by TW Brown
Stepping back from the top of the stairs, she let the first one close and simply skewered it through the face. She tried to help ease it to the ground, but found that to be a bit too much for her wrists to withstand. Still, when it did hit the ground, the noise was nothing too loud. Just then, the next zombie arrived, a small woman who looked like she had just come from a shift working the till at a supermarket.
On and on it continued, and every chance she got, Shadiyah moved to the stairs and looked down. Each time, she was greeted by more of them coming through. Some continued on into the house, and others came up to her. Twice, she had to change her sword arm due to fatigue, and that became problematic the second time she switched to her left hand simply because her aim was not as sharp, and it happened to coincide with a surge of a few zombies all making it up and over the pile of bodies that she kept hoping would eventually be sufficient enough to act as a barricade.
Looking around, she realized that, at some point, she had retreated all the way to the master bedroom. She shot a glance over her shoulder and looked out the window. Her heart sank as she saw at least thirty or forty zombies still milling about the back yard. Also, the street was still far from clear as even what had to be the tail end of this horde was still too much to consider trying to run through.
Returning her focus to the front, she paused when she noticed three children all standing just inside the door staring back at her. Their eyes gave away the fact that they were zombies, but, unlike their adult counterparts, these three just stood rooted in place; each of them appeared to be studying her, tilting their heads first one way and then the other. An adult version forced its way past and came for her, but even as she stabbed out and took this one down, the trio stayed put.
“What do you want?” she whispered. “Are you waiting for something?”
They continued to remain just inside the door, and once more did not react as yet another pair of adult zombies made their way past. After a couple of quick jabs by Shadiyah, both ended up on the floor at the foot of the large four-post bed that dominated this room.
“Come on!” she almost begged.
The three zombie children simply continued to regard her as if they might be studying her movements. Her brain screamed for her to end them just as she had the others, but their actions made it difficult. The oldest could not be any older than nine or ten. Her left arm was dangling uselessly at her side having been savaged in the attack that had ended her life. The only boy of the three was perhaps five and had most of his nose ripped away as well as a large chunk of his scalp. She imagined the child rushing into the arms of somebody he loved and trusted…only to be betrayed. How horrifying were his last minutes as he quite probably looked up in surprise after his head had been bitten, only to have his attacker clamp down on his little nose and tear it away?
The last child was even more confusing. This toddler was perhaps three and not very steady on her feet. She swayed and wobbled a great deal as she stood with what Shadiyah would assume to be her brother and sister since there did seem to be some resemblance; although that could simply be the fact that they were all displaying a blue-gray skin tone and had the filmed eyes shot full of black tracers. This poor soul was missing her entire right arm. From the looks of things around where that arm would have connected to the shoulder socket, it had been ripped off rather violently.
The toddler would occasionally step forward, but the oldest child and big sister would nudge the thing and moan, causing it to stop and even stagger back a step or two. These reasons, compounded with the simple fact that, despite her knowing that they were zombies, made it extremely difficult for Shadiyah to end them as she had the others.
She did notice that they kept looking to the scimitar she was holding. Risking a peek past them, she saw that the coast was at least temporarily clear as no more zombies had reached the top of the stairs as of yet. Being very careful, she made a show of sheathing her weapon. Once she did, the children now focused solely on her.
“Just go away,” she hissed. This received nothing more than additional tilts back and forth of their heads.
“Shoo!” she tried, making a little wave of her hands to try and ward them off. They didn’t budge.
She repeated the gesture, taking a step in their direction and making that motion with her hands even bigger. It was as if a switch was thrown; in an instant, all three of the zombie children became just zombies. Gone was their hesitation as they stumbled forward, hands out and grasping for her.
Cursing herself for putting away her weapon—they were too close and the space was too confined for her to have a chance to get the scimitar out—she would have to resort to the knife on her belt. Pulling it, she was just able to thrust up and into the gaping hole where the little boy was missing his nose. The zombie dropped, leaving the other two to both reach her at almost the same time.
The toddler was simple to dispatch with a simple kick to the face that sent it flying across the room and crashing into the open door with a loud thud. It was not done, but at least it was out of the fight for the time being. All that remained was the oldest sibling, and she had Shadiyah by the wrist before the woman could re-orient the tip of the knife in order to take it down.
She froze, the horror of what was happening simply overwhelming her senses for just that moment in time where it allowed the girl to lean in and bite down on Shadiyah’s wrist. It was the pain that snapped her back to the situation at hand. With a scream of rage and frustration, she stabbed the girl in the temple and shoved the body away.
Looking down, she could see the perfect set of teeth marks on her wrist, blood already welling up in several of the divots. Whether due to fatigue, or her own imagination, she could swear that she felt the zombie infection taking hold in her body. There was a nasty, sour taste in the back of her mouth and she staggered into the bathroom that sat off of this master bedroom. There was not an abundance of light, but there was enough. She could already see the capillaries in her eyes beginning to darken.
“So this is how it happens,” she said to the reflection in the mirror.
Turning, she saw the toddler making its way to its feet with unsteady jerks, wobbles, and fits. She simply shoved it aside as she walked past. She reached the stairs and was amazed to find it still empty of anymore of the walking dead. She made her way down and stepped outside after driving the knife she still carried into the eye socket of the zombie that had turned around at her arrival and tried to come back at her. It had emerged from the arch that led to the living room where a few more of its brethren were roaming about, bumping into things, and causing a surprising amount of damage and destruction; tables were overturned, pictures knocked from the walls, and the contents of shelves sent tumbling to the floor.
She stepped outside and pushed away a zombie that was just reaching the doorway and about to enter the house. It fell back into some shrubs and all but its feet vanished. The image of the zombie’s two legs jutting up from the leafy bush made Shadiyah laugh. That sound caused more of the nearby undead to stop, turn, and re-orient on this new sound.
It was at that moment that she realized she did not want to be torn apart by these things. She recalled the screams and knew very well that she had no desire to experience such pain. Breaking into a run, she bee-lined for the still idling truck that had acted as the dinner bell. She had to shove the zombies that were still gathered around the cab. Somehow, one of the cursed things had even managed to climb inside. She caught the woman by the ankle, dragged her back, sending her tumbling to the ground and then climbed in and slammed the door.
Sitting back in the driver’s seat, she stared out as several more of the undead gathered around and began to pound, paw, and try to bite through the doors of the truck. Her eyes were growing heavy and she considered the possibility of maybe slashing her wrists. In the end, she simply decided to sit back and stare up at the sky. At some point, her head lolled to the side and before her eyes closed, she saw the toddler stumble through
the doorway of the house and into the yard.
“Stupid baby,” she slurred.
With those final words, she let her eyes shut. She twitched a few times and then was still. Sometime later, the thing that used to be Shadiyah opened her dead eyes. The truck had expended its fuel and was now nothing more than a hulk of metal with no more life than the creature in the cab.
***
“I think he is waking up,” Annie said with an exaggerated whisper that was almost louder than her normal talking voice.
“What the…” Simon managed before breaking into a fit of coughing.
“We thought we lost you,” a familiar male voice said, a large hand coming to rest on Simon’s shoulder.
Opening his eyes, Simon Wood was more than a little surprised to see Mrs. Raye, Annie, Geoff, and a woman he did not recognize standing around his bed. He shifted a little and felt an immediate pain in his gut that warned him to avoid further exertion. Lying back, he sighed and was very aware that even that simple action was painful.
“Shadiyah?” The name came out as a question. The thing was, he wasn’t even sure what question he was asking or what answer might make him feel better.
“She took off,” Mrs. Raye answered. “After she stabbed you, Caron said that she ran like the devil himself was chasing her. I doubt we will ever see her again.”
“But…” Once again, he let whatever he was about to say just slide off his mind and vanish into the ether.
Perhaps it was for the best if she was never seen or heard from again. After all, she had murdered two of the citizens of the town that he had been asked to watch over as constable. She had tried to kill him. Perhaps she was truly broken beyond repair.
“How long?” he asked once he had taken a sip of water to wash out the dryness that made his throat burn and cause his tongue to feel as if it might be three times its normal size.
“Two days,” Mrs. Raye answered. “We have had somebody with you around the clock.”
He decided not to ask what all that had entailed. Not that he was overly modest, but even in his current state, he did not necessarily want the knowledge of his healed bite to be made public.
“I hand-picked your team,” Mrs. Raye said, seeming to read his thoughts. “However, I think we can take the secret from the closet and put it on display. You are not the only one. With Caron showing the immunity as well, people are actually getting hope that we may well survive this whole thing. Also, it will take away the only chip that the doctor has in his bag in his apparent desire to be selected as the person to assume the role of the village leader.”
“Are we really stuck on petty crap like that?” Simon groaned as he shifted just enough to relieve some of his weight from the left side of his rear end that felt like it might be bruised from him having lain flat on his back for so long.
“It would seem so,” another voice chimed as Nelson walked in.
Simon did not know the man all that well, but he could tell that something had the man bothered. He was scowling deeper than usual, and he had bags under his eyes indicating that he had not been sleeping well.
“Is that group still carrying on about the truck?” Mrs. Raye snapped, the agitation clear in her voice. Nelson did not say a word, and Simon was very lost. When Mrs. Raye continued, he was even more perplexed. “Then tell them to go retrieve that damn thing themselves.”
“Like hell I will,” Nelson snorted. “And that is actually why I stopped in, although it is good to see you are back among the living.” He gave a nod to Simon with that last comment. “I am grabbing my team and we are returning. I have to believe that we flushed most of the damned zombies out of that area. A can of petrol should do well enough to get us back. If possible, we will return with a nice load of supplies.”
“Do you really think that is a wise idea?” Geoff asked.
“I agree with him,” the strange woman that Simon did not know offered.
“Simon, this is Niamh. She was the one sitting with you when you stirred,” Mrs. Raye said by way of introduction.
“Great, now, can somebody let me know what the hell it is you are all carrying on about?”
Nelson gave a rundown of the mission. He explained how it seemed very likely that the noise is what brought the zombies from all over the neighborhood. It was his theory that they would have moved on by now, especially since the truck had to have an empty tank.
“And you want to go back there?” Simon managed.
“We will just pop into a few more houses. They can’t all be emptied out like those first couple,” Nelson replied.
“Sounds like a solid idea to me,” Simon agreed with a nod.
“Well then, good luck and hurry back.” Mrs. Raye stood up and opened the dresser beside the bed where Simon had been confined the past couple of days. “But I want you to take this.”
She showed Nelson the pistol and went through the procedures on how it worked. The man accepted the weapon and turned to Niamh, giving her a nod to indicate that it was time to go.
A moment later, Simon had drifted back to an uneasy sleep. He was haunted by nightmares of Shadiyah. He awoke once and decided that he would not be able to have any peace until this situation was dealt with once and for all. As soon as he was able, he would venture out and hunt for the woman. The only thing he was not sure of was what he would do when he found her.
17
Closure
Nelson raised a hand to signal the group to stop. They were just emerging from the trees that lined the A642, better known to the locals as Aberford Road. They had cut across the fields with the long domes over the rows and found it a much easier trip than last time as most of the zombies had apparently moved on; the key to that being most…not all. They had to cut down at least two dozen as they passed through.
“What is going on?” Melena had asked after they finished with a foursome of walkers just as they reached the far side of the field.
“No idea,” Nelson said with a shrug and a shake of the head. “Unfortunately, I think this is our fault. Mine if we are being really specific. I’m the one who thought a big truck rumbling into the neighborhood was a good idea.”
Nelson, Melena, Dawn, Niamh, and Caron hunched down close together in the tall weeds and shrubbery that grew alongside the road. Just to their left was the entrance to Cedar Ridge. Directly across the road from that entrance was the charred remains of what looked to have been a rather nice home. Tendrils of smoke still leaked skyward from the debris like gray tears of mourning.
“Those aren’t zombies,” Niamh pointed out the obvious.
“They are going in,” Dawn said, anxiety straining her voice and making it almost sound mousy. The blade she pulled as she spoke stood in stark contrast to that tone and she even started to move forward until Nelson grabbed her arm.
“And that matters why?” Nelson asked, turning to face the women. “Do you think those eight or nine people can carry away everything in the whole neighborhood? Haven’t we had enough of going after each other? If the living don’t get over their old ways, we will end up finishing what the zombies have started.”
“But…” Dawn began, and then let out a long exhale and relaxed.
“Ideally, we should be able to talk to those people, tell them about our place, and bring them in. I honestly believe our best chance at surviving this bloody nightmare is to bring in as many people as we can.” Nelson slid his own blade into its sheath and then stood up. “You all stay out of sight. I will approach these people. If it goes bad, forget the run and return home. Let Geoff know what happened.”
“You really think going out there alone is such a good idea?” Niamh whispered.
“Look, I will be totally honest with you ladies.” Nelson actually blushed as he spoke. “Before all this nonsense happened, I used to read this zombie comic book. In it, terrible things were always happening to the women. I’m not saying that there is a lick of truth to that bloody thing, but I just want to be extra careful. Yeah?”
“Fair enough,” Melena finally said after looking from one of her cohorts to the other and receiving a nod of acceptance.
With that, Nelson started across the road and into Cedar Ridge. He was just abreast of the first house when he spied the group. Now that he could really see them, he was able to count nine individuals. They were all gathered around the truck, staring and pointing.
Nelson had to squint a bit, but he was eventually able to make out the form of a zombie in the cab sitting behind the wheel. He had no idea how that had happened. However, that was not the strangest thing, and also not what was receiving a majority of the attention by the group. Sitting right by the front wheel was a tiny figure. It was obviously a very small child, and also undoubtedly a zombie; it appeared to be missing the entire right arm. Only, this thing continued to just sit and seemingly stare at the group gathered around it.
As of yet, the group had still not noticed him. Nelson took a few more steps closer and then halted. He debated on whether or not to call out, and was still having an inner monolog on the situation when one of the group stood up straight and spotted him.
While it was too far away to hear anything specific, the urgency of a warning was evident. Also, the activity seemed to be enough for the zombie child as it began to climb to its feet. The group seemed confused for a moment and some of them started towards him, a few began to retreat, and the rest turned their attention to the zombie toddler and made short work of it.
“I’m not looking for trouble,” Nelson called, raising his hands and trying to show that he was not a threat.
“Neither are we, mate,” one of the people called in reply.
The man motioned for the others to stay put and continued towards Nelson. He also made a display of keeping his hands out wide with no weapon as he approached.
“A few of us are just out trying to get some food. Also, we got a man hurt. The fool fell off a balcony.” The man stopped about five feet away from Nelson.