by L A Taylor
“It was just a scratch; she’ll be all right.” Todd paused for a brief moment, but somehow wasn’t so convinced anymore. “Won’t she?”
“I’m sorry, but it’s too late for her,” Mike said, keeping the volume down this time.
Mike ignored Todd, losing interest in what he had to say. Instead, began to prepare George for the job of finding the married couple. He would have to stop them from reaching the vehicle. There was no way they were going to reach hospital grounds and the order was to kill the female if they failed to stop. Todd listened, but was shocked by what he heard. He began to plead for Karen’s life.
“You can’t shoot her,” he begged.
“Mate, it’s our only hope of maintaining the virus. If Blake takes her to the hospital then others will be affected and this whole catastrophe starts all over again. Is that what you want?”
“Of course not, but there has to be another way, surely.”
“There’s only one way left, and this is it.”
Todd sat down. This was all too much for him to take in, but he had to accept that Karen was ill.
Mike reminded George that there may be animals out there with the symptoms of this virus, so he would have to be on full alert. He was to radio in if there was a sighting, but Mike hoped that the rodent was a one off.
George had a slight advantage on the fleeing, married couple. He had a walkie-talkie, a flashlight, and also a gun. None of these items were going to make him go any faster, but the light would shine him a path so he could see better, the walkie-talkie could be used to receive back up, and the gun, well the gun would have its own uses.
He moved through the forest, flashing the torch from side to side. It was his way of hopefully getting the attention from the other two. After five minutes he stopped to listen to nearby sounds. This excited him. In his mind he’d caught up with the escaping humans without too much effort. George knew he should never assume the answer before being certain, but it’d been a tiring few hours. He wanted to get the search over and done with quickly so he could get back to camp. He followed the sounds until reaching an area of thick shrubbery. He then shone the torch through the trees, but couldn’t see Blake and Karen.
Where are they? he thought.
He was about to shout Blake’s name when a zombie emerged from behind a large tree. George gasped for breath, and desperately tried to produce some words. This barbaric fiend had been hunting him since he’d first walked the lonely walk of a single warrior, but how come he never noticed? It was like these monsters were the wolves and the humans were the scared sheep. The more these freaks spent minutes living their second lives on this earth, the more cunningly clever they were becoming.
The shock of the zombie jumping out on him produced symptoms of a possible heart attack, as George remained struggling to perform normal breathing rhythms. Sweat from the forehead raced down his face, dripping off the chin, while his eyes clouded over with images of the grim reaper. The frightened officer tried gripping onto the walkie-talkie, but his hands wouldn’t respond. Spasms from his heart had sent stabbing pains through his fingers and these had stopped any form of hand clenching.
He lost his balance, staggering backwards as the creature closed in. This zombie was to kill George without even touching him. The man’s face slowly turned a snowy white in colour. He coughed a few times before the last of the precious air escaped between his now desiccated lips. He was dead before he hit the grass. The creature moved in to feed. It licked sweat off the dead man’s face, but stopped when reaching the head. It then began to bite at it. Small incisions were inserted before larger bites followed. Blood now oozed from the head wound. The biting ceased once the hole was big enough for the zombie’s fingers to slip inside. Now a crazed, ripping motion followed before the brain was extracted. This was a callous and sick act, but was the best table manners that these things were able to construct.
THIRTY-EIGHT
A shuffling, pounding sound appeared near to where Shane and Chris stood. “Shit, man, did you hear that?”
Chris may’ve quietened down over the past few hours, but it was only a matter of time before he sprang back to life again. His adrenalin kicked back into gear as he rushed around, searching to catch a glimpse of whatever or whoever was out there.
“I heard it. I’m going to tell the chief,” Shane replied.
He ran inside the caravan and seconds later, three figures rushed outside to join Chris.
“Where’s the noise coming from?” Mike asked, holding his gun ready.
Chris stood in his way as the sound closed in, but soon fled once he saw the weapon aimed at him.
A few more, fully concentrated seconds flashed by before Kevin appeared out of the darkness. With the odd droplet of water still leaking from his eyes he staggered over to the others. Mike sighed with the utmost of relief to see him alive, but at the same time was a bit upset that it wasn’t another zombie to finish off.
“What happened?” he asked, while escorting the saddened man.
“It’s Simon, he’s dead.”
What could they do at a time like this? At a time when there were deaths happening all over the place. They couldn’t all sit down and cry, not tonight they couldn’t.
The young cadet drew a picture for the others to capture as he slowly re-capped what’d happened. Neither Simon nor the thing that killed him was given a returnable ticket to this world, and Kevin made sure he mentioned this to the chief.
The three, uniformed men returned to the van, leaving the two civilians holding the fort yet again. Chris had a disapproving smirk on his face now and wasn’t impressed by what was going on. He wanted to spill his frustrations to Mike, but after witnessing the state of the younger man decided to bite his tongue. Shane tried to talk to Chris, even though he wished he were somewhere more peaceful right now. “So, how’d you think this is all going to end?”
“I’m not sure. Who is? But I have to write it down. People will know the truth eventually, and it’s my mission to do this.”
“Bullshit,” Shane snapped back.
“What do you mean bullshit?” Chris laughed. “I’ve a job to do.”
“You’re not in it for the people. You only see money, and a lot of it. This story could be used for much more than the local paper. I think a zombie novel is waiting to be written on this past week.”
“A novel hey, nice one,” Chris replied, winking.
Shane’s words inspired the reporter to make some further progress on his notes. He sat on a bench, retrieved the notepad and pen from the inside pocket of his jacket, and began the writing process.
It was now 11.15pm, and George still hadn’t registered that everything was or wasn’t okay. Mike was worried about him.
“Craig, I think something’s gone wrong.”
“Do you want me to look for George?”
“Heavens no, he knew the risks. I need everyone here, but I just hope he’s found the other two before it’s too late.”
Kevin was missing something.Who’d George gone off to find?
“What’s going on, chief?”
Mike filled the younger man in on what’d happened. It seemed that Kevin wasn’t the only one to be caught up in some action.
“Fuck. Is there going to be an end to all this?” Kevin said.
“There will absolutely and positively be an end, but I don’t know when.” Mike had a brainwave. “I’m phoning the hospital to find out if anybody has visited there recently. That way we can put our minds at rest about the married couple’s whereabouts.”
Todd moved into the bedroom to be with the young boy while Mike made the call. He wasn’t looking forward to the outcome and needed to avoid the actual conversation. Whatever was spoken between the chief and Hazel was quick. Mike was deep in thought after finishing the call.
There was no sighting, so did this mean they were all dead? Or did it mean that someone was dead?
Mike couldn’t help thinking about these worryingly, disturbin
g thoughts.
“Something’s not right. I don’t know what it is, but Blake hasn’t showed up at the hospital yet. Hazel said she’ll get in touch when he arrives.” There was a slight pause. “George could be with them and on the verge of bringing them back here.”
Even as Mike said the words, the others knew that he didn’t really believe them. Craig sensed how upset Mike felt, so decided that some positive thinking was needed to get past this moment.
“Let’s not panic yet, chief. George won’t let us down.”
Mike grimaced, but was pleased to hear that remark from his loyal friend and colleague. “You’re right. Let’s concentrate on killing the zombies and let the other problems sort themselves out.”
The three officers evacuated the caravan and Mike walked over to the reporter. “It’s nice to see you’re scribbling again.”
Chris wasn’t stupid; he noticed something wasn’t right, but also knew that Mike would let him in on his worries if he wanted to.
“This isn’t scribbling. This is an account of the events that’s been going on around here.”
“I’m pleased you’re still taking this seriously.” Somehow, this little discussion turned into a confession of some kind and was probably Mike’s way of an apology for all the bad vibes between them. “You’re not the same man I knew a couple of days ago. I’m glad he’s not around,” Mike finished.
“Maybe I don’t want him around anymore. This is tough. I know everything’s serious, so I want the world to know what really happened in this town.”
Mike would find it difficult to hate Chris again after tonight.
Chris and Shane were ordered to return to the caravan while the officers searched the area again for the leftover, maggot teeming, and creepy pains in the arse. There was no revolt over this.
Inside was no different for Chris. He carried on writing the knowledge he’d picked up. Shane sat by the window, watching the policemen. After a couple of minutes he took his attention away from being nosey and scanned his eyes around the small area he was stuck in. “Hey, Chris, where’s Blake?”
Chris stopped scribbling and raised his head. “Maybe he’s taken his other half into one of the bedrooms.”
Todd arrived from one of the bedrooms, walking over to them after overhearing their words. He then began to explain what’d happened.
Outside, Mike and his posse discussed a plan of action to get rid of the remaining dead freaks. “It seems that the darkness gives the zombies a better chance to strike us before we strike them, so it’s too risky going out there until it gets light again.” This plan caused confusion to develop between the other two. “So I’m hoping they’re nearby. They thirst for human meat and we’re the only humans in the area. They’ll be back.”
The confusion was over after the final notes of the speech.
“What about George?” Kevin said.
Mike wasn’t going to forget the bond between the old and the young man since they were teamed up together. He didn’t want Kevin thinking that he wasn’t bothered for the safety of George. “I’m not giving up hope for him, but we have to stand our ground now. This is our fortress and we need to guard it from you know who.” Mike hatched a plan from within his mind, but what was he up to? “I want a volunteer to act as a decoy?” The other two bodies pointed at each other with a touch of hesitancy. “Don’t worry, you’ll be watched at all times.” Mike was close to smiling again after witnessing the feat of his comrades. “So, who’s going to volunteer? Or would you rather do paper, scissors, rock?”
Kevin didn’t get it, but the other two almost wet themselves. “If I agree to this will you be able to guarantee me a bonus in my wages this month?” Kevin said, raising his right hand.
“Of course...” Mike didn’t expect the cadet to agree so easily, so threw in a few more choices to make sure. “I tell you what. I’ll throw in a sports car, a large house with a swimming pool, a gym, a sports room, and a sixty-inch, flat screen, plasma television. Is that good enough for you?”
“I’ll need a play-station 3 to go with it...”
Craig couldn’t hold back the giggles now. Either Kevin was playing along or was sucked in big time. The laughing spoilt the fun for the two experienced men.
“Piss off, Mike. You’re fucking with me,” Kevin finally said.
“I’m sorry, but you walked into it. I can’t promise you anything, except for a chance to be a hero tonight.”
Kevin couldn’t listen to any more garbage flowing from the chief’s lips. “All right, all right, I’ll do it. Just stop talking crap.”
All Mike had to do was find the right spot for Kevin in order to try and flush the monsters out of their hideouts. He looked up, viewing the surrounding area until he was pleased with the location. “Got it...All you have to do is go to the end of the lighted area and stay there…”
Craig breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad the chief had found his spring again, even though he was slightly miffed by Mike’s motives at this time.
“While you’re doing that, Craig and I will climb on top of this caravan,” Mike said, pointing toward it. “We’ll get a great view from up there. Trust me, you’re in safe hands.”
The plan sank into the young man’s head, but the word ‘decoy’ wasn’t what Kevin thought. The old saying, ‘lamb to the slaughter’ was a more effective bunch of words for this crazy-minded idea. He did what was told, but went about it with the utmost of caution. He hoped that Mike and Craig were as sharp as him at shooting. There was only one way he was going to find out.
The superior officers moved into position and Kevin watched them climb on top of the caravan. This young man was pretty much in two minds on what to do, but remained looking up at his only hope of surviving an attack from the creature club.
“I hope this plan works, chief, as I’m not sure if I can stand here for too long. This is way too creepy.”
“Kevin, just keep the noise down a bit. I don’t want you scaring off the zombies.”
Craig nudged Mike to show he shared his joke, but somehow Kevin wasn’t laughing. “Me scaring them off...” The young man shrugged his shoulders and scrunched up his face. “There’s no chance of that happening.”
Kevin focused hard as he stood, shaking in the designated spot. The eagle-eyed protectors remained as low down as they could, each waiting for a glimpse of the monstrous predators to arrive.
THIRTY-NINE (SATURDAY)
Blake made it to the cemetery without a sniff of trouble. There’d been no sighting of any infected animals nor had there been any transformed humans. He placed his wife down and took a breather, but was shocked by the change in her complexion. The wound had turned purple, her veins became more and more noticeable, and her face was swollen. The poor woman’s health had definitely deteriorated very quickly. Blake could see this, but still remained focused on making Karen better. He needed to keep her hopes up for as long as he could.
He carefully examined the area around his car for any signs of zombies before attempting to reach it, but even though the mentioned zombie wasn’t to be seen, it didn’t mean it wasn’t nearby. Blake was extremely lucky that the darkness wasn’t causing his eyesight to fade. The forest was very dark, but in the open it wasn’t so bad and he could just about see the things close to him.
He needed to leave Karen for a few seconds and locate a weapon of some kind, just in case the creature showed up.
“Karen, darling,” he whispered.
Her eyes flickered as she fought desperately to keep them open.
Blake could hear Karen coughing and spluttering but could do nothing except watch as the life slowly drained out of her. It now burned him up inside, so he gave up the chance of an explanation and just went off to do what needed to be done. Within seconds he found a reasonably sized tree branch that would make a great addition to his non-existent armoury.
He moved back and escorted Karen to her feet. With both eyes whipping from left to right, and a useful tool in one hand, Bla
ke held her close while attempting to reach his vehicle. After much struggling and panting he finally managed to deliver his wife to the destination point. He leaned her against the car while fumbling inside his pockets to find the keys. It was a miracle that she remained upright. The keys were found and a smiling Blake now thought of freedom and acquiring some serious help for his beloved. What Todd had told him earlier was erased from his memory. Somehow, the cliff-top of past thoughts had too many to maintain and the evil one, the vital and needed one, had fallen off the edge.
It was too late to try rescuing that memory now because the beast had spotted them. It’d been stalking them since they’d arrived at the graveyard but had been waiting for an opportunity to strike. Blake was so absorbed with helping Karen into the car that he failed to see the beast approach. The first he knew of the danger was when the crazy creature smacked him around the face, forcing him to crash into the now, non-heart beating woman. Both bodies sprawled to the ground but Blake made a swift recovery. He rose to his feet as the culprit moved in on his wife. The zombie sighed as it reached her because she wasn’t fresh meat anymore.
Blake wasn’t to know that she would soon become one of them and now had crazy thoughts of betrayal. He stood holding the keys. All he had to do was get in the car while the zombie fed on his wife and he would be free, but that thought drifted away rather quickly.
He raised his left hand and rushed over to the creature, giving the elderly looking, toothless, female corpse a wicked uppercut on its chin. He watched it topple over before racing over to help Karen, but he could see she was dead. Now was the time to leave her, but he couldn’t do it, how could he do it? She was his wife for God’s sake and he loved her very much, so hesitated. He carefully placed Karen in the back seat of the car, conscious that the zombie was staggering back to its feet. He quickly slammed the door while receiving the full attention of the shaken, but angry zombie. It reached out to grab him, but he was too quick minded, swerving out of the way and kicking out, forcing the creature to slump to its knees. A crazed boot print was embedded into the zombie’s face and this time it went down again.