by Brent Abell
“My name is Trey, but everyone calls me Big Cheese.”
“Well, Mr. Cheese, thanks for saving me.”
“And I hope you are who I think you are,” Big Cheese wheezed.
“I’m Dr. Conrad Hart.”
“You da’ guy I’m looking for.”
“Who sent you for me?”
“Charlie Nobel did after the crazy shit went down outside the Halloween Bash.”
“So, this is spreading?” Conrad asked, concerned.
“Yes, sir.”
“You’ve seen it work?”
Big Cheese shook his head emphatically in the affirmative.
Conrad scratched his head and turned to the body on the floor. Fred slowly crept to his feet. Big Cheese looked at the disheveled janitor and shoved him back to the ground. Raising his foot, he brought it down into the back of the man’s skull. A sickening crack filled the room, and blood poured from Fred’s ears. The janitor’s body jerked and fell still. Conrad knelt close to the corpse and drew his pen from his pocket.
“Don’t touch it,” he whispered, poking the skin with his pen.
“What is it?” Big Cheese asked and backed away.
“I suspect it has something to do with the sample I received from a colleague in the CDC today,” Conrad answered and poked Fred’s flesh again. The skin broke open, and a putrid stench filled their nostrils. “I need you to tell me exactly what you saw.”
“Well, there was some kind of fight or something in the back of the lawn in front of the student union, and a few minutes after the blood hit ‘em, they started turning and trying to eat each other.”
“It only took a few minutes?”
“Yeah, when someone got bit or got their blood on them, they went down and came back up ready to eat in a few minutes. It’s some scary shit, man.”
“We need to get to Charlie; I need to know about the box the sample came in and what happened when he left the lab.”
Big Cheese and Conrad rushed from the room and exited the science building straight into Hell.
23
The man in black watched the doctor and the other man rush from the office. Silently, he emerged from the hall’s shadows and entered. Surveying the office, he quickly knelt next to the janitor’s dead body on the floor. He pulled out a pair of gloves and snapped them on his hand before examining the body.
His fingers poked and prodded the dead man’s flesh, and he plucked a hair from his head and digging his gloved hands into the taut skin across the man’s hand, ripped a skin sample free. Snorting, he forced his amusement back and got up.
He had a report to send.
Mission accomplished.
24
A group of twenty dead students roamed the courtyard outside the student union. Rex and Charlie ducked behind the bushes and crept around the building from the fire escape. The evening air blew colder, and the twang of blood and death was heavy on it. In the west, the sun sank below Middletown’s skyline and winked out of existence for the night. Around the campus, the security lights blinked on, and the shadows hid the creatures stalking for prey. Any student who hadn’t escaped the initial wave of attacks had long since abandoned the university, and a few of the dead cannibalized the other deceased people.
Rex peeked out from behind the bushes and a kid he recognized from his Roman history seminar class ripping into the face of what used to be Dr. Casey McLeod’s teacher’s assistant. The pale yellow light made the blood smeared on his face to appear black. It covered his face and stained his shirt. The kid continued to eat, and beneath him, his meal stirred.
“Holy fuck,” Rex whispered.
“I told you this is some Romero shit, but you didn’t listen,” Charlie huffed.
Looking up from his awakening dinner, the dead student turned and stared at Rex with his blank eyes.
“Damn,” Rex said and shot to his feet.
Both zombies stood and stepped toward the bushes.
“Run!” Rex shouted and tore through the bushes. Charlie followed as they rushed out into the night.
Without the bushes blocking his view, Rex saw the campus crawling with the dead. They weaved in and out of the trees, stumbled from the buildings, and marched through the courtyard. Rex and Charlie’s footfalls echoed in the night, and the dead all stopped and focused their attention on them.
In the distance, coming from the science building, Charlie saw two figures running through the shadows and stopping to take cover in the darkness.
“Rex, look over there,” Charlie said and pointed to where he saw the two figures hide.
“What?” Rex shouted and turned his back to Charlie.
The dead closed in on them from all around the courtyard.
“I saw two people hide behind the trees over there,” Charlie yelled back, frantically pointing to the row of large elms growing along the liberal arts building.
The quiet air grew abuzz with the loud moans and the unquenchable hunger gnawing in their gut. Each zombie moved closer to Rex and Charlie, closing the circle tighter around them like a noose.
“We can’t stay any longer, I have to get to Rachael,” Rex said.
Arms reached out toward them, and Rex swatted at them, trying not to touch their skin. Without saying another word, Rex lowered his shoulder and hit the closest zombie. The blow dropped it to the ground, and Charlie followed Rex through the hole he’d made. Making their way for the trees, they turned to see the zombie mass turn and begin to shuffle after them.
“I’m glad they’re slow,” Charlie panted.
“Just keep up,” Rex answered and raced to the elms where they saw the figures take refuge.
Rex felt his pocket vibrate with an incoming call, but he couldn’t stop, he had to make the tree line. He pumped his legs as fast as they could go, and he realized he hadn’t had to run in weeks. His shin ached, and the trees seemed to get further and further away.
“Rex!” Charlie shouted behind him, and he risked a peek over his shoulder. Charlie lagged, but he remained in front of the sluggish moving zombies.
Rex passed the tree line and tumbled to the ground. His chest heaved, and the cold air burned his throat. A few moments later, Charlie dove to the ground beside him, sounding like he was dying.
“Fuck me,” Charlie said, gasping.
Two figures stood over them and said nothing.
“Fuck me,” Rex added.
“Did you get touched with their blood?”
“Dr. Hart?” Charlie stammered.
“Yes or no!”
“NO,” Rex and Charlie answered in unison.
“Good,” Conrad said and offered his hand to Charlie.
“What’s going on?” Rex asked and sat up.
“Hell, dude,” Big Cheese said and helped pull Rex to his feet.
“Quite a lot, but we’d better get moving,” Conrad replied.
“We have to get to the high school,” Rex added.
“Why there?” Conrad questioned.
“My girlfriend and her students are there.”
Big Cheese thought for a moment. “And Middletown’s old bomb shelter is there.”
“Bomb shelter?” Charlie asked.
“My grams told me about it a few years ago when I talked to her about my gramps.”
“We need to get there and fast. I have a bad feeling about what the morning will bring,” Conrad warned as they made their way to the high school.
25
Rachael sat behind her overturned desk and cried. The last few times she tried to call Rex, his phone rang and rang and rang. She imagined the blood-soaked masses outside the school milling around, and Rex walking out of the middle of it with blood caked to his shirt and matting his hair. The thought of him eating other people freaked her out and upset her.
“Ms. Howard? I think we need to go,” Carol said, tugging on Rachael’s sleeve.
“What happened, hon?” Rachael asked and wiped a tear from the girl’s cheek.
“They’ve all mov
ed toward the football field.”
“Front door clear?”
“Looks like it.”
Rachael stood up and motioned for the frightened students to move closer. They scurried over and huddled close to her. In the wake of the events raging around them, they seemed small and weak. For the first time in years, they were like children again.
“We’re going to make a run for it. Behind the tennis courts is the old bunker the town used for nuclear drills in the fifties,” Rachael told them.
“Is it unlocked?” the boy with the thick glasses asked.
“Mr. Hammond showed us where the key is in his office in case we ever wanted to take a class down there for a lesson about the Cold War.”
The three students looked back and forth at each other, measuring their bravery. All three turned their eyes to Rachael, and she knew she needed to keep it together for them. She had to help them survive.
“We need to find some weapons,” the quiet boy in the grey hoodies said. The others turned to him and nodded in agreement. Quickly, they got up and scoured the room for anything they could use against the crazy people outside.
Come on, Rex; Rachael thought and slammed her desk chair into the floor to make clubs with its splintered remains.
26
“Enter,” the voice behind the large wooden desk boomed.
Dr. James Browning rushed in and stood nervous before the general.
“Ah, Dr. Browning. So, tell me how the experiment is going.”
“The virus has worked better than we hoped, but it’s spreading out of control within the town. Once the sample began transmission, it took off,” Browning explained.
“I want to know how fast it killed the carriers.”
“According to the plants at the university and in the town, the virus was one hundred percent lethal within minutes.”
“So, what’s the problem? I want the last samples replicated and weaponized for deployment within the week.”
Browning cleared his throat and pounded the desk, “They don’t stay dead, General Harris!”
In the darkened office, Browning could see the look of surprise and shock on Harris’s face.
“What do you mean?”
“After they die, they come back and eat anything with meat on it.”
Harris pondered the ramifications for a moment. “Is it something we can control?” he asked quietly.
“It doesn’t appear so, sir. In fact, we never saw it behave this way in the test subjects.”
“Did the test extend to human trials?”
“No, sir, we decided to use Middletown as a live test.”
“Destroy it now. I want the Phoenix Protocol to go live before the sun rises, and that virus escapes the town,” Harris roared.
“Sir?”
“I’m not risking my ass for this cluster fuck! Why did we not know how the package would react when it went live in the test field?”
“We didn’t know…”
Harris picked up the phone and tried to calm his breathing. “COMM, I want Phoenix Protocol activated for Middletown immediately,” he ordered and slammed the phone back down.
“What’s Phoenix Protocol?”
“It’s when we burn the target to the ground to keep things from spreading or seeing the light of day. You’d better hope we can contain this thing before the media catches wind of it or before it jumps out of the test zone. Dismissed.”
Browning lowered his head and left the office.
27
“Wait,” Rex said and raised his hand in a stop signal.
“What is it?” Charlie asked.
“We’re close to the school, but I don’t see anyone.”
The four men stopped and scouted the front of the school. In the dark, they only could make out the walks and the sides of the school from the security lights.
“You sure about this, Trey?” Rex asked and edged out past the tree line.
“Yes, and don’t call me Trey. I hate that name.”
The four moved out toward the school and raced to the walkway to the tennis courts. The shadows stretched out across the school’s front lawn, and the moans from the zombies massing near the football field carried across the landscape. Rex slowed and motioned for the others to drop to the ground. In the distance near the tennis court entrance, people emerged from the darkness.
“Shit, more of them?” Charlie asked.
“I don’t know; they move different,” Rex replied, crawling forward.
Big Cheese and Conrad stayed frozen to their place in the cold damp grass.
“What do you think?” Charlie inquired.
“Stay put,” Rex said and stood up.
Before Charlie could say something to stop Rex’s mad dash, he ran off into the night.
28
Rachael heard Carol scream behind her. Frantically, she turned to see the figure darting out of the dark, rushing straight for them. The kids tore off behind the courts, and Rachael raised her weapon in the air. Adrenaline coursed through her body and she tensed up. Her hands gripped the wooden club so hard they began to ache.
“Bring it on, motherfucker!” she cried out. Her voice echoed in the rapidly cooling night, and the figure stopped running at her.
“Rachael?”
The voice was the best thing she’d ever heard.
“Oh my God, Rex!” she yelled, and she felt fresh hot tears form and stream down her cold cheeks.
“Rachael!” Rex yelled back and ran at her.
She saw him motion back behind him, and three other shapes rose from the ground and hurried in her direction.
29
Charlie saw Rex motion to them. “I guess they’re friendly and don’t want to eat us,” he quipped and stood up. The others got up, and they rushed for Rex and the other figure.
Charlie led the way, followed by Conrad and Big Cheese brought up the rear. They closed the gap fast, and Charlie smiled when he saw Rex embrace the other figure.
I hope it’s Rachael; he thought and pushed himself harder. He felt the sweat drip down his forehead, even in the cold air.
That was when Big Cheese screamed.
30
Rex held Rachael tightly and took a long deep breath of her hair, relishing her scent. She trembled in his embrace, and her body shook with her sobs. His fingers stroked her chin, and he tilted her face up to meet his. The look of fear etched in her expression pained him, but he smiled anyway. She smiled back.
“Where did the others I saw with you go?”
“The kids know about the bunker entrance in the old shed,” Rachael said and hugged him tight again.
“I love you, Rachael.”
“Ditto, Rex.”
A scream pierced the night, and Rex turned to see the biggest of the three figures rushing toward them go down.
“Shit, get the kids and head to the bunker. I hope to hell it isn’t locked,” Rex said.
“I grabbed the key from the school office.”
“Good deal. Now go and get the kids out here, I’ll be right behind you.”
Rex leaned over and giving Rachael a quick peck on the cheek, rushed to the rest of his party.
31
Charlie and Conrad spun around to see Big Cheese go down. Two of the dead grabbed his legs, and they dug their teeth into his skin and breaking through started tearing pieces of meat-free.
Conrad ran, and Charlie found his feet unable to move. Big Cheese flopped on the ground and howled in agony. The two zombies worked slowly, but their bites took larger chunks of meat from him. He tried to kick, but the searing pain rushing through him became too high. He already felt his body begin to burn up from the infection.
“Mother fucker!” he heard Charlie scream through the sound of his racing heart.
Trey ‘Big Cheese’ Hardy rolled over and watched Charlie kick at the zombies who had attacked him. He kicked and screamed, and soon Rex joined in. They stomped on their heads until Big Cheese heard a wet pop that reminded him of the
summer they dropped watermelons off the Canal Street Bridge, and they exploded on the pavement below.
Big Cheese felt his insides grow hotter like he was in an incinerator, and he cried out. Charlie and Rex stopped kicking the zombies and watched him try to stand. He looked up to them and smiled. In the dark, Big Cheese saw them, and a red tint washed over his vision. For a moment, he remembered their names and their friendships with him. He struggled to say their names, to say something to them.
He didn’t want to die.
In one final try, he opened his mouth, but only a moan escaped his lips.
He saw them now as food and reached for them.
32
Tad Johnson ran. Since the crazy kids started to eat everyone, he ran. His chest burned, and his shins felt like someone was continually kicking them. He didn’t know how far he’d run since escaping from campus, but Tad knew he neared the city limits. Once he crossed over the Canal Street Bridge, he hoped he could find a way to get clear of Middletown.
Finally, Tad slowed and stopped. His pace had already slowed, and he couldn’t make it any farther. Doubling over, Tad put his hands on his knees and vomited. Looking up, he saw a series of lights on the other side of the bridge, and he smiled. Tad started walking, not caring how much the pain shot through him with every step.
When he got to the bridge, three figures were standing there blocking it. With the bright floodlights shining on him directly, he only saw them as shadows.
“The bridge is closed. Please turn around and return to your home,” a voice boomed out from the light.
“No, I can’t go back! They’re all fucking crazy!” Tad yelled.
“Halt and return to your residence. Middletown is now under martial law, and no one is to leave the city limits,” the voice retorted.
Tad took a few steps toward the bridge, and he heard a clicking sound he couldn’t quite place. He’d heard it before, but it escaped him.
“But…,” Tad said and took one step.
Then he remembered what the sound had been, the locking of a bullet in the chamber of a gun. Before he could turn and run, the sound of automatic gunfire split the night, and the bullets tore through him.