by Bell, A. E.
Creed opened the trapdoor quietly but realized there was no way to go down the stairs perfectly quiet. Once he made it halfway down the steps, he began hearing some strange sounds. He decided to keep walking and Evie was right behind them. They walked into a finished basement. Evie thought it was strange for someone to finish a basement and then close it off. Evie stayed right behind Creed and whispered, “Am I the only one that thinks this is a little more than creepy?” He raised his eyebrows and once again put his finger in front of his lips to remind her to be quiet. She rolled her eyes, “Well it is, and this place stinks bad.”
They saw a closed door. They attempted to open it, but it was locked. Creed took out his knife and popped the lock. He opened the door and the noise he was hearing got louder. He walked through the doorway and scanned the room with his headlamp. He could never have prepared himself for what was his light showed. It was a naked woman with her arms and legs shackled to the walls. She had duct tape across her mouth but was still trying to scream for help. She had tears rolling down from her eyes. There was a bucket between her legs that had been placed there to collect her urine and excrement. Creed turned to Evie, his eyes opened wide, “This is all, you, babe. I’m done.”
Creed continued to check out the remainder of the basement to make sure it was safe and then exited up the stairs to wait for the two women to come upstairs. Evie came running up the stairs, “Get your ass down here.”
He came over to the top of the stairs, “I’m not going back down there. That woman is naked, and it stinks bad.”
Evie implored him, “Listen, I’m sorry, but you got to come down there. There are padlocks on her shackles, and I can’t get them off.”
He caved, “Fine, I’ll be down in a minute.” He looked around to find something to get the locks off with. He eventually found a hammer under the sink. He went to help his wife. He pounded on the locks, each one opened relatively easy once he found the right place to hit them. Evie worked to remove the shackles and when she finished the young Asian woman crumbled into the floor.
Creed couldn’t take the smell any longer. He was holding his mouth closed and gagging much like a child does when they take medicine they don’t like. He spewed vomit in the floor. It went everywhere, and he kept vomiting until he was dry heaving. Evie yelled, “Get your pansy ass upstairs if you can’t do any better than that.”
Evie took her to the bathroom and shut the door to the torture chamber. She asked, “Honey, what’s your name? How long have you been down here? Who put you down here?”
The small framed Asian lady meekly replied, “My name is Jade. I work at a hair salon in town. I was kidnapped after work one day by one of my customers. He’s been keeping me here ever since. He just kept me for days doing terrible things to me and then he stopped coming down here to feed me or anything. Are you the police? How did you find me?”
Evie was confused, “No we aren’t the police. Exactly how long have you been down here? Do you know what’s going on outside?”
Jade started to cry, but there were no tears, “I have no idea how long I’ve been down here. I’m guessing a couple of weeks. And what do you mean what’s going on outside?”
Evie told the girl, “Take a shower, we can discuss all of it after you get cleaned up. I need to get some water in you because you are already so dehydrated that you aren’t making tears.” Evie ran upstairs to get a change of clothes for the girl. She started going through the clothing in the bedroom and realized that the man that lived there must be a soldier and since there were no women’s clothes, he must be single. She grabbed a pair of his sweats and an army pt shirt.
She stopped to talk to Creed, “I don’t think this girl knows about the infection. He’s had her trapped down there and left one day and never came back.”
Creed’s eyes opened wide, “Are you freakin kidding me? Well, won’t that be a fuckin shocker.”
Evie went to help the woman get dressed so she could bring her upstairs. When she got back down into the basement, she saw the girl sitting naked with her arms around her knees and her face buried in the space between her knees and her body in the corner of the room. Evie quietly instructed her, “Here’s some clothes. Let’s get dressed and we can go upstairs and talk about everything.”
Jade stood up and held out her hands to get the clothes. The woman put the sweatpants on and then went to put the shirt on. She started screaming uncontrollably and ran up the stairs and out the door. Evie came running after her and asked Creed, “Where the fuck did she go?”
He shrugged, “I don’t know. All I saw was a topless girl, and she ran out that door right there.”
Evie ran chasing behind her. She finally caught up to her next to the infected that Evie had obliterated. The girl was looking down at the pile of remains screaming, “Please just let me go. Don’t hurt me. I won’t tell anybody.”
Evie was concerned, “Honey, you are very confused. We aren’t keeping you hostage. We aren’t going to hurt you, and you are free to go as soon as we explain a few things to you. Just calm down, come inside, drink some water, eat some food, and let us tell you everything you need to know. Then you are free to leave.”
The scared woman slowly walked back into the house. She looked like she was walking back in for her execution. Evie pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and poured her a bowl of soup and a glass of water. Evie took a deep breath, “Okay here’s the deal. I’m about to tell you something that you will not believe at first. You are going to think we are nuts. The world as you know it is no longer the world we live in. There was an infection that struck a little over a week ago. This infection makes people die, then sort of come back to life. When they come back, they aren’t themselves. They try to eat people. I don’t know what happened to the man that attacked you, but there is a good chance that he is either dead or he’s turned into for lack of a better word a zombie.” Evie could tell that Jade didn’t believe her.
Jade looked at her skeptically, “Are you trying to tell me there is such thing as zombies? Do you think I’m going to believe that? Ma’am, I think I’m going to leave if that’s okay and go home.”
Evie wasn’t sure how to convince her, “Okay, I get it. I do, but I need you to believe me. It’s for your own safety. You need to be prepared to protect yourself.”
Jade’s skepticism changed quickly to anger, “Look, lady, I appreciate you freeing me from the hell that man put me in, but I’m not an idiot. You are either a mad woman or you are playing a really cruel joke.”
Creed walked into the kitchen, “She’s neither. She is telling you the truth. You should listen to her. Your life depends on it.”
Jade winced when Creed walked in, Evie took notice and suggested to Creed, “Why don’t you go back in the front room dear. I appreciate your help, but I think I can make her understand.” She turned to Jade, “My husband is a gentle soul. He’s not going to hurt you. I’m not going to hurt you. You have nothing to fear from us. Why don’t we go back outside I want to show you something.”
She walked her over to the body and lifted it up, “Do you see that? This man was eating that dog. I know you can’t see his face very well, but do you see all this greenish-black stuff. It’s the inside of that things brain. Does that look normal to you? This isn’t a trick. It’s not a joke. It’s as real as you and I.”
Jade took a few slow steps back and took off running. Evie called to her, “Wait come back. You need a weapon or something. Please don’t leave.”
The girl didn’t listen, she just ran as fast as she could. Evie stood there for a minute and whispered to herself, “Well, she won’t make it long.”
She walked back inside, and Creed glanced at the fact that the girl wasn’t with her, “Did you scare her off? Did you at least give her a bat or something?”
Evie answered, “I tried to tell her. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”
Evie walked over to Cassie and put the back of her hand on her forehead,
“Her head feels a little cooler. I think we should all go to sleep, hopefully by tomorrow she will be well enough to get back on the road.” They all laid down and within minutes all, but Evie had fallen asleep. She just laid awake wondering if Jade made it somewhere safe. Half an hour later she managed to drift off to sleep.
There was a loud banging at the door. Evie woke up and looked at the clock, it was one in the morning. She wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or if this was another one of her nightmares. She shook Creed awake, “Somebody is banging on the door. Wake your ass up.”
He woke up in a very sleepy state, “Huh? What? Who?”
Evie became annoyed, “Wake the fuck up. Somebody is at the door.” He sat up and grabbed his gun. They both went over to the door. Evie put her hand on the door handle while Creed stood there with his gun pointed right at the door. She swung the door open.
Jade was standing at the door shivering and crying, “Please help me. One of those monsters is chasing me.”
Evie hurried her in the door and shined the flashlight outside, “One my ass. There is at least ten of them.” She slammed the door shut, and Creed started sliding a pile of stuff in front of the door.
He whispered, “Turn off the lights, go in with the kids, make sure everybody stays silent including that dog. With any luck, they will move on.”
When Evie made it into the living room, the kids were sitting up. Cassie had her arms wrapped around Sylvie and Sylvie was trying to comfort her. Cinnamon was barking and growling like crazy. The more he barked, the more they heard the infected banging against the door. They could hear the snarling and the mindless moaning that they were making.
Creed angrily whispered, “If you don’t get that damned dog to shut up we are going to be their next meal. Take his ass downstairs and shut the door. Stay with him, and maybe he will be quiet.”
Evie looked at her husband with disgust, “You really want me to go down in that stinking hellhole. Fine, but you owe me.” She walked the dog down the steps and sat down. She told Cinnamon, “You’re starting to be more trouble than you’re worth.” He licked her face. She wiped it away, “And that shit is not always going to work. You can’t just cute yourself out of it every time you get in trouble.”
Creed was upstairs standing near the door in case the infected managed to get inside. He handed Jade a tomahawk, “If they come in, you need to hit them in the head. You have to hit the head, or they’ll keep going.”
She looked down at the tomahawk, “I’ve never hit anybody with anything. I don’t know if I can do this.”
Creed muttered, “Listen, you either man up or you are going to die. You don’t have a choice anymore. Being a peaceful bystander is not an option. Fight or die is the only choice.”
Tears were streaming down her face, “Okay, I get it. But I don’t know if I can do it.”
Creed shrugged his shoulders, “It’s life or death, girl.”
She stood there with a tight grip on the tomahawk just waiting for something to break through the door. She was holding on so tight that her hands had started to go numb. She decided to let Creed stand by the door, and she went and sat by the girls.
Creed had no idea that she had left, he turned around, and she was gone. He shook his head and muttered, “This girl ain’t gonna make it five minutes on her own.”
The night ended, and the sun shined through the glass pane on the door. Creed moved the curtain out of the way, he couldn’t see any of the infected. He went to the stairway door and said to Evie, “Honey, y’all can up come now.”
She sarcastically yelled back to him, “Gee thanks, honey. I hate you a little bit right now.”
He laughed, “Love you too.”
He popped one of the boards off of the window to the side of the house and whispered, “We got a problem. There’s about fifteen of those things blocking the drive. We are going to have to find a way to divert them away. So, everybody better start thinking.”
Evie offered an idea, “Maybe if I open the back window and start screaming out it, they will all come around back, and we can run out the front.”
Creed agreed to her idea, “Well you do have the loudest mouth in the family. It might work.”
Creed helped her pull the boards off the back window. She opened it and started screaming, “Hey, over here you brainless fucks. Come and get me, it’s mealtime. Fuck you, come and get a taste.” The more she screamed, the more the infected started heading to the backyard.
It seemed to be working until Creed went to check the front yard and noticed that her screaming had attracted even more infected. They were all in the front yard, backyard, and even coming down the street. He yelled, “Stop screaming, you are attracting more of those things.”
Before she could get the window shut, an infected started grabbing and clawing at her. It was snarling and chomping its teeth trying to get a bite out of her hand. If she so much as lost her footing, she was done for. It was like playing tug-a-war with an incredibly strong monster. Creed saw her struggling and came over and slammed the window down on its arm. He took the tomahawk he had given Jade and took two swings at the arm of the infected and cut it off. The infected’s hand and wrist fell on the floor. Evie was finally able to shut the window all the way.
Creed began pacing back in forth in the living room. He was racking his brain trying to find a way out of the house. He finally spoke, “I’m going to run out the front door with Cinnamon on a leash. His barking will draw them away from the house. Then the rest of you can escape. Y’all go the opposite direction. Go back to the pharmacy, and I will meet you there.”
His wife had a disapproving look on her face, “That is a terrible idea. How the fuck will you ever get Cinnamon to quit barking? They will follow you until they eventually catch you.”
He gave in, “Fine, I will go without him. I will just yell until I get halfway up the block. Y’all can take Cinnamon with you in the SUV.”
She replied, “I still don’t like this shit idea, but I can’t think of a better one right now.”
He kissed her, and the gave Sylvie and Cassie a hug. Sylvie was crying, “Please don’t do this. We need to stick together.”
He kissed Sylvie and reassured her, “Everything is going to be okay. I promise.”
He walked out the door yelling all the way down the road. His voice did not carry like Evie’s voice. It turned out that was a good thing, he wouldn’t attract the infected from far away. The infected slowly started following in his direction. Within a few minutes, all of them had moved along following Creed.
Evie hurried everyone out of the house and drove the SUV back to the pharmacy. She impatiently waited for her husband to return to her. She fidgeted with the CD player and when the music came on it sounded like new age music blaring through the speakers. She became frustrated, “What the fuck is that shit?” She slammed her hand against the power button. The longer she waited, the more frustrated she became, “He should be back by now. Something is wrong.”
Jade quietly uttered, “It’s going to be okay. He will make it back.”
Evie became infuriated, “You can’t know that. It’s your fault we got trapped in that house, to begin with. We tried to help you and then you brought hell to our door.”
Jade attempted to apologize, “I’m sorry. I was terrified. I didn’t know what to do.”
Evie didn’t say another word. She just sat there and mulled over everything in her head. She wondered how it was that she had stooped to the level of blaming a woman that had been brutalized. She just kept looking out the window, hoping that at any moment Creed would come around the corner. The longer she looked, the less hope she had that she would ever see her husband alive again.
She decided the best thing to do would be to drive around the route he should have taken. She told the kids, “Keep your eyes open. Tell me if you see him.” She turned left at the stop sign and still didn’t see him. She became frantic.
They drove the entire distance around, and t
here was no sign of Creed. She went back to the pharmacy to check and see if maybe he was inside, but he was not there. She got back in her car to circle around again. As they passed by a few stores, she saw his tomahawk sticking out from the forehead of an infected. She pulled the SUV onto the sidewalk next to it.
She got out to inspect the area. She only saw infected bits on the ground. She was glad that she didn’t see any sign that her husband was injured. She glanced up at the storefronts to see what store her husband might have gone. It didn’t take her long to figure it out, the military surplus store.
She pulled the car directly in front of the military surplus store and waited for a few minutes to see if he would come running out. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, she turned towards Jade, “Sit in the driver seat and wait for my husband and me to return. If any infected start coming around, drive off. Just drive around a few minutes and then return. Do not let them corner you inside this parking lot. Don’t let them hurt my family. Do not run off with my family. Do you understand?”
Jade replied, “Yes, I got it. I’ll do what you tell me.”
Evie wasn’t convinced that Jade wouldn’t screw it all up, but she had no choice. She banged on the door to see if there were any infected inside. There was no movement. She opened the door and began searching for her husband. She whispered, “Creed, are you in here? Where the hell are you?” There was no reply. She was surprised at the fact that the store wasn’t looted. She couldn’t understand why this wasn’t one of the first places people would empty out.
She began doubting herself, maybe she didn’t know Creed as well as she thought. She just assumed that he would go to a military surplus store versus a laundry, nail salon, or bakery. She kept walking towards the back of the store and the desk the cashier’s counter. She started hearing a moaning sound. She figured maybe there was an infected in one of the closets or employee area, so she carefully made her way in that direction. As she was getting ready to open the Employee Only door, she realized that the sound was getting further away. She walked past the cashier’s counter, and she heard a strained voice say, “Evie.”