Jake's Undead Nightmare

by Ben McElyea

  “You lose your arm.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. Either way, you’re going to suffer. Cutting off your arm might prevent the infection from spreading.”

  “That’s not fair!”

  “I know. Be quick about deciding what you want to do. Waiting to deal with the problem decreases the chance of surviving the bite you’ll have.”

  “Take the arm.”

  “No matter what any of us do, you’re going to lose a lot of blood.”

  “Just take the arm and dress it up.”

  “Put your arm on the floor. I’ll do it here. Helen, get the kids out of the room.”

  Amber laid on the floor with her infected arm stretched out. Larry pulled his machete from its sheath, held down Amber’s arm, and removed the infected arm with a single swish. Amber shivered before she could scream. Larry covered her mouth as she cried uncontrollably.

  “I know it hurts, but you have to be quiet. We don’t need to attract any more of those things than we already have. Walk with us to the fire. We need to cauterize the wound before you lose too much blood.”

  “It hurts!”

  “Come with me now.”

  Amber didn’t move. She couldn’t handle the pain. Larry hoisted her up and over his shoulders, ran outside, and carried her to the fire behind Nancy’s house. He grabbed a cooked log and held it against the surface of the arm’s bleeding end. Amber screamed. Larry then pulled a bottle of whiskey and poured the contents onto the wound. She screamed again.

  “None of us are trained in the medical field. This is all we can do.”

  “I want water!”

  “Let’s go to the well. Can you walk?”

  “No!”

  “You have to be quiet. Just lie there. I’ll bring you some water.”

  Everyone stared as they waited for Larry to come back with a bucket of water. She drank heavily and passed out.

  “Does anyone have any antibiotics?” Larry asked aloud. “She’s going to need them. I think she’ll survive the blood loss, but I’m not so sure about the infection this could cause. If that wound gets infected, she might die. The zombie infection might kill her, too. Eric, please get rid of Brandon’s body. Somebody needs to keep a close eye on her.”

  “Tonya and I will watch her,” Megan said calmly. “But if she turns into one of those things, I’m going to shoot her.”

  “You’ll have to.”

  Melissa shuddered.

  “I’ll do whatever has to be done. I’m not dying any time soon.”

  Dan followed Jake to Larry’s home. Helen let them in. Larry was giving his kids some corn and canned meat.

  “What can I do for you boys?” he asked before taking a bite out of a head of lettuce.

  “I want to talk to you about our safety,” said Jake.

  “I’m listening.”

  “That gunshot and those screams Amber let out are going to bring a lot of attention this way.”

  “That’s true.”

  “How much ammo do we have?”

  “Enough.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “We’ll be fine. Hang on to what you have. How much ammo do you and your brother have?”

  “Twenty-seven rounds for each of us.”

  Larry reached into a cabinet and tossed to Jake a box of nine millimeter ammunition.

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re probably going to need more than that. I’ll give you more when you run out.”

  “Melissa and Sam are devastated.”

  “Yeah, they are.”

  “What’s with Eric?”

  “Eric didn’t always act like this. Before the disease, he was an engineer. He and Bill were close friends. Bill doesn’t want anything to do with him because Eric shot the zombie that used to be his daughter.”

  “She was a zombie. She had to be put down.”

  “Bill hasn’t accepted reality yet. When he does, he’ll be another scavenger.”

  “What’s with Nancy? Is she easy to take care of?”

  “It’s alright, I suppose. We help her when we can.”

  “What do you think caused the infection? I think it was something in the air or water.”

  “The well comes from the ground. Our water isn’t infected.”

  “Did you ever drink or use tap water for anything? Showers, baths, washing your hands?”

  “I get it. Get the spears ready. I’m sure some of the dead are just outside the fence.”

  “Wait. I have an idea.”

  “What’s your idea?”

  “We don’t have to kill all of the zombies. They don’t know exactly where the sound of the screams and gunshot came from. Let’s just hide and wait for them to pass through.”

  “Let’s kill them,” said Dan. “If we don’t destroy one, the one could come back to literally haunt us.”

  “I’ll get the spears ready,” said Larry.

  25

  Jake followed Dan home and looked at the spears. They were made from sharp ends, thick wood, and knotted electrical tape. They were sturdy. They walked to the gate and heard yelling. Larry ran up to them with a concerned and discouraged look.

  “They’re gone.”

  “Who’s gone?” Jake asked.

  “Jack and Bill. They walked to one of their logging spots by themselves after the incident with Brandon and Amber. The zombies probably got them. The dead could come around at any second. Stand here and be ready. I’ll go get some of the others. They’re going to help.”

  Jake and Dan stood at the gate with their spears at the ready. Larry walked over to the builders.

  “You’re needed,” Larry said firmly. “All of you are needed right now.”

  “We can’t do anything,” Adam said before continuing to nail a piece of wood to the barricade.

  “You all can and will help us. We don’t need to work on that wall right now. You all know that. Come on.”

  “We’re too scared.”

  “Get over it and come with me.”

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  “We’re not going anywhere, Larry.”

  “If you all don’t help, none of you will get a share of what is found on scavenging runs.”

  “You can’t do that!”

  “I can and will. We’re about to be overrun by the dead.”

  “They can’t get past the fence.”

  “Then why have you four been building this wall?”

  “I dunno. More defenses?”

  “Get over to the gate!”

  “None of us are doing anything, old man.”

  Jake and Dan heard the commotion and turned to see Larry pointing his pistol at Adam’s face. Adam dropped his hammer.

  “Get your worthless selves some of the spears from Eric and get to the gate. These things might pile up and walk over each other. If that happens, there’s a chance the dead will make it over the fence. If you don’t cooperate, I’ll kill you and save myself some supplies. Your parents should have spanked you more.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I told you to get your asses some spears! Not even a gun to your face will make you understand. You are the dumbest person I’ve ever met.”

  “Okay. Please lower the gun.”

  As Larry slowly lowered the pistol, Adam grabbed it out of his hand and pointed it at Larry.

  “Don’t do this, kid.”

  Adam pulled the trigger. Strewn brain matter and a loud, ear piercing gunshot came after. The two brothers and four builders stared. Adam and Courtney ran off.

  “What are you all looking at?” Jake bellowed. “Get weapons and kill the zombies!”

  Jake, Dan, Angela, and Chris ran to the gate with their weapons. Large droves of the undead showed up at the gate. One by one, their heads were pierced by the spears.

  “Stop looking behind you!” Jake yelled at Chris and Angela. “Nothing is behind you. Look in front of you and put the sharp ends of the spears through the heads of the zombies.
As long as they don’t get too close, they can’t hurt you. Don’t be too afraid. If you’re too afraid, you’re useless.”

  Chris and Angela dropped their spears and ran into their house. Minutes turned into sweaty hours of slaying group after group of zombies. Piles of bodies were resting against the fence.

  “We need to move to a different spot to kill them from,” Dan advised. “If they keep piling up, they’ll eventually be able to walk over the top of the fence.”

  “Good idea,” Jake replied.

  Jake, Dan, and Adam walked down thirty or so feet and got back to killing zombies.

  “There are so many of them,” Eric said.

  Eric noticed Larry’s corpse resting next to the wood wall. Eric walked to Jake and Dan.

  “What happened?” Eric asked, putting away one zombie.

  “Adam shot Larry,” Dan answered.

  “Why?”

  “Larry put a gun in Adam’s face. Adam grabbed the gun out of his hand and shot him.”

  “Larry always hated Adam. Adam used to throw eggs and rotten fruit at his car.”

  “Are you okay, Eric?”

  “I’m going to kill Adam. Other than that, I’m fine.”

  “Don’t try to find Adam yet. Help us thin the zombies’ numbers.”

  “There are a lot of them. We’re surrounded.”

  “Yes, we are. If too many of them pile up on top of each other, we’re doomed.”

  Jake, Dan, and Eric made short work of many of the undead before pausing to take a break.

  “You show a lot of fury towards those zombies,” Dan said to Eric.

  “I hate them. They ruined everything. I had a perfect life. Had a beautiful wife and kid, a nice car and house, a great job, and lots of money. I had it all and then the apocalypse came along and took it all away from me. My wife and child were eaten by those things.”

  “We can rebuild.”

  “Is that a joke?”

  “No, it isn’t.”

  “Do you really think things can change for the better?”

  “I do.”

  “It’s the end of the world, Dan.”

  “We’re going to survive.”

  “We’ll need doctors and everything.”

  “One step at a time, Eric.”

  “There’s so much we’d have to do. We’d be spending the rest of our lives trying to make things like they once were. Even then, things probably wouldn’t ever be the same again. Whether or not someone is infected, they turn into one of them when they die. How are we supposed to deal with that when all the worst is over?”

  “We’ll get through it. You have me and Jake. When these zombies are taken care of, we’ll take care of the Adam situation.”

  “Even though Larry started it, you and your brother are willing to take my side?”

  “That’s right. You’ll make a much better ally than Adam.”

  “Larry was our leader. Helen and those kids are going to have it rough.”

  “You’re right about that.”

  After another hour of fending off the undead, the neighborhood was calm. Jake, Dan, Eric, Amber, Helen, Aaron, Nick, Nancy, Sam, Melissa, Tonya, and Megan gathered in the street. Amber could hardly stand.

  “We’re going to kill him,” Eric said to Helen.

  “I saw where he ran,” said Dan. “He’s in his house. We’ll run in and kill him in close quarters combat.”

  “It doesn’t have to be close quarters combat. We’ll burn him out.”

  26

  “I know what you mean,” Dan said to Eric. “Let’s get to the fire.”

  Jake followed Dan and Eric to the fire. They grabbed burning logs and set them down on the porch. Eric placed dry grass and several handfuls of twigs on top. He nursed the flames until the porch caught fire. Flames soon licked the front exterior wall. Several minutes later, Adam could be seen looking out an upstairs bedroom window. With the entirety of the downstairs on fire, Adam had nowhere to go.

  “He has three options,” Eric said as he and the others watched the house burn. “He can jump out the window, run through the downstairs as fast as he can and hope the burns don’t kill him, or wait to die a fiery death. I really don’t know why he decided to run into his house.”

  “He isn’t thinking clearly,” Jake replied. “He just killed somebody for the first time. He probably thinks we’re after him. He’s right to think so. At this point, I think he’ll jump out the window or wait for death. Personally, I’d jump out the window. Breaking bones is better than dying.”

  “I’d jump, too.”

  “That fire may attract people or undead.”

  “It might not. The wind might carry the smoke.”

  Adam opened his window and stuck his head out. He was gasping for air. He jumped out the window and landed on his side. Eric grabbed a water hose and tied Adam up with it. Helen went into her house and came out with a rope.

  “My husband deserves justice! He might have been crazy, but he was the one who kept the group together. That punk shot my husband. He’s going to pay!”

  “I feel sick,” said Amber.

  “I’m sorry this happened to you,” said Dan.

  “None of you care,” Amber groaned. “Only Melissa cares. The rest of you wouldn’t care if I died.”

  “That’s definitely not true.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “I care about any level minded human being.”

  “I’m in pain!”

  “I know. I’m sorry. Helen, Eric, do whatever you want with Adam. I’m worried about food.”

  “Me too,” said Jake. “I think we might be okay, though. Our crops are all over the back lawns. So far, there’s enough food for everyone. We have the well for water. I still worry. I also wonder about when we’ll encounter zombies or psychopaths.”

  “I’m going to make him suffer,” said Helen.

  Helen grabbed a broken mailbox and smashed it on Adam’s head.

  “Where’s Courtney?” Jake asked.

  “She’s in my house,” said Helen. “She ran in after this bastard shot my husband. Jake, help me drag this man to my front yard. I’m getting my revenge.”

  Jake, Eric, and Dan dragged Adam to Helen’s front yard. Helen walked into her house and came back outside with nails, a hammer, and some 2x4’s. She crafted a cross. Eric helped by burying the cross and holding Adam’s body against it while Helen began nailing Adam’s hand to the cross. Adam woke up immediately and screamed in agony as nail after nail penetrated and impaled his skin and bones. Adam struggled but could do nothing but endure the pain. Aaron and Nick stared.

  “You were stupid to kill Larry,” Eric said to Adam. “You have to pay for that now.”

  “No more! It’s too much pain! Please! For the love of God! Stop!”

  “You’re going to die a horrible death for killing my husband,” Helen said with gritted teeth.

  Courtney walked outside and stared at the scene. She placed her hands over her mouth. She then walked up to Adam and spit in his face.

  “You deserve this,” said Courtney. “Everyone, Adam used to beat me all the time. He’s always been a cruel human being.”

  “The bitch is lying!” Adam yelled. “Larry was crazy! If someone were to put a gun in your face, wouldn’t you shoot that person if you had the chance?”

  “Your tears bring me satisfaction,” said Helen. “No one is on your side.”

  “Please let me go! I’ll do anything!”

  “You’re going to die on that cross.”

  “No!”

  “Cry some more. See if anyone cares.”

  “Dan and I are going to watch the fence,” said Jake. “There’s been a lot of noise.”

  “What do we do about the people who aren’t useful?” Dan whispered to Jake as they began their patrol.

  “We should kill a few of them.”

  “That’s crazy and stupid, Jake. Don’t talk like that.”

  “I’m being serious.”

  “You�
��re losing your mind, Jake. Be a human being.”

  “We’re going to kill Helen and Nancy.”

  “No, we aren’t!”

  “Yeah. We are. Other people are going to agree with me.”

  “You want a mother and an old woman to die?”

  “It’s going to happen. We don’t know when we’ll be able to get food again. Sacrifices have to be made, Dan.”

  “We’re not making those kinds of sacrifices.”

  “Yes, we are. Why aren’t there any zombies around?”

  “We’re not doing that, Jake.”

  “I guess we wiped out the ones in the area. Yeah, we’re killing them.”

  “I don’t know who you are anymore.”

  Jake spoke with Chris, Sam, and Eric about killing Helen and Nancy. Eric and Sam were on board with the idea. Chris wasn’t and told the rest of the group about it. Most of the group agreed to do it, so it was done. Eric waited for Helen and Nancy to go to sleep, slit their throats, and burned the bodies. People didn’t talk about what they did. They were shocked from what they had done, but they pushed on. Tonya agreed to look after Aaron and Nick.

  Two days later, Amber’s wound had taken a turn for the worse. One night while Tonya and the children were sleeping, Amber died and rose from the dead. Tonya and Nick were bitten before Megan shot Amber’s walking corpse in the head. Without hesitation, Eric ended the lives of the infected in front of everyone present. Courtney began watching over Aaron.

  Adam remained on the cross. He was too tired and in too much pain to continue crying for help. He pointed at everyone who passed by, but no one acknowledged him.

  “He’ll be dead soon,” Eric said as he stood just inside the fence and stared blankly into the woods.

  “Yeah,” Jake replied. “He hasn’t had anything to drink in days. He’ll die soon.”

  “What’s done is done.”

  “There are only ten of us now.”

  “That’s the way it needs to be.”

  “I feel bad for Melissa.”

  “It’s a shame. I lost all my faith when I witnessed my wife and child get eaten by zombies. I might have been able to help them, but I ran instead.”

  “It’s not your fault. You were scared. You chose to live.”

  “What am I supposed to do without them? They were my whole life. I have nothing now.”

  27

  Two days later, another horde wandered around the fence. Jake, Dan, Eric, Sam, Chris, Angela, Megan, Melissa, Courtney, and Aaron were standing in the middle of the street, staring at the mass of zombies surrounding them.