The Beginning of the End

by Emily Allison

Dr. Dellinger continued down the stairs, and Damon got the feeling he had almost forgotten him. The staircase was narrow and suffocating with a light bulb that blinked like a strobe light. An ungodly smell hit Damon in the face. The hair on his arms stood on end, and it wasn’t from the chill emanating from the basement.

  “Is that what I think it is?” His stomach dropped.

  “The odor of infected tissue,” the old man answered absently.

  “Infected tissue, just how much do you ha—holy shit.” Damon’s brain went wild. In a wire dog kennel a female zombie crouched on all fours with teeth bared. Its brain was exposed with wires of red, yellow, and blue sprouting from the dead tissue. “What the fuck is that doing here? I told you that you couldn’t bring zombies into the safe zone. That’s why we set you up outside in the hotel.”

  Damon observed a stainless steel table with an extensively decomposed corpse on it. There was fresh dirt all over the floor, looking as though it had been dug up from the cemetery.

  “Rules have the potential to be changed.”

  “Where did you get that?”

  “The cemetery of course,” he said without emotion, like it was completely normal to dig up dead bodies.

  “Dr. Dellinger, this is too much, man. We made a deal. If Harper found out about this…” Oh God. What WOULD he do?

  The scientist sighed. His surprise didn’t go as planned. “I am disappointed in you, Damon.”

  “Disappointed. What the hell? We gotta get rid of this thing. If that zombie got loose, this place could be wiped out in a day.”

  Before the old man could retort Damon grabbed his machete, approached the cage and stabbed the blade through the wires and into the sneering zombie’s forehead. It dropped to the plastic tray, motionless.

  “What have you done?” the scientist screamed. “So many hours of observation-WASTED!” he shrieked and pulled at his gray hair. “You bumbling idiot! You’ve ruined everything!” He wildly ripped the papers from his desk as he continued on his tirade.

  Enough was enough. “Take your things and leave! You are no longer welcome here!” Damon felt his chest tighten, he didn’t want to lose the cure or admit he was wrong.

  Dr. Dellinger screamed. He refused to hear it and began to ramble. Damon reached for the radio at his waist and called Harper for assistance in removing the maniac from the safe zone. Damon had a feeling the old man was the type to scratch eyes out, or pull out some futuristic zombie infecting device.

  He waited upstairs for the marines to arrive, not having the patience to witness the temper tantrum any longer. The old man was about to get his teeth knocked out.

  “My God. I told you so,” Harper said when he walked through the door.

  Damon glanced up from his palms with a frown. He slapped his hand on the back of his neck. “Shut the fuck up.”

  “Harper is so freaking excited right now,” Riley laughed. “Frankly I’m a little excited too. Dude gave me the creeps.”

  “Can we just get this over with?”

  The three of them went to the stairs and descended with purpose. Damon couldn’t hear the raging old man anymore and wondered if he gave himself a heart attack. When they got to the bottom the basement, was empty. The only other bodies were the dead ones. The old man’s suitcase was gone too.

  “That son of a bitch escaped,” Damon cursed.

  “Oh my God, you got schooled by an old geezer.” Riley punched Damon in the arm.

  chapter 18

  Life had returned to normal in the safe zone after the disappearance of the scientist and the unfortunate death of Jason and his friends. At the fire station, Damon and Victoria organized and counted the stock of supplies while the teens of the compound were upstairs in school. The structure of the curriculum was rudimentary since they didn’t have enough textbooks to go around but overall the mood was good.

  Victoria remembered she’d made plans to meet Mathias at the planting fields, so she left Damon to his clipboard and thoughts. The big man happened to know a lot about farming and wasn’t afraid of hard work. He also enjoyed being outside, which he chalked up to being Hagerty’s prisoner for so long.

  The day was warm and clouds streaked the blue sky. The absent airplane trails no longer bothered Damon. He found himself walking the perimeter of the safe zone, something that he did when he wanted to think. He had walked the same steps for too many days The loss of Dr. Dellinger weighed heavily on his shoulders, and he was unsure if he did the right thing. He was probably the only one that could save them from the virus that ruined the world, the hope of the military or CDC doing so had long since died.

  The scientist wasn’t the only thing on his mind; the memories of his wife and son danced across his brain. His heart pained, stung. How am I supposed to feel? They were perfect and now they are gone. Then Victoria came into his life, and she is also perfect. Was it really that easy?

  “You’re gonna start a fire if you keep staring like that,” a voice called down from above.

  Damon shook his head. He squinted into the sun and saw Patrick smiling down at him. His thick hand caught the rung of the ladder, and he climbed up to join Patrick at the lookout station. To Damon’s left and right was the length of interstate, running east and west of the compound. A dense tree line lay beyond the interstate just past the giant crater in the ground where Harper detonated the poor ice cream truck. Damon felt a smile creep across his scratchy face.

  “What the hell is that?” asked Patrick from his side.

  Damon followed his finger down the dotted interstate. What he saw made him snap up his walkie like lightening. It looked as though vehicles were coming at them. “Harper, you there?” They got closer.

  After a second, “Yeah.”

  “Round up the guys, we may have a situation down here.”

  “Got it.”

  “That’s strange. I’ve never seen survivors travel like that, or with that many.”

  Damon chest tightened. “I don’t think these are typical survivors.” A Jeep and two trucks, one beat up the other like new, continued in their direction. In the back of the trucks were guys toting various guns. “This may get ugly. Get people inside.”

  “Hagerty?” Patrick asked.

  Damon nodded and watched Patrick scale down the ladder and run off. At the same time Harper showed up with Riley. “Guns up! Stay outta sight,” Damon hollered before the three war machines were upon them.

  Harper nodded curtly and shot Riley some orders with his fingers, then they both disappeared.

  “Come out you piece of shit!” a voice called from the window of the gold Jeep. Stickly blonde hair stuck out from the man’s head. “You got a mighty fine place here. Can’t say it was that hard to find. I just can’t help but think it would be a shame not to have a look around.”

  Damon stayed silent, unsure what to say.

  “You’ve taken a lot from me, Damon! I have one long fucking list!”

  There was more silence, apart from the sound of shuffling guns. Damon looked at their hard faces. They were ready to kill, ready to pillage. They wanted his home for themselves. “What do you want, Hagerty?” Damon yelled over the balcony keeping his head low.

  “That’s pretty fucking easy! Since you got my place overrun, I figured I’d take yours!” There was a pause. “Oh and one more thing, YOUR HEAD!”

  What the fuck is wrong with this guy? “I can’t do that! By kidnapping people you brought that bad luck on yourself!”

  “Wrong answer. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. And Damon, I’ll give you a hint...We really like the hard way!”

  Damon glanced down the ladder to see if he could spy one of the marines. Riley was hiding just passed the gate with his rifle up.

  “Fuck this guy,” he mouthed to him.

  Harper was out of sight, but Damon knew he wasn’t far away. Victoria was running with sword drawn and Mathias was at her side, dwarfing her with his massive size.

  “You really want your people to die o
ver this? I want you…and maybe those other fuckers that got away, but the rest of your people mean nothing to me!”

  “My answer is no, Hagerty. This is our home. OUR HOME!”

  A monstrous laugh boomed from inside the Jeep. Damon spied Hagerty pick up a walkie then motion something to the driver. The Jeep suddenly peeled out and barreled down the interstate. Damon watched as it pulled off the pavement, kicking up dirt as it came to a stop next to the crater facing the compound. The sound of a powerful diesel engine rapped out tearing down the highway. When it came into view Damon saw a semi with a snow plow blade welded to the front.

  “Oh fuck,” Damon muttered to himself and jumped down the ladder. “They’re gonna ram the gate!”

  Just then Harper pulled up in a beige Hummer and parked a few feet away from the gate. It was the same one they used during the zombie siege that killed Marco. The big man swiftly climbed out of the cab and jumped on the turret.

  “We don’t have a lot but maybe it’s enough,” Harper said crouching behind the huge gun.

  Outside the compound they could hear the ominous sound of the semi plow’s revving engine. Black smoke billowed in the sky. Damon smelled the burning diesel; the arid odor hitting the back of his throat. The engine fired and the semi lurched forward.

  “GET DOWN!” Damon shouted.

  Harper yelled out and faced the bulldozer with the turret, his fists wrapped around the handles as he squeezed the trigger. Thunderous blasts exploded from the turret ripping though the chain-link fenced and striking the homemade bulldozer. The booming sound thumped in Damon’s chest and vibrated his feet as the heavy artillery tore into the semi. Shreds of metal flew. When the bulldozer’s blade touched the gate, a shot blasted through the gas tank. An explosion erupted in a ball of fire.

  Like a wrecking ball, the force knocked Damon against the concrete. The air left his body and crushing pain consumed him. He looked up to see the semi-truck in flaming shreds inside compound, the gate in twisted pieces. He had barely made it to his feet when two trucks drove through the smoke and flames. Gunfire broke out and Damon scrambled for his shotgun. He spotted it along the perimeter lying under the lookout tower. His feet scraped against loose gravel as he dashed for it.

  Harper abandoned the turret after exhausting the ammo and dove for cover behind the Hummer. Men jumped from one of the trucks and quickly scattered into the street, looking to shoot anyone left standing. Two men tossed Molotov cocktails on the welcome center and the restaurant.

  Riley fired a shot that exploded through the chest of one man mid throw while Harper took down the other. Damon heard the sound of another vehicle drive through the gaping hole in the compound. He knew it was the Jeep…and Hagerty.

  Damon took aim and fired a round at the Jeep, hitting the rear passenger wheel. The Jeep jerked around, spinning wildly. When it came to a stop, Damon locked eyes with Hagerty. He fired another shot and metal exploded over Hagerty’s head.

  Hagerty scrambled out of the driver’s door and collapsed to the ground with his cronies. “What the fuck are you waiting for? Shoot him!”

  Damon ducked behind the flaming wreckage of the semi. He listened to the screams of his people dying amongst the gunfire but all he could really hear was Hagerty’s voice.

  “Shoot him!”

  One of Hagerty’s men, a short black haired man, popped out with a rifle and squeezed the trigger. Damon heard the bullets strike the metal near his head. Waiting until the fire stopped, he peeked his head out. Seeing the man’s rifle aimed straight at him, he pulled back just as another round of shots hit dangerously close to him. Hearing the clip drop he rounded the corner for his chance. He fired two rounds, blasting a hole in the chest of black haired guy before he could reload. Hagerty immediately jumped up firing a pistol at Damon.

  Damon hissed in pain when a bullet cut through his bicep. Red splashed the air. Ignoring the searing in his shooting arm, he rounded the corner blasting as he dashed across the opening between the twisted metal and the old Toyota van. He hit the remaining body guard in the leg, taking it out from under him completely. The man fell to the ground screaming, grasping at his bloody nub. Damon hunkered down by the tire of the van. The smell of gunpowder was in his nose. He listened as the man’s screams died with him, then risked a glance from his new vantage point. Hagerty had moved around the Jeep. They were alone, the sound of battle was elsewhere. Harper and Riley were gone. It was only Hagerty and Damon at the gate amongst the bodies and debris.

  Hagerty had a rifle leveled at Damon, trading his pistol for his fallen guard’s rifle. He blasted the can with countless rounds. “You still alive?” he shouted.

  God he hated that son of a bitch. “You gotta try harder than that!” Damon fired back. He could play asshole if that’s what he wanted.

  “Why don’t you just pop your little head out so I can change that?”

  “How ‘bout you drop your guns, take your friends outta here and crawl back to whatever hellhole is left for ya?”

  “You know you aren’t making your way outta this? This is my joint now.”

  Damon was about to fire off a retort but his ears picked up something new. Goosebumps ran up his arms. A choir of groans rang outside the compound. Zombies massed outside, dotting the field across the interstate. They limped with hunched shoulders shifting side to side with each stilting step.

  “Holy fuck,” he whispered to himself. His brain went back to the first zombie siege. His gut sank. He was running out of time. “Look behind you, Hagerty! We are out of time! The dead heard the mess you started!”

  “I ain’t afraid of those corpses!”

  “You should be,” Damon couldn’t bring his voice over a whisper.

  One of the trucks suddenly tore passed, back wheels thumping over bodies as it went. Hagerty shouted at them pulling his body away from the Jeep.

  Damon took advantage of the opportunity. He put his shoulder to the ground, giving him a clear view of Hagerty’s boots. He fired three rounds.

  Hagerty howled in agony as he fell, landing on his back. His weapon clattered to the ground five feet from him. He crawled to retrieve it, but Damon got there first. He kicked it away with his worn boot.

  “You deserve this.”

  Hagerty stared up with his wide eyes panning to the dead then back to Damon. “You don’t have it in ya. You’re nothing but a punk bitch.”

  Damon snarled. He felt his finger on the trigger, thick with rage, but he hesitated. The dead were closer. He could smell them now, permeating his nostrils. He stared down as Hagerty began to laugh. He had maneuvered his back against the front tire of the Jeep. Rage hit Damon’s chest. Was he really going to shoot someone point blank who wasn’t infected?

  “You’re running out of time,” Hagerty taunted.

  Damon was about to squeeze the trigger and paint the Jeep the color of Hagerty’s organs. He glared down at him. His hand shook. “Fuck!” he blurted out.

  Hagerty laughed harshly. “I knew you couldn’t do it.”

  Damon struck his mouth with the butt of his gun, silencing him in a second. The dead were closer, the smell was stronger. “You don’t know this about me, but the dead have a knack for finding me, and this time they will find you too. This time you won’t survive.”

  Hagerty looked at him in question, but then glared. “Fuck you,” he cursed.

  Damon looked away from the bleeding man and stepped toward the Jeep. He reached in, locked the doors, and slammed it shut. Hagerty was left with nowhere to go on useless feet. Damon jogged away from the vehicle so the zombies had only Hagerty’s crawling body in their sights.

  Damon honestly wanted to watch the zombies tear him apart. The heartless thought shocked him. He found his walkie and radioed Harper to the gate. They had to find a way to stop the remainder of the herd from entering the compound. Their moans grew louder. Then he heard his foe cry out. His blood curdling screams rang in Damon’s ears hours after the siege was over.

  Hagerty’s men w
ere either gone, dead or undead. Now they were left with the zombie threat. Damon’s mind scrambled for an idea. When Harper showed up, a good one popped into his head.

  “Harper, jump in your truck and blast some music to lead the horde away from the safe zone. It should take care of most of them. We can clean up the rest.”

  Harper nodded and jogged over to the white truck.

  Victoria arrived just as Harper plowed through the hole in the fence and about twenty zombies. Their coagulated blood splattered. Her katana was bloody. “Good to see you.”

  “I’m glad you’re ok.”

  The two turned to face the remaining zombies. Victoria attacked swiftly, swinging her sword in wide, calculated arcs. As she danced amongst the undead their bodies fell. Damon avoided using his shotgun knowing the sound could bring back the horde. Machete in hand, he approached the first zombie and cleaved its head in two. He stabbed at the next one, carving it up the middle then slicing off its head. He slashed and stabbed until they were all motionless on the ground.

  “Thank you,” he said pressing his forehead against Victoria’s.

  “Of course.”

  Damon heard what sounded like a horse running, and turned to see Chloe atop Buckey with her bow drawn. She ignored them for a moment until she was sure all the zombies were dead. It was over. Damon stood amidst all the bodies and suddenly felt like he was unable to stand. He collapsed to his knees, there was so much death around him. In that instant he felt as though he failed everyone. It was absurd to think any of them were safe.

  chapter 19

  Chloe worked alongside Damon, Harper, Victoria, and Mathias cleaning up the mess that Hagerty’s men dealt out. The welcome center and holding tank were destroyed; without immediate rain it burned to the ground. The teenager was sweeping glass into a glittering pile when she overheard Damon and Mathias talking about how they were thankful there wasn’t a breeze when the fire broke out. The damage would have been so much more extensive.

  Not only were the gate and welcome center destroyed, but the fire station took a hit as well as the food supply. Hagerty’s men stole the majority of their food supply before firebombing the building. Thankfully Patrick, Mathias, and Victoria were able to extinguish it.