The Beginning of the End

by Emily Allison

  “Hey Chloe, have you seen Riley?” she heard Damon shout from across the street. He was helping Mathias load the bodies of the zombies and Hagerty’s men into the bed of Harper’s truck.

  She hadn’t. “Probably still mad that I told him I hated him…and other things.”

  “Hmmm.” Damon made a face. “It’s just weird. I feel like he’s always around.”

  “Yeah, always bugging me,” Harper added.

  “He’ll turn up, after he’s had his fill of whiskey,” Chloe said.

  They worked until nightfall; it had taken that long to bury all the bodies. Chloe walked with Boomer at her side through the backyard. It was so dark; there was no moon, no stars, no lights, just darkness. She stopped and tugged at Boomer’s long ears. She thought about what she said to Riley the night of her birthday. Her stomach tensed, she was out of line. She would have been dead without him. She owed him her life much like she owed Damon. She looked back at the house and saw Damon watching her. She put a smile on her freckled face and walked through the new grass. She would apologize to Riley the next time she saw him.

  The next morning came and Chloe checked Riley’s room. Her throat clenched when she saw nothing but pillows and blankets. God what if he was killed in the raid? She damn near tumbled down the steps into the kitchen. Victoria was sitting at the table sipping some instant coffee.

  “Victoria, you see Riley this morning? Where’s Damon?”

  Victoria brushed her delicate hand through her short black hair then shook her head. “He didn’t come home last night. Maybe check with Kya. I’ve seen him over there a time or two.”

  Chloe huffed. She didn’t think Riley would be at the apartments since his falling out with Kya. The two hadn’t been together in a while. “Are we sure nothing happened to him when Hagerty’s guys were here? I mean a lot of people died.”

  “Don’t be silly. Riley is skilled, a jester, but a skilled marine. Hagerty’s men were unorganized.” She got up and walked the cup to the sink, “Plus, Damon and Harper buried all of those who were killed.”

  Boomer rubbed against her leg until he saw Lucky walk by with his entitled tail stuck in the air. The bloodhound took off with a loud bark. His paws scratched across the wooden floor as he awkwardly tried to gain traction. Lucky saw him coming and hissed, then sprinted away, jumping from a dining room chair to the table. Boomer crashed into the chairs with a loud clatter. Lucky leapt effortlessly from the table to the top of the china hutch that sat in the corner. His green eyes glared down at the bloodhound while he yowled like a battle ready tomcat.

  “Boomer!” Chloe stomped into the room. “Come on, I don’t need this right now,” she scolded the dog.

  “Yeah Boom Boom, you’re too slow to catch that cat anyway,” Victoria laughed, but her smile faded when she saw the worried gaze on Chloe’s face. “We’ll find him. Don’t worry.”

  “I’m going to find him.” Chloe snatched her bow off the table and stalked out the door with Boomer jogging at her side.

  This is your fault. Her brain taunted as she walked down the sidewalk. Chloe told herself she would turn the safe zone upside down to find that gangly, silly ass marine.

  Five days passed and Riley still hadn’t turned up. Chloe had scoured every inch of the safe zone in two days. Now she had to start sneaking out as soon as the sun rose to check outside the compound. She felt Damon and the others weren’t looking long enough or hard enough. She barely slept or stopped to eat. Boomer was by her side the entire time.

  She circled outward from the safe zone checking every building. Her tears were her fuel. She had even begun wearing one of Riley’s shirts just so he would feel closer. Dark clouds were in the sky. Chloe felt the rain before it started. She knew her morning would be cut short by a strong storm but was determined to cover another mile before it unleashed.

  Boomer paced around Chloe’s feet, cars, mailboxes, and everything else. Chloe noticed Boomer freeze. Then he whined, pranced in place. “What is it boy?” she whispered.

  His brown eyes looked up at her while he let out a loud “Woof!” He put his big black nose back to the ground, and he took off down the street.

  Chloe stifled a yell for him to come back, remembering they were out of the safe zone. She pursued the dog and wasn’t able to catch up with him until four blocks later. At that point, she was standing in front of a large factory. It had large gray cylinders attached to one side. The oversized metal doors in front lacked windows and any signage had worn away. Boomer whined at the door and scratched his big paws against the dirty metal. She knew he had Riley’s scent. It had to be.

  A sound from behind Chloe sent her heart into her throat. She turned and saw a gang of zombies staggering over the gravel parking lot. The moans carried to her ears. It was more than she had ever seen on her own, and more than she could handle with just a bow. Her stomach quaked and her brain screamed to run, but her legs disobeyed. The zombies came closer, scrambling faster. Tears formed in her eyes. She was going to die.

  The clouds opened up, and the rain crashed down over Chloe. Her brain snapped. Her legs moved. “Boomer!” she yelled.

  Boomer reluctantly pulled away from the metal door and bounded down the street, following Chloe’s pounding feet back to the safe zone.

  chapter 20

  “I can’t believe you went out of the safe zone again!” yelled Damon, “After everything!”

  Chloe knew Damon was going to be angry, but she was concerned about how red his face was getting. “I know, I know. I should have told you, but I just had to do this. I really think Riley is there-in the factory.”

  Victoria put a pale hand on Damon’s flexing forearm. “Please Damon. Give her a break. She loves Riley. He’s family.”

  “He’s like the brother I never had,” Chloe added.

  Damon huffed, blowing air between his lips. His face lightened slightly. “If Riley is there, we’ll find him. I just don’t know why he’d be there.”

  “I don’t know, but I guess we’ll find out,” Chloe said.

  “Get the boys, we’re heading out.”

  The rain was falling softly when they made it to the location Chloe led them to. Damon and the others watched the location from the vantage point of a rooftop across the street. Aside from the zombies milling about the industrial premises, there was no movement. There were train tracks behind the factory. The factory had three distinct towers, one reaching nearly a hundred feet.

  “Are you sure this is where Boomer led you?” Damon asked, he was looking through a pair of brown binoculars. “I just don’t get it.”

  Chloe popped her hip out automatically. “Of course this is the place.”

  “We believe you girl, but it is hard to understand why he would be here,” Harper said. His rifle was across his waist.

  “I don’t know, maybe Hagerty or Dr. Dellinger…” she stopped.

  “Or?” Harper urged her to finish.

  Chloe twiddled with the strings of her bow. “Well the night of my party, the day Jason died…there were other people there, like people we didn’t know.”

  Damon turned around and tossed the binoculars to Harper. “Like people not from the safe zone?”

  “Yeah. Jason was taking supplies to help them.”

  “God, Chloe! Why didn’t you say something? There are just too many things wrong with that.” Damon’s hands were in the air.

  “Cut me some slack Damon. Plus, they’re dead. Jason said it was just the two.”

  Damon opened his mouth, but Mathias interrupted. “Arguing about the how or why is just wasting time. What’s done is done.”

  “Mathias is right. Let’s go down there and get our boy back,” Harper said. “Best we sneak in back.”

  “Keep your eyes peeled. I’m not comfortable with this.”

  Harper led the train with Damon behind him, followed by Chloe, Victoria, and Mathias. They decided it would be best to head around toward the train tracks since there were fewer zombies. They also switched
to their silent weapons. None of them knew what they were up against since Chloe wasn’t able to do much recon before being overrun by zombies.

  Damon watched Harper’s back, red flashlights were pointing up illuminating the darkness. He could feel Chloe behind him. There were heavy metal tables in rows, then conveyor belts. Huge machinery was everywhere. When the room was clear Damon took at closer look at what was on the tables. There were tiny objects strung along the black belt then he noticed there were suckers. They were in a candy factory.

  The team moved through the small rooms connected to the main manufacturing area. They ended up in a room that had pallets of finished products. There was a hallway that came up on Damon’s right, and he motioned for them to have a look.

  Harper gave him a sharp nod, and Damon pushed it open. Two zombies fell into his lap with snapping jaws. He was shoved against a flat of packaged lollipops. He pushed back while Harper and Mathias surged forward with machetes. The zombies thumped to the floor. Damon nodded his thanks and moved through the door. There was a third zombie staring at the wall. Its shaved head had wires sewn into the rotting skin. Damon swung the blade and connected with a sickening THUK.

  He didn’t risk a glance back to the others; he knew they saw the wires. Damon’s stomach dropped. Anxiety smothered him. The hall split, the group went right. Then there were stairs leading down. Beyond the stairs were three more zombies, wobbling shoulder to shoulder. Their dead eyes hadn’t noticed them, unable to see the band of red light. Damon sunk his machete into the center zombie, just as an arrow wheezed past his ear and plunged into the skull of another. Damon kicked the remaining zombie in the chest with a powerful blow, making it stumble onto its back. Before it could recover he slid his blade to its brain.

  There were numerous halls and empty rooms. Suddenly, light flickered at the end of their current path. As one they moved toward it. The air grew colder and damp against their skin.

  It seemed as though everyone was afraid to breathe, the air was suffocating. Damon’s skin tingled and the hair on his neck prickled. He squeezed his machete, wishing he could switch to his shotgun, but it would call out to every zombie in the area like a dinner bell. Then the five of them stepped into the fluorescent light. There were two tanks on each side of the room. Damon figured them to be for liquefied candy, but their current purpose was much more sinister.

  Damon approached the first tank after scanning the interior of the room. There was no movement except for what was in the tanks. In the first one, Damon recognized the short stature and graying hair of Hank.

  “Hank?” he whispered to the glass.

  He noticed the others as they started to sweep the vast chamber. Damon returned his focus to the tank and jumped back when he saw Hank’s face pressed against the glass. His eyes were milky and fixated on Damon. His lips were pulled back over his black teeth. He was a zombie no doubt, so it was strange that he wasn’t trying to attack. His form was rigid. Damon saw that the back of his skull was open, again revealing wires connected to brain matter. Hank just stared, eyes boring into Damon. Damon was transfixed by Hank’s gaze. He overheard the others as they discovered the remaining missing persons. They were either in the tanks or in pieces on the steel tables.

  “Damon, come quick!” Chloe shouted.

  His body jolted, and he pulled away from Hank. After a sharp intake of air he jogged toward the end of the chamber where Chloe, Harper, and Mathias stood crowded around a table. Victoria ran from between two tanks to join them. She had been investigating the tanks on the other side of the chamber. It took Damon two seconds and he was standing at the head of the table.

  “Oh my God, Riley?” he was barely able to whisper. The buzzing lights echoed in his ears.

  Riley didn’t open his eyes. His skin was paler than normal. Damon looked down at his arms where tubes of all colors were running out of him. Some things went in, while what looked like blood was coming out. There were patches on his thighs were skin had been removed. The area around his stub was raw, layers of skin were gone.

  “Get these tubes out of him!” Chloe choked out through her sobs. Her tiny hands started pulling out the catheters.

  Victoria jumped in after snatching a towel from another table to help stop the bleeding.

  “Riley, wake up,” Chloe cried.

  Damon felt tears burn the corners of his eyes. His chest hurt, he couldn’t swallow. “Come on buddy.” He checked a pulse.

  Harper coughed. “Anything?” he voice ragged.

  Chloe couldn’t breathe, tears flooded her cheeks.

  Damon sucked in his breath. “He’s alive! His pulse is weak, but he’s alive.”

  Chloe sobbed while she buried her face in Victoria chest. Mathias remained silent.

  Damon didn’t know how many minutes had past. They had to do something. Maybe they were too late. If only he would have listened to Chloe. They had to get Riley out of the factory, but Damon didn’t know if he would survive the journey back. Damon closed his mahogany eyes.

  “Took...you…fuckers…long…enough.”

  Damon’s eyes flared, and he looked down. He let out a sharp laugh when he saw Riley’s crystal blue eyes staring at him. He bent down and gave Riley an upside down hug. “You scared me, brother.”

  “Riley!” Chloe shouted and collapsed on his chest. “Thank God! I can’t believe you’re OK.”

  “No worries,” he whispered weakly. “Get these damn needles outta me.”

  “They’re gone, Riley, no more needles,” Chloe reassured him, wiping a tear from her freckled cheeks.

  Riley sluggishly bobbed his head. “Good…I hate needles,” he rasped on dry lips.

  Harper gripped his shoulder without speaking.

  “Good to see ya, you big oaf.” Riley turned his head to Mathias. “And your twin over there.”

  “We need to cover your wounds before we move you,” Victoria said. She immediately went to work looking for some bandaging.

  After an eternity Harper and Damon were able to hoist Riley up. The tall marine howled in pain. The missing meat in his thigh was agonizing. He slumped, unable to bare much weight, but Harper and Damon were more than capable-and-willing to carry the load. He felt much lighter than he should have.

  “Let’s get you home.”

  “Feels kinda like that time we saved Harper,” Riley slurred.

  They took two steps as a group when they heard other footsteps.

  “Mr. Marshall,” a raspy voice scoffed, “Where do you think you are taking my specimen?”

  chapter 21

  Dr. Dellinger was standing in the center of the chamber seething with hate. He held a clear canister in his skeletal hand. Behind him teetered three zombies. They stood as motionless as Hank.

  “I assumed we had seen the last of one another,” he rasped.

  Riley mumbled something but nearly lost consciousness. Damon spoke, “It would have been but you decided to go kidnapping people.”

  The scientist remained silent. Black eyes glinted in the green light. His fingers snaked up and down the canister. “Some must be sacrificed for the advancement of science.”

  Chloe took a step forward. “You’re a sick freak! What did you do to Riley?”

  Dr. Dellinger’s wicked laugh echoed around them. His sharp eyes landed on Chloe, then each one of them. “Sick? I should not think any of you would understand. No one has ever understood, not even Dr. Pasmison.”

  “What the fuck?” Damon growled, eyeing the others quickly.

  “I am afraid your time is late, and I have need for more specimens.”

  Harper went for his rifle, but Riley suddenly lost consciousness. His weight pulled against him preventing him from aiming. The old man tossed the canister through the air and shattered on the dirty floor at their feet. Immediately he zombies lurched forward. Victoria and Mathias attacked but sprinters charged into the chamber as a strangely rotten smell wafted in the air.

  “It’s a pheromone bomb!” Damon shouted. “It wi
ll attract the zombies! We gotta get outta here!”

  Damon looked to where the old man was standing. He was gone and more zombies were quickly filling the room. “Anyone got any ideas?” Damon shouted. He fired the shotgun at a muscled sprinter dressed in jeans and a black tank top. A hole blew through his chest, causing it to take two steps back, but it kept coming. Damon fired another round. This time, its head exploded.

  “We’re not going to die in this place!” shouted Victoria as she slashed more zombies. “This way! There’s another hall over here!”

  The roar of the zombies echoed in Damon’s ears as he watched Matias and Victoria lead them to the hidden path. She slaughtered more undead on her way. Mathias cut and slashed, bodies fell all around them. Harper hefted Riley’s weight as Damon blasted the shotgun. The five ducked down the hall as more zombies spilled into the chamber, falling over the heaps of bodies that carpeted the dirty floor.

  “Which way do we go?” Damon hollered. He fired again. He reached for his flashlight, it was so dark.

  Red lights flashed all over the place as they ran. They took endless left and rights in the basement maze. The sound of moans never left them; a constant fear nipping at their heels. It was hard for them not to lose their cool.

  “Hey, where’s Mathias?” Damon asked, casting his light around frantically.

  “I don’t know. He was just here,” Chloe said, keeping close to Damon.

  “There’s no time now,” Harper huffed, his huge chest heaved. “He’ll be fine.”

  “Where the fuck are we?”

  There was a staircase, as if a genie had granted a wish. Their footsteps echoed through the concrete building. Soon enough the zombies’ moans followed them. Zombies were everywhere on the ground floor, and Damon was starting to think they were going to die…and that this was all his fault.

  There was a steel door in front of him, and he urged the group to it. He could feel the zombie horde thickening. The door was so close. Suddenly Riley’s legs collapsed, pulling Harper’s body into a table a table full of sucker boxes. Damon tore at Riley’s arm to shoulder his weight. Quickly the two men recovered and continued on, just as a sprinter reached out. An arrow drove through its brain.