The Dead Rise (Book 1): Zombies and Chainsaws

by Evans, Mike

  Matt shrugged, “Just think of that envelope in your pocket and see if you can find it in yourself to do a night's work. I mean hell, once you get the liquid coming out, you don’t have a damn thing else you need to do but sit on your ass, that ought to be something you should be able to handle right?”

  Bill patted the spot on his chest and realized it probably was just the right amount of money to buy his time for the entire night. Matt thought about the bulge in his pocket and said, “Are you sure he gave us enough money to be doing this? Maybe it's not too late to back out. People go finding out what we did tonight they might hang us up in a tree, or run us outta town.”

  Bill pulled the handle to release the waste answering Matt's question. To confirm he said, "Is there ever enough money Matt? Just think, this is a week or two worth of pay you didn't have to do a goddamn thing for but drive a truck, pull the lever, and try not to let your insides eat you away."

  “Are you trying to make me feel better Bill? You aren't feeling guilty about this either are you by chance?”

  Bill said, "Screw you, man, I'm not trying to make you feel better. I'm trying to make myself feel better. I know it's wrong, I know we probably aren't doing any good but I gotta keep a job for a little bit longer until the government shuts that damn dirty place down. Might as well do it. There ain't shit around here for work and goddamn if I want to leave. What do you think those houses are going to be worth if we have to up and go? There ain't anywhere to go to. On top of all that bullshit, there's a gas shortage and a fucking recession about ready to start. Do you want to be out of a job during that, with no way to get nowhere? We'd be screwed man. We do this, that's all there is to it, it's simple. I'm trying to make myself feel better and I don't need to up your thought process at all."

  Mouth open scratching his head Matt said, “You ate a lot of paint chips when you were a kid didn’t ya? I don't mean like one or two, I mean like you scraped a goddamn house and then made breakfast didn't you?”

  Bill said, “You just make sure that hose stays up on the cemetery grounds, by morning that should be soaked in and we will be gone and nobody will ever be the wiser.”

  The two men walked away trying to stay clear of the fumes from the chemicals. They both waited impatiently not realizing the chemical was too thick to make its way quickly into the ground. The heat from the day, which had still not cooled, was already starting to make it evaporate and go up into the atmosphere. The storm clouds that were rolling in we're now infected with the same chemicals they had been paid so well to get rid of, for the Evans factory.

  The two men climbed up on top of the hood drinking a few beers in celebration that they hadn’t gotten fired, and as well that they had made what was to them a small fortune.

  Bill said, “You think we gonna go to hell over this?”

  Matt said, "Nah, but if we do, there's a damn good chance Phelps and Thornburgh will be down there with us."

  The ground nearest to the two men began to bulge. The grass that covered the soul's eternal resting spot was starting to rise and fall. Over the next few hours, hands slowly began to push their way out of the ground. When the truck was nearing empty it was almost midnight. Bill slid off the truck and said, "Come on let's see how it looks up there. Make sure you go grab a couple of those masks. I don't want to be breathing in that shit if you know what I mean."

  Matt nodded and said, “You wait here, I got to drain the king off.”

  Bill laughed saying something about the troll king which earned him a finger pointed back at him as Matt walked away. Bill said, “Just make sure you grab my mask with whatever hand you don’t take a piss with.”

  “I’ll try my best to remember, don’t let any of those graves suck you in man, you know how hungry they get around midnight.”

  Bill said, "Now damn it that ain't even funny, you know how creepy it is being out here with just you at a cemetery this late. I don't want to be any longer than I need to be. So if you could take your delicate ass over there to urinate and get moving, we could get the fuck outta Dodge."

  Matt said, “It’s beyond me how you can drink a twelve pack of beer and be yet to take a piss. There’s something wrong with your plumbing man.”

  Bill grabbed himself proclaiming, “Oh there ain't no complaints on this down there buddy.”

  Matt walked off laughing as hard as he could. "Yeah and there ain't any complaints because there haven't been any customers."

  Bill yelled, “What the hell do you know?”

  Matt didn't answer he just laughed as he walked away. Bill started to walk up the hill a little when a branch snapped. Bill screamed and shined his flashlight around. He didn't see anything. When he heard the noise a second time he aimed the light and two black eyes stared back at him. He wasn't sure what it was eating, but there was a possum sitting in the grass its head the only thing sticking up from the space. Bill clutched at his heart rubbing it. He said, "You are one lucky little bastard that I don't have my piece on me or I'd blow your damn head off."

  A second crack went off and he laughed as he said, “Oh I ain’t getting scared all damn night long. If it’s another damn possum I'm going to get me some rebar out of the back of the truck and crack these right upside the head. I ain’t takin’ no shit from no animals.”

  He turned around yelling trying to scare whatever it was away thinking how much he hated country critters at times. When he shined the flashlight down at the ground he saw no animals. What he did see was a muddied blue pair of suit pants. This was worse than the animal and scared the absolute shit out of him. He screamed dropping the flashlight and tripping over the weeds tangling his feet in them. Everything went black around him and all he heard was the slow shuffle of feet and a groan.

  Bill said, "What the fuck are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere? Christ, you are lucky I didn't shoot you. You realize how dangerous it is walking around scaring the shit out of people late at night. You must be shit faced, damn man."

  There was no answer. Again he called, “He - he - hello? Wh - Who is there? I didn’t mean ya no harm I promise. You just scared the hell out of me. I got a buddy here with me, so you best just get on outta here. You ain’t got no business being down here this time of night.”

  He tried to push himself up but fell back down. The slow shuffling and moans were making their way closer to him. Bill tried pushing up but slipped back on his face in the wet weeds. He rolled on his back and only saw the dark of night staring back at him. The feet finally kicked into Bill's legs and Bill made the mistake of kicking at the stranger's shins as hard as he possibly could. The kick did the opposite of what he was hoping for and he kicked the stranger's legs out from beneath him. Bill screamed as the wet mud covered stranger fell against his body and the man's weight made him try to push to scramble away. He tried shoving the man off, but he was too big, bigger than Bill and very stiff.

  Bill took a whiff and couldn’t figure out what the hell he’d been in it was a stench like he’d not smelled yet before, there were no signs of health from it at all. Bill grasped around finally getting the flashlight. He brought it from the side whipping the back end of it into the things face once and then a second time. Something fell on his face showering it and Bill shook at it rapidly brushing them off. He flicked at whatever it was picking something up and realized they were teeth. He put the light on the man’s face and when he did he saw dead eyes staring at him. Maggots were crawling out of his eye sockets and his nose had been almost completely rotted off, his face had holes in it and the maggots were everywhere now falling on Bill’s face as well.

  Bill tried to push backward but it was useless, there was too much weight on top of him. He shivered at the idea of the man's teeth on top of him but nowhere near as much as the thought that those maggots were crawling out of him. He didn't need to be a college graduate to know that there was something seriously fucked up about all of this. He pleaded with the man because he was out of options and never in his life had he wanted th
e ability to be standing and running as much as this moment right now.

  Bill pleaded, "For the love of Jesus can I get you some help or something? What the fuck is wrong with you? I want to get you whatever help that you need, just tell me what is wrong with you."

  There was no answer of course and those were Bill’s last words because in seconds he would not have the necessary body parts to produce speech. The light grass beneath him turned dark red with blood soaking the grass pouring down both sides of his neck. Bill’s legs started convulsing as the blood loss became terminal. His hands, which were gripping the man’s chest slowly slid away and fell to the ground. The dead who had been ripping his neck to pieces bent down gripping his nose. The teeth that he had left and had not been knocked from their place by Bill and his flashlight were busy pulling the nose and making him look like someone who had been rotting for years himself. All of this damage had been done in a matter of minutes.

  *****

  Matt moved in the tall grass walking until he found a spot that was short enough that he could take a leak without having to worry about it dribbling down the grass and back down onto his feet. He slammed the last of his beer and threw it into the grass in front of him. He had almost forgotten about the worry he had been putting himself through. He knew the minute he was done with this that he could drop the truck off and go home and put this day behind him. He did hope that it would be possible the bar would still be open in town because he had an endless supply of cash for the night and he planned on investing a good portion of it into the deterioration of his liver.

  He leaned back staring up at the stars as he shot a line of piss into an arc landing many feet away. He shook it off zipping and hoping that they were close to being done. Matt stopped at the truck grabbing a flashlight and getting two masks so they could go up and check on the progress. He found what he was looking for and walked over staggering in the dark. He hit the flashlight staring and when nothing came from it cursed it.

  "Piece of damn shit, God forbid those truck drivers keep a stupid ass fresh set of batteries in it."

  He stared down at it hitting the metal tube against his hand. The battery lined up just right and it came to life the bright light blinding him. He dropped it closing his eyes and seeing blinding bright stars.

  “Holy shit you could say that worked.”

  He slid on the mask carrying Bill’s in his hand looking left and right not seeing him anywhere. He whispered, “Bill, Bill where the hell are you? Quit screwing around man.”

  He walked up top looking for him. He was so focused on finding Bill that he didn't see the hands pushing up out of the dirt or the sunken in ground that went across the cemetery from those who had already pushed out from their eternal resting places.

  Matt said, "Where the fuck is he? I'm gonna kill him if he is screwing with me. I don't have time for this shit."

  Matt walked slowly around seeing nothing. When he wasn’t sure what else to do he started walking back toward the truck. He saw Bill’s feet coming out from a brush pile and started laughing.

  He yelled, “You drunk son of a bitch, good God man. We only split a case of beer, hell I still wanted to hit the bar after this. You can’t hold your liquor for nothing. Let me guess you forgot to eat today.”

  He kicked at his feet still not focusing on him he was laughing too hard at him. He ran the flashlight up the length of the hose to the top of the cemetery grounds. Matt saw that there wasn't anything coming out of it.

  "Hallelujah, we are done. Get up you lightweight and let's get out of here. You know damn well if we go driving the truck back in and you go staggering out the security guard is going to go and tell Phelps and that's if he isn't sitting there waiting to see us come back making sure we did what we were supposed to do. Come on man get up! You just need to be cool for a few minutes man."

  When Bill didn’t respond Matt growing impatient kicked his leg hard. His fuse was getting pretty short at this point. When Bill still didn’t respond he finally got nervous. He shone the light from his feet up slowly and after he got past his crotch his stomach turned making him half sick. Bill’s entrails were spread across the grounds and his head was hanging on by a thread of skin. Matt didn’t bend down to check his pulse because he knew there was no chance his friend was still alive. He was less worried about Bill and more concerned about the fact that he more than likely hadn’t done this to himself. He looked around trying to find whatever it was that had done this and when he couldn't find anything started to try and think things out. He went back to the truck reeling in the hose, the last bits of the remnants of the chemicals spilling out as the hose wound up.

  Matt went back to Bill thinking that he was going to have to call the cops and that there was a killer on the loose or that there was quite possibly a wolf somewhere and it needed to be taken out. Matt was frantic and didn't know what he could do about it. He was losing his mind. When he ran back to Bill he was not there. He followed the line of entrails and blood. The trail that it was making was not something easily missed. Bill had not made it far and when he caught up to him the angle with which his head was hanging on to was the most unnatural thing he’d ever seen in his entire life.

  "Bill, Bill you okay? What the fuck is going on?"

  Bill turned around slowly the guts from his stomach hanging down by his feet. Matt backed away slowly a pair of hands gripping his shoulders and stopping his path. A second then third set gripped him and the weight from them falling forward as he tried to escape sent them all down into a pile. Matt screamed for help, there was none to be had and none that was going to come.

  “Help me, help me please somebody!”

  He spun on the ground as he tried to push himself backward. What he saw was men and women of different rates of decay. Matt found it weird that they were dressed in suits and dresses. The fact that they were looking like they were more ready for church than a mass feeding on him as the meal was making the stress and weirdness of the moment even stranger. One of the men fell rolling off of the pile and he could see the man's suit was slit up the back. The instant thought of sitting around with the old guys at coffee in the morning joking about needing new suits for church and those that were forced to go by their wives always saying, oh don't worry about the new suit when I pass you can just slit it up the back. Matt gripped at one of the women ripping her dress from her top down to her waist.

  He didn't want to see what was clearly in front of him, but he saw an incision the kind that the mortician would have done once she'd been sent to the funeral home.

  Matt said, "Yo-you-you are dead? What the hell happened to you?"

  They, of course, didn't answer and he continued pushing away from them. The mouths were open wide some of their mouths had been sewn shut and those were having the hardest time opening their mouths as they got them to finally tear through the mortician’s yarn, Matt could see the lines hanging in their mouths. When he backed up far enough to be able to get up he made the mistake of forgetting the very important fact that Bill was sitting behind him originally and he ran directly into him. Matt tried pushing him away, but Bill was reaching out gripping for him. Matt was trying his best not to get his feet caught in the entrails. Matt hated to do it, but survival was the only thing ringing through his head. He punched Bill in the head twice the thin ligaments that were keeping it attached finally broke free. His large body toppled over to the ground where he lay still and did not get back up again, his head rolled many feet away. Matt watched it, half expecting that it was still going to be moving, but when it did not he felt a small sense of relief.

  Chapter Seven

  Good Times

  It was a Friday night and the bar was packed with the regulars. There was no shortage of beer and whiskey. The few waitresses on shift were busy ducking and weaving in between the bar’s patrons. There was a heavy cloud of smoke and country music was blaring out of the neon jukebox, which could barely be heard over the men and women screaming in their own personal co
nversations.

  A blonde haired waitress who knew how to get tips walked briskly to a table filled with Jude and the rest of his crew all four men were wearing identical army green shirts with the tree cutting name printed on the back.

  She said, "You all ain't from around here are you? What are you doing in this neck of the woods? You guys on a team or something? Or are you looking for trouble?"

  Chuck leaned back in his chair smiling from ear to ear, which was not the easiest thing to tell given the thick beard he had.

  "We are from Iowa sweetheart. We are always up to trouble, we are kind of a team we work together and are down here picking up a few extra bucks in between jobs at home. Why are you looking for something special?"

  Chuck raised his hat winking his eyes up and down and she just laughed setting the fresh beers on the table.

  She said, "Honey if I was looking to hook up with someone at this bar it sure as hell wouldn't be you."

  She looked at Jude and gave him a smile that they all believed was the one you needed to get from her if you wanted to get with her.

  Chuck said, “Go fucking figure.”

  Jude said, “I hadn't even said anything to her yet.”

  Chuck said, "Does it matter if you say anything or not? The son of a bitch doesn't even have to try, and ladies just seem to fall over him. And then once they get to know him and find out about his past then the son of a bitch is as good as gold. It's just a shame that he's too dumb to take any of the offers up."

  The waitress leaned on the table resting her elbows and giving all the men behind her a view to not soon be forgotten.

  She said, “What is this back story that just guarantees you all the lovely ladies?”

  Jude said, “I don't really want to get into it tonight. We are celebrating since we just got done cleaning up this town of all the wood and we are going to head home tomorrow.”