The Undead the Second Week Compilation Edition Days 8-14

by RR Haywood

  ‘Someone just moved in the café,’ Lani whispers urgently. We spin round to face the building but see nothing other than what looks like an empty place, ‘someone came to the door, saw us and darted back in,’ she adds in the same hushed but rapid tone.

  ‘Let’s go and see,’ I whisper back and we set off walking down the side of the chain link fence of the tennis court. The building line comes out further from the left here with a clear addition of rooms accessed by deeply recessed doors. This forms a narrow road only wide enough for one vehicle, the road runs down to the café and is bordered on the right by a chest high wooden fence which ends to show a wide grassed area in front of the café and I guess this is normally where tables and chairs would be put for the summer visitors.

  ‘See anything?’ I ask, none of them reply but keep focussed on the café with Dave and Clarence making constant sweeps all around us. We stop at the end of the fence and look over the grass to the café.

  ‘The other entrance,’ Dave nods off to the right and I see high ornate metal gates embedded into the high concrete wall. The gates are hinged to allow vehicles to enter the park area but are now closed with a thick looking chain wrapped round the middle struts.

  ‘What’s behind the café Lani,’ Dave asks quietly.

  ‘Nothing, just a back lawn and the high wall,’ she answers. We move slowly across the lawn watching the front of the café and staring through the plate glass windows at the tables and chairs inside.

  ‘The café door’s open slightly,’ Dave says in muted tones as we get halfway across the lawn.

  ‘STAND STILL AND PUT THE WEAPONS DOWN,’ a loud voice booms out behind us, we spin round with Dave and Clarence instantly releasing their axes and having the skill and experience to drop and roll off, drawing pistols from their belts. Blowers and Cookey throw their axes to one side and reach back to pull their shotguns, both of them going into a crouch and stepping quickly to present a moving target. Nick jumps in front of Lani and starts moving away while also drawing his shotgun. A figure clad in black paramilitary clothing strides out of one of the deep recessed doors holding a rifle, another comes out quickly behind him.

  ‘DAVE NO,’ I bellow, as fast and loud as I can, knowing Dave could drop them both instantly. The two figures stride into the road and move their rifles between us all, aiming down from balaclava covered faces. Clad in dark overalls tucked into boots they look like something out of a Special Forces movie. Within a split second the two are covered by Dave and Clarence pointing pistols at them and the rest of us holding shotguns. They react as though surprised and seem suddenly unsure what to do.

  ‘DROP THE GUNS,’ the lead black clad figure bawls out.

  ‘DROP YOURS OR I WILL KILL YOU BOTH,’ Dave’s amazing voice booms out and they both turn to stare at him.

  ‘UP TOP,’ Blowers shouts, he holds his shotgun in one hand and draws his pistol with the other, aiming one at the figures in the road and the handgun at a third black clad figure leaning over the railing and pointing another rifle down at us.

  ‘STAND DOWN,’ Dave booms out again and I watch as both the figures in the road twitch their rifles between the several targets in front of them.

  ‘EASY, DAVE TAKE IT EASY LADS NO ONE FIRES,’ I call out and both figures turn to watch me.

  ‘Got it Mr Howie,’ Dave acknowledges but keeps his pistol in a two handed grip moving swiftly between the two figures in front of him.

  ‘Lads, nobody shoots, got it?’

  ‘Got it,’ Blowers answers but like Dave he keeps the shotgun levelled at the people in the road and the pistol pointing up at the figure above.

  ‘We’re not here for trouble,’ I say to the two figures as they stare silently back at me, looking closer I can see the uniforms are unmarked and the one that hasn’t spoken is trembling. ‘We’re looking for members of our group that might have come through here, we don’t want trouble and we don’t want a fight, please just lower your weapons and we’ll do the same.’

  ‘What’s your name?’ The lead man asks in a gruff voice.

  ‘My name is Howie,’ I take a slight step forward and lower my shotgun down to my side. The two figures glance at one another and visibly relax , gradually they lower their rifles too.

  ‘So which one of you is Dave?’ The man pulls his balaclava off to reveal a balding head and a big grin, ‘they said you’d be coming.’

  Four

  ‘Fucking look at all my lovely babies,’ I laugh out loud and slap Marcy hard on the backside, she looks up from her kneeling position smiling at me with fresh blood pouring down her chin, the hapless victim squirms on the ground under her iron grip and starts screaming again. I’m amazed the woman is still alive after the amount of flesh that’s been ripped from her stupid fat body. We’re upstairs in another house in another street. All of these houses look the same to me, fucking beige walls with beige carpets and fucking beige sofa’s. Still, the colour beige really shows the blood well and I don’t think we’ve found a house of survivors yet and not left at least one room a bloodbath.

  In fact we’ve got so many now that they can’t all fit into the houses and are stacked up outside and grumbling at not being let in to feast. I pull the curtain back and open the window to look down into the street at the hundreds of faces all turned up to stare at me. I can’t see through their eyes but I can feel their devotion and loyalty to me. Like a super organism now, one part made of many and me in the middle leading them all. And this lot are different, they’re fresh and strong and very hungry.

  ‘Our babies darling,’ Marcy sinks back down to finish the screaming bitch off, finally she sits back on her haunches and motions for me to take my bite. I crouch down and suck at the blood pumping out of her fat throat. No matter how much of this I’ve had I still feel hungry for it. The more I had the more I wanted until it became frenzied and we ran from house to house tearing throats open and killing the little cunts as they screamed and begged. A few fuckers fought back and one even managed to kill a couple of my babies before I stepped in and threw him out of a closed window and let the rest outside tear him limb from limb.

  Howie can suck my zombie balls now, he can fuck off and go blow Dave in a dark corner because while they’re all reading the bible and playing goody goodies I’m here putting the hard work in and trying to make sure these poor souls have got everything they need. Just imagine if I wasn’t here to look after them, what would they do? They’d suffer and maybe get a few feeds in but otherwise they’d languish outside in the heat and get all withered and dried out like prunes.

  Looking up at me Marcy wipes the blood from her chin and casually looks down to examine the crimson soaked material of her blouse, frowning she pulls it away from her body but the sodden material clings to her frame. Glancing up again she takes in the state of my own filth encrusted clothes and shakes her head,

  ‘We need clean clothes,’ she sighs languidly.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘The leaders of the zombie army should look the part, smartness maketh the zombie,’ she adds with a smile.

  ‘I don’t want clean clothes,’ I examine the front of my own disgustingly putrid attire, ‘we look good,’ I nod smiling at her.

  ‘No Darren, we look filthy, we’re getting cleaned up and after that we’re going to find some clean clothes and then have a look and see if we’ve got enough bodies to go after your friend Howie.’

  ‘He’s not my friend,’ Instant anger flushes through me, ‘he’s a fucking cunt and I’m going to get my lovelies to pin him down while I take a big zombie shit in his mouth.’

  ‘But we are going to get cleaned up first,’ she says firmly, ‘are you connected to me?’ she asks quickly with a serious expression.

  ‘No,’ I shake my head, ‘I keep trying but I can’t find you and I don’t know why.’

  ‘Oh well darling, I’m sure it’ll come,’ she pats my arm and starts walking out of the room as the fresh corpse at my feet starts twitching. ‘Well come on then,’ Mar
cy motions with her head to follow her down the hallway to the small bathroom. Once inside she reaches into the shower cubicle and turns the spray of water on.

  ‘Fuck off if you think I’m getting in there,’ I recoil backwards towards the door, ‘zombies don’t wash Marcy.’

  ‘Darren we are filthy and you smell disgusting,’ she looks at me pointedly.

  ‘No fucking way,’ I shake my head, ‘not happening, I like this smell,’ to prove the point I pull my soaking top away from body and inhale the odour of death and metallic blood deeply and smile at her.

  ‘Strip,’ she orders.

  ‘No chance,’ folding my arms I make my stand, firm and resolute. If she thinks I’m getting under that clean fresh water she can think again.

  ‘Fine, then you can stand there and watch,’ she rips her blouse open sending the little plastic buttons pinging onto the floor. She discards the top and shrugs her tight black skirt down to stand there in black bra and panties, ‘if you don’t want to join me that’s fine, maybe I’ll go and get big boy up here to wash my back for me.’ She turns away from me and reaches round to unclasp her bra, shrugging it off and letting it fall to the floor. She bends forward and pulls the panties down and my eyes fall to the smooth curve of her arse and the crusty scab forming over the bite I gave her. My undead zombie hearts starts beating faster at the sight of her naked body all covered in patches of dried blood and filth. She steps over the bath into the powerful spray of water and lets out a loud scream.

  ‘Oh that’s so cold it hurts,’ she wails turning slowly round, ‘it hurts so much it’s so nice,’ she purrs. She stops turning to stand facing me with her arms down at her side, letting me take in her naked body, the mounds of her breasts and the dark nipples, her flat stomach and the gentle curve of her hips.

  ‘Fuck this,’ I rip my own clothes off and jump into the water with her, she squeals with laughter as I yell out with the exquisite agony of freezing water pummelling my skin.

  Twenty minutes later we’re out of the shower using old towels to dry off and avoiding eye contact.

  ‘Don’t worry darling it’s been a busy day, it happens to everyone,’ she says kindly but I feel oddly flat. The extreme actions of the killing rampage, the utter depravity of going from house to house and the overwhelming urge to bite and kill left the act of sex feeling mundane and boring, I had a go but after a few minutes it went soft and to be honest I think we both felt glad it was over. Like it was some ritual we had to go through to cement our joining of minds or the traditional beginnings of a formulaic relationship. Meet a pretty girl, go out on a date and then have sex. Times are different and we are different. The urges coursing through us are not the same anymore.

  ‘Fuck it, no offence but I’m not that bothered.’

  ‘What?’ She flares up angrily.

  ‘Oh you’re lovely and all that but that stuff we did on the street was better than trying to have proper sex.’

  ‘I’m still a woman Darren,’ she shouts.

  ‘Not really love,’ I shrug, ‘you’re a dead woman, a zombie, the undead, infected and diseased along with the rest of us,’ she looks appalled like I just said she was fat or something, ‘it is what it is.’ I walk out stark naked and stroll down the stairs and out into the bright sunlight. My babies don’t show any reaction to my nakedness and I feel their devotion pour from their simple dead minds. Bare feet will cause me injury so I make one of the zombies tug their shoes off and hand them over. Smart black business shoes with fine laces and they fit perfectly.

  ‘What the fuck?’ Marcy comes out behind me wearing a towel round her body, ‘you can’t walk round like that you look ridiculous.’

  ‘What? Who fucking cares Marcy, this is new times and I can wear what I fucking well want.’

  ‘Darren, you are naked wearing office shoes,’ hands on hips she looks at me seriously.

  ‘They don’t care,’ I nod to the mass of undead drooling away nearby, ‘and anyone with enough mind left to notice what I’m wearing will be dead within a few minutes anyway so fuck ‘em.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere with you dressed like that.’

  ‘Well I’m not putting anything else on, take that towel off and let the air get to your body, it feels wonderful and liberating.’

  ‘No way!’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because they’ll see,’ she nods at the horde and clutches the towel tighter round her bosoms.

  ‘Marcy they don’t care, they’re just like dogs now. They couldn’t give a fuck if we dressed as clowns.’ She looks suspiciously at the horde watching to see if they stare at her, slowly she plucks the corner of the towel out and lets the garment fall to the ground.

  ‘See, are any of them perving over you?’ I stare round at the horde who have shown no reaction whatsoever to Marcy standing there in the buff.

  ‘Big boy is staring,’ Marcy looks at the hulking teenage zombie staring at her with utter awe.

  ‘He always stares at you anyway, he’s got a thing for motherly types so let him have a thrill.’

  ‘Motherly types? I’m not that fucking old!’

  ‘No I mean you turned him and stroked his face when he went under and came back so he probably sees you like a mother figure, like he did with his step-mum.’

  ‘He was having sex with his step-mum,’ she replies coldly.

  ‘Well yeah… fuck it, I know what I mean.’

  ‘I think he’s getting an erection Darren,’ Marcy watches the bulge grow in the groin of the roided zombie man child.

  ‘So he is, dirty fucker.’

  ‘At least he finds me attractive,’ she mutters.

  ‘I find you attractive, very attractive.’

  ‘He shows it,’ she points at the now stiffened tent peg straining against his stained jogging bottoms.

  ‘Well go and fuck him then,’ I say exasperated.

  ‘Maybe I will,’ she retorts quickly.

  ‘Do that and I’ll cut his dick off and stuff it down his throat.’

  ‘Oh so you can get jealous then?’

  ‘I’m the super zombie so he can look all he wants but he doesn’t get to touch what’s mine.’

  ‘Yours?’ She asks archly.

  ‘Mine Marcy,’ I stare at her defiant eyes.

  ‘Ours,’ she hisses at me.

  ‘Mine,’ I growl back.

  ‘Ours Darren, you’d be fucking dead by now if it wasn’t for me, you’d have charged after them and blundered about getting killed and ruining everything. It was my idea to turn this lot, my idea,’ her voice screams out making the veins in her neck bulge out.

  ‘I meant you’re mine not them,’ I wave my arm at the horde all standing there patiently, ‘they’re ours but you’re mine.’

  ‘Oh I thought you meant they’re yours,’ she calms instantly.

  ‘No you’re mine they’re ours.’

  ‘You just said that.’

  ‘I’m saying it again.’

  ‘Well I’m glad we got that cleared up now can we please get on, we’ve still got a lot left to do.’

  ‘Like what,’ I ask confused as hell.

  ‘We need more bodies,’ she says as though talking to a simpleton.

  ‘We’ve got loads,’ turning round I make a point of looking at the horde crammed into the front garden and backed up in the street all across the road. Most of them have been turned by me or Marcy but others are zombies that were already here and have tagged along for the ride.

  ‘We should get more,’ she says stiffly crossing her arms.

  ‘Oh Marcy can’t we just go and get Howie now?’

  ‘No Darren, we’re doing it properly this time. There will be time for playing later but we’re going to keep going until it I think we have enough.’

  ‘Oh fucking hell! That’ll take ages...’

  ‘Stop your whining and get on with it,’ still naked she strides past me through the gate and into the road, ‘and put some bloody trousers on.’

  Fiver />
  ‘We thought it was you but we had to be sure,’ the balding man says, the second man has pulled his balaclava off to reveal a hard face topped with thick brown hair. We’re standing round with weapons held down at our sides, still not confident enough to put them away just yet and I can sense Dave and Clarence keeping a discrete distance.

  ‘Howie, good to meet you,’ I extend my hand out to the balding man who swaps the gun over to free his right hand up.

  ‘Dean, that’s my café behind you, your group are with us safe and sound,’ he shakes hands firmly and steps back to look round at us, finally settling his gaze on Lani, ‘you’re a local aren’t you,’ he asks with a puzzled expression.

  ‘She is, we met her down the road,’ I reply quickly, ‘where are our group? Can we see them?’

  ‘They’re downstairs in the bunkers, we’ll take you down…has anyone followed you?’

  ‘No,’ Dave says firmly staring hard at Dean.

  ‘Let’s get under cover quickly, follow me,’ Dean turns to head back towards the recessed door he appeared from.

  ‘Before we go, what are they doing there?’ I point towards the tennis courts.

  ‘I’ll tell you once we’re inside, not here,’ Dean replies moving back towards the door.

  ‘I’d rather know now mate,’ the others take their lead from me and remain still.

  ‘It’s not safe out here, we should get undercover,’ Dean says quickly.

  ‘No offence mate but we don’t know you or what’s in there,’ I feel the tension rising again and although Dave hasn’t moved an inch I can tell he’s poised to react.

  ‘I understand, Mike go and get someone from his group and bring them up,’ Dean turns back to me then glances at the tennis courts, ‘we’re trying to see how long they survive without food or water.’

  ‘And?’ I ask.

  ‘Some of them have been in there since the first night it happened,’ he replies.