to look over at us. When we land we are going to speed walk back to the truck. There are tons of them on the ground. Most look dead but you can’t be too sure. Try to keep a distance so they can’t reach you. If any of them do, then shoot them in the head. Got it?”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Victor replied.
“Come on.” Kyle turned to run. Without hesitating he jumped off the roof. He landed on the ground, bending his knees to absorb the impact. Kyle looked up at Victor, who was unsure about jumping.
“Just do it!” Kyle yelled, “Bend your knees when you land. It won’t hurt. I promise.”
“I can’t,” Victor replied.
“This is no time to be a pussy. Now get your fucking ass down here or I’m leaving without you!” Kyle yelled, thinking that was what Victor needed, some tough love. Kyle turned and fired his shotgun at one of the approaching zombies. The force of the shot caused its head to explode, completely liquefying it. The head juice rained onto the ground. “Jump now!” Kyle yelled.
Victor closed his eyes and leaped off the roof. He landed and fell to his knees on the ground as his gun discharged. The bullet ricocheted off something on the ground and somehow managed to strike an Existing Dead in the head. Kyle helped Victor to his feet, scolding him for leaving his finger on the trigger. They began power walking toward the truck. They looked at each dead on the ground before passing by the remains. Victor took one last glance at the driveway. The Existing Dead eating away at Susie stopped and began walking in their direction. Their moans grew louder with very step they took. Some fell into the crater at the end of the driveway only to get back up and walk toward them again.
An arm reached out for Victor’s leg. He was distracted looking at the dead in the driveway. Kyle pumped the shotgun and blasted at the creature’s arm, severing it. Kyle pumped the gun again and shot it through the head, ripping half its scalp off and revealing a liquid brain.
“Keep walking,” Kyle said, grabbing Victor by the forearm and dragging him closer. “Don’t worry about the ones far away. We can walk faster than them.”
“But they’re everywhere,” Victor said as he looked behind them. It looked as if hundreds of them were following the only two fully alive beings in the area. There were many more that they hadn’t noticed walking down the streets. The path in front of them looked clear until the Existing Dead began pouring out of their hiding spots and soaked the streets.
“We gotta move faster,” Kyle said as he began to jog lightly.
Victor followed close behind. They could see Kyle’s truck out in the distance. They were getting very close. A few Existing Dead got between them and the truck. Kyle pumped the shotgun and fired. The blast made them disburse and fall to the ground. He pumped the shotgun again as they reached the truck.
“It doesn’t look like the jet touched it,” Victor said as Kyle opened the door and let himself in.
“Get in, now!” Kyle ordered as he started the engine. The truck sprang to life and Victor climbed in. He sat the gun on the floor and put his seat belt on. The road in front of them was filled with bodies. Kyle carefully tried weaving around them, but there were too many. He had no choice but to run over a few. The truck jumped as the tires rode over bodies instead of pavement.
“There’s a clearing up ahead,” Victor mentioned, pointing forward.
“Yeah, I see it.” Kyle was in such a zone that he didn’t even take one last look at his house before driving out of the suburban neighborhood. The tragedy that had taken place yesterday was in Kyle’s past now. His son was dead, and there was nothing he could do to bring him back. But there was something he could do to help fill the void that a father feels when he loses his son. He saw this void filler in Victor.
“So where did Susie say this safe zone was?” Victor asked, picking snacks out of the shopping basket.
“Vegas,” Kyle replied staring at the Existing Dead in his rearview mirror.
“Las Vegas, huh? That’s not too far from my place. About an hour or so. You should be able to make it there after you drop me off at my mom’s,” Victor said, then stuffed his face with a Snickers bar.
Kyle suddenly remembered what Susie had told him the night before. Was Victor living in a delusional world where his mom was alive and well in their house? Did he honestly think that when he got there the world would go back to normal? Kyle needed to know what Victor was really thinking.
“What do you expect to find when you get home? With everything that has been going on the past week now, do you honestly think that your mom or family is still alive?” Kyle said, as he swerved out of the way of a body.
“I don’t know. My mom’s a tough woman, I’m sure she’s held up in our house just like Susie was. I’m sure she’ll be excited to see me,” Victor said with a tint of joy in his voice. Just talking about his mom made him feel better.
“Like Susie? You did see how crazy she was, right? If your mom survived then you have to think that she’ll be a little off. We all are. I keep having visions of my son and I know something is not clicking right in my head. I’m not totally nut-balls though. At least I can admit I’m not all there.”
“So what are you saying? That my mom will be crazy, just like your ex-wife and Susie?” Victor sounded offended.
“I’m just saying that you need to expect anything. We could get there and your mom could be dead. Or she could be alive and well, but she might not be all there,” Kyle said, trying to prepare Victor for what lay ahead.
Victor stayed quiet. He had never really thought about all the possibilities. In his mind, seeing his mom again would make all the death go away. There was no telling what he would do if he made it home only to see his mother dead, or worse, as one of the Existing Dead.
“Before I take you home, Victor, I need to make sure you’ll be fine if we find your mom dead. I don’t want you to do anything stupid and hurt yourself. I’m telling you this as your friend,” Kyle said as he looked down at the gas gauge. “Fuck, we’re going to have to get more gas soon. I only got half a tank at the Shell station.”
Victor remained quiet. He was in a daze, thinking about all the possibilities that could occur when they reached his house.
“Hey,” Kyle said, “snap out of it.” He snapped his fingers in front of Victor’s face.
“Sorry,” Victor replied, “I’m just thinking about all the bad shit that could happen when I reach my house.”
“Don’t think so much into it. You could just be worrying for nothing. We could even die trying to get there,” Kyle teased.
“Yeah, that helps.”
“Come on, snap out of it,” Kyle said in a joyful voice. “We’re on a road trip. Haven’t you ever heard anyone say, ‘It’s not the destination, it’s the journey’?”
“No,
” Victor said.
“Well I’m telling you. We’ll worry about what happens when we get there. But I think we should stop and fill up before we go any further. I’d hate for us to run out of gas in an infested town.”
“I’ve never really been this far out. I don’t know where any gas stations are. And besides, my house is in the other direction.”
“Don’t worry about it. This street does a huge U-turn and takes us out of town. It’s a longer route, but with all the Existing Dead blocking the road yesterday, I’d feel safer going this way.” Kyle turned the radio on and began flipping through the stations. White noise blared out the speakers. “Fuck, I really wanted something to be on.”
“What do you think that jet was last night?” Victor asked out of no where.
“I’m not sure, bud. It was probably the military trying to take control of the situation. They thought that the neighborhood was deserted so they tried to kill as many of them as possible.”
“But it wasn’t deserted,” Victor interrupted. “We were there.”
“Yeah but can you blame them? The street was filled with the dead. You saw it, remember? Fuck, if I saw that many in one place I wouldn’t have thought anyone would survive.”
“Where do you think it came from?” Victor asked, finishing his Snickers.
“Don’t know. It looked like the jets came from the West so I’m going to guess they are in Vegas. That’s where the safe zone is, so there’s bound to be a collection of people there.” Kyle paused for a second then continued. “Okay, that’s enough talk. Hand me some of those corn nuts and some water out of the basket.”
Victor reached into the basket and grabbed what Kyle wanted. “So where are we going?” he asked, handing the stuff to Kyle.
Kyle reached for it with one hand and sat them on the cushion next to him. “There’s a gas station a few miles up. I think it’s a Mobile. I’ve been there a shit load of times but I don’t remember exactly where it is. We’re going to see if there are any cars lying around that we can siphon gas out of.”
Victor stared at the road. “Why do we need to go to a gas station if you’re just siphoning gas? Can’t we just get it out of these cars?” Victor asked, pointing out onto the street.
“We can use those, but it’s the morning and I haven’t pooped yet. My stomach is fucking hurting. I need to relieve pressure. You see son, when you get to be my age you …”
Victor finally cut him off. “Okay, I get it. You have to crap. So I’m guessing you’re going to show me how to siphon gas so you can handle your business?”
“No, not quite,” Kyle said, “I’m going to need you to stand guard by the door, and if anything comes you warn me so I can cut it off and get out.”
“You’re gross, dude,” Victor said as Kyle laughed.
Kyle’s laughter quickly halted as he fixed his eyes back onto the road. He eased off the accelerator and pressed on the brakes.
“What are you doing?” Victor asked.
“You see that person over there?”
“Yeah, he’s walking onto the street. What about him?” Victor said, not noticing what Kyle was observing.
“Look at his skin.” Kyle brought the truck to a stop no more than twenty feet away. “He doesn’t look dead. He might be another survivor.”
Chapter Ten
Kyle and Victor stopped in front of the stranger. He made no attempt to look in the direction of the truck, but only looked forward, as though in a trance. He stared out into the distance as if there was something over there he couldn’t take his eyes off of.
“What’s he doing?” Victor asked.
“I don’t know. It looks like he’s staring at something. I’m gonna get his attention,” Kyle said as he rolled down the window. “Hey,” he said sticking his head out of the gap. The man did not turn or even acknowledge him. He only blinked and continued gazing in the same direction. “Hey are you all right?” Kyle continued. The man still didn’t respond.
Kyle put the truck in park and grabbed the shotgun. He opened the door and got out, slamming the door behind him to make as much noise as possible.
“What are you doing?” Victor whispered from inside the car. “Let’s just get the hell out of here.”
Kyle shook his head and called back, “Get your gun and follow my lead.”
Victor sighed and got out of the truck. He pointed the gun at the man then looked around for any other movement.
“Hey,” Kyle hollered. “Are you okay? What are you doing out here? Do you need help?” Kyle pumped the shotgun.
The click of the gun finally got the man’s attention. He turned to face Kyle. The man looked like a normal person. His skin was not gray and there were no physical wounds on him. His eyes were a dark brown, they didn’t have the white gloss that the dead possessed. The man was alive, yet he began walking toward them in the slow staggered walk as the Existing Dead. He even began to snap his jaw in the same way.
“Kyle,” Victor said as soon as he noticed the man walking toward Kyle.
Kyle continued staring at him. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The man continued toward him, dragging his leg behind him with every step. The man took in a large gust of breath, then exhaled. He’s fucking alive, Kyle thought.
“Kyle!” Victor said even louder than before.
“He’s acting,” Kyle said.
“He’s acting?” Victor repeated.
“He’s acting like one of them,” Kyle said as he raised his gun to his shoulders. A thought crossed his mind; this person has done nothing to Kyle or Victor. He was just some poor soul who thought it better to act like the dead, maybe in the hope that they would leave him alone. He’s survived this long so it might not be as crazy as Kyle thought.
He brought the shotgun down. Kyle wanted to see how far this person would go to act like an Existing Dead. “Stand down,” Kyle told Victor as the man reached for him. He grabbed onto his arm and yanked it toward him. Kyle stared as he opened his jaw and quickly went down for a bite. When Kyle decided that the man was going to go all the way, he yanked his arm back and used the shotgun stock to hit him under the chin. He went staggering back but remained on his feet. Kyle raised the shotgun and brought the butt down on the guy again, then again until he fell to the ground. Blood began to spew from his nose and mouth.
Kyle walked to the back of the truck and took the decapitated head of the zombie out of the bucket. He walked back to the man and shoved it into his face. The eyes of the Existing Dead began to move. The man stared back at the head and its moving eyes. Kyle could see the fear and terror in his eyes as he looked at the head. The teeth were fully exposed. The lower half of its head was completely missing. Its gums were black and its skin was burned.
“Is this what you want to be?” Kyle asked. “This is it, right? You want to be one of these things so you can go around fucking biting and eating anyone you see?”
The man tried to speak, but he was too afraid. Kyle shoved the head into his face again. He squirmed back as the eyes looked at him.
“Please,” the man said.
“Kyle, they’re coming out of the houses. Hurry up,” Victor said.
Kyle glared at the man again. He took the head away and placed it back into the truck. He walked back to the man, who was now crying. He wiped tears and blood with his hand. Kyle didn’t know why he was so angry with this man. He felt betrayed that someone would actually want to be one of these things and fight against him.
“If you want to be one of those things, then I’ll make it easy for you.” Kyle raised the shotgun over the man’s legs. The man pleaded for mercy as Kyle pulled the trigger. The slug caught the man on both knees, completely shattering the bone. Blood squirted out of the wound like a fountain. The man yelled as loud as he could in pain, calling more of the Existing Dead to their location. “Get in the truck,” Kyle ordered Victor.
He didn’t think twice. Victor got into the truck and closed the door. Existing Dead began pouring out of their h
iding spots and walked in their direction. The man continued screaming as he tried to crawl to safety, leaving a smear of blood as his trail.
Kyle got back into the truck and put it in drive. He drove around the man, then looked at his rearview mirror. He saw the dead fully surround him. They began to tear into him like a hungry family on a great Christmas Day feast.
Victor stayed silent. Kyle finally began to calm down. “Sorry,” he said breaking the tension.
“Yeah, let’s just get to the gas station.”
They continued driving toward the Mobile.
“What would cause someone to act like that?” Victor finally said.
“I don’t know,” Kyle responded. “Fear, maybe. Or they lost all hope of living so they decided to join the things they dread.”
“I’m glad you did what you did. I would have done the same,” Victor said.
That last comment startled Kyle. He was sure that Victor would have rather they let the man go. But if they had, he might have hurt someone else.
“There’s the gas station. I’m going to park next to the restroom in case we need to get out of here quick.”
They pulled into the self-service gas station. There weren’t many cars there; only one parked at a pump and two others parked on the other side of the building. The gas station had eight pumps no more than fifty feet away from the little market.
Kyle shut up the truck’s engine. “Get out and keep a look out.”
Victor nodded and got out of the truck.
Kyle pumped the shotgun until no more shells popped out. He grabbed eight rounds from the robot backpack and loaded them. He felt much better carrying a fully loaded weapon. Victor glanced in every direction looking for any sign of movement. There was none. A cool breeze began to blow from the west. Victor looked up and saw a few dark clouds moving in. Where did they come from? he thought.
Kyle brought the shotgun up to his shoulder and held it at the ready. He walked toward the door and turned the handle. It didn’t turn. The door was locked.
“I’m going to need a key. You worked at a gas station, where do you guys usually keep the key?” Kyle asked.
Existing Dead Page 8