Wake the Dead

by Vanucci, Gary F.

  “Oh, well. This is as good as it gets,” Alex said with a half-hearted chuckle. “At least we have a roof over our heads, eh?”

  Selina said nothing more and simply began laying out her blanket and sleeping bag.

  “Would you wanna stack our blankets together to see if it is any more comfortable?” Alex asked, shining his flashlight her way. The moonlight was coming in the window to their right, but did not provide much light at all.

  “Aren’t you gonna sleep with your wolf?” she asked with a smirk.

  “Nah. He’ll probably find a nice soft spot outside.”

  “I’m fine over here by myself. No offense,” Selina added, smoothing out her blanket. “Besides, I sleep alone.”

  “I wasn’t hitting on you, for Christ sakes. Besides, I’m not in the right frame of mind for ‘dating’ these days.”

  “That makes two of us, Alex. Now could you keep it down, I’m exhausted.” Selina moved to the far corner of the room, obscured by the gloom, and preceded to change her clothes.

  “Sure thing,” Alex said, fixing his own sleeping area and stealing a glance or two her way, though he could see nothing in the shadows of the corner. She emerged not long after and made to her own sleeping area, saying nothing more to him. As Alex lay down on the unforgiving floor, he found himself suddenly longing for the uncomfortable sofa in the cabin he left behind not all that long ago. He considered if going back there was not in his future as he dozed off.

  ***

  Alex awoke to the nudging of something against his head. It was Shadow, pushing his snout against Alex’s face, trying to wake him, he supposed. It was still dark somewhat, and so he sat up and grabbed Shadow’s snout, which resulted in a snarl, though he did not snap at him.

  “What is it?” he whispered. “What do you want, boy?” Alex wiped the sleep from his eyes and stood, trying to get his bearings. He and Shadow were inside the chapel and the door was closed. He did not see Selina anywhere inside.

  “What the...?” Alex wondered aloud.

  He opened the door, allowing Shadow to run outside freely. A scream followed.

  “Shit!” Alex yelled, running out after the wolf, looking for the source of the scream.

  He made it outside to see Shadow having Selina pinned against a wall and snarling at her. Zombie arms appeared through the openings of the steel bars of the gate, followed by moaning and growling there, clearly stimulated by the sounds inside the courtyard.

  “What the hell?!” called a voice from the parapet above them. Bryan leaned over the side, hat in hand, looking disappointedly at the scene in the courtyard. “We have enough trouble keeping the zombies away when we are quiet. Can you please contain this?”

  Alex ran to stand in front of Selina, putting himself between her and Shadow, and then examined her a little more closely, and he could see that she was clearly upset.

  “Selina, are you all right?” Alex asked her, trying to shake her into the now. She finally stopped screaming and looked to him as if she finally recognized him, throwing her arms around him suddenly. She was sobbing in the next minute. Alex looked up to Bryan and shrugged and he disappeared from the wall and out of sight again, no doubt walking the top of the parapet once more.

  “Selina!” Alex yelled at her, grasping her shoulders and forcing her to face him.

  “I’m here, Alex. I’m here,” she said through sobs. After another minute, she seemed to come back under control and slumped against one of the walls of the courtyard while shadow went to investigate the zombies at the gate, snapping at the limbs that appeared through the bars.

  “I heard Shadow scratching at the door, and so I figured I would let him in, but once I did, he growled and snapped at me. And so, I maneuvered around him and then closed the door, separating us again. I basically slept here on the side of the chapel.”

  “It’s okay,” he said, consoling her and hugging her tight. He let her cry again for a little while before trying to talk to her, wondering if she may have indicated distress toward the wolf. Shadow would certainly react to that fear. “Did you back away from him?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I don’t remember exactly, but probably…”

  “Yeah, well, I probably should have instructed you, but you can’t back down from him. I’m not saying to attack him either, just that he needs to respect you…as one of our pack.”

  “Like the alpha and omega thing?” Selina asked, seeming to be uncertain of that whole dynamic until now.

  “Yep. And he may be treating you as the omega,” he offered with a wry grin. “That’s what I have found out over the short time I’ve spent with him. I’m still trying to figure it all out. I mean, it’s not like I can fire up my laptop and google his behavior. It’s all lost…unless I find a book on wolves, but I am slowly figuring things out by trial and error.”

  “Okay,” Selina accepted the explanation. “And I think there might be a library around here somewhere.”

  “We’ll have to put a pin in that one…and I am sorry that he snapped at you.”

  That apology did seem to give Selina some kind of relief as she made it to her feet again, shaking the fear and anxiety from her expression. “Is Shadow okay?”

  “Yeah, why?” Alex asked, pointing to the wolf as if to show her that he was behaving normally.

  “I’m not sure. I felt like I was dreaming the whole time and wasn’t sure what I did,” she admitted somberly. “I am pretty sure that nothing happened between us. It felt almost like an out of body experience.”

  “Well, no one seems to be hurt. That’s the good thing,” Alex said. He looked over at the gate and watched Shadow tear flesh and fingers from a zombie that was too foolish to know otherwise than to offer exposed flesh of any kind to the savage wolf. Other than snarling though, Shadow was behaving well toward Selina, he believed. He turned and stared at Selina, who clearly regarded the wolf with anxiety still, watching as he snapped his jaws repeatedly at the zombie arms.

  “Shadow will need to accept you as one of us, if you are going to spend time with him and me,” Alex said, staring into her soft green eyes and holding that stare uncomfortably long. It was actually the first time that Alex registered the stunning and captivating color therein. Eventually, Selina looked away from him and fidgeted.

  “I know,” she admitted half-heartedly.

  “Bryan,” Alex called up to the parapet.

  “Yes?” answered the voice from high above them.

  “No sign of Ben yet?

  “Not yet,” was all that Bryan offered.

  “Is there a place where I can find a sword…maybe a place nearby?” Alex called up, causing Bryan to remove his hat and lean over to stare down at him.

  “Of course there is. It’s a Renaissance Faire,” Bryan answered sardonically as he smiled a sheepish grin, patting his hat and rubbing the scalp beneath his curly, salt and pepper locks. “Question is: can we find you one?”

  “And?” Alex asked, craning his neck to stare up at the man.

  “Yep. We can. I’ll take you there just as soon as Phil or Kelly relieves me up here.”

  “All right. Thanks,” Alex said, cracking his knuckles .Alex spent the next hour or so introducing Selina to Shadow in a more familiar setting. He had Selina offer Shadow food from the cans and she sat beside him, trying to become more comfortable around him. This went on until Bryan appeared from the drawbridge and strode over to them.

  “We’re going to look for Ben. Phil and Liz are coming along, too.”

  “How is Phil’s arm?” Alex asked, truly concerned for the big man.

  “He seems to be fine. It’s wrapped in actual bandages from what I saw under his chain shirt,” Bryan explained, holding a medieval mace. It was a heavy spiked ball at the end of a handle. It was also smallish in size, seeming to be a devastating weapon, Alex admitted. “I’ll bet that does a number on a zombie,” he said shaking his head.

  “I’ve killed more than a few with it,” he confessed
with a smirk. “The others are meeting us out here shortly. Would you like something to eat before we go?”

  “We are fine. We ate some canned food I brought along,” Alex said.

  Bryan tossed them each a small package. “Take these protein bars with you. Might get hungry while we are out there.” Phil, Liz, Nick and Kelly came out of the inner courtyard and joined them all.

  Alex had just retrieved his quiver, bow, and shotgun and strapped them on his back, holding the bow in his right hand and belting his knife. He also gathered his pack, just in case and strapped that over the opposite shoulder of the quiver.

  “We’ll need to get a good look at the damage to the fence so that we can maybe figure out what supplies we’ll need to fix it,” Nick said, handing Liz a camera. “So, you will be looking for Ben first and foremost. I want you to check the normal routes inside the fairgrounds, maybe he’s holed up there, and then Alex and Selina, you two can go for the humidifier while Liz and Phil check out the damage to the fence. See if you can get close to the car Ben used and if not, comb that area,” Nick instructed. He held up a sword in a scabbard. “This is Tom’s. Since he can’t use it, you might as well take it.” He handed it to Selina, who took it and turned it over in her hand, moving it back and forth with some conviction. Everyone, including Alex, was a bit surprised that she moved so gracefully with the weapon.

  “Don’t worry, Alex. We’ll find you one of your own, too,” Bryan said, also admiring the ease with which Selina moved the blade through the air.

  “You’ve had some training?” Nick asked her, a wide smile planted beneath his recently trimmed goatee.

  Selina nodded, continuing going through what appeared to be warm up exercises and practiced movements. “I’ve had some training with swords for several years now. Kind of a hobby and what initially made me want to be an actor here at the Renaissance Faire. I had one that I left on that roof, but it was dull and in terrible shape,” she said, grunting and spinning and chopping the air like a graceful artist. “This one, though, is very nice. Well-made.”

  “Well, There’s that, there ya go. Let’s put that to the test, eh?” Nick said, crossing his arms over his chest. He was not wearing his riot gear today, Alex noted, as he wore jeans and a tee shirt instead.

  “Let’s go,” Liz said, holding the clumsy Polaroid camera in one hand and her shield strapped to the other.

  “Let’s go hunt us some zombies,” Phil added with a wink to Alex.

  “Don’t forget your task,” Nick advised, holding the gaze of Phil.

  “Of course. I’m only gonna cut down the ones that try to stop us. Don’t worry, chief.” Phil donned his chain mail coif, removed the sword from his scabbard and stood before the few zombies still standing before the gate. Phil began to lop hands and arms from whatever was there until nothing else penetrated the gates. “We’re ready to go.”

  Kelly opened the gate as Phil and Liz used their shields to shove the zombies back and Phil and Bryan, the latter maneuvering between the shields and slamming that heavy mace into zombie skulls, took them down quite easily.

  Alex adjusted the quiver on his back, removed an arrow, bent low, and called Shadow to him. The wolf obediently followed and ignored the fallen zombies, moving to sit beside Selina. Kelly closed the gate behind them and they were off, stepping through the alleys and quietly going from building to building, searching for their missing companion.

  Alex truly hoped that they would find him alive and well.

  Chapter 14

  Alex loosed another arrow and downed the last of those half dozen zombies, amazed at the precision and coordination with which the others fought. So far, Selina had not needed to swing her weapon and Alex had fired only a pair of arrows. He stood on the skull of that zombie and yanked free the arrow, and then followed the others. He had to wait for Shadow, who was once again marking his territory.

  They made it to the broken fence and Alex winced as it came into view. A thirty-foot section or so was down, the center of that completely shattered as the zombies had poured through that segment of fencing. They had even taken down the foliage and a tree that stood behind the fence.

  “That’s quite a mess,” Bryan said, removing a cigarette and lighting it. Alex looked at him oddly, not realizing until that very second, how such a simple thing as smoking a cigarette was missing from their everyday life. “Yep, I got me a carton back at the castle. You want one?”

  “Never touched the things,” Alex said sharply. Bryan simply nodded and went back to staring at the fence. Shadow stood right beside Alex and made to want to run toward the opening, but Alex bent low again and shook his head.

  “Stay, boy.” Shadow did not listen this time and ran out of the gap and into the parking lot. “Shit,” Alex cursed.

  “You get him and then get the humidifier. We’ll keep looking for Ben,” Phil said, scanning the area. Alex nodded and ran off after the wolf, Selina following right behind him.

  Alex ran outside and watched as Shadow sniffed around, not realizing or registering any kind of danger. They were back in the parking lot and Alex noted that there were a mass of zombies to his left and right, all wandering around in between the cars.

  “Shadow, come,” Alex whispered and the wolf surprisingly listened. He leaned with his back against a car as a zombie came closer, having seen him. As it neared, Selina sprung up and quickly sent its head flying from its body in one clean sweep, ducking back down.

  “Fuckin’ A, right!” Alex said with a smile. She smiled back, the two of them caught up in the adrenaline of the moment. “We can make it to my van through the middle of the lot, between the cars. Probably won’t attract many of ‘em.” Selina nodded and he snapped his fingers to Shadow, “Come.”

  He moved quietly from car to car, truck to van, moving in between them quietly, Shadow following behind them both at somewhat of a distance. They had almost made it completely across the parking lot, when Shadow disappeared behind a truck. Alex dropped to his knees and witnessed a dozen pairs of feet on the other side. Then he heard the snarling of Shadow and the sounds of snapping jaws that followed.

  Alex removed his bow and ran to the other side, seeing a dozen zombies all closing on the wolf. Two of them fell over Shadow and Alex scowled, nocking an arrow and letting fly at one of the pair.

  Selina suddenly appeared from the other side of the vehicle, swinging her sword like something out of a comic book. She looked like a warrior-god to him in that moment as he retrieved a second arrow and loosed it too, hitting the second of the attackers on the wolf. It was so close to them that the arrow went straight through the zombies head and into Shadow’s flank.

  “No!” Alex screamed, biting off his shriek quickly and running to the wolf’s aid. He almost tackled Shadow, tossing aside the bow and his pack. Blood gushed from the wound and Shadow snapped at Alex, as he was in obvious pain.

  “I need to treat this!” Alex yelled to Selina, who was cutting down the last of the zombies quite easily. Alex spun and caught another on his flank approaching quickly, and swung his compound bow so hard that he snapped the neck of the onrushing zombie, as it was sent headlong into the adjacent car, falling to its back as Alex ran over to it and stomped his boot against its skull repeatedly.

  He then looked to the mini-van around which they stood, and a plan formulated. He grabbed the pack from the ground and swung it into the passenger side window, shattering it. He reached inside, popped the locks and opened the side doors. He picked up the wounded wolf and tossed him inside, closing the doors behind him.

  Then he saw Selina climb into the passenger side of the mini-van, looking all around and tossing stray pieces of glass out the window.

  “We don’t have a lot of time,” Selina said.

  A pack of zombies, having heard the glass shattering, began to make their way hurriedly toward them.

  “Fish for some keys, we gotta get outta here now.” She did so, rooting through the glove compartment and tossing some things onto t
he seat. “Or better yet, you tend him and I’ll start this thing,” he said as they switched places, him climbing into the front over her.

  He rifled inside the pack, retrieved the duct tape, and tossed it to her. “Here is some antibiotic cream, put it on the towel there and wrap it around him, then tape it,” he instructed as he got under the dash, fishing for the wires. He realized it was going to take longer than they had.

  “Fuck it,” he said, seeing and grabbing a standard screwdriver and jamming the business end into the ignition and forcing it to turn over. The mini-van started immediately. He slammed it into gear and took off, running over a zombie right away.

  He peeked in the back and watched as Selina forced the towel around the wound and held it there. Shadow was snapping and growling at her, but she did not back down. He allowed himself the briefest of grins for only a second, admiring her bravery in that moment as he stepped on the gas, the front of the vehicle striking another of the undead. He quickly maneuvered them through the abandoned cars, out of the lot, and onto the road as a mob of zombies chased after them.

  He managed to put a good distance between them, the zombies all but fading in the rear view mirror, until the mini-van began to sputter.

  “You gotta be shittin’ me,” he whispered, understanding that, as he looked at the gas tank, that the mini-van had no gas left in the tank.

  “Is he all right?” Alex called back to her.

  “Seems to be,” the bleeding is slowing and he is lying still now as if nothing happened,” Selina said. “What’s the plan?” she added, as the mini-van continued to sputter again and finally came to a stop.

  “Look for a spare,” he said, seeing a few more cars in various states of disrepair along the side of the road.