The Z-Day Trilogy (Book 2): Z-Day [Day of the Zombies]

by Mark Cusco Ailes

  He remembered sitting around the fire while his father told ghost stories about a ghost who ate small children. His mother would complain that the stories were too violent for a young child to hear. Then she would make him toasted marshmallows over the fire. Those were perfect times in his life. He didn’t have to worry about anything, not even a ghost who ate children. His thoughts were interrupted by Morris.

  “The school is secured. All we have to do now is round up the survivors.”

  “Good. Get the men ready to go find them. I’ll stay here and make sure everything goes according to plan.”

  He continued to watch the fire as the trucks left to go find survivors and bring them back to the school. He imagined the smell of frying fish, the loving embrace of his mother and the last days of his father. In a moment of weakness, he felt a single teardrop cascade down his cheek.

  In the distance, he heard sounds of gunfire and explosions. He tuned it out. He tuned everything out. He had to get his composure back. He didn’t want the men to think of him as being weak. He was an officer in the National Guard. He had to remain strong. He had to remain…he looked around. Nobody had seen him at his moment of weakness. He turned away from the fire and headed back into the school.

  Chapter Eight

  Randy Snyder slammed on the brakes in front of the hospital, smashing into a woman who was struggling to walk. The impact threw her into the bushes leaving her to lie bleeding like roadkill. He jumped out of the car but didn’t check on her. Instead, he ran to the passenger door and opened it. Inside the car, his daughter was bleeding profusely after having been bit by a zombie that had entered their house through the opened patio door. He snatched her from the seat and turned to head into the emergency room when something ricocheted near his feet. He looked up and saw a graying man holding a rifle on top of the building. He was wearing a white lab coat leaving Randy to believe he was probably a doctor.

  “Stop right there!” he yelled from the roof. “Don’t you dare try to bring her inside the hospital! There are already enough zombies inside!”

  “She’s been bit. I have to get her some help.”

  “You won’t find any help inside. You’ll only find death. Go away while you have the chance.”

  Randy didn’t believe him. He didn’t believe the whole hospital could be infected. He moved a step toward the entrance and another round ricocheted near him.

  “I won’t miss a third time.”

  “Why are you doing this?” asked Randy. “She’s going to die if she doesn’t get any help.”

  “Look at her. She’s already dead. The best thing you can do for her is shoot her in the head. Trust me; you’ll be sparing her a lot of pain.”

  Tears fell like rain from Randy’s eyes. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Aren’t you a doctor? What kind of doctor would say something cruel like that?”

  Before he had a chance to answer, the lady in the bushes stood up and made a move toward Randy. Another shot rang out, knocking her to the ground. Randy’s heart hammered in his chest. He looked back up at the doctor. “Thank you.”

  The doctor looked at him for a few seconds. “Listen, if you can make it to the back of the hospital, there is a door for employees. Meet me at the door, and I will see how far along your daughter is. Maybe there is a chance I can do something for her.”

  The doctor disappeared. Randy looked at his daughter. She was still passed out. He figured it was because of her blood loss. An incredible quantity of blood had poured from her wound. He looked around. The area was clear of zombies. He hurried to get to the back of the hospital by making his way through the bushes, keeping as low as he possibly could without dropping his daughter.

  Once he got to the employee entrance, the doctor was waiting for him. He ushered him inside and closed and locked it. “Follow me; this whole area has been cleared.”

  He led Randy to an elevator. They got inside and the doctor pushed the button for the top floor. “We don’t have to worry about any zombies on the top floor. They haven’t figured out how to get to it yet. I’ve dealt with the ones who were already there. I’m Doctor Titus. I’m a pediatrician.” He looked at Randy’s daughter and shook his head. “The virus has already advanced through her body. I’m afraid there won’t be much I can do for her. I don’t know what we’re dealing with. All I know is it makes normal people into killers. If you ask me, it’s some sort of zombie plague.”

  “You haven’t heard?” asked Randy. “Zombies have escaped the park.”

  “No, I haven’t heard. At least now I know what I’m dealing with. Unfortunately, there is no cure for this virus that I know of.”

  “Are you saying my daughter is going to die?”

  The doctor checked her vitals. Her breathing was labored and she had a weak pulse. “How long since she was bitten?”

  “Ten minutes, fifteen tops.”

  The door opened to the elevator and they walked into a brilliantly lit hallway. The doctor led him down to an open area where several children were in bed hooked to monitors.

  “None of these children have been infected. That’s why I was on the roof. I was checking out the situation. I really thought we were under attack from another country. I thought they had found a way to poison our food and water. That is what I thought was making people attack one another. I’m sorry I fired at you. You have to understand. I have to keep these children safe.”

  “What about my daughter. Can we keep her safe?”

  The doctor checked her vitals again. Her heart had stopped beating. He looked at Randy alarmed. “Put her down.”

  “What?”

  “Put her down. Her heart has stopped beating. She’s going to turn into one of those things. I have to protect the rest of the children.”

  “You’re not going to shoot my daughter! I won’t let you!”

  His finger found the trigger of his rifle and tensed. “I said put her down before it’s too late.”

  Randy was about to say something when his daughter struggled to free herself. He loosened his grip and she fell to the ground. She stood back up and turned to face her father. She moved her head from side to side and raised her arms toward him. With a loud growl, she lunged toward him, toppling him to the ground. He fought against her to keep her from biting him. He held her head up as best as he could, but she possessed super strength.

  The doctor approached them and hit her squarely in the head with the butt of his rifle. She rolled off of Randy with blood trickling from a fresh wound. She lay motionless on the ground.

  “Next time maybe you’ll listen to me,” said the doctor. “Now I need to go check on my patients.”

  Randy crouched down by his daughter. He didn’t know whether to shout or cry. He held her close. She was all he had in life. His wife had died giving birth to her and he never remarried. He looked at her face. Sadness weighed heavily on him like a stone he carried on his back. He stood up and peered over at the doctor. He was busy checking on his patients. He wanted to blame him for his daughter’s death. He wanted to lash out at him, give him a taste of his own medicine, but he knew it wouldn’t accomplish anything. Instead, he made his way to the roof and stood over the edge peering down. The building was now surrounded by several of the walking dead searching for their next meal of hot flesh.

  He thought about the pleasant things he had experienced with his daughter. He remembered her first lost tooth, her first day of kindergarten, her first blue dress, and everything that represented his life with her. He looked over the edge again with his inner torment visible on his saddened face. He turned to leave the edge, but his feet were glued firmly in place. His mind was conflicted. He didn’t know if he could continue to exist in a world without his daughter. He looked over the edge again and held his breath. He walked off the edge, his feet meeting the air. The pavement took him in a red asphalt embrace. His body burst on impact, splattering the pavement hot red.

  Doctor Titus checked the vitals on his patients, going from be
d to bed. The results were the same on every one of them. Their pulses were all weak, as if death was calling them home to join him in darkness. He couldn’t understand why it was happening. It just didn’t make any sense. None of them should be dying, but all the tests were positive. He checked the monitors to make sure they were functioning correctly. Perhaps one of them could be malfunctioning, but all of them?

  He walked away from them hoping to clear his head and think rationally. None of them had come in contact with the infected. There had to be an explanation. He tried to recall anything from his medical experience. Could this be an airborne virus? His thoughts were replaced by silence. All of the monitors had gone silent. He turned to see what was happening. His breath caught in his throat. The children were all standing in front of him in some kind of trance. He could do nothing but watch, paralyzed with fright as they lunged toward him. The horror was too much for him, and he shut his eyes for one last time.

  Chapter Nine

  Donnie, Ben and Chloe stood in the middle of the park. The stench from a dead man’s loosening bowels filled the air. All around them were the dead, blood splattered and broken. It reminded Donnie of the Civil War with a blood-soaked battlefield. He searched his surroundings looking for any sign of the walking dead. Nothing was stirring in the darkness. He turned to the others.

  “I was told General Poe was here. He might have already left. Let’s check the place out.”

  Ben looked at Chloe. “I think she wants to check out her shark.”

  Donnie acknowledged him. “I guess it’s a good place to start. I haven’t had the chance to see it up close.”

  “I wonder what’s going to happen to this place,” said Chloe. “We can’t leave them alone.”

  “The fish,” said Donnie. “There is nothing we can do for them. They’re already dead.”

  “I know what we can do,” said Ben. “We can burn the building to the ground.”

  Chloe looked at him in terror. How could he suggest such a thing? Then she had second thoughts. Burning down the building was a better answer than leaving the fish to suffer. She took Ben’s hand.

  “I can’t do it. I need you to do it for me. Whether they are living or dead, I will still feel guilty.”

  “Don’t worry, Chloe, I’ve got you covered.” He looked at Donnie. “Come on; we have some work to do.”

  They stood in front of the aquatics building listening for anything out of the ordinary. They were about to enter the building when some movement caught their eyes.

  “Something is moving inside,” said Chloe, pointing at the entrance. “It looked like a seal.”

  “It was,” said Donnie, readying his M16. “I’ll take care of it. We’re going to have to be careful. There might be more things that have gotten loose.”

  Donnie entered the building first and aimed at the seal that had just turned to face him. It let out a low growl and lunged forward. It didn’t give him a chance to fire as it crashed into him, causing him to drop his weapon. It pinned him against the glass doors and tried to take a chunk of flesh out of him. Donnie fought to keep from being bit and struggled to hold its slippery head. It pushed against his body, sending bolts of pain cascading through him. Donnie’s face was suddenly showered with a red mist. He looked up and watched as Chloe sunk a knife deep into its skull. She screamed and moved away from them. Donnie pushed the carcass off of him and stood up and wiped blood away from his eyes.

  “Thanks, Chloe,” he said. “It was so slippery I couldn’t get a hold on it.” He retrieved his weapon from the floor and looked at Ben. “You better get your M16 ready. We don’t know what else is lurking inside here.”

  “I don’t think I want to go any farther,” said Chloe. “I don’t want anybody else to get attacked by anything. Let’s get it over and done with.”

  Donnie directed Chloe and Ben to go back outside. He would stay inside and start the fire. Ben led her outside as Donnie went to where Chloe had told him the cleaning supplies were kept.

  About fifteen minutes later Donnie came rushing out of the building being followed by a couple of penguins. He closed the door as they crashed into it, knocking them both backward. They stood back up and tried to crash through the door. Smoke filled the building behind them as they kept crashing into the door and tumbling backward. Donnie grabbed Chloe’s arm and dragged her away from the building.

  “We need to get out of here. The entire building is going to go up in a matter of minutes.”

  They raced away from the building as flames shot through the top of it. Chloe’s heart sank. She knew she was giving the aquatic life mercy. She knew they were dangerous, but still, she was going to miss looking at them every day. She held on to Ben’s arm and kept up with him. The building erupted into flying chunks of stone. They felt the ground shake below their feet, but they kept running. Tears streamed down Chloe’s face. She knew the job had been finished.

  They made it to the front of the park and stopped to catch their breath. Donnie looked back. There was nothing moving in the darkness. He looked at Ben and Chloe.

  “We have to find General Poe. He could be anywhere by now.”

  “We have to help the city,” said Ben. “This is my fault. The park was my idea.”

  “You didn’t make any of this happen,” said Donnie. “General Poe is responsible for all of this. I’m pretty sure he’s the reason the zombies escaped. Think about it. I’m sure this is all a test to see how effective the zombies are. They want to make the zombies into weapons and now they know they’re perfect. That is why he must be stopped.”

  “Stopped!” screamed Chloe, raising her hands in defiance. “How the hell are we going to do that? He’s not here! I’m sure he’s met up with the military by now, enjoying the carnage. I wonder how many people have died as a result of this test. Think of all the innocent people.”

  Ben tried to take her in his arms, but she pushed him away. “No, Ben, we have to make this right. We need to save as many people as we can. We need to get weapons and vehicles and make our way into the city and kill as many zombies as we can.”

  “I have buses,” said Donnie. “You already know I have men and weapons. We can do it. I also have enough explosives to take out the National Guard if they try to stop us. Right now we have to consider the military as the enemy.”

  “What are we waiting for?” she asked. “It’s going to take us the rest of the night and most of tomorrow to sweep through the entire area. I just hope we’re not too late. I hate to think people are dying before we have a chance to find them.”

  “Come on then,” said Donnie. “Our work is done here. All the zombies are now gone from here.”

  They turned to have one last look at the park. Ben stared at the entrance to the park and all the ticket booths. He was determined to make General Poe pay, and if at all possible, he wanted to do it himself.

  Chapter Ten

  Ned Pendleton tossed another book on the ground out of anger. Every one of his conspiracy theories were correct in one form or another. He opened another book on the section about zombie warfare and how the government was developing smart zombies to use as weapons. He thumbed through the section about using them on the homeless as a test before deploying them overseas. When he had first learned about a zombie park being built in the area, he knew it was the beginning. He hoped he was wrong, but all the research he had done pointed toward him being right. He had expressed his fears to the mayor, but he was shown the door and told never to step foot in his office again. Now it was too late. The zombies were now running freely in the city. He focused his attention on the section about a cure. The only cure was dropping a nuclear device on the city. He ran his fingers through his unkempt hair. In the background he could hear his television. Somebody was urging the citizens to make their way to the high school where the National Guard would get them out of the infected areas.

  He flipped to the next page about the roundup where citizens would be rounded up and put to death to keep them from tel
ling the rest of the world what the military was doing. He slammed his fist down on the desk. “Why won’t the mayor listen to me?”

  Life is an illusion, he thought. Most of the world takes life for granted. One day it’s here and gone the next. People no longer control their own lives, the government does. The government couldn’t thrive without people. If there weren’t any people left, who would they tax? It’s a rather confusing equation. Ned doubted the government understood it themselves. He angrily threw the book aside and unrolled a map of Valparaiso. He followed the outline of the city with his finger trying to determine where they would try to hold the city.

  He hated the military. They were a special class of people. He wondered if the military were God’s chosen people–the ones to fight God’s battles. They were the men and women specially chosen to make examples of the ones who didn’t follow His word. He didn’t actually believe in God; he only believed what he could physically see and touch. He was a man of science, not religion.

  He looked out his window and witnessed a woman running through his yard being attacked by one of the zombies. It grabbed her by her long, brunette hair and bit through her throat. Her screams were gurgled as if her throat was being filled with blood. He closed the curtain and moved away from the window.

  He went back to the map and looked at the outskirts of Valparaiso. He knew the police and National Guard would be barricading the streets in these areas to keep anything or anybody from leaving. They would try to stop the zombie plague from spreading. He knew they wouldn’t be able to stop them. The zombies would easily overrun them and sweep across the country. They would bring their terror to the whole nation. They would devour all. Soon the whole nation would be considered one nation under zombie. As he continued looking at the map, he heard a noise coming from his front door. Terror shone from his eyes like twin candles of fright. He slowly made his way over to the window to steal a glance. The shocking horror slammed into him full force. There were two zombies standing at his front door trying to figure out how to get inside. He turned to look at his front yard. He saw the woman who had been attacked rising from the ground and staring hungrily at him. He closed the window and moved backward toward the kitchen. He checked out the back window and there were several zombies standing in his backyard moving slowly toward his house. He was trapped inside. He wished he had a weapon in the house to protect himself. He remembered he had a chainsaw in the garage. He knew it was in perfect working order; he had just got it back from the shop.