Z-Strain (Book 3): Fallout

by Morris, S. J.

  I was able to pin Tabitha against the wall and force her hands above her head, but she pushed her face forward, biting at me. She sunk her teeth into my tactical vest just below my neck. Unsatisfied, she chomped her teeth open and closed over and over, trying to get at my throat.

  I didn’t like the idea of fighting with an old woman, but elderly or not, this lady was trying to kill me. She brought her knee up, connecting with my genitals, and I saw stars. I bent over unconsciously into the pain, and she took the opportunity to bite again, this time digging her teeth into my shoulder.

  The pain instantly snapped me into survival mode as I threw a punch connecting with Tabitha’s jaw releasing her teeth from my body. She sunk backward but quickly came back at me, screeching loudly, flailing her balled up fists at me in a frenzy of punches. I put my forearms up, blocking her blows and swiftly kneed her in the gut, forcing her to drop to the ground.

  Tabitha gasped for air while she rolled on the floor. I was on top of her in one sharp movement. I put my knee in her back, grabbing both of her wrists behind her, effectively subduing her. Now with us on the floor, the cats took the opportunity to rush at me, clawing and hissing angrily that I had their keeper pinned.

  “Lynn!” I yelled. “I could really use your help down here. Like now, please!”

  I heard the upstairs door burst open and Lynn running down the stairs.

  “I’m in here,” I hollered. “Get some rope or a cord. Something to tie her up with. This lady is nuts,” I said, doing my best to push the attacking cats away with one hand as I held Tabitha down with the other. “And get these fucking cats away from me!” I growled.

  “My kitties are going to eat you alive! Do you hear me? Alive, I tell you!” Tabitha barked out from underneath me.

  Lynn ran into the kitchen, shooing the cats as she got closer to me. “What the hell happened?” Lynn asked, detaching a cat from my back as it hissed and swatted at her. “Fuck, these little bastards hurt!” she cried as the cat in her hands scratched and bit at her.

  Lynn tossed the cat into the other room, but it was quickly back clawing at me, and more cats joined in. “You have to do something about these cats, damn it!”

  Lynn grabbed a pot from the stove, dumped the contents onto the floor, and filled it with water from the sink as she struggled with the felines clawing at her legs. She splashed the water on the cats at her feet, and they instantly ran away. She filled the pot again and tossed the water at the cats that were attacking me, and they scattered.

  Tabitha yelled from the floor, “How dare you? You filthy tramp! Leave my kitties alone!”

  I pulled my handkerchief from my neck and shoved it in Tabitha’s mouth. “Shut up, would you?”

  Lynn went into the hallway and grabbed a lamp from a table, ripping the cord from the bottom and returning to tie Tabitha’s hands for me.

  I got off of the old woman as she wiggled on the aged linoleum, grunting against the cloth in her mouth. I stood up, wiping the sweat and blood from my face. I had to sit down. The pain from my throbbing nuts was too much to take standing up. I clutched my groin and breathed heavily through the extreme discomfort.

  Lynn laughed, “Did that little old lady kick you in the balls, Jimmy?”

  I looked at Lynn sideways. “Yes, yes, she did. And it freaking hurts, thank you very much. She’s a feisty old bird. She frickin’ bit me too. Look at my shoulder, did she break the skin?”

  Lynn pulled my tactical vest and my shirt to the side. “No. It looks like you got lucky. Grandma here bit hard enough to leave a mark, but there’s no blood or broken skin. You’ll have a bruise, but other than that, a few cat scratches and some beaten balls, I think you’ll be okay, Casanova,” she laughed.

  “I’m glad you’re having fun. Ugh, what I wouldn’t give for some ice right about now,” I groaned.

  Lynn froze. “Shh... did you hear that?”

  “Hear what?” I asked, listening hard.

  “I thought I heard someone yelling.”

  I jumped up from my chair. “Kamil, it has to be him. He’s alive in this house somewhere. Stay here with Mrs. Doubtfire, and I’ll find him,” I replied, drawing my gun, not knowing what other threats might be in this funhouse of horrors.

  I entered the hallway and stopped to listen. I was rewarded with banging and moaning from the infected outside against one of the windows. Shit, the commotion must have brought the dead back.

  Over the clawing and other noise from the walking corpses outside, I heard a faint yell at the end of the hall. I found a door with a padlock on it. I ran back to the kitchen and patted Tabitha down, finding the keys in the pocket of her dirty nightgown.

  I unlocked the door and nearly threw up instantly from the smell. I was half expecting the infected to greet me, the stench of death was so strong. I covered my nose as best as I could and flicked the light switch on the wall revealing wooden steps down to a dirt-floored basement.

  I whispered, “Kamil... are you down here?”

  “Jimmy! I’m over here. Help me,” Kamil gasped.

  I turned the corner at the end of the stairs and saw Kamil tied to a rusty metal cot. I rushed to his side, pulling out my knife to free him from his restraints.

  “Holy shit, Jimmy. I thought I was going to die down here. Where’s Tabitha?” he asked, sitting up and rubbing the blood back into his hands.

  “Lynn and I have got her tied up. What the hell happened down here, and what is that godforsaken smell?” I gagged.

  “Tabitha’s husband is in that closet, I think,” Kamil pointed to a half-rotten wooden door. “She’s been drugging and killing people to feed to him and her cats. The bones are over there in that corner.” Kamil pointed at the other end of the basement which was thankfully shrouded in darkness.

  “Jesus, that woman is crazier than I thought.”

  “Yeah, I know. Tabitha thinks her husband isn’t one of the infected. She thinks he’s just sick, and if she keeps him fed and protected, that someone will find a cure one day.”

  “I’ll fix that right now,” I said, walking over to the door.

  There was another padlock on this door as well, so I took out the keys I had taken from the old woman and found the one that fit. I drew my gun, and Kamil stood behind me, holding my knife, ready to attack. I removed the lock as quietly as I could, tossing it to the floor. I grabbed the handle, took a deep breath, and opened the door in one fast movement. The arms of an incredibly deteriorated old man reached for me. I backed away, and he fell face-first to the dirt.

  I took aim and squeezed the trigger. One loud shot rang out, and its black brains splashed all over the already blood-stained floor.

  I heard a muffled scream from upstairs and furniture being tossed around. Kamil and I ran, leaving the rotting body.

  I yelled as I climbed the stairs, “Lynn! Are you okay? What’s going on?”

  I rushed to the kitchen, and Lynn was on top of Tabitha, holding her on the ground. “Nothing. I’m fine. Tabitha heard the shot and tried to get up. She knocked over the chair is all.”

  Tabitha squirmed underneath the weight of Lynn’s body as she spit out the rag. “You killed him, didn’t you? You monster! You killed my Harry!” Tabitha cried out through her tears. “There’s nothing left for me now. You might as well kill me too.”

  Surprisingly, Kamil knelt down next to Tabitha and spoke softly to her. “I’m sorry, Tabitha. Harry wasn’t just sick. There is no cure for what he had. Just like there is no cure for what the others have. This virus kills every part of the person it infects that made them who they were. Their soul is gone as soon as they turn.” He brushed her wispy white hair from the side of her face, tenderly. “There was nothing left of the man you once knew. I’m sorry, but that’s the harsh reality of it. I told you I lost someone close to me too. She was the love of my life, and I would have done anything to save her, but once she was bitten, I knew there was nothing I could have done. She died in my arms, and I was the one to put an end to her bef
ore she came back as one of those monsters. It’s difficult, but it’s how things are now, and I think you know that.”

  Tabitha just sobbed on the floor as Kamil spoke. I never heard what actually happened the Kamil’s girlfriend. I only knew that she died the night Abby was kidnapped by Brigantine when they stormed the cabin months ago. Knowing that he was the one to end it for her made my heart ache for him.

  Chapter 11

  Kamil Dunbar

  My tender moment with Tabitha was shattered by the sound of cracking wood and the cries of the infected breaching one of the windows in another room.

  “Guys, I think it’s time for us to go. The infected are almost inside,” I said.

  Jimmy drew his pistol, pointing it down the hall at the rotting arms now reaching through the boarded-up window. “What are we going to do with her?” he said, pointing at Tabitha.

  “The only thing we can do,” I replied. “Tabitha, if I let you go, you aren’t going to fight us, are you?”

  “No... I promise,” she responded through her tears.

  I used the knife I had taken from Jimmy to cut the cord from her wrists, and I helped her to her feet. Tabitha immediately hugged me, sobbing into my chest.

  “Thank you, Kamil. I’m so sorry you lost your girlfriend, but I’m thankful that you told me what happened. I needed to hear that. I’m just an old woman, and my mind isn’t what it used to be. I’m sorry... to all of you. I’ve hurt so many people hoping it would bring back my Harry. I’m sorry,” Tabitha whispered as she hugged me again. “I’m sorry I didn’t kill you all the second you showed up at my home!” she screamed, taking the knife from me and stabbing me with it.

  Lynn screamed and reached out for me while Tabitha ran from the kitchen to the front door opening it and turning quickly away from the arms of the undead to run up the stairs.

  I fell to my knees in pain as I clutched the blade sticking out of my side. Lynn was next to me before I could topple to the floor completely, pulling me up and under her shoulder.

  “We have to get out of here, now!” Jimmy shouted. “She let the infected inside.”

  “All of the other windows and doors are boarded up, there was an exit in the basement, I think,” I coughed out.

  Jimmy led the way, Lynn partially dragged me along with her. We dodged the rotting infected hands reaching for us as we ran down the hallway. Lynn pulled me along down the wooden stairs as Jimmy closed the door behind us.

  I certainly didn’t miss the smell of this awful place. I hated being down in this basement. I thought this is where I was going to die when I was tied up down here as Tabitha’s captive, but with my new injury, I feared I might still end up dying down here.

  Just as we made it to the bottom of the stairs, the undead began to beat at the door, trying to get to us. By the sounds of the cracking of the wood, it seemed like we didn’t have much time to get out before the old door gave way.

  I pointed towards the edge of the basement, where I saw a small sliver of light. There was a set of stairs leading up to heavy steel cellar doors that were locked from the inside. Thankfully, Jimmy still had the keys he took from Tabatha as he tried each key on the lock. One finally opened it, and he forced the heavy door open a crack to peek outside.

  It appeared all of the infected outside were busy pouring through the front door on the other side of the house, so it was clear for us to exit. Jimmy went out first, making sure there were no undead in our path, and Lynn helped me up the stairs.

  It was early afternoon, and the sun shone brightly through the trees momentarily blinding me as we exited the cellar doors. I listened as the wind carried the distant moaning of the infected still overwhelming Tabitha’s home and the shrieking cries of her cats fighting them. I didn’t know what had become of Tabitha and her felines, but after what she did to me... to all those other people... I guess she was getting what she deserved. I still couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit sorry for her. This plague had driven us all a little crazy, but that was still no excuse for cold-blooded murder.

  I hobbled as Lynn dragged me through the thick overgrown grass towards the woods. We ran as fast as possible with my injury, and thankfully it appeared that we had gotten away from Tabatha’s house of horrors without any of the undead following us.

  We made it to the embankment where our quads were still sitting, waiting for us. Lynn laid me on the ground, gently. She grabbed a first aid bag from the back of her ATV, and Lynn ripped my shirt open and pulled the knife from my side.

  Thankfully Tabatha wasn’t as strong as she had hoped, and the blade didn’t go entirely inside my abdomen. The knife had somehow avoided puncturing any of my major organs. I had dodged a real bullet with this one. Lynn gave me a few stitches, bandaged me up, and we got my quad unstuck. Then we were finally on our way to the Wawayanda compound.

  I hoped the rest of our trip was uneventful. Being drugged, held captive by a lunatic, stabbed, and then running for my life away from the infected and a horde of crazy kitties... I have most certainly had enough excitement for one day.

  Chapter 12

  Jimmy Smith

  It felt good to be back on the ATV’s, like we were truly safe from the terror we had just escaped. I found myself turning around every few minutes to make sure all of us are still together and that we weren’t being chased by the horde of disease-riddled undead.

  I had finally begun to relax when we came to an intersection littered with bodies covered in black blood and gore. They were definitely infected since most were missing vital body parts, and all were only lifeless thanks to the massive holes in their heads.

  Lynn pulled up next to me. “This is where we were trapped in the ambulance. Chris took them all out, saving us,” she said, motioning to the bodies scattered around the broken pavement. “These were the ones Dr. Nasser and I were worried about,” Lynn pointed to a group about twenty feet away dressed in leather biker apparel. “These were the ones that turned within seconds.”

  “Seconds?” I asked, confused.

  “Yep. A group of men on motorcycles tried to ambush us, and some of the ghouls came out of the woods and attacked them. The big guy over there was bitten, and he turned before he could even hit the ground. I barely had time to register what happened before he turned and started attacking his fellow gang members.”

  “Holy shit. That can’t be good if the virus is taking over that quickly now,” Kamil chimed in.

  “Yeah, Dr. Nasser was quite on edge the entire time we were trapped in the ambulance before Chris and Merv rescued us. I’ve never seen her so worried. Typically, she’s all calm, cool, and collected. I knew it meant the virus was adapting and changing for the worse, but Dr. Nasser seemed to know something more. Something she wasn’t sharing with us. I just hope having Troy and Dr. Dodges from our camp working together is a good thing. I’m optimistic they can figure something out to stop this before it gets any worse,” Lynn said solemnly.

  “Worse? How could this possibly get any worse?” I asked.

  Lynn looked at me wearily. “It wouldn’t surprise me if this thing, this Perdition Virus, became airborne, so yes, it could get worse, and I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say things like that to jinx us.”

  “That can’t happen... Can it?” I asked, looking to Kamil and then Lynn. “This thing can’t be airborne, right?”

  Lynn shook her head. She looked exhausted. “Two years ago, I’d tell you zombies were a scientific impossibility, but now... I don’t think anything is improbable anymore.”

  Screams burst from the trees lining the road we were on, and a group of ‘ghouls’ as Lynn liked to call them were running full speed directly at us. Their eyes, milky white, but still full of rage stared us down as they approached quicker than I had seen any of the infected move in the past.

  “Holy shit! We gotta go!” I yelled, restarting my ATV flooring it as soon as the engine roared to life.

  As we sped away, I threw glances over my shoulder every chance I got, making s
ure the infected were a safe enough distance away. The undead were still giving chase, shrieking madly as they pumped their decomposing legs faster. I turned my head again, watching as dozens more broke the tree line grouping together like a rioting mob of hostile marathon runners.

  These infected were fast and seemed to be doing a damn good job of keeping up with us even though we were on quads. The debris in the road made it difficult and dangerous for us to drive too fast, but the alternative was getting swarmed by the pack of super-zombies. The headache I had from being belted with a frying pan turned into a full-on migraine. Sweat ran into my eyes as I sped as fast as I could through the downed branches and muck on the road. I quickly rubbed the salt from my eyes and turned again to see that Kamil and Lynn were having a similarly difficult time outrunning the monsters still giving chase.

  I slowed just a little and took my handgun from my holster. I made sure that I kept the ATV on a steady straightforward course as I looked back, took aim and began firing into the crowd of monstrosities chasing us. My first two rounds found homes in the brains of our pursuers, but the next two only clipped a shoulder and an arm doing nothing to slow the angry mob of undead behind us.

  I turned straight ahead just in time to watch Lynn ride the shoulder too close to the edge of the embankment hitting a patch of mud causing her front tires to cut quickly at an angle that tossed the back end of the vehicle up and over her head. Lynn went flying forward through the air skidding along the grassy median like someone skipping a stone on a lake.

  Looking behind me, I saw that I only had moments to grab Lynn before the infected would be on top of us, so I only slowed enough to be able to take my right hand off the handlebar while keeping the quad steady. I was only going to get one shot at this, and if I missed, I’d be looking on as the undead tore Lynn to pieces.

  The thought of witnessing her demise was enough to bolster my confidence and I told myself, ‘This is going to work. I’m going to grab her. This is going to work.’