The Dead Live On

by Cooper Brown, Julie

  “That’s the only one you get, Troy. Next time you won’t have any days left at all.” They continued chatting and everyone joined in the conversation. Just for a little while, it seemed like a regular group of people enjoying a drink with friends at a bar.

  Upstairs, Tank lay deeply immersed in dreamland, with his wife and daughter. They are happy and laughing, they are alive. He kisses Debbie for the first time in a long time and he savors the feel of her lips and the smell of her breath. Everything is good and they are in a place where there is no such thing as the living dead. His subconscious is unaware that it is only a dream. They were happy and that was all that mattered. He didn’t feel a thing when his heart gave up.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  It had been only a day but Kate decided it was time to go. Her ankle was still a bit sore but she could put her weight on it and after making several short laps around the crypt she had taken for shelter, discovered that she could run if need be. It would be painful but she could do it. Her pack on her back and armed only with great courage and determination, she exited the cemetery through the front gates. She was unaware that Dave’s decaying body lie only a few yards away. It was best that she did not see it.

  She had no ammo for her gun and was only a little worried. She had given in to the fact that if she were to come upon a horde of infected, she would die. Still, she walked on and was able to avoid the few she had seen. It would not be so easy when she reached the city. If she is attacked, she will let her mind wander far away and try to achieve inner peace as her body is being torn to shreds and consumed. What else could she do? Her only goals at the moment were to find ammo or a loaded weapon and a vehicle. She had a long walk ahead of her until then. If she happens to get that lucky, she will join her friends in Ohio. She had to find out if Angel had made it.

  She had just made it out of the field and into a little suburb when she saw Kimmy sitting in the middle of the street, feasting on what looked like it might’ve been a cat or a rat. She wasn’t sure but the size of the child and the burned and tattered dress led her to believe that it was definitely Kimmys reanimated corpse. The hair had been burned away. She stood still for she didn’t want to attract her attention. She looked all around her and the only thing she saw was a large heavy slab of rock. A weapon, yes, but it posed a problem. She would have to get close to use it and if she was too close, the blood spatter would get on her and when blood spatters, it does so in such fine tiny droplets that you can’t see everywhere it went. She didn’t want it on her.

  Just then Kimmys head lifted from her victim and her spine stiffened. Kimmy turned her head and her previously large black eyes were now a large creamy burgundy. Kate picked up the rock and as Kimmy wobbled to stand on her feet, Kate ran up, kicked her back down, knocking her on her back and slammed the slab rock down on her face. It was okay though, the slab of rock was wide enough all around and served also as a blocker from the spatter. She still checked herself and satisfied that she had found none, she turned and walked away from Kimmys now truly dead corpse.

  She cursed to herself as she thought about the purple heart; it should still be in Kimmys dress pocket. She sighed and found a long twig on the ground that she used to poke at the pockets to see if there was anything in them. Not feeling any resistance she decided that it was so small she would have to look harder. She got down on her knees beside the body and cringed at being so close the carnage. She dismissed it quickly and lifted one of the pockets open with the twig and peered into it, seeing nothing she tried the other pocket. Nope, no purple heart. She stood and tossed the twig on the ground and proceeded to the abandoned military jeep that was a hundred or so yards away.

  Inside the jeep, she found a rotting corpse and a nine millimeter pistol, almost exactly like Dave’s. She rooted through the jeep and found several clips for the gun and more food rations. She put all she could in her pack and checked the ignition for keys as she exited the vehicle. Grateful to have ammo, she walked on in search of a vehicle that she could drive away.

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Allen awoke with boundless energy, being the young man he is, wanted to hear music. He looked through all the bags for his I-pod. He wanted to use it while he could before the battery died and he was getting upset because he couldn’t find it. He asked everyone if they had seen it lying around. No one had, so he figured it must be outside in the car. He sat at the bar brooding because he knew he wasn’t supposed to go outside and he wanted so bad to go and get it.

  The only one he didn’t want to piss off was Mojo and he didn’t worry much about that because Mojo was asleep at a table in the far corner and John had taken the pallet in the floor upstairs when Allen had gotten up. The ones left awake were Woody, Troy and the two girls.

  Allen contemplated not saying anything to anyone and just going on outside by himself to get it. It was daylight and he would be able to see and there probably weren’t many infected out there anyway. Just as he started to get up out of his seat Woody spoke to him.

  “Whatcha thinkin’ bout doin? I can see it in your face. Spill it.” Woody lit a cigarette and blew the smoke in his face. Allen coughed and waved the smoke out of his face before he replied “I think I left my i-Pod out in the car. I want it so I’m gonna go get it.”

  “Not without me you don’t! I will watch over you but I want to listen to it, too. That’s the deal and you better make it fast. I don’t plan on being zombie kibble and I promise that if they attack; I will run!”

  “Then just stay in here, I don’t need you if you ain’t gonna help.” Allen said and then got up to go through the dark kitchen to the back door.

  “I was joking! Wait for me!” and Woody ran in front of him to block the door.

  “Wait! Look out the peephole first. We don’t want to run head first into a crowd.” He said.

  Allen looked out the peephole and didn’t see anything. He started to open the back door slowly and Troy quietly entered the kitchen and slammed his hand on the stainless steel table behind them, startling them both. They all but jumped into each other’s arms, Woody letting out a high pitched squeal and squeezed his eyes shut.

  “It’s just Troy.” Allen said and pushed Woody away from him. Woody let out the breath that he was holding and Troy spoke.

  “What the fuck are you two twits doin? You gonna risk your life for a fuckin’ I-pod? Are you serious?” He asked with serious attitude. Allen shrugged and said “Well, yea. I mean, it’s just right there. I’m pretty fast. How hard could it be?”

  “It can be very fuckin hard; you ain’t using your head. They come out of nowhere sometimes. I ain’t agreeing with this at all but if you insist on going, I’ll stand right by the door and listen for you, but I’m telling you man, you better hurry.”

  “Man, it doesn’t take much to slip past you, does it?” Woody scowled at him.

  “Shut it and get going before I change my mind.”

  “Okay, thank you,” and Allen said to Woody, “let’s go.”

  Woody eased the back door open and poked his head out slowly. He looked left to right and up and down and saw no infected. There was no telling what might be around the other side of the building but they wouldn’t know until they got to the car if there were any over there. Allen shoved him out the door and ran in front of him to the mustang they had arrived in sitting in the third spot from the door. He flung open the passenger door and dived in the back looking for it in the floor boards.

  Woody tiptoed his way to the car, looking all around for anything to move. Satisfied with his conclusion that none were near, he lit another cigarette and leaned back against the trunk and stared at the side of his building which shared a lot with Tank’s. He so wanted to go home and see if his cat was still okay. He was thinking of talking Allen into going over there with him when he was done here. He had done him a favor, so Allen could do one for him. He put cigarette in his mouth and rubbed his hands together and looked down at them. There were getting dry and cracked, th
ey looked like old people’s hands. He looked up and the cigarette fell from his mouth.

  Allen had searched the floor boards and down in the seats as well and found no sign of the missing i-pod. He decided that the glove compartment was his last resort, maybe one of them had found it while he was sleeping and placed it in there. He opened it and the little light inside came on, casting its dull glow onto the papers inside. He took them out and noticed the name on the title. “Well, thank you Mr. Eggerton for the use of your fine vehicle.” He folded it back up and put it back in the glove box. He was finally accepting the fact that he wasn’t going to find it, that he had probably left it at the church.

  The infected that had somehow made his way towards Woody unnoticed was only a few feet away. Woody recognized his recently dumped lover and tried to scream but no sound escaped his lips. He paid no mind to the other infected moving nearer to Allen as his former lover attacked him.

  “All right, Woody,” Allen yelled. “Thank you. Let’s get back in-.” He turned to exit the passenger door that he had left ajar while searching and was stopped by the massive bulk of a dead man reaching for him, and he screamed.

  Chapter Thirty

  Tisha woke up with a start and flung the blanket off of her. “Where’s Allen?” She asked alarmed.

  “They went out to get his I-pod, Troy is watching the door.”

  “Are you serious? You guys let him go out for that?” She ran towards the kitchen and slammed into Troy, who was running back in to get the shotgun, he screamed that Allen and Woody were being attacked. Tisha ran ahead of him and barreled out the back door. She could see Woody being mauled by an infected but could not see Allen on the other side of the car.

  She ran unarmed to get sight of him and screamed loudly as she saw he was lying under two infected and his eyes were glazed, blood bubbling from his mouth, his hands pushing weakly at his attackers. She barely heard the shot gun as Troy blew the head off of the zombie that killed Woody and the second shot that insured that Woody would not come back.

  Tisha whaled at the zombies mauling Allen, her hands and legs flailing and landing wherever they could, while she continued to scream out at the top of her lungs. “GET OFF OF HIM! GET OFF! GET OFF!” She screamed at them as she beat at them with her fists and kicked at them as hard as she could. They lost interest in Allen and fell upon Tisha, ignoring her blows, one sinking his teeth into her shoulder the other stayed on its knees and grabbed her leg; his teeth ripping through her blue jeans and the blood spilling out instantly. She screamed and continued fighting, ripping chunks of hair off of their heads, and feeling their skin smoosh grossly beneath her hands with each blow, nausea swept over her and she gagged. Tisha knew it was over for her but she was so angry and distraught; she would continue to fight until she was dead. She wanted revenge and she was going to have it. They have killed her precious nephew, the only thing left of her baby brother.

  She reached down and gouged her thumbs into the eyes of the infected mauling her leg. Unaware that the zombie on her shoulder had been shot and fell away from her until the head she had her hands on exploded in a gory mess right before her eyes. Still she did not relent from stomping on it and kicking it. Then she dropped down to the ground weeping and holding Allen, who was still hanging on but the blood now bubbled from his mouth and his stomach was a mass of entrails. She held his hand and kissed his face. All the memories of his birth, his growing up and his pain when his father died flooded her mind, the pain of her failure to protect him as she had promised. She was not afraid to die, now. In fact, she welcomed it with open arms.

  She looked up after seeing legs in front of her and it was John. He was crying and pointed the gun at her. She closed her eyes and nodded her head. “I Love You,” he said before he shot and the bullet entered her face just below the cheekbone, but it did the job, and he shot Allen too. By that time everyone had gathered outside, all were quiet and surprisingly, there were no other infected around. John dropped the rifle on the ground and hung his head as he walked back inside of Tank’s. Troy picked it up and followed in behind him. Mojo shut and locked the door.

  “I’m going up to check on Tank. He didn’t come down.”

  No one said a word as John went into the bar ahead of them and cuddled up to Angel, who seemed to still be sleeping soundly. He stifled the scream that threatened to leave his lips in fear of frightening her awake. He could not believe that his whole reason for living had just died and he had fired the bullet that had made it final. Somehow, he needed to find the strength to carry on.

  Angel was only pretending to be asleep. She had heard the screams from outside and when she sat up, she saw no one. She got up to go see if anyone was left inside and ran back into her pallet when she heard the door open. She didn’t know if it would be her friends or the scary monsters. And now that John was lying behind her crying, she wanted to cry herself, because that meant that someone was hurt. She missed her mom and dad, she missed Kate and she didn’t really understand what was going on, she only knew that her little purple heart was very important. She snuggled closer to John who then put his arm around her and held her tightly.

  “Mojo’s been up there a while,” Kristen said as she looked toward the door that led to the hall.

  “Stop, Kristen. I’ll go up and see what’s going on. He’s probably just talking to Tank. I’ll be right back.” Troy said getting off the bar stool and grabbing the shotgun to take with him.

  “You never know.” He said. Troy went through the door and up the stairs, he could see Mojo standing still in the office and he was looking at something. He didn’t see that Tank was lying dead on his couch until he entered the room. Tank’s face and body was bloated and discolored, but the look on his face was one of peace. Neither of them said anything, but Troy handed Mojo the shotgun and patted his shoulder. He turned and went back downstairs with everyone else.

  Kristen looked at him and Belinda asked “Well, are they okay?” Troy looked down and said, “No, Tank’s gone. I reckon Mojo will be back down in a minute.” He said with a heavy sigh.

  “I’m gonna go up with him.” Kristen said as a sob broke from her lips and she stood to go. “No, just stay here. You don’t need to see it. It won’t be long. I think he needs a minute.”

  The shot rang out loud and it echoed through the bar and they had known that he shot Tank only because he didn’t want to take the chance that he might rise. A few seconds later they heard the sound of him coming down the stairs and Mojo entered the room and spoke quietly. “No one is to go outside, for any reason. If you want to go outside, you go out alone and you don’t come back.”

  “Hey man, it looked safe; he only wanted his i-pod.” Troy said and Mojo slammed his fist down on a table to silence him.

  “It looked safe? So, you let them go outside? It’s a fucking zombie world out there now! Looked safe?” The volume of his voice increased on the last two words and everyone looked at him in shock. Troy bowed his head and said in a low voice “I’m sorry, man.”

  “Why the fuck are yall looking at me like that? You’re sorry? We have just lost three people! For a goddamn I-pod! What the fuck? And yall are looking at me, like I’m nuts!” He took a deep breath, “Now Tank is gone, too. I don’t know why. It could’ve been natural but I am not sure. I had to shoot him and I am fuckin’ pissed right now. Don’t any of you, go back outside. You want to do something? What? There’s NOTHING BUT DEATH out there! Be my guest; just don’t pull the rest of us down with you.” With that he went through the basement door and Kristen followed him.

  “No, Kristen. I need to be alone.” She turned and went back to sit at the bar with the rest of them.

  Chapter Thirty One

  Kate walked for several hours and never found a vehicle that had gas, or keys or wasn’t housing some sort of dead or undead body. She’d had a few run-ins with infected and was able to take them down without injury to herself. It seemed that roads were becoming more clogged up the further north she had
gotten and soon she may not be able to make it down the road, she would have to veer off into surrounding territories, and that would make the trip much longer and less predictable. At least on the open road she could see what dangers lie ahead and she would travel it until she could not get by.

  Soon she heard a slow approaching vehicle and turned around to see it as it pulled up and came to a stop behind her. The driver had his gun aimed out the window at her and she threw her hands up in the air to show that she was indeed alive and coherent. She did not want to get mistaken for the dead. The driver looked around before exiting the vehicle and she walked towards him at a slow pace, looking around herself for signs of more undead. They approached each other and held out their hands for a shake.

  “How far have you walked?” The stranger asked.

  “Oh, about forty five miles,” she replied and he noticed that she looked worn out and tired, he could see that she was limping before he stopped.

  “Hurt yourself, I see. Jump in. Let’s get out of here.”

  Without another word she got in the SUV and felt exhausted suddenly. The walk and fighting had really taken it out of her and her ankle was on fire.

  “Where are you headed to?” He asked.

  “I’m going to Ohio to look for my friends. They had managed to escape the situation we were in and they were going there. I hope they made it. Where are you going?”

  “I saw a blue van travelling north a day or so ago. I was in a helicopter but had to land, I ran out of fuel. Then I walked a bit and found this vehicle. Thought I’d try to catch up to them. I am in search of a little girl.”

  “Your daughter or..?” She asked.

  “No, a friend’s daughter. She has something we need. I’m Jack Kelly. I am…well, I was a secret service agent. We have a shelter and a way to kill the infected, but she has a key that we need. I need to find her. I thought she might’ve been in that van.”