Danny looked down at the dog and saw the poor thing was trying to spit out the decrepit flesh. With luck Oskar wouldn’t bite one of them again, but with dogs it was hard to guarantee instinct wouldn’t take over from remembered experience. He patted the poor animal’s head and whispered calmly to him, feeling the tension drain from the dog’s muscles as it responded to the attention.
“Oskar wasn’t wrong, was he?” Danny said to no-one in particular.
“He knew before we even came in here,” Tom agreed. “Looks like he’s earned a steak dinner tonight, if we can find any. With the power on in this building it might just be that the freezers over at the general store might be working as well. I don’t like MRE’s either.”
Tom climbed onto the seat of the tractor and looked over the controls. The key was in the ignition so he turned it. The fuel gauge flicked clockwise indicating the tank was full. He pressed the starter button. After three turns the engine burst into life, blowing a thick cloud of diesel fumes into the confined space. Rob went over to the main door and pressed the open button. Slowly the door raised and began to allow the fumes out. Standing in front of the building was a group of three zombies, swaying to and fro just watching the doors rise. As they hadn’t been there when the truck pulled up, they must have walked around from the far side of the building, investigating the noises they had heard. Wearing blue maintenance overalls, it suggested that they had been caught mid-work by the apocalypse. One had a bloody bite mark on his arm, not having turned at the same time as had his colleagues, holding out until they had finally caught up with him. As they recognised warm bodies moving about within the confines of the building their demeanour changed to become more alert, more voracious in appearance. They began to stumble quickly through the thick snow towards their prey; clearly they had an overwhelming need to partake of a warm meal.
A small popping sound startled Danny and a red hole appeared in the chest of the creature on the left. He swung around in surprise and saw Sam holding a small revolver in both hands, smoke trailing from the barrel. Danny’s first instinct was to shout at him, his fear for the boy suddenly overwhelming. In a flash, though, he realised that the boy had done what he felt he needed to in purloining the gun.
“Aim for the head, Sam,” he said instead. The second shot hit dead centre of the same man’s forehead. Beginner’s luck, Danny thought, still feeling a small sense of pride in the boy’s success. Danny took out the middle zombie and Sam fired again, tearing the final one’s throat. It kept on coming, getting too close for comfort. Rob took it out.
“Nice one, Sam,” Tom said. “Where did you get the gun?”
“I found it,” he replied enigmatically.
“Where?” he pressed the boy a little harder for the truth.
“I got it from Cliff,” he replied. Tom looked at Danny and shrugged his shoulders questioningly.
“Did Cliff give it to you?” Danny asked, trying to avoid sounding like an angry adult.
“Yes,” the boy hesitated. “No. I took it from his bag.”
“Oh, Sam,” Danny said. “I was going to show you how to use one and give you your own. You didn’t need to take one.”
“It was after Cliff left us,” Sam protested. “He left his bag behind.”
Danny had walked up to him and put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “It still wasn’t yours to take. We might be going through a difficult time but some stuff still belongs to others.”
Sam held the gun out for Danny to take back.
“No. You keep it. Just make sure it is safe. If everything is okay tomorrow I’ll show you how to shoot it properly and protect your sister. I did promise you, remember?”
Sam nodded and smiled. He put the gun back in his coat pocket.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” Tom announced, revving up the now warm diesel engine.
“You bet,” Rob replied. “Are you going to drive this thing back to the cabin?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
“Okay. You head off and we’ll follow in the truck. I’m sure we can catch up to you; I don’t imagine that thing is exactly fast.”
“We’ll see, shall we?” Tom put it in gear and headed out the main door, driving over two of the bodies before disappearing down the road. Rob pressed the Close button and the door clacked noisily back down.
“Come on guys,” Rob said. “Let’s get our asses back in the truck and follow Tom.”
Together they rushed back outside and secured the building doors. Sam, Oskar and Sandy climbed in the back. Before Rob joined them he turned to Danny.
“Three for three, did you see that?” he said, a little in awe.
“I know,” Danny replied. “Probably fluke but part of me wanted to hug him with pride; the other part was a little frightened that he’s stolen it. But I guess the survival instinct starts young.”
“What can you do, eh? It’s the dodgy crowd he mixes with, isn’t it?” Rob said, smiling and climbed into the back of the truck. Danny got in the front, noticing Janet was in the driver’s seat.
“My turn! I want to try out a left-hand drive, see what it feels like.”
“Sure babe.”
*
Gunning the engine, Janet slewed around the corner on the snow and went in pursuit of the tractor. It was faster than they’d anticipated as Tom was now more than a hundred yards ahead already. Rob sat between the dog and Sam; he was still concerned that the dog might turn as it must have ingested some of the foetid creature. He had seen the way the wild cat had looked after it was killed. Although it didn’t seem to have turned - it was still warm - it did seem to have a lack of fear of groups of armed humans, behaviour not particularly normal for its kind. Rob prayed he was wrong; he really liked the animal, it had a way about it that was different from other dogs he had owned in his life. Perhaps it was a greyhound thing.
Janet easily caught up with the tractor and settled down to follow it all the way back; everyone began to relax now they were in the truck. A shout interrupted their thoughts.
“Guys!” Rob shouted through the communications window to the cab. “We have a big problem. I know why the streets were empty in Denver.”
“What is it?” Janet called back, keeping her eyes on the road. She glanced in the rear view mirror to her left and saw. “Oh, bloody hell!”
“That’s an understatement, Janet,” Rob replied. “Looks like there’s thousands of the bastards chasing us!”
Danny peered in the mirror on his side and saw the problem. “Oh, fuck me,” he muttered as his blood ran cold. A mass of the Infected was running along behind them, some struggling to keep up while others, behaving like sheepdogs, marshalled them into a single group and forced them in the right direction.
“God damn it!” Janet cried. “They’re catching us up.” Danny saw it too. The bloody things were running really fast. This shouldn’t be happening.
“Tom needs to get into the truck,” Janet said. “That tractor just isn’t fast enough.”
She hit the horn, attracting Tom’s attention. Tom turned around and immediately saw the problem. Danny signed for him to come alongside and get on board. Veering off to the side of the road and pulling back on his speed, Tom quickly fell back arriving next to the truck. Grabbing hold of the cage supporting the canvas sides he leapt off the tractor and clung on for dear life. Under its own steam the tractor slewed off the road and made its way across the rough terrain, straight for the smaller lake they had been driving past. Shit, we’re going to lose it, Tom thought as he watched the tractor bounce its way awkwardly towards the water. At the last moment it flipped onto its side just short of the water’s edge and the engine stalled. Right now, though, the captain had bigger problems - just holding onto the truck took all of his strength.
Seeing the temptation of warm bodies ahead, watching as one jumped between vehicles, the zombies were driven into a frenzy of bloodlust. Their speed increased, even the awkward ones began to run faster. Janet floored the accel
erator, taking the corners at breakneck speed while struggling to stay in control on the icy road. Slowly they appeared to be pulling away from the horde of impending death.
“Can anyone hear me?” Sandy called into the walkie talkie she had carried with her ‘just in case’ to quote her words.
“Yeah. Is that you Sandy? What’s up?” the voice came back.
“Hi Laurie. Get Mike to fire up the thingy, what’s it called. That big speaker.”
“The LRAD?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the problem?”
“Thousands of the bastards are chasing us. Looks like we get to test it on them right now!”
“Will do.” The radio clicked off and Sandy waited for a call back. Meanwhile they continued their headlong fall back to the cabin. The radio crackled again. “Sandy?” Laurie called.
“Everything ready?”
“No, we don’t have Danny’s phone!”
“What?”
“Danny’s phone is needed for the music!”
“Oh, shit.” Sandy poked her head through the communication window. “Danny, do you have your phone on you?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“It’s needed for the LRAD.”
“Shit! Damn it. Yes,” Turning to Janet, he spoke calmly. “If you can keep up this speed, we’ll have about thirty seconds before they are upon us. That’s time enough if you can drop me next to the LRAD; don’t stop, just slow down. Then park up behind it and get everyone into the cabin. Okay?”
“Sure thing, love,” Janet replied as she focused on not crashing at the last furlong. He squeezed her leg in reply.
Racing around the final corner the cabin came into view. Carrying rifles at the ready, BB and Mike were standing by the LRAD, hopping from foot to foot, eagerly awaiting Danny’s arrival. Peering closely Danny saw no-one else around the cabin; good, the others must be inside, hopefully fully armed by now.
Janet slowed briefly next to the LRAD and Danny jumped out and rolled across the ground as his foot slipped. He came to an abrupt halt at BB’s feet, a pain shooting up his leg as his foot twisted with the force of the fall.
“Argh! He cried in pain. “Help me up, BB.” The two struggled together before Danny was finally on his feet and fumbled in his pockets searching for the phone.
Meanwhile Janet picked up speed again before slewing to a halt over by the helicopters. The passengers fell out of the vehicle and made their way into the cabin. The last thing Janet saw was Danny over by Mike and BB being helped to his feet after his fall.
Delving into his pocket Danny got the phone out and fumbled as he tried to insert the jack into the earphone socket. He finally succeeded in connecting it to the killer device. Meanwhile the cabin door slammed shut and several faces peered out at the terrifying scene that was unfolding. The few versus the many; at least this time the few had a game changer, or so they fervently hoped.
The horde was now less than a hundred yards away, their anticipation of a warm meal palpable.
“You two go inside, now!” Danny ordered. “There’s no point in risking all three of us. If this doesn’t work I want you where you can defend my wife and the kids.” Mike and BB looked like they would argue but Danny turned away and focused on what he had to do. He heard their footsteps as they ran to the cabin. Fifty yards now and he turned it on. Faint tones of Kylie Minogue became audible and the effect on the charging mass was immediate.
As if hitting a brick wall, they slid to a walk and then stopped; the undead began shaking and walking in circles, clutching their heads as if in agony. They looked almost comical in their state of confusion. After the headlong rush to capture their prey it was amazing to see the change that had come over them. Their heads appeared to steam, and eyes began to pop from their sockets, hanging loose like ’Seventies clacker toys. Finally, one by one they began to fall to their knees, at which point their heads began to crack open as their brains boiled over, splitting their heads like water melons. The air took on a pinkish-green hue as the fine spray of brain matter burst forth, making Danny rush to the cabin to avoid breathing it in. It was the sound of it all that would stay in Danny’s mind forever; it was like buttery popcorn, a cracking pop followed by a wet slapping as the slurry hit the ground. Soon those few still standing were slipping on the gooey detritus under their feet. Hundreds of heads had burst, leaving a lake of degraded brain matter pooling across the flat approach to the cabin. It was already starting to freeze on the edges, trapping the last and only partially affected creatures, leaving them flailing helplessly as they began to freeze to the ground.
Seeing the zombies off to the periphery were relatively unaffected, and once the air was again clear of the steamy, reddish mist, Danny came out and switched off the LRAD. The others followed him out of the cabin and together they began to dispatch the remainder as they attempted to continue their unending quest towards their quarry, apparently attempting to walk outside the lethal sound zone. More deliberate activity, Danny noticed. Soon there was only the occasional moan to be heard. Kylie had done her worst and saved the day.
Standing there in shocked horror the group surveyed the scene of carnage. Total silence reigned; no sound at all. The stench was overwhelming from the massive quantities of steaming brain matter that covered the ground as far as they could see.
“Holy shit,” Danny muttered as he looked back at the LRAD. It looked so benign, just standing there, silent and waiting for instruction. The once peaceful camp site now looked like a scene from a war film, with bodies and gore strewn everywhere. Somehow it didn’t look real, there was simply too much of it for a human brain to process. Small wisps of steam rose slowly in the last rays of the evening sun, heat had re-entered the corpses of the Infected one last time before they were permanently put out of action.
“I’d say the sooner we get that bloody fence up the better,” Janet observed. “They must be leaving the cities in search of something, food possibly.”
Danny looked at his wife and then at the others. Considering the number of dead lying before them, there was remarkably little emotion on display. Perhaps you can’t have emotion over killing the already dead. Maybe mass death was just an irrelevance now - them or us, he thought.
Sam had come outside and was standing with Janet, holding her hand. In his other hand was his revolver. The sight surprised Danny. I really have to help him come to terms with all this, he thought, perhaps when I have managed to do so. Penny had stayed inside with Ethel and Laurie, together they just stood at the window, staring out at the unbelievable scene in front of them.
Everyone looked up as a door latch clicked on the other side of the clearing. Angela stood on the small porch, wearing what looked like a short-sleeved night gown, trying to make sense of the scene. Her mouth was working but no words would come out. Stepping out into the slurry, wearing what looked like slippers, a look of horror and fury alternated on her face. She’s mad as a hatter, Danny thought, and now she’s tipped over the edge; at least she’s not carrying that knife. He began to move slowly towards Janet and Sam, his protective instincts aroused. They were standing by the LRAD, which was also clearly Angela’s destination.
The young woman began screaming garbled, indecipherable words and at first Danny thought she might actually be speaking in tongues, as was supposed to happen in the End of Days. He saw movement back in the cabin, just back from the open front door. He could just make out Cliff’s form, standing in the shadows. What the hell’s going on, he wondered. His hand tightened on his gun as he prepared to react quickly.
Angela had made her way through the hardening slop of brain, oblivious to the viscous matter splashing up her legs as she walked. Arriving at the LRAD her words became understandable.
“You are all damned to hell! The Lord will smite thee as you have done to his subjects!” she made a grand gesture taking in the field of slaughter. No-one said anything in reply; most just thought it better if she just gets it out of her system and goes back insid
e.
In a flash, she had grabbed Sam by the throat and taken his gun from him. Holding him close, she put the barrel to his head, the whites of her knuckles clearly visible as the trigger was squeezed. A shot rang out and Sam’s face turned red with blood. No-one moved; the shock too great. Slowly Sam collapsed away from the woman as she too fell to the ground.
“Nooo!” Danny cried as he rushed to the boy. Scooping him up he was surprised to see the lad’s eyes open and looking at him. Wiping the blood away in confusion, Danny realised the blood wasn’t Sam’s. He looked over at Angela and saw that half her face was missing. “What the…”
Cliff had stepped out onto the porch and in his hand was a rifle, smoke still rising from the muzzle. Danny and Cliff stared at each other, before the sergeant slowly walked over to the corpse he had just made.
“Sorry,” was all he said. It was impossible to tell whether he was apologising to the mad woman, the boy, Danny or the rest of the group.
“Thank you, Cliff,” Danny said, still holding Sam tightly. Janet had come over to him and all three crouched together in a huddle for a moment.
Mike was the first to react and walked over to his colleague.
“Are you okay?” he asked. Cliff nodded, handing him the rifle.
“I’m just going back to get my daughter. I’ll be back in a sec.” With that he returned to his quarters and returned in a moment with a small bundle in his arms.
He walked back to Mike. “Permission to re-join the crew, Captain?”
The Common Cold (Book 2): A Zombie Chronicle-Cabin Fever Page 19