Deaders

by Steven Bynum

  Private Perriman swallowed again. “I don’t know how it works. They said it would deactivate after time and then we could start the cleanup. That’s all I know about it. Look, I think I’ve said enough. I answered those two questions. Now, let me go right fucking now!” The private attempted to break his bonds, but it was a futile endeavor. All it did was make him look foolish.

  Trevor stood up straight with his mouth agape. His eyes opened wider and wider as he stared at the soldier. Jacob was wondering what the Hell was wrong with Trevor and was about to ask him if he was okay.

  “Are you fucking telling me you pieces of shit created this goddamn fungus? Is that what you’re fucking telling me?” Trevor tensed up and shouted at the soldier. He looked like he was about to have a fit.

  Private Perriman opened his mouth, then closed it. He was worried his answer may cause him more harm. “I didn’t make it. I’m just a grunt. You know what I mean, Colonel. I just take orders and do what I’m told.”

  Trevor stormed off, pacing back and forth, kicking whatever he could find. His tantrum was causing the soldier to begin trembling. He stormed straight towards Private Perriman and pulled him up by the shoulders. “You sons-of-bitches will pay for what you’ve done! You killed my Misty!”

  Trevor repeatedly punched the soldier in the face until Jacob grabbed his arm and stopped him. Trevor fought against his grasp, attempting to beat the soldier some more, but Jacob tossed him to the ground. “Hold up! Hell, he needs to be able to talk! There’s still questions to be asked!”

  Trevor jumped up off the ground, ready to fight Jacob if necessary. Jacob raised the crowbar in defiance. “You know I’ll fucking bash your head in, now don’t you? Settle the fuck down!”

  Trevor took one step forward, stopped, turned to the side, and walked off—fuming. Jacob watched him go until he decided there was no danger of the man turning around and attacking from behind.

  Jacob took a deep breath and looked over at Private Perriman. “Well now. Shit just got real, didn’t it? I have one more question, and you better damn well answer it. What are you people up to over at the air base?”

  Private Perriman used his arm to wipe away blood. He gagged and spit on the ground. “Look man, it’s nothing. It’s just a staging point. That’s all. I mean, are you afraid of us or the zombies? You don’t have anything to fear from us. We’re the good guys. It’s going to be a glorious new world. Don’t you understand what we’ve done?”

  “What you’ve done? I understand completely what you’ve done. You’ve murdered hundreds of millions of people, including my wife and daughter.” Jacob was getting upset now.

  “No, no, we … I didn’t kill your wife and daughter. Come on, I don’t even know who you are.” The private was fidgeting, nervous as can be.

  “Shut the Hell up. What do you mean, staging point?” Jacob placed the crowbar under the soldier’s chin for emphasis.

  “For the cleanup to begin. You can’t have a glorious new world with all these zombies running around. I’m not sure why they picked this spot. I don’t care. Like I said, I’m just a grunt. I’m just thankful to be a part of it all. I’d probably be dead along with everyone else if it wasn’t for them. I’m loyal and you know what? That’s all I’m saying!” Private Perriman closed his mouth defiantly and looked to the side.

  “You know, I’m not going to force you to answer any more questions. I believe in freedom of choice. It appears you have made your choice.” Jacob stared down at Private Perriman for nearly a minute. Without a warning, Jacob swung the crowbar, burying a claw into the top of the soldier’s head. The soldier’s body jerked in death throws. Once the movement stopped, Jacob tugged the crowbar from the soldier’s head and his corpse slumped to the ground.

  “What the fuck did you do that for?” Trevor shouted from the side. He had returned and wasn’t expecting to see the Private dead.

  “He was tainted, and he made his choice. End of story.” Jacob wiped the crowbar clean of blood as best he could. “We might as well get on out of here. There’s no way we can deal with all of them right now.”

  Trevor looked at the dead soldier then back at Jacob. “You’re right. I found a car. It seems to be in working shape.”

  Together, Jacob and Trevor walked to the car and drove away.

  Twenty-Four

  Jacob and Trevor drove down the highway in silence. Both were in deep thought about what their next move should be. Trevor hummed the song Sweet Child of Mine. After a few minutes he began to get on Jacob’s nerves. He really wasn’t doing a good job with the humming.

  “Good God I wish there was a music station on the radio to listen to instead of that awful noise coming out of your mouth. You are one nerve racking son-of-a-bitch, you know that?” Jacob ran his hand down his face and shook his head. “Hell, I’m thinking about letting one of those deaders kill me.”

  “I’m sorry I’m disturbing you, Jacob. It was one of Misty’s favorite songs. So, shut up.” Trevor cut Jacob an angry look.

  Jacob glanced over to the left and saw several people running toward a building that had what appeared to be a transmission antenna next to it. He also noticed the group of zombies chasing after them. It finally registered that those several people were alive! He slammed on the brakes causing Trevor to fly forward, hitting his head on the windshield.

  “God damn, what in the Hell are you doing, Jacob! Have you lost your mind all of sudden? Jesus H. Christ!” Trevor held his head in his hands and continued to mouth curse words directed at Jacob.

  “I think I just saw people run into that building. They were being chased by deaders.” Jacob pointed out the location.

  Trevor dropped one hand from his head and looked in the direction Jacob was pointing. Sure enough, zombies were trying to get into the building. Only one thing that could mean. People were inside. “Let’s go help them, Jacob. What are you waiting for?”

  “Are you sure that’s what you want to do? I mean, they managed to get the door closed. Assuming there’s no deaders inside, they should be ok for a little while.” Jacob raised his hands in a questioning manner.

  “If we don’t help them and just keep driving on by, then why the Hell are we still alive anyway? I thought you had a mission or was that all bullshit?” Trevor was getting angry.

  “My mission is not to save people, it’s to remove the taint from the world. If saving them means I am on that path, then I suppose it’s all fine and dandy. Let’s go save them, Mr. ‘what are we waiting for’ Atkinson.” Jacob put the car in drive and turned in the direction of the building. “Get ready. I’m gonna swing by so you can do a drive-by shooting.” Jacob grinned. They both put on respirators which were hanging around their necks.

  Trevor rolled down the window, readied his pistol, and got into position. “Don’t get too close. I really don’t want one of those deaders pulling me out of the car so the rest of them can tear me to shreds.”

  “I’ll do my best.” Jacob slowed the car and turned to the side when they were close enough. Not too slow in order to keep the zombies off Trevor, but slow enough so Trevor could actually aim and hit a target.

  Trevor was a very good shot. He actually dropped five zombies on the first pass. “Come on, swing around. Let’s do another drive-by.” Trevor had a large smile on his face.

  Jacob stopped the car. He put it in park and stepped out. “Hey, hey, what are you doing?” Trevor had a look on his face like someone had just taken away his favorite toy.

  “You thought I would let you have all the fun?” Jacob walked up and bashed the nearest zombie in the head with his crowbar. The zombie fell backwards to the ground. Jacob smashed it in the head again as it tried to get up. He continued to hit the zombie in the head until the skull popped open, releasing brains and white mist.

  Trevor didn’t open the car door. He climbed out the window and began shooting zombies. He fired his pistol until the magazine was empty. Ejecting the empty magazine, he slid a full one into the pistol. He fired
a few more times, dropping a zombie with each shot.

  Jacob jogged toward the remaining zombie before Trevor could get another shot off. He swung the crowbar left, catching the zombie in the side of the head. He came back right with the crowbar, catching the zombie in the knee, sending it to the ground. Flipping the crowbar around, he shoved it through the zombie’s eye socket. With a left kick, he knocked the zombie backwards. The crowbar was jerked free by the kick.

  Jacob turned, looked at Trevor, and raised his hands. “I can’t believe you killed all of them but two. Next time don’t be such a damn hog.”

  Trevor was about to speak when he noticed the front door of the building crack open. It remained cracked open for around twenty seconds, then it closed. After thirty more seconds, the door opened completely and people slowly stepped out of the building.

  They all looked around the area in surprise. It was difficult for them to believe what had just taken place, but the evidence was lying right there in front of them on the ground.

  A small lady with short red hair spoke to them. “How did you guys do that? You killed all of them.”

  Jacob twirled the crowbar a few times for show. “We’ve had a lot of practice. Who are you people?”

  “You won’t believe this, but we’re all friends. We all worked on the same radio show. We don’t know how we all survived in that shelter. Your guess would be as good as ours. I’m Suzie, this is Paul, Alice, Rebecca, and Fred.” She pointed at each in turn.

  “Hold on a moment.” Trevor interrupted. “I know you people. You’re from Zombie Alive Radio. I’m Dr. Trevor Atkinson.”

  Each appeared slightly shocked. Alice spoke up. “Well, doctor, I guess you didn’t know what the Hell you were talking about.”

  Trevor blushed with embarrassment. “I apologize. You see, I was lied to, just like everyone else.” Trevor looked over at Jacob, then back at the group of people. “You all really need to hear what we have to say. It’s not just deaders that you have to worry about. Let’s step inside, shall we?”

  The group made their way back inside the radio broadcast station along with Jacob and Trevor.

  Epilogue

  Zombie Alive Radio - March 20, 2015 - 8:00 PM

  Suzie: Hello … hello, is it working? Holy shit it is working! We’re live! Thank God we managed to find a transmitter with a working generator and fuel! You are not alone! Listen! Anyone that’s out there! Welcome to Zombie Alive Radio. We are alive. I’m not sure how we all survived, but we are still here. All of us. Thank God. We all lost loved ones, friends and family. We want to be with you tonight, if you are out there listening. I’m you’re host, Suzie Tulips along with co-host Paul Terrance, Engineer Alice Parkins, Zombie Rebecca Parker, and Zombie Expert Fred Miller.

  Paul: Hello world.

  Suzie: Say hello, Alice.

  Alice: Hello, I just, hello.

  Suzie: Say hello Rebecca.

  Rebecca: Hi guys.

  Suzie: Say hello Fred.

  Fred: Hey folks.

  Suzie: As you well know, the zombie apocalypse did, in fact, happen. We were all lied to by the powers that be. First, they denied the fact that people were dying and coming back to life. Next, they claimed it was some sort of alien fungus from the upper atmosphere. So many lies, but now we know the truth thanks to a survivor with a firsthand account of who was behind the whole thing. It was a fanatical secret society, the Skull and Bones.

  Fred: Conspiracy theorists use to warn about them, but you know, most people never listened.

  Paul: Yeah, their evil was right there in front of us and we didn’t see it.

  Rebecca: I never thought anyone could do something like this. It’s just, unbelievable.

  Alice: Yeah, I never thought. Crazy.

  Suzie: That’s right. They had been planning this for a very long time. Infiltrating every aspect of leadership in our military, in our government. There was really no hope. I mean, no one could have known or even imagined they were creating a fungus that would turn most of the word into zombies and let those zombies kill everyone else. All this to create a utopian society in their image.

  Paul: I hope they burn in Hell. All of them.

  Suzie: I’m sure they will, but let’s not forget the main reason for bringing back Zombie Alive Radio.

  Paul: Go ahead Suzie.

  Suzie: You would not believe what happened a few days ago. All of us, figured we were done for with deaders chasing us. They trapped us inside this broadcast station. Then, the unbelievable happened. We heard gun shots outside. A lot of gun shots. We discovered two guys had showed up and killed all of the deaders. All of them! Talking about miracles. Their names are Jacob and Trevor. They told us a story that really hit home.

  You see, they told us the fungal spore was not alien in nature. It was manufactured right here on Earth by powerful people and a secret society. A secret society that has been around for a very long time, and they had infiltrated all branches of societal leadership. For a long time, they plotted the death of most of the human population, so that they could have their New World Order.

  That’s right. All those conspiracy theorist lunatics were right all along. They tried to warn us over and over again, but most of us wouldn’t listen. I guess we should have listened. Perhaps we could have stopped this zombie apocalypse. Now, it’s too late. Not to mention, this secret society is still out there. They’re alive and working on taking control of the Earth for their new world. So, be careful, watch for their symbol, the Skull and Bones.

  I’m not sure if anyone is listening out there. I hope you are, because I have a message for all of you. A message of hope. The fungal spore is no longer in the air. You can breathe the air and not get infected. Be careful, though, zombies are everywhere and if you kill one, it will spew a white mist out of its head. That mist is, in fact, the fungal spore. It lives in the zombies now.

  Also, there are two men doing their best to get rid of this blight from the Earth. That’s right, these heroes are Jacob and Trevor. If you come across them out there, lend a hand. I’m sure they could use it. Remember everyone, you … are … not … alone. This is Zombie Alive Radio signing off. Good night and God bless.

  The End

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Writing Deaders has been a joy and a pain. It is the first full length novel I have written. I love to write short stories and anything above 5,000 words becomes a daunting task. So, with a little apprehension and a lot of coffee, I set out on the journey.

  Zombies have been a fascination of mine for many years. My love of zombies truly started when I watched the original Dawn of the Dead movie when I was a kid. I’m not exactly sure what had thrilled me about it, but whatever it was took root and as an adult I wanted to write a zombie story for the zombie fans.

  After six months of pain and pleasure, Deaders was finished. I was thrilled. My goal to write a full length novel was achieved. It is such an amazing feeling to create something for other people to enjoy.

  I hope you liked reading Deaders. Now I have a favor to ask. Please take a minute to review my book. Honest reviews help authors more than you know. Without your reviews, many readers will overlook the book and miss the opportunity to enjoy the story.