by David Menard
“Who was that?” asked Raymond perplexed. He stood up and stretched as well waiting for his answer. Raymond looked down and the other two soldiers approached the base of the barricade, curious as well.
“The chopper is coming for us in an hour and half, they are bombing the town,” Cody replied relieved that he could go home. The two men on the ground started packing up their supplies. Cody grabbed his personal belongings and stuffed them into his bag.
Raymond was relieved as well, he knew there were no survivors, not anymore. If there were any they would have reached them by now. He walked over to his gun and grabbed his picture of his wife and son. Raymond tried to shake off the images of Cody murdering the family approaching the wall. Their faces would be seared into his mind forever. He looked off into the distance, trying to see the helicopter. He could see it, a small speck in the sky. Raymond turned to resume packing up his belongings and that is when he saw them. The sheer irony was that of a movie.
“Look! Survivors! Everyone, hold your fire!” Raymond yelled to his squad. He couldn’t believe there were any survivors. He then realized what happened to the last people that approached the gate. The family was shot down when only trying to find salvation. He eyed Cody who was glancing at his rifle. The two men made eye contact.
“Don’t worry Ray, I won’t shoot them. The job is over….. We will check them for bites if they make it here,” he said the last part as he got into shooting position. His attitude was different now, he put on an act only to look strong, and he was burdened with the guilt of shooting those people. If he wasn’t under direct orders he would not have done it. Turning them away and sending them to school like the Colonel instructed would have led them to a worse death. With the knowledge he just obtained, along with his own observations, he realized they would have likely suffered in their remaining days before roasting alive. Cody broke away from these thoughts and added, “But if they are going to make it we should get rid of that thing chasing them,” he said taking aim.
Raymond looked out to them and saw a monster chasing three survivors. It was gaining ground on them quickly. The creature was a monstrocity, much different from the other ghouls. It was quick and it’s body was enlarged, a stark contrast to the others. “Look out!” He yelled out to them.
Chapter 25: Escape
The trio heard the man on the gate yell to them and turned in unison. The monster was almost upon them and they hadn’t noticed, it was swift and silent. It was closing in quick, Cindy ran backwards to take aim. As she oriented her body towards the monster, Cindy Drawstring fell, her head hitting the pavement. Her partners ahead of her in full sprint, not seeing her fall.
Her life flashed before her eyes, a pathetic one that she would no longer be able to change. Her ears were ringing, she could hear muffled gunshots being fired. Her friends had not seen her fall, she was doomed. Beyond the barricade was freedom, she was so close. As with the rest of her life, she was not good enough. Cindy Drawstring’s mediocre life of falling short of expectations was coming full circle. She turned her head towards the monster, it had stopped running and was now walking towards her. The monster had its prey in sight.
Fuck this thing. You made it this far, you vowed to turn your life around. Don’t die a cashier, a cashier whose life is inconsequential. Live on as a survivor, a hero. Live your dream and be a writer, write about this shit. But first…..kill this motherfucker!
The charred monster sood over her, growling, it’s one yellow eye fixated on her. The creature lifted its fist, ready to descend onto her. The monster attempted to crush her skull when she rolled to the side barely missing the killing blow. The asphalt crumbled under its fist. The abomination lowered its face to devour her when she pulled her gun up just enough for a close up shot to the neck and chest. The monster recoiled and howled with pain, blood pouring from its torso. Cindy took the opportunity to get to her feet and run towards the gate
“Cindy!” Anthony shouted as he ran back towards her. He had not seen her fall and the abomination narrowly missed its killing blow. He steadied his pistols, ready to fire, when the monster flailed back and screeched. Cindy was on her feet full sprint ahead. She met with him and they ran together, approaching Kelly who was climbing the barricade.
“Cindy are you okay?” Anthony yelled to her as they ran, his breath labored. He was afraid that she may have been bitten. His eyes focused onto her, fearful.
“I am fine, I ducked its attack!” Cindy shouted back. Her chest felt like it was going to explode, she hadn’t ran this much since college. She smiled. “Why? Were you worried about me?” she inquired playfully as she sprinted, full steam ahead.
Raymond and Cody fired on the beast once Cindy was away from its assault. The two other soldiers were on top the blockade firing their machine guns on the fast approaching creature. The gunfire provided by Kelly and the soldiers slowed the beast down, giving Cindy and Anthonie time to reach the blockade. Cindy and Anthony climbed the ladder of the barricade, joining Kelly and the four soldiers at the top. “Get to the other side! The helicopter is on its way!” Raymond yelled in the hail of gunfire.
Cody was firing onto the savage beast, inflicting serious damage. The monster ran in a zigzag motion narrowly avoiding taking more hits. It settled behind an abandoned vehicle and used it as a shield, pushing closer to the blockade. “Don’t mess with me mother fucker,” he whispered. The car stopped sliding on the pavement and a loud squealing noise was uttered by the monster. They saw its arm fall to the ground. The monster collapsed behind the vehicle, dead. The soldiers ceased fire and looked at each other. The helicopter was audible from behind them causing everyone to turn.
“Hey Ray, let’s get the fu-“ Cody was cut off by the monster’s sneak attack. It waited until the group was distracted and leaped into the air and attacked him. It sunk its teeth into his neck, grabbed his shoulder and ripped his body almost completely in half, spilling all his blood. The monster grabbed his head and took a large bite out of it before pursuing the other survivors.
Raymond led the survivors down the other side of the barricade, as the other soldiers fired. “Come on let’s go!” he shouted following them down the ladder. As the survivors descended the other side of the barricade the creature turned its attention on the remaining soldiers and ripped them apart, limb from limb.
“How are we going to escape that thing? It will catch us, we had so much distance between us and it still caught up,” Cindy stated running with Kelly and Anthony. They were following Raymond, panicked. The rescue helicopter just landed. In the midst of fear and exhaustion none of the survivors had noticed the helicopter touched down.
“I think that’s how Cindy,” Anthony replied obviously. They covered the distance swiftly and arrived to the vessel. The gusts of wind attacked their faces, forcing them to squint as they approached. The group boarded the helicopter when they heard the monster howl, it pounced towards them covering a dozen feet per pounce. Their great escape would be ruined if they did not take off immediately. The deformed monster was unrelenting, its torso was littered with bullet wounds.
“Oh fuck we aren’t going to make it,” Kelly cried. She only knew of the threat of the monstrocity chasing them, not of the Napalm coming to burn the whole town. She took aim with her shotgun and fired. It was not effective, as the monster was too far away to suffer damage from the scattershot. Kelly was shaking uncontrollably, fear consuming her, as she dropped her weapon off the ascending helicopter.
“Sit down, and buckle up. You can’t help anyone right now,” Raymond told Kelly as he led her to the far seat. He sat next to her and buckled up as well, taking aim with his rifle. Raymond wasn’t sure if they would be able to avoid the monster, let alone the napalm.
Cindy and Anthony sat opposite of Raymond and Kelly, their eyes transfixed onto the monster approaching. Anthony began firing his weapons, causing little to no damage onto the monster. Cindy held her gun, waiting for the creature to get in range. They were too focused on th
e creature, that they did not think to buckle their seatbelts.
The monster leaped into the air at the helicopter and landed into the opening hanging onto the side with its one hand. The strength it possessed was unreal. The abomination glared at his prey, seeing the fear in their eyes. He roared in their face’s ready to kill as it dragged its body into the helicopter. The weight shifted the vehicle almost sending Anthony out the door, he held onto his seat to avoid falling. His feet were dangling in front of the monster’s jaw, within biting range. The creature clicked its jaw, trying to feed on the officer.
Cindy held onto her seatbelt, she too was hanging on for life. Cindy came too far to die now, she decided to act. Cindy took the shotgun holstered on Anthony’s back and aimed it in the creature’s face with one hand, steadying her aim. The gun was almost too heavy for her to lift, she was running on adrenaline.“Get the fuck off!” she yelled as she pulled the trigger. Blood sprayed in their faces, covering the windows of the helicopter. Bruce Williams had transformed into a monster, but even he could not survive a shotgun to the face, his head blew into pieces. His mangled body fell to the Earth and created a small crater upon impact. Bruce Williams’ work would have been revolutionary, but instead it turned out to be a mistake, a mistake to be covered up by the government.
The pilot made the helicopter go as fast as it could to avoid damage from the napalm. If they were delayed even by a few seconds, they would have been engulfed in flames. The napalm destroyed the town upon contact, every last inch obliterated. The town from Hell now looked the part as a sea of flames danced over the undead, engulfing them.
“That was close,” said Anthony letting out a huge gasp. He felt weak and sick, like a runner after a marathon. The sweat dripped off his body, he felt like he was going to vomit. Anthony clicked his seatbelt, he was not making that mistake again.
Kelly looked at Anthony and Cindy then smiled. She unclicked her seatbelt and hugged them both. She wiped away some tears and sat back down and closed her eyes. She thought briefly about how she was going to live her life, she was going to go to school and become a nurse. Her new goal in life was to help people. She took a deep breath and drifted to sleep.
Cindy was in disbelief, they actually survived. Her life was going to be different now, and she knew who she was going to share it with. She reached out and grabbed Anthony’s hand. Too long had she spent her life alone, afraid to put herself out there. Cindy watched the flames burn the town, and smiled. That stupid smock is down there.
Raymond saw the happy family and smiled. They were not a conventional family, but the joy they had was overwhelming. He shifted in his seat to get more comfortable. He took out his picture and looked out to the cloudy sky. He was finally going home; he leaned back and closed his eyes.
“So, Anthony how about that date?” Cindy asked humorously. She was dead serious, well not dead because she had enough with that word but she was serious. She smiled at him waiting for her answer. She couldn’t help but notice that his shirt was now completely red. He had used it to wipe the blood off his face.
“How about a zombie flick?” he chuckled. Cindy started laughing and even Raymond smirked. When the laughter stopped Anthony reached in his pocket and took out his badge. He took a moment to gaze at it and tossed it out of the helicopter. “Thanks Jeff, you are the reason I am here,” he said to himself as he drifted off to sleep.
Cindy watched the city burn, it was being cleansed, like her life. She looked on the floor and saw a cellphone, it was Kelly’s. Cindy hit the home button and unlocked the screen, revealing the apps. The service bars were full. She clicked on the phone icon, and entered a phone number she had not dialed in a long time. She listened to ringing for a few moments when a man answered the phone. “Hey Darren, it’s Cindy. You would not believe the week I have had.”
Epilogue
“Kayla get back here!” yelled the distressed mother. Her daughter had left the playground to chase something. The air had a fresh scent, the smell of pollution and emissions were nonexistent at the playground. The sun was shining brightly, gleaming off an aluminum slide. Lillian Broussard walked briskly after her daughter, hearing some interesting news as she passed a couple sitting on a bench.
“Did you hear? They have a police blockade up,” the man said to his wife. He handed her the paper so that she could look at it. “The blockade was put up yesterday morning, they say they are running routine drills,” he added shifting his glance to the mother chasing her child.
Kayla saw it from the corner of her eye, a small kitten chasing a chipmunk into the bushes. She thought it was cute and wanted to keep it. “Here kitty kitty,” whispered the three year old in search of the cat. She crouched as she walked, hands on her hips. It looked as if she was imitating a duck.
She found the feline near a bush, eating the chipmunk. “Eeew, that’s a bad kitty” she scolded the cat as she reached for it. The cat saw her, yielded, then it pounced at her. She managed to catch the cat with her quick reflexes but was bitten on her finger. “Ouch, bad kitty. I will make you a good kitty when mommy lets me keep you,” she scowled. The kitten kept trying to attack her as she walked back towards her mom, but was unable to reach her skin through her jacket. She proceeded to return to the playground, a large smile across her face.
“There you are! Don’t you do that again!” Lillian scolded Kayla. She saw what Kayla was holding and immediately calmed down. “Were you saving that kitty?” she asked her child. Lillian knelt down and stroked the cat’s ears, as she did this the cat tried to bite her. She avoided the fierce feline’s attack, pulling her hand back. She glared at the cat.
“Yea, I'm sorry I ran away, I wanted to make sure he was safe, can we keep him?” Kayla responded to her mother, shifting her weight side to side. The cat continued it’s struggle in her clutches.
“I suppose so. Are you ready to go home now?” Lillian didn’t like the idea of it but she couldn’t let the poor creature die out in the wilderness. Kayla nodded her head happily and couldn’t stop smiling all the way to the car. She was skipping happily along as the cat attempted to bite through her jacket.
They approached the blue minivan. Kayla hadn’t let her grip from the kitten. She held it tighter than ever when getting into her car seat. When the mother had strapped her child into the car seat she proceeded to the front, sat in the driver’s seat and started the car. Kayla’s mother paid close attention to the road and didn’t look back until she reached a stop sign. She looked in the rear window and saw Kayla flopped over in her car seat, her skin was pale.
“Kayla, sweetie. Wake up. Kayla…...Kayla!,” Lillian exclaimed. Lillian was always one to worry about her child so she quickly unbuckled and climbed into the back seat. The cat immediately tried attacking her. It was hissing and trying to bite her. She avoided each attack and grabbed the cat by the nape of the neck and threw it out of the open window. She then looked back to her daughter and saw Kayla staring at her with glossed over white eyes. In that moment Kayla attacked her mother, her teeth like a vice on Lillian’s neck.
Alternate Ending I
“That was close,” said Anthony letting out a huge gasp. He felt weak and sick, like a runner after a marathon. The sweat dripped off his body, he felt like he was going to vomit. Kelly looked at him and Cindy and smiled. She leaned over and hugged them both. Cindy was in disbelief, they actually survived. Her life was going to be different now, and she knew who she was going to share it with. She reached out and grabbed Anthony’s hand.
Raymond saw the happy family and smiled. They were not a conventional family, but the joy they had was overwhelming. He shifted in his seat to get more comfortable. He took out his picture and looked out to the cloudy sky. He was finally going home; he then leaned back and closed his eyes.
“So, Anthony how about that date?” Cindy asked humorously. She was dead serious, well not dead because she had enough with that word but she was serious. She smiled at him waiting for her answer. She couldn’t help bu
t notice that his shirt was now completely red. He had used it to wipe the blood off his face.
“How about a zombie flick?” he chuckled. Kelly and Cindy started laughing and even Raymond smirked. When the laughter stopped Anthony reached in his pocket and took out his badge. He took a moment to gaze at it and tossed it out of the helicopter. “Thanks Jeff, you are the reason I am here,” he said to himself as he drifted off to sleep.
Cindy turned and looked out the helicopter. When she turned back the helicopter was completely empty. “Anthony? Kelly? Where are you?” she asked freaking out. She looked out again and saw burning buildings. She shifted her gaze back to where Kelly and Raymond sat and saw the corpse of the mutated Bruce Williams staring at her.
She awoke at that. Sweat was pouring from her body; Her bed was soaked. She looked around and saw she was in her house, the whole thing was just a vivid dream. She felt sadness, and relief. She would miss Kelly and Anthony, but the rest of the ordeal, she would not.
She heard the thud of the paper hitting her door, the paperboy. She ran to the door and looked outside. It was just a normal day, the sun was out and people were going to work. She closed her door in disbelief. Her breathing was heavy.
“It was all a dream? Holy shit that seemed so real,” she spoke out loud. She debated calling out of work, but thought better of it. She would go insane dwelling on the dream. She took a deep breath and shook it off and got ready for work.
The drive to work was quick, no traffic at all. When she reached the plaza she noticed that it was crowded. She got goosebumps at the dejavu she was experiencing. Sharon Finley met Cindy outside of Quincy's. Things were definitely getting weird.
“Cindy! How are you today?” Sharon asked gleefully. She said verbatim of Cindy’s dream. Her face glowing with happiness as always.
“I’m fine, how are you?” Cindy asked back trying to sound happy to see her. She was freaked out by the dejavu. She also encountered Sharon as a zombie and that image would never leave her head.