Zombies On The Rock (Book 3): The Republic of Newfoundland

by Carberry, Paul

  The door shook violently from the other side. Tina cowered her head into her chest. She could feel the room closing in on her, she felt like a caged animal with nowhere to go. She had nothing to defend herself with and each passing moment her ability to break away from her fear faded. A loud bang erupted as the drywall split alongside the door, white dust scattering across the floor, landing near Tina’s feet. She closed her eyes and covered her ears trying to block out the world. She tried her best to catch her breath but sucked in tiny gasps of air, making her hyperventilate.

  When the door creaked open, she could hear metal chains clattering off the floor. “Get in there.” A gruff voice bellowed. A woman was crying and a man was trying to comfort her. “I’ll be just outside that door so don’t try anything stupid.” The door slammed shut.

  “Tina?” A familiar voice echoed in Tina’s head. “It’s okay.” Tina was still afraid that if she opened her eyes Ted would be towering over her, staring at her with that evil glare. “Tina, I am going to get us out of here.” Tina started to rock back and forth, shaking her head back and forth slowly at first but more rapidly as the tension inside her body mounted. She felt a hand on her shoulder, she instinctively slapped it away. “Tina, you’re going to be safe now.”

  “Go away.” Tina muttered over and over, rocking faster now. She was having a panic attack. “Get away!” She started to scream the words now. “Leave me alone!” She cried out frantically.

  “Tina, it’s Warrant Smith.”

  Tina opened her eyes as a flood of relief washed over her body. His lip was busted open and one eye already swollen shut. His light blonde hair was full of dirt and gyprock, his clothing had been ripped and torn. He looked to be in worse shape than her, but she felt secure now that he was in the room. She wanted to hug him, but she was exhausted from fear. She felt a warm tear roll down her swollen check. Warrant Smith wiped the tear away with a rough finger.

  “Tina, I’m going to get us out of here.” Jack and Stella stood behind him, Stella had her face buried into her husband’s chest.

  “How did they catch you?” Tina felt the fear creeping back.

  “They didn’t catch me. I’m here on purpose. I have a plan.”

  Private Byrne slowly made his way back to the rendezvous point to retrieve his small pack and the radio. The moon had disappeared behind the clouds now making it easier to stay hidden, but more difficult to navigate through the dense cluster of trees. The wind had swept a blanket of snow over the tree branches he had used to cover the bag, but some of the camouflage pattern poked out from beneath the white blanket. He checked the top pouch and found his smokes. Luckily the snow hadn’t gotten his belongings wet. Warrant Smith’s bag was hung in the tree, but he wouldn’t have seen it if he didn’t know to look for it there. Byrne hauled it down from the branch and found all of the warrant’s things were still dry. “Smart bastard,” Byrne muttered to himself as he lit a cigarette. He took the walkie-talkie out of the bag and turned the frequency to the encrypted channel. “Alpha tango, this is bravo whisky. I need an evac. Over.”

  A few moments of static echoed over the radio. Byrne let go of the button to curse at them. “Alpha tango, this is bravo whisky. Request permission to join the net.”

  “Bravo whisky, this is alpha tango. Password required to enter the net.”

  What a waste of time, Byrne hated radio procedure, but Warrant Smith demanded the network be secure, so he couldn’t blame the signals operator. “Juliet echo echo poppa.” Warrant Smith and his goddam jeep. Byrne was surprised they hadn’t gone back to Corner Brook to retrieve it yet. He knew it was only a matter of time before they did.

  “Bravo whisky, you have entered the net.”

  “I need an evacuation, stat.” Byrne could feel time slipping from his grasp and he could feel his blood pressure rising.

  “Go ahead with your sit rep. Over.”

  Byrne was glad that the operator was cutting him some slack. “Alpha Whisky has willingly become a hostage. We have three or four civilian hostages that require evac along with alpha whisky. Requisition tango delta for assistance.”

  A few moments passed with no response before the static broke the silence. “Bravo whisky, this is tango delta. I’m sending you coordinates. Meet me there as soon as possible. The evacuation needs to take place before the assault.”

  Byrne didn’t realize there had been an assault planned. The coordinates came in over the radio and he did his best to plot his points and find his bearing. If he was right, he would be meeting Sergeant Doucette on the outskirts of Grand Falls near the old school. Byrne headed back into the thick woods alone with his weapon slung over his neck and Warrant Smith’s side arm strapped to his leg. Once he entered the thick woods, he knelt down to light his cigarette. It made he feel uneasy knowing that an assault had been planned without his knowledge. If the warrant knew about it he certainly didn’t let on. He inhaled the smoke deep into his lungs and held his breath, savouring what could very well be his last dart.

  Warrant Smith felt his busted lip swelling and the pressure around his eye was building fast. He could barely see through it. He looked at Tina, her lip had been split open and her face was covered in deep yellow bruises. Her fingernails had blood embedded underneath and her knuckles were red and scraped up. “I wouldn’t want to see the other person.” Tina didn’t smile, her face had swollen so much maybe she couldn’t right now. It had been less than a day since Warrant Smith had last seen Tina, but she looked like she aged years since yesterday. “Who did this to you?”

  Tina looked over towards the door. “It was Ted.” Her voice was a meager whisper.

  Smith knew that Ted was dangerous and he wasn’t surprised at all that he had become violent.”Did he survive?” He pointed at her puffed up hands.

  “I wasn’t able to kill him. The twins walked in and I lost my nerve. It was a mistake. Now he has them and I am too afraid to do anything.” Tina’s voice was barely audible, much too low for Jack or Stella to hear.

  “What’s going on?” Jack said.

  “Ted has the twins. We need to find them.” Tina spoke up.

  “We need to get out of this city. They are going to kill us.” Jack spoke quickly.

  “They won’t kill us. They need us to work for them.” Tina lowered her voice again.

  “Nobody is going to die and we are going to find the twins. You guys have to trust me and keep yourselves ready to escape. When the sun rises, rescue will be on its way. We just have to stay in this room until then.” Warrant Smith did his best to remain calm, but he was starting to worry about finding the twins. He never expected them to be separated and he certainly hadn’t planned on getting himself captured without a weapon.

  CHAPTER NINE:

  THE ONLY OPTION

  Eric watched the blood ooze out from between Calvin’s fingers, droplets of blood falling to the floor. Craig grasped his knee and rolled around in a pool of his own blood. The colour vanished from Dana’s face and sweat rolled down her forehead. A look of sheer shock froze on her face as she looked at Eric.

  “I...” Eric trailed off. He thought some of the Pelley’s men had come back. He truely believed that Dana was in danger. Calvin collapsed to the floor with a loud bang, his legs had turned to rubber. His hands fell to his sides as the life drained from his body. Blood bubbled out of the wound and puddled on his stomach before flowing down to the floor. “Calvin?” Eric rushed to his side and applied pressure to the wound. “Dana I need your help.”

  Craig’s piercing cries filled the cabin as he writhed on the floor.

  Dana bent down and used Calvin’s jacket to wipe away the blood. “The first aid kit is upstairs in the bathroom.” Dana pushed Eric’s hands away and started to apply pressure to the wound with a blanket that had been on the back of the chesterfield.

  Eric turned to head upstairs and nearly slipped in the puddle of blood that had drained from the exit wound. Craig’s cries had turned to curses as he dragged himself across th
e floor, a trail of blood smeared across the floor behind him. “Dana, help Craig. Calvin’s dead.”Calvin was still drawing air into his lungs, but his chest was hardly moving anymore.

  “You fucking shot me,” Craig screamed as he tried to get to his knees. “You piece of shit.” Craig’s hand slithered across the blood stained floor. He fell to his face as his hand slipped out from underneath him.

  Eric used the railing to help pull himself up the stairs, his legs were failing him now. He stumbled down the hallway to the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit. He looked down at the blood soaked bandage on the floor and the pills that were scattered over the vanity and floor. There wasn’t enough antibiotics for Dana and Craig. He would have to go out soon to get more. They were both going to need them if they wanted any chance of surviving this ordeal. Eric limped back down the hallway, his muscles cramping up with every step. Knots formed in his quadriceps and calf muscles tightened, making each step harder than the last.

  Eric reached the landing and looked out over the living room. It was a bloody massacre. Calvin lay in a giant red puddle of vital fluids, his chest motionless. Dana and Craig were sitting on the couch, both of them as pale as ghosts. A torn piece of fabric was used as a tourniquet to slow the bleeding, but it wasn’t helping enough. Hank was stood above Calvin’s head, blood dripping from the end of the pickaroon. Dana noticed Eric standing on the steps and tilted her head towards him. “What the hell have you done?”

  Eric did his best clean the wound on Craig’s knee. Fragments of bone were buried in the flesh surrounding the exit wound. Dana had changed her bandage on her own and fell asleep after taking another pill. There were only three pills left now and Eric was sure Craig’s wound was going to get infected. Luckily, Craig had passed out with the pain; Eric couldn’t deal with his accusations anymore. It was a terrible mistake he had made, but he was only trying to protect Dana. Anyone in his position would have done the same thing.

  Hank had dragged Calvin’s body outside after he made sure their friend wouldn’t be recruited into the army of the dead. Hank didn’t say anything but the look in his eyes clearly indicated his immense disappointment with Eric.

  The door creaked open, Sasha walked in first followed by Hank. Sasha took off her jacket and laid it on the back of a kitchen chair. Her white tee-shirt was soaked with sweat and clung to her body. “Do you think there are any clothes in this place to fit me?” Sasha asked.

  “Upstairs in the first room on the left. Please be quite. Dana is asleep.” Eric avoided making eye contact with Hank.

  “Get that fire going, I’m chilled to the bone,” Sasha said as she walked upstairs.

  Eric didn’t know if he’d make it back to the couch if he got up, his legs felt like cinder blocks. “Do you mind taking care of that for me Hank?” Eric pretended he was too busy tending to Craig’s wound to get up, he was nearly done now.

  Hank tossed a few logs on the fire. The dry wood crackled and burst into flames in seconds. Hank placed another hunk of wood on the fire, the burning hot coals hungry for more fuel. “What the hell is going on with you?” Hank kept his back turned to Eric.

  Eric wanted to defend his actions, but he didn’t know what to say. His confidence had been rattled today and he was afraid to react so quickly; it had cost two people their lives already. He sat on the couch, struggling to find the words to say. “I did it to keep Dana safe.”

  Hank used a metal poker to move the logs around. “I understand why you thought you needed to protect her, but that doesn’t explain why you did it.” Hank lodged the head of the iron poker under a log, propping it up to let the flames heat up the metal. “I mean, you could have issued a warning or something before firing at them. Isn’t that what cops are supposed to do?”

  Even though Eric knew Hank was right, he was still offended. “You don’t understand what we’ve been though.”

  “We have all been through some crazy shit lately if you haven’t noticed.” Hank interrupted.

  “I meant here, at this cabin.” Eric didn’t want things to escalate between them so he tried his best to remain calm. “The Pelleys had just left these cabins yesterday in a hurry because of us. When I opened the door I thought some of them were back.”

  “You killed Calvin and maimed Craig on nothing more than a hunch.” Hank’s tone was judgemental.

  “I would stop at nothing to protect her.”

  “That’s the problem Eric, there’s nothing you wouldn’t do. There has to be a limit, but I’m afraid you don’t understand that anymore.” Hank stared into the fire as he played with the poker.

  “You do whatever you have to do to survive.” Eric tried to explain his actions.

  Hank hauled the metal poker out of the fire. “What about Jarvik?” He shoved the red hot metal inches away from Eric’s face. “Was he standing in your way? Was he threatening you?” Hank screamed at Eric.

  Eric could feel the scorching heat from the metal on his cheek. Eric thought about reaching for his revolver, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to act quickly enough if Hank wanted to make a move. “That was a mistake, I never even seen him in the crowd.” Eric was telling the truth, he never sensed that Jarvik was so close. “You have to realize I never meant for any of this to happen.” Eric was sincere.

  “I realize that you’re out of control. I don’t think you can handle this world anymore.” Hank raised the poker above his head and held it there for a split second. Eric didn’t hesitate to defend himself.

  Dana was startled from her sleep by loud screaming and a loud commotion downstairs. She tried to sit up to fast, sending a sharp, stabbing pain through her midsection. She grabbed her stomach and felt the bandage had gotten wet. She threw back the covers expecting to see blood, but there wasn’t any. Her white shirt was soaked in sweat, but nothing else had stained the white gauze. Dana could hear Eric shouting and a woman screaming. She swung her legs out of the bed and moved as quickly as she could down the hallway.

  A loud thud rocked the walls of the cabin and the sound of shattering glass echoed up the stairway. “Stop it. You’re going to kill him.” Dana was close enough now to recognize Sasha’s voice. She rushed down the stairs too quickly and nearly missed a step, she barely managed to catch herself on the rail.

  Dana reached the bottom of the stairs to find Eric and Hank tangled up with each other on the floor. Sasha was trying to separate them, but they were both determined to win this fight. “What the hell is going on?” Dana pleaded for them to stop, but no one seemed to hear her. Eric managed to block a left punch thrown by Hank but couldn’t avoid the next blow landing on the back of his head. Eric managed to roll Hank over, sending him crashing into the side of the fireplace. Flaming embers rattled out of the fireplace and scattered across the floor, igniting the couch. Sasha kicked the smouldering embers back towards the fireplace trying to contain the fire. Dana ran towards the couch to try and put out the flame before the cabin burned to the ground.

  “Eric, stop this.” Dana shouted at her husband as he lunged at Hank, driving his shoulder into Hank’s gut. Hank managed to catch Eric by the arm and drag him down to the floor with him. Both men struggled to gain the upper hand. Eric managed to pin Hank to the floor for a second before Sasha clubbed Eric in the back with the metal poker. Eric fell face first into the ground and Hank jumped on his back and locked Eric in a headlock. “Hank don’t do this.” Dana watched as her husband’s face started to turn bright red.

  “Dana.” Eric strained to call out as he reached out for her.

  “Dana?” Hank looked up at Dana and immediately let Eric go. He stared at her with his jaw wide open and a distraught expression on his face. “You’re bleeding.” Hank rushed to her side and eased her back onto the couch.

  Eric quickly got to his feet and knelt down in front of Dana, lifting her shirt to reveal the blood oozing out from behind the bandage. “What happened?” Eric asked.

  “I don’t know. I woke up and ran downstairs.” The heat from the smoul
dering fabric singed her legs through her jeans.

  Sasha gathered the contents of the first aid kit that had spilled over the floor during the scuffle and rushed to join them. “She probably ripped a stitch if there’s that much blood.”

  Eric ripped the bandage off in one swift motion. There was so much blood that they couldn’t tell where it was coming from. The wound reeked of infection and the red fluid was so dark it was nearly purple. Sasha used a handful of gauze to soak up the blood and revealed the torn thread and a flap of skin hanging open. “You’re going to be fine, I just have to stitch you back up.” Eric tried to reassure Dana, but she wasn’t feeling confident. The adrenaline was wearing off now and she could feel herself becoming light headed from the loss of blood.

  “Sasha, find the needle and thread. We don’t have much time.” Hank picked up a small piece of wood from the floor. “You’re going to want to bite down on this.” Hank passed Dana the piece of wood. Sasha found the needle and thread, holding it out for Hank but Eric took it from her. “You know what you’re doing?”

  “You can trust me,” Eric said. “We don’t have time to argue, just hold her down.” Hank applied a lot of pressure to Dana’s shoulders holding her against the couch. “It will only take a few stitches Dana, just try not to move.” Eric went to work with the needle and thread. Dana felt a sharp pinch as Eric pierced the skin around the wound. He pulled the thread through and it instantly stained red. Dana resisted the urge to squirm as best she could and Hank’s tight grip did the rest of the work for her. “Sasha, can you clean up some of this blood? I can’t see very well.” Sasha did her best to wipe away the blood as Eric closed the wound. “Almost done dear. Just another couple of passes.” Dana could barely feel the needle passing through her flesh anymore. Her entire abdomen had gone numb from the overload of pain. Eric worked quickly to seal the wound and tied the thread into a knot once he was finished.” He gave her a loving squeeze. “I thought I was going to lose you.”