“Name’s Scott. Scott Bowen. This here’s my dog Zeke.” He spoke with a slight hint of the south. “Say hi Zeke.” The dog gave a deep bark.
“Where you headed Scott?”
“Nowhere in particular. Just trying to get out of the city. Too many of those dead things.”
“You’re more than welcome to come along with us.” Matt offered. “We’re headed for Park City and from there to a lake higher up.”
“That’s pretty far out of the city.” Scott said and they both laughed. Matt decided right there that he liked the guy.
Zeke began barking furiously. They turned to see what had caught the dog’s attention. He was expecting zombies, so when he saw the lion emerging from the tall grass of what used to be a public park he was a bit startled.
A Lion!
That was about the last thing he had expected. Two more of the big cats emerged from the grass behind the first, spread out over twenty feet. All three lacked manes, marking them as female, but no less dangerous as each of them stood three and a half feet tall and weighed over two hundred pounds.
“Get on the bus!” Matt snapped, waving him aboard.
Scott grabbed his bike and began up the entrance stairs. “Come on Zeke!” He called. The dog ceased barking and followed him onto the bus. Matt pulled the lever and the doors swung closed.
“The zoo isn’t far. They must have escaped, or been set free.” Jenkins said. He looked back at Scott. “I think they meant to have you for dinner.”
“They weren’t on me that long. Zeke just barely started barking.” Zeke had hurried to a window on the bus where he gazed out at the trio of lion’s, whining softly. Matt put the bus in gear and continued on.
“There’s going to be a lot of stuff like that.” David said. He turned away from the window and looked at Jenkins. “This ain’t the only zoo in the country. All kinds of wild dangerous animals are going to be roaming free.”
“You just touched the tip of the iceberg.” Jenkins’s said. “Society has collapsed. And I’m not just talking here in Utah I’m talking globally. Utah was one of the last to get hit and we fell in less than two months. Try and imagine places like New York and Los Angeles or any big city around the world that’s been overrun since the beginning…”
Silence fell over them and the small convoy continued down the canyon until it merged with the expressway that would in turn junction with Interstate-80 East. The expressway was scattered with abandoned vehicles and zombies. The going was slow, never more than 10 mph. Zombies bounced off the front of the bus or were ground beneath the wheels. They often had to push cars aside with the bus so the rig with its precious cargo could make it through undamaged. It was well into the evening by the time they reached the I-80 eastbound junction; it would be dark in less than an hour.
“I’m thinking we should stop in Summittown. Maybe rest for the night. Park City raiders have taken all the food and fuel there and left it abandon. Couldn’t be more than a couple deadfucks. We could handle them easy.” Jenkins said.
“Zack needs a doctor.” Matt said.
“Park City is still twenty miles away. We’re lucky to be making ten miles an hour. It will be well past midnight by the time we get there. From what I understand, they don’t admit travelers after dark.”
“Why not? We got plenty of loot to pay with.”
“Loot we will still have, come morning.”
“Zack needs a doctor.” Matt repeated, looking back as Zack, who lay sleeping on the seats.
“I know he does. And we will get him one, but it’s not going to be tonight. It’s been a very long day. Lets rest a few hours and head out at dawn. We will all be the better for it.”
It had been a very long day. What had started out as a simple supply raid had blossomed into a full-fledged war that had once again put them on the run…
Chapter 19
Sunday, June 24, 2001
Summittown, UT
12:17 AM
Summittown was abandoned. It had never really been a town, more like a rest stop at the summit of Parleys canyon, where people stayed overnight. There was one gas station/restaurant/mechanic/motel all rolled into one and a dozen small houses… That was the extent of it. But it would serve their purposes. They parked the vehicles in front of the motel, swept it clean for zombies and spread out among the rooms. There would be two-man watches throughout the night. Mac and Jenkins would take first watch.
Matt had lay tossing and turning for an hour before he finally decided he was getting no sleep tonight. Every time he closed his eyes one of the hundreds of horrors he had witnessed over the last eleven days filled his head. He had killed men. Only in self-defense, but still, he had killed them. He doubted if he would ever be able to sleep again. He sat up in bed and lit the remainder of the joint that Ron had given him. He inhaled deeply, letting the harsh, yet pleasant smoke fill his lungs to capacity.
He shouldered his AR-15 and walked outside. It was a warm night, and the stars were out in full force. He peered into Zack’s room, one door over, and was greeted with the familiar liquid rattle of his labored breathing. Not wanting to see his friend on deaths door, he eased the door closed and turned to gaze at the stars.
Matt took another deep puff off the joint and looked for some familiar constellations. He spotted Orion… There was the Big & Little Dipper.
“What are you doing awake?” Susan said from beside him. She had come outside and walked up to him while he had been gazing at the stars.
“I couldn’t sleep.” he said.
“Me either.” she said, holding her hand out for the joint. He handed it to her and continued staring up at the stars.
“I was dreaming about my father…” She took a large hit from the joint, the cherry glowing red hot.
“Zack’s not doing too good.” Matt said. “He might die.”
“I know.” she said, exhaling. She took another hit on the joint.
“Thanks for being so strong.” he said. “With your dad gone your family really needs that to help hold them together.”
She passed the joint, now just a roach, back to him. “I know.”
“I need your strength too.” he said. Their eyes met. He felt something stir in him. He had always found her gorgeous, a little young maybe, but sexy as hell. But what he felt pass between them at that moment was more than physical attraction. She reached out and took his hand. He let the roach fall to the ground.
“We all need each other. We all draw strength from one another.” she stepped into his arms. He clung tightly to her, feeling her entire body tremble. Or was that him shaking? It didn’t matter. They simply clung to one another even tighter…
Chapter 20
Sunday June 24, 2001
Summittown, UT
2:25 AM
Zack hovered near death. Each breath was a rattling, liquid agony. His eyes were open and the moonlight was shining in through the window but he could see only shadows. He could feel nothing of his body but the fire in his side burning into the center of his chest interspersed by occasional cold flashes. There was no question in Zack’s mind that he was going to die. He only hoped it would come soon and that Matt wouldn’t wait for him to awaken as one of the walking dead before putting a bullet through his corpse’s skull. He had looked deep into one of the zombie’s eyes, and it had remembered being alive. Behind the dull, glazed stare had been a faint spark of the person who had been; replaced by a shambling mound of dead flesh. And even now, as Zack drifted in between life and death he could see that spark of remembrance in that zombie’s eye.
And the thought of that scared him worse than dying.
Another wave of intense pain washed over him followed quickly by freezing cold. He heard a great rushing in his ears, louder than the loudest roaring river. The darkness in the room was suddenly awash in the brightest of light, which seemed to take all of his pain away and replace it with a warm, euphoric feeling.
This is it. I’m crossing over to the other sid
e.
He was amazed at how calm he was. He had expected his last few moments to be filled with terror, not this warm light. He became aware that he was rising out of his body, a creature of pure energy. He could hear soft, angelic voices singing somewhere in the light filled horizon. The golden light seemed to have a physical texture to it, like smoke or cotton. It swirled around and clung to him in small tufts. There was a blinding flash, brighter even than the light that emanated from everywhere and then everything was dark, cold and completely silent.
Am I dead? Is this what death is like? Or was it simply the darkness before awakening as a zombie?
Zack’s thoughts seemed to echo inside his head. A beam of light, needle thin and just as sharp pierced into his brain. And just as quickly he was back in his body.
It was dark outside. It was so quiet that the silence carried a crushing weight. His body was burning hot and every breath bubbled like liquid fire in his lungs. A slight breeze came from the open window and a wet, rotten smell reached his nostrils and he would have gagged but he didn’t have the breath. The blur of movement caught his eye. He looked over to see a monster slithering into his darkened room. It was short, no more than four feet tall. It clung to the shadows, but what bit of skin could be seen was mottled with dark green and black scales that glistened with a smooth, slimy texture. The tip of a rounded snout and the crimson glow of two eyes were all that could be seen of its head.
Zack’s heart instantly began to hammer in his chest and his breath caught in his throat breaking him into a fit of coughing so severe that bloody spittle flew from his lips. He tried to call out for help but only cough and choked some more. When he finally regained his wheezing breath his vision was spinning and his body alternated between burning hot and freezing cold from second to second and he was on the verge of blacking out.
He darted his wide eyes wildly around the room looking for the monster…it was there, at the foot of his bed, slowly creeping nearer! It came up alongside him and he could hear it inhale deeply. A low moan came from the creature and its sour breath smelled of blood and decay. Its burning red orbs met his and burrowed into his skull like twin drills. He could feel its alien presence pressing against his mind, pounding like twin sledgehammers against each temple. Zack tried to close his eyes but couldn’t, the power of those fiery eyes was too much for his will to overcome. With a crash his mental defenses shattered and the thing’s psychic assault washed over him…
Chapter 21
Sunday, June 24, 2001
Summittown, UT
2:32 AM
Matt bolted awake at the sound of the first gunshot.
Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
Another gunshot sounded from somewhere outside.
“What the hell?” Susan’s sleep fogged voice beside him. They both were naked, arms and legs entangled with a blanket spread across them.
Another gunshot… And another! And another! Followed by screams!
“What’s going on out there?” Matt rolled out of bed and reached for his pants.
“Are we under attack?” Susan stepped off the bed and moved to the window.
“It sounds like it.” Matt said buttoning his pants. Although still half asleep and confused by the gunshots Matt felt himself stir at the sight of her naked body and he smiled at the memory of their lovemaking. There came a loud pounding on the door to their room, shattering the memory.
“Matt? It’s me, Rick. Zombies are in the perimeter. Mac thinks he spotted a superzombie.” Despite the muffling of the door Matt could hear the panic in Rick’s voice.
“I’ll be right out!” Matt called. He slipped his shirt over his head and bent to pull on his shoes. Susan had moved away from the window and was dressing herself.
Once finished dressing Matt grabbed his AR-15 from beside the bed and stepped outside. Zeke the dog could be heard barking somewhere in the darkness. Ron stood in the center of the motels parking area, slowly turning in a circle with a flashlight in one had and an M-16 in the other. Rick was thirty feet down the length of the motel, peering into Zack’s room. Scott Bowen stood twenty feet to Matt’s right, shotgun in his arms. And Jenkins was at the far end of the motel, peering around the side.
“Where’s Mac?” he called to Ron.
“I don’t know? I heard him scream something about a superzombie and the he took off running into the darkness.” Ron concentrated his flashlight near the corner of the motel, which was flanked by the nearby trees. He spotted something and raised his rifle.
“HOLD IT!” Mac called, stepping into the light.
“You damn near got your head blown off!” Ron screamed.
“Was there a superzombie?” Matt called, stepping out into the parking lot.
“It had to be. Normal zombies don’t move like that.”
“Did you see it?” Ron asked.
“I was awakened by a rotten stench. I looked out my back window and that’s when I saw it…” Mac’s eyes became distant. “It was coming out of one of the room windows. It was crouched low to the ground and stayed in the shadows. Even as I saw it the bastard laid eyes on me…Glowing red eyes that burned like red-hot coals. Then it turned and ran into the forest. I grabbed my gun and ran outside where Ron was walking patrol. By that time the dog was barking like crazy. I screamed a warning to him then ran around the back of the motel. I spotted the creature again, about one hundred yards back in the woods. I fired several shots at it but dared not follow it into the forest.”
“Whose room was it exiting from?” Susan asked. She had stepped outside during Mac’s story.
“I think it was Zack’s.” He said. Matt turned to see Rick waving assuredly from Zack’s door.
“He’s alright. He’s been coughing and needs some cleaning up, but other than that he’s still the same.” It was apparent by his tone of voice that it wouldn’t be him cleaning Zack.
“It must have smelled his blood.” Jenkins said.
Matt, Jenkins, Ron and Susan walked into Zack’s room. Bloody phlegm covered his face and chest. His skin was pale and covered in sweat. His breathing was coming in ragged gasps. Matt bent down and touched his forehead.
“His fever has broken.” He said amazedly. Matt grabbed Zack’s chin and looked at his face. His eyes were half open and only the whites of his eyes were visible. His pale flesh felt clammy now that his fever was gone.
“Zack can you hear me?” Matt gently shook his chin. He was rewarded with a slight moan and Zack feebly tried to open his eyes fully. “Easy buddy…” Matt said.
“He’s not out of the woods yet.” Jenkins said.
“He’s going to make it.” Susan said sharply, glaring at Jenkins. Jenkins would have argued with her but something near the window caught his eye. He stepped past Susan to the window and bent down to examine something.
“Slime,” Jenkins said. “Just like at the grocery store.”
“Those bodies that we found tied up with their brains sucked out,” Ron said. “There were slime tracks all around them.”
“There isn’t as much slime here, but it sure looks the same.” Jenkins said. He touched some to his finger and sniffed, his face went sour. “Smells the same too.”
“Whatever kind of zombie got those prisoners in the store was in this room with Zack.” Ron said.
“Mac said it was climbing out the window when he saw it. It had been in here and was leaving. Why didn’t it kill Zack?” Matt asked.
“The dog started barking before Rick come pounding on my door. Maybe the dog scared it away?” Ron said.
“Running for its life?” Jenkins didn’t sound convinced.
“Maybe it had eaten somewhere else and was already full?” Susan said. “But it came to investigate the smell of blood anyway.”
“Deadfucks don’t get full. I saw one that had eaten so much its stomach exploded, but it still tried to feed.” Jenkins retorted.
“Whatever the reason he’s a lucky S-O-B.” Ron said.
“I’m staying
with him the rest of the night.” Matt said.
“I’ll sit with you.” Susan gripped his hand and smiled at him.
They gathered some towels and hot water and cleaned Zack up as well as changed his soaking bandages. As they washed the blood from his wounds Matt was glad to see both the arm and side wound had stopped bleeding. Better yet tiny bloody bubbles no longer emerged from between Zack’s ribs with each breath. They wrapped him tight to better aid his breathing and covered him with a blanket.
By 6:15 am the sun was beginning to poke its head above the eastern horizon. Matt felt a bone weary tiredness seep into him. He stretched with a loud moan to clear his head. Susan was dozing in a chair by the door. Matt opened the door to the room and saw Jenkins, Ron and Mac were already awake and making preparations to move out. Matt slung his AR-15 over his shoulder and walked outside. As he approached he could see the lack of sleep in all their eyes.
“You look like you could use some pick me up.” Ron said, extending his hand. He held a little snuff bullet. “Cocaine… It’ll open your eyes.” Matt usually avoided hard drugs but he was exhausted and another long, dangerous day was just beginning. He had to be awake and aware for any danger. He took the bullet and tooted a small bit up each nostril. It burned like powdered glass but the effect was almost immediate. His fatigue melted away and his senses sharpened to crystal clarity.
“Thanks.” He said, handing the bullet back to Ron.
“Keep it. I’ve got another.” Ron smiled at him.
“Thanks again.” Matt said. He went back in to offer some to Susan who was still dozing on the chair. To his surprise she took it with a smile of old familiarity and quickly snorted one up each nostril.
“Bennie pushed this shit the whole time I was with him.”
Outside the dog could be heard barking and Matt quickly looked out, fearful of attacking zombies…but the dog was barking at his master Scotty, who held a battered blue baseball in one hand, teasing the dog with throwing it. Paranoia was another bad side effect of cocaine…
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