The Zombie Principle

by David R Vosburgh

  His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of breaking glass originating from the library. The Major turned around, as did his men, and saw infected pouring out of the building’s windows.

  With his easterly escape route now compromised and an increasing zombie presence moving across Joel Avenue, the Major looked at his men. Without a word each man nodded slightly. He turned his attention back to the Doctor.

  “What’s your plan?” he asked.

  ------------------------------------------

  Number 5 had eventually made his way to the roof of the Blanchfield Army Hospital. After the door to the research lab had opened and the unsuspecting research assistant entered, it was only a matter of time before the entire base was infected. It was populated predominantly with families and support staff. Most of the soldiers were currently stationed elsewhere. The end for the majority of the inhabitants came swiftly.

  He was now standing on the edge of the hospital rooftop looking down at the throng of undead in front of the main entrance. On the rooftop with him were a dozen other zombies. Although they could not comprehend why they were there, they had no ability to think or reason, they were there because Number 5 wanted them there. A number of hospital staff had fled to what they hoped would be the safety of the rooftop. Number 5 had followed them and quickly infected those who did not jump.

  The “survivors,” without knowing it, were acting as bodyguards; protecting the bacterium that had taken control of Number 5. The same bacterium that to this point had directed his actions and, for reasons yet to be understood by Number 5, created this army of the undead.

  His attention, if you could call it that, was now drawn to a group of humans that had arrived a few moments ago. They had emerged from behind a building across the street and were now standing next to a small row of trees at the edge of the street. One of the humans had separated from the others and moved slowly out into the open; staring directly up at Number 5.

  He looked down and their eyes met. There was seventy-five yards or so between them; but that would not have mattered. If Number 5 had the ability to remember, he would have known his old doctor; even from this distance.

  They say, however, that the eyes are the window to the soul. Number 5’s soul had been taken over, hijacked if you will, by an unknown force bent on some evil intention. It was through these eyes that the entity inside him was able to see the outside world. And if the Doctor was close enough to see the expression on his face he would have able to discern it immediately. It was the unmistakable look of recognition.

  A few minutes later a second group of humans arrived. They also seemed to take an interest in Number 5 who turned his head and looked in the direction of three other zombies near him. They stopped, turned, and began heading toward the edge of the roof.

  Without stopping they continued forward even when they ran out of roof. Each fell and landed hard on the ground in a way that would have killed someone who was not already dead. All three zombies struggled to get up but each managed to do so. One had broken a leg and dragged the wounded appendage behind him as he moved forward. Another snapped its spine and walked in one direction while facing a slightly different direction. The third zombie had broken its left arm and after a few steps the arm fell to the ground.

  The one thing all three zombies had in common was they were headed in the direction of the humans who had recently arrived.

  Chapter 29

  Alone

  Stephen instinctively pulled away from the hand that gripped his shoulder and once free, turned quickly to see what had snuck up behind him. He found himself face to face with an infected man wearing overalls and a solid blue shirt. His dark hair was matted down and the left side of his face was sliced open with pieces of dried skin flopping up and down as he moved, his arms were outstretched and he was stumbling forward toward Stephen.

  He raised the axe, gripping it at the bottom of the handle, and swung upward targeting the zombie’s head. He did not have enough time to take proper aim, or to ensure the sharp end of the axe was facing the correct way, resulting in the blunt end of the axe glancing off the zombie’s shoulder and redirecting upward hitting it square in the temple.

  It collapsed immediately to the ground but continued to move. It started to roll around and attempt to right itself. Stephen never gave it an opportunity as he flipped the axe in his hand, sharp end now pointing down, and came down hard just above the shoulder blades separating the zombie’s head from the rest of its body.

  When it stopped moving he looked back up only to see several more infected coming into view. They were approaching from the building that housed the lodge’s guests. There was now over a dozen infected heading his way.

  He turned around and screamed at the top of his lungs.

  “Corporal!”

  Corporal Levine had been walking back toward the convoy with the rest of the civilians. They were about twenty yards ahead when Stephen let out his cry for help.

  Turning quickly he saw Stephen, axe in hand, standing over the decapitated zombie. He then noticed the other infected emerging from both sides of the complex. His wider view allowed him a more comprehensive picture of what was unfolding. There were now over two dozen zombies heading toward the front of the registration building. Stephen was going to be in real trouble soon.

  “Get back to the convoy now!” Corporal Levine shouted to the rest of the group. “Find Captain Morris, I’ll radio you’re on the way.”

  Kim and the children, Lucy, and Nick turned and began running as fast as they could. Kim picked Danielle up and Jason ran ahead holding his golf club up and in front of him.

  Corporal Levine darted toward Stephen, gun raised. He pressed his comm link and said, “Captain Morris, come in.”

  “Morris,” came the response.

  “I’ve got the civilians headed your way Captain and we’ve got infected spotted coming out of the lodge, engaging now.”

  “Copy,” replied Captain Morris.

  Corporal Levine arrived just as Stephen had taken a few steps back and had the axe cocked behind his head ready to take aim at another zombie. This time it was a man in army fatigues. The single bar on his shoulders indicated that he was a lieutenant; emphasis on was.

  Stephen had long ago decided that these things were no longer human and that their fate, cruel as it was, had been decided for them and was irreversible. He took no pleasure in killing these things, but he did not hesitate either. The former lieutenant suffered the same fate as the man in the overalls when Stephen swung his axe and connected with the zombie’s neck.

  Corporal Levine began targeting the nearest zombies hoping to buy a few minutes so that they could fall back and regroup. He could have opened fire and sprayed bullets everywhere but was aware of the ammo shortage and decided to be more judicious with his targets.

  Stephen raised the axe a third time and was prepared to fend off a woman who was stumbling in his direction. Her summer dress, plastered with purple and pink lilies, was torn at the bottom and covered with blood. He was about to bring the axe down when her skull exploded as a result of a round from Corporal Levine’s semi-automatic.

  It was then that Stephen finally noticed the infected emerging from the other side of the lodge. He quickly realized that staying here was not an option. They had to get back to the convoy and get as far away from the base as possible.

  He looked over at Corporal Levine and nodded his head backwards. The Corporal was thinking the same thing and nodded in agreement. They turned sideways and had taken a few steps backwards when Stephen was sure he heard gunfire coming from the other side of the convoy.

  Nick stopped dead in his tracks halfway between the lodge and the convoy when he heard gunfire coming from the other side of the line of trucks. Everyone else did as well except Jason who continued to run.

  “Jason!” Kim screamed at him.

  Moving again, Nick had taken a few long strides forward as he reached out and grabbed Jason by the should
er. The combination of his Mother’s voice and the firm hand on his shoulder broke his concentration. He stopped suddenly and whirled around, golf club raised, and took a whack at Nick.

  Luckily for Nick, he had seen it coming and easily blocked it with his hand. It stung a little but did no damage. Jason was struggling to pull the club from Nick’s grip and began to scream out.

  “I’m going to get you for what you did to my dad!” he yelled as he continued to pull at the club. Nick was afraid to let it go. He did not feel like getting hit again.

  Kim came up from behind them, putting Danielle down, she bent down slightly and looked into her son’s eyes. They were filled with hate and fear and rage. Mostly, however, they were filled with sadness.

  “Jason baby,” Kim said. “It’s Mommy. I’m right here.”

  She slowly put her arms around her son and squeezed tight. He finally stopped fighting Nick for the club and then just let it go; both physically, by releasing the grip on the golf club, and emotionally, by letting all the pent up emotion spill out in one long outburst.

  Lucy came up from behind and put her hand gently on Danielle, who turned and looked up at her, her eyes were moist and her body trembling.

  Nick kept hold of the club as he turned to see Stephen and Corporal Levine running full sprint in their direction. The gunfire from the other side of the convoy had intensified. He looked at Lucy, and then back down at Kim holding her son as tightly as she could. He suddenly felt as helpless as he ever had.

  Dave sat, alone, in the middle of the cargo truck looking down at his shoes. He had been trying his best to get the image of Emma disappearing into Target’s stock room out of his head. He was failing miserably.

  He was almost thankful for the sound of gunfire that snapped him out of his painful thoughts. The first couple of rounds seemed to be far off. He was not even sure if it was anyone from the convoy. Maybe there were some others nearby.

  That line of thinking was soon dispelled when the next round sounded as if was coming from right outside the cargo truck. He finally looked up and peered out the back. He only saw the front of the fuel truck. No sign of the Captain though.

  He could hear men shouting over the sound of gunfire and the crunch of dirt under the boots of the soldiers running outside. He briefly thought of getting up and going to the end of the truck and seeing what was happening outside. Obviously the soldiers had encountered some infected. Maybe he could help. “Like I helped Emma,” he thought.

  He did not even have a weapon. He had dropped it somewhere in that Target store. If he had a gun, maybe he could ... a gun! Kim had a gun in the truck somewhere, the one Captain Morris showed them how to use.

  He got up and moved to the other side of the truck and unzipped the luggage Kim had brought. He felt kind of weird going through someone else’s belongings. Lucky for him the black case was right on top. He was reaching for it when he heard a noise coming from the open end of the truck. Looking, he saw nothing. It sounded like someone moving along the canvass outside.

  He turned back to the luggage, grabbed the gun case and closed the luggage flap. Sitting back down, he held the case in his lap. He looked at it and tried to remember the numbered code needed to unlock it. Kim said she would not leave it open because of her kids.

  His fingers fumbled over the digits as he continued to search his memory for the numbers. His concentration was interrupted by the same sound he heard a few seconds ago, only this time much louder. He looked again out into the dusk and this time thought he noticed movement.

  He was shocked to see a pair of hands reaching into the back of the truck. Even more so when he realized those hands were attached to an infected person. It was a man in a dark blue jogging suit. He was trying to pull himself up into the truck bed.

  Dave frantically turned his attention back to the black box on his lap. He started moving numbers into combinations he thought it might be; 3-2-6-3, 6-2-6-6, 2-3-9-6. None of them were able to reveal the prize inside the box. He looked back toward the end of the truck. The man in the jogging suit was now almost all the way inside. Unfortunately, he had now been joined by two others. One was a woman wearing jeans and a soiled grey T-Shirt and another man; this one in a hunter green flight suit.

  Now in a full panic, Dave realized that if he did not get the gun case open in the next five seconds he was going to be in serious trouble. The strange thing was he had spent the last two days thinking that he did not really want to live. That he did not deserve to live. But now, all he could think about was staying alive. He tried 2-2-6-6 and then 3-3-6-6; nothing happened.

  He had two choices. Stay in the truck and try to fight them off or attempt to somehow get past them and run and find help. He decided the latter was his best option. Using the still unopened gun case as a weapon he got up and stood on the wooden seats and ran along the boards. His head down and the case in his right hand he swung it at the nearest zombie.

  He connected solidly with the jaw of the one in the jogging suit, knocking it off balance just enough for him to get past the outstretched arms of the zombie. He made it safely to the end of the truck as the other two zombies had managed to climb about halfway into the truck bed. They were, however, blocking the exit. He would have to propel himself off the wooden bench and out into the approaching night.

  He leapt off the end of the bench but his left foot slipped and his body twisted in midair. He fell out of the truck more so than launching himself out. The loss of speed and control caused him to fall short of his intended goal. His feet hit the back of the cargo truck as he fell backward. It caused him to land on his head instead of his back or his side. He landed hard but not hard enough to knock himself out.

  The gun case flew out of his hand and landed on the ground several feet away. He lay motionless on the pavement for several seconds before he realized what had happened. If he had not slipped, he would have landed on his side and rolled to safety.

  He tried to get up but his head was pounding. He was dizzy and disoriented but was conscience. As he struggled to get up he was pulled back down by a fourth zombie that he had not seen. He struggled to free himself as his head pounded worse than any migraine and his shoulder still ached with pain.

  It was only a few seconds later when the two zombies at the end of the truck had turned around and pounced on top of him. He did what he could but it was hopeless. As the first zombie leaned in and sank its teeth into his flesh and the others tore at his clothing, he thought of Emma and wondered when she was lying on her back on the cold cement floor of the stock room, did she think of him.

  Chapter 30

  Friendly Fire

  Captain Morris was about to walk over to the northern side of the convoy and await the civilians and also check how many infected Corporal Levine had spotted when he heard the gunfire erupt behind him. He turned around quickly and saw two of his men opening fire on a large group of infected that had suddenly appeared. They had apparently come from inside and around back of the army training center.

  The large two story building had provided perfect cover for the massing zombies. They now were spread out evenly over a fifty or sixty yard span and roughly seventy-five yards from the convoy. He immediately assessed the situation and realized they were being attacked on two fronts. Corporal Levine was going to have to handle the infected near the lodge. Captain Morris decided he was going to need everyone else to manage the infected coming from the training center. Their numbers had quickly swelled to well over a hundred.

  He saw Privates Rivers and Loomis were already engaging the infected. Private Benson and Corporal Ripley had immediately joined the fray without having to be ordered to do so. That left Privates Adams, Romaliga, O’Connell, and Specialist Simmons.

  He opened his comm link and spoke with urgency.

  “I need all personnel with the exception of Levine to the south side of the convoy on the double. Prepare to engage infected.” Before releasing the comm link he added, “This includes you Simmons.”


  He had no sooner finished when Specialist Simmons ran by him, weapon raised and ready to engage. Captain Morris sprinted to the second Humvee and opened the cargo door. He removed what was left of the ammunition. Looking at what he had in front of him and then looking back at the growing number of infected heading their way, he was not sure they had enough.

  Stephen and Corporal Levine reached Nick and the rest of the group as Jason had finally begun regaining his composure. He was still obviously upset but had stopped sobbing. Nick was still holding the golf club. Stephen looked at him and then the club. Nick responded with a shrug.

  Corporal Levine reached for his comm link and listened for a second.

  “Looks like they got infected on the other side of the convoy,” he said having to raise his voice in order to be heard above the gunfire. “Captain has left me alone on this side to take care of these infected.”

  “Us,” Stephen said.

  “What?” Corporal Levine said.

  “We can handle them,” Stephen said.

  A minute ago he felt their only hope was to get as far away from them as possible. With infected on the other side of the convoy, it appeared at least for the moment, leaving was out of the question.

  “Nick, get back to the truck and get Kim’s gun. Lock the kids and the girls in one of the Humvees. They should be safe there until we can leave.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t let …” Levine started to say but was interrupted by Stephen.

  “There’s no time to argue … Nick, go and take the girls with you. Oh, and see if you can find Dave.”

  Nick grabbed Danielle and scooped her up and started running. The rest followed as they headed to the cargo truck in search of Kim’s gun.