“Hey, dirtbag,” Harley yelled. “I got something for ya.”
The gruesome figure now gave Harley his full attention. Covered in blood and gore he began to rise. Harley never gave him the chance. Swinging the fire extinguisher like an axe, he brought it down on the man’s head. There was a sickening thud. The head exploded like a ripe pumpkin and blood and bits of skull and brains sprayed out. The lifeless body seemed to hang at an awkward angle for a second and then crashed to the floor.
Harley, breathing heavily, dropped the extinguisher and fell to his knees. Jude was leaning over the blood covered body of our friend Holland muttering. “No, no, no,” over and over again. Still in shock I jumped back over the counter and was amazed and sickened at the sight. Holland’s attacker had not only bitten his nose, face and neck, he had practically disemboweled Holland with his bare hands. His intestines were splayed out over the floor and he was bathed in his own blood. The pool of blood was spreading from the body. I had no idea the human body held so much blood. I was horrified that our friend’s life had leaked out on the floor of a filthy bait shop, killed by some lunatic.
I leaned my head back and screamed. “God, why? Why? Why?”
Harley and Jude were both standing around the body with bowed heads. No words passed. We didn’t know what to say. I think we were all in a kind of shock. I heard the screen door squeak again behind me and I assumed that Steve had rejoined us.
“Guys, is everyone all right?” he asked. “I’m sorry I bugged out.”
In answer, I stepped away from Holland’s body and Steve got his first look at the corpse. He wretched and stumbled outside again. Jude, without a word, followed Steve out the door. I heard the SUV doors open and close, and in a minute Jude returned with a blanket, our first aid kit, and his rifle.
I noticed the Red Cross on the first aid kit.
“It’s too late for that, buddy,” I croaked. “Holland’s long past first, second, or third aid.”
“I know, Billy, but this is for us. Did anyone sustain an injury? In the heat of the moment with the adrenaline rushing sometimes guys don’t even notice if they have been shot. Check yourselves.”
It made sense and it sounded like an order so Harley and I checked ourselves for any cuts that might need attention. I was fine and Harley pronounced himself okay.
“I think we can assume Steve is okay unless he got a splinter from the door going through it so quickly,” said Jude. I could faintly hear Steve retching outside.
He used some of the gauze from the kit to wipe away the blood from his arms and shirt and handed some to Harley as well. Jude then unfolded the blanket and placed it over Holland’s body. As our friend disappeared under the blanket I said a silent prayer. I noticed Harley’s head was bowed.
“What in the world just happened, Billy?” asked Jude in a quiet voice.
“What do you mean, what happened? This psychopath just murdered one of your best friends,” said Harley firmly and with a flat inflection in his voice.
That’s not what I mean and you know it,” countered Jude. “No normal man rips out a guy’s insides like that. That’s what a beast does, not a man.”
Now that it was over it did seem more like a dream. Only the blood seeping through the blanket covering my dead friend’s body and the grisly corpse of his killer made me believe it really happened.
The man who had attacked us came from the back of the store and that section was still bathed in shadows. I took a wary look that direction and narrowed my eyes. Jude followed my stare and pointed his rifle in that direction.
“Do you see anything, Billy?” he asked with his trademark calmness.
“No. No, I don’t think so, but this place is making me feel hemmed in. Let’s go outside and figure this thing out.”
Harley grunted an agreement and, of course, Jude was going to agree with me. I led the way on unsteady legs and as we exited the door the bright sunshine on my face revitalized me. We walked down the steps and stopped next to the truck in the graveled area. Steve was not in sight, but as we formed a loose circle, I saw him come around the corner. He was wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt and he had glassy, watery eyes. His face had a sick ashen appearance and I was certain that he had called the dinosaurs for all he was worth.
“All right,” I said, as Steve joined our circle. ‘Holland’s dead. What do we do now?”
Steve shifted his feet uncomfortably and Harley shaded his eyes with his hand and looked down the road.
“First thing we do is acknowledge something is going on,” said Jude.
Harley made a motion as if he was going to say something and then stopped.
“That guy in there wasn’t some psycho and I think we all know it,” said Jude, as he cast his glance at each man. “He was eating bait for goodness sake. He ripped Holland apart and then when Harley blasted him with the extinguisher his head practically exploded.”
“Where are you going with this?” I asked. “You got a theory or are you just jawing?”
“I think we should say out loud what we all feel. Something has happened around here. I don’t know if it is a disease outbreak or rabies or what, but we have stepped into the twilight zone. I ain’t letting my gun out of my hands until I see something normal happen and I would advise all of you to do the same before we all wind up with our insides on the outside like Holland.”
Jude had finished in a rush and now was breathing heavily and licking his lips. I too felt like something was wrong, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Jude made a good point that things were very odd, but I wanted to prevent a total panic. Steve was already on edge.
“The way I see it,” I began, “is we need to load up Holland’s body and get into town and find the sheriff. For Gods sake, Harley may even face a murder trial.”
“Murder trial?” said Harley. “I ain’t facing no murder trial down here in these hills. That guy in there might be the sheriff’s brother for all we know. I say we get back home and report it there. I have had enough of these hillbillies and their country.”
“That would be the worst possible thing we could do,” said Jude. “Running is like an admission of guilt and besides there is no question of charges. That monster murdered Holland and we can all testify to that. That is if we can find anyone to testify to.”
“Jude’s right,” I said, and stifled a smile at our change of roles and then remembered that we had just lost a friend and the smile disappeared. “Here’s how we are gonna play this. Steve, you make room in the back of the truck for Holland’s body. I don’t care about that psycho, but we are not leaving Holland. Even if we have to leave some gear here that’s just what we will do. Harley, you and I will wrap up Holland and get him loaded. Jude, I want you to unpack a gun for everyone. Like I said, I don’t know what’s happening, but I don’t want to get caught naked.”
Everyone nodded. Now that they all had orders they seemed less fragile. It seemed like a week ago that we had woken up this morning. I was drained and hungry. The adrenaline was fading away and I felt a case of wobbly knees coming on. I hoped no one else had noticed. Every man seemed to be waiting for me to move first. I took a deep breath and as I did our sunny day suddenly turned cloudy again. I shivered as I remembered that winter was coming, cold unforgiving winter. I wondered if ancient man felt a dread of the changing of the season or if he embraced the challenge.
As I shook myself out of my daydream, I heard that eerie, low growl again. I turned and my eyes fell upon Holland at the top of the steps. He had pushed the screen door open and was standing just outside the entrance. He was trailing his intestines behind him and he was growling and pointing…at me.
Chapter Nine
I heard Steve under his breath say, ”Oh, my Lord.”
Each of us involuntarily took a step backwards. Holland’s intestines were dangling from his ripped out midsection like a gruesome bridal train. He looked at us with glazed eyes. Those eyes showed no recognition. They were blank vessels.
I again heard that low growl emanate from his mouth or his throat or even his stomach. I wasn’t sure. He took another lurching step down the stairs and I took another step back. Whether it was that movement or not, Holland seemed to focus on only me at that point.
I wilted under Holland’s stare and I felt my insides do a flip flop. Holland covered the last two steps, picking up speed as he went, and began to advance upon me. For the first time in my life I felt dread fear and I ran. I took off out of the parking area and ran madly down the center of the deserted road back along the way we had just come. I looked behind me and Holland was loping after me. His insides seemed to have fallen completely out of him. It was an unusual running motion and he did not seem to be going very fast, and yet I could not pull away from him.
As my feet were pounding the pavement, my heart was pounding too. Another look over my shoulder showed Holland still in pursuit. I could see none of the rest of our group and I wondered what had happened to them. I had about twenty yards on Holland and though my chest was burning, and I had a stitch in my side, the fear was a great motivator and I continued to run an all out sprint. We had seen no houses for miles so I could not count on any help that way. My only hope seemed to be to stay ahead of Holland and hope my friends could rescue me at some point.
It seemed like I had been running for ten minutes when I dared another look back down the road. I had increased my lead over Holland a little and relief flooded over me in a wave. I felt more in control over the situation. I was going straight down the highway like I owned the thing. I both heard and saw a commotion from about a hundred yards ahead. It looked like a group of people had broken from the tree cover on the left and were converging on the road ahead of me. I hoped they were hunters who could help in some way. I waved my arms and yelled to get their attention, but it was unnecessary. The group had already spotted me and was coming my way at a trot.
Rescue seemed moments away when I noticed something familiar about the group coming towards me. They all had that same shambling gait I had seen all day and that Holland was now using behind me. I felt the hairs on my neck raise up when I got a closer look at my rescue team. They all had that ashen appearance and one woman had only one arm. The closer they got I could just make out that low growl. The figure in the lead was snapping his jaws at me. I was trapped between the anvil and the hammer.
I came to a dead stop and considered my options. There seemed to be only two. Fight and die or leave the road for the woods. The dark woods would provide cover, but I shivered at getting caught alone in those eerie hills. There was no real choice, and before my pursuers got any closer, I jumped off the road and plunged into the forest to my right.
I immediately lost sight of my tormenters, but at first I could hear them running through the brush just as I was doing. I had could not see the sun in the tree cover and quickly lost my bearings. I was trying not to run in a straight line so as to make the chase more difficult. Several times over what seemed like the next hour I slowed to a stop to listen for sounds. The forest was remarkably quiet, except for crickets, and every twig I stepped on sounded like a rifle shot. Whether it was my imagination or not, I decided to either stop completely or run all out with no attempt at subterfuge.
The country was cut with ridges, gullies and ravines. It seemed as though I spent as much time going up and down as I did covering ground as the crow flies. I was continually trying to bend my path to the right, but the country was so rugged that I was forced further to the left than I wanted. It seemed like I had been moving for hours, when I came to the top of a ridge and found myself looking down upon a field of corn that had already been harvested. I looked for a farmhouse, but could not see one. Even if it were an isolated field with no people nearby, it must be close to a road I figured.
As I pondered my next move I saw movement in my peripheral vision. I spun around and saw figures shambling up the hillside, one of them appeared to be Holland, with at least two more in tow. At the sight of me they seemed to grow excited and quickened their pace. They were still at least a hundred yards away and they were coming up hill whilst I was jogging down hill, trying to stay on my feet. So unless they had cut me off up front, I was okay.
I reached the harvested field and broke into sprint. I spied an access road at one end of the field and headed that way. Right by the road was an old fashioned scarecrow leaning against a post. As I slowed down I noticed it had a sign around its neck, which read “Boo.” Classic.
I quickly followed the access road until it began to go in the wrong direction. It seemed to cut back to my pursuers so I plunged into the trees again. After less than ten more minutes of running I burst out of the trees and found myself behind a cabin, which appeared to sit on some sort of main road. Hoping to find a working phone, or at least some help, I rounded the corner and saw the sign. It was the bait shop. It had taken me God knows how long and I was right back where I had started and this time I was exhausted. At a glance I noticed one other problem. My SUV and my friends were gone.
Chapter Ten
“Well you’re alone now, Billy,” I said out loud to myself.
I hit the road again and this time I took off down the other direction. I listened for growls that would tell me that I had been spotted. I turned and looked back at the bait shop. I saw no pursuers, but I was almost completely exhausted. What was I going to do? As I continued to stumble down the road I expected to be cut off at any second. I saw something coming around a long bend in the road ahead of me. It was a vehicle.
My heart rose. Maybe it was help. I glanced around nervously and still saw no one else around. The vehicle picked up speed as it approached and I realized it was my truck. The guys were back.
The SUV slowed as it neared me and stopped about ten paces away. Jude was behind the wheel and Harley and Steve both stepped out. They had grim expressions and were armed to the teeth. Both had either rifles or shotguns and both also had holsters with revolvers.
Harley took a step towards me.
“Billy, are you all right, man?”
I was so glad to see them I started to run over and hug Harley, when he drew the bolt back on his rifle.
“I asked you a question,” he said grimly. “Are you all right? I want to hear an answer and I want one right now.”
I could see no amusement in his face and one look at Steve told me he was serious too. Jude, still behind the wheel, was masked by sunglasses and I could not gauge him.
“Guy, guys, guys,” I said putting my hands up in a mocking manner. “What’s with the third degree? I’ve been running for hours. Harley, am I glad to see you.”
Harley broke into a big smile and Steve did as well. In a moment I was enveloped in a huge group hug. The three of us were near tears when I heard Jude rev the engine. When we looked up, he motioned us into the truck. Harley grabbed the shotgun seat and Steve and I jumped in the back. Jude executed a wide 180-degree turn pulling the SUV off the road and back onto it so as to head back in the direction we had started towards town.
“Guys, I thought I was going to have to spend the night in the forest. How long was I gone?”
“About a half hour, Grizzly Adams. I’ve seen kids lost for longer than that in the mall,” said Harley.
I sat back stunned.
“A half hour? No way. At least two hours. Guys, did you see the mob chasing me?
They all exchanged glances.
“We didn’t see anyone except you and whatever Holland turned into,” said Jude softly.
“No, no, no you had to see them. I took off down the road and they came out of the woods ahead of me. They were just like Holland. Heck, they were just like everybody we have seen today. They were running like they were drugged and growling. One of them even snapped at me. If they had caught me they were going to tear me up like, like…”
“Like Holland?” Harley asked.
“Yeah, like Holland.”
“Buddy, when you took off we all did too,” said Steve jumping in. “By
the time we realized that Holland, or whoever, was only chasing you, we ran back to the SUV and took off after you, but by that time you must have already jumped off the road. We thought we had lost you. Since then, we have been cruising up and down the same three, four mile stretch of road hoping you would find your way back, and here you are.”
At the end of his speech, Steve reached in the back and shoved a rifle and a .38 revolver in my hands. We were traveling down the road fairly slowly at about 40 miles per hour and I noticed Harley and Jude’s eyes were scanning the countryside.
“”Guys, we have to go back,” I said. “Whatever happened to him, Holland is still out there.”
“You wanna go back? You can get out here,” said Steve with his voice rising and cracking. “I ain’t going and neither is anyone else. We are getting out of these God forsaken hills and finding a sheriff, or policeman, or something. I’d settle for a notary public at this point”
I waited for Harley or Jude to say something. It was obvious Steve was close to hysterical and I was scared too, but it seemed like we were abandoning Holland.
“Fellas, is anyone with me on this? Can we at least stop the truck and talk about it?” Jude looked up at me in the rearview and nodded. He slowly braked and pulled the car to the side of the road. The two right wheels found soft dirt and I felt the truck settle a little. The forest around us seemed imposing, but in the truck I felt less vulnerable.
“Listen guys we need to find Holland and tie him up or something. He must be sick or something. Maybe rabies, like Jude said before.”
No one spoke for a minute. Finally, with a sigh, Jude began.
“I said maybe the lunatic who ripped Holland open had rabies or something, but Holland came back from the dead. He doesn’t have rabies or cholera. He’s been reanimated.”
Zombie Civilization: Genesis (Zombie Civilization Saga) Page 5