Parasite ; Sleeper Cells ; Kingdoms of the Dead

by Ian Woodhead

  Diane shook who head. “What about those two? Surely we can’t let these five clowns kill them?”

  Kenny nodded grimly. “Why the fuck not? Hell, I hope they all end up dying, those privileged fuckers don’t deserve to live. Besides, I do remember you telling me that she was a complete power-crazed psycho.”

  “I know I did. I’m not arguing with you, Kenny. I want them to die too. Only who better to give us a better clue as to what the fuck is happening right now?” Diane slowly got to her feet and skirted around the side of the car. “Are you guys going to stay down there?”

  Kenny looked at Tony before rolling his eyes. Tony guessed that this kind of conversation happened a lot between them. He followed Kenny towards the building, listening to the contestants bumbling their way through it. One thing was sure, their quarry would have no problems hearing them coming; neither would they have any problem in following them. Even so, he wasn’t too keen on any of them finding a bullet lodged in their brain. He caught up to Diane.

  “This game that we’re playing, does it have zombies as well?”

  She nodded. “Oh yeah, they all do. Hell, they add excitement to any game.”

  He heard the deep sarcasm and decided not to pursue the subject. Tony listened to one of the women yell out. “That was directly above us,” he said, looking up at the rotting ceiling. Tony ran towards the staircase. He jumped onto the second step and turned around. Through the open doorway, above his head, Tony saw splashes of red coating the filthy walls. “Oh hell,” he hissed. Tony ran up the remaining stairs. As he approached the exit, he heard the familiar sound of wet chewing. It didn’t take a genius to work out what had happened here.

  Tony edged along the wall, seeing the shape of two bodies come into view. The one sprawled on the floor belonged to one of the weather girls from Channel 27. He watched a gaunt corpse burying its head deep into her open chest cavity; she wasn’t going to be giving out any more forecasts. He ran into the other hallway, careful not to slip in any of her blood, and scooped up the dropped pistol. Tony pushed the muzzle against the side of the dead thing’s head and pulled the trigger, nodding with satisfaction as its putrefied, jellied brain splattered against the wall beside it. Tony then fired a single shot into the girl’s forehead as well.

  He spun around, almost putting a round in Diane’s face when she bounded up the stairs. “I don’t believe that they just left her here,” he said.

  “I do,” replied Diane, “they’re all idiots, but they pull in the audience, so what can you do?” She looked down in distaste at the two corpses before stepping over them. Diane pointed up at the corner of the wall.

  “By the way, we’re now on camera.”

  Tony instinctively looked away, thinking of his wife sitting down to watch this rubbish and seeing her husband on TV. “It doesn’t matter,” he replied. “The important job is to get your brother out of here.” He looked down at the two corpses. “She didn’t deserve that.” Tony frowned. “Come on, let’s get a move on. I don’t want the producers to rush in here and capture us.”

  “I’m not even sure that will happen. I guess their ratings will have just gone through the roof with your surprise appearance.”

  He looked behind to see Kenny slowly making his way up the stairs. “Are you okay?”

  The man nodded. “Yeah, I think those two people have slipped the chasers. I think I saw them racing across the street.” He looked over Tony’s shoulder. “What happened here?”

  His sister steered him back towards the stairs. “It doesn’t matter, Kenny.”

  Tony followed them back down the steps. This time, he kept his ears and eyes alert. That dead thing could have jumped out on any one of them.

  “There they go!” shouted Kenny.

  He jumped down the last few steps and ran over to the window. The pair of them raced along the empty road. Tony shook his head in wonder. The woman wasn’t exactly a small lady, yet she had no trouble keeping up with the large man. It seemed so weird to see anyone well fed in a city where most of the population survived on rationed food. He secretly wished that a bunch of zombies would jump on her. After all, if it was right about her being part of the elite, she wouldn’t be a very pleasant individual. “Diane, I’m confused now. If she’s one of the main city leaders, what the fuck is she doing getting chased by a bunch of Z-list celebrities?”

  “I think the celebrities are confused. They are supposed to be hunting zombies. That’s the idea of the game. The individual with the most kills, wins.” She leaned out of the window. “I’m guessing that those two must have travelled the same way that me and Kenny did. The woman has a jumpsuit on, remember.”

  Tony bit back the sarcastic reply and silently sighed. “Yeah, I figured that already. What I mean is, why the hell are they still playing the game? You said that there are cameras everywhere, surely they must have seen who those dumb bastards are trying to take out.”

  Diane bit her bottom lip. “Maybe we should just get out of here?”

  “Getting out of this building would be a good start,” muttered Kenny. “We’re not alone.”

  Tony spun around and saw three zombies lurch through the doorway above them. There were more behind them; the only reason they were following was because of the corpse on the floor. Five of them dropped to their knees and took over from where the now dead zombie had begun. “Good idea,” he said, hurrying down the rest of the stairs. They ran out into the street without looking back. The siblings turned right and ran towards the street corner.

  His adrenalin helped him keep up with them as they approached the end of the buildings. Tony heard the zombies behind them but paid them little attention. Unless any of them happened to stumble, those things wouldn’t be able to catch any of them. Even if they did, Tony still had the pistol.

  They all emerged into the middle of a huge arena, which belonged more in some kind of twisted ancient Roman town. He stopped and turned around. The sudden change in scenery caused him to wonder if they had just shifted again.

  As Diane hadn’t even blinked at the sudden change in scenery, Tony assumed that this was still part of the game zone.

  “From what I can remember, I don’t think the way out is that far from here.”

  “What do you mean, you think?”

  Diane sighed. “Kenny, it’s my flatmate who watches this shit, not me.” She pointed at a white stone jutting out of the corner of the building to their left. “Believe it or not, there’s a camera behind that false stone.” She grinned at Kenny. “I do remember some bits of trivia that fell out of my annoying flatmate’s mouth. They have hundreds of camera positioned around the gamezone, which they switch to as their quarry moves around the arena. If the action is on the other end of the gamezone, they won’t even notice us sneaking out.”

  Tony just nodded, staying silent. Her logic was sound as long as they didn’t think about the girl’s gruesome death at the top of the stairs. Surely the studio would have highlighted that? That meant they would be following them. The cameras seemed like the easiest way of doing it. He squinted at the white stone fixed to the side of the building, trying to spot the lens up there. He walked closer, watching intently.

  The girl ran over to him and guided Tony back to Kenny. She didn’t say a word, there was no need. Just behind them, he saw the celebrities running past the corner of the building. Two of them turned and fired.

  “Don’t just stand there, Tony!” shouted Diane. “Get under cover.”

  The siblings had already taken shelter behind the building but he couldn’t move. Deep down inside his bones, Tony felt a low vibration threatening to separate his body. He reached out and grabbed the corner of the stone and squeezed as tight as he could; the celebrities were motionless as well. They all must feel the same sensation. Tony knew what was about to happen, and judging from the panicking voices, those idiots had no clue.

  Two realities were about to collide.

  “What the fuck is happening?”

  Tony
took his eyes off the bodies to pull Diane closer to him. “Watch and you’ll see.”

  A dark blue explosion of light rose out of the ground, next to the two men who had fired at them. A dozen decaying arms pushed through the whirling color and the men vanished, howling into the vortex.

  “It hasn’t finished yet,” he murmured. The blue light shifted behind the remaining celebrities and grew wider. From where Tony stood, it was obvious that none of them had even noticed the phenomenon. They were all gazing at him as if he was the one responsible for the sudden disappearance of their colleagues. Their glares soon halted when they found themselves being pulled back into the light.

  “This isn’t part of the game,” whispered Diane.

  “No shit,” muttered Kenny. “That must be how we moved out of the other arena the first time. Look at them all, there must be hundreds of the things.”

  “Yeah, and they’re all coming this way. The bastards must be able to smell us.” Tony pushed back the panic and turned around. He raced along the side of the building, hoping that Diane was right about this leading to a way out. The gaudy colors of the scenery were giving him a headache. “Are they still there?” He shook his head, of course they were, he could smell the rot coming from their putrid bodies. He daren’t think how many there were now.

  “Are they from another world?”

  Tony stopped and turned around. “Diane, didn’t you feel the effect on your body when that hole behind them opened up? Kenny was right, that must have been how you moved.” He nodded to the dead things. They hadn’t moved that closer to them yet. “I’m sure you’ve seen the vast hordes of corpses shambling across the landscape on television. Millions of them, all grouped together. It must be the same on the other worlds as well. I think one of your holes has emerged right inside one of these hordes.”

  Diane paled, “You mean there could be millions of them about to come through?”

  “It’s possible.”

  “Fuck, as if we didn’t have enough to worry about.”

  Kenny was not with them. Tony looked past Diane to see the back of his head, still peering around the corner of the building. “What is the fool doing?”

  “I’ll go get him.”

  He shook his head. “I’ll do it.” Tony ran past her and caught up with Kenny. “Come on, man, we can’t stay here.”

  “We can’t go, not yet.”

  The two other runners had made the unfortunate mistake of been seen by the dead things. They didn’t stand a chance. Tony turned away, not wanting to watch as four of the vile corpses closed in on their new victims.

  “You’ve got to stop him!” Diane shouted.

  Tony looked back to see that Kenny had ran right by him, racing across the asphalt and heading towards the man and woman. “You insane bastard!” He set off after him, watching hundreds of heads shifting their gaze away from their original targets and looking at Tony instead. A low collective moan erupted from the mouths of the growing horde, as Tony attempted to catch up with Kenny. At least ten of the things broke away from the main pack and began moving towards him. “Kenny, for fuck’s sake, we can’t save them.”

  From his limited vision, Tony watched the big woman punch one of their attackers to the ground, while the heavily muscled man next to her sliced through the necks of two more dead men. His fighting spirit didn’t recede when the remaining zombie lunged at the man and bit into the side of his stomach. The man let loose a shriek that overwhelmed the zombies’ mass moaning. He brought his fists together and slammed them down on its head before it could bite him again.

  The ten heading for Tony were now just a few meters away. He put on a burst of speed and caught up with Kenny.

  The vibration inside Tony’s bones returned with a vengeance. He cried out and dropped to the ground, fully aware that those ten dead things were just a couple of feet from him now. He couldn’t move. It felt as though his whole body was coming apart at the seams. The smell of death now covered him like a decaying blanket; he was about to end up as food and there was nothing he could do to stop them. Tony couldn’t move a single muscle. His eyelids slid down, saving him the humiliation of seeing them bite into his flesh.

  The inevitable agony of feeling all those ragged teeth never came, and the vibration died down. The only moans he could hear now were human, and they were coming from his mouth. He reluctantly opened his eyes and found the only dead that remained was the one the man had put down.

  Diane reached down and picked Tony off the ground. “Are you alright?”

  He wasn’t sure how to answer that question. Tony sighed and shook himself down before looking around the landscape. They were definitely alone again.

  “They all just vanished, Tony. I saw you fall and I ran to you.”

  Tony smiled, “Thank you. Wait, where’s Kenny?”

  “Look behind you.”

  Kenny crouched in front of the big man, inspecting the wound in his side. As Tony and Diane reached them, the woman looked up.

  “Thank you for trying to help us,” she whispered.

  Diane joined her brother. The thing had managed to bite off a small chunk of the man’s flesh. Tony watched the big man’s eyes flicker; he didn’t have long to live now. His size would help. Tony knew that if he’d been in his place, he would have already succumbed.

  “Do you have a knife on you?”

  He blinked before shaking his head. “Kenny, we really should go. I’m sorry but there’s nothing we can do now. We all know he can’t be saved.” Tony listened to the woman’s sobs get louder. “Honey, come with us, you don’t want to be around him when he changes.”

  Kenny looked at him sharply. “So what?” he snapped back. “I was bitten too. You’re the one who called me the chosen one.” He pulled the man’s axe out of his hands and ran his thumb across the blade, hissing in pain. He dropped the axe then held his bleeding thumb over the wound.

  “What the fuck are you playing at?” screamed the woman.

  “I think I can save him,” Kenny replied. He looked at Tony. “You had all better move back in case this doesn’t work.”

  The man opened his eyes wide and howled out in agony. His whole body convulsed. The woman tried to hold him down but she couldn’t keep hold. He flayed his arms out and Tony jumped back to avoid the big man’s fists. The man’s eyes closed and he settled down.

  Instinct told Tony to run, to get away before the infected man woke up. It took a huge amount of self-control to keep his feet fixed to the ground. Diane jumped back as the man’s eyes opened. Tony saw none of the usual signs of death. He blinked a couple of times before staring in wonder at Kenny.

  “You’ve just brought me back!”

  He couldn’t say any more as the woman flung her arms around his neck. “I thought that I’d lost you!”

  Kenny stood up. He walked over to the woman and held out his hand. The woman looked a little uncertain before she started to grab it. Kenny pulled his arm back. “No, you don’t understand.” Kenny dropped to his knees and placed his bleeding thumb over one of the multiple cuts on her arm. “I want to cure you as well.”

  “I haven’t been bitten though. I’m not sick.”

  “We all are,” Kenny replied. “You should know that better than most.” He looked at his sister. “Diane told us that you’re one of the people that runs the city?”

  The woman slowly nodded.

  “So why those were poor fools trying to kill you?”

  Tony watched the woman’s features twist into a grimace. For the first time, he now saw exactly what Diane meant. The woman now looked like a hellish demon.

  “That fucker Rossini wants me dead, that’s why,” she spat. The woman dragged herself to her feet and eyed Tony’s weapon. “Give me your gun,” she demanded. “I have someone to kill.”

  He backed away, not intending to give his gun to anybody, especially her. “Not a chance,” he said. “I need this.” Tony spotted movement to the left of them. He spun around and saw more dead th
ings shambling out of one of the buildings behind them, as well as a group of uniformed men running towards them.

  Two of them raised their weapons. Unlike the now eaten celebrities, these guys wouldn’t miss. He looked at the gun in his hand before throwing it on the ground. He had no wish to get shot.

  As the guards sprinted towards them, Tony’s guts whirled as the feeling of separation ran through his body one more time. “Oh please, not now,” he moaned. Tony jumped at the sound of an explosion of air behind him. He turned to see Kenny and Diane were still with him but the others were gone. “What the fuck happened?”

  Kenny pointed at the wall. “They fell through that.” The man’s face suddenly grew pale. “Oh fuck, not him.”

  Tony turned to see a large man with long pale hair walking towards them. He knew him. He’d seen Rossini’s face dominating the posters for a long time. He wasn’t too shocked to see that the sudden disappearance of the other two hadn’t fazed the big man.

  “Hello there, Kenny. Did I not say that you were going to be my biggest star? You won’t believe the viewing figures.” Rossini nodded to one of the uniformed goons and the others grabbed the siblings and began marching them down the road. Rossini’s fingers wrapped around Tony’s arm when he tried to follow them. “Wait for one minute, you. I have a couple of questions first.”

  Tony jumped when shots rang out and he saw three zombies hit the floor.

  Rossini chuckled. “Calm yourself, young man. I have no intention of killing my new stars. You though. Well, you need to give me a very good reason as to why I should keep you alive.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out four large pills. The man nodded to himself. “Yeah, I thought you’d recognize them. We took them from your friend, Joseph. He refused to tell me what they were used for. Perhaps you will be a little more cooperative?”

  Tony kept his mouth shut, hoping that this goon didn’t have the sense to decide to search his pockets. All he needed was for Rossini to release his arm for just a second and he would be out of there.