Apocalypse Asunder

by David Rogers

  “Clear.” Austin said as he killed the last zombie in unison with her finally dealing with her target.

  Jessica pulled her attention from the pistol’s sights and looked around. There was a pool back here that had a scattering of trash and debris in it; some floating, some sullenly submerged at the bottom. There was a body in the water as well, face down and looking like it’d been there for quite some time. She figured it was probably a dead zombie, judging by how unchewed on it looked. Its flesh was heavily bloated though, and stained an odd color from the long exposure to the pool water’s chemicals.

  “Reload the magazine.” Austin said as she completed her check of the yard and saw nothing else wrong. Just foot high Bermuda grass that was trampled some, but no other active zombies. Nothing that looked like a threat, not even on a second check.

  “Right.” Jessica nodded, reaching behind her and pulling the extra magazine from the loop on the Shield’s holster. With it in hand, she fingered the release on the pistol and caught the partially spent magazine as it dropped clear. Replacing it with the fresh one, she safed the pistol and holstered it to free her hands, then dug in her purse for extra bullets.

  She’d practiced all things gun related – a lot – but it still took her longer than she liked to feed four fresh bullets into the magazine. By the time she had them in place, Austin had made it to the back fence and was gesturing at Candice. “Come over here girlie-girl, take a look at the other side for us.”

  “What? No!” Jessica said in alarm when she heard that. Candice had tightened her fingers on Jessica’s shirt, and was shaking from head to toe as Jessica glanced up from the magazine.

  “Just a look.” Austin said reasonably. “Just a quick look to tell us what’s on the other side of the fence.”

  “I’ll look.” Jessica said, stuffing the reloaded magazine into the carry slot on the holster and jogging over to him. Candice was not going over the wall first. No way.

  “Fine.” he said, putting his back to the wall and bending some so one of his legs formed a sort of stepping point. Patting his thigh, he gestured at her. “Hurry up though.”

  A creaking groan of bending metal came from the front yard. Jessica didn’t look; she knew what that was. The chain link wasn’t going to hold up against hundreds of bodies pushing on it. Not for very long anyway. Zombies did things their own way. A human crowd might take some time to figure out they had enough combined mass and strength to knock the fence down; zombies just kept right on rolling without pause.

  Single minded bastards.

  Stepping up on Austin’s thigh, Jessica felt his hands close in around her waist and lift as she stretched for the top of the wall. Her fingers got a grip and pulled as he assisted, getting herself levered up to where she could find purchase with one of her elbows. That let her heave herself high enough to see over the wall. He grunted, but his strength didn’t falter as he lifted and held her up.

  Several dozen dead faces stared back at her from the yard beyond the wall, hands upstretched in her direction. The eyes were fixed on her with a familiar intensity that she still hadn’t gotten used to; unsettling with determination. Devoid of everything but hunger. Jessica let out a scream and slipped as her grip loosened. Austin’s fingers tightened on her waist and he grunted again as he took her full weight to keep her from falling.

  “Let me down! Let me down!” Jessica yelled. She barely even remembered that, however light she might be, putting him in a position to need to carry her like this wasn’t likely doing his bullet wounds any favors.

  He lowered her to the ground, breathing heavily. She knew it had to be from pain – he’d lifted her before, and in more awkward positions, without showing the slightest sign of strain – but there was too much going on for her to consider how well he might be doing. He was still on his feet, that was all that mattered at the moment.

  As long as he stayed up, that’s what mattered.

  “Zombies.”

  “How many?” he panted.

  “Too many.” she said tightly.

  “We either hop over and take them on, go sideways over one of the other fences, or make a break for the house and fight from in there.” he told her.

  Jessica looked at the side yard as the first of the pursuing zombie horde came into view and headed toward the humans. The zombies were staggering along the side of the house, across the side yard to the back. There were maybe, maybe, ten seconds to decide. The house had big sliding glass doors opening out onto the back porch. Getting inside quickly wouldn’t be a problem.

  She still didn’t like the idea of being trapped though.

  “Can you climb the chain link if we go this way?” Jessica asked, pointing at the other side of the yard, the one furthest from the encroaching zombies.

  “Yes.” he said. His voice was firm, but she heard an undertone of pain in it. And his face was a touch pale. But there was nothing for it. Staying was death.

  “This way.” Jessica said breaking into a run for the escape route she’d indicated. “Candice, can you go over, or do you need me to go first and help you down?”

  “I can do it.” the girl said, her voice afraid, but intent.

  “Be careful. Don’t fall.” Jessica said, bending and lifting her daughter up. She grunted herself as she took her daughter’s weight, but adrenaline was an amazing thing, and she managed without faltering. Candice grabbed onto the top bar of the chain link fencing as Jessica steadied and held her high enough.

  “Hang on to the fence, climb down, don’t jump down.” she said as the girl gripped the bar and went over. One of them twisting an ankle would not help matters. Especially not Candice. The ten-year-old had proven to be remarkably resilient in the face of a lot of horror, but expecting her to walk through the pain of a turned ankle might be asking too much. Jessica didn’t want to find out unless there was no other choice.

  But Candice got down on the far side without incident. Jessica, though, jumped as Austin spoke from almost directly behind her. She kicked herself as she realized she’d stopped paying full attention to what was going on behind her while she helped Candice.

  “Your turn.”

  “Jesus.” Jessica breathed, trying to keep her pulse rate from spiraling out of control.

  “Sorry. No time though, up you go.” Austin linked his hands and put his back to the fence. “Up, use my shoulder if you need to, and get over so you can climb down like she did.” he said.

  Jessica stepped into his hands and grabbed for the top of the fence as he lifted her with a painful grunt. When she had hold of it, she planted one foot on his shoulder like he’d said, then got the other on the bar. Balancing against him, she managed to swivel around and get herself hanging from the far side of the fence. It was taller than she was, but not so much that she couldn’t just drop down easily. She had nearly two feet in height on her daughter.

  The zombie horde was rounding the pool, with plenty more behind the leaders. Some of them were going over the pool’s edge and into the water, but many more were flooding around it and making right for the three juicy humans. Jessica’s hand closed on the Shield and drew it from the holster at the small of her back. “Austin, hurry.” she said, stepping to the side and bringing the pistol up in both hands.

  “I know.” he grunted, moving sideways in the opposite direction, toward one of the fence posts. He grabbed for the top of the fence and planted one of his feet against it as he started pulling himself up.

  “Mom . . .” Candice said, sounding more than a little panicked as zombies closed toward them.

  “I know.” Jessica told the girl as she lined her sights up on a zombie in the front edge of the pack, commanding herself to ignore everything except where the three dots on the pistol were pointing. Two in the back, one in the front, align them and squeeze.

  Nothing else mattered at the moment. Not what to do next, not how bad things looked, not how angry or scared or alarmed or disappointed she was over what was happening. Aim, point, fire. Just
do it. The pistol bucked lightly in her hands almost of its own accord, and the swarthy skinned zombie she’d been aiming at went down. She tried to find another one, but everything she aimed at that was already in line was stumbling and falling.

  Pulling her gaze back from the sights just a bit, she saw zombies were tripping over the one she’d shot. Feeling foolish – that was just about the best possible result, and she should have been expecting it – she tracked left and found a zombie that was walking steadily. Well, as steadily as any zombie really got.

  Just as she fired, she felt Candice plucking at the hem of her shirt. “Mom, come on. Mom. Mom!”

  Jessica looked around as another zombie toppled – taking several more behind it down as well – and saw Austin was on this side of the fence. His breath was coming with difficulty, and despite the tough front he was putting to the fore of his expression, she could see the pain he was in. It was visible in the way his face creased, in how the skin at the corner of his eyes crinkled and the way the back of his jaw was clenching.

  “We should have gone for the house.” she said quickly, feeling bad. If he’d pulled something inside, if he’d started bleeding internally . . .

  “Chain link’s harder to climb than a regular fence. It moves more.” Austin panted. “Easier to get a grip, but harder to hang on to without having to stabilize.”

  “This way.” she said, indicating the front of the house.

  “Gate?”

  “Yes. Let’s avoid any more climbing if possible.” she said, heading for the front yard at a jog.

  “What about that second pack?”

  “Maybe they’re slow.”

  “They might have us boxed in.”

  “Not yet.” Jessica answered tightly as Candice made a whimpering noise.

  “I might be slow—” he started but she cut in.

  “We’re not leaving you. Just gonna have a quick look ahead to see if we can get back out okay.”

  “Just keep going.” he called after her.

  “You too.” she called back without looking behind her.

  “Mom, what are we going to do?” Candice asked, running alongside Jessica. The girl’s voice was breathless with fear, dialing into higher tones that took years off her age.

  “I don’t know.” Jessica answered honestly as she went up the side of the house well clear of its front corner, guarding against something that might be lurking just beyond where she could see. The yard was empty though, and she saw the zombie horde had thinned considerably. No, that wasn’t quite accurate. Most of them had spilled into the other yard, and didn’t seem to grasp the concept of going back toward the street and into this yard.

  Instead, the zombies were pressing against the fence single mindedly. As stupid as zombies were, it was a proven strategy; even if they didn’t know it. A large section of the front facing fence line was flat on the ground where the horde had pushed through it, and they were already starting to bring pressure to the side fencing as well. Jessica didn’t bother trying to shoot any; they were already at the fence. It wouldn’t help. There was no way she could speed-shoot enough of the zombies to make a difference.

  The gate on this house’s front fence was broken, its latch heavily bent so that it was impossible to close it properly. None of the zombies ahead of them had reached the yard yet, but they were close enough that the street in both directions was blocked off. Jessica glanced back at Austin, but he was grimly and gamely power walking toward her.

  “They’re getting close!” Candice cried, bringing Jessica’s attention back to the street again. Sure enough, the closest zombies were maybe fifteen seconds from sealing the humans into this yard.

  When Austin joined her, Jessica led the way out into the street once more and right across it. Before they reached the opposing house she saw more zombies staggering into view in either direction down the street. They were already looking at the humans, and it was obvious when they saw the three warm, inviting, to-go dinners trying to find a way out of this mess. Every head stopped lolling and wobbling, locking on like the zombies were missiles on a mission.

  “Godda—Jesus!” Jessica said in frustration.

  “I think this area only looked quiet.” Austin panted.

  “Where the f—where are they all coming from?”

  “Yards? Jammed up in the houses? We managed to find the perfect storm of a path in that’s closing up on us?”

  “Fu—fuck it!” Jessica said, pointing at the house ahead of them. “In here.” she said as she looked over the gate, then led the way toward it.

  “Forting up?”

  “Yes.” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “If there are hidden hordes around here, then if we keep running while being chased, we’re going to get cornered sooner or later. Better to pick a spot we can defend. Give us time to figure something out.”

  “Yes ma’am.” he grinned, though it was more grimace than grin.

  “They’re going to get us!” Candice said.

  “No they’re not.”

  “If we stop running they’ll get us!”

  “No they won’t.” Jessica said again.

  “You mean they’ll all leave if we hide?” the girl asked timidly.

  “Come on.” Jessica said, purposefully ignoring the question. There wasn’t time to debate, and not even for her to calm Candice down. There was only moving and going.

  The house she’d picked was enclosed with a fairly low wall, not even tall enough to keep her from seeing over. She could see the yard was clear, but even though they had zombies coming at them from three directions she made herself take the moment and look very carefully in a second check before she tried the gate. The yard was clear; she was sure.

  And the gate swung free at her touch. With the Shield held straight armed before her, she went through and swung it around quickly, feeling like she was a cop on television. The yard was still empty. Nothing materialized or rose out of the overgrown grass to menace them.

  Jessica looked around quickly as Austin came through the gate, again hoping to see something that she could use to jam it behind them, but the area was too landscaped to have any stray sticks or abandoned tools laying about. The yard was as overgrown as all the others; but there was nothing planted that could yield something conveniently handy she could have pressed into service to stopper the entrance to the yard.

  “Get the house open.” Austin panted as he came through it. “Hurry.”

  “I know.” she scowled, giving up on the gate. Sprinting over to the house, she spared one second to try the knob, then stepped back and pointed the Shield at the door. Her first three shots gouged the wood around the knob, and the next two splintered it badly; but the door didn’t move.

  She holstered the nearly empty nine millimeter pistol and drew the Taurus. The bigger rounds carried more energy, and every second that passed while she screwed around with the door was setting her nerves that much more aflame with tension and fear. Leveling the stainless steel automatic at the door, she used two bullets to finish ripping the knob and its latch free of the door. Four more rounds fractured the wood around the deadbolt badly enough for her to finally get the door open.

  “Candice, stay right behind me.” Jessica said as she ejected the magazine and stuffed it into her pocket next to the SUV key. A full magazine came out of her back pocket, and she jammed it into the pistol before reholstering it and exchanging the Taurus for the Shield once more. She reloaded the nine millimeter with its spare magazine, then edged forward into the house behind her outstretched gun.

  This was another Spanish style domicile, with a big and inviting entry hall. The stairs weren’t right at the door, facing it, this time; they were down the hall a little ways. Jessica waited just long enough to hear Austin’s boots on the porch, then moved. Candice was clinging to her shirt with another death grip, tugging on the fabric as she followed her mother. Jessica paused at each open doorway long enough for a quick look to confirm there was no imminent threat, then co
ntinued.

  At the stairs, she went up without delay until she was near the top. A fast check around at the second level to see that it was clear, then she stepped out into the upper hallway and looked around a second time. Still clear. Picking a door, she opened it and stepped back in anticipation of something hungry coming out. But the bedroom beyond was empty. She went inside and checked it out; closet, under the bed. All was quiet.

  “Candice, in the corner.” Jessica said, pointing.

  “I want to stay with you.”

  “Candice, Rule Two!” Jessica half-snapped.

  The girl went past her, visibly unhappy and shaking, but Jessica contented herself that her daughter was obeying and safe for the moment. It was up to her to keep Candice that way. Jessica grabbed for a dresser and started sliding it toward the door. She got it into the hallway by the time Austin made it to the top of the stairs. As soon as he was out of the way, she shoved it past him and put it against the wall in front of the stairwell.

  “No, like this.” he said, planting his foot against the bottom and pulling against the dresser top with one hand. It tilted, and she stepped back as he removed his foot and let it crash down on its side with a thud. When it was down, he used his foot to adjust its position.

  “Why?” she asked, looking around quickly. The hallway had no visible furniture; just light fixtures and pictures.

  “More stable, harder to knock over.” he answered.

  “We need some more furniture.”

  “I’ll check this way.” Austin said, starting to turn.

  “No.” she said quickly. “You’ve done enough. You’re hurt. Stand here and see if you can’t clog up the bottom of the stairs with dead zombies.”

  “Yes ma’am.” he nodded, lifting the MP5 and settling it against his shoulder. Downstairs, the tramp and scuff of feet on the floor, the thud and thump of staggering bodies cramming themselves into the hallway, was getting quite loud. She saw the first shadow of an approaching zombie appear at the bottom of the stairs as she headed for the next bedroom door.