Better Stay Dead 1: John's Shout

by Dave Callahan

  “Over here”, someone shouted.

  Alice looked at the first floor of a building and saw an old cop with a young boy.

  “Hurry. I am coming to open”!

  Theo had finally come back too.

  Alice pulled a dribble, like a rugby player, avoiding the mass of the zombie-lady’s body.

  Two more appeared next to her. Two gunshots took care of them.

  Alice knew the sound of Theo’s gun. He killed at least one of them. Theo grabbed her arm and led her to the door of the flat. Someone was unlocking on the other side.

  “Hurry!” Alice screamed.

  The door pushed open and nearly hit Alice on the face. The two of them rushed in.

  “Close this! Close the door now!” Theo complained.

  “Wait! Don’t close it”! The teenage girl had made it. She entered with a terrified look as Derek close the door smashing the hand of a bad little zombie - it must have been a school kid.

  “Thank you”, said the girl. “Thank you so much”.

  “It’s not very safe here” Derek said. “But we found food for a day or two. This is temporary. Also this door is not gonna last much longer. We need to do something about that too”.

  “Are there other people in this block of flats?”, Alice asked.

  “Just me and a young man. I cleared the area of them. I only wish I hadn’t spent so many bullets”.

  ~

  John was sitting on an old, dark red couch. Most of the pillows were slightly ripped and the thing smelled like a warehouse. The kid was staring at the window with his eyes red and wet, though he wasn’t crying.

  “John?”, he heard.

  His eyes met the voice as an instant reflex. She saw a girl he thought he had seen before, but couldn’t recall who she was. She was blonde and slim and had a pair of distanced blue eyes.

  “I don’t suppose you remember me. My name is Helen. We went to school together. You are one year older than me”. The girl giggled for a moment then realised John’s condition and came close to him with concern. “You don’t look so good. I take it you lost someone very recently”.

  John was really uncomfortable with Helen sitting next to him. He could stand Derek and his “get up and fight back” attitude but he wouldn’t stand the “I care about you please talk to me” one.

  But the girl didn’t push any further. Instead he changed the subject and for that, John was grateful.

  “I get it. You never noticed me. It’s ok, I noticed you. I had a small crush on you for about a month. Don’t worry I don’t have stable emotions. Am I making you uncomfortable”?

  Still no answer. Like talking to a wall.

  Derek walked in.

  “Does he talk?”, Helen asked.

  “Yeap. Maybe it will become a legend soon, but I am sure I heard him speak”.

  “Thanks for helping us”.

  Alice and Theo walked in the first floor apartment too.

  “Yeah. Really thank you so much”, the pregnant girl agreed.

  Derek opened a can of beer and left too more on the table. “Let’s enjoy some moments of peace. We will be leaving soon”.

  “Wha… what? But why”?

  Derek sighed at Alice’s complaints.

  “Look. I’ve seen what happens when these things get really hungry. They leave no stone unturned. They will crush our doors and rush in eventually and when they do that, this is the last place we want to be. No escape plan and limited security - a flat isn’t exactly a catch”.

  “Can’t we at least rest for a bit”. Alice didn’t want to use that card but she had too: “I am pregnant”.

  For the first time since he met Derek, John felt something other than emptiness. He felt sympathy for Alice. The woman - contrary to the other four in the room - actually had someone to fight for. Her unborn baby. It seemed so cruel for a young woman like her to have to go through all this. For the first time, Derek’s words seemed to make some sense. He had to take some responsibility.

  “We will rest for tonight. But I want shifts to watch over the movement on those roads. I’ll take the middle one which is the roughest. Theo and John will take the other two”.

  John knew that Derek did this for his own good. He had to hand it to him. He was trying to win him back from whatever pit of sorrow he had fell in for good.

  “I will take first shift. You guys get some rest”, Theo said.

  John saw the teen girl searching through his wallet - the one he abandoned on the table and wasn’t planning to get back. Pieces of paper and cards would be worthless from now on.

  The girl held John’s identity and looked at him excited.

  “Your name was John Wayne all along? Now I have a crush on you all over again”!

  Chapter 4

  Alec Bonowicz was a programmer before it all started, a soft hearted fellow who was trying to make a living out of painful antisocial hours in front of his computer. He would sit there in the dark, cursing himself for the overwhelming number of jobs with questionable hourly rates he would accept. He would say to his few friends “well I try to survive. Surviving is a tough job”. Because of his mentality his best friend, Fred Tanner, gave him the nickname “the Zombie”.

  Alec fancied that nickname - he thought it was damn cool. Frustrated that thezombie.com was unavailable, Alec secured the domain therealdamnzombie.com.

  Alec pondered at his past as Fred walked by. His past didn’t mean shit. Only that he was God’s best little irony. And that domain of his was as useless as it gets - because if one thing did stay dead, it was the internet.

  “The front gate is secure. Me, Michael and Timmy got rid of about thirty of them”. Fred grabbed a smoke and sat at a chair with wheels opposite to Alec’s desk. Fred took one puff: “What did you do all day”?

  “I was solving a major network problem. The server’s address translation was malfunctioning. We had no communication between the four districts”.

  “Wow. Exciting day huh”?

  “Well Freddy, when I bring back the porn you’ll finally acknowledge me”.

  Both laughed.

  Alec went serious now. “I mean come on. We are slowly bringing civilization back. Our area is actually large and we need…”.

  “Our area is a fucking military camp. And there are about seven marines among us. I am not saying that I do not appreciate your work. I am saying there are people who doubt your leadership. People who say someone stronger should lead - and the marines are out there, looking all like Stallone and shit and -moreover - people actually see them, when our fierce leader is hiding behind cables and boxes”.

  “You know me well. I don’t have any issues with authority. This is a democracy here. I’ve already said we would have elections next month. It’s just that: I am the one who started this, I brought those people in and kept them safe. I want to finish what I’ve dreamt, then they can have their leadership.Though to be honest - I think we would be doomed if we let those marines rule”.

  “I second that man. And I believe in you, I really do. That’s why I want you to think more like a fucking politician. Can you do that for me? Get out. Speak to the people. Win your time”.

  Alec opened his drawer and pulled a bag of cereals.

  “Diet cereals man. Not exactly what I was talking about”.

  Alec ignored him. “You know I still can’t believe this. The zombie apocalypse is really here… And the DMs have all the worst qualities of all zombie movies or books. They run, they infect people with their blood, not only their bite, I mean COME ON. Give us a break God”, Alec said looking to the ceiling. Alec was an atheist but Freddy believed, so he kept mocking him.

  “There’s got to be a plan man. There’s gotta be”.

  “God’s favourite creatures are now the DMs. That’s what you’ve got to accept”.

  Fred finished his smoke and put it out on Alec’s desk. Alec frowned but said nothing.

  “You know Jeremy and his group came back with info from their las
t supply run. There is noise everywhere among the living about a “ponytail” guy who raids every little camp out there. They say he is getting strong”.

  “He is moving from place to place, looking for somewhere to settle. We are at a military camp here, he can’t hurt us. The only thing we should worry about is getting to those good people before he does”.

  “People are terrified out there. They say he has over thirty man with him. I think this “ponytail” issue should enter your first priority list. Not only because it should, but because the soldiers will be talking about it and people will want to know what you are doing about it”.

  A man knocked the leader’s door, the one with a label that said “management” on top.

  “Come on in”.

  It was Timmy Gates, a man they usually put at the gates because of a weak sense of humour.

  “There is a man at the back gates. The cameras show he is alone. He doesn’t seem like a threat and he is shouting. Should we let him in”?

  “Get him through a welcome interview and bring him to me”.

  The men waited patiently and finally the man came inside.

  “What’s your name my friend?” Alec asked.

  The man seemed very happy. “So there is a working military camp? We are saved aren’t we”?

  “Wow, wow, don’t get your hopes so high up man. Even a believer like me doesn’t”, Fred noted. “Now what’s your name”?

  “My name is Sam Webber”.

  “Where do you come from”?

  “We… we were stationed at a senator’s property in Fresno. That was… till last week”.

  “You’ve come a long way. Did you do it on foot”?

  “I had a car for about five miles. Then… you know it. Damn gas”.

  “How did you escape the DMs”.

  “The… what”?

  “Well… the dead, the zombies, the undead. Everyone calls them by another name. We call them DMs. From Dead Meats. Reminds people of what they are”.

  “What happened to your setup at the senator’s house?”, Timmy asked.

  “Which senator by the way?” Freddy added.

  “Raymond Milk. We got hit by a gang. Lead by a guy with a ponytail”.

  The three men in the room looked at each other.

  “What do you know about that guy?”, it was Alec’s turn to ask.

  “Well that he is a cunning cold-hearted son of a bitch that killed my friends and possibly rapes my girlfriend. And that we need to go hit him now”.

  Alec and Fred looked at each other again, feeling awkward.

  “Look… We don’t know where he is and-”.

  “He must still be at Milk’s! It’s the best thing he can find in a very wide range. That is… except your camp here”.

  Fred nodded to Alec to come close and whispered something to him.

  “He is gonna keep killing people and raping women! We’ve got to move”!

  “What do you know about the senator’s house”.

  “Are you kidding me? I know every inch of that house”.

  Alec took a deep breath. “Then sir… You’ve got yourself a military operation”.

  ~

  Luanne and Teresa were sitting in the room where she and Sam were having sex a week ago.

  “I still can’t believe he is gone. The only reason I haven’t killed myself is you Luanne”, Teresa said, sitting next to the saleswoman.

  “We need to survive Teresa. We need to be strong, make the best of what we have. At the very least, we are safe here”.

  “I can’t do this another time Luanne. I can’t let one of those freaking savages touch me again”.

  Luanne moved closer and wrapped her arms around the woman. “It’s gonna be ok darling”.

  “When you told them about Sam… I thought you turned on us! I hated you for that moment. I didn’t know it was a plan. You are such a brave woman Luanne. Getting caught for Sam like that. And to think that me and…”, Teresa started crying. “Me and… Bill were doubting you. I am so sorry”.

  “It’s ok Teresa. It’s ok”.

  “We can’t stay here much longer. Promise me we are gonna leave”!

  “Till we have a plan, we are waiting for Sam to get help”.

  They heard a gunshot.

  Luanne and Teresa went to the window. What they saw made them want to puke.

  A young boy and a woman near the gates, were shot to the head - blood was spattered around their skulls. Around them, three men were collecting the bags they held.

  “They killed them!” Teresa screamed. “They killed them oh my god”!

  Luanne was a woman that would do many things to survive, but killing children was not one of them.

  She stormed out of the door. “Kyle what the fuck!” she said and Kyle pushed her to the wall and closed her mouth.

  “Honey. Please. Don’t make a scene. They came for shelter and they killed them for their goods. I hate that too. But Frank is in a bad mood and I don’t want you getting hurt. Please. We’ll discuss it soon…”.

  “Discuss what, Kyle”?

  Kyle turned and faced Frank.

  “Discuss in what positions I am gonna rip her apart tonight”!

  Frank laughed. “Good. It’s nice you are happy Kyle. You are smart and strong. We need you happy too”.

  Kyle was able to tell Frank didn’t mean any of that. Frank was assessing the situation. He knew he was protecting Luanne.

  “Well then. Why don’t I let you two lovebirds do your thing - me and Andy are eating. Feel free to join us if you want”.

  “I’ll be there with you”.

  Frank took Andy to the dining room. “Get out. All of you”, he said to the three men that were having a snack on the table.

  Frank sat opposite to Andy and gave him a chocolate bar they had just taken from the woman and the kid.

  “Wow. Thanks boss”.

  Frank smiled. He was glad many of them have started to call him boss.

  “You deserve that Andy. Listen to me. I want you to keep Kyle close. I don’t like the way he is behaving lately. I don’t know if he is… loyal”.

  “Well I am loyal Frank. And I will find out if something is off about Kyle”.

  “Good, good. Now go bang Teresa and go nuts”.

  Andy smiled. “Thanks boss”.

  Chapter 5

  John was enjoying the silence - and the occasional snorting of Derek. He was sitting next to the balcony door and took some small peaks of the movement on the road. He was watching a small family of zombies chewing off a dog. Even the zombies have families, he thought. It was like a proper family meal. The father, the mother and the two sisters. Each one had their corner and they ate that dog up without fighting each other.

  John laughed. He was on the verge of laughing hysterically. This was all pointless. It was already game over for him. He didn’t have anything to live for, hell all the effort to survive seemed so tiresome. He whistled at a low volume. It was the only other alternative to laughing like a maniac.

  Then again, they kinda looked like a family up here too. John watched Helen, but focused on Alice more. The pregnant woman was sleeping peacefully. It was a nice sight. There was something about that woman that made him want to curl into her hug. Her improved maternal instincts were what John was missing, he wanted to feed on her motherly love. Then he remembered his own mother’s image and he almost burst into tears.

  John heard some noise. He went back to the balcony door and examined the road outside. He didn’t see any zombies. That was weird… And then he realized… Oh my god. They are all at our door. The creatures were gnarling and pushing. Damn the door won’t hold! Once again, he was ready to give up. To just stand there and let the zombies storm in. And then he looked at Alice again. His eyes went from the zombies to Alice and vice versa. Till suddenly, the door fell down.

  And the mute boy, now had no other choice. He gathered air inside his chest and he screamed:

  “RUN”!

&n
bsp;