by Riva, Aline
“It didn't look this bad at a distance!” Lois exclaimed, “Maybe we should turn back!”
“And close the window, it stinks around here!” Rick replied, using the index finger of his metallic hand to close the window and shut out the smell of rotting human flesh.
Lois turned the car around and they headed back the way they came, now the open road beckoned, where fields looked lush and unaffected by the scourge that had ravaged the human population and its once peaceful existence.
They left the village far behind, turning on to a dirt track where either side were nothing but fields of short, green grass.
“At least we can see for miles and not a stinker in sight,” Rick said as she stopped the car and turned off the engine. He opened the window and the air that came in was deceptively fresh and free of the stench of death.
“Just for a moment,” he said, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes, “I could pretend nothing bad ever happened. It's so...normal out here in the middle of nowhere, I wish I could stay like this, never have to go back...”
He paused, holding out his metallic hand as sunlight bounced off the back of it, then as he looked at Lois he blinked away tears.
“I lost everyone I knew and loved when the dead took over. I've been married twice and my second marriage had gone to the wall a year before but I tried to get through to my ex, I wanted her to leave with me...I told her she shouldn't try and make it on her own. Unfortunately she listened to me. By the time I got to the house...” he drew in a sharp breath, his voice choked with tears as images he could never forget flickered bloody through his mind, “I got to the house and they were already there, ripping her apart on the path in front of me..she was dead...there was so much blood...”
He sniffed and raised his undamaged hand to wipe his eyes, then he looked to sunlit field.
“I just want one day when everything is normal again,” he said, and turned his head and looked into her eyes.
“Me too,” Lois replied, “I miss normal life too. I wish things could go back the way they were. I wish none of this had ever happened.”
He gave a sob and as she drew him into her arms, he was shaking as he embraced her.
“Don't let me go, just hold me for a moment, please,” he whispered, and they sat together embracing in the car, as the sun shone down on the deceptively normal scene as the fields looked lush under sunlight and there was not a single undead creature in sight.
When the attack came, it came without warning.
Suddenly, the men down in the mall sewers were set upon by a horde that simply poured in, carrying the stench of death as the tunnels were filled with gunshots, then cries for help and finally the sound of flesh tearing and the creatures fed and the filthy sewer ran red like a river of blood.
Then, drenched in the blood of fresh kill, the undead raced along the tunnel, their ragged clothes flapping on those who still wore clothing, others were naked and in a part state of decay. Crimson splashed up the walls from the force of their footfalls as they headed for the fire exit, where the scent of one of their own still lingered like a homing beacon:
There was food here and much of it, they could smell the humans as sure as they picked up the scent of the first creature who had come this way, there could be no better guidance system for them as they ran on, led by animal instinct.
As the screaming started and the roars of the creatures echoed up the plaza levels, Lauren, locked in the secure room, heard nothing but a few muffled shouts and thumps and then the sound of breaking glass and heavy objects crashing down. But all sound was not sharp where she was locked away, and all she could do was stand by the locked door, her heart racing as she wondered what the hell was happening outside...
It wasn't so simple for Maxie. As he heard the horde burst into the mall and the sounds of the terrified occupants, then the gun fire, then roars from the undead and the terrible high pitched screaming that usually came before death, he looked to the open doorway, seeing the shadows fall and leap as undead moved along the corridor, slowly past each room, seeking out the living...
“Fuck!” he whispered, then he rolled off the bed, hitting the floor hard as pain that ran 'like a shock wave through his upper body barely registered below his waist. A brief thought ran through his mind that if his back wasn't totally screwed before, it was now. Then he began to drag himself across the floor, towards the door that needed to be closed. His own body weight felt twice as heavy and his legs partly dead behind him, he panted heavily as he worked his upper body to pull himself along the rug, then as he reached the door, he heard footfalls, irregular footfalls as shadows emerged in the hallway.
It was too late. They were coming in...
With a final burst of energy and a pain that screamed low in his back as he rolled, Maxie reached the doorway that led to the en suite bathroom, rolled inside and pushed the door shut, locking it was pointless because he couldn't stand, so he kept the door ajar, flat out on the floor, his fingertips against it as two creatures entered the apartment, as pain in his lower back throbbed and sweat ran down his face, he held his breath, watching as the undead looked about the place, sniffing their to pick up the scent of the living. One was female and stood in rags, the other was male, naked and heavy set and partly rotted.
He guessed at any moment they would head his way, tear open the door and his last thought would be Lauren, but instead they dashed through to an adjoining room, bursting open the door and lunging at the blood soaked mattress where he had rested after the beating, they licked at the sheets, the nude creature tried to bite the mattress, then sucked on the blood stain instead, then they pushed the bed roughly aside and left the room, and finally left the apartment.
It was then Maxie managed to breathe out, and with the very last of his strength, he inched the door quietly shut, then reached up and slid the bolt across. Only then did he collapse on the tiled floor, panting heavily as his legs went from numb to painful as agony radiated from the middle of his lower back, but in that moment his injury was the last thing on his mind: He had survived, and would continue to do so as long as those creatures didn't come back for a second look around...
At the race track, the undead had gathered, looking like an audience from hell as they stood there, some clutching at the fencing as they watched the cars taking another lap of the circuit. They had all seen them and knew as long as the fences stayed secure they were quite safe – David had even laughed and playfully waved at a snarling creature as he zoomed past, then he had taken a sharp turn with ease and Tara gave a squeal.
“We don't even have any safety gear!” she exclaimed.
“Good thing I can handle this car, then,” he replied, omitting to tell her that he had pulled out of their race ten minutes before on the pretence that fuel was low purely to fill a bottle with petrol and stuff it with a rag – there was no way he was making the journey back from here, with the dead lining up all around them, with no weapon to call his own...
“One more time around the circuit and then we should call it a day,” he said to Tara above the roar of the engine, and she heard him and nodded.
Then a flash of red passed him by as Nick sped on ahead, the car swerving about the track.
“He's lost control” David exclaimed.
The car came off the track, hit the barrier with a crunch as then, as the wheels still spun and the engine's roar died, there was an ear splitting crack as the fencing came apart, yawning open as the dead began to push against it to gain access.
David looked back. The others had slowed their cars preparing to stop a way behind, so he slowed too, pulling over to the side of the track sharply.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tara yelled as she looked in horror at the dead clambering through the wrecked fencing.
“Helping Nick,” he replied, then before she could say another word he was out of the car and sprinting across the track and the dead fixed their sights on him and began to push harder against the fencing, tear
ing the gap wider as they swarmed like caged animals and the ones at the front began to climb through.
David reached the car and tore open to door, released the driver's seat belt and dragged him out. Nick was bleeding from a cut to his head, but as he opened his eyes and caught sight of the dead giving chase, as David supported him, he found the strength to run.
“Get in the car!” David yelled, giving him a shove as Tara opened the door and dragged him in, then David got back in the driving seat, slamming the door and locking it as the undead caught up and hands began to press and thud against the windows.
“No you don't!” he exclaimed as the creatures began to rock the vehicle, and he fired up the engine and sped off, heading for the main gates. As he glanced back and saw the others were following in the remaining cars, he felt a sense of relief – but not total relief, because the dead were giving chase and more of them were running at the car as it headed for the open road beyond the gate way.
“Hold on!” he shouted above the roar of the engine, hitting 150 top speed as the car jolted and thudded and bumped about as the windscreen was shadowed and cracked then running with the blood of the dead as he mowed them down, taking a path over the crushed bodies and making it to the open road.
Suddenly the tyres were turning on smooth road surface, as the windscreen wipers swiped back and forth, washing away the blood of the undead and the crimson view of the road back to the mall turned pink, then clear once more. David glanced back, checking the other two cars were still following behind.
Nick was sat next to Tara, cramped up against her in the small space, holding his aching head.
“Sorry about that...” he said vaguely, “I lost control of the car...”
“Yeah, we know,” David said, “But at least we all made it out of there.”
Then the small convoy carried on down the road, leaving bloody tyre tracks in its wake as they headed back to the only safe place they knew – the Fountain Plaza shopping mall...
Chapter 8: The Massacre
As they sped back towards the plaza, David and Tara saw the building come into view and they exchanged a glance and smiled.
“I wonder if Rick will be disappointed we've got no water?” he asked as amusement danced in his eyes.
Tara laughed.
“I'm sure he'll much prefer a Lotus!”
Nick groaned as he held his head.
“Can you guys be quiet?” he complained.
“Oh shut up clumsy,” Tara said, “You almost got us killed!”
“And I'm sorry!” Nick exclaimed.
She started to smile.
“No one died, why so serious?” she replied and then she laughed again, looking to David who smiled as he drove on towards the open gates of the mall car park as Toby and Sandra followed in the other cars.
As they passed through the gates, a thought suddenly struck him as David's expression changed to one of confusion.
“There's no one on the gates today...”
“Must have missed them,” Nick replied as he looked back, then gave the side of his aching head a rub as pain throbbed, “There's always someone on guard.”
David silently looked about the wide area as the mall loomed closer: No one on guard around the fencing, no one to be seen outside at all...
“That's odd...” David murmured, and as he glanced at Tara he saw the look on her face, she was picking up the same strange feeling here...something was wrong...very wrong...
“Where is everyone?” Nick said in alarm as the car slowed to a cautious halt a short distance from the entrance to the mall. Now they had arrived back, he was over the blow that had almost knocked him out on the race track and there was a flash of panic in his eyes as he got out of the car first.
“Wait for us!” David said sharply, getting out of the car as Tara followed.
Then behind their vehicle the other two cars pulled up and Toby and Sandra got out too.
Toby looked to the half open shutter, inside the lights were on but all that could be seen from where they stood was the smooth polished floor just inside the building.
“It's too quiet...” Sandra said in a low voice, feeling a sense of dread knotting at her stomach as she looked about the car park then the fencing beyond and saw no sign of a single guard.
“Something's wrong,” Toby said gravely, then he drew his gun and looked to David.
“I'm sorry you're not armed...but whatever has gone on wasn't expected...Where is everyone? Did they evacuate?”
Sandra's face paled.
“Rick would never do that. He said the mall was safe.”
“Maybe it's not...We need guns!” Tara exclaimed.
“I can fetch some from the armoury,” Toby replied, “It's down in the basement next to the workshop...” he paused, then as a strangely eerie silence hung in the air and refused to lift as no sound came from beneath the part open shutter and only the wandering breeze drifted through the car park, he thought of his friend as fear gripped him tightly.
“Where the fuck is Rick?” he exclaimed, looking about the empty car park, then to the fields.
“No one on guard and the shutter partly open,” David said, stepping closer to the entrance, “There's only one way to find out what's happened – Toby, give me a hand, we need to raise this thing properly.”
Toby handed his weapon to Tara and then looked to Nick and Sandra, who had drawn their guns.
“Cover us,” he said, “We don't know what's happened here...anyone could have got in, taken over...maybe looted the place.”
Then he placed his hands beneath the part open shutter and with Toby's help, the two of them pushed it upwards. It slid up with ease and daylight flooded in.
The two men stood there looking inside, both wearing the same shocked expression as behind them, Sandra gave a gasp and Tara whispered Oh my God... Nick dropped his gun, turned away from the sight of the carnage and fell to his knees and puked on the concrete outside.
David turned to Toby, whose face had turned ghostly pale as the shock had hit him and he spoke in a hushed voice.
“I doubt if we'll find any survivors,” he said, “But we have to look, we have to be sure...”
Toby nodded.
“Agreed,” he whispered, then he cast his sights around the ground floor of the mall, taking in a scene he could not have imagined in his worst nightmares:
The glass shop fronts were smashed and the shards remaining behind were bloodied. There were bodies everywhere, through the smashed store fronts, on the walkways, blood was everywhere, smeared up walls and running off glass, people were bleeding out all over the polished floors. The whole place stank of blood, like an old fashioned slaughterhouse on a summer afternoon.
David stepped back, leaning out of the entrance, thankful for the breath of fresh air that carried no creeping stench of death nor the over powering stink of decay. By now Nick was off his knees but looking shocked, as Tara and Sandra looked on, speechless at the sight beyond the entrance.
“Tara,” David said, “I want you and the others to wait here...There's no sense in all of us going in because if there are any undead still in here, we could be out numbered anyway. Just stay put, promise me?”
She nodded, her face a mask of fear as she looked at her lover and silently hoped he would be coming back out of there again.
“Give me your gun,” he said to Nick, and the shaken young man handed it over at once, then stood back, unable to cast his sights once again on the scene of carnage inside the mall.
“We're just going to check for survivors,” David added, “Then if there's no threat remaining, we grab what we can and load up my car with supplies and what ever we can fit into the sports cars too - then we get the hell out, okay?”
Sandra nodded.
“But it was safe here...” Nick said in confusion.
“Nowhere is safe any more,” Tara reminded him, “Not even this place, not forever.”
“We won't be long,” David reminded her, and
Tara met his gaze as fear flickered in her eyes.
“Be careful.”
“Always,” he promised, then he looked to Toby.
“Ready?” he asked.
Toby shook his head at the sight that lay before them.
“How can anyone be ready for something like this?” he replied, and then together the two men went inside, entering a scene of absolute carnage.
David and Toby said nothing as they stepped over bodies, some were not even whole but body parts... Toby recognised many of the victims, all had been slaughtered viciously by the invading horde and some were unidentifiable but clothing or jewellery looked familiar– even covered with blood or with guts trailed out on the floor, he was able to cast his sights over the dead and recognise many he had shared this mall with for months as they had called it home...
They searched the ground floor, it was a task far easier than expected, because the people inside were very clearly dead, ripped apart, throats torn out, organs scattered across the once clean and bright floors of the mall. Even the fountain was running red as body parts tainted the once clear water.
After sweeping the ground floor they took the stairs to the basement and found it empty. There were blood trails on the floor that led up the stair way and as David looked up the steps that led to every floor of the mall he hoped the blood was not Rick's. It could have been anyone's blood – a guard, someone working down here on the new metal grille...
As they headed back up, they stopped off at the armoury and Toby grabbed himself another gun after leaving his with Tara before he came in, now figuring the scale of the massacre meant they should both be armed for this search even now they seemed surrounded by nothing but remains... They passed by the ground floor and took the stairs to the first floor, where they were met with more carnage.
“Where are you, Rick?” Toby whispered as he swept his gaze about more horror than he ever wanted to see again – sights he could never forget, so many people slaughtered...