Dead Surge

by Joseph Talluto

  In a flash, I drew my .45, firing from the hip. I had only three shots left, but I let them all go as fast as I could pull the trigger, hoping to get lucky one last time.

  My bullets went wide, and then my gun went to slide-lock. I reloaded and brought the gun up to level, but by that time, she had jumped back through the brush.

  “Damn. Missed,” I said to no one in particular.

  Charlie looked over to where I was shooting. “Hell, man, had you scored a hit, I would have put down my gun in homage to the master.”

  “Bullshit, but thanks anyway,” I said.

  “Thanks for what? You missed an easy shot,” Charlie said.

  “What? Listen, you…” Whatever else I had to say was lost as about thirty little zombies came crashing through the brush and literally hurtled across the street and parking lot towards us.

  We didn’t stop to debate anything else. We bolted for the two buildings. Charlie ran for the Whitebreast Inn, while Duncan and I ran for the Double D. It was standard to split up like this, in the hopes to divide the enemy, or if not, then be able to harass and flank him as needed.

  Just as we split, Charlie gave one parting shot to Duncan.

  “I blame you for this! I was having a really good morning!” After that, he was inside the Whitebreast Inn.

  Chapter 45

  Duncan and I burst through the front doors of the Double D and immediately started throwing tables and chairs in front of the glass. The only thing we were hoping to do was to slow them down.

  As we tossed wooden tables and chairs, Duncan commented on the fixture’s material.

  “Stuff would burn nicely, with all the alcohol soaked into it,” he said.

  “Good thought, but we haven’t found the back door yet.” I replied, turning a table over to the window. Outside, the first of the zombies reached the windows and crashed against it with a meaty smack. A second hit it and I knew it was only going to be a matter of time. There were about fifteen zombies out there, so I knew we probably had divided them up. The big question was whether they had gone to the other building, or had they circled around back, trying to flush us out into hungry mouths.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here before they break through,” I said, running up the stairs.

  “Hang on.” Duncan removed a lighter from his pack and took up a small candle that was tossed in the corner. It was one of those little globe candles with the netting around it. He lit the candle, then carried it up and placed it on the railing of the elevated platform. The candle sent weird shadows around the room, illuminating the bodies that still hung from the upper balcony.

  We made our way around the platform, heading towards the back. We had to move around the bodies, and I was tempted to cut them down, when Duncan suddenly yelled.

  “Shit! Something’s got me!” He flailed at the back of his neck, and twisted, trying to get away from whatever had hooked him. I pulled out my flashlight and shined it upwards, looking for whatever had snagged Duncan. I thought some wire or some kind of Christmas lights had caught him.

  I did not expect one of the hanging ladies to have grabbed his collar as he went by, holding on tightly as her neck stretched and twisted in the rope collar she had on. Her eyes were dead, and her mouth was open, allowing her swollen tongue to extend outward grotesquely. Her blue face twisted and turned, and I was actually surprised her neck was able to support her.

  “Oh, boy. Hold on.” I swung quickly with my blade and severed the arm, causing Duncan to stumble forward and the zombie to swing back. I stepped up and pulled the hand off of Duncan, who was vastly relieved to be loose.

  “Thanks man. What the fuck, dude? Why did these women kill themselves?” he asked.

  I shined the light around the room, and sure enough, four more sets of eyes looked back at me, and here and there, a slender arm rose to try and grasp what was too far out of reach.

  “I’d guess they had been infected somehow, and figured to die together. Who knows?” I wiped off my blade and kept moving, the sounds of the little zombies slamming into the glass motivating me to move further to the back. Behind us, the lone candle flickered and sputtered.

  We reached the back and ducked through the Employees Only door. I kept moving towards the back, around cases and cases of liquor. Duncan’s eyes were huge as he surveyed the inventory.

  “Man, this would go for a good buck back home,” he said. He was right, too. Since the Upheaval, no one really had bothered to try to make alcohol anymore, so the real stuff was rare and highly prized.

  I didn’t say anything as I found the back door. It was a simple grey affair with a handmade sign that read ‘Keep Clear’. I figured it had to be the right one. I pushed the door carefully, just allowing a crack to appear. It wasn’t much, but the sun was bright enough that the little crack allowed a great deal of light in. My eyes, after being used to the dark, smarted a little from the brilliance.

  Another smack sounded in the darkness, and this time it had a different quality to it. I figured we had a minute before the window broke open completely. I also figured we might as well use what we have here to take out a few more zombies.

  “Grab some bottles and a couple of candles!” I said. “Follow me!”

  Duncan knew me well enough to know this was not one of those times to argue. He grabbed a couple of spare candles and followed, not really sure what I was up to.

  I ran to the furthest table from the back, and placed a candle on the table. Lighting it, I placed the bottle of alcohol directly over the flame. There was enough of a mouth around the candle jar that air could get in, keeping the candle lit. Duncan did the same with another table closer in, and I did another on my side while he did the same on his.

  Running back, there was a crack, and then a crash, as the front window caved in. Duncan didn’t waste any time, he shot the candle on the railing and we both watched as the jar blew apart, scattering candle bits everywhere, lighting nothing at all.

  “Oh well. It’s the thought that counts,” he said.

  “Keep telling yourself that,” I said as a small head peeked up over the edge of the platform. I figured what the hell, and lined up a shot. Imagine my surprise when I scored a hit and the head and body flew backwards.

  “I think my way’s better,” I said, running for the back.

  “Show off,” Duncan pouted.

  We reached the Employees Only door and spun around. About a dozen little zombies were swarming over the railing, dropping to the floor and scurrying through the tables. I didn’t waste any time and fired a shot at the bottle over the candle on the table closest to me. The bottle exploded and the alcohol caught fire, causing a huge fireball to suddenly bloom in the dark club. I struggled to see, as my night vision was ruined, and Duncan blew the next bottle.

  The little zombies stopped in their tracks and we used the precious seconds to blow the other bottles, shaking the railings with the concussions and causing the hanging zombies to twitch and flail. The alcohol flames covered a large area, and the club was well lit for a minute. We used the light to shoot two more, and then we dashed through the door and secured it from the other side. Tiny hands pounded on the door while we made our way out the back. Duncan managed to grab a couple of bottles of booze as we went past, and we were outside quickly.

  “Do you think the place will go up?” Duncan asked, securing the alcohol in his backpack. He had two bottles of Bombay Sapphire, something that was expensive, even back when you could go to the store and buy it. He could trade one of those bottles for a house these days.

  “Not sure,” I said, scanning the area for threats. The place seemed quiet, but I knew that was just a temporary state. “Come on, help me push.” I went over to the dumpster and started pushing it towards the front of the building. It was a decent sized one, so I hoped it would do for what I had in mind.

  “What’s up?” Duncan asked, pushing on the other side.

  “I want to use this to try and block the front door, maybe we can t
ake out a lot more of those little things.”

  “Good call.” Duncan redoubled his efforts and we managed to push the dumpster to the front of the Double D in a less than a minute.

  When we reached the front, Duncan checked the area and said he thought the little ones were still inside. Smoke was pouring out of the broken door, and I hoped we could finish off a good number of the little beasts.

  We pushed the trash dumpster into place, and with a huge effort from both of us, we managed to tip it over with a big crash. A couple more pushes and the big metal container was effectively blocking the broken area. They could still get out, but they would have to get through the glass again, and the way the inside was burning, I would guess they didn’t have much time left. I could see the flames creeping higher up the walls, and the areas inside the platform were a mass of fire and smoke. Good enough. The hanging zombies were on fire, and their bodies were lighting the balcony from which they hung. In a little while, the roof was going to be on fire and this was going to be one that could be seen for miles.

  As we walked away, a small boy crashed into the glass, his clothes burned away and his hair on fire. He stared hate at us from inside the Double D, and pounded futilely on the thick glass. As we watched, the flames began to lick at his feet and then his legs. He didn’t have much time left, and I could see he was clearly frustrated. In all honesty, given what we had been through in the last few days, I couldn’t have cared less.

  Chapter 46

  We cautiously went across the parking lot, keeping a careful eye out for any zombies. Duncan kept watch on the brush, but there were no other attacks. The Double D behind us creaked and groaned from the fires raging inside, and I was waiting for the alcohol to explode and wipe out anything left in the bar.

  There was nothing outside on the front, and I used the opportunity to get over to the truck and grab a rifle. Duncan grabbed one as well, and I have to admit I was much more comfortable with the additional firepower.

  We edged around the side of the building, and standing at the back was a little zombie. His attention was focused away from us, and I figured there was no point in being quiet, so I lined up a shot and popped him in the head. He dropped to the ground and another zombie stuck her head around the corner, but she ducked back before I could get another shot off.

  “Well, since those zombies are still here, everyone else should still be alive,” I said.

  Duncan opened his mouth and before he could speak, the front windows of the Double D blew out, spewing flame and smoke. A small body flew out of the explosion as well, but it landed heavily and didn’t get back up. Smoke billowed out up to the sky, joining the clouds already crossing the great blue. We both looked at the burning building for a second, and I could see parts of the roof that were about to succumb to the flames. Once a second opening happened, the building would be an inferno.

  We moved further around and a third zombie came into view. Duncan brought up his rifle and killed it quickly, and then we ran over to the back, figuring to end this quickly.

  But our fight was short lived, since there was nothing back here. The door was closed, and I didn’t think anything had gotten in there. I pulled out my radio and called in.

  “Charlie? Sarah? Tommy? Anybody there? Over.” I waited for a minute, and then repeated myself.

  A second after I finished, the radio came alive. “John? Everything all right?” It was Charlie, and he sounded a little agitated.

  “We’re good. Probably killed a good twenty zombie kids out here. Had to burn down the Double D to do it.”

  “Where are you?” Sarah’s voice came through next.

  “We’re outside your building. Where did the zombies go?” I was actually very curious about this. They weren’t out here with us, unless they were really well hidden, and it didn’t seem like they had gone anywhere else.

  “We killed a few, but the rest scattered. Hold on, we’re coming out,” Charlie said.

  That made sense. No point in wasting batteries on a conversation we could have face to face. We waited for a few minutes, and as we waited, I ran over in my mind what we might have learned from our encounters. The kids were fast. They were smarter than the average zombie was, and they somehow had a leader and were able to communicate with each other. They attacked as groups, never as an individual, and they seemed to be following some purpose. If I hadn’t seen them up close, I would have thought they were alive, just twisted in a way that was simply evil. Of course, that wouldn’t explain how they could make zombies out of adults if they weren’t dead themselves, but after the Upheaval, I was taking a lot of this on the fly.

  The rest of the crew came out of the Whitebreast and stood at the ready, waiting to see if the rest of the zombies were going to come out and play. When it looked like they were really gone, I turned to Sarah and asked the obvious question.

  “So, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the show?”

  Sarah shrugged. “Not much of one. We got Charlie inside and we readied for an attack. Nothing really happened.”

  I stared for a second. “Really? That’s it?”

  “That’s it. Looks like you had all the fun.” Sarah gave me a little hug. “I’m glad you made it out okay.”

  “Me, too. I wonder where they went?” I was finding this extremely strange.

  Charlie spoke up. “Why don’t we mount up and get the hell out of here, and try to get ahead of them again and set up some kind of ambush? We can whittle away at them and reduce them to running small groups. By the time the army gets here, they can surround and finish them off.”

  “With the group that near, I can’t see why not. Let’s get out of here and get chasing. Tommy, did you see anything about where they were headed when you were on the roof?” I asked.

  Tommy nodded. “Looks like the same thing we’ve been chasing all along. They’re headed east. What path they’re taking, I couldn’t tell you for sure, but I do know for sure I am not about to go plunging into that brush without air support.”

  “I hear you. All right, let’s get rolling and see what we can see,” I said, moving to the truck. I spent ten minutes refilling every magazine I had, and making sure all of the spare rifles and handguns were loaded and ready as well.

  Twenty minutes later, we were racing down Idaho Street, trying to get ahead of the threat we knew was out there. We drove about two miles, and then stopped at an abandoned farm. I gave Duncan the biggest binoculars we had and sent him up the side of the silo. I figured he could spot nearly any movement a hundred feet up in the air.

  Duncan easily climbed to the top of the silo. After fifteen minutes, he came down and asked to look at a map. Sarah gave him the roadmap we had been using, and he looked at it for a long minute.

  Afterwards, he announced quite calmly, “I haven’t got a clue as to where they are.”

  I cursed. “Dammit, they must have gone south when we went north.” I looked at the map to make sure I was where I thought I was. “Dammit.” I folded the map and got back in the truck. Sarah tossed up an eyebrow and I answered, “I guessed wrong, they went south not north.”

  “Damn. Well, let’s get moving. Where are we headed?” Sarah asked.

  “We’ll take 34 until we reach this road through this forest,” I said as I looked over the map with her. With luck, we’ll be able to delay them at the forest.”

  Sarah nodded and looked worried.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, pulling out of the farm’s driveway and back onto the main road.

  “I don’t know, John. I just have a bad feeling about this. Something about you and these little zombies scares the heck out of me, Sarah said.

  “I said that at the beginning, remember?” I replied. “I didn’t want to go on this trip to begin with.”

  Sarah said nothing, just looked out the window. When she spoke, it was quiet.

  “I just want to get home. I don’t know why, but I feel like we need to get home.”

  “We’re headed that way, we just need to tra
ck these guys so the army can get them surrounded and finish them off.” I tried to sound reassuring, but for some reason, I wasn’t so confident.

  “I know, I know. Maybe just drive a little faster?”

  “Can do.”

  We drove quickly to 137th Trail, which was a winding road that took us through a heavily wooded area. The trees were nearly on top of the road, and the leaves covered the winding path. Several times, we slipped off the road, unable to see where the pavement ended. Charlie radioed several times, telling us he was having a hard time even seeing, since we were kicking up so many leaves. I nearly hit several deer that were moving across the road, and they looked at me quizzically, as if they had never seen anything like me before. Given the fact that they were young, it was highly probable they had never seen humans before.

  After a few miles of twisting roads, we emerged from the edge of the woods into a field. According to the map, we had about a mile to go before we hit the next cross street.

  “John! John! John!” The handset yelled at me suddenly and I jumped at the noise. Sarah smiled at my discomfort as she took the radio.

  “What is it, Duncan?” she asked, patting my leg.

  “The town of Lucas is under serious attack! They’re screaming for help up there!”

  I looked at the map. Lucas was north of us. We had gone in exactly the wrong direction. Son of a bitch.

  I sighed. “All right, let’s go. Get ready.”

  I looked out the windows as we raced to the next road. We had to head east, then north to get to Lucas, which was crazy since had we had turned south only a few hundred yards from Lucas back on 34.

  Now we were miles away and likely to be too late to do anything. Only one thing went through my mind as I tried to figure out how these guys were moving through the countryside so quickly.