The Creeping Dead: Book 2

by Edward P. Cardillo

  Lena cried out and shivered in revulsion. She wiped her blood-soaked hands on the seat of her pants, and grabbed a long, foam pool noodle out of a cardboard display box. She started whacking it on the head. The zombie slowed its advance and swatted at it, like a cat would a string.

  Frustrated, Lena chucked the noodle at it and grabbed a beach umbrella. She turned it in her hands, pointing the semi-sharp end that goes into the sand at the zombie. It pushed forward, opening its mouth. She shoved it right in with all of her might, ramming it home.

  The zombie gagged as the umbrella shaft slid down its throat. It picked its right hand up off the ground and tried to swat the umbrella away, but it was jammed in its throat good.

  Lena got to her feet, grabbed the basket, and tried to run around the abomination. Seeing her run, it turned its head to follow her, tripping her up in the other end of the umbrella. She tumbled to the floor, managing to keep the basket upright and hugging it close to her like a wide receiver guarding the ball as he’s being tackled.

  The zombie fumbled for Lena, but the beach umbrella got in its way, preventing it from grabbing a hold of her. Lena rolled over on her side and gave the top of the umbrella a swift kick, driving it further down the monster’s throat. It tried to screech, but it was stifled by the blow. Instead, blood flowed around the white, pink, and purple umbrella as a projectile vomit attack was interrupted.

  In a last-ditch effort, it tried to get up. However, as it stood up, its head was forced into vertical alignment with its throat by the umbrella. As it stood in front of her looking like an undead sword swallower, it looked up at the ceiling. It couldn’t track Lena, and it stomped its feet in frustration like a two-year-old throwing a tantrum.

  Having neutralized the monster, Lena realized that she had forgotten the tweezers. She found the correct aisle, pulled a few off of a hook, and threw them in the basket.

  The zombie in the pharmacy howled at her in rage.

  “Oh, shut the fuck up!”

  As she crossed the front of the store to exit, she saw her other undead friend stumbling around in the aisle, banging into the shelves and displays.

  She gave it a wave and left the store.

  She went straight to the police cruiser, checking the parking lot. There were several zombies walking on the grass, stomping on the small decorative bushes, but they were far enough away to not be an immediate threat. When they saw her, one let out a shriek, and the small throng picked up their pace.

  Mrs. Holly got out of the car and walked over to greet Lena. She looked Lena up and down, gawking at the blood on her shirt and pants. “Oh dear. Are you all right?”

  Lena shoved the basket into her arms. “Never better. The blood’s not mine. Let’s get to Dr. Potts.”

  Mrs. Holly didn’t budge. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  Lena looked down at herself. “I wasn’t bitten, if that’s what you mean.”

  Mrs. Holly only nodded. She rounded the car and got into the passenger seat. Lena saw the small throng now trudging their way across the parking lot. She gave them the finger and slid into the driver’s seat.

  Robbie leaned forward in the back seat, a mixture of relief and concern on his young face. “Are you okay, Mom?”

  “One of the pharmacists gave me hard time, tried to eat me. Then there was another guest.”

  “I honked the horn to warn you,” said Mrs. Holly, looking sheepish. “I didn’t know how to work the siren…It’s my first time riding in a police car.”

  Everyone laughed, allowing a brief moment of levity to break up the madness. It was a much-needed release. Lenny wasn’t sure why they were laughing, but he joined in anyway.

  When they had finished their chuckle, Lena’s expression sobered as she backed the cruiser out of its parking spot. “They can talk to each other.”

  “Who’s that?” asked Mrs. Holly.

  “The zombies. The one in the pharmacy called out to the other one, telling it where I was.”

  Lena swerved and mowed down three of the approaching zombies, missing one.

  “That’s new,” said Mrs. Holly.

  Lena nonchalantly stopped the car, threw it in reverse, and took out the last zombie she had missed. She looked in the rear view mirror at Tyrell. “Now let’s get your mom fixed up.”

  Tyrell nodded, regarding Lena with what she thought was a mixture of relief and admiration. She put the cruiser in drive and exited the parking lot.

  * * *

  As Vinnie and company filed into his family pizzeria, his father shoved heavy boxes back in front of the glass door.

  Vinnie helped his father. “You know this won’t keep them out.”

  Marco wiped his brow. “I know. It’s more so they don’t see the light, and it muffles the sound so they don’t know we’re here.”

  There were shrieks outside in the distance, the shrill cries of the dead.

  After they finished blocking off the back door, Vinnie joined the rest of his company in the back of the pizzeria. The booths were half occupied with various people, and Pedro was up front cooking.

  Vinnie’s mother, Maggie, came running over. She threw her arms around him. “Oh, thank God you’re all right.”

  “Jesus,” said Vinnie, “you’re staying open?”

  Nancy nodded, impressed. “Now Marco’s a true business man after my own heart. That’s how it’s done. Business interruption, my ass.”

  Marie rolled her eyes, but she averted her gaze when Nancy caught her. She pretended to look around the pizzeria. When she saw her kids, she ran over to them.

  Alessandra was standing up, playing with her hair, a nervous habit she had since a little girl. Salvatore was sitting in a booth across from the two girls they picked up at Blackbeard’s Pier.

  Marie hugged Alessandra, squeezing her tight.

  “I’m okay, Mom.”

  “I know, honey. So am I.”

  Alessandra saw Ira and Emily Ross and smiled. “You rescued Dharma’s parents.”

  Marie nodded. She looked over at Salvatore, who was too busy playing it cool for the older girl to acknowledge her. “Hey, big man.”

  Salvatore managed a smile. “Hey, Mom.”

  “I see you managed to get everyone here safely.”

  He pointed to the younger of the girls. “Mom, this is Bethany.” Then he pointed to the older girl. “And this is Jackie.” He blushed when introducing Jackie. “They’re from New York. They’re here visiting their aunt and uncle.”

  Marie thought he was so cute, she wanted to eat him up. “It’s nice to meet you gals. I’m glad we were able to get you to safety. Well, I’m famished. Fighting zombies makes me hungry.”

  Marco walked up to Marie and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You want a slice?”

  “I was hoping for a calzone.”

  Vinnie’s mother smiled. “Done. I’ll go tell Pedro, and he’ll hook you up.” She gave Vinnie’s shoulder a squeeze before going up front.

  Vinnie settled into a booth across from Nancy. He noticed everyone was speaking in hushed tones. There was intermittent pounding on the metal security gate.

  Up until this point, he hadn’t had time to process the loss of his friend, Mike. His father returned to the table, sliding two plates holding pepperoni slices right in front of him and Nancy.

  Nancy looked up and smiled. “Thanks, Marco.”

  “There are drinks in the fridges up front. Help yourselves.” He returned to making the rounds, checking on everyone.

  Nancy grabbed the powdered garlic, applying a liberal amount on her slice. She picked up her massive Jersey Shore slice, folded it lengthwise, and tipped it back as she raised it to her mouth, careful not to lose any of the tasty grease. She ripped off a large chunk and chewed it loudly, smacking her lips indulgently.

  Vinnie sat there staring at his slice, as if it was going to bite him.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Nancy with her mouth full. “Aren’t you hungry?”

  Vinnie shook his head. �
�I don’t have much of an appetite right now.”

  Nancy chewed a bit more and swallowed. “I could use a beverage, you know.”

  Vinnie gawked at her, incredulous. Her boyfriend had just been torn apart by a horde of the dead, and now, not only was she stuffing her face, she was ordering him to go fetch her a drink. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. Iced tea would hit the spot.”

  Vinnie looked at her, dumbfounded. When he saw that she wasn’t budging on the matter, he got up and walked wearily over to the fridges up front.

  Dharma was tending to her mother and father. She saw Vinnie and looked concerned. She excused herself from her parents and began to walk over to Nancy’s table.

  Nancy shook her head. She scrunched her face up, saying, ‘Don’t worry, I got this.’

  Dharma paused, gave Vinnie another worried look, and returned to her parents.

  When Vinnie returned, holding two iced teas, he placed them on the table. “Anything else?”

  Nancy looked up at him. “Sit down, Vinnie. I wanna talk to you.”

  Tired and resigned to their current situation, Vinnie did as he was told. He slid back into the booth across from Nancy and waited.

  “I know you’re upset about Mike.”

  Vinnie shrugged, the pain evident on his face. His lip twitched. “Of course. Aren’t you?”

  Nancy narrowed her gaze. “Now that’s not fair, Vinnie Cantone. I’m actually very upset about it, but losing Mike doesn’t stop my necessity to eat.”

  Vinnie shook his head. His face contorted as he fought back the tears. “That was a horrible way for him to go. Those poor kids.”

  Nancy nodded. “It was horrible. Remember, I saw the whole thing. I wanted to help him, but he just gave me this look, as if he had already accepted what was about to happen. He wanted me to get out of there.

  “There was nothing I could do for him, so I escaped while I could. It was what he wanted.”

  Vinnie stared at his pepperoni slice on its plate. “After everything he’d been through last time…everything he survived…he had to go that way.”

  “This is going to sound strange, Vinnie, but he died doing what he loved. Helping the children. He died on the damned carousel he adored so much.”

  “It was useless,” insisted Vinnie. “It was all for nothing. All of it. Two years ago and now. What’s the fucking point?”

  Nancy reached across the table and placed her hand on his. The gesture made Vinnie uncomfortable, as it was very uncharacteristic of Nancy. “Vinnie, the point is that we’re still here. The dead attacked two years ago, a superstorm nearly wiped Smuggler’s Bay off the map, my pier was nearly washed into the ocean, and we’re still here.

  “Marie Russo lost her husband, but she’s still here. So did Tara Bigelow. And Lenny Krueger lost his mother.”

  “What’s the point of still being here?” said Vinnie, disgusted.

  Nancy took another bite, chomped on it loudly, and washed it down with a slug of her cold iced tea. “The point is, we are here for people who need us. People we love. Marie and Tara are here for their kids. You’re here for Dharma and your parents.

  “And, you were a good friend to Mike. His best friend. He loved you. You know that.”

  Vinnie nodded, his eyes welling up.

  Dharma walked over to their booth and slid in next to Vinnie, bumping him over with her butt. “How’s everyone holding up?”

  Vinnie wiped his eyes. “We were just talking about Mike.”

  Dharma frowned and put her arm around Vinnie’s shoulders, giving him a hearty squeeze.

  Marie approached the booth. “What’s the plan? This is great and all, but what’s our strategy?”

  “Strategy?” asked Marco. “I was planning on staying here and eating pizza until we’re rescued.”

  “Who says we’re going to be rescued?”

  “Marie, let’s not think like that,” said Ira.

  “No, she’s right,” said Nancy. “The last time we barely made it out alive. We were waiting on top of a collapsing structure, surrounded by zombies, and the outbreak was much smaller than this.”

  Marie nodded in agreement. “Vinnie and I saw the police barricade. It was overwhelmed almost immediately. So was the National Guard. So, we can’t expect any first responders to help. Tell them, Vinnie.”

  Vinnie nodded, looking down at the table. “It’s true.”

  “There’s got to be help out there,” pleaded Emily.

  Vinnie shook his head. “Listen…all we hear are the screams of the dead. I haven’t heard a police siren since the beginning. No more gun fire. Just the dead now.”

  “Help will be sent,” said Marco, sounding hopeful. “They’ll send in the Army.”

  “The Amy has its hands full,” said a woman in the next booth, Millie Fogherty. “I caught a glimpse of it on the news. It’s not just us.”

  Salvatore and the girls were on their phones.

  “It’s true,” said Salvatore. “The entire eastern seaboard is overrun.”

  Emily looked panicked. “Well, if that’s the case, we’re screwed.”

  Ira pulled her close, embracing her. He was trembling.

  “Not necessarily,” said Marie.

  “What are you suggesting?” asked Emily. “We are in no position to fight back.”

  “I’m sure we’re not the only survivors,” said Nancy. “We need to make contact with the others, somehow. Find out who’s left.”

  “How do we do that?”

  Dharma perked up in her seat. “Look, between each of us, we know lots of people in the Bay. Nancy knows almost everyone. I say we call our phone contacts in our cells and start a chain.”

  Nancy nodded. “That’s right. We’ll call our immediate contacts, they call theirs, and on and on. They’ll all report back to us.”

  “Once we get a sense of who’s left and where,” added Marie, “we can coordinate a response. Without food to hunt, these things are going to wander around aimlessly. They’ll spread out. Some might even move on.”

  “Where are they going?” asked Ira. “We’re on a barrier island.”

  At the sound of the word ‘food,’ Vinnie perked up. A chill went down his spine. “That’s right. There was a little zombie girl. She…she spoke.”

  There was a collective gasp.

  “What?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “He’s right,” said Marie. “One of them spoke. These things are mutating. They’re communicating, or at least some of them are.”

  “And you think we can fight them?” asked Marco.

  There were shrieks and more pounding on the metal security gate.

  “They’re not that smart, though,” said Vinnie. “They know we’re in here, but they don’t think to check the back door. So even if they talk, it’s not like they’re strategizing or anything.”

  “Yet,” added Nancy ominously.

  “If they spread out over the Bay, we can pick them off in small groups,” said Marie.

  “I don’t mean to sound difficult,” said Emily, “but with what?”

  “I have weapons at home. The police station, I’m sure, has weapons.”

  “The National Guard left a ton in their little staging base,” said Dharma.

  “Hell, there’re weapons lying around in the street,” said Vinnie. “The police barricade. It’s right here.”

  Emily stood up, her voice becoming a bit raised. “This is nuts. I don’t know if I can be a part of this.”

  Dharma stood up and hugged her, trying to calm her.

  Nancy shook her head. “What’s nuts is waiting here to die for help that likely isn’t coming.”

  “But what if this is it?” asked Emily, her tone becoming frantic. “What if this is the end? Of it all?”

  Ira put his hand on her shoulder, “Honey, please. We have to stay calm.” Emily shrugged it off.

  Vinnie slid out of the booth and stood up. “We’ve survived an awful lot. These thin
gs have come before, and we’re still here. We’ve all lost loved ones, but Smuggler’s Bay is our home.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m not willing to just give up and let these things get us. Let’s say that the mainland is overrun. We’re a barrier island, like you said, Mrs. Ross. It’s a smaller geographic area with a smaller population. The tourists haven’t arrived yet, so it’s just us locals. There’s going to be fewer of these things here than say Newark or Paterson.”

  “What are you saying?” asked Maggie.

  “We can take back the island and seal it off.”

  “We can raise the drawbridge,” said Marie.

  “But what about the neighboring towns on the barrier island?” asked Dharma.

  “I know lots of people,” said Nancy. “I can get a sense of who’s left. We can rally our numbers, organize.”

  “We can do this,” said Vinnie. “But, we need to get started now. There’s a lot to do, and we don’t have tons of time.”

  Dharma smiled at her man. Her parents watched him in awe. No more worrying and living in fear. Vinnie was back.

  “Well, let’s get going,” said Nancy. “Everyone start calling their contacts. Marco, we’re going to need pens and paper.”

  Marco distributed pens and order pads, and everyone (including Emily Ross) began calling the contacts on their cell phones. They were surprised at how many survivors they were able to reach, and they started tabulating numbers and locations.

  Dharma began to construct a crude map of the Bay on the back of a paper plate, indicating the locations of survivors and their numbers.

  It was here, in a pizzeria, on the first night of the second wave that the Jersey Shore resistance began. Not with the police, or the military, but with average, pissed-off citizens who were tired of being knocked down yet again by an old enemy.

  Little did they know that in scattered spots in several towns along the long barrier island that was the Shore, other groups were doing the same, regrouping and coordinating their response.

  Chapter 13

  Becky and Larry were a block away from the police station when Erin had come to. She coughed in the back seat.