by L A Taylor
Cheyanne lit up a cigarette, watching meticulously as five bags were handed over to her man, but the sixth wasn’t arriving, so she moved away from the vehicle. “What’s all the hold up?” she shouted.
Norman wasn’t sure at first, so stared at the two men. They hesitated, and instead of grabbing the last bag were acting like they were frightened by something.
“There’s one more bag,” Norman shouted, pointing down at it.
The foreigner who’d pulled out the five bags seemed stuck in astonishment at something he’d just witnessed. The other one climbed out of the deep pit, mumbling words of nothingness over and over again. “No deada, no deada,” he cried.
Now those words worried Norman. Surely he would work out what they meant? The foreigner repeated the words.
The man inside the disturbed grave remained in deep concentration, staring at the figure inside the coffin.
Cheyanne closed in. She dropped the cigarette and tried calming the hysterical man down, but not once did she look at what kept the man inside the grave occupied.
Closed eyes were open again as the coffin dweller woke up. This vision forced the terrified man to fall backwards inside the grave. Now the others were interested to know what was going on. Each turned around to witness a hideous, thin being, with clothes hanging off the body try to climb out of the hole, but didn’t notice the zombie escape its recent resting home. The man tried so hard to reach the top of the opened grave but was so out of rhythm with his actions that he slid back into the danger area. His blabbering friend escaped from Cheyanne’s clutches and jumped back into the grave, moving behind the other man to push him toward the couple. Norman helped by grabbing the frantic man’s hand.
The re-awakened creature became a nuisance, and all four humans panicked when the figure neared one of the foreigners. Cheyanne quickly helped Norman pull up the trapped man while the second one fought with the unknown being. This dead creature truly recognised the human as being the man who made it the way it was now, and a crazy glare escaped its features. The zombie gripped tightly onto him so he couldn’t find a way up to the others. A few shaking movements followed before the man was free again. He now frantically tried grabbing onto anybody’s hand to flee from the oncoming beast, but the newly transformed monster wasn’t going to give up. The three, able bodies all reached into the pit to grab onto any part of the terrified person’s body, but the knife that was used to kill the person before it was like this now fell out of his clothing. The groaning fiend noticed it fall and just before the jabbering man was rescued it grabbed the item, plunging it deep into his leg before yanking it back out. The avalanche of blood pleased the monster. It clasped the wound firmly with two hands, slipped rotting fingers into it and tore flesh away from the scared man’s calf.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaah,” he bellowed.
This was the right moment for the humans to make their escape out of the cemetery. Cheyanne grabbed two of the bags then raced off to start the car.
“You help your friend,” Norman explained, aiming more hand gestures at the funny talking men. “I’ll get the bags.”
More moaning noises were heard as they moved along the graveyard. Dirt flew from other graves as more un-dead beings were seen lifting heads out of the ground. Norman turned, spotting disturbed earth being tossed into the air and a few seconds later a hand rose from the grave. He didn’t want to believe this was happening and so extended his speed, leaving the other men behind. Zombies reached the outside, each one able to smell the freshness in the air and the aroma of fresh meat. The wound released blood, making the injured man look like a menu to the new breed of zombie recruits.
Cheyanne honked the car horn to hurry the others. She knew the non-Englishmen were in deep trouble and so shouted out for Norman to go back. He dropped the bags and did what was told, while she rushed to pick them up again.
Six zombies now rose onto the grass, each slowly pointing in the direction of the humans. Norman grabbed onto one of the injured man’s arms and helped. This action wasn’t going down well with the new enemy as they were made to watch their first meal escape out of the cemetery.
The car was off at high speed, with the occupants not caring where they were going. Anywhere was on their agenda as long as they could escape.
“What the fuck were those?” a sweaty Norman cried out.
“I have no idea,” said Cheyanne.
The car slowed down again as it made some distance. The injured man was in the back seat, gripping tightly onto his friend and screaming in agony. He needed hospital treatment, but the car wasn’t going anywhere near Clifton Falls for him to receive any.
The escaped zombies wandered around inside the cemetery. One carried the last of the moneybags, while another picked up the still lighted, lipstick-coated cigarette. This faceless creature was a cancer victim due to smoking and somehow, the sight of the drug stick brought back memories. This thing wasn’t acting like a zombie. It inserted the fag between the rotten, worn away molars, sucking hard on it. With eyes glowing from the excitement of tasting nicotine again, sucked even harder, but the more it did this, the more it produced smoke. The smoke accumulated into a large ball, covering the creature’s vision. Every time it inhaled, dark coughing potion was seen escaping out of the holes in the face. This affected the monster’s sight until it stupidly fell back into one of the opened graves.
The other zombies spotted the strange object being waved about and each walked over to it. Somehow, none of the freaks were aware of what they were now. They acted like humans, well, as close as they could, and the sight of money caused an argument to develop amongst them. It was like watching a very old slapstick comedy, a bit like the Marx Brothers. These weirdoes slapped each other in their quest to obtain the stolen loot. Suddenly the bag dropped, spilling coins. This received a clear reaction that was very much noticeable by all the zombies, except the one stuck in the grave. Each smiled at witnessing the sight of money.
The fighting ceased as one of the zombies, a card shark in its former life, reached into its half-eaten, jacket pocket. It retrieved a pack of worn away cards. The cards were buried with the body as a reminder to all of its gambling buddies.
While these excited monsters sat down to try and play cards, a sixth freak climbed out of a grave for the second time. The stolen coins were dished out and strange laughter flowed from the creatures. It seemed like they were having a party rather than preferring to scare people.
The non-playing, walking dead person never joined the others, instead, searched for the way out. It’d encountered the injured man’s blood on the grass and the zombie side had returned to its taste buds.
The owner of the cards had a way of winning the coins without even trying. If it’d cheated in the former life then there was no place for it to hide the cards now, as there wasn’t enough clothing to stick a card behind, but all the same it was still winning. Just like humans, the other zombies became restless at losing all of the time. Angry growls could be heard as they lost interest in the game, but the lucky monster just smiled at them.
They eventually returned to their feet. The strange aroma of the sweet smelling blood leakage penetrated their nostrils again. At once the human-like behaviour disappeared and was replaced with a hunger for human flesh. As the sixth zombie found a way out of the graveyard, heading into the forest region, a whining groan was heard coming from it. This was a signal to the others that they should follow. The coins were brushed to one side and the following pack made their way to the gate. For these creatures to master the art of a second chance on this earth they had to start fulfilling their roles and dismember the living.
TWENTY-SIX
Blake felt restless again as he sat in his living room. Karen sensed he was hiding something and in constant agony, but it wasn’t physical, it was inner pain, the pain you get when you’ve too much information stored inside your mind and haven’t released any of it. She walked by at least three times before deciding to question him about the
matter. “What is it, Blake? Tell me what’s on your mind?”
The atmosphere was way too quiet for these two. Karen touched him on the shoulder and Blake became aware of her concern. “I don’t think this is the end of all the terrible things that’s gone on recently. I think there’s going to be more heartache and soon,” he spilled from his mouth.
His words did nothing to lessen Karen’s worry.
What happened while he was out with Shane? He’s acting completely different and it’s freaking me out, she thought.
“You’re starting to scare me. Why are you thinking this?”
Blake covered his face with his hands. It was as if he were trying on a mask to hide the fact he was about to break down and cry. After a few more seconds the mask was removed, revealing the saddened looking husband.
“What if the fertilizer was washed down to the graveyard? Do you know how many bodies there are there that could come back to life and kill the living?”
Karen almost collapsed from the last few words. This was news to her. She sat before falling down. Her legs weakened to the point of her almost fainting.
“What are you going on about? Who’s going to come back to life?”
Blake realized what he said. He hadn’t planned on telling her what he’d heard, but he did.
Stupid man, he thought.
“The police told Shane that dead people were behind the killings. Why would he lie about it?” he said, shrugging his shoulders.
“That Shane is a troublemaker. Can’t you see that he’s fucking with your head?”
Blake knew she would say that. He felt angry with himself now and stood up. “If he’s lying then why has no one been in touch with us to identify the Smythes’ bodies? I tell you why, it’s because they were murdered and the police covered it up.”
Karen was very concerned for her husband’s health. He seemed too involved and should back down. In her eyes he was acting like he’d lost the plot. “The police are probably still busy; they’ll get in touch.”
“They’ve already been here, but never mentioned the hospital. All they wanted was the fertilizer.”
Karen thought for a second. Everything he said made sense, but her thoughts still swayed over to the opposite of what Blake was thinking. She didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead but still wanted to help her husband overcome this obsessive behaviour. “I don’t believe there are dead people amongst us walking the earth. I’m sorry, I just can’t believe that.”
Blake placed a nervous hand on top of one of her hands.
“I’m not asking you to believe that, I’m just asking you to believe me.”
She wasn’t going to let him down when he needed her help, so their issues on the subject would have to be put to one side. “If you think this strongly about it then why don’t you tell the police?”
“What if I’m wrong? I could never live it down.”
Karen needed to pick her husband’s faith up before he fell too far. If he did then she would find it difficult to reach him. “You were right about the fertilizer, so tell them about this. They won’t take you for granted now, so do what you have to do.”
Blake smiled. It was good enough for Karen. She knew she’d got through to him. His head slowly became clear. He now had more of a visible picture as he prepared himself for his next mission. “Cheers babe. I don’t know what I would do without you, you know that.” His motivation was back and he smacked a large kiss on her lips. He left the living room and slipped on his jacket, ready to leave his home on his quest to be a hero. “I’m going to the police station and won’t be back until those jerks listen to me.”
“Well if that’s how you feel, I won’t stop you.” Karen hugged him and smiled. She was pleased to see him snap out of his end-ofthe-world philosophy.
“Bye love, and thanks for listening.”
The front door opened and off he went to fight crime in his own way.
Blake rushed into the station and headed for the reception area. George had been drafted back in on short notice. “Hello again, is Mike in? I might have some useful information for him.”
“Yeah, go right ahead,” an overtired George replied.
Chris and Shane were still with the chief when Blake entered the office.
“Hello. What can I do for you?” Mike said.
Shane stared over at Blake and somehow knew what was going to be said. He now regretted mentioning the walking dead to an agitated man.
“I don’t think the killings are over yet.”
Mike leapt out of his seat and came very close to cracking his knees against his wooden desk. The words floated around the air, smacking him around the face until he was left shivering from the fear of two things, how did Blake know about the killings? And what if he told the truth?
“What do you know about the murders?”
“I only know what Shane told me, and that wasn’t much.”
Mike’s thermometer of stress rose to boiling point again after hearing that another person knew about what really happened. “Fucking hell, Shane, don’t you know what a secret means?”
The scientist cowered behind the small reporter. It was quite funny seeing him desperately try to shrink himself to look invisible, but it wasn’t working. Blake managed to bail him out of Mike’s bad books, for now at least.
“He thought I already knew. I haven’t told anyone else.”
He wasn’t going to mention telling Karen. What’s the point when she didn’t believe in the un-dead?
Mike was uncaring about who knew now. All he wanted was this mess sorted out before the authorities from the city took over.
“Okay, so everyone in this room knows the truth,” Mike said, while still glaring at Shane. “This information had better be good because I seriously need to rest.”
Blake hesitated before speaking, as he wanted to be sure about what he was going to say. “I think you should patrol the graveyard. How do we know for sure that the dead won’t wake up again from there?”
The chief stopped suddenly. It wasn’t so long ago that he’d discussed this possibility with Wayne. He now felt pleased that someone else had thought of this as well.
“I’ve already thought about that, but wasn’t prepared to lose precious time scouring the area if the fertilizer ended up not to be the cause.”
Blake needed to provide more information before Mike agreed with him. “I’ve been to the cemetery and noticed twelve departed that were buried within the last year. Don’t you think that’s enough evidence to check it out?”
“Really...” Mike was impressed that Blake had gone to so much trouble. “You’ve got a point there. I’ll send Doug and Craig to patrol the area.”
“Cheers for listening to me. I was worried you would throw it back in my face.”
“Don’t be silly. You’ve been a great help by bringing this to me.” “I want this to be over,” Blake replied.
“We all want the same thing, mate.”
Mike asked to see the mentioned officers. He knew they would be back in the canteen, and could read their movements just like a book. It wasn’t long before the men arrived. They had sprinklings of cake crumbs down their jackets, plus chocolate sauce on their faces.
“I thought this was over, boss,” Doug said.
“I know you had to rush down your food.” Mike wiped his hand across his face to make them realize that they still had chocolate sauce across their cheeks. “I just want to make sure we haven’t missed anything, and the cemetery is an obvious place to check.”
Doug and Craig nodded, and to show they were ready for action, scrubbed the dark juice off.
“We’ll keep you informed,” said Doug. “If we see something out of the ordinary then we’ll get in touch.”
“Doug, shoot the zombies first before you get in touch. It’ll be safer that way.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll get Craig to shoot them while I get in touch.”
“That’s better. Off you go. I’ll speak to
you soon.”
Mike and the remaining men laughed. Doug and Craig were like a couple of clowns sometimes. Maybe that was why Mike had hired them?
Both men left the station, but neither believed that there could be more of those freaks lurking around. Mike didn’t want any more people stressing out so suggested that everyone remained in the office for now. They sat drinking coffee, waiting to hear from the two officers.
Doug parked outside the gates of the burial ground. Neither man noticed the muddy tyre marks from the escaping thieves because the police vehicle covered the evidence.
They sat, staring at the graves. A quick glance from one to the next was all they did at this time. They didn’t seem bothered about going inside. Both agreed that there were too many tombs to check out more closely, and besides, if a zombie climbed out of one then they would notice. Craig picked up the car’s radio handset.
“Chief, there’s been no sign of any activities to report, over.”
“Okay, I want you to get in touch every half hour. You got that?”
“Yes boss, over.”
“If anything changes, let me know straightaway. Don’t let me down. Speak soon.”
Craig could see that his partner was bored out of his mind.
“There’s not much to do here, so do you fancy a game of dominoes?”
“Why not..? Anything’s better than this shit,” replied Doug.
Their attentions had been taken away from the job in hand, but if they’d gone into the cemetery to check the graves, would’ve noticed the disturbed ones and the scattered bag of cash. Their idea of just sitting in the car chilling out, eating the sandwiches and crisps that Doug brought from the canteen, favoured them immensely. Doug walked a thin line by doing this. He’d fooled his partner so far over the canteen lady, but sooner or later Craig would click on to why the car was always fully equipped with snacks.
The escaped zombies roamed the forest area. They could smell the aroma of more living humans as they dragged their deformed bodies toward them. Their senses seemed to be in tiptop condition considering they were supposed to be dead meat. To smell humans from where they stood was amazing, but what was more amazing was the fact they could tell the direction of where the smell came from. While these six monsters moved around, another six coffins shook. Slowly, very slowly, the hungry vermin slammed hands and feet against the wooden lids of their homes. It wouldn’t take long before they too escaped from their tombs and climbed out of the ground.