Forest Park: A Zombie Novel

by Jamie Marks

The soldiers who manned the gates stood firm.

  “Goddamn it --- what’s wrong with you people. When did any of us stop trying to help children?”

  Officer Cook slammed his fist down on the bonnet of his cruiser, while behind him the driver of the weathered Dodge escalated the growing chaos by leaning on his horn.

  “Sergeant Williams, what in hell is going on here?” Tyler said.

  “I think there may be someone infected in the second vehicle, Captain.”

  “You know or you think, Sergeant?”

  “I believe someone’s infected, sir,” the sergeant said.

  “Are you in command?” Officer Cook asked Tyler from the other side of the gates, “Because if you are, open the fucking gates.”

  “Have you confirmed that someone’s infected, Sergeant? I don’t care for beliefs,” Tyler said ignoring the police officer.

  “Am I invisible here? Because I’m really starting to fucking think I am. I’ve already told this idiot that she’s infected, she was bitten,” Officer Cook added.

  “No, I haven’t sighted anyone who’s infected,” the sergeant said. “I only know what he has told me.”

  “The reason why you haven’t seen her, is because she is lying in the back of her father’s Dodge, you moron,” Officer Cook said speaking to Sergeant Williams. “She needs urgent medical help, and I don’t know of any other place nearby that can help her.”

  “Open the gates,” Tyler said.

  “Do you think that’s wise?” Lieutenant Anderson said to Tyler, keeping his voice low.

  “That doesn’t matter,” Tyler said.

  “But nothing’s ready yet, Captain, we haven’t got anywhere to house anyone who’s infected, and she needs a doctor, not an army medic.”

  “I’m not running a debating society, Lieutenant.”

  “I understand that, Captain, but...”

  “There are no buts, not yesterday and not today,” Tyler said.

  “Shouldn’t we confirm whether the girl is actually infected and not only injured, before we compromise our health, and the base’s integrity?” Lieutenant Anderson continued.

  “I’ve already told your sergeant that she’s infected, she’s been bitten. What difference does it make whether she’s infected or injured, she’s only a child. I’ve driven past enough people already today, and I’m not planning on adding children to the list,” Officer Cook said to a now uncomfortable-looking Lieutenant Anderson.

  “Let them in, Sergeant Williams, we’ll quarantine the girl in-house,” Tyler said.

  “Well, thank you,” Officer Cook said to Tyler.

  Cook then turned to the driver of the Dodge. “Follow me in, and relax, everything will be fine. Okay?” Cook said in his most reassuring voice.

  “Just hurry up!” The girl’s father said as he leaned on the Dodge’s horn once more.

  “We’re opening the gates, but do us all a favor and shut that damn horn up!” said Sergeant Williams, his voice already becoming hoarse.

  Officer Cook had just had time to sit behind the wheel of the cruiser, when from the rear-view mirror, he saw the weathered Dodge lurch forward and slam into the rear of his car, jolting it toward the gates and causing him to smash his head on the steering wheel, knocking him unconscious.

  While Cook’s consciousness faded to black, the driver of the Dodge hurled open the door of his car and fell to the ground holding his neck.

  A river of blood was flowing through his fingers and down the rear of his shirt. The driver struggled to stand, but fell awkwardly to one knee.

  “Help me,” he pleaded.

  A small girl, about ten years old, stumbled from the rear door of the Dodge, her face was pale and veined, while her mouth was dripping with her father’s blood. Tyler saw Sergeant Williams raise his gun in the girl’s direction. “Don’t discharge that weapon, Williams,” he said. “Everybody remain calm.”

  “Shit! Did you get that, Charlie?” Susan said as she stood behind the soldiers.

  Tyler turned about. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  “I’m doing my job, how about you do yours!” Susan said as Charlie stepped around her to get a better shot of the man’s daughter, as she staggered toward her bleeding father.

  I have got to get closer, man. Charlie’s mind was racing. I just hope no fucker shoots me! He thought, as he tried to slip through the now opened gates.

  “Hey, get back!”

  Charlie ignored whoever yelled to him.

  BANG!

  A puff of dust arose near the girl’s feet.

  “Williams, stop shooting,” Tyler said as he spun around.

  “She’s infected, Captain, and so is he,” Williams said referring to the girl’s father.

  “Williams lower your weapon now.”

  “But the girl’s infected ---”

  Susan took full advantage of the moment’s confusion and rushed past Tyler. She needed to get herself in front of the camera, in-between the lens and the distraught father.

  “Get the hell out of the way!” Sergeant Williams yelled at Charlie, who now stood in his line of sight.

  Tyler had considered that Susan and her partner could cause trouble, but pulling a stunt like this was ridiculous.

  “Don’t hurt my daughter,” the father said as he tried to stand upright.

  “How do I look?” Susan asked Charlie.

  He gave her a thumbs-up and said, “Stay away from that girl.” She looks so damn freaky, Charlie thought.

  “Watch my back and we’re going live,” she answered him as she fluffed her hair. Paul is going to love this. If I can’t anchor, I’ll kick-ass doing what I do best.”

  “3.2.1.” Charlie said.

  “This is Susan Shaw coming to you live from the first aid and emergency refugee station in Forest Park. I am standing outside of the main gates of Fort Gillem...”

  “Well! This is fucking great,” Tyler said to Lieutenant Anderson.

  Bang! The girl’s father stood behind Susan holding a smoking snub-nosed pistol. “Leave her alone,” he said as he staggered forward and bumped into Susan, who screamed in panic and ran back toward the open gates. Charlie, who lumbered after her, quickly followed her.

  “Nobody wants to harm your daughter,” Tyler said from behind the gates as the girl’s father clutched at his neck with his free hand.

  “She bit me,” he said.

  “I know,” Tyler answered. “Just calm down, then we can help you and your daughter.”

  Tyler could see that the man was struggling to stay conscious, whatever it was that infected the man’s daughter was working incredibly fast on him --- quicker than any warning Tyler had been given.

  “Promise me that you won’t hurt her. She didn’t mean to bite me, she’s confused and sick.”

  Tyler stepped out from behind the gates. “Put your gun down, and I guarantee that she will be well looked after.”

  “What now?” Anderson asked Tyler.

  “Stay low, we don’t need a fire fight, we’ll negotiate him down.”

  Tyler looked over to Williams.

  Williams shrugged apologetically.

  Tyler shook his head in disbelief at what was happening, and then he heard someone talking off to his side and saw Susan leaning against the wall for cover and talking to the camera.

  “Come here, darling,” Tyler heard the girl’s father say and then reach out for his daughter who now stood next to her father.

  “Don’t touch her,” Tyler warned him. “Step away.”

  “Get a shot of this, Charlie,” Susan said in the background.

  “She didn’t mean to bite me,” the girl’s father said. “She’s scared; she needs help,” he said as he reached to bring his little girl closer to him.

  He pulled her close and hugged her lovingly to his chest.

  “We’ll be all right,” he said, as she wrapped her arms around him. “Your mum didn’t mean to hurt you, she’s sorry --- I know it,” he added as she bit into the soft
flesh of his exposed neck.

  Blood gushed from the wound as she whipped her head backward, bringing a mouthful of flesh away in her teeth and chewed it as if it were a prime cut of beef.

  “Oh, fuck!” Williams said, as Tyler snatched his M16A4 from out of his hands and fired a single round, which tore the girl from her father’s arms and sent her staggering backward like a marionette.

  A thin line of crimson blood began to trickle down the front of her chest as the girl’s father squeezed the trigger of his pistol one more time before Tyler shot him through the heart, instantly dropping him to the ground.

  Susan suddenly began to feel dizzy. She touched her palm to her head and then looked at it. Blood --- I’ve been shot, she realized.

  “I’ve been shot, Charlie,” Susan said as she lost her balance and collapsed to the ground.

  Before Charlie could help her, Lieutenant Anderson was there, her knight in shining armor, her savior.

  “I’ve got you,” were the last words Susan heard.

  Tyler stepped back from the open gate. “What the hell just happened? How did it get to this?”

  “I’m sorry about before, Captain,” Williams said.

  As Williams spoke, he saw that Anderson was on his knees cradling Susan’s head in his hands. “Is she okay?” Tyler asked Lieutenant Anderson, who only shrugged in reply.

  “I’m sorry, Cap, I acted before I thought,” Williams said as he raised his hands, covering his face. “It just happened.”

  “I wouldn’t be too worried about that now, Sergeant,” Tyler said.

  “I just kicked into gear...” Williams continued.

  “Get ready to kick into gear again,” Tyler said as he handed Williams his rifle. “We’re not finished yet.”

  “What?”

  “Have a look at that.”

  “Oh, shit,” Williams said when he saw what Tyler had meant --- the girl and her father. Both were sitting very still and staring back at them.

  “That’s amazing,” Williams said, awestruck.

  “I’d call it disturbing,” Tyler replied.

  The first thing Officer Cook saw when he opened his eyes was the odometer of his cruiser. He tried to read its numbers, but he couldn’t focus. Cook lifted his head from the steering wheel and felt a sharp pain in his neck. “Oh, God,” he said, “what the fuck just happened?”

  He closed his eyes once more for a second and tried to sit upright. “My head...” It throbbed like a bastard. Cook wriggled his toes. That was an excellent sign; he then tried to lift his right foot in the air, another good sign, he thought.

  He opened his eyes again. He still couldn’t focus very well. “A concussion. I have a concussion,” he said to himself as he leaned back in his seat. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the Dodge was right up his ass. Fucking moron --- he couldn’t wait a second?

  “Hey!” Cook heard someone yell. “Hey you --- stay in the car.”

  Cook fumbled for the door handle. “Stay in the car,” he heard again.

  These soldier boys are really starting to get on my nerves. After some more fumbling, Cook found the door handle and gave it a yank. He opened the door wide and dropped his boot to the ground with a thud. It felt heavier than he remembered --- yeah, concussion.

  “Are you mentally defective? Stay in the car!”

  “Fucking tell me what to do one more time...” he said under his breath, “and I’ll...”

  The girl and her father turned their heads in Cook’s direction. “Are you okay?” he said. Because you don’t look very well, he considered. He subsequently saw the bullet holes in each of their chests.

  “Get back in the car!” Tyler yelled from the open gates.

  “You shot them?” Cook said to him. “I brought the girl here for you to help her, and you shot her. You shot them both,” he said as a rage began to build within him.

  “We can discuss this later, get back inside the car,” Tyler replied as the girl and her father tried to stand on their feet. “Just close your door for a second.”

  “So you can shoot her again!”

  Why is does everybody want to debate me today. “No- so I can save your life,” Tyler said.

  Cook heard a growl and saw the girl’s father take a step toward him.

  “You can’t just shoot people,” Cook said.

  “I don’t think they’re human anymore. Watch.”

  “No!”

  Sergeant Williams stepped out from behind Tyler, raised his rifle to his shoulder, and pulled the trigger.

  Charlie dropped the camera to the ground; something broke --- that’s not good.

  He wanted to help; he pushed Anderson out of the way.

  “Hey!” Anderson said.

  Susan was still breathing. I think she’s okay.

  “I want to help.”

  “Then get the fuck out the way,” Anderson said as Susan groaned.

  “Okay,” Charlie said as he stepped back. “Surely there is something I can do?” He added as Susan opened her eyes for a moment, only to pass out again shortly after in Anderson’s arms.

  The bullet struck the girl’s father in the shoulder, sending him backward a step or two.

  “Bastards!”

  “Just look, he doesn’t feel a thing,” Tyler said, “again,” he said to Williams.

  The sergeant fired another shot, this time he hit the other shoulder, with the same effect.

  “If that doesn’t do it for you,” Tyler said. “Williams, target the heart again.”

  Cook saw sprays of blood erupt from the dead man’s chest. He knew he was dead; he understood the man’s daughter was dead also --- he just didn’t want to admit it, but now he had little choice. After everything that had happened that morning, after seeing things that would send a sane man crazy, he knew he had to let it go. The girl was always beyond saving. He saw that the first time he laid eyes on her, after he had shot her mother.

  “Aim for the head!” Cook said as he looked away.

  Williams glanced at Tyler, who gave him a nod. “Roger,” Williams replied as he fired a shot that popped the man’s head open --- instantly dropping him to the ground.

  “Now the girl,” Tyler said.

  Williams shook his head. “No. I’ve done enough.”

  “I won’t ask you to do what I won’t do myself,” Tyler said as the girl took another step toward the police cruiser.

  Taking the rifle from Williams, Tyler raised the gun to his shoulder and took a steady aim. He had never shot at a child before, not even in Iraq when during combat, things got pretty insane. Tyler adjusted his aim and took a deep breath. “Here we go.”

  “Sorry, Captain,” Williams said in Tyler’s ear.

  “I knew you couldn’t do it. If you had really wanted to stop her earlier, you could have, or I wouldn’t be taking this shot now. There is nothing to apologise for. If I had a choice, I would be handing the rifle to someone else too,” Tyler replied. “Now, give me a second.” He placed his finger on the rifle’s trigger.

  It was soon after he had told the couple to go back inside of their house that Cook had found himself in the situation that had led to now. He was a smart guy, and he could put two and two together pretty damn fast. He certainly didn’t need a pair of GI Joes to tell him what was going down; he had worked out that for himself soon after the sun had come up. When he saw the girl for the first time, she was crying as she struggled with her mother. Her mother had her pinned to the ground, while the girl’s father stood back in shock, too scared to do anything. He had left many people behind that morning, more than he could care to think about, but he wasn’t going to drive past this time, not when he understood what these things were.

  They were Dead things; Dead things come back to life --- and wanting to kill. He knew that the girl’s mother was going to kill her daughter if he did nothing, if he didn’t get out of his cruiser, if he didn’t at least try to help. Fuck infection.

  The first shot he fired, had only winged the w
oman.

  With the second, he shot her in the chest, knocking her off her daughter as the father screamed bloody murder.

  His third and final shot was fired after the mother had stood up again after being shot twice, including once in the heart. This last time he aimed the barrel of his service gun directly between the woman’s eyes… the round hit her high on the forehead.

  That stopped her for good. This is my responsibility, Cook thought, as he pulled his service revolver from its home once more that morning and shot the girl in the side of her head before Tyler squeezed his trigger. My responsibility.

  THE DAYS DRIFT BY

  Susan opened her eyes.

  “Yes!” Charlie said as if he had won the state lottery.

  “Just to make sure you’re really okay. How many fingers am I holding up?” Charlie raised three.

  “What?” asked Susan who was still a little dazed. “It’s hard to tell with your sticky, fat fingers, Charlie. I’d say ten,” she said as she glanced around her bedside searching for Lieutenant Anderson.

  He wasn’t there.

  Captain Tyler stood watching her quietly at the end of her bed, when he heard how she had answered Charlie. Tyler glanced at him, and saw the sting in his eyes.

  “She’s fine, Captain.”

  “Good, I’m sick and tired of the phone calls. I have better things to do than to nursemaid someone who should have stayed out of the way.”

  Tyler had received a flood of messages on the emergency band, emails and twitters, most of which were about the downed the reporter and the shot little girl, and her father. ( Tyler now knew the brass didn’t approve of the shooting of children on TV --- even infected, dead children) and to make matters worse (if that was at all possible), Susan’s impromptu mentioning that Fort Gillem was a first-aid station, brought an influx of people searching for some protection instead of staying home as advised.

  Many of the new arrivals had brought injured and flu victims with them. It was fast becoming a logistical nightmare.

  No matter what the medical care provided, people who’d been wounded by the infected died. They rapidly transformed into the violent dead, while the victims who were severely ill from contracting the flu didn’t fare any better. They were kept apart from everyone until released into the holding cages after they had passed.One after another, Tyler’s men piled the pre-animated dead in the wire cages, as their brothers and sisters watched with their hands clawing at the barbed wire as they fought the twisted metal for freedom.