Dead Cold

by Roddy R. Cross, Jr.

  “Glad to see your attitude survived the crash.” Roland said reaching across and unbuckling her seat belt making sure to hold her up as he did.

  “Well maybe if you knew how to drive, this wouldn’t have happened.” She snarled and Roland seriously considered dropping her but decided against it.

  “Whatever I don’t care, we need to get moving and do something about your hand.” He let her down on her back and stepped away letting her stand up.

  “Forget my hand its nothing, what about your eye?” She adjusted her jacket, as she looked at his face her eyes staring intently.

  Reaching up he realized in the excitement he’d forgotten about the injury and quickly felt around with his hand. The entire left side of his face was caked in blood and he could feel a gash that ran from the middle of his cheek through the middle of his eyebrow stopping an inch above. He couldn’t feel any damage to his eye and using his fingers to pry his eyelid open he realized he still had the eye it was just completely coated in blood. “Its fine, now come on we’ve got to get going before more of those things start showing up.” The unmistakable moan was coming from somewhere nearby and the dog started to bark.

  “Whatever, where did the dog come from?” Crystal followed Roland to the back of the Jeep the dog sticking close to Roland.

  “Don’t know. She just saved my life though.” He opened the hatch as far as it would go and pulled out the black duffel bag handing Crystal one of the Brownings and retrieving his HK from the roof of the Jeep. “We’ve gotta move, where is your brother?”

  It might have been the brighter light but Roland thought her eyes looked a little more sunken than before and her skin was getting paler. “What the hell am I supposed to do with this? Never mind, it’s this way through the park.”

  Crystal started walking through the parking towards a row of houses and after slinging the duffel over his back Roland followed suit, the dog staying beside him every step. He found it odd the dog wouldn’t go near Crystal but he didn’t take her for a dog person and she didn’t seem to care about the dog so he let it go.

  The storm was thinning out and the wind was dying down so Roland did his best to keep his guard up but he couldn’t stop his mind from racing; wondering about all that had happened and how it had happened so quickly. He’d gone to sleep the day before and the world had been normal and today he wakes up to find the dead up, walking around and attacking people. He was just wondering why there were so many dead people and what had caused them to rise in the first place when Crystal started running rounding a corner before he could catch up.

  “Shit, this chick’s gonna get us all killed.” He cursed looking down at Eve who just turned her head to side.

  Chapter 8: Death Bites

  He rounded the corner in time to see Crystal dart in a house up the street; a big Hummer in the driveway, more importantly though he showed up just in time to catch the attention of the five monsters that had exited the house directly to his right. Turning their heads in unison the five; three female and two male, shrieked and started shambling towards him arms outstretched. It was at least twenty-five feet between him and the creatures and Roland brought up the HK aiming at the creature on the far left a male, well built and also completely naked.

  A little stunned at the creature’s lack of clothes Roland took an extra second to sight its forehead and squeeze the trigger. The creatures were only twenty feet away and Roland quickly dispatched the next three leaving only one female, she was naked as well and at ten feet Roland recognized her as one of his ex girlfriends. Letting go of the HK Roland pulled the Desert Eagle out his pocket; the big black gun glistening.

  “I’ll see you in hell, bitch.” His face expressionless; Roland squeezed the trigger and watched as her face disintegrated only five feet from him.

  Roland was about to go after Crystal when something stopped him; a big black Dodge Ram sat in the driveway of the house the creatures had come from and he was pretty sure he knew who owned it. The dog surprisingly had stayed beside him the entire time and even now followed him as he headed to the house.

  “Hello, is anyone here?” He called out receiving no reply as he stepped through the doorway and looked around the house. It split upstairs and downstairs at the entranceway, the basement looking dark and ominous while the upstairs was brightly lit and open.

  “I’ve seen this movie.” Roland said to no one before heading upstairs; the Desert Eagle leading the way and the dog right behind him.

  Reaching the top of the stairs Roland looked left into the living room; there was a big screen TV, a recliner, and couch. The couch had a bloodstain on one of the cushions and a first aid kit sat on the coffee table. Eve started growling and Roland spun around just as the creature that used to be his friend’s boyfriend lunging towards him like a wild animal. It happened too fast for Roland to register as his arm brought the Desert Eagle up and squeezed the trigger, the big gun roaring twice.

  The first round tore through its shoulder, and the second ripped up and through its neck severing it. The two brass cartridges clinking down the stairwell as the creature’s head and body squished to the floor, the disembodied head still chomping its teeth. Disgusted Roland stomped down hard with his right boot the shattering bones giving a resounding crack. As the ringing in his ears ceased Roland became aware of a quite sobbing coming from down the hallway where one of the white doors was damaged, the paint scratched away in places and indentations in others. Stepping over the body that now filled the hallway his boot making a disgusting noise every step he knocked on the door. “Are you okay?”

  The door flung open and Emily’s skinny arms wrapped around Roland’s chest. Caught off guard Roland put his arms around the skinny girl; her red hair tickling his neck as she sobbed into his shoulder. Feeling Emily put more weight on him, Roland slid the both of them slowly to the floor until they were both sitting; Eve nuzzled up against Emily’s side with a soft whimper as the girl continued to sob.

  “Emily, Emily, I need you to tell me what happened.” He lifted her away looking into her large blue eyes.

  Emily took a deep breath and steadied herself. “We were at the bar last night waiting for a cab when some crazy guy bit Jeff. Jeff managed to push him off and we drove home, I tried to bandage his arm but the bleeding wouldn’t stop and he refused to go to the hospital.” She stood up her eyes deliberately looking away from the corpse on the floor. “I thought he was just sleeping but then he stood up and his eyes were all yellow and he tried to attack me so I hid in the bathroom.”

  Roland wiped her cheeks and looked down realizing she was only wearing a pair of booty shorts and a tank top. “It’s over now Emily but I need you to get dressed, we have to go.”

  She nodded and went into the bedroom coming out five minutes later in jeans, a hoody, and leather jacket. Roland had moved the body; head and all into the kitchen and out of the hallway. Pulling the other Browning out of the duffel bag he handed it to Emily while explaining his theory on the creatures. Suddenly the biggest problem he’d had was solved, the bites, that was how there were so many dead people and how it was transmitted whatever it was. “We gotta go!” He said and all three of them rushed out the door.

  “Wait, shouldn’t we take my truck.” Emily was more herself now, strong and smart.

  “Actually we’re gonna take the Hummer down the street; that’s where we’re going now.” He was moving at a quick jog now.

  “If you say so, what happened to your eye?” He knew she was skeptical of his plan; Emily was usually skeptical of anything Roland came up with.

  “I may have rolled a Jeep, while not wearing my seatbelt, while carrying a knife in my lap. Anyways the eye is fine, face is another story.” Emily nodded at that not at all surprised.

  They reached the house with the Hummer and found the door locked. “I don’t have time for this.” Roland raised his right boot.

  The door came off its hinges and fell into the house with a large crash. A trail of blood led
up short stairs to the first floor and Roland pulled out his Desert Eagle and flipped off the safety as he went up the stairs. Emily and Eve followed close behind as Roland made his way towards the bedroom following the trail of blood drops. He could smell her before he saw them, that smell of rotted flesh he was getting so used to.

  Eve bared her teeth and started growling as they reached the door. Roland pushed open the bedroom door and looked in. There were three people in the room; Crystal, a tall thin guy and a shorter girl who was a little bigger than the rest. Crystal was sitting on the floor against the wall, her skin a patchy grey and her eyes yellowed at the corners, the other girl was wrapping a bandage around Crystal’s hand and the guy was facing the door, Crystal’s Browning in his hand.

  “Who the hell are you?” Assuming he was Crystal’s brother Roland figured a bad attitude ran in the family.

  “His name is Roland, he found me downtown and brought me here to get you.” Crystal’s voice was weak and Eve started barking as soon as she spoke.

  Roland grabbed the dog by the collar and pulled her out of the room. “Crystal I have to tell you something, it’s the bites that turn you into one of them.”

  “I kind of figured that.” She smiled sadly looking at her hand.

  “You know what you’re going to become. What do you want to do about it?” Roland hefted the Eagle.

  “Nothing! She’s not sick, there’s nothing wrong with her! You put that away!” Her brother had moved between them and was aiming the Browning at Roland’s head.

  “Cory, don’t…” Crystal tried weakly to stand.

  “Crystal don’t move; this guy is crazy.” Cory took a step towards the door keeping himself between Roland and Crystal.

  “I’m not crazy you idiot, she is going to become on of those things and then she is going to attack you.” Roland took another step into the room; closing the distance between himself and the taller man.

  “No, she isn’t! She’s gonna be fine!” His anger was almost palpable and Roland saw the knuckle on his index finger whiten. Without thinking Roland swung his left arm up knocking the Browning from Cory’s finger while simultaneously using the Desert Eagle to backhand the other man knocking him to the ground.

  “Fine, you want to die? Go right ahead. You’re not my problem but she will turn and she will try to kill you.” Roland turned to leave the room leaving the taller man on the floor his right cheek red and eyes filled with hate. “Eve come. Emily are you coming?”

  Emily looked at the three in the room then to Roland’s retreating back; his quick pace causing his long jacket to fly out behind him before running after him.

  “Guess we’ll be needing your truck after all Emily.” Roland said as she caught up to him.

  Once outside Roland saw that the storm was almost finished with only a few light flakes left. Stopping at the sidewalk Roland turned and looked longingly at the Hummer; it was royal blue with oversized tires, a large black bush bar, and a light rack on the roof. Shaking his head he turned and headed down the street following Emily to her truck.

  Chapter 9: Southbound and Down

  Emily had the truck running by the time Roland and Eve got there and was sweeping the snow off. Using his sleeve to brush the snow off the passenger side; Roland threw the heavy duffel bag in the back seat breathing a sigh of relief to be free of it before helping the dog into the truck and throwing the HK onto the center console. He climbed into the passenger seat just as Emily finished sweeping the truck and flipped down the passenger side vanity mirror.

  The entire left side of his face was coated in thick gooey blood making it impossible to open his eye and the four-inch gash already starting to heal. Shutting the mirror as Emily pulled her door closed Roland turned to look at her with his still functioning right eye and she looked back at him.

  “You look like shit Roland; anyways where are we going.” She buckled her seatbelt and cranked the heat.

  “Thanks, you too. We should head to Edmonton but we need to stop by the Mac’s store first.” He smiled and pulled off his leather gloves putting his hands over the heat vent.

  “Why? What’s at the Mac’s?” She buckled her seatbelt and put the truck in drive.

  Buckling his own seatbelt Roland took his crumpled cigarette pack out of his pocket and looked at the two cigarettes. “I need to pick up a few things.” He lit one of the cigarettes and Emily lit one of her own.

  They pulled into the parking lot and Roland had Emily park next to the overturned Jeep. “Nice job.” She said stopping with the Jeep on the passenger side. The storm was getting bad again with heavy, wet snow starting to coat the windshield. Roland exited the truck telling Eve to stay and started moving the camping gear into the box of Emily’s truck, she joined him shortly afterwards and they had all the gear transferred in only a few minutes. Shutting the tailgate Roland turned to Emily.

  “Wait here, I just have to run in the store for a few seconds I’ll be right back.”

  “What could you possibly need from there that we don’t already have?” Emily asked; a little incredulous.

  “Just need to use the facilities.” Roland said starting towards the store.

  Inside the darkened store Roland took a careful look around and listened for any movement, there wasn’t any so he moved quickly towards the washroom. His business done he went to leave the store but the black sheets covering the cigarette displays reminded him he was almost out. He was almost to the counter when he heard the chewing sounds and recognized the scent of something dead.

  Backing away slowly Roland reached for the Desert Eagle in his coat pocket as he bumped into a display; knocking it over with what sounded like an ear shattering crash. Almost instantly the chewing stopped and the all too familiar growl pierced the silence as the thing jumped up from behind the counter its yellow eyes boring into him. It had been a young girl before it died probably only thirteen or fourteen. She was dressed in a miniskirt and an overly tight t-shirt. Blood dripped from her tiny chin and blonde hair as she opened her mouth and growled before lunging towards Roland.

  She crossed the short distance between them quickly and Roland found the Eagle was caught on something in his pocket. Letting go of the gun he lifted his hands realizing he wasn’t wearing gloves and grabbing the girl by her midsection before her arms could reach him and throwing her away from himself. She weighed less than one hundred pounds and Roland had tossed her fairly hard slamming her against a wall.

  She hit the ground with a light thump and hopped up to her feet charging at him with surprising speed. Giving up on his gun Roland waited until she was close and side stepped grabbing her by the neck and giving a quick twist. Her neck snapped instantly and her tiny body crumpled to the floor the head still moving and snapping its teeth. Roland stared down at the creature; he knew it had been a girl the day before with dreams and hopes now it was a monster that desired human flesh with no trace of its former life remaining. Roland was about to bring his heavy boot down on the tiny blonde head when he stopped. “I’ve killed enough today.”

  Gathering up two cartons of his preferred brand of cigarettes and the entire display of Bic lighters Roland left the store in a hurry; the creature’s moans and snarls following him out the door. Climbing into the truck trying to keep his sadness from showing Roland shut the door and buckled his seatbelt doing his best not to look at Emily. “What took so long?” she asked.

  “Long lineup.” He tried to joke. “Let’s go.”

  “If you say so.” She said; shifting the truck into drive and heading back onto the street for the highway.

  The storm had gotten pretty bad; limiting visibility to just past the hood and Emily had the wipers on the highest setting. Roland attempted to make conversation but the events of the day weighed heavily on his mind and Emily eventually turned on the stereo as they reached the city limits. Trying to focus on the music Roland found his mind constantly drifting back to the faces of everyone he had killed or let die since waking up that morning;
the homeless woman, James and the others from the mall, the old man at the sporting goods store, the big guy in coveralls, the kid, his ex, Emily’s boyfriend, and now Crystal. Looking at the truck’s clock Roland saw it was only 1:30 PM but he felt as though he had been awake for days. His eyes closed and he felt darkness take him, the faces of the dead burned into his eyelids like a silent movie.

  He awoke to Emily shaking him two hours later. “Roland, wake up!” Startled he woke up and looked around reaching for the Eagle resting in his lap. They were stopped at a gas station in Wandering River, the snow still falling heavily and it was quickly becoming dark. Roland could see the lights were still on inside and the store was empty. “We need gas, you run in and activate the pump and I’ll fill up the truck.”

  Roland nodded and unbuckled his seatbelt blinking his right eye attempting to clear the fog from his vision; his left eye was now crusted shut and would need to be cleaned soon. Once outside the vehicle he let Eve out of the backseat and flipped off the safety on his Desert Eagle. “Eve stay with Emily.” He could have sworn the big husky nodded when he said that. Heading for the store Roland made sure to listen carefully and look around with every step through the knee-deep snow. Once inside the store he shook the snow off his shoulders and listened for anything, the Desert Eagle raised just in case.

  The controls for the gas pump started beeping just as he decided the store was completely empty taking a deep breath through his nose just to be sure. Roland had worked at a gas station a few years back so he found it fairly easy to activate the pump and he watched the numbers climb. Looking around the store Roland saw a first aid kid against the back wall and decided to grab it tucking it under his left arm as he exited the store the icy wind biting into his face as the door opened.