by Shawn McLain
“Hold up there. You will not play that game with me. I’ve started to like you don’t mess that up with the whole you’re a girl so you need to stay behind thing.” Kate grabbed Steve by the arm. He looked into her eyes. He motioned with his eyes and a tilt to his head toward Bear.
“No, no, the dude’s right. You’re staying here.” Bear grunted.
Steve gave her a look that said “I have no intentions of leaving you”. Kate caught on, knowing Bear would never quietly let her go. “Fine, but I might not agree to letting you return.” She stated and stormed from the church.
Wes caught the exchange that had clearly done its job on Bear. Steve waited a tick before following after Kate. A few moments later he was sitting with her at the end of a dark hall. “Thanks for offering to help.”
“Well before you thank me you might want to teach me how to shoot a gun. I’ve never shot one before.”
“You’ve played video games though, it’s not too different from that except for the weight, noise, and aiming is a bit different and of course you don’t respawn if you get killed.”
“So not at all like a video game.” Kate laughed. Steve shrugged but smiled. Kate still grinning shook her head. “Besides I always played the ones where I wield a sword so big it breaks the laws of physics.”
Steve looked at her in the long shadows. “Well I guess I mean you should think of the zombies as the same as the video game enemies. Soulless and never ending.” He looked away. She seemed disappointed. Steve got to his feet and held out his hand. “Let’s head up to the tower and I’ll show you the basics ok.”
Kate took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She shook his hand, “That sounds like a plan.”
Mayhem
The night passed quietly in the apartment. The bedroom was closed, everyone was camping in the living room. Hector and Max had wrapped Bill’s body in the comforter and taken him outside. Beth had followed to say goodbye to her former teacher and savior.
“If it wasn’t for him I would have been killed…when was that? How many days ago did this all start?” Max patted her on the shoulder as he passed. Hector looked her in the face, then turned her away from the body to face the building. He then gave her a little push. She allowed herself to be steered away. When they had returned to the apartment, Hector had informed the group that they, all of them, would be going to the distribution center in the morning. They would leave at first light. All eyes turned to Stancy, who for once quietly consented.
Morning broke and the apartment was again alive with action. Devin and Trevor were moving supplies to the door just inside from the truck. An exercise Stancy questioned without lending a hand.
“Just in case we can’t get back here we want to have supplies.” Matt explained coming down the stairs behind Devin.
Max, Hector, and Beth double checked and triple checked weapons. Gillian put together a medical bag in case they came a across anyone who was injured. Then she changed the bandage on Beth’s hand. First light had already seen the sun up and heading to mid morning by the time the last person crammed themselves into the back of the truck. Beth felt edgy and excited.
Stancy was the last one in and looked as if she sorely wanted to be returned her gun. Everyone had already agreed she would have an old brass lamp body and not a gun. As they passed the blood stained quilt that contained their fallen friend she seemed less apt to pursue the return of the fire arm.
The trip to the distribution center was quiet and empty. “I wonder where they all are today.” Hector muttered. He thought back to the previous day’s movements. “They came from the ballpark area.”
Beth was next to him. “After they finished there they were at the hospital, it looked like they were heading to the retirement community. They must have run out of…food…and are now on the move.” She shuddered.
Hector thought her theory was probably a very good one. The buildings changed from shops and apartments to more industrial. Thick smoke hung over the streets. Finally the distribution center came into view. A building close by had collapsed and was still smoldering. One of the warehouses had heavy smoke coming from several windows another building was burning freely.
Beth stuck her head between the front seats. She surveyed the parking lot and was torn between relief and disappointment. The lot was almost completely empty, only three cars remained. Two sat idle and untouched the third, a van, sat with its driver’s door hanging open. As the truck passed they could see the interior was stained in blood and various parts of a human’s vital organs. What wasn’t in the lot was a beautiful well kept mustang.
“If Steve is here it looks like he’ll be in the office.” Beth pointed to building with several broken windows.
“Ok Beth, you, Matt and Gillian check that out then meet us by the heavy equipment. Max, Devin and I will secure some forklifts. Trevor you and Stancy stay with the truck.”
“Is that the best idea?” Devin questioned Hector in an undertone. “They’ve both panicked on us to extreme detriment.”
“Better they stay here than panic out there.” Hector jerked his thumb over his shoulder. They pulled to a stop in front of the office. The back doors opened, their shoes crunching on the gravel. The air was cold and Beth shivered but not due to the temperature.
What if Steve was here but….Shaking the thought. “Keys to the lifts are in a case just inside the door to warehouse number 3.” Beth pointed to the only building behind the office that wasn’t on fire or already destroyed.
“Well that’s lucky.” Hector stated and jogged toward the warehouse, Devin and Max following quickly.
Beth ran to the front door of the office. Gillian had to grab her hand to keep her from running right in. “Take it slow just in case.” She whispered.
Moving into the shadowy reception area Beth took in the scene. She had worked here for two summers and she hardly recognized the place. Chairs were over turned as were several tables. Papers covered the floor along with a dark brownish red stain that ran up one of the walls.
“Steve?” Beth hissed. Matt and Gillian joined her in the open room. They listened for any reply but only heard the papers underfoot and their own loud breathing. “This way.” Beth motioned.
They slowly made their way down the hall. Every door they looked through caused Beth to become increasingly frightened and hopeless. Room after room was covered in horror. Blood, and pieces of victims mixed with broken furniture and papers. Reaching the back office Beth could only gasp and turn her back on it. On the floor lay half of a woman that Beth was sure she had once worked for. Through the broken window they could hear one of the forklifts firing up in the yard.
“I don’t think Steve was here.” Beth sighed leaning heavily against the wall. “His car was not in the lot.”
“That thing is making a lot of noise.” Matt anxiously noticed. The truck’s horn blared out a warning. Matt ran to the window. He could see the zombies starting to become visible down the road. “Not good, they know we are here.” He called to the others.
Gillian joined Matt at the window, Beth couldn’t bring herself to enter the room. “Beth we’re in trouble, where is the back door?”
“This way.” Beth called. They barreled halfway down the hall. Beth hit the panic bar on the heavy door. They burst out into the yard. Beth sucked in the cold air. It stank of death and smoke but felt less oppressive than the building they just left.
Devin was pulling a forklift to the gate. He waved to them, but the wave faltered when he noticed the looks and the panicked movements. He pointed to the standing warehouse. Gillian nodded and pulled the others with her. They saw Hector and Max as they approached the building. Beth and Matt skirted a pile of burning pallets. Gillian went the opposite way around. Reaching the threshold Gillian tripped and fell over concert block. Looking behind her to see what she fell over she screamed. The undead poured through the doors from the office.
Matt cried out while pulling Gillian to her feet. Beth leveled her
weapon and fired several shots. Hector tugged on her collar urging her to follow. The first of the zombies had reached the fire. Beth was stunned to see it walk right through the flames. She ran through the door and tried to shut it but the piece of wood was blocking the door.
“I thought these things were afraid of fire!” She yelled giving up on the door and running from the now flaming ghoul.
Matt ran next to her speaking in-between gasps for breath, “that is actually a common…Misconception…Whoa!” A zombie lunged for them. Matt dodged as Beth smashed it with the butt of her gun. She grabbed his sleeve swung him around and pushed him ahead of her.
“You see people fear fire because of getting burned….” Matt clutched at his side. “A zombie doesn’t feel pain so why would it fear fire.”
The flaming zombie was now stumbling around setting several other undead on fire. “So why is it still moving? I thought fire would kill it.” Beth shouted as she put down two of its comrades.
“Well the body is something like 90% water so it doesn’t burn all that well.” Matt weaved around some creates. “To get a body to burn you need a large amount of accelerant or a very hot flame.” Matt grabbed Beth’s shoulders spinning her at a too close for comfort zombie.
She fired the gun’s chamber locked back showing the magazine was empty. Matt pulled one from her back pocket. Beth slapped it in the gun and fired again. “I seriously want to know…Why do you know this shit?” She shouted.
“People think bodies are easy to burn because people used to use mummies for firewood. If the body was all dried out…”
“Seriously? There is something wrong with you.” Beth pushed Matt toward a door near back of the warehouse.
“Yeah I heard that a lot.”
“Didn’t date much, did you?” Hector asked as he joined them. Three rounds left his rifle covering his laugh.
Matt, Hector and Beth pushed through the heavy steel door into an office. The three waited as Gillian rushed through, turned and slammed it shut. The crunch of several zombie fingers was immediately drowned out by the rhythmic pounding of undead fists.
“Why in the world do you know this? I mean really? Why?” Beth asked again.
“I don’t know, weird hobby I guess. I thought about becoming a mortician for a little while. I guess those guys are out of a job…if they haven’t been eaten by their work that is.” Matt rested his back against the door. “This would be kinda nice, like a back rub, if the ones on the other side of the door didn’t want to kill and eat me that is.”
Beth just stared at him. She really couldn’t understand him. I smile played at the corners of her mouth. “You and my boyfriend will get along really well.”
“I look forward to meeting him.” Matt smiled even though he doubted introductions would ever be made.
Beth could sense what he was thinking. “You’ll see, you guys will be playing dungeons and dragons and whatever…” The door lurched forward, Hector and Beth slammed against it.
“We’ll work on character sheets later. Let’s get out of here.” Hector shouted.
Beth and Matt looked over at him.
“What?” He asked.
“Nerd.” Beth and Matt said in unison.
“Bite me.”
“That might be what they are thinking. Where is Max?” Gillian asked.
Several shots sounded answering her question. The horn of the truck blared. It was joined by a second horn. “That the forklift’s horn. He must be with the truck.” Beth informed the others.
Gillian was on a desk in the small office looking out a window set high in the wall. “It looks clear back here. I can see the truck, I think we can make it. Oh Max is heading for the forklift, Devin is coming to meet…Oh! Oh my god!” Beth and Hector ran to the desk. Beth jumped up her hands pressed against the glass.
Max stumbled, a zombie crawled after him. He clutched at his neck, even from a distance they could see his hand was covered in glistening red. He turned and fired at the undead, its head exploded. Max waved Devin away. He turned and waved the group in the warehouse to come out. He then headed away from both the warehouse and the vehicles.
“Damn it. Come on!” Hector banged his head on the window then threw it open. Matt scrambled up on the desk. Gillian was through and already running to the truck. Beth was out next followed by Matt with help from Hector. The door to office burst open, a hand clawed at Hector’s boot as it slipped over the sill. Hector landed in a heap next to Matt, who helped him up. Beth was running toward Max. Max was screaming at her to get away while calling for the undead to come get him.
“BETH! Get over HERE!”
The truck crashed through the gate, a wild eyed Trevor at the wheel, Stancy screaming and pointing behind them in the passenger seat. Matt jumped up onto the forklift. Devin had chosen one with an enclosed cab. Beth knew this glass was meant to be heavy duty incase anything fell on it. It should hold off the fist of the dead. Matt slipped in beside Devin.
“Good thing he is so small.” She thought. Hector appeared by her side. Her arm nearly separated from her shoulder. Hector pulled her to the back of the truck.
Max fired three more shots then threw his rifle at the zombies. He pulled his side arm, turned gave Beth a wave and ran at the oncoming horde. Beth tried to pull free from Hector but his grip held firm. He was barely able to keep her in the back of the truck and shut the doors.
“He’s a hero. He saved us. Don’t mess that up by getting killed now.” Hector yelled as he pushed Beth against the wall of the truck. She pushed him off and looked out the back window. The forklift pulled in behind them blocking her view.
“We are out of time. Let’s get what we need and get out of here.” Hector stated shakily as he looked from Beth to Trevor. Trevor nodded terror evident from his face to his white knuckles.
Heading down the road they noticed the zombies were flooding in from only one direction. Unfortunately it was the direction they had come from that morning. “I don’t think we can get back the apartment.” Trevor whimpered.
“It looks as if they have massed in one place and were now moving as one through the city.” Hector pointed at the huge group. “Maybe it is like you thought.” He looked over at Beth. “Like they are following the food.”
“Now where do we go?” Stancy angrily hit the dashboard.
“We need a new place to hide until we can figure a way out of here.” Trevor exclaimed.
“It will need to be someplace defendable if they are coming at us in mass now.” Hector noted.
“Why wait? Let’s get the hell out of this town.” Beth cried.
“What about your precious brother?” Stancy shouted.
“He’s smart enough to get out of this insanity. There is no place safe here. Did you see them. No matter where we go it will never hold up to their assault.”
“Do you think we can clear the bridge with one Forklift and a truck? Trevor asked.
“Damn I wish we had some two way radios.” Hector grumbled.
“I think there is an electronics store on the way to the bridge. We could try there.” Trevor noted.
“Is it worth the risk?” Beth asked tears streaming down her face.
“It would be good to be in communication. We can watch each other’s back a little better.”
“I don’t give a damn about talking to any of you I want to be somewhere safe! We should never have left the apartment. This was a stupid waste of time.” Stancy finally had an opinion. No one answered her.
Thin Blue Line
Max fired into the crowd as he ran further away from the safety of the truck and Forklift. Beth had tried to follow him, silly girl, didn’t she understand it was too late. He blinked away the dizziness that threatened to overtake him. He knew he was bleeding out and quickly, but he had to give them time. Climbing up on a pile of pallets, he threw the empty rifle at an undead woman. She barely noticed the rifle butt ripping away half of her scalp. Max pulled out his service weapon and counted the shots.<
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One. The head of a man in a bathrobe exploded. “Reminds me of my neighbor, that bastard never seemed to work.”
Two. She may have been pretty when she was alive, but the gaping hole in the middle of her forehead and the way her skin hung sagging from several tears in her side made her undateable. “Not that you probably would have gone out with me if I ever asked.” Max grumbled and kicked away a dead hand that grabbed his ankle.
Three. “Damn it.” It tore through another man’s shoulder with not so much as a stagger backward.
Four. “Yeah take that!” The back of the ghoul’s head exploded showering the zombie behind it with blood and chunks of brain and skull.
Five. “Oh man you look like my father. He never liked me.” The old zombie fell.
Six. A zombie that reminded him of a teacher. Seven. His captain at the precinct. Eight. His high school girlfriend. He chose his targets well. Each one that fell became someone in his life that he had never had a chance to tell how he really felt about them. With each round the bitterness in his life seemed to ease. He was getting tired and cold. The deep stain on his uniform shirt had reached his belt. The gun in his hand was getting very heavy. He staggered barely able to keep standing.
Nine. “That will help them…Kept you bastards…occupied…but I will not join you.”
Ten. Black. Max’s body slumped down on the pallet. The zombies stood, arms outstretched reaching for him. A second ticked by, a moan grew from the crowd as they turned to follow where the truck had gone.
Clearing the Way
“Up there. Turn left up there. OK now go up about a block. The electronics store is just ahead.” Beth instructed Trevor. He did as he was told pulling up to the smashed glass window of the small store.
“Huh, even with everything that happened people still looted.” Trevor grumbled.
“Cover me.” Hector called as he threw open the back door. He hurried to the smashed window. He was about to step over the low wall into the interior when he stopped looking down. Beth watched him wondering why he stopped. She was about to ask when she was distracted by Matt waving frantically from the fork lift. He had his hands raised in a questioning manner. Beth put her hand to her ear to mimic a phone then pointed at Hector. Matt didn’t seem to get it until he saw what Hector was holding, a package holding a pair of two way radios. Beth gave him a thumbs up. He looked at the package and frowned then looked into the darkened store then back to the ground.