by Jason Offutt
“Jenna?”
She turned her head. Terry lay in the bed next to her. Oh, Terry. “Are you okay?” she asked.
He grinned. “Not as good as you are,” he said. “I caught that. Your little orgasmaplosion.” He frowned. “You know what’s happened to us, don’t you?”
She nodded. What else could it be? Euphoria. Uncontrollable orgasms. She watched Doug beaten and she did nothing but laugh. Oh, Doug. Doug. She wanted to cry. She felt like she should cry. That was the appropriate response, right? But she couldn’t. The Ophiocordon wouldn’t let her. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
Terry raised his wrists as far as the leather straps would allow. “Don’t see how. Unless the cavalry shows up pretty soon, I’d say we’re fucked.”
Cavalry. If Doug didn’t call Andi by 5 p.m., she was going to come and rescue them. How silly is that? One woman against a town? But she was in the Army and she could talk Batman with Terry. Jenna had watched Andi clear a parking lot of zombies, march into the hospital in Omaha and bring out her Doug. Andi could do it.
“Doug didn’t call Andi,” she said. “The cavalry might come.”
***
More zombies. They stretched out through the trees, tied at regular intervals, forming a barrier around Mayday, forcing travelers to go into town one way, the Gate. The back side of the town was going to be the weak spot and why not? Only a crazy person would try to get in that way. Andi grinned, raised the tire iron and waded into the woods. She rushed each human monster before their moan could rise into a scream, a mom, a man in a suit, a guy in a once-white bathrobe, stained red around the neck, a county deputy. She pretended they were all the monsters that ate Polo Man. The tire iron crashed into skulls, the sentries dropped to the leafy forest floor, their nervous system twitching, then growing slack. After about twenty yards, Andi broke into a clearing, panting, sweat soaked her hair. Donnie ran toward her awkwardly, tears running from his eyes. He started to speak, but Andi cupped a hand over his mouth and shook her head. Donnie shoved his hands into his pants pockets and stepped away from Andi like she was Death.
A swollen waxing half-moon sat high in the sky, casting a yellow light on the clearing. A tall, grassy field opened before them, revealing the patched together fence that encircled Mayday. The fence surrounded the football field; garden crops grew on the gridiron and stopped at the back of the high school. The fence was bolted into the back brick wall of the school, the building itself part of the border between the town and the lands beyond. Cotton had told the unit these were the Goodlands. Andi had seen for herself that was garbage talk. These were the Badlands just as much as those south of the fence that ran east to west through Oklahoma.
Two old metal and wooden bleachers, probably made by students in shop class back in the ‘80s, sat in the grass. Andi motioned to Donnie. He didn’t move. What the hell is wrong with him? Andi stepped closer to Donnie and whispered.
“Hold yourself together, Donnie,” she hissed. “We’re going over that wall and on top of that roof. You and me are going to push those bleachers on the left. Get on the right side, grab hold and push. It’s on skids. We’re taking it to the wall. You got me?”
Donnie stared through Andi, his soulless eyes black in the near darkness. “You killed them,” he mumbled. “You killed them all.”
Killed? “Killed who? Who did I kill?”
Tears started to run down his pimply face. “All those people back there. Those Good people. They were just standing there and you crushed their skulls.”
Good people? “Donnie. Those were zombies. You’re hysterical. I want to slap you, I really do, but that’s noisy. We have to be quiet. Take a deep breath and help me push that bleacher up to the wall. Afterward you can go hug all the zombies you want, but not before we save our friends.” Andi stood still, the sun finally gone from the sky. Donnie’s eyes were black now, like in a vampire movie. Suddenly, yellow light bathed the night; it came from the other side of the high school. Andi grabbed Donnie’s shoulder and pulled. “Please.”
The bleacher slid easily in the tall grass. The metal frame clanged against the brick, but Andi was sure no one in Mayday heard it. The noise rising in the town from the other side of the high school bordered on rabid fans at a Friday night high school football game. She climbed the wooden steps and jumped to catch the lip of the roof. Her hands hit brick, grabbed hold and she pulled herself over.
“Help me up.”
Andi looked over the side of the wall. Donnie stood on the top step of the bleacher, his arms outstretched, his face pleading. He couldn’t climb up himself. What the heck could he do? Andi stood on the roof, looking down at the boy. I should leave him. He’s just slowed me down. But Andi could picture the little man screaming for her, begging her to help him onto the roof. The cheers from beyond the school were growing into a roar, but if Donnie got loud enough, he could ruin everything. Andi sank to her stomach and draped an arm over the wall.
“Grab my arm, Donnie. I’ll pull you up.”
Donnie jumped and clasped his hand onto Andi’s. She grabbed Donnie’s thin, bony forearm and pulled him onto the roof. Donnie fell on his ass. “Thanks,” he said.
Andi stood in a crouch. “Yeah.” The roar from the crowd grew louder. “Come with me,” she said. “And stay down.”
Light bathed the school lawn in yellow. Andi dropped to the tarred surface of the flat roof and took the binoculars from the backpack. At least a hundred people were in the bleachers, some sat quietly, looking away from the ring in the center, but most stood, looking inward, chanting something Andi couldn’t make out. Were they saying “Mac”? Telephone poles were sunk in the ground in a ring around a tall wooden fence, topped by lights scavenged from the football field. The lights, powered by a gas generator, pointed down into the ring. She trained the glasses into the enclosure.
“Holy shit,” she wheezed.
Doug and Nikki stood near the walls, tied to posts along with a man he didn’t know. A fat man stood in the center of the ring, his arms spread for the crowd. The man shouted something, something Andi couldn’t make out. She didn’t care what he said. Doug and Nikki were strapped to poles. He meant to kill them. No. If someone was going to die tonight, it was going to be the fat man. Something moved to the fat man’s right outside the enclosure. Andi swung the binoculars toward the movement and her mouth went dry. A man. A man walked through a worn path in the grass holding a leash in one hand. The long leather strip dragged the grass behind him, then rose to the neck of a beast. That’s not possible. A gorilla, its cream-white eyes gleamed in the artificial stadium light. The thing was enormous, looming a good foot and a half over the man who escorted it. The simian walked unsteadily on two legs behind the man toward a door in the fence, a door that would lead them into the enclosure, to Doug and Nikki. A small cloud of flapping, black birds hovered behind it. Andi thought of Pigpen from the “Peanuts” comics, but Pigpen wasn’t a reanimated corpse.
She dropped the binoculars and unshouldered the weapon, tossing her backpack onto the tarred roof. “Turn around, Donnie,” she said. “You may not want to watch this.” Andi pulled her weapon into her shoulder and took aim at King Freakin’ Kong.
Donnie stood over Andi, the glow from the stadium lamps bathing them in a soft light. The kitchen knife he pulled from the side pocket of the Army pants shone bright in the night. He dropped to one knee and plunged the blade into the Army woman’s back.
August 1: Mayday, Kentucky
Chapter 19
The lights stung Lazarus’ eyes. He stood in the center of the Corral, surrounded by the good people of Mayday and he couldn’t look at them. This was his show and he couldn’t see his people. The pain in his back had returned. Damn Gwenny and her reverse cowgirl. It’s gotta be good old-fashioned doggie from now on. Sweat ran down his face.
“We all know about my plan,” Lazarus said, the words came out slowly, like his tongue was suddenly too big for his mouth. Is it nerves? he wondered. “The plan is
our future. Our way to reclaim the world.” He paused to swallow, his mouth dry as a hangover. He wished he’d brought a bottle of water with him, but that might show weakness. If Lazarus couldn’t afford something, it was to look weak in front of the good people of Mayday. He’s the man who didn’t die; you don’t survive by being weak. He stretched his right arm toward the three people lashed to poles behind him. “These people you see here came to end the plan, to end Mayday.” A few boos rang out from the crowd. Yes, they’re still my people. “And you know what happens when someone is against our town?”
“Mac,” someone yelled from the audience.
Lazarus smiled. “Who wants to see Mac?”
A cheer rang from the stands.
“Who wants Mac to rain justice down on these outsiders?”
The chant started low, but slowly rose. “Mac, Mac, Mac, Mac.”
These fine citizens, who shopped at the Apple Market, ate at the Whistlestop, mowed the lawns and kept Mayday beautiful, were working themselves into a frenzy. Lazarus knew they would. They always did when it was time for the show. He wondered if the good citizens of Rome chanted and foamed at the mouth when criminals were thrown to the beasts, like Caspian tigers and leopards. It was the Christians who got all the attention, but Lazarus knew Christians were rarely fed to anything. It was the common criminal that faced the fangs of the beast. Those Romans sure knew how to keep order and so did he. The town needed a little reminder every once in a while about who was boss. It’s me. I’m boss.
“Then welcome the beast from the forests of a far-away land. Mac the Magnificent.”
Ken Gundy pulled open the gate from the outside, spilling the directional light over him and the beast. Mac stood behind him, towering over the thick, menacing man like an adult over a child. A cloud of crows followed Mac and lighted on the poles that loomed overhead. Ken tugged the rope and gently pulled the oversized gorilla into the full light, the beast’s once sleek black fur matted, crusty with dried mucus and blood. It moaned as it lumbered through the gate, any semblance to the quick, strong noble beast it once was, gone. It was a fucking monster.
“Is anybody hungry?” Lazarus yelled. As if on command, Mac’s bellowing moan split the night, drowning out the cheers. The audience grew silent. It was time for the show.
***
The pain was more than anything Andi had ever felt. The kitchen knife easily sliced through her shirt and plunged into the flesh of her back. Andi bit her lip to stifle a scream. The world swam. Donnie. Why didn’t she see this coming? The boy was unhinged. Andi turned a few inches, new pain tore through her torso, a hiss escaped her lips.
“Donnie, you little bastard.” He stood over Andi and pulled at the knife. It didn’t move. Stuck on a bone you shit. Andi moved a hand to her sidearm, every inch tearing new pain through her chest. “I’m going to kill you, Donnie,” came out in a whisper.
Donnie squeaked. Of course, he squeaked. Andi’s fingers fumbled with the holster.
“Run Donnie,” his mother’s voice spoke in his head. Donnie shook it, trying to dislodge the voice he knew wasn’t there. Not now Mother. I’m doing so good. The voice came back, louder. “Run, Donnie, or you can’t finish your work. You can’t kill the gunkies. Then you can never come back to me, baby boy. You need your Momma, yes you do. Now go.” The Army woman’s fingers were on the pistol grip. The lights from the arena shone on the roof and glistened off a pool of blood forming under the Army woman. Donnie grinned. I stuck her real good, Mother. Real good.
“My job here is done.” Donnie released the knife handle and ran to the edge of the roof. He gripped the side and dropped out of sight.
***
“What’s going on out there, Terry?” Artificial light filtered into the gymnasium through a few small windows. The rhythmic chanting of ‘Mac’ deadened by the thick brick walls, but the engine-like moan sat in the night like a ticking clock.
“I don’t know. But something’s got them all worked up.”
A metallic clank sounded from somewhere in the school. Jenna and Terry lay quietly in the stifling heat of the gym, sweat beading on their bodies. Terry thought it felt like a goddamned greenhouse. Why the hell’s it so hot in here? A moment later one of the gym doors opened and a woman looked in. Her hair, bobbing behind her in a ponytail, and half her face visible; the rest of her hidden behind the swinging wooden door. Terry’d only seen the fat man and the asshole who punched Nikki since they came to town. A feeling squirmed inside. What was that? Anger. The drug had started to wear off. Who was this person? The woman pushed the door open further and stepped inside. He hadn’t seen her before, or had he? Was this the woman who took a basket of greens to the grocery store? Looking nervously around the gym, she approached Jenna and loosened the straps on her legs.
“Who are you?” Jenna asked.
The woman, maybe twenty-two, looked at Jenna, her face grim. “My name’s Lacy.” She undid the leg straps and worked on the leather around Jenna’s wrists. “Your friends are in trouble,” she said. “They’re in the Corral with Walter.”
“Who’s Walter?” Terry asked.
“My boyfriend. Lazarus is going to kill them all. We have to stop him.”
Lazarus. Tim. Tim, Tim, Timmy Tim-Tim.
“And how are we going to do that?” Terry asked. “Sounds like the whole town’s out there.”
Jenna sat up on the bed, her pants wet, the musky scent of her orgasms hung in the air. Lacy moved to Terry. “There are guns in the science room,” Lacy said. “It’s padlocked, but I brought this.” She patted a 16-ounce Stanley hammer stuck in her belt. It was Walter’s. She removed Terry’s straps and helped him up. “Can you two move?”
Jenna pushed herself onto the floor, her legs weak, but she stood. “Yes. Terry?”
Terry was already on his feet. “Yeah. I can make it.”
A gunshot cracked and the night exploded in screams.
***
King Kong wobbled fully into the light on its short hind legs, its deep moan the only thing Andi could hear, except for her own heartbeat. Stupid Donnie. The knife had punctured a lung; she was sure of that. It had collapsed; her breaths came in shallow wet flaps. Andi felt like she was drowning. The little shit had cut into an artery, as well. The growing pool of blood too much for her to stay alive. I’m bleeding out. I’m bleeding out. Pain lanced Andi’s body as she inched closer to the edge of the roof and steadied her elbows on the brick ledge. The simian monster swam in her vision, but it was big, damned big and black. A good target. She had to take it out before it ate Nikki; before it ate Doug. As Andi’s strength began to fade, she felt sorry for Doug, who just wanted a home, who just wanted safety and had found this damned place. Andi pulled the scope to her eye like she had with the M24 Sniper Weapon on the roof of the Motel 6 in Muskogee. When did it get so damned heavy? The big, black figure loomed large in the sights. ‘Just one shot Andi,’ Big Andy said. Where did that come from? ‘Just one shot is all you need. It’s all you ever needed.’
“What? Daddy?” Andi’s words were less than whispers; they died as they left her lips. “I gotta do this, Daddy.”
‘I know you do.’ Was that a worn boot that rested on the brick ledge next to her? Andi didn’t dare look, to take her eyes from the sight of the weapon. There was a monster, a monster that should be in Africa beating its chest and running on its knuckles. She had to shoot it. But she was so sleepy. ‘No,’ Big Andy said. ‘You have to kill the monkey.’
But it’s not a monkey, Daddy.
‘You remember the first day I took you hunting?’ Big Andy’s words were loud, but strange. Like he was talking inside a glass bowl.
Andi took in a shallow breath. Flap, slap. Flap, slap. Her world was a world of pain. She grimaced. “I sure do, Daddy.”
‘You remember the first time I took you deer hunting? You got one, remember? On your first try, with your first shot. You got a doe. You shot her for me. And you only needed to pull the trigger once. You remember?’
‘Then get that big ape for me.’ Big Andy’s voice was quieter now, like he was farther away.
Don’t go Daddy. Don’t leave me here.
‘Shoot it, Andi. Shoot it for me.’
Andi concentrated on the black, hulking figure approaching her friends, concentrated on keeping her body steady as she gently squeezed the trigger.
***
Nikki screamed as the monster lurched toward them, its milky eyes glaring. The bullet crack momentarily sucked the sound out of the night like a balloon pop, followed by Mac’s crows cawing and flapping into the night. The great, lumbering simian, with its zombie eyes stopped, a red, runny hole appeared just above its right eye and a bloody mass of brain and bone blew out the back of its thick skull. Its eyes lolled and it staggered backward, its big stupid head not sure what had just happened.
“No,” Lazarus whispered as the great black ape tottered on its short, thick legs and dropped like a safe to the grass of the Corral floor, grass that had drunk the blood of all the other unbelievers Mac had made pay for their sins.