She reached out and took the mail. The dead man grunted, turned, walked off the porch and disappeared into the darkness.
Amy directed the beam of light to the envelopes.
“Oh my God! You have got to be kidding me,” she said obviously annoyed.
“What’s wrong?” Tommy asked.
“Well...,” she said shaking her head in disgust. “Even in the middle of a zombie apocalypse I’m still getting bills from the credit card company…”
Amy took a box of nails and a hammer from the kitchen closet. She picked the door up and put it back in place. Then she nailed it up as best she could. They removed the door from the closet in the hallway and nailed it diagonally over the other.
“That’ll have to do,” Amy said. “Help me with the couch.”
Together they moved the couch and pushed it up against the door. Amy stacked everything she could find on top of it to add weight. They stepped back and were satisfied with their work.
Retreating to the attic, they pulled the ladder up and closed the door.
Amy replaced the broom handle. It took a while but they were finally able to go back to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following week passed without incident. They watched quietly from the windows as the uncurious dead wandered about outside the house. Oblivious to their presence.
They continued to wait for help to come and rescue them. Amy had a picture in her mind of what happened after hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. She could imagine groups of rescuers going house to house searching for survivors. So far that help had not materialized. Amy thought there probably was no-one left to man or form the groups.
Occasionally there would be a straggler who would come into the yard and inspect the house but none of them made any attempt to get inside.
Then one day as they were sitting quietly in the living room reading they heard a scream.
“That’s not one of the dead,” Amy said jumping to her feet and rushing to the front window.
They peered out the just as a woman, clothes ripped and hanging in tatters from her body, ran screaming by the house. Close on her heels was another one of the demon dead. Much faster and more agile than the others, it was closing the distance quickly.
It caught her in front of the house next door and tackled her to the ground.
Tommy jumped back from the window and looked away.
Amy watched as the thing began to tear the woman apart.
She felt her stomach retch as she witnessed the woman being disemboweled by the zombie.
She was about to turn away when the thing suddenly raised it nose high into the air and sniffed like a wolf checking the wind for the scent of prey. Then it slowly turned its head and seemed to be looking directly at her. Her blood turned cold as a chill ran through her body. Her scalp tingled, her breathing stopped. She was frozen with fright.
She knew there was no way it could see her, but... it sensed her presence.
One of the slow ones appeared from behind the house
across the street. This drew the other’s attention. It growled loudly at the slow zombie which stopped in its tracks. It watched from nearby hoping to get the scraps when the demon zombie had its fill.
Amy stepped away from the window and pointed down the hallway. “In the attic now,” she whispered, “and don’t make a sound.”
Tommy nodded in the affirmative and slowly tip toed back to the attic where they remained for the rest of the day.
They passed the following days watching from the windows as the dead wandered about outside.
They had noticed after two weeks that some of the dead were quite literally starting to fall apart. It was not uncommon to see them missing arms, hands or even a leg. They saw a few crawling along the ground, the bottom half of their bodies useless. The majority though, unfortunately Amy thought, seemed to be unaffected and wandered aimlessly about the neighborhood.
After three weeks the dead who had fallen littered the streets. They had simply crumpled to the ground then lie there moaning and struggling.
Except for a few stragglers, the others soon wandered off and did not come back. Where they went Amy had no idea. But... she knew they were out there. Somewhere.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After three and a half weeks they were low on water and their food supply was running low.
They decided to take Amy’s truck and drive into town. They had seen very few zombies near the house in the past two days.
Amy checked the weapons and filled a back pack with ammo, water and a days worth of food.
She armed Tommy with the 9mm pistol and had him put extra rounds in his pocket.
Amy moved the barricades and unlocked the door. They stepped out onto the patio and were smacked in the face with the stench of death. They had become somewhat used to it over the past couple of weeks but it was much stronger outside. They scanned the area for the dead but saw none.
The two zombies that killed the dog and the old woman were still where they fell. But now they were a mass of stinking rotting goo. The juices from the decay spreading out in a greasy puddle around them.
The other two were where Amy had dragged them some days ago. They were now black and bloated. Their skin crawling with so many maggots it seemed to be alive.
It was early morning and the sky was clear. The sun was low in the eastern sky. It looked as if it would be a beautiful day.
Amy told Tommy to wait at the door and to go back inside and lock it behind her if needed.
She walked over to the side of the house and looked down the driveway. She saw two of the dead walking around in one of the backyards a few houses down the street. Three more were writhing and squirming on the ground nearby in there last desperate attempts to stay undead.
They clacked their teeth together, slowly and rhythmically. One was trying to pull itself forward with his arms but was making no progress. Amy told Tommy to lock the door and follow her.
She pointed to the three un-dead nearby, “Ok Tommy, lets put these down,” she said.
Tommy looked at her nervously. His grip on the pistol tightened. Sweat began to break out on his forehead.
They walked up to the first zombie. It turned its head toward them. Eyes wide he looked directly at them making eye contact. Tommy raised the pistol.
“Don’t shoot yet Tommy,” Amy said. “Wait until I tell you. There’s something different about this one.”
It made no threatening movement toward them and seemed to be pleading with its eyes. Begging them to end it for him.
Its nose was completely gone leaving a gaping hole where it once had been. One ear was missing and the scalp was peeling away from the side of its head.
It propped itself on one elbow and raised the other arm toward them as if reaching out for help.
Tommy stepped back.
It then lowered its head. Its hands closed tightly digging into the lawn and clutching the grass.
“Now Tommy,” Amy whispered quietly, “now.”
Tommy fired once, the reverberation echoing throughout the neighborhood. The zombie went limp and crumpled to the ground. One last breath escaping its body. Its grip on the grass loosened as the muscles relaxed.
They stood in silence. Amy looked at Tommy as a tear escaped the corner of his eye and rolled down his cheek. A lump formed in her own throat, her eyes became misty and she had to choke back the urge to cry.
This was the first time she had become emotional during this entire nightmare. The realization of that hit her suddenly and she was a little troubled by how hardened she had become.
There was no satisfaction from killing this one. This was different.
She thought back to Miss Lillian. There had to be some kind of connection.
Miss Lillian, as well as this one, seemed to want their life as one of the un-dead to come to an end.
Amy closed her eyes and said a prayer. It was the first time she had prayed since all this began.
Th
ey stood for a moment then the struggles of the other two drew their attention.
These two were snarling ferociously, teeth snapping and clawing their way toward them.
Regular old zombies, Amy thought.
Their eyes were wild, hazy and filled with hatred.
Two rounds were unceremoniously fired into each. They flopped to the ground face first. Blood spread out around them staining the ground. Amy felt nothing.
They scanned the street looking for movement. Bodies littered the sidewalks and lawns. There were no birds chirping, no squirrels, no sound at all. The street and the neighborhood was lifeless.
“Lets go,” she told Tommy.
They threw their things into Amy’s truck and started the engine. The sound of the throaty V-8 was music to her ears. She hadn’t heard that sound in almost 4 weeks.
They made their way slowly down the driveway and out into the street. The sound of rotting corpses squishing and crunching under the tires was nauseating.
A glob of greasy red matter splattered a mailbox after a particularly loud pop came from under the truck.
“Oh my God,” Amy said feeling sick.
She tried to avoid running over the bodies as best she could but sometimes it couldn’t be helped.
There was no sign of life or the living dead. Amy saw bodies stacked at the front door of several of the houses as they passed by. She was puzzled by what this could mean of anything.
She didn’t point them out to Tommy and he said nothing if he noticed.
They made their way out of the neighborhood and onto the main street passing many scenes of death and devastation on the way into the heart of town.
The stench of death was overwhelming. Bodies in various stages of decay and dismemberment lay scattered about.
There was still no sign of life as they pulled up to the red light at Birch Avenue.
In the middle of the intersection was a police cruiser. The driver’s side door open. In the driver’s seat sat a dead police officer slumped over the steering wheel.
The sound of the idling truck reverberated through the morning air.
“What is it?” Tommy asked.
“Shh…” Amy whispered. “I think it moved.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth the dead police officer raised its head to look at them. Chills went through Amy’s body.
“Uh oh,” Tommy said.
The zombie slid out of the seat and stood up. Amy could see his shiny black shoes underneath the door.
“Give me the pistol,” Amy said quietly.
Without taking his eyes off the zombie Tommy handed her the gun.
The dead officer stepped from behind the door and faced them. Gripped in his right hand was a pistol.
“He has a gun,” Amy said. “Get ready to get down.”
Tommy stayed where he was. Too afraid to move.
Just as Amy was about to get out of the truck and start shooting, the zombie stepped to the center of the intersection in that high stepping manner she had seen in the mailman and Miss Lillian.
“It’s ok,” she told Tommy. “He’s like the mailman.”
He stood staring at them.
“What does he want?” Tommy asked.
“I’m not sure,” Amy answered.
The officer’s zombie stood still. Watching them closely.
Amy looked at Tommy then reached up and turned on her left blinker.
The zombie stumbled back a few steps out of the way then raised its left arm to waved them through.
“Go,” Tommy said. “He’s letting us through.”
Amy pulled out slowly and turned onto Birch. Tommy nodded as they passed the dead officer who was standing with a heavy list to the right. It nodded back and continued to wave them on.
Just as they finished the turn a scream echoed through the truck.
Amy stopped and looked up in the mirror. Tommy turned in his seat to see what was happening.
“Oh no,” she said. “It’s one of them and it’s heading straight for the policeman’s zombie.
Amy grabbed the shotgun and jumped out of the truck. She raised the barrel and was ready to shoot. The zombie was only yards from the dead officer by now.
They watched in amazement as the officer’s zombie raised its pistol and fired. The recoil knocked the pistol out of the policeman’s grip and the gun flew backwards landing in the street six feet away, but, the bullet had found its mark.
The demon zombie’s skull exploded sending a red mist out the back. It stumbled a few more steps then fell face first sliding to a stop at the officer’s feet.
The officer kicked at it weakly with its foot as if to make sure it was dead, then went back to its cruiser and sat down.
Amy lowered the weapon. “That’s the craziest freaking thing I’ve ever seen,” she said getting back in the truck.
“Cool,” Tommy said still looking back.
They continued on and soon pulled up to the corner in front of the courthouse, stopping by a yellow fire hydrant and park bench.
The courthouse was a two story red stone building with a clock tower on the front corner. There were two large green doors on each side of the tower. The doors on the right were wide open. The glass had been blasted out. On the left side one door was hanging haphazardly by one hinge and the other, mangled, twisted, full of bullet holes and covered with blood, lay at the bottom of the steps.
Blood stained the side walk. Bodies lie on the front steps where they had fallen. The red stone around the entrance was pock marked with gun shots. Sunlight glistened off the bullet riddled glass of the upper floor.
A police cruiser and a TV news van were parked in the grass near the entrance. Blood was smeared on the outside of both vehicles. An arm dangled from the open door of the van. The arm began to move then a head appeared and turned to look at them.
They watched as the dead man crawled out of the van and stood facing them.
Tommy raised the pistol. “Don’t,” Amy said. “It’s not one of them.”
The zombie stared at them for a moment then high stepped over to a camera lying in the grass a few yards away. It picked it up, headed off toward the courthouse then disappeared through the green doors and into the darkness of the building.
Amy checked their weapons and stepped out of the truck. She gripped the shotgun tightly and stood for a moment listening. A cacophony of silence met her ears. She realized for the first time just how loud silence can be. It was overwhelming.
She gestured for Tommy to join her. He exited the truck and stood beside her pointing toward a Deli across the street.
Amy gave Tommy a thumbs up. “We’ll look for food first,” she said, “then check out the courthouse.”
“Alright,” Tommy said. “I bet they have pickles.”
“Keep your guard up,” Amy added.
She was concerned about going into the courthouse anyway. This would give her a chance to consider how to approach it. If at all.
She had a very bad feeling about this. Even though she had hoped to gather information about what was going on, maybe they would skip the courthouse altogether and go back home. Live to fight another day. Amy gestured toward the Deli and they turned to cross the street.
Suddenly a scream echoed through the courthouse shattering the silence.
Amy pushed Tommy behind her as another scream came from an open window on the second floor. A zombie, half its body leaning out the opening, glared at them from above. The sound of someone bounding down a wooden staircase drifted out and met their ears.
The zombie stared down on them with hate filled eyes. She knew instantly it was one of the demon dead.
Just as it pulled itself back inside the window another scream was let loose as one of the evil dead burst through the courthouse doors and sprinted toward them.
Amy took the 9mm from Tommy’s hand and began firing. She fired six rounds in quick succession managing to only hit it in the torso. It continued to bear down on them.
With the thing only twenty-five feet away now, she took more careful aim and squeezed off two more rounds. The second one finding its mark and entering the zombie’s head just above the left eye. It stumbled for a few more steps then finally fell face first and slid to a stop.
Before she had a chance to savor the victory, another one, possibly the one in the window, came flying out and leaped over the steps. It landed in mid stride and bolted for them. Another one of the slower regular dead shuffled out behind it and started down the steps.
Amy ignored the second one and took shaky aim. She fired four more shots from the pistol emptying the clip. None found their mark. The zombie continued un-abated.
Dropping the pistol to the ground she pulled the shotgun, which had been slung over her shoulder, up for a shot. She fired a low un-aimed shot shattering the thing’s right knee. It stumbled and fell then struggled to regain its feet.
Amy advanced as it tried to get up. She fired again. This time a more carefully aimed shot that shattered the other leg. It fell to the ground again on its knees. Now un-able to stand.
Amy pumped again and fired into its body knocking it over backwards. Then again hitting the left shoulder and neck area. It collapsed to the ground.
She determinedly walked over to it and stopped a mere three feet away. Their eyes met, Amy no longer feeling afraid.
It clenched its teeth, growled and tried to rise up.
Amy pumped another shell into the chamber. “What the hell are you?” she spat.
The zombie snarled and hissed. Then it made one last attempt to lunge at her.
Amy stepped back and began to scream. This wasn’t a scream of fear but one of anger.
“Fuck you!” she screamed.
She fired once again into its body knocking it back to the ground, pumped the shotgun again and stepped closer. She fired at point blank range. The zombie’s head came apart in an explosion of blood, brains and bone. The fragments of which littered the ground behind it.
She pumped to fire again but the shotgun was empty. Smoke rose from the corpse. Amy’s scream still echoed off the walls of the surrounding buildings.
She looked up to see the slow zombie shuffling towards her. She reloaded the shotgun then headed off to put it down.
Soul Survivor: A gripping tale of the living, the dead, and the struggle to survive in an apocalyptic world. Page 4