Detroit Reanimated

by Michael Halliday

  “That’s right, but next time, let an adult handle it."

  “You didn’t do shit,” Matt muttered under his breath. “Oh, for your info, the door doesn’t have a handle on the other side. They can’t get out.”

  “Just, be more careful. You’re too…”

  “Don’t even say it, because I’m sick of people saying ‘you’re too young.’ I just did us a favor while you were busy hyperventilating.”

  “Sorry, I’m just looking out for you,” Edward conceded.

  “It’s fine, just stop telling me what to do,” Matt said, and he was clearly tired of this man.

  “How old are you?” Edward asked. He wanted to calm Matt down.

  “Twelve and a half...” Matthew answered. “What about you?”

  “Thirty-five, and believe me when I say I’m starting to feel it.”

  “I don’t know how to feel,” Matt remarked quietly.

  “Matt. Both of your parents were in that hybrid?”

  Matthew nodded.

  Edward studied him for a moment. Matthew was short and skinny for a twelve-year-old, but handsome, and he had a charismatic aura about him.

  “Matthew, are you really twelve?”

  “You know what, you can take care of this yourself,” Matt snapped.

  “Sorry, but you look more like you could be nine.”

  Matt stormed out of the gas station. Nikki had just completed filling up the police SUV when she saw how upset he was.

  “Hey sweetie, come here,” Nikki called. Matt did as she asked and sat by the pump with an infuriated look. “What’s the matter?”

  “There were three of those things in there, and I used my Tae Kwon Do skills to get them locked inside a cooler, while that asshole can barely breath, and then he starts grilling me about my age, and doing anything stupid. He even doubted my age.”

  Matt was in tears by end of his rant, and Nikki knelt down beside him.

  “That was wrong of him to do that, Matt. No one here, except Evan, knows what you’re going through. I don’t even know what to say, to be honest with you, but I know someone you could talk to. He is someone who can look at you at eye level. That would be Evan. You both could be very helpful to each other.”

  “I think you’re right,” Matt said, and he looked over at Evan.

  Matt felt a strong dislike towards Edward, and he thought of the judge as cowardly.

  “Is there a reason why you had to upset him?” Evan asked with frustration.

  “I didn’t know he was so sensitive,” Edward responded sluggishly.

  "Sensitive? Do you not understand what he and his sister have been through?" Doug asked as he gave Evan a heated glance.

  "I get it, but that’s no excuse to treat someone with disrespect," Edward replied.

  “Maybe you disrespected him,” Evan suggested calmly. “Doug, how sensitive do you think Edward would be when we reach Kansas City, and he finds his entire family was slaughtered?”

  “That’s a great question, Evan,” Doug replied to play along. “I’m starting to get the feeling he’s a bit cold-hearted. Get your shit together Eddie, or you’re going to find yourself feeling a little sensitive when we leave your sorry ass behind.”

  They drove for a couple more hours until they got a little passed Flagstaff. Doug and his family rode in the Police SUV, while Evan was behind the wheel in the cruiser with Edward, Mary and Matthew. They found a hotel called Little America and Doug got the group situated. It was going to be the last stop until they reached Albuquerque, New Mexico, except for bathroom breaks and refueling.

  Little America was completely vacant. Matthew and Mary shared a room with Evan and Doug’s Family took the next room. Edward stayed in his own room and fell asleep almost immediately.

  That night, they set their dressers in front of the doors and kept the shades open. The moon was full to provide light for the rooms.

  Matthew instantly fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Mary and Evan stayed up for a bit and chatted. They sat on the floor between the beds across from each other. Their voices barely got louder than a whisper.

  "He's such a lucky kid," Mary said. "I could never just crash like that."

  "Me neither. I was amazed with my son, Eliot, when he would do that. My wife would too. It pissed me off."

  Mary laughed lightly.

  "How long have you, Doug and Edward known each other?"

  "Well, I met Doug last night. He was going door to door in the Radisson I was staying in. He and other officers were going around advising people to stay in their rooms. I met Ed…"

  Something blocked out the moonlight briefly, a few seconds later and it happened again. Evan put his index finger to his mouth in a ‘quiet’ gesture. He quietly walked over to the window in a crouch, and peered out the window.

  Outside were three... no… four, five... make it at least a couple dozen undead roamers. Evan mouthed 'fuck.' He quietly crept back to Mary to whisper for her to stay behind the bed. He quietly and completely covered Matthew to make it look like no one was in the bed, and then joined Mary behind the bed.

  "Don't make a sound," Evan whispered.

  A loud thump came from next door opposite of Doug’s room. Then a long dragging sound followed. The sound moved toward them, then stopped for a few seconds. Again a loud thump slammed into their door and the dragging sound followed. Whatever it was, it moved in front of the window. Evan peeked over the bed to see a ghastly looking being just standing there. Something was sticking out from the back of its head. It started to move on, but again came the thump and the dragging sound which gradually disappeared.

  Two more figures appeared outside the window and an odd sound coupled with a pounding against a hard surface broke the brief silence. Somewhere a crash appeared that sounded like breaking glass.

  "What was that," Mary whispered. Evan looked down at her with a shrug, and shook his head.

  A hand grabbed the side of the bed, followed by a leg as Matthew slid himself to join Evan and his sister as quietly as he could. This kid was smart. Not only did he remain quiet, he used his head to keep from being seen.

  "What's going on?" Matt asked quietly. Evan made the 'quiet' gesture again.

  "Biters, at least a few dozen," Evan whispered.

  The two figures had disappeared and moonlight streamed back into the room. Evan started to move toward the window when Matthew clutched his hand with both of his. He squeezed Evan’s hand tightly with a vigorous shake of his head to tell Evan not to go.

  "It will be alright. I’m just gonna have a look," Evan insisted.

  Matthew let go of Evan’s hand and he moved to the window. He scanned each direction, and set his attention toward their vehicles. He mouthed ‘shit’ voicelessly. Matthew and Mary moved closer against Evan’s wishes. Suddenly, a reanimated man wandered right outside the window. It took every bit of strength for Evan not to react to the appearance.

  With blood dripping from his mouth, the biter watched as carrion eating animals scrambled between the undead. The animals hoped for food, so did the biters.

  “They are going after wild animals that seem to be following them. Maybe it’s because of the smell.”

  “The animals are confused with the smell of dead meat,” Mary said quietly with a nod from Evan.

  Twenty minutes of watching them drift on eastward, Matt released a deep breath.

  "Clear except for one, it’s over by the truck. It seems to be stuck," Evan said.

  Evan looked back out to where the others wandered off to. The dragging biter was also gone. There was just the lone reanimated man by the truck.

  "Well, we might have a problem with that one tomorrow morning. I might as well take care of it now."

  "No!" Mary cried. Matthew covered her mouth with his hands, and shushed her.

  "Are you crazy? Don’t yell!” Matt quietly argued. “He has to. If it's stuck, the biter will make it harder getting to the trucks tomorrow."

  Evan quietly moved the
dresser away and opened the door. He mouthed 'stay here' to Matthew and Mary. He took out a knife from a sheath on his belt and he crept over to the truck opposite of the undead man. He looked back at Doug and Nikki's room to find their window was shattered. Doug had come out of the room and joined Evan.

  "I thought about how we can do this," Evan whispered. "I will go in front and distract it. You come behind it with this and stab it into the back of its head."

  "Sounds like a plan," Doug agreed with a sharp nod. Evan gave him the knife and gave Doug a nod in return.

  Evan started to make a move toward the stuck risen man when Doug stopped him. He pointed at something crawling toward them. It was the biter with something sticking out of its head and it was crawling very slowly.

  "That’s the dragger,” Evan said.

  Doug studied it for a brief moment.

  "Let's do this," Evan whispered. He took three long breaths, cracked his neck and his knuckles, and stood straight up. He walked casually toward the biter.

  "Hey! I don’t suppose you have a cigarette I could bum?" Evan asked with a smirk.

  The biter growled hideously at Evan.

  "No? That’s cool. I don’t smoke," Evan quipped. “Those things kill ya.”

  Doug’s hand came around and landed on the biter’s forehead. A meaty stabbing sound indicated that Doug’s knife completed the task. The biter’s eyes closed and it fell to the ground. It had indeed been stuck to the truck by torn clothing. It had gotten caught by the SUV’s front hoist.

  "Let's take care of the crawler,” Doug suggested.

  Evan and Doug snuck closer to the battered male biter that struggled to crawl. Its movement had gradually deteriorated, driven by only one arm, with its other arm dragging limply. A scalpel pierced the back of its head.

  “What the hell happened to this one?” Evan asked.

  “His cerebellum is damaged. Its body functions are slowly shutting down,” Nikki said as she came to look at it. “Sorry, I wanted to come out and take a look at this. Honey, please finish it.”

  “Gladly,” He took the knife and drove it into the top of the dragger’s skull, twisting it until the dreadfully broken man stopped twitching.

  “Look at the abrasions covering it,” Nikki said.

  She turned him over to point out the man’s shirtless shoulders and chest.

  “Either he was trying to defend himself, but failed, or someone tried to defend him or herself from this guy. Wait a second,” Doug said.

  Something occurred to Doug, and he began to examine the body starting with the arms. He checked each wound on the man’s upper body, including the head. He then unbuttoned and unzipped the dead man’s pants and took them off. He checked the man’s entire body thoroughly.

  “Don’t think I’m getting fresh,” Doug said.

  “I know what you’re doing, and thinking,” Evan said.

  “The bellhop at the Radisson wasn’t an isolated incident. Evan, this guy wasn’t bitten either, but he still became one these things,” Doug stated.

  Chapter 5: Miles between Nowhere.

  Mary struggled greatly that first night with apparent shock, and Nikki tried to help the teen out of it. Matt had come out of the hotel room he and Mary hid in while Evan and Doug took down the two biters, and he informed them that Mary was shaking badly.

  “I’ll try and get her out of it, just give me some time with her,” Nikki told the others.

  Nikki found Mary sitting on the bed with her knees pressed against her chest. Just as Matt had said, Mary was shaking violently.

  “Mary? What’s the matter?” Nikki asked the teen gently.

  Mary tried to speak, but no words came out. Mary finally gave up trying to speak and shook her head repeatedly.

  “Those things are gone, honey, and the men killed the ones left behind.”

  Mary finally was able to faintly say something.

  “We’re not going to make it.”

  “Yes Mary, we are,” Nikki said calmly. “We’re going to. You have to find it in you to believe that. Doug and Evan won’t allow anything to happen. Not to any of us.”

  “I just want to go home,” the sixteen-year-old whimpered. “I want my mom and dad.”

  “Mary, I would love to give you that, with all my heart,” Nikki said with as much compassion as she could give the girl.

  “But they’re dead,” Mary said coldly. “And you can’t promise that we won’t be next.”

  “As long as there’s a breath in my body, I will not give up,” Nikki told the girl. “Say that out loud.”

  “A-as long as there’s a breath in my body, I will not give up,” Mary repeated.

  -----

  Sarah drove the Durango down beyond Telegraph Road, and into Redford Charter. She went at a moderate speed so they wouldn't miss the three missing men. She came to a stop at a lifeless small pharmacy to discover it was locked up tight.

  “Why did they leave this if they wanted a pharmacy?” Craig asked.

  “Weird, isn’t it? I guess we’ll ask when we find them,” Sarah said.

  Robert looked down the street toward a substantial amount of boisterous undead that had gathered around a building.

  “Shit! I think we may have found them,” Robert alerted Sarah. “But they have a block party down there.”

  Craig came and looked in the direction Sarah was gaping at and saw nearly fifty ‘shamblers’ in a frenzied state down the road.

  “That has to be the Walgreens. How the hell are we going to get there?” Craig said as he reached his arms behind his head in hopelessness.

  “This won’t be easy,” Sarah said.

  “I think I know. You take the truck and go down Aubrey Street, right over across the road,” Craig suggested.

  Sarah looked as if she was going to object.

  “No, seriously, Sarah! I know this neighborhood. Follow Aubrey until you hit Beech Daly Road. Turn right and that will take you to five mile road and close to those shamblers. When you get to the Intersection, start laying on the horn and try to get their attention. Hopefully they will follow you.

  “I’ll wait until you get as many of them away as possible, and I’ll run in and get them. Lead them down the road. When you cross the intersection, drive until you find a bowling alley, turn right until you hit… uh, I want to say Garfield. Come back and pick us up.”

  “Here, take this,” She said as she gave Craig the machete. “Please be careful!”

  “You as well, Sarah,” Craig said with an assuring grin.

  Robert watched the crowd and itched at taking some of them down.

  Sarah did exactly as Craig instructed and drove down Aubrey Street. A few minutes later, Craig saw her crossing the Intersection and started to lay on the horn. The growling and moaning stopped, and simultaneously, a collection of jaundiced eyes turned their attention toward the Durango as their new prey and set off toward the vehicle.

  Sarah wasn’t sure if it was brevity or foolhardiness that got her to agree with this idea, but they had reached the vehicle. Sarah moved forward a few feet to get them herding after her. She moved further down and Craig saw that the idea had worked!

  Robert and Craig gave it another few minutes and watched as the swarm of shamblers disappeared down Beech Daly when he hurried down the road toward the Walgreens. They checked to make sure there weren’t any stragglers and found three barely mobile shamblers had stayed behind.

  A man in a Detroit Lion shirt staggered toward Craig. His legs appeared to be stilts as the flesh on each leg was eaten way, while his right foot appeared to have been turned backwards. Craig waited for the right moment to strike, aiming the machete at the forehead of the Lions fan, and the blade sank deep into his head. The sound of bone cracking filled Craig’s ears and the man quivered as Craig shook the blade free.

  The other two - both females - approached.

  One of the women stopped dead in her tracks when something came down on the back of her head. She collapsed forward, and blood oo
zed onto the pavement when she hit the ground. Standing over her was a bat-wielding Asian. An African American man took down a fancy-dressed female with a devastating swing to the back of her head.

  “That was some thinking of that driver to get them to follow him like that,” the man told the newcomers.

  “That would be a she, and she’ll be back after she leads them off a ways. Is everyone ok here?” Robert corrected the man.

  “Yeah, we’re fine. Our EMT is gathering medication, and we were getting ready to break out of here,” The mallet-carrying man said.

  “He better hurry up, because my friend will be back any minute to pick us up,” Craig told the men.

  “That should be all of it. I think we should be good for a while… who the hell is this?” a third man said as he came out of the drive through window.

  “Anthony, meet our rescuer. Sorry, I didn’t catch your name, kid,” the Asian asked.

  “I’m Craig, this is Robert,” Craig informed the trio.

  “I’m Walter Briggs. That is Jeremy Hayashi, and our EMT friend is Anthony Simms.”

  “Nice to meet you all, but we better get the fuck outta here,” Robert implored.

  The men loaded into the Durango that pulled up, with Robert taking the front passenger seat. Craig introduced Sarah to the three men.

  “So, what were you three trying to achieve?” Sarah asked.

  “We had to get some inhalers. My son has asthma and we used the last bit last night. We also didn’t have any antibiotics,” Walter explained. “Thanks for getting us out.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Sarah responded.

  Sarah sped down 5 Mile Road and drove until Anthony asked if they were going back to the shop.

  “There’s no point going there. We got everyone out already. They should be back at the safe zone by now,” Sarah assured Walter.

  “Wait a sec, who are you?” Walter asked.

  “Look, Walter, we have a lot to talk about when we get back to the zone. I need you to understand something. We’re on our own out here. Do you three know how to kill these things?”

  “You saw the bodies outside the shop, right?” Walter asked Sarah and Craig, who nodded at him. “That was Jeremy and me. We know how to destroy them.”