Death Plague [Four Zombie Novels]

by Ian Woodhead

  The corpses had slowed down to a trickle once the authorities had detonated the nukes over the few selected cities. His wife had regaled him with quite a few horror stories from her team, of sightings of strange mutated nightmares inhabiting the lands surrounding these radioactive melted areas of twisted slag. Perhaps he should be thankful that they hadn’t appeared in one of those places.

  He decided to be optimistic for a change. He hadn’t seen any walking corpses so far, and they have been here for a few minutes now. They must be close to home. If that was the case then there couldn’t be more than a few hundred zombies in this city. If they were quiet and careful, they might be able to make it out of here without getting eaten.

  Kenny tilted his head back and yawned before looking directly at the woman. “How do you feel?” he whispered.

  “I feel like I’ve just fallen down a flight of steps.”

  The man turned to look at Tony. “Thank you,” he said, coughing. “It looks like you’ve saved our lives.” He blinked. “I’m not sure how you did that but thank you anyway. I don’t think those other people were going to treat us too courteously.”

  Tony shrugged. “You’re right there. My other self had already explained to me in graphic detail where we would end up.” He shook his head, surprised at how easily he was able to believe all this nonsense of there being more than one world. “I just said ‘my other self’ like it was a perfectly normal thing to say.”

  “Do you know where we are?

  He gazed at the other man. “I would like to say that it doesn’t matter as long as we’re not in danger.” He paused. “Thing is, I’m not sure we really are out of danger, just yet. Not if this is one of the forgotten cities.” Tony slowly got to his feet, looking around them for anything that would serve as weapons. He wasn’t all that surprised to find it was a futile gesture. Even if there was anything lying on the ground, the weeds and wild grass would have covered it up.

  “I know exactly where we are,” muttered the girl. She got to her feet and walked up to Tony. “I have good news and bad news.” She bent down, picked up a rock, and dropped it into the palm of his hand. “We are not in one of the forgotten cities. That much is obvious.”

  He looked at the rock. The weight was all wrong; no rock should be this light. He looked at her grim smirk. He extended his finger and pressed the tip against the rock, watching his finger push all the way through.

  “We’re in one of the city’s game zones,” she said. “By the looks of it, this is Celebrity Slaughter.”

  The other man chuckled. “I don’t believe this,” he muttered, “we’ve just walked through parallel worlds, only to end up in the next fucking studio? Somebody up there really does like to play games.”

  “Are you part of all this bullshit, Tony?” she asked. “If that really is your real name.” She pressed her hands against her stomach. “God, that hurt. Look, I’m thankful for you getting us out of there, really I am, but you have to admit your sudden appearance complete with a few magic pills that conveniently brought us back into the game is a bit too much to believe.”

  Would this orange-scented girl be satisfied with the simple response of providence? Judging from her pout, Tony guessed not. “I don’t have any answers for you, lady,” he replied. “Only that I am not part of any bullshit. I’m in as much danger as the pair of you.”

  “Come on, Diane,” chuckled the other man. “What happened to your unshakable beliefs? It doesn’t seem that long ago when you were accusing me of not believing what my eyes showed me.”

  The woman’s features rippled through a medley of conflicting emotions until her face settled on what looked to Tony like defeat.

  “So, we’re all in this together,” Diane stared at Tony. “And if you’re really telling the truth, I guess that means you’re not really a streetscreen addict?” She looked him up and down. “No, of course you’re not. Those clothes are expensive. Don’t you watch any of the shows at home?”

  He shook his head. “No, I can’t stand them.”

  “Great,” she muttered. “Well, if we don’t get our wits back, these games will soon make us all the very dead.” She walked into the middle of the overgrown road and turned to face the pair of them. “Right now, I think we’re safe. I don’t think anyone has noticed us, even the show monitors won’t be aware that they have extra guests on the show.”

  “How do you know that?”

  Diane smiled at Tony. “Can you hear any alarm bells? We must have ended up in one of the few areas in the zone that’s blind to the cameras. Not too sure how we’re going to get out of here though. As soon as we start to move, they’ll see us.” She walked back and extended her hand. “I’m Diane, by the way, and this is my brother, Kenny.”

  Kenny nodded to him and grinned.

  “I’ve already told you my name and I’ve figured out your names already. Still, it is nice to be formally introduced.” Tony turned to Kenny. “We have to get you two back into the city. There’s a man who’ll be very interested in you, Kenny. I believe that you could be the answer to all of our prayers.”

  Did he really just say those words? Tony turned away from them and looked over at one of the buildings. They must think he had lost his mind. To Tony’s ears, he had just sounded like one of those Jesus freaks that used to knock on their door every Sunday morning back when he was a kid.

  “I’ve already figured that out,” replied Kenny, his voice was barely audible. “I mean, we now know that these pills and tablets, as well as the injections, all come from the same source.”

  Tony looked back at Kenny. “Enlighten me.”

  Kenny’s sister sighed quietly. “Three brothers were discovered who were immune to the plague. They used their blood to create an antidote, a vaccine. Only it didn’t work out the way they hoped. It didn’t destroy the virus, it only took it back to an embryonic stage. Stop taking and we all know what happens.”

  “Then let’s get out of here,” said Tony. He hurried over the road, trying to see a way out. “How do we escape?”

  Diane pulled him back. “Not like that, you’ll only end up getting us all killed.” She pointed over to a street corner. “We need to go that way. Just not yet. Listen.”

  He heard approaching footsteps, Tony ducked behind the car, watching a man and a woman skid around the corner. The woman stumbled and would have fallen if it hadn’t been for the timely intervention of the thickly muscled man who grabbed her. Tony felt Diane’s hand grab the back of his shirt.

  “Stay down,” she hissed. “I know her.” Diane looked back at her brother who looked more scared than she did. “Look at his clothes.”

  Kenny nodded. “Oh God, I see it,” he whispered. “I think we just escaped from all of his pals.”

  Tony watched them slow down, both of them continuously looking behind them. He knew what the others meant. That man looked just like those bastards who had thrown him in that room. Thing is, how the hell did he get here?

  “Believe or not, that’s my boss,” whispered Diane. She looked at the pair of them. “She is one of the city’s major players. Hell, the nasty bitch probably owns half of the city.”

  “And yet here she is, running for her life,” murmured Tony. He knew real fear when he saw it. That woman was absolutely terrified. As for the man, well, from what he’d seen on that other world, they probably did this kind of thing every day. The pair of them ducked into an open doorway, and seconds later the darkness swallowed them. Tony still couldn’t move.

  “Wait a minute,” Diane whispered, “I can hear more voices.” She pulled him further to the ground. “Oh fuck, look at them!”

  Tony peered around the side of the car and saw another eight people race around the corner, each one dressed in identical, light blue jumpsuits. It then occurred to him that the others were wearing jumpsuits as well, only the dirt and mud covered up most of the yellow. Tony looked at Diane, hoping that she could supply a decent explanation. The woman shrugged.

  “I don�
�t have a clue what’s going on,” she answered. “Nothing makes much sense anymore.” She moved closer to him. “Those idiots are definitely hunting those two though. That much I do know.”

  He half-recognized two of the women lagging behind the three men; all of them were armed with high velocity pistols. They would come in very handy. “What do you want to do?”

  Kenny pointed over to the corner. “I think we should follow their route backwards, it’s bound to go back to their dressing room or something.”

  Diane shook who head. “What about those two? Surely we can’t let these five clowns kill them?”

  Kenny nodded grimly. “Why the fuck not? Hell, I hope they all end up dying, those privileged fuckers don’t deserve to live. Besides, I do remember you telling me that she was a complete power-crazed psycho.”

  “I know I did. I’m not arguing with you, Kenny. I want them to die too. Only who better to give us a better clue as to what the fuck is happening right now?” Diane slowly got to her feet and skirted around the side of the car. “Are you guys going to stay down there?”

  Kenny looked at Tony before rolling his eyes. Tony guessed that this kind of conversation happened a lot between them. He followed Kenny towards the building, listening to the contestants bumbling their way through it. One thing was sure, their quarry would have no problems hearing them coming; neither would they have any problem in following them. Even so, he wasn’t too keen on any of them finding a bullet lodged in their brain. He caught up to Diane.

  “This game that we’re playing, does it have zombies as well?”

  She nodded. “Oh yeah, they all do. Hell, they add excitement to any game.”

  He heard the deep sarcasm and decided not to pursue the subject. Tony listened to one of the women yell out. “That was directly above us,” he said, looking up at the rotting ceiling. Tony ran towards the staircase. He jumped onto the second step and turned around. Through the open doorway, above his head, Tony saw splashes of red coating the filthy walls. “Oh hell,” he hissed. Tony ran up the remaining stairs. As he approached the exit, he heard the familiar sound of wet chewing. It didn’t take a genius to work out what had happened here.

  Tony edged along the wall, seeing the shape of two bodies come into view. The one sprawled on the floor belonged to one of the weather girls from Channel 27. He watched a gaunt corpse burying its head deep into her open chest cavity; she wasn’t going to be giving out any more forecasts. He ran into the other hallway, careful not to slip in any of her blood, and scooped up the dropped pistol. Tony pushed the muzzle against the side of the dead thing’s head and pulled the trigger, nodding with satisfaction as its putrefied, jellied brain splattered against the wall beside it. Tony then fired a single shot into the girl’s forehead as well.

  He spun around, almost putting a round in Diane’s face when she bounded up the stairs. “I don’t believe that they just left her here,” he said.

  “I do,” replied Diane, “they’re all idiots, but they pull in the audience, so what can you do?” She looked down in distaste at the two corpses before stepping over them. Diane pointed up at the corner of the wall.

  “By the way, we’re now on camera.”

  Tony instinctively looked away, thinking of his wife sitting down to watch this rubbish and seeing her husband on TV. “It doesn’t matter,” he replied. “The important job is to get your brother out of here.” He looked down at the two corpses. “She didn’t deserve that.” Tony frowned. “Come on, let’s get a move on. I don’t want the producers to rush in here and capture us.”

  “I’m not even sure that will happen. I guess their ratings will have just gone through the roof with your surprise appearance.”

  He looked behind to see Kenny slowly making his way up the stairs. “Are you okay?”

  The man nodded. “Yeah, I think those two people have slipped the chasers. I think I saw them racing across the street.” He looked over Tony’s shoulder. “What happened here?”

  His sister steered him back towards the stairs. “It doesn’t matter, Kenny.”

  Tony followed them back down the steps. This time, he kept his ears and eyes alert. That dead thing could have jumped out on any one of them.

  “There they go!” shouted Kenny.

  He jumped down the last few steps and ran over to the window. The pair of them raced along the empty road. Tony shook his head in wonder. The woman wasn’t exactly a small lady, yet she had no trouble keeping up with the large man. It seemed so weird to see anyone well fed in a city where most of the population survived on rationed food. He secretly wished that a bunch of zombies would jump on her. After all, if it was right about her being part of the elite, she wouldn’t be a very pleasant individual. “Diane, I’m confused now. If she’s one of the main city leaders, what the fuck is she doing getting chased by a bunch of Z-list celebrities?”

  “I think the celebrities are confused. They are supposed to be hunting zombies. That’s the idea of the game. The individual with the most kills, wins.” She leaned out of the window. “I’m guessing that those two must have travelled the same way that me and Kenny did. The woman has a jumpsuit on, remember.”

  Tony bit back the sarcastic reply and silently sighed. “Yeah, I figured that already. What I mean is, why the hell are they still playing the game? You said that there are cameras everywhere, surely they must have seen who those dumb bastards are trying to take out.”

  Diane bit her bottom lip. “Maybe we should just get out of here?”

  “Getting out of this building would be a good start,” muttered Kenny. “We’re not alone.”

  Tony spun around and saw three zombies lurch through the doorway above them. There were more behind them; the only reason they were following was because of the corpse on the floor. Five of them dropped to their knees and took over from where the now dead zombie had begun. “Good idea,” he said, hurrying down the rest of the stairs. They ran out into the street without looking back. The siblings turned right and ran towards the street corner.

  His adrenalin helped him keep up with them as they approached the end of the buildings. Tony heard the zombies behind them but paid them little attention. Unless any of them happened to stumble, those things wouldn’t be able to catch any of them. Even if they did, Tony still had the pistol.

  They all emerged into the middle of a huge arena, which belonged more in some kind of twisted ancient Roman town. He stopped and turned around. The sudden change in scenery caused him to wonder if they had just shifted again.

  As Diane hadn’t even blinked at the sudden change in scenery, Tony assumed that this was still part of the game zone.

  “From what I can remember, I don’t think the way out is that far from here.”

  “What do you mean, you think?”

  Diane sighed. “Kenny, it’s my flatmate who watches this shit, not me.” She pointed at a white stone jutting out of the corner of the building to their left. “Believe it or not, there’s a camera behind that false stone.” She grinned at Kenny. “I do remember some bits of trivia that fell out of my annoying flatmate’s mouth. They have hundreds of camera positioned around the gamezone, which they switch to as their quarry moves around the arena. If the action is on the other end of the gamezone, they won’t even notice us sneaking out.”

  Tony just nodded, staying silent. Her logic was sound as long as they didn’t think about the girl’s gruesome death at the top of the stairs. Surely the studio would have highlighted that? That meant they would be following them. The cameras seemed like the easiest way of doing it. He squinted at the white stone fixed to the side of the building, trying to spot the lens up there. He walked closer, watching intently.

  The girl ran over to him and guided Tony back to Kenny. She didn’t say a word, there was no need. Just behind them, he saw the celebrities running past the corner of the building. Two of them turned and fired.

  “Don’t just stand there, Tony!” shouted Diane. “Get under cover.”

  The sibli
ngs had already taken shelter behind the building but he couldn’t move. Deep down inside his bones, Tony felt a low vibration threatening to separate his body. He reached out and grabbed the corner of the stone and squeezed as tight as he could; the celebrities were motionless as well. They all must feel the same sensation. Tony knew what was about to happen, and judging from the panicking voices, those idiots had no clue.

  Two realities were about to collide.

  “What the fuck is happening?”

  Tony took his eyes off the bodies to pull Diane closer to him. “Watch and you’ll see.”

  A dark blue explosion of light rose out of the ground, next to the two men who had fired at them. A dozen decaying arms pushed through the whirling color and the men vanished, howling into the vortex.

  “It hasn’t finished yet,” he murmured. The blue light shifted behind the remaining celebrities and grew wider. From where Tony stood, it was obvious that none of them had even noticed the phenomenon. They were all gazing at him as if he was the one responsible for the sudden disappearance of their colleagues. Their glares soon halted when they found themselves being pulled back into the light.

  “This isn’t part of the game,” whispered Diane.

  “No shit,” muttered Kenny. “That must be how we moved out of the other arena the first time. Look at them all, there must be hundreds of the things.”

  “Yeah, and they’re all coming this way. The bastards must be able to smell us.” Tony pushed back the panic and turned around. He raced along the side of the building, hoping that Diane was right about this leading to a way out. The gaudy colors of the scenery were giving him a headache. “Are they still there?” He shook his head, of course they were, he could smell the rot coming from their putrid bodies. He daren’t think how many there were now.

  “Are they from another world?”