by T. W. Brown
Kevin didn’t relish his next task. One of the three was totally naked. Stringy blonde hair hung down just above her breasts. Her one bite was on the left hand in between the thumb and index finger. Kevin walked up just out of the range of her outstretched, grasping hands. He feinted left and it followed. In a quick lunge to the right, he ducked under the hands and swept the feet out from underneath. Quickly wrestling it onto its stomach, Kevin yanked the clasp free on the ball gag and moved away quickly. A soft moan filled the room and made the hair on his arms stand up. He stood, sizing up the other two, one was wearing a cheerleader’s outfit, the other one was in lingerie that looked even more obscene due to the girl not possibly being older than fourteen. With similar tactics, he managed to remove the ball-gags. Now all three were mewling and moaning.
“Now,” Kevin walked back out to where Mister Abernathy still sat, pleased to see that the man was renewing his struggles, “let’s go say hi.” Kevin pushed the chair back into the room. The low sounds instantly changed to a hissing and the clicking of teeth as all three strained to the limits of their leads, snapping their jaws and clawing at the air.
“I want Heather to know she’ll never have to worry about you again.” Kevin yanked the gag from the man’s mouth.
“Please! I don’t think you understand,” Abernathy pleaded.
“Understand what?” Kevin snapped. “That you’re a sick fuck that preyed on children? Or is it that I don’t understand that you simultaneously turned them into fucking zombies so you could live out your fantasies? In either case, you’re right. I don’t understand. And what’s more, I hope I never do.”
“You have no idea what it’s like watching them day after day. Every year their skirts get shorter, they grind on every boy they can in plain view. They—”
“Shut the fuck up!” Kevin punched the man squarely in the face. “They’re kids, and you’re a sick motherfucker who doesn’t deserve to live.”
Kevin drew his knife and circled wide of the naked zombie. She didn’t even seem to register his presence—so intent on getting the man in the center of the room who was blubbering with a mixture of tears, snot, and blood running down his face.
“Sic ‘em!” Kevin cut the lead and the zombie sprawled face down on the floor. He quickly cut the other two loose, watching them flop face first as well, and then begin scrambling awkwardly to their feet.
One by one they rose and began their slow, lurching walk toward their intended prey. Kevin moved to the doorway, no longer surprised that none of them even glanced his direction. Abernathy continued to squirm and blubber, “Julie, Sasha, Sara…no…no…” over and over.
The naked one arrived first and leaned over like she was about to whisper a secret. Abernathy screamed as she came away with the right ear and a strip of flesh from the neck. Blood poured and splattered the cheerleader who now latched onto the right arm. Finally, the lingerie-clad one reached its target, still on its hands and knees. It reared up, and then plunged down, mouth clamping on the left leg. The thin, khaki pants tore away, exposing a white slab of upper thigh. Again it leaned in, this time finding the loose flesh of Abernathy’s flabby leg.
Another scream filled the room.
“I’ll leave you to get reacquainted,” Kevin said, although he was pretty sure he was drowned out by the screams. He closed the door and listened as the shrieks rose in pitch and volume.
***
“Is that…?” Heather clasped on to Mike’s arm like a lifeline.
“I don’t think Mister Abernathy will ever bother you again.” He hugged the trembling girl.
Together, the two stood, listening to the muffled screams. They seemed to ooze through the vacant school. Mike glanced outside, noticing a couple of nearby zombies turn in the direction of the building. Not too many, he observed. The combination of a small town, and a good number of the undead already put down was a definite bonus. Still, he didn’t want the numbers surrounding the building to grow. Currently he guessed there to be no more than thirty in sight. Of course, the stairs leading up to the main doors might explain the lack of zombies trying to get at them. He watched as one zombie in particular—a youngster who hadn’t been more than five—struggle with the first two steps, falling a couple times before finally shambling away. What had once been an elderly, white-haired old lady had the same problems and also gave up.
Still, almost a dozen made it up the stairs. He could hear them slapping at the entry doors. Heather clung to his side, also watching the zombies come and go. Occassionally she would whisper a name.
“Mike,” Kevin’s voice made both of them jump. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya. Let’s go down and see if we can zonk the ones gathered at the doors.”
“Then what?” Mike asked. Yeah, he decided, somebody needed to be the leader and make decisions. He’d speak up if he felt the urge, but for right now, he was perfectly fine with Kevin making the choices.
“We should be able to hole up here for a bit,” Kevin replied. Mike noticed that he was spattered in quite a lot of blood.
“What about Angela and the others?” Mike asked. “Shaw and his men?”
“It will take some planning.” Kevin flipped open the flap of a box next to him, peeking at the contents. “Before we do anything, I’ll want to check out their place and see if it is even feasible. Also, I am guessing they send out patrols for supplies as well as to maintain their claim. I’ll bet it is pretty easy to figure out any schedule they keep.”
“Mister?” Heather spoke up.
“Just Kevin.” Kevin turned his attention to the girl.
“Kevin,” her voice was small and hesitant, “what happened to my friends?”
“They’re at peace.” Kevin struggled to maintain eye contact, but he figured it would be best to just tell the truth.
“Good.” Heather sighed deeply. A weight seemed to visibly come off the girl. “And Mister Abernathy?”
“No longer anything to worry about,” Kevin answered.
“So let’s do this before things outside get any thicker.” Mike produced a long, steel-tipped poker perfect for jabbing into heads.
“Heather,” Kevin said to the girl, putting up his hands to keep her from following, “you wait up here and we’ll be back shortly. Watch from the window if you like, but stay up here.”
“Okay.” Her voice sounded relieved and tired.
“Once we’re done, we can rest, eat, and clean ourselves up a bit,” Kevin said over his shoulder as he and Mike left the room and headed for the stairs.
***
Eyes opened. The creature’s head hung awkardly to one side. It struggled to stand, but couldn’t free itself from the cords lashing it to the big, blood-soaked chair. It tried to work its jaw, but somehting hard and round was wedged in its mouth.
Much of its entrails were clumped in its lap, but the creature had no awareness of such things. It was oblivious to the three creatures laying in a row just a few feet away. All it knew was hunger. A hunger that drove it to struggle at its bonds so that it could search for something to satisfy that hunger…even though the creature possessed no concept of satisfaction.
It really and truly only knew one thing.
Hunger.
The unthinkable has happened. The dead are walking!
Humanity’s fragile thread may be reaching its bitter end.
Individuals and groups struggle to survive…some at any cost. Will there be anybody left?
Or, is this just…
The Ugly Beginning?
DEAD: the 12 book series
The Dead Walk:
Samuel Todd is a regular guy:
...Failed husband...
...Loving father...
...Dutiful worker...
...Aspiring rock star.
He had no idea if anyone would care, or take the time, to read his daily blog entries about his late night observations. But what started as an open monologue of his day-to-day life became a running journal of the first-hand account detai
ling the rising of the dead and the downfall and degradation of mankind...
Catch all 3 books in the Zomblog Trilogy
Anthologies from MDP
A Man of Letters by Eric Pollarine
A Soldiers Lament by Patrick D’Orazio
Blackout by Amber Whitley
Childish Things by William Wood
Feral by Rebecca Lloyd
One Nation Undead by Mike Harrison
Shear Terror by Chantal Boudreau
That Ghoul Eva by Marianna Mann
and more
And something from the May side of
May December Publications
Abandoned and scared, but less alone than he could have ever imagined, Sam awakens to the screams of the other children on the island of Fervor, and the absence of all adults. To make matters worse, despite hearing this chaos in his head, he finds himself deaf to the normal sou-nds around him. His only answers are now being provided by a strangely charismatic boy na-med Francis who is about to lead Sam to a gathering that will alter his life. Why have things chang-ed so drastically on the island, who is responsible for these changes, and what does this mean to the remaining inhabitants of Fervor?
Dakota Riley is a member of the Seattle Drug Task Force. During an investigation into an international drug smuggling ring, he loses his best friend and partner. To add insult to injury, he is assigned an African-American rook-ie, Marc Bradley. Seeking revenge rather than justice, Dakota ditches the rookie...and almost gets himself killed. After leaving the hospital for a 'forced' vacation, Dakota and Marc head to Marc's hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. A day out on a fishing boat goes wrong when a mysterious storm arrives. The boat is destroyed, and the two men wash ashore...in 1861, just prior to the start of the American Civil War.
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THESE ARE DRAWINGS, NOT PICTURES
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About the Author:
TW Brown, Author of Zomblog, is hard at work on Zomblog II, Dead: Revelations, and various shorts. Additionally, he tries to get in a little time with his guitar, run a few miles a day, while juggling with mixed success the duties of husband and father. He can be followed on Twitter @maydecpub, and still replies personally to any and all emails at.
[email protected]
Stay up to date with his projects or browse his website at. www.maydecemberpublications.com