Officer Barcomb vs. The Undead

by Darren Barcomb

  “We heard someone speaking,” Ash said. “It sounded like an emergency broadcast. It came through on every radio.”

  “Must’ve been automatically triggered by something,” Barcomb said. “There’s can’t be anyone left to broadcast anything like this.”

  They listened to the static. They listened long enough until the hissing started to form patterns. They listened a little longer until they heard the words.

  “Two minutes…” it said.

  “imp…” it said.

  They all looked at each other. It went back to static again.

  “Imp?” Haws said.

  “Imp?” Barcomb parroted. “Gimp?”

  “Why would someone be on the radio talking about gimps?” Ash said, raising an eyebrow and folding her arms.

  “Implosion?” Haws said.

  “Fuck,” Barcomb said.

  The radio spoke again. “Imp…” it said. “One…”

  “Impact,” Barcomb said.

  “What…” Ash said.

  “The roof!” Barcomb said. “Right now!”

  “Maybe we should stay-” Ash said.

  Barcomb and Haws were already running up the stairs.

  “What do you think it is?” Haws shouted as they ran.

  Ash followed.

  They ran out onto the roof, past the helicopter, and stopped at the edge. They looked around and were silent for a moment. Over the valley and the hills in the distance they could see Elizabeth. There were a few small towns dotted around. Beyond all that lay Jersey City and the skyscrapers of New York City. The fires had long since died out. From a distance, it even looked calm. Haws chuckled.

  “Well,” Haws asked, “what the fuck is this all about?”

  “I don’t know,” Barcomb answered.

  “I don’t see anything,” Ash said. “What do you think the range is on that radio? Maybe it’s from another state. We don’t know what the hell is going on.”

  Barcomb touched Ash on the back to calm her. “It’s OK. False alarm,” Barcomb said. “I thought maybe it was the military, something like that. Must be some kind of echo.”

  “Echo?” Haws said. “Fuck you talking about, an echo?”

  Barcomb shrugged. He took a deep breath and kissed Ash.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, putting his arm around her. Barcomb laughed. “Didn’t mean to panic you. It’s just some weird shit is all.”

  Barcomb stood with his arm around Ash, looking out across the state. He placed a hand on her stomach and smiled at her. Haws looked at them and grinned. “Look at you two,” he said. “Happy as pigs in shit.”

  Barcomb and Ash laughed.

  Slowly, their moment of peace became something else. It began first as a low rumble. They barely heard it at first. It didn’t even register. When Barcomb first noticed it, he wasn’t worried.

  Generator, he thought. Must be working overtime.

  It was cold, but it was a beautiful morning.

  The rumbling grew louder and louder. It began to trouble Barcomb. He looked around. He looked at Ash. It was troubling her, too.

  “What’s that noise?” Haws said.

  Barcomb looked up at the sky. He didn’t see any planes, just clouds, clouds a thin white arched line.

  “What…” Barcomb said.

  Ash saw it, too. “What is it?” she said.

  “We better…” Barcomb said. “We should probably…”

  The arched white line was growing in the sky. It was looping down. It was getting faster as it got closer to the ground. Barcomb didn’t know exactly what it was, but his stomach seemed to know. There was a wrenching sickness coming on as the pit in his stomach grew larger and deeper. Every ounce of hope he had felt only moments earlier faded as the arched white cloud reached down towards the earth.

  It reached down to New York City.

  The sky lit up in a blinding white flash.

  Barcomb, Ash and Haws covered their eyes.

  When they opened their eyes, New York City was gone, replaced with a mushroom cloud reaching up into the sky. They could see a searing wall of fire crossing the state. Elizabeth’s tallest buildings collapsed under the weight of a dust cloud a mile high. The dust cloud kept coming, flattening trees, throwing cars and small buildings into the air.

  “Into the basement!” Barcomb shouted. “Now!”

  Barcomb pulled Ash into the house and down the stairs. Haws was close behind them, closing every door. “I’ll get Lauren!” he shouted, turning off as Barcomb and Ash went for the basement.

  “What the fuck was that?” Ash said. “What the fuck?!”

  Barcomb shut the basement door and ran down the stairs to hold Ash in his arms. He wiped away her tears. “It’s OK,” he said. “It’s OK.”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Ash mumbled. “It’s not OK, is it?”

  Barcomb looked at her. He could hardly bear to say it, but he felt it in his heart. Haws and Lauren ran into the basement and slammed the door behind them.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Haws shouted.

  Barcomb looked at him and said, “It was a nuclear bomb. They’ve wiped New York City off the map.”

  “Why the fuck would they do that?!” Haws asked.

  “It must be a control measure,” Barcomb replied. “Things must be out of control. Things must be worse than we thought.”

  Barcomb touch Ash’s face and made her look at him through her tears. “Ash,” he said. “You’re right. It’s not OK. Nothing is OK.

  Barcomb took Ash’s hand.

  He kissed her and said, “Things will never be the same again.”

  TO BE CONTINUED…