Valley of Death & Zombies

by William Bebb

  One second he was smiling, the next his face changed to one of shock and he sat down quickly on a chair. He rubbed his chest and breathed harder.

  “Are you okay?” Billy asked, in a small scared voice.

  The colonel felt his heart beating erratically as he looked up at his grandson. He nodded and said “It's just all this excitement. I'll be fine as soon as I can get some rest.” The colonel knew what a heart attack felt like because he'd had one five years earlier. When it happened before, he'd been in town buying groceries and medical assistance was only a few minutes away. Not believing they'd help, he took one of Mrs. Remlap's nitroglycerin pills and held it under his tongue.

  He spoke softly “Billy if anything bad happens to me.” He grimaced, as a sharp pain radiated throughout his chest. He gripped the table and continued. “I want you to do what you did earlier today. I want you to go with Josey or just run. And I want you to know I'll always love you.”

  Billy hugged his grandpa tight as tears ran down his face. He felt the old man shuddering and whispered in a choked voice “I love you too grandpa. Don't worry. Everything will be okay.”

  Most of infected and undead had gone to the other side of the park, yet there were still a few very slow moving Dead Heads approaching. As Mrs. Remlap held the rolling pin, she hurried around to the idling truck. Watching Josey drag several long chains toward the trailer she jumped when she heard a voice next to her.

  “'So you made it?” Maria asked, from the open passenger side door.

  “Oh, Thank God you're alive.” The old lady leaned in and hugged Maria. “I was so afraid you were dead or burned up in my house. I'm so sorry I left you behind. Are you okay?” She asked, with a deeply concerned look in her eyes.

  “Just a bad headache and a broken ankle. I'm sorry about your house. Are the colonel and Billy alright?”

  “Yes, they're fine. What is that young man doing under the trailer?”

  Maria rolled her eyes, “He has a plan.”

  There was a rattle of chains as he crawled out from under and began hooking them to the back of the back of the truck. Screams echoed across the trailer park and both women looked at the horde of zombies running toward them.

  Josey limped to the driver side and eased into his seat. He looked at the old lady and said “Tell them to hang on. We're all getting out here, right now.”

  “I hope you know what you're doing, young man.” She said, turning to Maria. “He does know what he's doing, right?”

  Maria shrugged and said “God Bless you. And I forgive you for having left me at the garage.” They hugged again briefly, and Mrs. Remlap hurried back inside the trailer.

  “I had to rig up something, but it will work. I saw the tires were still in place under the trailer so let's get rolling.” he said, putting the truck in first gear and letting out the clutch.

  “Hang on. He's going to pull the trailer up the road.” Remlap said as she climbed into the trailer panting and out of breath. She grabbed onto the door frame as the trailer jerked and a deep groaning sound came from underneath. The four story building of playing cards fell.

  “No. The damn fool is crazy. We have to stop him.” The old man said weakly. He clutched the table and managed to stand up. “Billy, go get in your bedroom now.” he said, trembling on his shaking legs.

  Billy ran to the back of the trailer shouting. “Yes sir! Come on Boris, let’s go to my room!”

  There was a loud cracking sound as the trailer jerked forward then tilted toward the right. A lifetime of porcelain and ceramic figurines his wife had collected crashed to the floor. His recliner and everything else, not nailed down, slid to the right side of the room.

  “He's going to kill us all.” the colonel grunted.

  The truck's engine roared louder, followed by another intense shudder as the trailer tilted more.

  “Did you anchor this trailer down?!” Remlap yelled, across the room.

  “Seemed like a good idea at the time. You know what tornadoes do with trailers.” He managed to say, as he let go of the sliding table and grabbed the trailer's window. The pill seemed to have helped, and now his heart was beating harder than ever.

  The stove and refrigerator slid away from the wall and tumbled across the floor as the trailer tipped further. Then the loudest cracking sound came from under the trailer, and it flipped over on it's side. When the refrigerator hit the wall it burst open and a sickening stench of rotten food filled the kitchen. The trailer was on it's side with the front door pressed flat against the ground, still being slowly pulled behind the truck.

  Standing in a stinking mess of rotten food the old man called out “Phyllis, are you okay?”

  The old lady climbed over the kitchen table and stood by the colonel. “What do we do now?” she asked, coughing.

  “You idiot!” Maria yelled, as she looked out the truck's rear window, “It's flipping over! Stop, stop!”

  Josey looked back just as the trailer fell over on its right side with a loud crashing of metal and breaking glass. “Shit!” he looked at the closest zombies, hoped he had a few more seconds and opened the door. Limping back to where he rigged the chains to the back of the truck he stared in disbelief at ruined trailer. Working fast he unlatched the chains and shook his head. “Damn it. That should have worked.”

  When he finished releasing the last chain he felt something pressing against him. Turning with the sword raised he saw Boris looking tired, but his tail was wagging. Behind the dog stood Billy appearing more than a little dazed.

  “Get in the truck! Come on move it.” He didn't wait for the boy to move, but grabbed his hand and dragged him to the cab and pushed him in. Boris jumped up, and stood on top of Billy and Maria's laps, as Josey climbed in and got the truck rolling.

  “The floor in my room is gone. First there was a loud ripping cracking sound then, Wham! The floor was gone and the room fell sideways. I was staring outside where the floor used to be. What happened?” Billy said, looking through the cracked windshield.

  “It's okay, calm down!” Josey shouted, as he began heading for the tangled mess of vehicles still smoldering at the exit.

  “Quit shouting.” Maria said, hugging Billy close, as Boris's tail flicked into Josey's face.

  Clutching the steering wheel, he looked at the collection of cars blocking the road. “This will work. It’s got to.” he said, putting the truck in low gear and began pushing the cars out of the way.

  “Billy's outside, getting in the truck.” Phyllis wheezed, staring outside.

  Coughing, Colonel Lester hobbled over to look out the window and watched as his grandson got in the truck and they drove away. His eyes filled with tears as he raised his shaking hand to his lips and blew a kiss after the truck. “Love you, Billy.”

  “What’s that smell?” she asked. “It’s getting stronger, I can't hardly catch my breath.”

  “Propane tank line's busted.” he said, grabbing a broken chair leg and smashing the window. Outside he saw dozens of screamers and dead heads starting to pass by the trailer, pursuing the truck. His heart felt much stronger as he realized what he had to do.

  He hollered at the crowd as he broke more glass out of the window. “Hey! Hey! Over here you ugly bastards! Free Dinner, over here!”

  “Shut up, they'll” (cough) “hear you.” she frantically whispered.

  “That’s the idea! Yoo hoo! Hey ugly! Come get me, I'm aged beef! 100% USDA!” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a glittering Zippo lighter, with an Army Rangers emblem engraved on it's side.

  Not all of the zombies were distracted. Several ran by screaming after the departing truck but the vast majority turned and moved toward the lopsided trailer. Like a stream on ants the undead encircled them and began trying to find or beat a way inside. Many headed for the broken window and the shouting old man, others ripped off a plastic skylight, and a few managed to climb on top of the wrecked trailer.

  The propane fumes were stronger, but some fresh air blew throu
gh the broken window, as she saw the lighter in his hand and realized what he had in mind. She heard a clattering sound from further back in the trailer and saw several shadowy figures climbing through the wreckage of furniture.

  She pulled a pack of matches out of her robe pocket and coughed as she got ready to light one. Turning to the colonel, she smiled, as he yelled through the window as arms reached in heedless of the broken glass. “Blue plate special! Extra crispy Cajun style, come and get it you nasty fuckers!”

  “See you on the other side, Bill.” she said, poised to strike a match.

  “If my wife Barbara lets me out of her sight up there, you betcha.”

  Both match and lighter produced a flame at the same moment.

  “It was you, wasn't it?” Bo asked, as they turned left at little store. The parking lot was empty except for a tow truck and a minivan.

  “Huh?” Willie inquired intelligently, as he smeared chocolate from one of the doughnuts on the steering wheel.

  “The toilet thing this morning. What is wrong with you? Why'd you do it?” Bo asked, looking at the man driving thinking he looked like a poster child for Diabetes.

  “Fuck you. I didn't leave any evidence and no one saw me do it. So, I didn't do it. But it sure was funny.” Willie smirked, as they drove into the valley.

  “Did your parents have any children with an IQ over seventy?”

  “Shut up.” Willie said and picked up a fresh doughnut.

  Daphne was sitting, with the electric fan blowing into her face as she watched her cousin work on the van and didn't notice one of the Bible Thumpers, she ran off yesterday, wander into the parking lot. She did see the police cruiser heading down the old trailer park road, and wondered if someone was about to get arrested. That’s the way it always is. Everyone else gets to see something exciting. Me? I get to choose between watching a van being fixed or pick my nose. She thought.

  The little girl sitting in the van, saw the man in the white shirt and black pants stumble into the shade and look around in confusion. “Daddy, there's a weird guy over there.” she said, holding her video camera with one hand as she pointed with the other.

  Doctor Alvarez, aka daddy, grabbed a bottle of water and got out of the van while the mechanic used a wide selection of colorful profanities as he worked under the hood. The strange young man who had wandered in from the desert was bloody and seemed near exhaustion as he swayed back and forth staring at the nearby overflowing trashcan. Alvarez saw the wasps and yellow jackets stinging the young man and spoke while still several feet away.

  “You okay? I've got some water you can-” he started to say, but was interrupted by an eardrum shattering scream as the young man ran at him with red eyes and an insane look on his face.

  The squealing of the truck's bumper continued as they inched forward, pushing the burned out police car further under the bus. Billy looked back out the rear window. Maria was still silently praying holding her Crucifix tightly in her hands.

  “Some are coming after us, we gotta go. We gotta go now.” Billy said, as he stared back at his grandfather’s trailer on its side surrounded by nearly all the undead. There couldn't have been more than a few dozen, but to Billy it looked like hundreds- All pushing, scratching, and beating on the walls and windows, trying to get inside. Boris stood on Maria's lap as she continued to pray.

  When the trailer exploded pieces of metal, furniture, and undead blew out in all directions. The liquid propane tank had been filled only a week earlier and the explosion disintegrated the trailer entirely. Billy was blinded by the flash, and yelped in terror. He leaned against Maria and Boris crying as debris started to fall from the sky. A badly deteriorated gray foot wearing a brown leather sandal landed on the hood of the truck, where it sat like the ugliest hood ornament ever imagined.

  “Just a little more.” Josey grunted, as the truck inched past the last of the bus. He had to ride the edge of the road to get by and the tires slid toward the drop off. “Come on, you son of a bitch! Go, go, go!” he shouted, stomping on the gas pedal. The truck tilted more, for several seconds, and the shuddering silver tank on the back of the truck made loud creaking noises, before the tires found enough traction to let them continue up the road.

  The truck passed the last of the wreck, and began slowly climbing the hill. The small group of pursuers including Sazera and Shoemaker, who were closest, followed by a few others ran through the smoldering remains of the fire. The truck moved slowly up the hill and almost reached the first turn back when the engine knocked and backfired.

  “No, no, don't you stop. Just a little more, please!” Josey pleaded. The engine coughed and sputtered making the truck shudder and buck as they started the turn. “Come on, go damn it! Go please, please!” The engine roared to life and he put it back into gear shouting “Yes!”

  Boris whined anxiously and looked at Josey. Billy held onto Maria while afterimages of the trailer explosion made seeing difficult. From behind the truck a small choir of screams increased in volume.

  The creaking sound grew louder as the truck made it halfway through the turn, shuddered violently and finally ran out of gas. The engine fell silent and Josey lowered his head onto the steering wheel and wanted to cry. A loud cracking sound came from the back as the truck started to lean slowly to the right. Maria screamed as she saw, in her mind, the truck tumbling over and rolling down the hillside. The truck tilted, on it's right side wheels and no one dared to move as the left side wheels left the ground. It tottered for what seemed an eternity before a loud crack followed by a tremendous gong-like sound and a metal drum roll filled the air.

  The truck slammed back down, on its wheels and everyone including Boris turned to look out the rear window. They stared at the enormous silver septic tank that had broken free and fallen off the truck. It rolled back down the center of the road, slowly at first but gradually picking up speed as it went. The tank was going down the road like a smelly steamroller, running over the pursuers before eventually slamming into the smoldering remains of the bus.

  Upon impact the septic tank burst open, like a water balloon only Satan himself would have had the mind to devise. The spray of bodily wastes went in every direction drenching everything in the area, from smoldering bits of trailer to a wide variety of sizes and shapes of body parts.

  “What happened?” Billy asked, rubbing at his eyes. “I can't see.”

  Maria hugged him and said “I think it's all over. It is all over, right Josey?”

  Josey had been staring out the truck's rear window, at the scene of devastation, when a car horn sounded and made him jerk. He turned and saw a little green car in the middle of the road with a lady sitting behind the wheel giving him an irritated look. Billy could have told him who it was had he not been still somewhat blinded from the trailer explosion.

  Opening the truck door he climbed down and limped toward the car. “Um we uh-” he stammered intelligently.

  The lady’s eyes opened wide as she stared at a limping man, wearing a brown blood spattered leather coat with a swastika on the armband, carrying a sword. Her lifelong belief about never judging a book by its cover, was shattered. She put the car in reverse and sped away from the giant blood splattered lumbering crazy man.

  There was a short blond haired blur that ran past Josey screaming “Mom, mom wait!” Billy ran after his mother's car and continued shouting while waving his arms.

  Cheryl, his mother, looked forward and spotted her son running past the crazy man holding a sword. She stared at Billy and was within seconds of hitting the brakes when a squad car came around the corner behind her. The cars weren't going fast, but the impact did enough damage to set off her airbag.

  “Willie! Look out!” Bo shouted, from the passenger seat. He saw the green car backing quickly up the road as they came around the turn, but Willie didn't. Willie had been eating a lemon cream filled doughnut and trying to explain how doughnuts were not really bad for his Diabetes because it contained fruit when the cars collid
ed.

  “You idiot.” Bo said, getting out and running to the driver side of the green car.

  Willie sucked the lemon jelly off his hand that had been holding it at the moment of impact. He put the car in park and followed Bo, grumbling.

  “It wasn't me. It was that crazy bitch's fault.” he whined, under his breath.

  Bo saw the green car was filled with bright multicolored helium balloons floating against the ceiling. The remains of a chocolate birthday cake were splattered on the floor and dashboard of the passenger side. A little boy was crying and pointing back toward the trailer park, yammering unintelligibly to the lady in the car, but they both seemed okay. She doesn’t seem hurt. Shame about the cake but it could have been a lot worse. Bo thought.

  Looking further down the road he saw a very big blood splattered man, holding a sword, standing beside a truck. Bo quickly understood the situation and felt years of training take over.

  “Drop the weapon!” he yelled, drawing his gun. “Just drop it. Now!”

  Willie wiped his fingers on his shirt sleeve and trundled after Bo. The officers saw the big man look over his shoulder, back down the road, then drop the sword and raise his hands.

  “You're not going to believe this, but I'm glad you-” Josey started to say, but Bo interrupted him.

  “Shut up! Don't you move! Just don't fucking move! Willie, cover the passenger side!” Bo yelled, in a commanding voice, as he stopped a few feet away. The big man looked exhausted, and his coat was streaked in dried blood.