Love in the Age of Zombies (Book 3): Zombie Destruction

by James K. Evans

  Tony didn’t have a clear shot at Sammy’s head, so he aimed for the center of his back and fired.

  Laura felt the bench reach the tipping point and begin to fall. It struck the back of Sammy’s legs at the same time Tony fired his gun. The bullet struck Sammy in the shoulder as he fell, pushing it forward.

  Sammy landed atop Kevin and the zombie, and as Tony bounded down the stairs, the zombie bent down and bit into Sammy’s neck, severing his jugular vein. Sammy struggled to get up, but Kevin held him in place. Sammy screamed as he felt his own hot blood splatter his face. He fired the gun he still held, but his aim was wild and it, too, struck the wall harmlessly. The gun recoiled and bounced from his hand.

  Kevin felt the heavy weight of Sammy’s body fall on top of him, then hot blood flooded his face and eyes. The zombie kept chewing, biting deeper and deeper into Sammy’s neck. Blood continued to spurt out of the zombie’s decayed jaw. Sammy’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly. As his vision began to fade, he experienced his last humiliating sensations: the feel and smell of his piss and shit as he voided his bowels. His final thought before leaving this life was: Oh, shit!

  Laura lay among the broken wreck of the spanking bench, struggling to get free. Her left ulna, which had already been fractured, was now sticking out through her bleeding skin. Her broken arm and broken ribs overwhelmed her. She heard Sammy’s last thick scream and another gunshot, then passed out.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Tony charged toward the heap of living and undead flesh, aimed at the zombie’s head and fired. The zombie’s face, filled with both Sammy’s and Kevin’s blood and tissue, splintered into pieces as the back of its head blew off, splattering the wall behind it with rotting and partially desiccated brains. Sammy was already dead. Tony grabbed his bloody, lifeless body and flung it off Kevin, then pulled Kevin out of the pool of gore. Kevin gasped and began to crawl around blindly, retching at the taste of Sammy’s blood and putrid stench of the zombie.

  Tony pulled out his pocket knife and sliced through the leather restraints still binding Laura’s unconscious body to the ruined bench. When she was loose, he gently pulled her free from the wood, trying his best to avoid moving her badly broken arm. He cut through the straps binding the gag to her head and gently removed it from her mouth.

  He rushed upstairs, grabbed two blankets, and ran back downstairs. He draped one blanket over Laura’s nude and battered body and the other blanket beside her. She came to with a scream. “Easy, Laura, you’re okay. Sammy’s dead. My name’s Tony. I’m going to take care of you.” Her eyes wide open in fear and alarm, she instinctively tried to scoot away from him, forgetting her injuries. She screamed and passed out again.

  Kevin quit retching and was now sitting cross-legged on the floor in a pool of blood. He was nearly unresponsive when Tony called to him. His face, the part not covered in Sammy’s blood, was ashen white. He was going into shock.

  “Kevin! Kevin, snap out of it! You’re going into shock! I need your help! KEVIN!!” he shouted.

  “Huh?” Kevin mumbled.

  “You’re going into shock. I need you to snap out of it. Take a few deep breaths. Then help me get her upstairs!”

  Kevin numbly rose to his feet, breathed deeply a couple of times, then closed his eyes. “I got bit. I GOT BIT!”

  “We’ll deal with that in a minute. Right now we’ve got to get Laura to the hospital! Help me lift her onto the blanket!”

  He placed his hands under her arms and Kevin grabbed her legs, then groaned at the pain from his wounded and bleeding shoulder as they lifted her onto the blanket. Tony removed his belt, ran it under her body and said “I need something to stabilize her arm. Find me a piece of wood about a foot long.” In a daze, Kevin grabbed the first thing he saw, the paddle Sammy had used to beat her. Tony held the paddle across her arm, looped his belt across both her arm and abdomen, then tucked the blanket inside.

  With her arm secured to her abdomen, helped by the blanket, he said “Kevin, I need your belt. KEVIN!” Kevin was still in a daze of pain and emotion, but slowly took off his belt. Tony wrapped it tightly around her blanket-covered lower legs and buckled it. “Kevin, listen to me. We’re going to carry her upstairs. I know you have a bad wing, so I’m going to carry her upper body. I need you to lift her legs so they don’t bump against the stairs. Do you understand?” Kevin nodded. “Okay, let’s go. I hope she doesn’t wake up.” He reached under her arms and lifted her. Wincing in pain, Kevin used his good arm to grab the belt and lift her legs. Walking backward, Tony began pulling her up the stairs. Kevin whimpered in pain as they slowly made their way to the first floor and out the battered front door.

  “She needs to be as stable as possible. You get in the back seat and I’ll lay her across the seat and into your lap. Hold her as still as you can. We don’t know the extent of her injuries. She could have broken ribs, internal bleeding, hell, I don’t know what all that bastard did to her.” They managed to get both Kevin and Laura into position, then Tony jumped into the driver’s seat and drove the cart through the front yard and onto the road.

  Kevin was in a living hell. His broken wrist ached and his gaping shoulder wound throbbed, but most of the pain was emotional. He’d been bitten. He was going to die. He’d never see the baby. Michelle was going to be a pregnant widow. It was beyond any pain he’d ever experienced. He felt as if he’d betrayed her and the baby.

  As soon as they began moving, Tony got on the radio.

  “On my way with two victims. One victim is an unconscious adult female with a broken arm and multiple contusions. The other victim is an adult male with a zombie bite. The female will require surgery on her broken arm.”

  “Ten-four,” the dispatcher replied. “Do you have IDs on the victims?”

  “The female is new in town. Laura, I don’t know her last name. The other victim is Kevin Williams. ETA two minutes.”

  On the way to the hospital, Laura regained consciousness. Just under two minutes later they pulled into the hospital. Doctor Nunn was waiting for them with two nurses and two gurneys. “Laura, this is Doctor Nunn, nurse Tracey and nurse Chanda. They’re going to take good care of you,” Tony said.

  “That’s right, hon,” Chanda said.

  “Can you come with me?!” Laura begged Tony. He looked at Doctor Nunn, who nodded.

  “Sure.”

  “Let’s get her on the stretcher.” The nurses tried to be gentle as the moved her to the gurney, but she cried out sharply in pain. They wheeled her into the hospital, Tony at her side.

  Blood covered Kevin’s face and soaked his shirt. He held the blood soaked wad of paper towels firmly on his shoulder wound. His eyes met Doctor Nunn’s. Neither man said anything. The haunted look in Kevin’s eyes caused Doctor Nunn to look away, muttering obscenities.

  “Is Doc still here?” Kevin asked.

  “He left about a half-hour ago. He was supposed to meet you and Michelle at Stormcloud, then go see your house. Carolyn was with him. I’ll send Tracey to get them.”

  “If they’re already in the house, can they bring me a change of clothes? I left our stuff just inside the front door.”

  “Sure, I’ll make sure Tracey brings you something. Can you walk inside?”

  “Yeah. I’d like to get cleaned up. I stink. I probably look like a zombie already. Can you get the bleeding stopped?”

  “Let me take a look.” Doctor Nunn gently pulled the blood soaked wad away from the wound. “We can take care of it. It must hurt like hell.”

  “That and my hand. I’m pretty sure my wrist is broken.”

  “Let’s see.” Kevin held his arm out. Doctor Nunn gently prodded, eliciting an agonized groan from Kevin. “Yes, it’s broken. We’ll get it immobilized. The nurses will take care of you. Laura’s surgery will take a while. Let’s get you in a room so you can be comfortable.” They began walking to the doors. “Kevin, I’m very sorry. I wish there was something I could do.”

  “My shoulder is killing m
e. So is my hand. But it’s nothing compared to what Michelle’s about to go through.”

  Doctor Nunn nodded grimly. “When the surgery’s over I’ll come check on you. We’ll take good care of you. We’ll do everything we can. Take room seven, it’s empty.”

  “Thanks, Doctor. You’d better take care of the patient who’ll recover instead of wasting your time with the one who won’t.”

  “I’ll see you in a while, Kevin,” Doctor Nunn said soberly.

  While Laura was being triaged, Kevin walked down the hall and tried to ignore his pain. His thoughts were jumbled and dark. I haven’t smoked a cigarette in thirty years, but I wish I had one now, he thought. For some reason the idea of smoking made him laugh. He felt like his mind was teetering on the edge of damnation. Then he thought of Michelle and the baby. He quit laughing, paused, and burst into tears. He sobbed, his chin buried in his chest, eyes closed.

  After a minute of tears, he willed himself to go on. He didn’t want Michelle to see him falling apart. That would make it even harder on her.

  Nurse Chanda walked into the room. “Hey, Kevin. Doctor Nunn asked me to check on you. Are you doing okay?”

  “I wish I had a smart-ass comeback to make you laugh. But the truth is, I’m feeling rather sorry for myself right now and am not looking forward to seeing the look on Michelle’s face.”

  “I get that. We’ll get you cleaned up and take care of your shoulder. The bathroom has a shower. We have solar water heaters on the roof, so the water’s not cold, but it’s far from hot. Here’s a gown to put on when you’re finished. Now let’s get you out of these soiled clothes.”

  Much of the blood had already dried, and to avoid causing him any more pain she cut off his shirt. “I’m sorry Kevin,” she said quietly, “but all I can do is make you more comfortable. There’s no point in worrying about germs or infection. But we can minimize your suffering.”

  Kevin paused. “Thank you for respecting me enough to be honest,” he said. He felt strangely humbled and awkward.

  Chanda said, “Michelle will be here in a minute. I’m going to wash around your wound and apply a temporary waterproof bandage and put your wrist in a sling. Then you can get in the shower and wash the rest of the blood off. Once you’re clean I’ll apply a pressure bandage. There’s no point in Michelle seeing you like this.”

  On Leelanau Avenue there was a knock on the front door of Kevin and Michelle’s new home. “Our first visitor!” Michelle exclaimed. She opened the front door with a smile and said, “It’s Tracey! What are you…?” Her words caught in her throat at the broken look on Tracey’s face. Michelle knew the answer even before she asked the question, “Is it Kevin?”

  Doc and Carolyn heard the change in Michelle’s voice and joined her at the door. Tracey nodded, hating to deliver the next three words: “He got bit.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Kevin scrubbed away his and Sammy’s blood with his good hand, watching the red swirl down the drain. He washed his hair, scrubbed his face, and felt the grime and sweat and odor wash away. At least it’s not cold water. I wish it was warmer, though. It’s probably the last shower I’ll ever take. This thought caused him to tear up again, the tears streaming down his face along with the shower water.

  As soon as he felt in control of his emotions again, he turned off the water and dried himself with a towel, patting his bandaged shoulder gingerly. Michelle burst into the room. “Kevin!” she said, a desperate look of pleading in her eyes. Kevin was standing just outside the bathroom holding the towel. She stared at his bandaged shoulder. It was already soaked with blood. Tears filled her eyes. He placed his arm around her and pulled her close. She was shaking. His towel fell to the floor, unnoticed.

  “Kevin, please!” she begged, “There has to be some mistake! You can’t have a zombie bite! You can’t leave me! I need you! The baby needs you!”

  Kevin had nothing to say. He felt strange, the way someone feels when they first realize they have a fever.

  Michelle started to say something again but burst into tears. She sobbed loudly, almost hysterically. Kevin ran his fingers through her hair, wishing he had something to say, but even if he did he was afraid he’d start weeping too. Then he let go of his manly pride and allowed himself to weep.

  “I’m sorry, Michelle, I’m so sorry!!”

  Michelle wrapped her arm around his waist and the two wept without restraint.

  Kevin broke their clinch and wiped the tears from his cheeks. “Damn, I hate crying. It gives me such a headache.”

  Michelle grabbed one of the tissues near the bed and dried her eyes, but it didn’t last long. They soon refilled and tears coursed down her cheeks. Kevin leaned over and kissed her eyes, tasting sale on her wet eyelashes.

  Chanda walked in. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt. I need to put a pressure bandage on his shoulder or blood will be everywhere.” Blood had already begun to trickle down his chest.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “I need to sit down,” he said. “Do I feel like I have a fever?”

  “Probably,” Chanda said. “That’s usually the first sign.” she stuck a thermometer in his mouth, waited a few seconds, then checked it. “Yes. Your temperature is close to one hundred.”

  “Do you know what the main difference is between an oral thermometer and a rectal thermometer?” he asked.

  She gave him a suspicious glance. “What?”

  “The flavor.”

  She just stared at him, no sign of a smile. “How can you make jokes right now? That’s not even funny.” Then a shadow of a smile twitched her lips. “Okay, maybe it’s a little funny. Forgive me for not laughing. Now sit still while I put apply some gauze.” She wrapped the bite wound with a thick layer of gauze, then taped it tightly. “Let’s get you in bed.” He lay back. Michelle covered him with a sheet, then took his hand in hers and clasped it tightly. “I’ll come check later,” Chanda said and left the room.

  Doc barged into the room, Carolyn in tow with a bag of clothes. “Let me see,” he said. His eyes honed in on Kevin’s shoulder. He peeled back the bandage and scanned the wound. “You sure this came from a zombie? Could have been anything. A tree branch or an animal bite. A rusty piece of metal.”

  “Doc, Sammy pushed me into a zombie. We got tangled up and it bit me. Tony saw it happen. There’s no doubt.”

  “Well, goddamn you then! What the hell were you thinking, taking on a zombie by yourself—”

  “I was with Tony.”

  “—and trying to be some kind of hero. Now look atcha. Son of a bitch,” he said, his face beginning to blush, his eyes shining. “And you were just starting to grow on me, you piss-ant!”

  “Bite me, Doc.” Ohh, poor choice of words, he thought. Carolyn placed the bag of clothes on the end of the bed.

  There was a quiet knock on the door. “Come in,” Kevin called. Tony walked in. He made no attempt to appear chipper. “How are you doing, my friend?”

  “He’s running a fever,” Carolyn said. Tony nodded. Michelle sat mute on the edge of the bed, searching Kevin’s face. She couldn’t believe it was true. She waited for someone to tell her it was all a joke, a misunderstanding. I’m going to wake up in the dark, sobbing, and Kevin will pull me close and tell me it was just a bad dream, and I’ll fall asleep in the crook of his arm.

  “How’s Laura?” Kevin asked.

  “She’s still in surgery,” Carolyn replied. “Her arm’s pretty messed up. She’ll be okay, thanks to you, but her arm will never be the same.”

  “She’s probably going to need you to stay close to her. She doesn’t have a friend in the world.”

  “I kind of figured the same thing. I’m okay with that. She’s been through fucking hell—pardon my language,” he said, glancing at Michelle, “and it will be a long time before she feels anywhere close to normal again. I kind of feel responsible for her, y’know?”

  Kevin nodded and glanced at Michelle. She was crying again.

  “Well, I don
’t want to intrude. I just wanted to thank you for what you did. You saved her life. For all I know, you saved mine as well. Who knows what would have happened if I’d gone to his house alone. I’ll come check on you again.”

  After he left, Kevin said, “I’m not feeling so good. And my wrist hurts.”

  Michelle put Kevin’s arm in a sling to minimize the movement of his broken wrist. There was no reason to cast a wrist on a dying body.

  “I think my temperature’s rising,” Kevin said, “Any chance I can get some ibuprofen?”

  “I’ll check,” Carolyn said.

  “I’ll go with you. I need to let Doctor Nunn know I’m here.” Michelle said. “We won’t be long.” The two ladies left the room, leaving Kevin alone with Doc.

  As soon as the ladies left, Kevin said, “Doc, I was hoping I’d get the chance to talk to you alone. When it comes time, would you do what has to be done?”

  “Shit, Kevin. I don’t know. I don’t know if I could. It would be one thing if you were a stranger, but someone I care about? That’s asking a lot.”

  “I know it’s asking a lot. It will be hard. But I’ll be more at peace knowing somebody who cared and respected me did the honors of not letting me turn. I can’t ask Michelle. When the time comes, if you can do it, I’d appreciate it. Or maybe Carolyn could do it, since she’s done it before.”

  Doc patted Kevin’s good shoulder. “We’ll take care of you. We’ll take care of Michelle and the baby, too.” It was all Doc could do to hold it together. His heart was breaking, knowing these minutes were the last he’d spend with Kevin. Kevin was family.

  “Did you like the house? Sorry I didn’t meet you there. I guess there’s no reason for you to live in the mother-in-law house. Would you stay in the house with Michelle? I hate to think of her being alone. Maybe Carolyn could help, too. You two seem to be getting along.”