by M. E. Betts
"Shari," Kandi said in a sing-song voice, "you have that hammer, dear." Shari ran to the back room.
"Where are you going?" Daphne hissed.
"Be back in two seconds," she said over her shoulder, already passing the back counter and headed into the back of the store. She opened her bag and took out a titanium drywall hammer she had gotten from Fauna's garage. She raced back to the front, where Daphne was throwing her sharpened sticks at the undead. She had taken out four of them just outside the shop, but more were approaching. Shari struck the lock with the hammer side of the axe, still unable to move it. She glanced up...half of a dozen undead were now three feet away from the threshold. She inhaled deeply. Fuck this lock, she thought bitterly. She hit it with all of her strength, breaking it off. It flew toward the zombies as Daphne grabbed the gate and pulled it closed until she heard a latching sound. Shari snatched her hand out of the way just as the gate closed, but not before a middle-aged undead man crouched down to gnash at her. After she had yanked her hand back through the gate, she took off her kevlar glove. There was a mark that looked like a perforated oval on her lower forearm...the shape of the man's teeth. It was already forming a thick, red welt.
"Jesus," she whispered, "thank God I had these gloves on."
"Yeah," Daphne agreed, panting with relief, "that looks like it hurts, but at least you didn't get zombie cooties."
The two of them stepped back, staring in macabre wonder at the foyer, which was rapidly filling with undead.
"There's got to be...I don't know...at least a few dozen already," Shari muttered.
"And a lot more still outside, finding their way in," Daphne added. She looked toward the back door that lead outside behind the building. "The good news is, the ones who were back there are probably headed up front, too." She silently crossed the showroom to the back of the store and stood on the desk. Shari followed her tentatively. Daphne peered through the window into the parking lot. "Yeah," she mumbled. "Looks like they're all on their way to the front to pile on top of each other in that foyer."
"Alright," Shari said, "we'll go back up there, attract as many of them as possible. Let them all make their way in the front door. Then we'll make a break for it." She eyed the gate nervously. "At least, as long as it looks like that gate'll hold."
They packed up the few items they had taken from their bags, and the excess merchandise they had taken, and prepared to make a run for it when the back lot was clear of undead. Shari took advantage of the extra time by carefully surveying the merchandise, taking everything she thought might be useful, at least what she could fit in her pack. She then took two leather backpacks from the shelf, filling one for herself and one for Daphne. She loaded the packs with extra gloves, sunglasses, belts, and other sundries, including a few dozen clean panties and socks that read, Ride to Live. Each pack also contained a spare kevlar outfit and hood. She approached the front counter display and perused the selection of chest protectors, cigarette holders, and fancy lighters.
Daphne passed the time by stabbing zombie skulls through the gate. She was indifferent as she reached her arm through the five-inch wide slots. She disloged her knife from the eye of a fresher zombie, a pretty young woman with hair dyed the color of a candy apple. As she brought the knife back through the gate, she found, much to her annoyance, that the young lady's eyeball was still attached to the blade. She looked at it in distaste, then slid it gingerly to the end of her knife, at which point she flicked it across the room. Shari flinched as the orb bounced across the floor, stopping as it struck her boot. Daphne continued, plunging her blade into undead eyes and temples, then sliced off the ears of the victims, or at least the ones she could reach. As they were slain, they collapsed to the floor, where they were stepped upon by the ones behind them. When Daphne was finished, she had about three-dozen ears. Zombies were piled up wall to wall, three feet high. Even with all the ones who were re-killed, there was still a crowd of many dozens more outside the building. Shari looked out the window to the east. The horde stretched about fifty feet past the building. "I'm gonna go in back and look again," she said. Daphne followed behind her. Shari climbed the desk.
"I think we can make it," she told Daphne as she looked through the window. "If you hurry up and get the ATV started, we should have no problem outrunning them. Just keep a safe perimeter from the building. They're all still intent on getting here, and probably will be until they hear us take off."
They slid the cabinet out from in front of the door. Shari led Eva out as Daphne swung the door open. She mounted, then waited for Daphne to start the ATV. She watched, shaking with anxiety, while Daphne struggled to turn the engine over.
"I think it's because it's low on gas," Daphne muttered.
Shari heard what she thought to be an approaching zombie. She held her breath for about five seconds, until she saw a frail, elderly male zombie round the corner. His lower face had been torn and eaten down to the bone.
Oh God, Daphne, hurry, she thought, arming her drywall hammer.
The rotting octeganarian advanced in Daphne's direction, slowly but surely. Shari heard the shuffling sound of more undead headed toward the back lot. One rounded the corner, then two, three, four, five...and still Daphne sat, trying to start the ATV.
"Daphne, just get on the horse with me and let's go!" Shari snapped, riding Eva toward Daphne...and the undead...reluctantly. She swung the hammer at the festering neck of the walking corpse. The titanium head sunk into the skull with ease, which collapsed the soft bone around the entry hole and gave it the look of a button on an overstuffed chair.
"But all the guns and ammo I've collected are in the trunk! I'm not leaving all that stuff."
"It's not worth your life! We can come back for it, just come on!" Another zombie was now within grabbing distance of Daphne. She swung her knife, barely looking up from the ignition she was still struggling with, and sliced off the top of his skull, which slid slowly from the head to which it had been attached and down to the ground. The other five zombies were closing in on her, and more kept appearing from around the corner. Shari backed away from the enlarging crowd of undead, trying to be sure she they couldn't surround her.
"Daphne!" she thundered. "Let's go now!" Daphne finally succeeded in starting the engine, and within two seconds she was speeding away from the crowd. She did a wide U-turn to head eastward in the direction Eva and Shari were headed. They made their way to the road, keeping a wide gap between themselves and the building. After about three-hundred feet, they were clear of the migrating herd of undead on the road, and out of harm's way. They shifted from the shoulder to the road, and headed east. Shari rode alongside Daphne.
"That was a close call," she shouted over the roar of Daphne's engine.
"Yeah," Daphne replied, "but I wanted my stuff. Besides, we've got this nifty armor now. Otherwise, I wouldn't have taken a chance like that."
Shari scoffed. "Armor or no armor, you don't want to be on the bottom of a zombie pile."
Daphne shrugged, eyes ahead, and continued down the road. Once they had gotten a considerable distance from town, Shari motioned for Daphne to stop. She braked, coming to a halt near an abandoned minivan.
"I'm gonna siphon some gas while we're here," Daphne said.
Shari nodded. "I was just thinking," Shari said, "I don't think it's very likely that those guys...those sadists...went through town back there."
Daphne pondered the idea. "No, probably not," she agreed. "It was way too quiet when we came through there. I mean, if our one ATV and one horse dragged that many undead out onto Main Street, just think what it would've been like if a convoy of loud, obnoxious Viking-wannabes came through, motors blaring. We would've seen at least some of them still wandering the streets, or the road east of town if nothing else."
"Well...." Shari gazed off absently, contemplating what their course of action should be. "Let's try going back toward town, then take the highway south from there. I know there's a Wal-Mart down that way, and a decent-sized town.
If you want to find the sadists, follow the valuables."
"And where there are survivors, there are women," Daphne said. "That's all those scumbags live for. Rape and plunder." She turned 180 degrees, in the direction of the town they had come from.
"Let's go punish those cowardly mobsmen," Kandi said, turning her horse around to follow Shari and Daphne.
So what kind of name is Kandi, anyway? Shari thought as they rode to the south, having reached town already. Is it short for Candice or something?
"Cast your thoughts back, dear," Kandi replied. "Remember the Indian goddess Durga? I suppose you could say I'm the Kandi to your Durga."
But who's Durga?
Kandi smirked. "If I know it, you must know it, too."
Whatever, Kandi Cane, Shari thought, irritated.
"Don't be a twat, princess. It's not my fault that my memory is better than yours."
Daphne was slowing down up ahead. There was an abandoned police cruiser sitting empty in the ditch to their right.
"Checking it for loot?" Shari called.
Daphne parked the ATV and approached Shari on foot. "Can I see your crowbar?" she asked.
"Sure," Shari said, turning to rummage through her bag. "Are you gonna pop the trunk?" she asked, handing Daphne the crowbar.
"Yeah," Daphne said. "I wanna see if they have any of those spike strips in there....you know, the ones they use to stop people during high-speed chases? It might make our work a little easier once we find those sadists."
Shari raised her eyebrows and nodded. "Good thinking. I'll see if there's anything in the car itself." She dismounted and walked to the cruiser, opening the driver's side door. Not much in here, she thought. A half a pack of cigarettes, a couple books of matches that read Vinnie's Gentlemen's Club, an unopened bag of chips. She took the matches and chips, then got out of the car and closed the door quietly. She saw Daphne was holding some kind of net with spikes on it.
"What's that?" she asked.
"It's a net. I think it works like the strips. Should be easier to carry and travel with, though. We need to check every cop car from now on, 'cause we can lay these things out for zombies, too. If we put a bunch of them together, we can form a perimeter." She opened the trunk on her ATV, stuffing the net inside. "Did you find any goodies inside?"
Shari shook her head. "Nah, just odds and ends in there."
Daphne looked sharply to the north, the direction they had come from. "Did you hear something?" she whispered.
Shari paused, listening. "No, why?" Daphne remained silent, focusing intently on the sound. After a moment, Shari heard it. It was the low, distant rumble of an approaching motor. "I can hear it now," she said. "Do you think it's those guys?"
"No," Daphne replied. "It only sounds like one vehicle...motorcycle, I think."
"Should we get back on the road?"
"Well," Daphne said, "I'm thinking maybe if this person's agreeable, we can ask them if they've seen or heard of those sadists coming through the area. Maybe get some useful information."
"And if they're not agreeable?" Shari asked.
Daphne smiled widely, her blue eyes twinkling. She kissed her titanium blade. "Then we'll make them wish they had been!"
Shari and Daphne waited for the stranger to approach, ready to draw their weapons at a moment's notice. Shari lifted the hood up, exposing her face.
"I think the skull face might be a little confrontational," she had explained. Daphne smirked, nodding.
"I think you're probably right," she agreed.
As the figure on the motorcycle drew near, they saw that it was a man dressed in camoflage. When he noticed the two women on the side of the road, his expression became one of concern, but he didn't draw a weapon on them. He slowed his bike and came to a stop about twenty feet away from Shari and Daphne.
"Howdy, ladies," he said, eyeing them suspiciously. "Somethin' I can do for you?" Shari noted his right hand, which grazed his jacket pocket.
"We were just looking for somebody," Shari said. "You alone, or part of a group?"
"Why do you wanna know?" he asked.
Shari put her hands up. "We're not here to threaten you," she said. "We were just wondering if you were part of this group we're looking for." Daphne had her eye firmly fixed on him, waiting for him to go for a gun. She was ready to propel a finely-pointed wooden stick into his eye before he could ever get a shot off.
The stranger's expression changed into one of what Shari interpreted as relief. "I'm looking for a group, too," he said. "Maybe it's the same one you're looking for."
"Were you the one who was on lookout duty in that town?" Shari asked. "Are you Adrian?"
"That's me," he confirmed. "What kinda beef do you two have with those guys? They slaughter your settlement, too?"
"No," Daphne said indifferently. "I guess you could say we're vigilantes."
Adrian snorted in surprise. "No shit," he said. "Having seen these monsters at work, I can respect the fact that you want to take them out based on principle alone. Believe me when I tell you, they're animals."
"Sadists," Shari interjected.
"For sure," he muttered. "Sadists, for damn sure."
"I'm Shari, and this is Daphne," Shari said. She gazed south down the road. "So is this the way they came?"
Adrian nodded. "I'm trying to keep a safe distance. They're headed to the Wal-Mart about half an hour south of here."
"So," Shari said, "do you mind if we travel together? Me and Daphne here can help you inflict hell onto those sadists. What do you say?"
"Well, I'm the one with a personal stake in this," he said, "but I'm not too proud to turn down the help. I trust you ladies can hold your own?"
"I can shoot like nobody's business," Shari said, "whether it's with my bow or my AK. And Daphne here has a real gift for throwing sharpened pieces of wood into sadists' skulls before they even know she's there." Daphne nodded modestly in confirmation.
"Alright," he said, "but don't forget what I told you. These guys are animals. Don't put anything past them, okay? And don't feel bad shooting them in the back if you can. They have no honor, so we need to have no mercy. Just do whatever you have to do when the time comes."
Shari pulled the hood back down over her face, put on her sunglasses, and mounted Eva. "No mercy, got it." She glanced at Adrian, who seemed a bit startled by her visage. His expression of alarm melted into an amused smile.
"Wow, I get to travel with two bad-ass broads," he said, chuckling. "It's like something straight out of a comic book!" He got back on his bike.
"Hold on," Daphne said. "I'm gonna try to siphon some more gas, top off my tank before we go." She took a section of tubing from her bag and opened the gas cap on the police cruiser.
Shari took out a smoke, lighting up. Might as well take a few puffs while she's gassing up, she thought. She saw Adrian looking at her, and offered him a puff.
"You smoke?" she asked.
"Normally, yeah," he said. "But right now, I don't want to do anything that might mellow me out. I'm full of rage, and I want to keep it bottled up until I'm ready to take it out on those fucking sadists."
"I can understand that," Shari said.
"Hey Adrian, you need any gas?" Daphne called. "It's still going strong, and I'm about full."
"Yeah, I might as well while we're here," he said, shifting his bike into neutral and walking it over to the cruiser.
Shari took a few more puffs, then put it out when she saw Daphne shake the excess drops of gas out of the tube and replace it in her bag. Adrian started his motorcycle, Daphne started the ATV, and they continued south as a trio.
Shari slowed Eva. She twisted around to take her walkie-talkie radio out of her bag and transmitted a warning to nearby settlements on the local emergency frequency.
"Take care, and good luck," she concluded after she had finished her message. She slid the radio back into her bag, closing the zipper.
They were about half an hour north of the Wal-Mart, which
was outside of town to the south. Shari expected that they would find the sadists there if they didn't run into them sooner.
"So," came Kandi's voice from her left, "what do you think of Adrian? Particularly his rugged, masculine good looks? Wouldn't mind having a go with him, would you?"
Shari rolled her eyes. Don't be such a pig, she thought. The guy's daughter just disappeared, alright? As in, just earlier today. I doubt he's thinking about fooling around right now.
"Well, you heard him," Kandi continued. "He's turned on by traveling with what he called, 'two badass broads.' It's the stuff mens' fantasies are made of." Shari ignored her. "Well, under different circumstances, he'd probably go for it, that's all I'm saying," Kandi said defensively.
They rode on, past maturing corn and soy fields, through wooded areas, and through the occasional small village. Shari caught frequent whiffs of marijuana. It seemed to grow unchecked in every ditch, field, and yard. At least I'll never have to go without that, she thought. Not a good trade for the end of the world, though.
Kandi sighed beside her. "Yes, dear, but in a world full of storm clouds, we've got no choice but to keep our eyes, at all times, on the silver lining."
Shari saw a sign up ahead. PRINCETON INN AND CAFE, 3 MILES. We're closing in on them, she thought, narrowing her eyes and grinning beneath her skull hood. She realized she was enjoying the hunt, and she was a bit dismayed by her amusement.
Up ahead, Daphne stopped her ATV, and Shari and Adrian followed suit. Daphne twisted around to face her two companions.
"We're just outside of town," she said. "I'm thinking that instead of just plunging in, maybe we should take a different approach."
"What did you have in mind?" Shari asked.
"Well," Daphne replied, "I know a back road that detours around the outside of town, then leads back to the highway on the opposite side. We can cut them off, maybe lay down the spike net we found."
"Spike net?" Adrian said. "Like those ones the cops use?"
Shari nodded. "We found it in the trunk of the police cruiser."