The Creeping Dead: Book 2

by Edward P. Cardillo

  “Holy shit,” winced Vinnie.

  Marie trained the gun on the woman zombie’s head, let it walk right up to her, and pulled the trigger. The zombie woman dropped to the ground face first, covering the zombie baby. “Got it.”

  A few moments later, Chief Holbrook passed Dharma. She flipped on her lights and sirens and began creeping up the block she was on. Nancy hung out of the back window. They disappeared from view, but Vinnie heard Nancy popping off shots.

  Holbrook’s car passed Vinnie and Marie.

  “Okay,” said Marie, banging the roof of the car with her free hand.

  Vinnie hit the lights and siren. He lightly pressed the gas pedal, creeping forward, checking the rearview mirror. A throng of dead broke off from the main trail and followed. The old man on the roof of the police station was firing down at zombies on the street.

  Marie was firing, too. Her shots were controlled. She took her time and chose her shots. Vinnie saw zombies dropping to the street, one by one.

  Just then, he thought of something. He got on the radio. “This is Vinnie. What happens when we get to the end of our side streets?”

  “That’s a good question,” said Marco.

  “You’ll need to split up,” answered Holbrook. “Marco, you turn left. Vinnie, you go up the ramp of the boardwalk and continue on the boardwalk.

  “Dharma, you go right. Turn right onto Decatur as I come up left onto Mariner. This way, we don’t run right smack into each other.”

  “Right,” said Dharma.

  As Vinnie crept up the street, he visualized their paths in his head. The whole thing reminded him of a video game. They had to drive, passing each other, but without intersecting paths.

  Marie ducked back inside the car to grab another gun. “Slow down a little. Let ‘em get a little closer.”

  “Got it.”

  Marie popped back outside and continued shooting.

  Vinnie was approaching the end of his side street. “We’re almost at the end.”

  There was no answer from Marie. She was concentrating, dropping a zombie with almost every shot. Vinnie thought the woman was amazing.

  He crossed Surf and approached the wide wooden ramp leading up to the boardwalk. The ramp was built specifically for police vehicles to access the boardwalk. As he climbed the incline, Marie paused her shooting.

  She popped back inside the car, tossing the gun aside and grabbing a third. “This is tedious.”

  “Slow and steady,” said Vinnie. He turned right onto the boardwalk. The trail of dead followed. Marie popped back outside the car and resumed shooting.

  There were a few zombies ahead of them, staggering down the boardwalk. They were all walking towards their car.

  “Marie, we’ve got a few coming at us!”

  She must’ve turned to look. She ducked back inside, grabbed a fourth gun, flipped off the safety, and handed it to Vinnie. “Here, take them out.”

  Vinnie accepted the gun. “I don’t know, Marie. I can’t shoot.”

  “Sure you can,” she said. “Just point it at them and pull the trigger. Try to get ‘em in the head.”

  Before he could argue, she was back outside, picking off their tail.

  Vinnie checked the rearview mirror. He saw that the herd was indeed thinning out. He looked out the front, and he got goosebumps. One of the zombies approaching was that little girl. The one that spoke.

  He lowered his window and waited until they got closer. The little girl seemed to fall back, allowing the other two, a man and a woman, to go ahead.

  Vinnie slowly swerved right, allowing him a shot at them. He took a deep breath, held it, and squeezed the trigger. His first shot missed both zombies. The second shot grazed the man’s shoulder. It’s jaw hung, dislocated, tongue squirming around.

  Vinnie decided that it wasn’t the biggest threat, so he focused on the woman. Her eyes were narrowed, her expression primal. She shrieked at him. He squeezed the trigger, hitting her in her right breast. Vinnie grimaced, apologizing under his breath.

  Marie ducked back inside the car. “There’re only a few left.” She reached for another gun. “Last one.”

  Vinnie took another shot and hit the zombie woman in the throat. “Marie, I need help.”

  “You can do it,” she insisted. “Don’t fuck it up.” She disappeared back outside.

  Vinnie narrowed his eyes, trying to visualize the target. The female zombie was so close now that she was almost able to take the gun out of his hand. He leaned his head sideways out the window, resting it on his shoulder.

  The zombie reached out for him. He squeezed the trigger. He hit her in her right eye socket, and she dropped to the boardwalk, his arm passing over her head as the car crept forward. He took aim at the man, squeezed the trigger, and dropped him, too.

  “Marie, I did it!” As the man dropped, the little girl came dashing out from behind him. Vinnie squeezed off two more shots. Either she was moving too fast, or he panicked.

  The little girl reached out and grabbed his gun arm. Her grip was unnaturally tight. Vinnie tried to jerk his arm into the car, and he let go of the wheel. The girl was trying to bite his arm.

  Vinnie reached out with his other hand, grabbed her by the hair, and held her head away from his arm as she snapped her teeth like a hungry piranha.

  As he leaned out the window, his right foot depressed the gas. The police car veered to the right, crashing into a heavy metal T-shirt shop. “Shit!”

  Marie nearly fell out of her window. “What the…?”

  The little girl, still holding onto Vinnie’s arm, was dragged. Vinnie stepped on the brake. The car crashed through a glass counter and came to a stop.

  The little girl was hung up on the broken metal frame and jagged shards of the glass counter. As her fingers slid down and off his arm, they pulled the gun out of his hand. The little girl growled and swiped her arms at the car.

  Vinnie turned around toward the back seat. “Marie, you all right?”

  She wasn’t in the car.

  Vinnie looked through the rear window and saw her lying flat on her back on the boardwalk just outside the store. There were only several zombies left, but they were converging on her. She kicked at them, firing her gun.

  “Marie!”

  Vinnie tried to open the driver side door, but it wouldn’t open more than a few inches. Something was blocking it. He slid over to the other side and got out.

  “Marie!” He clumsily staggered over the partially intact portion of the glass counter, crunching broken glass under his feet. He winced as he felt jagged glass bite into his shins, but he didn’t let it slow him down.

  As he rounded the car, he saw Marie throwing her gun at one of the zombies. She kicked her legs at two that were trying to get on top of her. “No! Stop it!” she shouted.

  Vinnie started waving his arms at the dead surrounding her. “Over here! No! Over here!”

  The two at her feet grabbed her ankles and were shoving her legs apart, sliding in between them.

  “No! Please! No! Stop it!”

  Vinnie rushed the pile, tackling two trying to approach her from the side. They went crashing down to the wooden planks, Vinnie on top with an arm over each zombie.

  He pushed himself up on his hands and sat on his haunches in time to see the dead swarm her. She kicked her legs and shoved their faces away with her hands, but they pushed their way in.

  Marie tried to squirm and wriggle away as she disappeared under the pile. Her hand jutted up from under the heap, trembling and spastic. Her angry protests turned to cries of pain as they sunk rotten teeth into her flesh.

  “No! Noooo!” Vinnie stood up. Not her. Marie is invincible. She’s a hero. She’s a mother. All of these thoughts raced through his mind. He wanted to rush the pile, but his legs wouldn’t cooperate. He couldn’t see her face, but he heard her muffled cries. It was already too late.

  The dead backed away from her twitching body, pulling out her entrails with greedy hands. Her nec
k was torn away, and her arms and legs bloodied. They feasted on her innards as she watched, eyes bulging in terror, until her life faded from her body.

  Vinnie backed away from the frenzy, shaking his head in denial of what he was seeing.

  “Fooooood,” said a guttural voice from behind him.

  Vinnie turned to face the little girl. “You! This is your fault!”

  She screeched at him and flashed a sinister grin.

  He wanted to bash her fucking brains in with every ounce of his being. She growled at him, taunting him, laughing and wheezing.

  Vinnie felt fingers on his back. The bitch was trying to distract him.

  He shrugged them off, but the weight of their bodies collided with him, pushing him forward.

  He stumbled, falling to his hands and knees on the boardwalk. He felt the weight of bodies on his back as he pushed up, resisting them. He crawled forward, trying to shake the zombies off, and they shrieked as they clung onto his back and legs.

  “You bitch! You fucking little bitch!” He commando crawled, kicking his legs, propelling himself towards her with all of the hate and anger he could muster. It welled up inside him like a geyser.

  This isn’t supposed to be happening. Images of Dharma ran in his mind’s eye, her smile, her laugh. He was supposed to be with her, protect her. They had plans.

  The little girl looked on, pleased at her handiwork.

  There were the screech of tires on wet wood and the sound of car doors opening. “Vinnie!”

  He heard popping sounds. Suddenly, he felt a bite of pain in his left quad. The load on his legs got lighter as he squirmed away, but the pain in his left leg was blinding.

  He rolled over onto his back, kicking away two zombies that were lying on top, and saw Dharma standing there, hands over her mouth in horror. Nancy stood beside her, one eye closed, arm extended, pistol out in front of her and trained on him.

  “Jesus, are you all right?” asked Nancy.

  Vinnie nodded.

  Nancy turned to the dead feasting on Marie and shot each one in the head as they slurped down her flesh and innards.

  Dharma ran over to Vinnie, got down on her knees, and hugged him close to her body. His face was smothered into her T-shirt as her body shuddered. She was sobbing.

  He pushed his face away so he could breathe. “I think one of them bit me on the leg.

  Dharma gasped. “What? No! No, it can’t…shit! No!”

  Vinnie pushed himself away from her, but she pulled him close again. He looked down at his left leg. Blood was pooling on the wooden planks underneath it.

  Nancy knelt down next to him. “Let me see.”

  Vinnie hesitated, resigned to the fact that he had been bitten, but Nancy rolled him over onto his stomach. He grunted from the pain that ignited from being manhandled as it shot up his leg like lightning.

  Dharma stood there sobbing. “No, no, no, no…”

  Vinnie felt Nancy pull up his left short leg. Her finger grazed the surface of the wound. Then it probed it, sending another wave of pain shooting up his leg.

  Vinnie felt hot, and the world around him swam. Nancy rolled Vinnie onto his back again. He swooned, feeling light-headed.

  Nancy arched an eyebrow. “I have good news and bad news.”

  “What?” was all Vinnie could manage.

  Dharma knelt next to him, her eyes searching Nancy’s face. “What’s the good news?”

  Nancy smiled. “The good news is, he isn’t bitten.”

  Dharma let out a high-pitched squeak, causing the little dead girl hung up on the broken counter to grunt in displeasure. She pulled Vinnie close, squeezing him.

  “What’s the bad news?” he gasped, as Dharma squeezed the wind out of him.

  “I shot you in the leg.”

  Dharma loosened her grip. “She had to. They were going to bite you.”

  Vinnie ignored the bad news. He lay in Dharma’s arms looking up at her, smiling like an idiot. God, it was good to see her face.

  Dharma looked down at him, confused. “Well, you don’t have to be that happy about it.”

  “I’m just happy to see you,” said Vinnie, his eyes dreamy. “You came back for me.”

  “Of course,” said Dharma. “I always have your back.”

  “He’s going into shock,” said Nancy. “We have to get him into the car and keep him warm.”

  Dharma looked down at Vinnie. “I need you to sit up, honey.” She and Nancy helped him sit up. They each grabbed him under an arm and hoisted him to his feet. Vinnie helped, but he felt weak.

  Dharma slung his right arm around his shoulder and began to walk him to their police car. They walked past Marie’s torn body.

  “I’m sorry,” muttered Vinnie. “It’s my fault.”

  “Shhhhh,” whispered Dharma. “Not your fault. The dead did this.”

  Nancy ran into the store, to the right of Vinnie’s crashed police car. She grabbed a couple of Baja beach blankets. She started to follow Dharma and Vinnie when she heard a wheezy cackle from behind her.

  Nancy looked down at Marie’s gored body and turned on the little dead girl. She walked up to the girl as the girl swiped at her, but stopped just short of the little monster’s reach.

  “Marie, what are you doing?” asked Dharma from behind her.

  The little dead girl grinned at Nancy. Her eyes were alert.

  “You,” said Nancy through gritted teeth. “You started all of this.”

  The little dead girl growled at Nancy, snapping her teeth. “Foooooooood.”

  Nancy leveled her gaze at the little abomination. “Yeah, I remember you. You’re April Traub, that little girl from the Pier. My pier.”

  “Fooooood!”

  Nancy raised her gun, pointing the barrel point blank at the little girl’s head. The girl shrieked and laughed in defiance.

  Nancy shoved the barrel of the gun into the girl’s mouth. The girl bit down on the metal. Her hands seized Nancy’s arms. Her fingers tried to claw at Nancy’s skin, but having been an active little girl, her finger nails never had the chance to grow long.

  “You’re looking a little anemic,” said Nancy.

  The little dead girl shrieked, but Nancy pulled the trigger. The girl’s head dropped.

  Nancy pulled the pistol barrel out of her mouth, wiped it on the side of her pants, and walked back to the police car.

  Dharma was standing by Vinnie, who was now lying in the back seat covered in blankets. She watched Nancy with a worried expression.

  “Let’s get out of here,” said Nancy. “Vinnie needs medical attention.”

  * * *

  Lenny was pacing around the living room. Both Robbie and Tyrell were fast asleep on the couch. His eyes were heavy and his body weary. He looked at the clock. It was 4am.

  Finally, Mrs. Chief came walking into the living room. She, too, looked tired, but she was smiling.

  “Is everything okay?” asked Lenny.

  “Dr. Potts said Tara’s been stabilized…” Mrs. Chief saw Lenny’s confusion. “She’s tired, and she needs to rest, but she’s probably going to be okay.”

  Lenny released the tension he was holding in his shoulders. He smiled. “Thank g-goodness.”

  Mrs. Holly entered the living room, also looking a bit worse for the wear. “The doc’s exhausted, but I think he did it.”

  Mrs. Chief looked at the clock as she rubbed her neck. “What time is it? Christ, he’s been at it all night.”

  Dr. Potts walked into the living room looking positively drained. “It’s been a long night. Your friend needs rest. Speaking of which, I’m going to go to bed. You’re all welcome to stay as long as you like. There’s food and iced tea in the fridge.”

  “Thank you for everything,” said Mrs. Chief.

  Dr. Potts staggered a bit as climbed the stairs. He grabbed the railing for support.

  “Are you all right?” asked Mrs. Holly.

  Dr. Potts smiled. “I’ll be fine. Ol’ grandpa ain’t what he used
to be.” He climbed the steps as if his feet were made of lead.

  After he disappeared upstairs, Mrs. Holly yawned. “And I have to use the facilities.” She disappeared into the kitchen, where there was a power room off by the back door.

  “Dr. Potts didn’t look so good,” said Mrs. Chief. “Poor man. We woke him up in the middle of the night with supplies from CVS and asked him to perform emergency surgery.”

  Lenny didn’t quite understand what she was talking about. He felt a tickle in his bladder. “I have to use the b-b-bathroom.”

  Mrs. Chief smiled at the announcement, although Lenny wasn’t sure why. She looked towards the kitchen. “Mrs. Holly’s in there. Can you hold it?”

  Lenny shook his head, his expression apologetic. “It’s an emergency.”

  “I assume there’s a bathroom upstairs. I’m sure Dr. Potts wouldn’t mind.”

  Lenny nodded, gave the thumbs up, and he began to round the coffee table.

  Mrs. Chief stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder. She gave it a friendly squeeze. “You did good, Lenny. Thanks for keeping the kids calm.”

  Lenny looked Mrs. Chief in the eye. He felt his eyes welling up. He always appreciated praise, but it meant a lot coming from Mrs. Chief. “My pleasure.”

  He looked over at Billy, who was also asleep in the armchair. Lenny waved a dismissive hand, chortling. He grabbed the railing and began his climb up the stairs.

  Lenny entered a short hallway. He walked tentatively, not knowing exactly where he needed to go. He found the bathroom on the right, the door ajar. He stepped inside, flicked on the lights, and closed the door behind him.

  It was a large bathroom with faded floral wallpaper. Some of it curled back at the seams with age. There was a low bathtub, a pedestal sink, and a toilet. Across from the toilet was a towel rack holding two large bath towels. Above the toilet hung a small hand towel.

  Lenny turned and saw a doorway leading to Dr. Potts’s master bedroom. Dr. Potts was lying on his bed in his clothes, legs splayed out. His face was pale and his brow sweaty.

  Lenny didn’t know what to say to the man—he didn’t even know if he was awake—so he went to his go-to response. He smiled and gave a thumbs-up. “Good…job.”