Blood Type Infected (Book 1): No Future For Man

by Marchon, Matthew

  She stands behind me as we proceed through the living room towards the expanding puddle of blood on the kitchen tiles. The lifeless hand that was there earlier is no longer visible. I tell myself that Tyrone and Neil must have moved it when they were searching the first floor but something tells me that’s not the case. It sounds almost like a cat lapping up warm milk. I don’t want to look, but have to.

  Felecia hides behind me, pressing up against my back to shield herself from whatever lays beyond the open doorway. A baby comes into view. Gray and wrinkled. Umbilical cord still attached. Red slime coats its underdeveloped form. It lies on the floor, drinking its dead mother’s blood. It’s not crying like a newborn should. The dead don’t cry.

  It turns its head and attempts to bear teeth that have yet to exist. A predator protecting its kill, willing to fight off any scavengers that dare interrupt its meal. Those eyes. The enormous yellow pupils, surrounded by a bloody shade of red that looks like it could ooze out at any second. It’s unmistakable.

  Felecia gives my arm a light squeeze and points at the mother’s body, or what’s left of it. A jagged hole in her lower abdomen gushes blood onto the marble tiles. She didn’t give birth to a stillborn, the stillborn ate its way out.

  “Do we kill it?” her shaky voice squeaks, hitting a decibel I’ve never heard emanate from her before.

  “We probably should. Right?”

  “Noah, I know what it is, but I don’t know if I can kill a baby.”

  I take a shallow breath but it does nothing to calm my nerves.

  “Wait by the door. I’ll meet you there in a second.”

  I listen for her footsteps while staring at the late stage fetus. It barely seems human, it really isn’t. Then again, animals aren’t human but I couldn’t go around killing kittens and baby bunnies either. The difference is I know this thing is evil, not in nature, but by our standards. It only wants to eat, it doesn’t know it’s doing anything wrong. If I don’t kill it, the next time I see it, it might be trying to kill me. In fact, I’m quite certain it will.

  My eyes close for a brief second as I tighten my grip around the bat. I can’t believe I’m about to do this. I’m so going to hell. Maybe I shouldn’t be worried, I mean, how much worse can it get?

  It’s not until I get ready to swing that I realize I’m not alone, I’m still waiting for her footsteps. Felecia never left. Her hand is softly rubbing my back, making me want to tell her how I feel, if only I knew. I should probably do it before I swing this bat because confessing my feelings will have a totally different effect if I’m covered in an infant’s blood.

  I have to do this. I fucking hate myself. How can I murder a baby? It was bad enough killing classmates and people I knew. And now this? My fingers tense up. What kind of monster am I becoming? I choke up a little higher on the bat. Is being alive in this world really worth the price we have to pay? Felecia presses her lips against my shoulder blade, I can feel it through my new dad shirt. God damn it, yes, it’s worth it. What the hell is wrong with me? She knows I can’t do it. But we can’t let it live. What unsuspecting person will it kill next? I raise the bat above my head and close my eyes.

  CHAPTER 23

  The sound of the bus horn fills the damp air once again, snapping me out of a trance-like state. I pull the bat from the premature head of the monster that lays before me. What did I do? I don’t even know how many times I did it. All I can feel are tears burning my cheeks. It’s dead. Really dead this time.

  Would it have grown up? Would it have fed on human remains and survived? Crept up on unsuspecting victims and bit their ankles before they knew what hit them? It had to be done. I get that. Just like the deer my dad almost killed, but didn’t. It had to be done. We had to put it out of its misery. But why the hell was I the one who had to do it?

  Felecia steps in front of me and wipes the tears running down my cheeks. I want to return the favor but my hands are stuck to the bat. I think I squeezed too hard. She rests her head on my chest and wraps her arms around me. I don’t want it to be comforting but it is. I can finally breathe.

  A voice cries out, bringing me back to a reality in which I can’t tell Felecia what I may or may not feel for her.

  “Noah!” It’s Caylee. “Noah, where are you?”

  Felecia pulls away. Her eyes meet mine. I hope she says something because there’s no way I can read the look on her face. Does she know how I feel? She said she doesn’t love me but does she? Even if she does, I don’t know if I could ever be with someone like her. Someone so, I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m feeling. I don’t… Caylee’s the type of girlfriend I want, perfect for me in every way. Everything’s changed since I went to bed last night, except my heart. I finally get the chance to be with the girl of my dreams, even if we are stuck in a living nightmare. But Felecia.

  “Caylee, I’m okay! Get back on the bus! We’re coming!” I look back at Felecia’s unreadable eyes still staring at me. “Come on, we gotta go.”

  “Noah.” Felecia reaches for my hand like she’s going to spill her heart but I don’t know if I can deal with this right now. “I, um… we should get food while we’re here.”

  “Oh.” Well that’s not quite what I expected but she’s right. I can’t tell if I’m relieved or disappointed. “Okay, I’ll get the fridge, you get the cupboards.” I find some canvas bags on the counter and toss a couple to Felecia before I raid the refrigerator. I’m not even sure what I’m taking, I just grab it all.

  The kitchen door flies open. I drop the bag and hold my bat steady. Behind me, Felecia does the same with her golf club. We both sigh in relief when Caylee steps in. She smiles, runs over and wraps her arms around me. It’s a different feeling with her. It’s… normal. I don’t know what I’m trying to say. It’s the type of hug you want from your girlfriend when you walk into school in the morning. It’s perfect. For normal. Felecia hugged me like, like my dad just made me shoot a deer in the head point blank because he wanted me to see how it felt to have that kind of power and control over another living creature’s life. It didn’t feel good. Her arms around me made it all go away.

  “Thank God. We thought they got you. There were gunshots and then nothing.” Caylee holds me tight. I don’t hesitate to squeeze back but I can’t stop myself from looking at Felecia while I do. “I don’t wanna lose you Noah.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Oh get a room.” Felecia slams the cupboard door and tosses a bag at Caylee, discreetly wiping away tears. Leftover from the incident she witnessed moments ago, or new tears watching me hold another girl? “Here, make yourself useful.”

  “We don’t have time. Come on, hurry. They’re coming down the street.” She slowly lets go of our embrace but her eyes are fixated on something behind me. A scream hiccups in her throat. She’s spotted it.

  “Yeah, it’s a baby zombie,” Felecia huffs, filling her bag with everything she can fit in it. “It’s dead. Get over it.”

  “A what?” She looks down at the bloody floor and screeches, covering her mouth with both hands. “Oh my god. Oh my god.”

  Okay, now she sees the baby. And the bat in my hand. More importantly, what’s on the bat in my hand. She tries not to let it show but it’s written all over her face. She’s not looking at me like she did a second ago. Something’s changed. She’s not looking at me like I just walked into school in the morning and she can’t wait to hug me. She’s looking at me like she knows what I did to that poor deer. I had to do it, she gets that, but it still changes the way she looks at me.

  “Behind it,” she says pointing an unsteady finger. “They’re coming out of that bureau.”

  The three zombies we crushed are crawling out like legions of the undead rising from their graves. I knew the dresser wouldn’t keep them down for long but I thought we’d have a little more time, it was wedged between the wall and the railing pretty good.

  Caylee grabs a bag from each of us and we run. Tyrone and Neil are
passing stuff into the bus but from here I can’t make out what. They keep looking behind them, presumably at the horde coming down the street.

  Marty begins inching the bus forward the second we come into view. I’d expect Neil to hop on and tell him to leave without us but he spots us running and meets us halfway. Maybe he’s finally stepping up. When he grabs the bags from Felecia, I realize why he came to help and it didn’t have anything to do with me or Caylee. I wonder if he actually cares about her or if he just wants to get in her pants. Strangely, I don’t know which I prefer, all I know is that I don’t want him to hurt her like he has every other girl he’s been with.

  The raindrops sting my face and I find myself missing Felecia’s hand there to shield it. Why can’t I stop wondering if Caylee would do the same?

  Through the rain I can make out the silhouettes down the road, at least thirty of them, slowly marching towards us. They’re not close enough to smell us yet, if they could, they’d be picking up their pace. Perhaps memory draws them towards the bus, remembering that the big yellow snack machine might be a great source of food.

  A loud crash draws my attention back to the house. The undead bureau bastards come bursting through the front door. Tyrone shoves the last of his supplies inside and comes back to help with ours. We won’t have enough time, not before those three get to us.

  I nudge Caylee onto the bus then turn to get Felecia. She’s not here. I swear to god she better not have run back in to get more stuff after Neil took her bags. No, she’s not that selfless. Yet, all I can picture is her giving me the money for my dog’s surgery without me knowing.

  Neil brushes by me as I turn to look for Felecia. The old man with the missing forehead is so close I can feel his breath blowing through the mist. Then I see her, golf club in hand, pulling back to swing. She’s trying to buy us time so we can get the supplies loaded.

  “Noah,” she calls out, “just get in.”

  I back up to the bus, never taking my eyes off her or releasing the death grip I have on my bat. She swings the club at his mangled face, cracking his jaw on contact, spewing pieces of bone everywhere. His body spins and drops. For a second he’s still but it doesn’t last long. Even without a jaw, he’s determined to eat. She takes another shot at him, bringing the golf club across the back of what’s left of his balding head. It makes a sickly sound, a rock cracking through thin ice. When she pulls the club up, bits of his skull come with it.

  “Felecia,” I shout as Marty picks up speed. “Come on, we gotta go.” I hop into the doorway and hold onto the railing, never letting my eyes leave her, yet I’m overly aware that the group coming down the street is no longer walking at a snail’s pace. They know we’re here. “Felecia, hurry!”

  She looks down at the practically headless old man, slowly beginning to rise. I can tell she’s trying to stop herself from puking but wants to finish the job. Unfortunately, one dead zombie doesn’t do us much good. She must realize it too. She wipes the club off on his back and runs. My eyes remain on the body for a second longer, on the clump of skull and hair now sliding off his back.

  He’s getting up.

  Felecia grabs my outstretched hand and jumps onto the moving bus before we pick up too much speed. She stands a step below me looking up. When her eyes meet mine she seems sad, regretful maybe, then she closes them and with a shake of her head it’s gone. I’m not sure what she’s getting at but the look on her face instantly breaks my heart. It’s like she’s turning me down for the dance all over again.

  Whatever we shared, it’s gone now. I know there was something there. I’m not imagining it, it’s always been there. She just doesn’t want to admit it. I didn’t know why back then, but I know why she’s hiding it now. Caylee. If Caylee wasn’t here, it would change things between us, I know it would. A part of me wishes Caylee wasn’t here.

  CHAPTER 24

  What the hell is wrong with me? Get her out of your head, dumbass. You have Caylee, who is sweet, and amazing, and who hasn’t hurt you. Just forget it. You have more important shit to deal with.

  Neil’s little brother is helping bring the bags to the back, everyone seems to be helping, finally. We stumble up the stairs as Marty speeds away, closing the door behind us. He reaches out his fist for me to bump.

  “Dude, it’s a freaking war zone out there. And it ain’t sounding good on here.” He nods at his radio where a monotone voice drones on. I purposely ignore it. “They’re evacuating all major cities in the Midwest, I guess the little cities are apparently fucked. It’s heading south right now. Fifty bucks says Texas gets hit next. They do have some evac centers that they’re trying to put together but,” he trails off, shaking his head. “It’s gonna be days. They’re just telling everyone to barricade themselves indoors.”

  “Days? You think we can wait it out until then?”

  “Well, at least now we got some food. As long as we can keep gas in this thing, we’ll drive around, never stay in one place long enough for them to smell us. We might have a chance. Tell you what, our odds are better than any of these schmucks locking themselves in their houses.” He looks at Felecia still standing behind me, gripping the nearby seats for balance. “Hey, you did good out there. I’m impressed.”

  “So, what, because I’m blonde with boobs you thought I’d be helpless?” Her beautiful eyes look directly at me but they’re cold now, like I remembered them being. “I don’t need anyone to hold my hand. Excuse me.” She brushes past me and sits down behind Caylee, but this time she stretches out her legs so no one can sit next to her.

  “Whoa,” Marty laughs, “what a bitch. Feisty too. Bet she’s on the rag. I got a feeling these next few days are gonna be quite long.”

  “She’s not that bad.” I say it, but I’m not sure I mean it. It’s like the girl I was just with is a completely different person than the one sitting a few seats away. “So, where’s the nearest center?”

  “Shasta Lake, they’re supposedly getting some military personnel over there, tanks, choppers, armored buses.”

  “You sound skeptical.”

  “Not that they want to, I don’t doubt that, just that they’ll actually be able to. I mean fuck, they aren’t ready for this. Who is? I don’t care how many guns you have. If it’s gonna take three days to get help in here, they’re more screwed than we are. I don’t even know anymore. What do you think? Should we go?”

  Before I have a chance to consider it, Neil yells from the back. “Are you fucking kidding me? Yes we’re going, if they have a way out, a safe place to stay, we’re going.” It seems like most of the bus agrees. I didn’t realize they were part of the conversation.

  I look at Marty and shake my head. “I don’t know.”

  Neil jumps from his seat angrily. “Who the fuck put you in charge Britton? I’m serious, please explain. Because what I’m hearing is a way out of this mess. I just had to kill a five year old boy in there because he wanted to eat me! He was a fucking kid! We need to get the hell out of here. Before we end up like them.”

  “I get it Neil, I do, but the helicopters and tanks and whatever else they want to cart us away in aren’t there yet. Can we risk sitting there for three days? We don’t know what it’s like. It might have hit there even worse than here. We don’t know what we’re getting ourselves into.”

  “Worse than here?” He practically does a spit take. “Do you remember what outside is like? It’s a shitshow out there!”

  “Are you hearing the radio?” I fire back. “It’s a shitshow everywhere. Everyone left alive is gonna flock to one place, don’t you get what that means? They smell us Neil, they fucking smell us. They’re gonna be drawn there. I’m not saying we don’t go. I’m saying we wait it out a few days, here, where we stand a chance. We know the area. In three days, when they’re ready for us, if they’re ready and that’s a pretty big if, then we go.”

  “Noah, dude,” Blake looks at me from the back of the bus, “I appreciate you getting me out of the school and all, but if
there’s a chance we can get out of here, we’re taking it.”

  Felecia rolls her eyes with an irritated laugh. “Gee, thanks, I appreciate you giving credit where it’s due, asshole.”

  “Oh screw you, you only helped me because he made you.”

  “Made me?” Oh no, now she’s pissed. “No one makes me do anything.”

  “Alright, enough!” Ms. Higgins jumps out of her seat, slapping her hands together in an attempt to get our attention. “You’re bickering like children and it needs to stop. Immediately. We’re going to listen to all sides, then and only then, will we make an informed decision.”

  “We need to put personal problems aside.” I try to sound authoritative but highly doubt I do. “They’re saying it’s gonna be days before they’re ready to evacuate. Days! Which means we have to survive until then. Together. And that’s if they come to get us.”

  Darius raises his head off the seat before him, he looks like he’s losing it. “If? Why do you keep saying if? Noah, they gotta come for us. They can’t just leave us here.”

  Mohawk decides to add his two cents. “Dude, you’re seriously wrong in the head if you think we’re better off out here, trying to fight those things with baseball bats and golf clubs. Let the Marines or National Guard or whoever handle it. They were trained for shit like this.”

  “Sure they were,” I snort, clearly annoyed, “because everyone knows you learn how to deal with zombies in basic training. Look, I think what–”

  “Fuck what you think,” a kid I don’t recognize shouts from the back of the bus. “I’ll throw your ass off if I have to.”