Suspending Reality (Five Fantasy Stories)

by Chrissy Peebles

  I bit my lip as I glanced around the darkness, then pointed to a high window way over to the right.

  Jackie nodded in silent agreement, then took off in the right direction.

  Our shoes barely made a sound on the tile floor as we zigzagged through a few aisles and finally made it to the horizontal window, then stopped to peer around. Long shelves filled with cans jutted out of the wall.

  Giving Jackie’s hand a last squeeze, I stepped on one of the rickety bottom shelves and pulled myself up to the next horizontal surface. “C’mon!” I whispered. It was difficult to shimmy up it without knocking off any of the merchandise with my feet, but we couldn’t risk making any noise. The last thing I wanted to do was give away my location to the army of the undead. I placed a foot on the hard surface and held on to the metal rod, then heaved myself up. My clothes made a chafing sound that wouldn’t have been noticeable under normal circumstances, but nothing about our circumstances was normal. I held my breath and peered around me, trying to determine if we’d been spotted. The zombies went about their business, fighting and hissing over a slice of foul-smelling meat. Letting out my breath, I tested the shelf with my leg. When I realized it was strong enough to support me, I moved up to the next level, then stopped again when the shelf trembled. A few cans knocked against each other; two or three rolled to the side, but didn’t drop to the ground. Thank God! I knew if I could keep it that way, we might just stand a chance. The last thing I wanted to die over was a can of black-eyed peas.

  Using the shelf as a ladder to reach the top, I climbed up slowly but steadily, taking one step at a time. I was almost up when one of the cans clattered to the ground, the sound reverberating from the walls. Crap! Suddenly, a few zombie heads snapped in our direction, causing my breath to catch in my throat. I prayed their interest wouldn’t be piqued but, as usual, luck wasn’t on my side. Hurrying as fast as I could, my legs on fire, I dashed up, then reached down to help Jackie. I wrapped my hand around her thin arm to pull her up, and once she reached the top, we glanced down. Because of my fumbling cans fiasco, zombies had spotted us and headed in our direction.

  Jackie unlocked the window. We pushed and pulled as hard as we could, our arms straining as we forced the latch, but it was painted shut and refused to budge. I reached for my gun but it wasn’t there and I knew it must’ve fallen out when the shelves collapsed on us.

  “Give it another push!” I yelled. “On three!” I began to count, and then hurled my whole weight forward, to no avail. My heart began to race again. I got on my knees and reached down for anything we could use to bust the window or knock the latch off. My hands wrapped around a can of spaghetti sauce, the mushroom variety. It was a bit small, but the edges were sharp enough to do the trick. “Cover your face!” I said to Jackie.

  “No need,” she said, sliding out her gun from her holster. Pulling the trigger, the window shattered with a boom, glass spraying outside onto the gravel below. The shelves started to wobble as zombies began to rock them from below, and Jackie fell back with a loud yelp.

  I quickly grabbed her around the waist to steady her, while holding on to the railing with my other arm. “Wrap your arm around my neck,” I shouted through the moaning noise below. When Jackie reached up, I scooped her into my arms and held her tightly against me, then kicked out the rest of the window while Jackie kicked the shelf over. Her body was still pressed against me as we teetered on the edge of the windowsill, dangerously close to the floor below and the hands reaching up to grab us and tear us into tasty, bloody morsels. With a loud thud, the shelf crashed on top of the zombies.

  I peered out into the night, exasperated. There were no trees to shimmy down, no ladder, no rope, and nothing to aid our descent. Only after leaning out did I notice that directly underneath us, there was a tall dumpster with flat, open doors on the top and metal sliding doors on the side. “We’ve gotta jump,” I said.

  Without hesitation, Jackie climbed out and took the plunge.

  I followed right after and fell into a giant pile of black bags. I could hear the plastic crinkling beneath me a moment before the reek of rotten eggs hit my nostrils and made me gag. Pushing up, I struggled to grip something hard without spreading the garbage and smell all over me. When I finally managed to sit up, I realized the only thing that wasn’t covered in trash were parts of my face. “Are you okay?” I whispered, looking around for Jackie, who’d disappeared into the abyss of garbage.

  She popped up and peered over a few bags. “Yeah, I’m fine. You?”

  I nodded, even though I couldn’t tell whether she could see anything in the pitch black.

  “See anything?” she continued.

  The moon cast a glow over city buildings, and graffiti-covered walls stretching into the distance. To the left of a broken lamp post, I noticed a long alley strewn with garbage. My gaze scanned the area for any suspicious movement, but everything remained silent. “The coast is clear,” I whispered to Jackie.

  The loud rustling of plastic bags next to Jackie startled me. Then, a green, rotting hand burst from the boxes and tried to clench the air. My heart lurched. I felt around the trash looking for anything I could get my hands on. All I could find were empty boxes that wouldn’t even smash a fly, let alone fight off a zombie.

  The oversized container shook slightly on its wheels as the zombie fought its way through the trash and sprung toward Jackie, snapping its jaws. She whipped out her gun and shot it straight in the forehead. Dark liquid squirted everywhere, and the zombie fell sideways. Jackie scrambled up.

  I was right behind her, so I helped her climb over the edge of the dumpster, and then followed. “Which way should we go?” I whispered as I scanned my surroundings.

  “Let’s circle around. Maybe we’ll find Nick and Claire…and your sister.”

  Before I could even answer, I heard a moan and spun around. I gasped. More zombies had spotted us and shuffled in our direction. Jackie aimed her gun, but we both realized there were too many and we wouldn’t stand a chance. With my heart pounding, I gripped her hand, and we turned around. “C’mon!” We took off down the alley, and I spied the perfect getaway vehicle, an abandoned motorcycle. Nick had taught me how to ride his motorcycle ages ago. I was a pro and could handle this with no problem. “Think it runs?” I glanced over my shoulder to make sure the zombies weren’t gaining on us. Luckily for us, they were slower than turtles, and they were still a good distance away, but I wanted to get out of there before they caught up.

  “It won’t even start without keys,” Jackie said, searching for them in the darkness.

  It would have been far too easy for them to have been left in the ignition, I supposed. I glanced down and noticed a leather coat lying on the sidewalk in a bloody heap. I was about to open my mouth to say something about it, but before I could, she had followed my line of vision and was poking her foot into the heap. Bending down, she felt the pockets and pulled out a set of dangling keys. I prayed one of them would start the bike. I hopped on, she hopped on behind me, and I slid the most appropriate-looking key in the ignition. There was a click, but the motorcycle wouldn’t start. Beads of sweat rolled down my face.

  “Try again!” yelled Jackie. “They’re getting closer.”

  “I am!” I said, wondering why the thing wouldn’t cooperate. With a terrified glance over my shoulder, I tried one last time. The engine spluttered for a moment, but then it finally started! We sped down the alley, my heart racing. I had always dreamt of riding a magnificent Harley with a beautiful girl, the blasting gusts of wind whipping through our hair. Of course, I’d pictured it more on a highway, not in a back-alley labyrinth, in the middle of the night, with zombies hot on our tailpipes.

  We took a few twists and turns, but I really wasn’t sure which way to go. I slowed and turned the motorcycle down another alleyway, which ultimately led us to a beach.

  “Turn around,” Jackie said.

  Just as she said it, I heard hissing and moaning wafting through the night air
and glanced over my shoulder to see a new group of undead coming out from behind deserted buildings and heading toward us. “Um, scratch that!” I said. “There’s no way we’re going back.”

  Chapter 13

  “The sand! It’ll slow them down big time,” I said, turning left onto the beach and hitting the gas. I scanned my surroundings. To the left, tall trees stretched into the sky, their crowns swallowed up by darkness. Behind us, a white sign glowed in the darkness, pointing out that it was a private beach and any intruders would be prosecuted. We didn’t know what we might stumble upon in either direction, and I wasn’t sure which way to take. While I was deliberating, my wheels suddenly squealed, throwing up sand everywhere.

  “What’s going on?” Jackie asked behind me. Her frantic tone and the way her hands clutched my waist told me she was slowly getting worried.

  “Hold on,” I said calmly, even though my hands were shaking. There wasn’t enough time to dig the tires out. If we were stuck, we’d have to make it out of there on foot. We had no flashlights and, worse, no idea what was lurking around the next corner. Shuffling through the sand, groups of zombies slowly came from every direction, drawn to us like moths to a flame. I assumed they were attracted to the roar of the motorcycle. I met Jackie’s terrified gaze. “If we can get free, we can zigzag around them.” It was a crazy idea, but it wasn’t impossible. They were still at least a hundred feet away, but one particular zombie seemed to move faster than the rest; I wondered if he’d been just recently turned. I kept the zombie MVP in my line of vision.

  Jackie pulled out her gun. “I’m going to keep these freaks from getting too close. You just work on getting us outta here.”

  “Remember, aim for their heads.”

  “I know,” she said flatly.

  The motorcycle rattled as I revved it up, the tires digging deep into the sinking sand. Time was running out, and I contemplated running on foot if we didn’t get the Harley out within the next minute or so.

  “Hey!” she said. “Try not to spin the tires. Digging us halfway to Australia isn’t going to do us any good.” She squeezed the trigger and missed.

  “Concentrate!” I said.

  “I am!” she said. She fired again, this time hitting the zombie in the chest. “It’s still coming!”

  “They will unless you hit them in the head!” I yelled. With the zombie inching forward, I needed to get the motorcycle tire out of the sand, but I couldn’t focus on helping Jackie and digging our way out all at once.

  “Got it!” She slid off the bike. She walked right up to the zombie, until she was only a few feet away, then aimed and shot him right in the forehead, sending him to the ground, where he flailed around for a moment like a dying fish out of water.

  “Are you crazy? Get back on the bike!” I yelled.

  “I’m not going down without giving us a fighting chance.” She aimed at the approaching crowd, and three more fell. Jackie was finally realizing that fighting had become a necessity for life, but she was failing to realize that two people couldn’t take on an entire zombie herd by themselves.

  “You need to quit playing hero and get your butt back on this bike!”

  Reaching down, she grabbed some loose branches from the beach. “I have an idea.”

  “I think your gun’s a much better choice,” I said.

  “Try to lift the motorcycle when I count to three,” she said.

  I heaved as hard as I could, but with the sand shifting everywhere, I only managed about two or three inches.

  “Hold it up,” Jackie said, kneeling down.

  I clenched my teeth and held the weight of the machine as I watched her squeeze the branches under the front tires, then move to the back. I held my breath as I dropped the front tire, then lifted up the back so she could stabilize the branches beneath it.

  “The branches will provide traction, or at least I hope so,” she said.

  It was a brilliant idea; I had to give her that. I rocked the motorcycle back and forth, spewing a cloud of sand in the air. Some of the smaller twigs snapped beneath it, making me doubt it would hold. I knew we had to hurry. I could just picture that undead army pulling us off the motorcycle and biting into our flesh, and I shuddered at the thought. “Jump on,” I said to Jackie before starting the engine. I could feel the twigs giving way beneath the tires, so I hit the gas. With one last squeal, the tires were free. I turned in the direction with the least amount of zombies and was able to easily pass by them, my heart racing even faster than the bike.

  Speeding up, I followed the beach strip, my thighs clutching to it to keep it steady. I turned right. There has to be an opening or exit somewhere. If we could only find it… “Look for a gate or something,” I yelled to Jackie, my gaze still fixed on the ground. As I turned the bend, I saw that the south side of the beach was also swarming with zombies. To make matters worse, I was sure our loud motorcycle had just rung the dinner bell.

  “There’re too many of them!” Jackie said. “We’ll never get through.”

  She was right, for I saw no way to break through them without becoming their midnight snack.

  Jackie started shooting, and two dropped in our path.

  I abruptly turned the bike and zigzagged past a few stragglers. I revved up the motorcycle and sped toward a nearby pier.

  Jackie wrapped her arms tight around my waist. “What’re we doing?”

  “Can you swim?”

  “Yeah, sure. I take it we’re going for a dip?”

  “Yep, hold on.” Adjusting my speed, I raced down the pier. The engine revved and the tires squealed as the motorcycle drove into the lake with a giant splash and began sinking, pulling us beneath the surface.

  Cold water gushed into my mouth and soaked my clothes. Somewhere in the back of my swirling mind, I realized I could no longer feel Jackie’s hands around my waist. With deliberate, long pushes of my legs and arms, I broke the surface and spewed out water, my whole body screaming for oxygen. I took giant gulps of air and searched for Jackie. “Jackie? Jackie! Where are you?” I asked between breaths.

  A few moments passed, but the dark surface of the water remained undisturbed. I scanned the area around me frantically, fearing the worst. Suddenly, a spluttering noise echoed from behind me. I turned sharply to Jackie, throwing her arms around me.

  “You’re okay!” She laughed.

  I melted into her embrace. “Never been better. I shook my head to push the scary images to the back of my mind. If anything had happened to her, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself.

  She motioned toward the shore. “You don’t think they can swim, do you?”

  “No way! I live on an island. Trust me, those things can’t swim, and they know it.” My gaze darted over to the shore. Under the bright moonlight, zombies were pacing up and down it, moaning and groaning, just waiting to tear us apart. Lots of them had also followed us up the pier. It gave me the creeps, but I knew they wouldn’t come into the lake.

  She squeezed my arm. “I bet they’d love it if we were stupid enough to swim back.”

  “Yeah, but we’re not that stupid.”

  “Let’s swim to the other side and get our butts out of here,” Jackie said.

  I had no idea how big or deep the lake was, but I didn’t even want to think about it. With no other choice, I had to remain positive, so I glided forward with long strokes.

  After a few minutes of swimming, Jackie stopped. I halted next to her and followed her line of vision, down the water surface to the darkness stretching in the distance. “You see that?” she whispered, pointing at what looked like a shore.

  “What?”

  She started forward, then swung back. “There’s somebody over there.”

  I was sure it was just more zombies, so we’d have to keep swimming until we found a safe way out. I could see the opposite shore not too far away. Squinting to get a better look, I made out figures in the distance. A second later, a strong breeze carried their shouts to us. My lips curle
d into a big smile when I realized Nick and Claire were pacing along the shore, waving their hands wildly. “I can always count on my brother!” I pounded the water with my fists, splashing it in all directions.

  Jackie smiled. “We’re saved!”

  I met her gaze when she gripped my shirt tight and pulled me close, wrapping her legs tightly around me. Catching me off guard, she captured my lips in a hot, hungry kiss. I swirled my tongue over hers. My heart pounded as adrenaline surged. I had never kissed such a hot girl before—or many girls, for that matter—and it was the most amazing feeling in the entire world.

  She broke the kiss and said with a coy smile, “C’mon. Your brother’s waiting.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, let’s go.” With powerful strokes, I cut through the water and swam toward shore.

  “Hey, we saw headlights, and then a bike drive off into the lake!” Claire called as soon as we were within earshot, only a few feet away. “When we saw it, we raced our Jeeps over here to the other side, hoping it might be you.”

  “Yeah, with all that screaming to get your attention, I thought we’d attract zombies,” Nick said.

  I scanned the beach for any shadows, but saw none. It looked safe for the moment, and I was happy when my feet finally touched the ground beneath me. As I waded through the waist-high water, pebbles and sand shifted under my feet. I climbed out, shivering in the cold breeze running over my body. “How’s Val?” I asked my brother.