by A. R. Wise
I'd nearly killed us with clumsiness, and it took a few seconds for my heart to calm down enough for me to continue. "You and I have been doing this shit for years, and where's it gotten us? I've bombed a lot of people, Kim. I killed a lot of sons and fathers, mothers and daughters, and never stopped to think about it. How many of them felt like Faith did? How many of them wanted to put an end to this? Matter of fact, how do we know we didn't bomb a fucking preschool full of girls like Celeste? Think about that."
Kim was focused on what I'd said about David, and she still looked angry. "Everything I've done was for David. All I want is for him to be safe. I'd die for him."
"So would I. Shit, I'd die for you too, babe. That's not the point. The point is: What's the best way to keep him safe?"
"By killing all the people that would even think of hurting him."
I nodded as I set aside another pile of white powder before getting started on the next batch. "I'm with you on that, babe. No doubt. Only problem is," I wiped away the sweat from my brow onto the rolled sleeve of my hospital gown, "are you sure you're killing the right people? Because, if we're just killing everyone that might ever be a problem for us, then we're no better than the fuckers that started the plague."
That shut her up.
She walked away from me. I wasn't sure if she was contemplating what I'd said or if she was just too pissed off to continue talking. I focused on making the bombs, and the three of us worked in silence until everything was ready.
I watched as Kim searched through the drawers in the lab for anything that might be useful. Nothing caught her eye until she opened a drawer at the far end of the counter I was working at. She stopped and stared at whatever was inside and I watched as she reached in. There were syringes in the drawer, and she pocketed a few of them. I didn't ask her why.
Kim helped me wrap the four vials of Acetone Peroxide, and she didn't ask me about setting bombs to destroy the facility after we left. I thought that was a good sign, and hoped that she understood my mindset after what we'd discussed. We taped the fuses into the containers and I carefully stuffed them into a canvas bag that we'd found in the lab. William held two Moltov's, and Kim took the pistols.
"One problem," I said, embarrassed that I'd just thought of this now. "How are we going to light these fuckers?"
"I've got a lighter," said William. His arms were full so he motioned to his left pocket by nodding at it. Kim put one of the pistols down and reached into William's pocket. She pulled out a stainless steel Zippo.
"Badass mother fucker?" asked Kim as she read the inscription on the lighter.
"Yeah," said William. "I'd asked for a wallet with that on it, but my wife got me a lighter instead."
"Nice," I said.
Kim looked back and forth between us and shrugged. "I don't get it."
"Seriously?" I asked. "It's from Pulp Fiction. I let you borrow that movie!"
"I never watched it," she said. "The TV in my trailer hasn't worked for years."
"For fuck's sake, Kim! You mean you never understood what the fuck I was talking about when I said Royale with Cheese?"
She chuckled and shook her head. "Sorry, Hero. Never had a clue."
I walked away and grumbled. "It's like I don't even know you."
"Come on, handsome." She wrapped her arm around my waist as we walked. "You still love me, right?"
"Yeah, doll," I said and kissed the top of her head. "You're a pain in the ass, but you’re my pain in the ass."
Truth be told, I treasured that girl. Ever since the day I carried her to Reagan's helicopter in the early days of the apocalypse, I thought of her as my own kin. I helped raise her, and even though I never had a child of my own, I knew what it meant to be a father.
I kissed the top of her head again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN - DEEPER AND DEEPER
Kim Laporte
The distant growls of crazed undead echoed and grew louder the further we walked. Blood stained the walls in streaks, and the floor was speckled with trailed droplets. The macabre spectacle grew worse as we proceeded, as if we were marching into hell, the horror deepening with every step.
An eyeball, white with blue veins that stretched out in a long strand of fleshy pulp, sat in the center of the hall. It stared at us while the creatures screamed in the background. I could hear the sound of flesh ripping, and bones breaking. The cacophony was more intense than I'd expected, and unlike anything I'd heard in twenty years of the apocalypse. These zombies were different than the others; these were far worse.
"Are there people down there too?" asked Hero.
"No. Why?" William walked behind us, tiptoeing through the blood.
"What are they eating?" Hero stopped and looked at me as he listened. "That sounds like they’re pulling someone apart."
We listened to the grotesque sound of bodies being torn apart. The noise that convinced us was the unmistakable pop of a joint being pulled out of its socket.
"Oh yeah," I said. "I know what that sound was. They're pulling someone apart down there."
I stared down the dark hall, unsure where the noise originated. The facility was well lit, but corridors snaked off in several directions. I felt like I'd been dropped in the Minotaur's maze, waiting for my turn to be hunted down and devoured.
We looked back at William and saw his expression turn from a dour frown to a smirk. A glimmer of excitement lighted his eyes. "Maybe we won't need your bombs."
"Why?" asked Hero. He almost sounded hurt, as if not needing his bombs somehow belittled him. He always did love blowing shit up.
"Like I told you, we flooded the rear entrance with pheromones to attract them." He walked in front of us and cupped his hand beside his ear to listen for a moment. "Maybe what we're hearing is them ripping each other apart. Some of us wondered if this would happen." He clapped like a giddy schoolgirl. "This is great."
I shared a bewildered grimace with Hero and then shook my head. "You're a weird guy, Willy."
"No, you don't understand. This is great news. These things are going to kill themselves. The pheromone is in the air, and it must've stuck to them. The zombies won't normally attack each other, because they don't emit these scents anymore. But now, they're all covered with it. They're going to tear each other apart! We made that pheromone spray as strong as possible. It's probably making them go nuts."
Hero nodded and his posture straightened as he smiled. "You're right, Willy. That is good news."
William continued, "I mean, we're still going to have to burn everything to make sure the virus can't get out, but at least we won't have to fight these things ourselves. We can just wait here for them to kill each other." He breathed a deep sigh of relief and wiped his brow. "All we have to do is wait. This'll be easy!"
There's a part of me that believes God laughed when he said that.
As if on cue, red lights started to flash above us.
"What's that mean?" I asked.
William stammered. "I don't know. I'm not sure. Someone must've activated the…"
A loud voice crackled from speakers throughout the facility. It was one of William's fellow scientists that we'd left behind and he was panicked. "They're getting in! William, if you're still here then you need to get out. Jerald's men found the backup generator in the shed above. They've activated the emergency power and it reset the locking mechanism. Get out now. Get out, and keep the girl safe."
"Oh no." William had a frenzied expression as he pulled at his hair. "Oh no, oh no. This is bad."
"Calm down," said Hero. "Let's stick to the original plan. Let's blow the fuckers up."
"Yes, fine, but we have to hurry." William went first, motioning for us to follow. "If they make it to the control room then they might purge the whole place. We have to get out now. There's no time to waste."
"Slow down," said Hero. He had the bag of bombs at his side, and even though they were each wrapped in towels, he didn't want to risk jostling them by chasing after William. "Check the cor
ners, you fucking idiot. Don't just go running down there. You're going to get yourself killed."
"Let me take lead," I said.
"Fuck that," said Hero. "You take the bombs, I'll take the guns."
"I'll be fine. This isn't my first rodeo." That was a phrase I'd picked up from him, and wondered if it was also from a movie I'd never seen.
"Yeah, but now you're the only hope for the survival of all mankind. That kind of changes things. Take the bombs and give me the guns, princess. Let the Hero do his job."
I groaned at his line, and wondered how long he'd been waiting to say it. "But what sense does it make to let you go out there first if I'm the one that might be immune?"
"Can we stop arguing about this and get moving?" asked William.
"Here," I said and offered Hero one of the pistols. "You take one and I'll take one. Let Willy carry the bombs."
Hero looked at our scientist captive and nodded. "Okay, that sounds good. Willy, don't fucking drop this. Understood?"
He looked ashen as he took the bag. "Hold on tight," I said. He put the strap over his neck and then held the bag in front of him with both arms.
"All right, let's do this," said Hero.
William told us where to go, although we didn't need his direction. All we had to do was follow the sound of flesh being ripped off screaming corpses.
The eyeball was only the first piece of flesh that we encountered on our journey. Blood pooled on the floor, making it impossible to walk without sloshing through it, and we started to see body parts in the muck. It reminded me of the trailer that we'd forced Celeste to travel in, and it felt oddly appropriate that we found ourselves in this mess. Perhaps this was cosmic retribution for our sins, or perhaps we just have a bad habit of getting into shitty situations.
William pointed to the left, in the direction of an upcoming hallway. As he did, a hand slapped down into the blood on the floor. Something was crawling from around the corner, and it clawed at the slippery tile. The man's fingers squeaked on the wet floor as he dragged himself forward and revealed his grisly face.
His flesh had been pulled off his forehead and cheeks, leaving behind white bone that was coated in slimy red blood. His eyes darted around, glancing at his surroundings without the protection of eyelids. He'd had blonde hair when he was alive, but now it flopped off the side of his skull and was caught between his fingers, as if he'd tried to rip his own skin off. When he crawled forward, his tangled hand ripped his flesh off further, causing his head to jerk to the side. He saw us and became suddenly excited, like a child seeing a present he'd been praying for.
"Fucking gross," said Hero.
It gurgled and yelped as it crawled at us. His legs were missing, but that barely slowed down his progress. He chomped at the air as if he could taste us and we backed away in disgust. Hero was prepared to shoot it, but I pushed his gun aside and pulled out the bonesaw that I'd brought along.
I slammed the blade down on his head, but the creature's skull wasn't easily split the way the Greys were. This was a fresh corpse, and it would be too difficult to break through his skull to kill him. Instead, I decided to focus on his spine. I pressed my foot down hard on his neck and then hacked at the back of his spine. I would've sawed at him, like the blade was meant to do, but I didn't want to try and grip his head since most of his hair and flesh had been pulled off. Blood and specks of flesh were flung back at me as the serrated edge of the saw pulled at his neck each time I struck him. We'd always been very careful in the past not to get ourselves too dirty when killing zombies to avoid catching the virus, but I didn't care anymore. I was unleashed, unconcerned with contraction, and wholly inhuman. I let all my rage out on the creature beneath me, and it felt great.
I didn't need to sever his head completely, but the final few inches of flesh were easy to cut. I finished the job as a cathartic release and then kicked his head to the side.
"Hey, Texas Bonesaw Massacre, you all right?" asked Hero.
"Yeah," I said and wiped a piece of flesh from my cheek. "Let's move."
I went first, and Hero rushed to catch up. I turned the corner, ready for anything, or so I thought.
The spinning red lights that the scientists had turned on to warn us about the invading soldiers were lost in the color that confronted us. The red lights served only to illuminate the crimson death that covered every inch of every wall. Even the lights were dripping with gore.
Strands of hair were caught in the mess, smeared against the wall and stuck as if pasted there. Body parts decorated the pool on the floor, and I saw the glimmer of teeth amid the sea. Worse than all of that, though, were the things that still moved.
There were no creatures that still stood upright. Instead, they all gurgled in the flood, chewing on each other and tearing at the bits of flesh that enticed them. I watched one of them pull his arm out of another one's midsection, dragging out what I assumed was a stomach. The creature's innards stretched to the breaking point and then snapped free. The rest of the tissue ripped as the victim cried out in anger.
"Don't lick the walls," said Hero as he turned to William and smiled.
All of the color drained from William's face before he bent forward and puked.
"Maybe we should just bomb them," said Hero.
"Yeah, I agree," I said, shocked by what I saw in that hallway.
"Willy, give me one of the bombs," said Hero.
William was hunched over and was trying not to wretch more. He reached into the bag and was about to pull out one of the four bombs when we heard footsteps running at us from behind.
"Shit, they're coming," said Hero.
"Give me one of the Moltovs," I said as I pulled out the lighter William had given me.
He gave me one of the Moltovs and I swiftly lit the rag that was hanging from the top of it. I tossed the fire bomb down the hall in the direction we'd come and watched as it bounced harmlessly across the floor.
I took another one from William and inspected it. "Willy, what the fuck? Are these in plastic bottles?"
"Yeah," he said sheepishly. "I thought it was a bad idea to put them in glass because they might break in the bag."
Hero laughed as I cursed at the scientist. "Fucking hell, man. Keep your day job, dude. Holy shit."
There was a hiss, and then the bottle started spinning as a jet of flame spewed from it. It rocketed down the hallway, away from us, leaving a trail of flame behind.
"There, it did something," said William.
I pulled the cloth out of the second bomb and put it in my mouth before dumping the contents of the bottle out onto the floor. I tossed the bottle away and then lit the rag on fire. "Go, clear us a path. I'll buy us some time."
"Do you want one of the other bombs?" asked William.
"If you do, use the one in the blue bottle," said Hero. "It's the weakest of the four. The other three are liable to bring the whole place down on us."
"What?" asked William. "Why would you make them that strong?"
"No time to explain," said Hero. He was aiming at one of the crawling creatures that had taken notice of us. "You ready, Kim? We're going to need to start shooting soon, and I don't know if there're more of these things waiting down the halls somewhere."
"Give me the one in the blue bottle," I said and Willy quickly got it for me. I had to drop the bonesaw out of my pocket, which barely fit there anyhow, to make room for the gun as I held the burning rag with my left hand and the blue bomb with my right. I wanted to wait until the soldiers found us.
"Come on," said Hero as he nervously aimed at the approaching creature. The zombie crawled over the limbs of other bodies as it made its way to us.
The fire on the rag in my left hand was getting out of control. The flames licked my flesh as I held it out by my fingertips.
"What the fuck are you waiting for?" asked Hero.
"For them to show their ugly faces," I said and continued to wait.
"Well, fucking stop it," said Hero. The zombie was
too close for him to wait any longer. He fired just as I lit the fuse on the acetone peroxide bomb.
I saw the soldiers in the distance, and they saw me. I threw the blue bottle as far as I could and then let the flaming rag drop just as they started shooting. There was only a few seconds of gunfire before the explosion deafened us.
Hero's bomb worked perfectly, and the entire facility quaked from the blast. The vibration caused the blood on the ceiling to rain down on us. If there were any zombies still near us, they were certainly coming our way now.
Hero led the way as William and I followed behind. He was an expert shot, but neither of us had many bullets left. I staggered as I tried to walk through the pile of bodies and the wet flesh squished between my toes.
"I'm out," said Hero as his pistol clicked uselessly. He had to scream as loud as possible for us to hear him over the ringing in our ears.
A one armed zombie rushed at Hero from a nearby hallway. He caught the creature by the neck and used its momentum to slam its head into the wall. The crack of the zombie's skull sounded like a firework. It fell limply to the floor.
"I'll take point." I moved forward and Hero moved back as we exchanged positions with William between us.
"Keep moving forward," said William. "We have to go through that cloud."
I looked ahead and saw an odd yellow mist in the air. "What is that?"
"The pheromones. They must not have turned off the gas. We're going to be covered in it."
That meant we still hadn't moved into the area that the zombies were most attracted to. All I could hope for was that they'd killed each other already.
The pile of bodies got thicker the further we went, and I could feel liquid all the way up to my knees as I sloshed along. Intestines clung to my legs as I walked, and it felt like I was pushing through a thick swamp. It was a terrifying journey, made worse by the movement I glimpsed in the mounds around me. Some of them were still alive and twitching. Eyes blinked, fingers twitched, and jaws snapped from within the mass of meat. If hell looked any different from this, then the Devil was doing a bad job.