Undead Flesh

by Dennis McDonald

  “Get it open, Jack!” she shouted over her gunshots.

  He pulled up harder on the lever and the door release finally popped open as Telia’s guns clicked empty.

  “Get out! I’ll cover you.” He swung the shotgun around as she raced past him to jump out the back of the bus.

  The zombie kids were fifteen feet away. He jacked the Mossberg and fired multiple shots into the group. In the beam of the mounted flashlight, each blast blew chunks of flesh and bone out of the approaching mob. When one undead horror dropped, another took its place and continued pressing forward. They were nearly upon him when the shotgun clicked empty. Jack turned and leapt out the rear door into the glare of Natalie’s oncoming headlights. The RV slid to a stop in the mud just a few feet away.

  “Get in!” Doug said out the open side door.

  Telia jumped into the RV and he followed right behind her. Before he slammed the door shut, Jack glanced toward the bus. Zombie children tumbled out its back and into the road.

  “Get us the hell out of here!” he said.

  Max stepped hard on the gas and sped away, leaving the horrific scene behind.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Jack reloaded the Mossberg with trembling hands. The adrenaline rush from the fight on the school bus had crashed, leaving a tidal wave of exhaustion in its place. He felt like an old washrag that someone had been wrung dry. With the shotgun reloaded, he leaned back in his seat and tried hard to remain focused on the road ahead. After a couple of minutes, he started to nod off to sleep.

  “You look beat,” Max said from behind the wheel.

  He sat up and rubbed his eyes. “It’s really hard to stay awake.”

  “We’re just a few miles outside Harrison. It’ll take us a bit to get there at this speed. Why don’t you sack out in one of the back beds until then? You can slide the door shut and get some rest. I promise to wake you at the first sign of danger.”

  “Jack, you’re not going to do us any good without rest,” Telia said from behind him.

  “Okay, but I’m too tired to walk back there. I’ll just nap here in the front seat.”

  He leaned back and closed his eyes. Sleep fell instantly upon him like a dark curtain lowering in his mind. The weight of the horrible events he’d experienced since morning evaporated in a moment of blissful rest. His thoughts succumbed to the blackness, and he had no idea how long he’d slept when a hoarse voice spoke from the depths of his slumber.

  “Hello … Jack.”

  He snapped open his eyes and gasped in shock. Puss Cobb had replaced Max in the driver’s seat! His gnarled arthritic hands worked the steering wheel as he leaned his decrepit body forward to peer out the windshield at the landscape rushing past in a dark blur. Jack glanced at the speedometer. They were traveling at over a hundred miles per hour! Puss Cobb chuckled—a dry, horrid rasp like sandpaper rubbing the wood of a coffin—and he slowly turned to show his wrinkled face. Jack stared into the soulless blackness of the old man’s crow eyes.

  “One shall die,” Puss Cobb said with a toothless grin. “Which one will it be?”

  “No,” Jack said.

  A hand clutched his shoulder.

  “Jack, wake up,” Telia said from beyond the dream.

  He bolted up and shot a fearful glance to his left. Max still sat behind the steering wheel, and Jack sighed in relief.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Max said.

  “Yeah.” He leaned back once more into his seat and ran his hands through his hair. “That was some scary shit.”

  “It sounded like it,” Max said. “You must have had one hell of a bad dream. I’m not surprised, though. It’s going to be a long time before any of us can sleep without nightmares.”

  “You gave us a scare,” Telia joined in. “You were moaning and talking crazy.”

  “How long was I out?” Jack sat up.

  “About thirty minutes. We’ve been crawling at a snail’s pace because the road is so bad. I was just about to wake you. We made it to Harrison.”

  Jack looked out the front window. Natalie’s headlights brightened a sun-bleached metal sign announcing that they’d reached the town’s limits. He remembered Puss Cobb’s warning in the dream.

  “Something bad is about to happen,” he said.

  “How do you know?” Telia said.

  “Call it a gut feeling.”

  The RV continued down the unpaved road toward the center of the dark town. Jack noted that there were no lights of any kind shining among the buildings and homes. The place might have been a thriving community fifty years ago, but now it was nothing but empty buildings alongside piles of junk and debris. They rolled slowly past a collection of barnlike structures with missing corrugated panels and broken windows. In the next block they encountered abandoned homes; some had been empty for so long they had trees growing inside them, as Max had said. In the distance, the grain elevator towered against the backdrop of the blood-red moon, a brooding cylinder-shaped structure whose cement walls had been cracked by the quake. It appeared as if it would collapse at the next aftershock.

  “It’s spooky as hell,” Telia said.

  “It’s a wonder most of it’s still standing,” Jack said. “The quake must not have been so bad through here.” Puss Cobb’s dire warning had left him with a deep gnawing paranoia. He needed to speak with Kate. “Telia, can you take the copilot’s seat for a bit?”

  “Sure thing,” she said.

  He stepped back to the lounge area and found that everyone had fallen asleep. Kerri was nestled against Doug’s shoulder, and Brett had stretched out on the other couch with his head in his mother’s lap. Even Kate had closed her Bible to lean back and take a nap. The sight of his family resting peacefully in the soft glow of the interior lights caused Jack’s heart to swell with love. They had been through so much together, and somehow they had survived the terrible ordeal. Puss Cobb’s chilling words echoed again in his mind: “One shall die.” He couldn’t face that possibility. Not one of his own.

  “Hon,” Jack whispered to Kate.

  “What’s wrong?” she said, sitting up.

  “Nothing ... yet.” He eased in beside her and ran his hands through Brett’s hair. His sleeping son still clutched the folded American flag in his hands. “Except for the fact that I think I’m going crazy. I keep seeing that old man Puss Cobb.”

  “Who?”

  “Puss Cobb, the ghost I encountered this morning before all hell broke loose with the quake.”

  “You saw him again?” Kate said in a low voice.

  “I have a confession to make,” Jack said, taking her hand. “Back at the station, I found a bottle of whiskey in the closet. I took it out on the rooftop and was about to drink—”

  “You didn’t—”

  “No, I promise.”

  “What stopped you?”

  “Puss Cobb. He showed up on the roof out of the blue. I couldn’t believe it. I looked up and he’s just standing there taunting me to drink the whole damn bottle. That’s when I thought about you and the kids. I threw the fucking bottle at him and he disappeared. After that came the aftershock and we had to escape the building. Why I’m telling you this now is because every time I’ve seen him, something bad has happened. Either I’m crazy or he is haunting me for a reason.”

  She squeezed his hand. “It sounds like God is sending you an angel.”

  “Just my luck,” Jack said with a chuckle. “My guardian angel is a decrepit old man in shitty drawers.”

  “God works in mysterious ways, Jack. You have to realize something. This world is lost and the Kingdom of Heaven will now take its place. God is gathering the faithful to him. We must be patient and pray for deliverance. It’s the only way, Jack. Don’t you see? Only God can protect us now.”

  He looked into her eyes. “I hope you’re right, because Puss Cobb came to me a third time. Just now in a dream. He gave me another warning.”

  “What did he say to you?”

  “Someone’s about to
die.”

  “Dear God,” she whispered, fear showing in her green eyes. “I pray it’s not one of the children.”

  “I hope not. I don’t think I could take it.” He glanced at Kerri asleep next to Doug. “Kate, she looks more like you every day. She’s so beautiful.”

  Kate smiled and ran her hands through Brett’s hair. “And he looks more like you as well. I see you in him, Jack. His bravery comes from you.”

  “What kind of future can they hope to—”

  A rending crash came from the front of the Winnebago. The whole vehicle shook from the impact, followed by the gut-wrenching sound of something metallic being dragged underneath. The noise woke everyone inside.

  “Dammit!” Max said.

  “What did we hit?” Jack jumped to his feet.

  “It looked like a big piece of corrugated metal,” Telia said.

  “I couldn’t see it in the dark,” Max said as a low rhythmic thumping came from underneath the RV. “Crap! I think we blew the front tire, too.”

  “Shut it down, Granddad.” Doug jumped up. “We don’t want it to damage any other tires. We’ve just got one spare.”

  Max put on the brakes and brought the limping RV to a halt. “Now we’re at a dead stop.”

  “Bad choice of words,” Telia said, giving him a playful slap on the shoulder.

  “Sorry about that.” He reached for the headlight switch. “I’d better turn off the lights. No need to attract any zombies to us.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Jack said, joining them. “Zombies don’t use the sense of sight to detect the living. If any are around, they know we’re here. Try the spotlight and see what’s out there.”

  Max rolled down his window and clicked on the handheld spotlight. The beam swept across a collection of dark trailer houses arranged in a semicircle. Half the homes were nothing more than empty fabricated shells with exposed insulation hanging out. The other half, judging by the assortment of children’s riding toys and swing sets in the front yards, had recently been occupied. The spotlight illuminated a rusted tricycle parked beside a flower garden filled with dead weeds. On the bike’s seat lay a doll in a dirty dress and with one eye missing.

  “There’s a trailer park on this side,” he announced, shutting off the lights. “And it’s creepy as hell.”

  “Yeah, like straight out of a freaking horror movie,” Doug said

  “Telia, your turn,” Jack said.

  Max handed over the light and she pointed it out the passenger window. The intense white beam cut through the night and played across the bodies of rusted cars, broken refrigerators, and old tires nestled among six-foot tall weeds.

  “Some sort of junkyard on my side.” She ran the beam up and down the abandoned vehicles before shutting off the light. “No zombies I can see. What’s our plan?”

  Jack turned to Doug. “How long will it take to change the tire?”

  “Pull the spare and jack out, loosen the lug nuts—I don’t know, ten minutes or so.”

  Jack picked up the Mossberg. “We’ll cover you then.”

  “I’ll take the roof,” Max said, unclasping the lid of his rifle case. “I should be able to see everything from up there and provide covering fire if there’s trouble.”

  “Sounds good,” Jack said.

  “What about us?” Kate said as Kerri and Brett huddled close to her on the couch.

  “Just sit still until we come back,” Jack said.

  She nodded. “Be careful.”

  “I will.”

  * * * *

  They left Natalie through the side door and stepped out into the still night air. Jack again noted a lack of any ambient sounds of life that should be present in a rural setting—no insects, birds, or anything else living. The oppressive silence put his gut on high alert.

  “I’ll be up on the roof,” Max said, breaking the ominous quiet. “Give me a minute to set up a firing position.”

  He slung the Remington onto his back and headed for the ladder.

  Jack, along with Telia and Doug, crossed to the driver’s side, where they found a deep gash in the front tire’s tread. Doug crouched to look under the RV.

  “I see what we hit, yo.” He brought out a large piece of ragged corrugated metal and tossed it into the dark. “That’s what blew the tire.”

  “Okay, let’s get it changed pronto,” Jack said.

  “You got it, Mr. G.” Doug disappeared toward the rear of the Winnebago.

  Telia leaned against the side of the RV. “God, I wish I had a smoke.”

  “Lost your cigarillos?”

  “Yeah, they were in my jacket when I fell into the creek.” Her dark eyes met his. “You said something weird right before I shook you from the bad dream.”

  “Define weird after what we’ve been through today.”

  “You cried out, ‘Someone’s going to die.’ What did you mean?”

  From the direction of the trailer park came a metallic squeaking. The eerie noise pierced the night and caused Jack’s neck hair to stand up. He switched on the Mag-Lite taped to the end of the shotgun and pointed it at the source of the sound. The flashlight’s glow showed a child’s swing squeaking on rusted chains.

  “I got a bad, bad feeling,” Jack said, cocking the Mossberg.

  “That makes two of us.” Telia drew both pistols.

  “Max, do you see anything with the night scope?” he called up to the roof. “I don’t think we’re alone. Something is moving around out there in the dark.”

  “Nothing yet,” Max said from above. “Just a lot of empty trailers with dark windows.”

  “Let’s hope it stays that way.”

  Doug returned with a tire iron and tossed it to Jack. “See if you can loosen those lug nuts, Mr. G, while I get the jack and spare out.”

  “Sure.”

  Jack leaned the Mossberg against the side of the RV and crouched beside the flat tire. He slipped the end of the iron over the first lug nut and put his strength to it. After a few seconds, the bolt broke free.

  “First one’s loose,” he announced. “Now the sec—”

  Max’s rifle suddenly fired overhead. The abrupt noise and the muzzle flash caused him to fumble the tire iron. The shot’s echo faded, replaced by the unearthly moans of multiple zombies in the trailer park.

  “Jack, get that tire changed fast!” Telia said. “They’re coming!”

  “Shit!” He placed the iron back on the lug nut. “How many?”

  “Too many,” Telia answered then her twin Glocks opened fire.

  With spent casings from Telia’s pistols plopping into the dirt beside him, Jack put his back into the iron and loosened the second lug nut. Max’s sniper rifle joined in the fray, and the quiet yielded to a resounding chorus of thundering gunfire. Moving as fast as he could, Jack placed the tool on the third lug nut and attempted to turn the iron. The nut refused to budge.

  “Give, you bastard!” He leaned his full weight on the tire iron for more leverage. The lug nut broke free and he slammed his knuckles hard against the ground. “Fuck!” he shouted and picked up the tool with painful scraped hands. He placed it on the fourth nut while sounds of gunshots and zombies raged behind him. He fought the urge to look back.

  As the last lug nut loosened, Doug showed up, rolling the spare tire before him.

  “I’ll take it from here, Mr. G,” he shouted above the gunfire and shoved a jack under the RV. “Telia needs fire support.”

  Jack grabbed the Mossberg and swung around. The area before him swarmed with ragged blood-splattered zombies pouring out of the dark recesses of the trailer park and heading straight for the RV. He jacked and fired the shotgun into the oncoming mob multiple times. He, Telia, and Max unloaded a blistering barrage of gunfire until their weapons clicked empty and the roadside was littered with bullet-ridden corpses. The last remaining zombies halted their assault and slipped back into the shadows of the trailer park.

  “They’re retreating,” Jack said, lowering the Mossb
erg. “They’ve never done that before.”

  “Perhaps they’re getting smarter.” Telia holstered her empty pistols.

  “Let’s hope not.”

  A frantic tapping sounded against the windowpane behind him. Jack whipped around to find Kerri’s face pressed against the glass. Panic filled her eyes. He looked past her, and what he saw caused his insides to knot.

  A large zombie had entered the Winnebago through the side door.

  “Oh, shit!” Jack said. “One’s in the RV!”

  He charged across the front of the vehicle and reached the other side just as two more zombies staggered out of the tall junkyard weeds. One was a lanky man in a gray suit, the other a short middle-aged woman wearing a flower-print dress. Both had been dead for a while, judging by their withered skin and rotten stench. The undead couple headed for the Winnebago’s open side door.

  Jack met them halfway. Knowing the Mossberg was empty, he had no choice but to swing it like a club at the lanky man’s head. He connected hard and caved in his skull, but before he could do the same to the woman, she lurched forward in an attempt to deliver a vicious bite to his forearm.

  “Bitch!” he said, ramming the stock of the shotgun hard into the woman’s face.

  The resounding crack of her facial bones followed but did nothing to stop her from trying to bite again. A heartbeat before her teeth could sink into his arm flesh, the woman’s head split down the middle like two halves of a watermelon. Jack looked up to find Telia standing behind the zombie woman.

  “Your family needs you,” she said, yanking her machete from the woman’s skull.

  Jack nodded and charged into the Winnebago as Kerri’s screams filled the interior of the vehicle. A large zombie dressed in blue overalls staggered toward the back of the vehicle, where his family had fled to the bedroom. Kate swung a frying pan wildly to keep the horrid thing away from her and the children.