The Infected (Book 2): Karen's First Day

by Zuko, Joseph

  Leon tapped the brakes and the car slid on the hundreds of gallons of human remains in the street. The Dodge’s performance transmission allowed him to put it right back into drive without skipping a beat. The back of the car fishtailed down the road. The tires were so slick with fluids they didn’t smoke.

  Karen opened her eyes when she felt the change in direction. The cruiser’s rear and side windows were coated in black. It made it feel like it was nighttime inside the Dodge.

  “I can’t tell how many are left!” Leon called out as he cranked the windshield washers to full blast. The wipers whipped back and forth trying to clear the thick fluids.

  “Mama! Hand!” Robin pointed over Karen’s shoulders at the hood of the car. Karen’s eyes followed the path of her finger until they found what her child had pointed at. A gnarled up severed hand and most of a forearm lay out on the hood in front of her. It was missing a few fingers and at the angle she was looking at it the hand appeared to be giving her the bird.

  Fuck you too buddy!

  “Don’t look!” Karen tried again to block the nasty view. They raced down the street for a few blocks then Leon pulled the emergency brake and whipped the car around one hundred and eighty degrees.

  Less than fifty infected monsters remained upright and moving down the street after them. Karen could see Penny’s house down the block. The lights were out and it looked like no one was home.

  Good, she’s safe in a closet or back bedroom.

  We’re almost home.

  “Let’s try that one more time.” Leon hung a hard right and raced down the block. He popped his head out the open window to line up his attack. Once he got the rear bumper centered on the horde he punched it again. There was no way to see out the back windows anymore. No way to know when the first hit would happen.

  Karen closed her eyes again and began to hum to herself. It was like white noise inside her head. The back of the Charger hit its first infected and kept going.

  It will be over soon.

  Then we will be safe.

  It sounded like the trunk had caved in. The rear window also took a couple heavy hits from some big infected noggins, but it held. When they were three quarters of the way through the horde they hit something big. It was a slow moving monster with a ravenous appetite. The Charger came to a sudden stop and the back of the car bounced into the air. Troy’s head crashed against the metal cage, knocking him out cold. Valerie began to scream at the top of her lungs. The car touched back down and the rear axle landed on the rotund body with a loud crunch. The wheels hovered an inch from the ground.

  They were stuck.

  The wheels spun in the air. Karen could hear the sounds of dead hands banging along the side of the Charger even over the roar of the Hemi, but what she couldn’t hear was the sound of her phone ringing in her pocket.

  Chapter 20

  The cabin of the Dodge filled with screams as infected hands pushed past the medical bag. Leon tried to maneuver the bag to block the encroaching claws but there were too many hands and not enough bag to keep them all out. Fingertips scraped at the window next to Karen’s face. The window was so blacked out with blood she couldn’t tell how many of them were still out there.

  “Troy!” Karen looked back at her brother. He was laid out cold on his chest with Valerie still strapped to his back. Blood trickled from under his baseball cap. Valerie’s tears dripped off her cheeks and onto the back of her uncle’s neck.

  An infected arm pushed past the medical bag. Its nasty hand reached toward Leon’s face. The dirty broken fingers dragged across the mirrored finish of his sunglasses. Leon pushed against the infected arm and he lost his grip on the medical bag. The infected ripped the bag out of Leon’s hands and pulled it clear of the car.

  The tapping fingers next to Karen’s face had become more aggressive and the infected beasts were throwing their fists and elbows at the glass. Leon quickly replaced the bag with his axe. He smashed the blunt head of the weapon into the asshole’s face that stole the bag. It knocked the infected to the ground but it was quickly replaced by another hungry mouth. Karen couldn’t get a clear shot. Leon’s head kept bobbing back and forth in front of the open window. He slammed his foot into the gas pedal over and over but the tires were still an inch off the ground.

  Leon hammered the axe into the faces of the infected, but he couldn’t land a kill shot. Karen’s window spider webbed. She had to make a decision fast, but her option was limited to one. Get out and run!

  How did it go so bad so fast?

  The next hit at her window busted it wide open. Shards of glass rained down on her. She popped off a round at the first thing that moved outside her window. The screams of her children and the gunshot all piled on top of each other caused Karen to go deaf. Everything sounded like she had her head under water.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  Karen gunned down another two infected creatures at her window. Leon’s axe disappeared, ripped from his hands and tossed to the ground by an infected man that looked like it had just taken an acid bath. The skin on its face hung like melted cheese. Leon kicked open his door and knocked the man to the ground. In a flash Leon was up and out the door.

  “I’m sorry!” was all he said to Karen as he sprinted away from the car. It didn’t register with Karen what Leon had done until he was half a block away and still moving.

  He left us!

  Motherfucker!

  Three monsters chased after Leon. He rounded the corner of a house and was gone.

  BOOM! BOOM!

  Karen zapped another two.

  “TROY!” she screamed over the sound of her crying children. A body pulled its way through the driver’s side door. Karen fired at the infected until her gun slide locked. Blood splattered the inside of the car and its body slumped over the center console. Another set of infected hands reached into her window.

  Botchy yelped in pain.

  The dog bag was yanked up and out her window. Karen’s bad hand caught the strap and held it tight. Extreme pain shot up her wrist and forearm like a bolt of lightning. Botchy cried for help inside the bag. Karen strained with all of her might. She tried desperately to get her beloved pup back into the car. The infected man pulled and pulled.

  Not Botchy! Please no!

  Karen cried out a guttural scream. Her wrist couldn’t take anymore. Her grip was about to give. This dog was her baby. Botchy had never hurt a soul. She loved everyone and was absolutely adorable. Her only job was to look cute. The tears gushing out of Karen’s eyes stung and blurred her vision. She was completely losing her mind. And just like that the bag was gone.

  I have to save her!

  Karen tried to open her door but it was jammed shut by the stack of dead bodies outside her window. Botchy’s cries climbed to crescendo and then she went silent. Karen unfastened her seatbelt and climbed over the dead body that lay on the center console.

  I’ve got to save her!

  Karen fought her way over the slimy, sticky mess, worked herself out the door and to her feet on the driver’s side of the Dodge. She quickly switched out the empty magazine for the full one in her back pocket. Karen’s tears caused her eyesight to blur. She tried to wipe them clear, but it was impossible. Her ears rung and they felt like they had mud in them. The pain in her wrist felt like it was radiating everywhere in her body. Karen’s brain had not fully wrapped around what had exactly happened.

  Time had shifted for her.

  It could have been only a few seconds or an hour since the bag was pulled from her hand.

  I’ve got to save her!

  Less than twenty infected remained in the street. The small horde was fighting over the dog bag. Karen stepped around the backend of the Charger. The trunk door had been crushed and sunk deep into the back of the car. It was overflowing with body parts and human soup. She wiped at her eyes again and some of her sight returned. The pack of infected had their backs to her. The gun was up and in a few seconds she emptied the magazine into the
skulls of the infected. Ten monsters dropped dead and Karen could see what remained of Botchy.

  Her knees wanted to buckle.

  “Mama! Botchy!” Robin screamed as she pointed over her Mama’s shoulder. Karen almost blacked out. The last of the infected started to chase her. Her gun was empty and she was out of full magazines. Troy’s shotgun was in the backseat of the cruiser. Karen tucked her gun back into its holster. She ripped the rear door open. Valerie was hysterical and calling for her Mama. She was trying to work her way out of the wrap, but she didn’t have the strength.

  Karen grabbed the shotgun on the floorboard, “You’re gonna be okay!” She didn’t have time to properly reassure her baby girl before she could feel an infected pulling at Robin in her wrap.

  Karen spun and put the butt of the shotgun into the face of the infected pulling at Robin. The impact sent the monster to its back. Karen fired the gun at point blank range and eviscerated its infected face. The recoil of the shotgun was excruciating. The gun almost flew out of Karen’s weakened right hand. Her grip on the front stock saved the gun from falling to the ground. Karen cycled through the next five shots and it cut the ranks of the dead in half. Only four monsters remained, but she was tapped out of ammo.

  Now what?

  Karen tossed the smoking shotgun back onto the floorboard of the Charger. Valerie reached out and begged for her Mama to hold her.

  “I’ll come back for you! I promise!” Karen slammed the car door shut on her little girl.

  She will be safe in there!

  The last four monsters were only feet away. Hundreds of thousands of years of human progress had boiled down to this point and the ancient parts of Karen’s brain knew what to do.

  Fight or flight!

  The axe lay right there on the ground.

  Could she chop all four of them to death?

  Or would she miss and get eaten by the others?

  Fight or flight? There were only two choices.

  Flight! She left her screaming baby in the back seat of that cop car and she ran. Her legs turned as fast as they possibly could. Her body dumped the last of its adrenaline into her veins. Karen ran at a speed she didn’t know she had in her. The infected dragged their sorry asses behind her. With every step she took she put a little more distance between them.

  She scanned the horizon for sanctuary, somewhere to hide for only a minute so she could reload one of her empty magazines. Karen dug out the empty mag from her back pocket and she held it tight.

  One of the houses had its door wide open. She aimed for it and hoped there weren’t any ankle biters hanging out in there. She could feel Robin’s, red hot, tear soaked face buried in the center of her spine. She hadn’t had time to check if Robin was okay back there. Karen could hear her muffled cries, but she didn’t know if they were from fear or if she was injured.

  Karen entered the house. It was a late nineties ranch style home. She forced the door closed and pushed the bolt lock into position. The living room was overturned. Someone had a knockout, slug-fest of a fight in this room. The flat panel TV was still on the news. Blood sprayed across its plastic screen and a puddle of red covered most of the carpet. The kitchen sat in the back of the house past the living room. She made her way through the living room and headed for the kitchen.

  CRASH!

  One of the infected launched its body through the large window at the front of the house. The glass blades punctured its body. When it rose to its feet Karen spotted the razor sharp, clear triangles sticking out all over its head and shoulders. It looked like a human mace. It bolted straight for her and was followed by the three other monsters coming through the window. Between the kitchen and the living room was a bathroom. Karen headed for the open door.

  She flipped on the lights and shouldered the door closed behind her. Karen turned the little privacy lock in the door knob. A second later a powerful thud hit the flimsy wood. The monsters crashed and pounded at the door. Karen stepped away from the noise and propped her purse up on the counter. She angled herself towards the mirror so she could see Robin’s face.

  “It’s okay! We’re okay!” She was talking to Robin and her own reflection. The wrap that held Robin was soaked with the blood of the infected she crawled over and her face was drenched in sweat. She worked feverishly at the zipper of her purse. Robin’s head lifted off of her Mama’s neck so she could see herself in the mirror.

  “Are you okay?”

  She found the box of ammo.

  “Okay. Where Aler?”

  The frame around the bathroom door cracked loudly. All four of the monsters were fighting to get through.

  “She’s with Uncle Troy.” Karen worked quickly to get the shells out of the box and into the mag. An infected arm busted through the hollow door. Karen was just out of reach. Her fingers felt like they were twice the size they normally were as she fed the rounds into the end of the mag. Another arm punched its way through the door.

  Come on hands work faster!

  She got a second shell jammed into the mag.

  “Mama! Here!” Robin pointed at the door it was about time for another update. Karen worked two more rounds into the mag when one of the infected busted its head through the door. She had only seconds before the door caved in. Then the infected would feed. Four bullets would have to do.

  No chance for error.

  The infected shoulders forced their way through the door. She worked the gun out of its holster and popped out the spent mag. The empty mag slipped out of her hands and clattered across the tile floor. One of the outreaching infected hands brushed against her shoulder.

  Click! Clack!

  BOOM!

  The bathroom door was painted black. The sudden death of their comrade didn’t slow the other three down. They pushed their way through the broken door. The thin wood splintered and fell apart under their weight. The dead body fell to the floor and was trampled by the other infected.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  Three shots.

  Three direct hits.

  Gray matter exploded all over the inside of this bathroom. The room filled with smoke and the smell of gunpowder. Karen stepped over the dead bodies and exited the bathroom. The front of her was dripping goo. She pulled a chunk of skull from her hair and dropped it to the floor. Karen stole a hand towel off the kitchen table and wiped her face clean.

  As she jogged back out of the house she reloaded the magazine she picked up off the bathroom floor. She headed down the street and back to the cruiser. By the time she arrived she had it fully loaded and back in the bottom of the gun.

  Valerie’s screams carried out the broken window and open door of the cruiser. Karen opened the back passenger door. Valerie was unable to form words she was so worked up.

  “It’s okay. I promise.” Karen reassured her.

  Something pulled at Karen’s leg and she dropped to her butt. The gun fell from her hand and it skipped along the ground. Karen’s abs strained to keep herself upright and not crush Robin against the street.

  “Mama!” Valerie howled.

  An infected crawled out from under the cruiser. The wheels of the Charger had crushed its stomach. Its legs dragged behind it. Its powerful arms bulged with muscles as it yanked Karen’s calf close to its mouth. She delivered a hard rubber sole to its face. It didn’t faze the brute. Its grip was crushing as it pulled itself farther up her body. She couldn’t roll out from under him or knock him off. She wiggled her legs to keep them out of its mouth. Its teeth grazed the thin layer of denim on top of her thigh.

  It worked before.

  Karen jammed her thumb deep into its eye socket. The eye gouge didn’t slow down its attack. Its teeth snapped loudly and its grip tightened around her knees. Its torso was too strong for her to use its socket as a handle to pull its skull around. Every muscle in her body stained as she fought to escape, but it was too powerful and she was unarmed. There was no way to kill the bastard.

  This is it!

  I’m dead!<
br />
  Killed in front of my girls!

  Torn apart by this muscle head!

  How can this be-

  An axe crashed down into the back of the infected skull. The force of the hit knocked the skull to the ground between Karen’s legs. The edge of the blade rested against the skin of her hand. Karen looked up.

  Leon stood at the end of the axe handle. Black liquid covered his suit jacket and slacks.

  “Are you okay?” he puffed out of breath at her. He spotted the shredded dog bag on the ground and what was left of Botchy. “Oh, god I’m sorry.” Leon offered his hand to Karen. She slid her thumb out of the dead man’s socket and took Leon’s hand. Their hands squished with ooze. He pulled her to her feet.

  “You shouldn’t have run,” she said as her voice cracked with emotion. She tried her best not to look back at what was left of her sweet little puppy. Karen picked up her gun and placed it back into its holster.

  “I panicked. I’d never…again I’m sorry…I…” Leon’s head dropped with shame. “I’ll check the other bodies.” He moped away and jabbed the head of the axe into the bodies around the car. Checking to see that they were really dead. The Charger was completely covered in body parts. A trail of gore ran down the street for a full block out in front of the car. Dismembered bodies laid out all along the asphalt. Leon felt disgusted that he had any part in the mayhem, but it was hard to argue with results. They had been standing outside for a few minutes and no one had tried to take a bite out of them.

  Karen knelt down in front of the door. Her hand pressed against Valerie’s cheek, “It’s okay. We’re almost to Ganny’s.” She did her best to calm her voice. Gale force winds of emotion were crashing against her heart. Her hands shook uncontrollably, her heart raced. A continuous stream of tears flowed out her eyes.

  Karen’s thumb rubbed away a tear on Valerie’s cheek. She barked out a horrible cough and forgot to cover but her Mama didn’t care. The young girl’s sentences were slowed down as she gulped in short breaths of air, “Can I have…ice cream…when we get…”