POW! (Book 1): The Zombie Days

by Wonder, Peter

  I reached the bottom, which was a good sign. Everyone had made it down from the roof and out of the compound without incident.

  "Let's go see how our friends are doing," I said, leading the group down to where Mac and Cliff were patiently waiting.

  "What the hell is going on over here? Some kind of union mandated break? Get the hell back to work before I fire both of your asses!" I said with my best foreman voice.

  "Mac, what the hell's wrong with your friend? I'm about to knock his ass the fuck out," said Cliff bowing out his chest. The last thing I wanted right here in such proximity to the zombie crowd was to throw down with a fellow living person.

  "Chill out, Cliff,” said Mac. “Pete's just one of those guys that finds a joke in everything he does. If you stick around long enough you'll learn to love him. But I warn you, his humor is rather infectious, and you may end up sounding just like him after a while."

  "They seem like a couple of slack-jawed faggots to me," said Cliff, clearly looking for a fight.

  "Well, my boyfriend and I take that as quite a compliment, so thank you, Señor Hillbilly. And, just so you know, I've had many compliments on my jaw, thank you very much!"

  “Hey, how’d I get thrown in there? What’d I do?” asked Kyle.

  "Boyfriend? I thought you were all mine, now!" Evelyn chimed in beginning to stir shit up, too.

  "C’mon, I've got enough Wonder to spread around for everyone. But first, we must continue on our quest! Now, let's roll on out of here, kiddies. Mac, I assume y'all are kind of in between jobs at the moment, so would you two care to join our merry band?" Cliff looked pissed, but said nothing more.

  "You know I'm down for some LARPing, bro, but I've got to stop at my place and grab some supplies and shit before we get too far into this Lord of the Rings-esque journey."

  "Sounds good to me. I checked over by your place when I was up top, just in case the need should arise. It looked clear, but I don't know where these turds are going to start floating off to now that the wall of the dead is in place . . . or where exactly they were coming from in the first place, actually. They must have crumbled a section of the wall over by the housing building. We'd better hurry it up if we want to play it safe."

  "You know it, bro. Let's roll. You comin', Cliff?" Mac asked.

  "What the fuck else do I got to do? This place turned to shit the second these ass clowns got here. So, yes. I'd love to help them fix whatever little problem they may have. Did you lose your dolly, little girl?" I guess I knew why Cliff wasn’t very happy with me. Our group was clearly responsible for bringing death and destruction upon his home.

  "No, you shit for brains, backwoods asshole. I did not 'lose my dolly.' We are looking for the man who knows what's going on here and we are trying to stop him and his team from turning this little paradise, which we all know and love, into something far worse."

  "Paradise?” Cliff repeated. “In case you missed it, girly, we just killed a couple hundred zombies, some of which used to be good friends of mine. The streets are so deep with blood that I could probably go catch some zombie fish in there. It looks like Venice if it died and went straight to hell. I'd like to go to my house to pack a bag too, but I'd need a goddamn skiff boat to get to it!"

  "And you think that's bad?” Evelyn retorted. “If we don't get to my dad before it's too late, you'll look back at this day fondly as you bow down to your new zombie overlords! What this research team that you work for is doing, whether they know it or not, is increasing the intelligence of these dead people that already figured out how to walk and, in at least one case, even speak. And as far as I'm concerned, that puts them right in line with, if not beyond, you on the evolutionary scale!"

  "Hey guys,” I interrupted. “I just realized I haven't said anything in like thirty seconds, so if you wouldn't mind leaving my girlfriend the FUCK ALONE, I might not have to end up knocking you the fuck out, Cliff. You can say whatever you want to me, I’m a pretty resilient guy, but leave her out of this. We’re all sorry for what’s happened to you and your friends here today—we get how much it fucking sucks. No one is dragging you along for the ride, but if we do end up making it through this you may wind up being a hero. And bitches love heroes. Now, if you want all the ladies to think that you're a hero, you'd better start acting like a fucking man first. If you call one of these beautiful women "girly" or any shit like that, we're going to make you out to be the biggest jerk off in history. Got it? Now let's all just re-fucking-start and make like we're all old friends, a’ight?"

  "Man, that little back and forth there was almost as intense as that shoot out in the street we just had. Do you guys remember that? Shit was off the hook." Clearly, Kyle felt compelled to say something either to hide his discomfort at the situation or just to try to back me up. He gave me a grin like a dog that had just successfully rolled over on command.

  Mac's building was now just a stone's throw away.

  "Sure, bud. Check it out, kids. You, Mac and Cliff are going to head on up to Mac's place and grab whatever we may need. I'll wait out here with the 'little girls' and keep an eye out for more red paint to decorate the town with. And make sure you grab some pancakes if there were any leftovers!" I shouted up at them as they headed up the stairs.

  "Alright ladies, go ahead and take a seat on the curb. I know I'm pretty beat. We've got a few minutes to just relax, finally, so let’s enjoy it," I said, squatting down on the red painted curb. It was nice seeing the fire hydrant and knowing that it was actual red paint coloring the curb and not bits of zombie flesh.

  "What are your intentions with my daughter, Peter?" Carolina asked before I was even fully seated.

  "Mom!" Evelyn shouted, blushing with embarrassment.

  "Oh shit . . . for real?" I said as I settled in.

  "Yes 'for real!' I'm her mother and I need to make sure you're not going to hurt my little girl! What are your intentions, Peter?"

  "Uh, well,” I began, “in the short term my intentions are to make sure all of you people don't die before me. I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but I haven't really thought too much past that. I guess I’ve been sort of busy since I met your daughter. Once there isn't a task that involves trying to save the world, or whatever it is we may be doing, I might be able to plan something more. For right now, let's just focus on the situation at hand, okay?"

  "You had better not hurt her."

  "Mom, quit it!"

  "Ugh! In case you haven't noticed, and in case you weren't listening to my little rant just now, I'm doing my very best to ensure that no harm comes to your daughter. As a matter of fact, I'm trying to make sure nothing bad happens to any of us! And, not to toot my own horn or anything, but it looks like I've done a pretty damn fine job so far. Toot fucking toot!"

  "Peter, settle down. Mom, don't get him all worked up; there’s no need for that. He's in a really damn stressful situation at the moment, but I trust him and you should, too. He's been basically forced into this predicament, and he's been doing everything he can to make it suck less for all of us, and he's been doing a pretty good job so far, as he so modestly pointed out just now. Without him we wouldn't have met Mac or Jose. It looks to me that you owe him an apology and a great big 'thank you for keeping us alive while trying to find my husband' speech."

  "It's fine, Evelyn,” I said, cutting off Carolina as she opened her mouth to say something. “I don't need any apologies or thank yous. Your mom is just trying to protect you. No one should ever have to apologize for trying to do the right thing." I looked over at Carolina and nodded.

  The other three guys came out of the building. Two more backpacks had now been added to our supply stash. And it was a good thing, too, as we were beginning to run low on food. It looked as though Kyle had refreshed his bag as well. I guessed there was no point in Mac keeping anything at home. There was nothing left for him in this place anymore.

  "Are you guys ready?" I asked the group as they came down the steps.

  "Are we ready fo
r a little stroll in the woods?" Mac parrotted. "I don't see why not, man. What's the worst thing that could happen out there? Everything is already fucked wherever you happen to turn, so we might as well go ahead and embrace the shit that now is our lives," he said. We began our walk toward the woods on the opposite side of the town, which was a place that we hoped was not, and would not be, stained with blood as much of this camp now was.

  "Man, what the fuck did y'all smoke up there? And more importantly, did Cliff get any?" I asked.

  "Lay off of Cliff for a minute, man. He's havin' a rough day," Mac replied.

  "I know, I know. Does he need to come to girls’ night out with me and Kyle? We've been having a rough few days, too. We sympathize, homeboy."

  "Girls’ night out? Homeboy? What the fuck is wrong with you, guy?" Cliff still hadn’t learned to shut his mouth and play along.

  "Guy? What the fuck is wrong with me? Check it out, dude. I'm trying to be nice, here, okay? This is just my way of handling shit, and you're not making that very easy for me. So, unless you want to have some problems, you'd better mellow the fuck out. We’re all having a bad day. We’ve all lost people and we’re all in the same shitty situation."

  Cliff uttered something under his breath that made me want to lay him flat in the dirt, but I pretended it was just the wind I’d heard.

  "Did you guys really grab anything to smoke? I've been dying for something to take the edge off. All this walking bullshit sucks a big fat pile of ass. And not in the good way, either. Ol' Kyle over here could use a good time."

  "Calm down, Kyle,” I said. “This isn't the time or the place for a good time. That being said, when we do come to a good place at a good time, you know Big Daddy's got a surprise for you good little boys and girls."

  Kyle lit up like a kid that just saw a mall Santa Claus. "Oh boy, what is it? What's it gonna be, Pete?! Oh! Oh! Is it pie?! I could even settle for some pie right about now!"

  Pie did sound good. "You think I've kept pie in my backpack this whole damn time? Come on, man. It's not pie."

  "Well then what is it, huh, Pete? What's in your big bag of tricks you've been carrying around with you all this time?"

  "There's a time and a place, my friend. Remember, good things come to those who wait."

  We passed through the camp’s gate, not that it was really of much use anymore. We were now in the town that had been abandoned some time ago.

  It was creepy. Sure, most things were kind of creepy in this new world. I mean, there were zombies, for shit’s sake. But this place . . . it had a real Chernobyl feel to it. Everyone that had once lived here had either fled or died. And some of those who died rose up from their final resting place in order to bite the living and continue on the never ending cycle of death.

  "Peter, I don't like the feel of this place too much," said Evelyn, clutching at my arm.

  "I don't know if it's possible to like the feeling of this place,” I said. “It's kind of like being in an old concentration camp. It just feels wrong. You can sense the horror of all those that died here."

  "What, are you all idiots? It's not just this place. It's this whole entire goddamn planet. The dead have risen. Welcome to hell! I can guarantee that you won’t enjoy your stay," cried Cliff.

  No sooner had he finished voicing his awful view of the world than an arm came shattering through the window of the department store we were passing. It grabbed him before anyone could react. The creature had its jaws clamped firmly onto the back of Cliff's neck. It was too late for him.

  I picked up my rifle and fired at the zombie, blowing a hole right through his temple. At the same time, another hole appeared in the Cliff’s forehead. I checked to make sure that my rifle wasn't on burst, and then I looked around.

  "Damn it, Cliff. You should've made your peace while you had the chance," said Mac in a somber tone as he lowered his rifle.

  “Everyone back away from that window, that building is not safe,” I said.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Red.

  It's the all too familiar color of blood. It's the color of emotions like love, and hate, and anger. It’s the color of the wine that flowed so freely in the cups of early civilizations. The color has had such a large impact on humanity that people far more intelligent than I believe it to be the first color ever given a name. Red may even be the first color we were able to pick out from the black and white of our early days as a species. To show you all of the red that has been involved in this story, I would need a river to run red. The blood from a zombie isn't your average blood from getting a paper cut or skinning your knee while playing basketball. Their blood is old and dead. It looks almost black, but it isn’t. It's thick like molasses and smells disgusting . . . and it is absolutely red.

  Cliff was the first person in our group to have gone down. No one was a fan of his, but no one wanted this for him. When the person you have to kill is just a faceless, soulless ghoul trying to murder everyone you love, it’s one thing. But I spoke to Cliff. I was rude to Cliff. I felt awful about how Cliff met his end.

  "It's not your fault, Peter," Evelyn said, giving me a warm hug. She must have been able to read it in my face that I was going through something.

  "I know it's not my fault, but that doesn't mean I feel good about it. He was one of us, part of the group, even if it was only for a very short time. He was going to help us out," I said as I rolled Cliff over to pull the backpack from his shoulders. "I just wish I—I don't know. I haven't seen someone real die in a long time, now. I guess it never gets any easier. I mean, it's not like Cliff and I were close, but . . . ugh. I just want this shit over with."

  Kyle stepped up to me and slapped me across the face. "Come on, butthole, there's no time for this girly bullshit. Pull yourself together! We've got a situation here! If there's one loose zombie, there are probably more not too far from us right now. Let's get the fuck out of here before we meet them and we have another casualty to deal with!"

  I shook my head and let his words sink in. "Thanks, bro. I needed that. There’s a time and a place, right? Let's go, guys." I swung Cliff’s backpack onto my stomach, as there was already a pack on my back. That little slap from Kyle was exactly what I needed to clear my head and focus on the situation at hand.

  As we began walking from Cliff’s final resting place, we heard something from back in the department store.

  "I, for one, vote that we skip inspecting that sound and just assume that it's bad for us and we continue on our damn way. Anyone opposed to this?" I asked.

  Zombies started pouring through the shattered department store window. Luckily, some of them were unable to find proper footing and either tripped over Cliff or slipped and fell in his fresh, wet human blood. The ones behind them were unable to get out until those that were in front got up and got out of their way, so they just stood there like awkward kids at a junior high school dance.

  "Alright, well, lucky for us, these moron zombies decided to cut us off from behind; and poorly at that,” I observed. “As long as no one trips and breaks a leg or some stupid shit like that, it looks like we can just keep walking onward. I'll keep an eye peeled behind us to make sure they aren't gaining on us, but we should be fine. No worries, kids."

  I walked backwards behind the group for a few steps and it seemed like everything would be fine. That is, until I heard another window shatter ahead of our group.

  I stopped in my tracks with my back still facing the group. "Tell me I'm just hearing shit. That was nothing, right? Someone just stepped on some broken glass?"

  "We got problems, Pete," Kyle said.

  That was about the last thing I wanted to hear. I turned around to see what they were seeing. About a half of a block ahead of us, zombies were shambling out of an old pizza joint. Their eyes were fixed on us. I felt like we were the prize in a zombie race.

  I summarized the situation to the group so that we were all on the same page. "Okay, let's quickly assess the situation here. We've got zombies b
ehind us pouring in from the left side of the street, and zombies pouring in from in front of us on the right side of the street. So, we’ll have to either fight our way through a shit ton of zombies in either direction, or turn out of their path. Does that sound about right?"

  "Turn fuckin’ where, homie?” Kyle asked. “There are no streets between us and them."

  I dropped the backpack I was wearing on my chest and swung around the one from my rear. I opened it up and from inside of it I withdrew the crowbar that I’d acquired earlier in the week. Then, I tossed the other backpack back onto my chest.

  "I just so happen to have found the key to the city, guys. Lucky for us, eh? Now, as Kyle so eloquently put it, 'Turn fuckin’ where?'"

  We all looked around at the shops that were surrounding us. Another restaurant? A clothing store? A taxidermist? Bingo!

  "Gunsmith! Now!" I said to my team.

  I plunged the crowbar into the door jamb, breaking the lock. I pushed the door in and sent everyone scurrying inside. Once we were all inside the building, we started piling heavy things in front of the door. The windows already had bars on them, which was a huge bonus. The bars were near enough together that there was no possible way to fit an upright corpse through them.

  Once we were satisfied with the amount of debris blocking the front door, we got to work on the back door, piling heavy objects that would be of no use to us in front of it.

  "Alright guys,” I began. “I think we’ll be safe for now, but we may have to wait a while until the necrophiliac’s orgy outside subsides a little before we can go on any further. I suggest you all take a load off and we’ll stay here for tonight. Everyone scavenge around and try to find anything useful for our day tomorrow. I'm not sure how it'll be in the morning, but now that they know we're in here, I'm sure they won't go too far. I'm going to head upstairs to see if there’s anything up there we can use or if there is an alternate exit that we may have to utilize in the morning. I'll be right back, kids."