Apocalypse Z (A Zombie Novel)

by Swanson, G. E.

  He wore no expression on his face as he appeared to be studying her. He turned and looked at one of the mannequins that stood by the foot of the bed. A minute went by, and he said to it, “No, don’t worry, my love; she’s not going to take your place.” Then he was silent for a few seconds before he yelled, “I said no! Now shut up, bitch!” He stepped toward it and punched it in the chest. Surprised, Sheryl flinched; the mannequin broke into pieces as it flew through the air and slammed against the wall. He looked back at Sheryl and took a step toward her.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Mark waited by the bench as Dedee and Tami ran up to him. “She not in any of the rest rooms and we didn’t see any open shops down that way,” Dedee said as she huffed for air.

  Lisa, Jet, and Jeff returned a few minutes later. Jet shook her head. “There’s nothing down that way.”

  Mark walked to the railing and looked down to the first floor. The zombies were still gathered by the escalator, trying to get up. “We have to check the first floor.” He stepped away. “I’m not leaving until I know what’s happened to her. Good or bad, I have to know.”

  Tami asked, “Do you really think she may have been eaten by a zombie?”

  He shook his head. “I dunno. I hope not. We need to figure a way to get past those things and check the first floor.”

  Dedee said, “There are some steps back that way and I don’t think there are any zombies waiting at the bottom.”

  They ran to the stairs and went down to the first floor. As soon as they got there, the rot-bags that were by the escalators started toward them. Jet ran up and sliced the throat out of one and both legs off the second. As she went for the third one, she slipped in a puddle of black goo on the tile floor and landed on her left hip. It came up to her, bent over as it reached out, and grabbed her legs.

  Tami ran up and swung her pipe, hitting it in the face. The skull caved in and the neck made a tearing sound as the head ripped off and flew up. They all herd the hallow thumps, echoing through the mall, as it bounced across the floor of the second story. Jeff helped her up as she moaned and rubbed her hip. Even though the rest of the zombies moved a little slower and they were able to dodge them, Jet stopped to cut a few of them in half as they started checking the first floor. Mark noticed this, and a big smile came across his face.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  He stood at the edge of the bed, looking at her with his hand on the knife that he wore on his belt. “I won’t have to punish you, will I?” he asked.

  Sheryl shook her head as she stared at his twitching hand that rested on the knife. Her eyes wide with fear, she glanced at the door, then back at him. He noticed this and leaned over her as he drew his knife and placed it against her collarbone. She felt the tip of the knife at the base of her throat and a sharp pinch as it lightly pierced her skin, drawing a small drop of blood.

  He said to her, “Thinking about that is punishable and you wouldn’t want that to happen, would you?” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Good,” he said with a smile on his face. He went over to one of the mannequins and caressed its face before he leaned in and roughly kissed it on its mouth.

  He told her he would be back shortly as he left the room. She looked at the broken mannequin on the floor, then at the other with the smeared lipstick. Not wanting to know what he had in mind for her, she broke down and wept.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Tami yelled out, “I found an open store over here!”

  They rushed in and everyone went a different direction, calling out her name as they ran. As Lisa went into the back room to check, she ran into two zombies wearing dress slacks and shirts with store nametags. Mark was right behind her and quickly grabbed a large fire extinguisher hanging on the wall.

  He swung it up and hit one in the groin, there was a loud crunch and it fell to the ground. He raised the extinguisher and slammed it down on the side of its head as hard as he could. He heard a crack as the head collapsed; bone and rotten flesh shot out from under it and slid across the floor.

  Lisa grabbed the other one under the chin and slammed it into the wall as she pulled out her knife. She began jabbing and slicing its abdomen with it as the zombie hissed at her. It pushed her back as black blood poured down the front of its white dress shirt and blue-checkered tie. It lunged at her. Slipping in its own rotten blood, it fell backward and its head slammed against the floor.

  The back of the skull broke open like an egg. A greenish-gray brain slid out of the hole and shook like gelatin as it hit the floor. When it sat up, the brain hug from the back of the head and swung from the still-attached brain stem. Lisa stuck her fingers inside the hole and pulled it out a little farther before she got a good grip on the brain stem and ripped it from the spinal cord.

  Using its shirt, she wiped the sticky slime off her hand. They checked the rest of the back room and didn’t see any sign of Sheryl. They ran back out to the front and met Jet at the checkout counter. Mark yelled out, “Did anyone find her?”

  Everyone responded, “No.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  He walked back into the room with a pleased smile on his face and said to her, “Well, your friends think the zombies got you and left. It looks like they have abandoned you. You’re all mine now.” He went to her and ran his fingers over her forehead, around her left eye, and down her cheek. His hands moved down over her body, feeling every part of it. He said, “Yes, you will be able to suit my needs.”

  He went over to the wall and carried two of the mannequins over. She saw one had arms that were dried up and badly decomposed. Reaching into the eye sockets of the other, he pulled out two dried-up human eyes. He looked at them as he said, “These used to belong to Ann from the pet shop, but Valery has grown tired of the color. She tells me she likes your eyes better.” Then he pulled the rotting arms off the first one and said, “Karen has been looking forward to some new arms, and yours look like they will do nicely.”

  He pulled out his knife and started toward Sheryl. When he got close enough, she brought up her feet and kicked him in the groin. He grunted and dropped the knife on the floor. His face tightened and he grabbed her by the throat. He started choking her as he said through gritted teeth, “Why did you do that? Why are you making me punish you?”

  He raised his arm and backhanded her across the face. She felt the burning sting of his hand and the taste of blood in her mouth. He climbed on top of her and began slapping her face as he said to her, “See? See what you are making me do?”

  She began screaming and wailing through the tape over her mouth as he beat her. She glanced at the door and thought. Please, guys, hurry and come through the door. I need your help. With every strike, she saw a flash of black and fought to keep her eyes open as her vision blurred. Her strength was draining fast, and she didn’t know how much longer she could hold on.

  XVII

  As they stood at the checkout counter, they noticed the zombies had found them and started to come in. Tami stepped up, swung, and hit one in the leg, it snapped and folded up as the zombie fell forward. She raised her pipe over her head and brought it down hard on its rib cage, causing it to cave in. Jet decapitated another. The arms flailed about wildly as black liquid shot up out of its neck like a fountain, and the head hit the floor with a hallow thunk.

  Mark and Jeff quickly picked up a clothing rack and ran to the door with it. Using it like a battering ram, they pushed them back out and onto the floor. Jet quickly ran in and started slicing; Tami followed and struck some in the head. Mark, Jeff, and Lisa started stabbing and slicing throats with their knives until they were all dead.

  They stood outside of the store amongst the mess of dead and mutilated zombies. Mark looked back into the store they had just come from, then to the one next door. He thought one of the stores looked a little longer than the other. Lisa noticed he had strange look on his face as he looked back and forth. He said, “Follow me.” He ran for the escalator with Lisa right behind him. She followed him up to the
second floor and back inside the store.

  He ran into the back storage area and started moving boxes. He said, “I’ll check this side. You check the other for some kind of opening in the wall.”

  She did the same, and behind one large stack boxes, she found a door. When she opened it, she saw Sheryl on a bed and she was struggling to get free. There was a man on top of her back with one hand grabbing a fistful of her long hair and pulling her head up. There was a knife in his other hand with the tip of the blade being held close to her face, just below her right eye.

  Lisa drew her knife as she ran toward them, coming up from behind. Grabbing his hair, she jerked his head back and to the left. Lisa ran her sharp blade across his throat and up the right side of his neck, slicing deep. Before he could react, blood shot out of his neck and covered the mannequins. In a matter of seconds, he had bled out and lay dead on the floor. She wiped her blade, then cut through the tape that bound Sheryl’s wrists and ankles.

  When Lisa set her hand on Sheryl’s shoulder, she flinched. Lisa could feel her whole body trembling under her touch. She said softly, “Sheryl, it’s okay now. We’re here.”

  Sheryl recognized Lisa’s voice and turned toward her. Lisa gasped in shock when she saw her bruised and swollen face. “Oh my gawd, Sheryl!” She removed the tape that covered her mouth. That is when she noticed Sheryl’s torn clothing. She pulled the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around her.

  Through her tears and quivering voice, she said, “He hurt me, Lisa. He hurt me bad.”

  Looking at her face, she started to speak, and then she looked down at her torn shirt. “You mean…?”

  She nodded and said, “Yes, but please, don’t tell anyone. Please, promise me you won’t ever tell anyone.”

  Lisa put her arm around her shoulder and softly said, “Okay, I promise.”

  Sheryl looked at his body as Lisa helped her up. She spat on him and said, “Rot, you dirty son of a bitch! I hope you burn in hell forever, you bastard!”

  Mark ran to the door and froze when he saw Sheryl. His jaw dropped and he was speechless as he watched Lisa help her to the door. Looking around the room, he was stunned as blood ran down the mannequin’s arms and dripped from their fingers. Lisa said, “We’ll meet everyone outside. It got kinda bloody in here and she needs to change.”

  Mark nodded and went out in front of the store to wait with everyone else. When she came out with Sheryl, Tami jumped up and ran over to them. Taking Sheryl’s arm, she said she would take her to the RV and clean her up while everyone else took care of the bags.

  They managed to get all the bags to the first floor and over to the exit door. Mark took some bags into the RV and noticed the parking lot and sidewalk were clear. He asked Tami, “Where did they all go?”

  She looked up as she cleaned some dried blood off Sheryl’s face. “Where’d who go?”

  He pointed to the front windshield. “All the zombies. Where did they go to?”

  She shrugged as she replied, “I don’t know. They weren’t here when we came in.”

  He ran back into the mall and said, “The zombies that were outside are gone, we need to keep…” There was a loud crash down by the main entrance.

  They saw the doors and broken glass on the floor as the zombies began to pour in. Quickly, they formed a line and started passing as many of the bags as they could out the door and into the RV. Tami started grabbing bags and throwing them into the back as they came in. They had most of the stuff inside before Mark and Lisa drew their pistols and started firing.

  Jeff had to stop and start firing as they drew closer, while Dedee, Jet, and Tami worked on moving the bags. Mark yelled, “Screw the bags. We have to go. Now!” As they backed out the door, Mark stopped firing and said, “Shit! I need more bullets!”

  Lisa stopped firing and said the same thing. Jeff and Jet closed and held the door while Mark and Lisa got inside. When they heard the engine turn over, they both ran for the side door of the RV. The zombies, however, moved just as fast as they did. Jet jabbed their hands and arms with her sword and Jeff tried to close the door as Mark slowly pulled away from the side of the building.

  The zombies started to fall away as Mark accelerated; one fell and was caught under the back wheels. The tires broke traction as they went over it and pieces of it flew back through the air, hitting some of the zombies that were chasing after them. The RV bounced sending Jeff and Jet onto their backs and causing the door to slam shut.

  Mark left the parking lot as fast as he could, then headed back to the freeway. Jeff went to the back with Jet and Dedee. He sat on the edge of the bed as they went through bags and showed him some of the clothes they got. Lisa sat down and placed her hand on Sheryl’s, giving it a gentle squeeze, while Tami cleaned up the table. Sheryl put her other hand on Lisa’s as she looked over and said, “Thank you.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Mark pulled into a service station and said as he got up, “This will be the last fuel stop we have to make.” He glanced at his watch. “We should be just below the logging camp in another three hours.”

  Lisa stood up with a big smile on her face as she said, “Let’s do it then.”

  Jeff woke Jet up so she could come out with them while he fueled up. Mark and Lisa stood by the door with their backs against the RV, their eyes constantly looking for threats. Jet stood with Jeff as he worked on the pump and hooked up the generator. When he started it up, the place came to life.

  Two appeared on the sidewalk across the street and four more a couple of blocks away. Jet drew her sword and Jeff looked around quickly, before looking back at her. He said, “Oh, shit!” as he ran back to the pump and started to fill the tank.

  Mark and Lisa drew their pistols and fired on the two across the street. Both fell to the pavement as they stepped off the curb, but the other four kept coming. Jeff watched as it pumped, he could feel his anxiety rising as the numbers on the pump slowly advanced. He said out loud, “I had two pumps to choose from and I had to pick the slowest frickin’ one in the state.”

  Lisa yelled that they were almost completely out of ammo and for him to stop and get back inside, but they were so close to the cabin, he had to try and get all that he could, so they would not be forced to walk again. Three hours of driving or one week of walking, he thought to himself. This was pretty much a no brainer, but those damned zombies may force them to walk again.

  Jet swung as the first one reached for Jeff and she sliced its leg. It fell to the ground and grabbed Jeff’s ankle with its right hand. Jet drove her sword into the back of its head and wiggled the blade as black fluid bubbled up through the small hole. She raised it over her head and brought the blade down right on top of the second’s head. It cut through and stopped in the center of its chest.

  Pulling the blade out, she wiped the black smears onto its shirt as it teetered and fell. She yelled for Jeff to hurry as a third drew near. He didn’t have time to unhook the wires, so he just pulled the cord from the generator and closed the hatch. He pulled the nozzle out and threw it on the ground as he jumped back inside.

  Mark hit the gas and pulled away. The slower moving one, a woman, stood in the street in front of them and looked like she was ready to jump through the windshield as they approached. When they were almost on top of her, she lunged right at the windshield, but instead of coming through it, she exploded on impact, like a water balloon on concrete.

  Goo, innards, and rotting skin ran down the front of the RV and Mark had to turn on the wipers just to see out. Lisa wrinkled her nose and whispered, “Ewww.” Hair tangled in the wiper blades and liquefied brain matter was flung off to the side. A retched stench was pulled in through the vents and quickly filled the air inside.

  Mark rolled down his window to let some fresh air in and Lisa did the same. After driving the last few hours, they arrived at the sawmill below the logging camp. Mark decided everyone should get a little sleep and they would start at sunrise.

  Before they started thei
r hike, Mark filled them in on the details. “We have a three mile hike to the logging camp. After that, it’s another three miles to the cabin. The camp is pretty isolated, so I don’t know if the virus made it there or not. But we need to be ready just in case it did. With that in mind, we also don’t know where people would have been when they turned, just like in the barn, so we could run into some along on the trail.”

  Jet took her shades from her pack and put them on, just in case they ran into someone that hadn’t turned. She didn’t want to chance having her eyes freaking them out and having an axe buried in her head. Dedee pointed out there were birds in the sky circling over something ahead, and Mark took that as a bad omen.

  The first two and a half miles were clear. The sounds of birds in the air and an occasional cool breeze had a calming effect on everyone. It was the last half mile that they ran into trees that had been cut down and were lying across the trail. One at a time, they climbed over them, but this slowed them down and they started to tire quickly. The third tree they had to climb over was almost six feet in diameter.

  Mark gave Lisa a boost to get up, as she reached over, something cold and rough grabbed her hand. She shrieked and jumped back, almost knocking Mark to the ground. She told him what happened so Jet climbed onto Jeff’s back to look over it. On the other side, she saw two men, and they were huge. Both were well built and stood almost six and a half feet tall.

  Jet reached over with her sword and started swinging; she quickly brought them down to size as she cut through their necks and chests. A little embarrassed, Mark said, “Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that almost all of them are over six feet tall and built like tanks.”

  Lisa sighed. “And you just remembered this?” She shook her head and asked, “By the way, how many of them are there?

  He thought before he answered. “Anywhere between thirty-five and eighty-five of them… Well, minus two now.”