by Gouge, W. B.
“Probably inside hiding out. They said on the news to stay indoors,” Greg said.
David turned left toward the town center. David drove as slowly as he could down the shadowy street. On the right was a row of town homes with large trees lining the sidewalk. There were no street lamps here, instead they were on the end of the street that connected to the town center. “Stop here!” Greg snapped.
David pulled up to the sidewalk and stopped. He turned the lights off but left the engine running. “What’s up?” David asked.
“I think we should walk from here.” Greg whispered.
“The pharmacy is on the other side of the square!” David said pointing out the window into the distance.
“Okay. But this truck is noisy. If we can I’d rather sneak in and sneak out.”
“We don’t even know if there is anything going on in town. They have police! The station is in the square, even if there was a few of those maniacs here the police would have handled them by now.” David explained.
“Yeah? Like they’re handling them everywhere else?” Greg asked, “Kid, I know we’re in a hurry, but that doesn’t mean we have to get killed. Even if there aren’t any maniacs here some gun toting rednecks might shoot first and ask questions later. It doesn’t help your grandma to get yourself killed.”
Greg was right. David couldn’t argue with that. “Well what do you want to do then?”
“We hop out of the truck, sneak along the back of the buildings on this side of the square until we get to the pharmacy. Then we slip in the back door, grab the medicine and get back here the same way we came.” Greg sounded confident in his plan.
David listened to the plan and thought it was pretty good. Simple, but good. “Alright, let’s go then.”
They climbed out of the truck weapons in hand and shut the doors quietly. David was overwhelmed by how vulnerable they were outside the cabin of the truck. They both crouched, then hurried to the end of the street carefully watching for anything that might do them harm. But there was nothing, the whole street was eerily quiet. No one was out walking, no dogs barking, nothing. The breeze had become cooler and was getting stronger. David heard the distant rumble of thunder and decided they should pick up the pace. They paused at Walnut Street, for a few seconds to look both ways before they darted across and slipped into the alley behind the buildings on the west end of the square.
As they entered the darkness of the alley, David heard something behind them. He stopped and looked around the corner back out into Walnut Street. A single dark figure staggered out into the orange glow of the street lights. The figure moved with the swagger of a very drunk man, and his arms hung lifelessly as they swayed back and forth with each step. David couldn’t be sure in the low light but it seemed as if something was swinging from his arms, like little ropes or shredded clothing. David watched for several seconds as the stranger came closer to the entrance of the alley. David held his breath as the stranger passed them by and continued toward the square. At first, he was relieved they hadn’t been noticed but then David’s heart sank, the creature stepped into the light of the square. It was a man, or at least what was left of one. He wore a pair of bloody cargo pants and no shirt, nearly all the flesh had been torn from his chest and face revealing greasy bone and slick muscle. Tissue dangled from his arms as they swung, his stomach cavity completely eviscerated with a single long piece of intestine dragging along a few feet behind like a rope as he walked. Only patches of long, scraggly hair were left on his head, the rest was exposed skull and gnarled, dark red flesh.
David nearly gasped but was able to hold it in. He put his hand over his mouth and watched silently as the creature walked past and entered the square. David held the rifle now with shaky hands and watched the man walk out of site. Then David looked down the street from where the creature had come from and was surprised to see at least a dozen more headed this way. Greg grabbed his arm and startled him, “Come on! We can’t be here all night.”
David nodded, the pair hurried down the alley. David kept an eye out behind them in case any of those things decided to follow. “Greg! Did you see that guy! He was ripped to pieces… but he was still walking around, like a… a zombie or something.”
“They’re not zombies kid, that shit aint real, they’re just messed up somehow.” Greg whispered.
“Messed up by what?” David had never heard of anything like that.
They hustled down the alley and tried their best to keep quiet. David was trying to watch out in front of them, behind them and his feet at the same time and that proved difficult. They both hurried along when David accidentally kicked an aluminum can. It rattled loudly in the alley. Greg stopped, turned and looked back down the alley. David wore an apology on his face, “Maybe they didn’t hear…” he started and was promptly interrupted by a hungry roar.
David jumped when he heard it, he turned around to see several figures charging into the darkness of the alley from the street. Greg turned and began to run the other direction followed closely by David. The cramped alley caused the sound of their pursuers to carry as they ran and David couldn’t help but look over his shoulder to see how close they were. He could barely make out the details of the leader of the pack, it was the man with only pants. David’s heart jumped at the site of him, his nasty arms out stretched with meat dangling and his fierce wide eyes locked on David were almost as scary as his gaping mouth. David pumped his arms for speed but he found himself feeling weak and shaky, he cursed himself since he hadn’t slept well and hadn’t eaten much all day. He slowed down a bit and Greg began to leave him behind. “Wait Greg… wait…” David gasped but Greg did not slow down.
Even at his age he moved further ahead of David with every step. Behind David the hungry monsters closed in. He wouldn’t dare turn to look now, but he could hear their footsteps growing closer. The thud of boots and the slap of bare feet on wet pavement was right behind him. David desperately looked forward for Greg but he had vanished. He was in total panic now, “He left me? Why did I trust him?” he thought.
David staggered along feeling his energy drain when out of the darkness of a doorway on his left two strong arms grabbed him and pulled him in. David was so weak he fell inside the doorway believing he was about to die. Greg slammed the door shut and braced himself against it. Only a second later the door began to jump as fists frantically pounded the wood like a drum. David was sweaty and tired, he gasped for air but his heart pounded in his chest so hard he felt all over his body. He slowly rose to his feet. Greg held the door with his back against it, “Push something in front of it, hurry!”
David looked around, it was a breakroom. There was no heavy furniture, no couches. There was only a small table, four plastic chairs, and a flat screen television. “What can we use?” David asked.
There wasn’t enough time to search the place and the crowd would soon smash the door down. David wanted to run but he couldn’t leave Greg behind. He tried to think but his thoughts swirled, thankfully Greg came up with an idea, “Turn the table up on its side, push the other end into that corner!”
David looked to where Greg was pointing. There was a pillar against the wall, it seemed just far enough away that the table would fit between the pillar and the door handle. David quickly turned the table over and pushed it to the door. He jammed the edge of the door against the door knob, Greg then helped him jam the other end into the corner of the wall and pillar. As they let go of the table, the attackers outside crashed the door open, but it only opened a few inches. The table pinned it shut against the pillar’s corner. Bruised, bloody arms reached through clawing at the frame and the two of them.
Greg and David didn’t stick around. Instead they hustled to the front of the building, David realized this was the local insurance brokers office, and looked for an escape. The front of the store was all windows. It offered no safety from the creature that surely roamed out in the square. The only other means of escape in the cramped office was another woode
n door on the right side of the room. They both hurried over to it, Greg turned the knob to no avail. Behind the door they heard a voice call. “Get out of here you cannibal bastards!!” the voice shouted.
“We’re not cannibals! Let us in!” David shouted back.
“Who are you then?” the voice responded.
“Just let us in god damn it! They’re trying to get in! Hurry!” David pleaded.
“We stand a better chance together! Let us in!” Greg said in a loud and calm voice.
A few seconds passed by before there was a click on the other side of the door and it opened. A heavy-set man stood in the doorway holding a double barrel shotgun on them, “How many with you?” he demanded.
“Just the two of us!” Greg said holding his pistol upwards.
David recognized him, “Mr. Melton, it’s me David.”
“You get off that bus over yonder?” he asked staring at David as if he did recognize him.
“Just let us in before those things get in here man!” Greg pleaded.
Mr. Melton stepped aside, “Hurry up and get in here.”
The two hurried into the office and Mr. Melton slammed the door behind them and locked it tight. David and Greg tried to catch their breath. David slumped on the couch, he suddenly felt like he was on the cold medicine again. It wasn’t uncommon to have small “flashbacks” throughout the day after taking the drugs, he didn’t need this right now. He needed to be focused and clear headed. Greg paced back and forth searching the room as Mr. Melton spoke, “That bus that flipped over at the end of the road. It was full of those damn punks. They were headed over to the hospital when they got all crazy and started attacking people.” Mr. Melton said.
“How many were there?” David asked.
“Dozen or two at least, they were all messed up from the crash even before they went crazy and started causing all this trouble…”
“Look, we need to get out of here. Is there another way out?” Greg interrupted.
“There’s a window in the bathroom if you’re in such a hurry.” Mr. Melton said and sat back in his chair.
There was a loud crash outside the office door followed by growls and footsteps. Greg ran into the bathroom and opened the window over the toilet. David followed him to the bathroom door and turned back to the man, “Come on, before they crash through that door too.”
The man took a swig from a bottle of whiskey on his desk, “I ain’t leaving here. They want trouble, I’ll give ‘em trouble.” He held the shotgun up and pointed toward the door.
Greg was already halfway out the window when David climbed up onto the toilet. Greg landed outside quietly and waited for David to join him. As David slid out the window and landed on the pavement Greg took hold of his collar, “Pull it together! That shit you’re taking is making you weak and you can’t afford that right now.”
“What shit…” David started.
“Don’t bullshit me boy. You know what shit.” Greg stared at David for a second.
Greg regained his composure and headed down the side alley toward the main alley behind the stores. The pair looked back to where the crowd had tried to break the door down. They were gone, and the door was smashed in. They hurried down the alley to the next street. As they approached the street they hid behind a dumpster, David heard a loud boom coming from the alley behind them, then another a second later, then nothing.
Greg peered out into the street sweeping back and forth, it was clear for the moment. There was enough light here to see the coast was clear, but that also meant there was enough light for anyone watching to see them. They decided they should rush across the street together, Greg counted to three and they both ran to the other side and slipped behind a sedan parked by the sidewalk. Out of breath they reached the buildings on the far side, the pharmacy was just two buildings down.
“There is a door back by the loading dock I think.” David whispered.
“Alright, let’s go then.” Greg whispered and pointed to the corner of the buildings.
There were houses behind this row of buildings with a small side road running alone the rear of the buildings, the two crept down the side road in the dark until David pointed out the building he believed was the pharmacy.
David was relieved they were finally there but was exhausted and wasn’t looking forward to the trek back through town to the truck. The pharmacy had several cars parked behind it in a small gravel lot hidden by the shadows. They headed for the only door in the back of the building when Greg stopped suddenly. David nearly ran into him, he looked around Greg to see what was the matter and was startled to see a man standing with his back to them. He was tall and thin with tan pants and a button up shirt, a red stain covered the shoulder and right sleeve and both David and Greg knew he was one of them by the way he was standing.
The two of them stood for a moment, David shouldered his rifle and Greg held his pistol forward but didn’t shoot. David realized that everyone in town would here the loud gunfire and silently wondered what they would do to avoid him. He was staring in the direction of the door they needed to enter so sneaking around him wasn’t going to be an option, but David also didn’t want to fight any of these monsters hand to hand.
As David struggled to come up with an idea Greg had crouched down and grabbed a nearby chunk of concrete the size of a grapefruit. He held it in his right hand and slowly crept up behind the man. But as he reached his target and began to lift the solid weapon the man began to sniff the air and Greg recoiled a bit. The man stretched his neck back and forth taking deep breaths through his nose before he turned and locked his eyes on Greg. His mangled face had changed to a silent roar, but Greg had already lifted the concrete and smashed the man’s face with it. The man flew backwards and landed in the gravel, Greg hurried to his side and smashed his face again with the blunt weapon splitting his head open with a wet cracking sound. Greg hit the man a few more times and finished the job before turning to David covered in blood, “Let’s get this over with…”
Eight
David stepped over the body, he couldn’t help but look down at the man’s face. It was caved in, a deep gash had replaced his nose and forehead and was pooling with blood. “At least that’s over.” He said as Greg jerked the handle on the metal door.
“It’s not pretty, but we have to do what we have to do to survive this.” Greg said.
David couldn’t argue, but he had never seen anything like that before, and he hoped he never would again. Greg gave up on the door, “Must be locked from the inside.” He said.
There was a window a few feet away, Greg headed over to investigate. David followed along taking notice of the thunder that now seemed to be overhead. The window was busted out and it was dark inside, too dark to see anything but a red “Exit” sign above the locked door.
David stood back from the window, he looked uneasy about the situation. David leaned in, he thought he heard something and jumped back by Greg. “There’s something in there!”
“Yeah, I imagine there is something in there.” Greg said sarcastically.
Greg walked over to one of the cars parked behind the buildings and began to search the interior. After several minutes he came walking over to the window again with a flashlight. He shined it into the window. Broken glass covered the floor along with several boxes and pill bottles, and over by the only other door in the room blood splattered on the wall and floor. Beside the door lay a corpse, surrounded by a pool of blood. Greg climbed in carefully with his pistol pointed at the corpse, David followed with his rifle pointed at the door to the pharmacy. Both men were tense, they tried their best to remain quiet even as the shards of glass popped and crunched under their shoes. David stayed by the window, his rifle trained on the door as Greg crept slowly over to the corpse. He knelt down next to it and inspected it while holding the pistol to the back of the corpses head. “He was shot in the head.” Greg whispered.
“Is he dead?” David asked.
Greg shot a confused loo
k back at David, “I said he was shot in the head, what do you think?”
David realized that it was sort of a stupid question, “Well… they don’t seem to respond to most wounds, I just thought maybe…”
Greg cut him off, “The only way I’ve seen so far is to shoot them in the head. Like a zombie.”
“I thought you said they weren’t zombies?” David asked.
Greg ignored him and brought his pistol up to the door, then he placed his hand on the knob and slowly opened the door. It was dark inside the pharmacy too, the faint light from the street lamps only illuminated the front of the store by the register. Greg lifted his flashlight and shined it around, he was careful not to shine it in the windows so it wouldn’t alert those outside. David followed closely behind as Greg crept through the door crouched scanning back and forth while listening for movement. As David entered the room he heard a sound coming from the direction of the pharmacist’s counter. Greg must not have heard it so David tapped him on the shoulder and pointed toward the counter. David listened carefully and was able to make out a soft sound, like a person crying. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and he gripped the rifle tighter.
Greg nodded and headed toward the counter with his pistol pointed forward. David stood and tried to see over the counter, his rifle pressed to his shoulder, he slowly approached the counter behind Greg. He swallowed hard as they reached the counter, beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he looked over. The pharmacist sat with his back to the wall, legs spread out in front of him holding a young woman in his arms. He was crying and whispering to the girl. David could barely make out what he was saying. He was pleading for her to be okay, for her to get better. As they watched the pharmacist leaned his head back and looked up, “Please god, please save my baby. Don’t let her die, please god…please…”