Waiting to Die ~ A Zombie Novel

by Cochran, Richard M.

  “So you’re saying that she’s already dead.”

  “No, I’m saying we don’t have any other options,” he explains, “Have you looked outside lately? There are hundreds of those things out there, and every fucking one of them is waiting for the chance to eat us. If we go outside, we’re dead.”

  “If we stay in here, we’re dead,” she recoils in anger and glares at him. “It seems to me that we’re screwed either way.”

  “But if we stay in here, we might at least have a chance of living long enough for the government or the police, or who the fuck ever is in charge to sort this shit out.”

  “And wait for Sarah to die?”

  “No, that’s not what I’m saying,” he says as he shakes his head. “If she can hold out for a little while longer, I’m sure someone will come to help us.”

  “Johnny, the fucking television went out yesterday and the power went out this morning. I would say that’s pretty good evidence that no one is coming any time soon,” she retorts. “Whoever is dealing with this has much bigger problems than a couple of people stuck in a house that didn’t pay attention to the evacuation notices.”

  “I’m not going out there.” He turns away from her.

  “You’re being a coward,” she says.

  “That may be, but at least I’ll be a living coward.” He shakes his head dismissively. “Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I don’t want Sarah to die either and as sure as hell don’t want to deal with what’s going to happen if she changes. I don’t know what else to do.”

  April wipes her brow in thought. “I know, I know, this isn’t the best scenario for trying to come up with a plan, but we have to do something.”

  He raises his eyebrows. “I’m listening if you have any ideas.”

  “We could get in the car, start it up, open the garage door, and hit the gas. If we’re fast enough, I don’t think they’ll be able to stop us,” she says looking over Johnny’s reaction.

  He looks as if he’s been hit with a baseball bat. “You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s your plan?”

  “Do you have something better?”

  “No, but I’m sure as fuck not doing that.” He gives her a sickened expression. “It would be different if I had backed the car in and we could get a running start on them, but the last time I pulled it into the garage, I headed in. I don’t want to have to back over a few dozen corpses while trying to negotiate onto the street before I can finally get the fuck out of here. We have to come up with something better.”

  April moves to the front window and pulls the curtain aside by a few inches. “They move so slowly, I’ll bet we could walk right pass them.”

  “We probably could if we didn’t have Sarah,” he replies.

  “What if one of us goes for help while the other stays here with Sarah?” she asks.

  Johnny cocks his head and turns his attention to April. “That might actually work. You could stay here and I could take the gun and see if I can find some help. I would be a lot faster on my own. I think I can do it.”

  In a sudden burst, Johnny gets up and heads upstairs to the bedroom. He shuffles around in the closet for a few minutes before returning to the living room with a small, metal box. “The shells are on the top shelf of the pantry, could you go get them for me?”

  “Don’t you think it’s kind of pointless to have the gun upstairs while the ammo is down here?” she asks.

  “I didn’t want Sarah to get a hold of it so I kept them separate.”

  April nods and goes into the kitchen. After a while, she comes back with a box of 9mm ammo covered in dust. “Is this it?” she asks.

  “Yeah,” he answers. “Just sit them on the couch while I clean this thing. It hasn’t been used in a while.”

  After he has wiped the weapon down, he pulls the clip and begins filling it with the rounds. Each shell slides easily into place with a subtle click. He slides the clip back into place and cocks the gun, filling the chamber.

  “I guess the closest place would be the police station. Maybe I can get one of the officers to come back with me and get you guys out,” he says.

  “You should probably leave through the back door, I don’t see any of them out there,” April replies, peeking through the blinds in the kitchen.

  Johnny holds the pistol down at his side and licks his lips. “Wish me luck?”

  “Good luck,” April confirms with a look of intensity.

  As Johnny stands ready at the door, he instructs April to swing it open. As soon as the door is pulled inward, he aims the pistol and steps out into the back yard. A hand darts out from the bottom of the doorway and grabs him by the ankle. He looks down, wide eyed and kicks at the appendage. A snarling face gnashes out and snaps at his leg. In a flash, another corpse turns the corner from the other side of the door and reaches out with dripping hands, blocking April from closing the door.

  Through the open back gate of the yard, several corpses approach, wedging their bodies through in haste as the melee ensues.

  “Christ! Shut the door,” Johnny pleads with April.

  “I can’t,” she screams as she wrenches on the doorknob.

  Johnny turns and stomps the body on the ground, snapping off its nose with the heel of his boot. The creature doesn’t flinch as the skin hangs precariously from its face, drooping across its cheek. It snaps again and snatches Johnny’s pant leg.

  He swings his leg around the creature’s head while it has a firm hold on his pants. The kick is so swift that Johnny is able to jerk the ghoul’s head around before he stomps down, snapping its neck. He turns his attention to April as she struggles with the other corpse.

  “Get back!” Johnny shouts.

  April ducks as Johnny points the pistol at the other creature’s head.

  The shot cracks in deafening report and the corpse jerks backward. Its skull explodes, sending fragments of bone and hair arching through the air. Dull slaps hit the walkway behind the creature as the gore lands and scuttles off in the direction of the gunfire.

  The other bodies are making their way up the sidewalk, shambling and moaning. Bent frames lurch toward the sound and continue to pour through the back gate. Painful moans creep from the dead, filling the air with ghastly calls.

  “Get back in the house!” Johnny yells.

  “Goddamn it, I can’t,” April screams back. “The body’s blocking the door.”

  “Shit!” he exclaims as he leans down and grabs the spent creature’s legs. He keeps a watchful eye on the ghouls as they bridge the gap between him and the yard. “Fuck, help me!”

  April grabs the body’s shoulders and tugs upward. “He’s too heavy!” she shouts.

  The dead are only a few feet away now as Johnny looks back at them with horror in his eyes. “We have to go,” he says as he drops the body and grabs April by the shirtsleeve.

  Johnny pulls her out of the way and bends down in a linebacker stance. With his shoulder low, he launches himself toward the nearest corpse and sends its legs out from beneath it. The creature catapults through the air, twisting and snarling before it lands hard on the grass.

  He turns and grabs April again, tugging her behind him. “We have to get the fuck out of here,” he shouts, aiming the pistol and firing at another ghoul. Its hisses are cut short be the bullet that rips through its face, splattering a grizzly, rotten body behind it.

  All of the dead have made their way through the gate and are swarming around the pair in the yard. Rancid cries ring out as they draw nearer.

  April can’t react as she’s pulled along through the back gate as more cadavers encroach from the alleyway behind the house. Johnny is nearly dragging her now as he sprints away from the bodies.

  “Wait!” April yells, but can’t seem to muster the breath for the rest of her thought.

  A block away and the dead are beginning to thin out. There are fewer bodies as Johnny pulls April behind him into a nook alongside a house. He is panting through the sweat that drips along his
face. He stares blankly, stricken by fear and adrenalin.

  “We have to go back,” she whispers.

  Johnny looks at her like she’s gone mad, “We can’t,” he breathes.

  “We have to go back for Sarah.”

  “It’s too late, there’s nothing we can do for her. There are too many of them,” he gasps.

  “Goddamn you, Johnny, she’s just a little girl!” she raises her voice.

  “Alright, listen,” he says. “We’ll backtrack and go into the yard next to ours and see if we can get to her. I locked her bedroom door so she should be safe for a while.”

  Inside, Johnny can feel his instincts kicking in. He wants run. He wants to get as far away from this as he can. He wants to forget about the child that he knows is already beyond help and get April and himself to safety. It’s a burning urge to be the coward and get away, to survive, to live to fight another day, but he knows April would never forgive him if he doesn’t try.

  Going against his instincts, he makes his way back to the house with April close on his heels. They jump the fence into the yard a few houses down from their own and cross from yard to yard.

  “There it is,” he says, looking from the back porch of the neighboring house. “Christ, April, there’s too many of them.”

  “What if we go in through the upstairs window? We might be able to get her out that way,” April says as she glances to the rain gutter.

  “I can try,” he breathes.

  A set of hands slap up against the window, startling April. She swallows a scream as she watches Sarah’s white, lifeless face slap against the glass with jerking squeaks as the blood smears in its wake.

  “Oh my God …” she says as she looks away.

  Johnny frowns and diverts his gaze to the ground.

  “We can’t leave her like this,” she says with a look of determination.

  “What?” Johnny asks in shock. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of going up there.”

  “We can’t leave her like one of those things,” she replies, still staring at the smearing face of the child.

  “Damn it, April, listen to what you’re saying,” he pleads with her. “She’s already gone, there’s nothing we can do.”

  “We have to kill her, we can’t leave her like that,” she says, expressionless.

  “We’re going to do no such thing,” he says. “We’re going to get the fuck out of here while we still can.” He grabs her by the shoulder and tries to shake her, but she pulls away.

  “If you’re too much of a coward, then I’ll do it myself,” she says and walks toward the fence.

  Johnny grabs her and pulls her to the ground. “The fuck you are.” April kicks at him, but he manages to subdue her. He pins her arms down and looks her in the eyes. “We haven’t gotten this far for you to go and make some stupid mistake. I would never forgive myself for letting you go in there and getting yourself killed.”

  April breathes heavily and begins to cry. Her face wells up and begins to redden along her cheeks.

  “It’s okay, let’s just get out of here,” he says as he helps her to her feet.

  “And where are we going to go?” she sobs.

  “We’ll head to the coast, steal a boat and see if we can find a rescue ship.”

  She looks at him, almost convinced.

  “We’re only a few miles from the beach and unless those goddamn things can swim, we should be safer on the water.”

  As Johnny leads her away across the yard to the fence, April looks back at her sister in the window. The child’s mouth is agape as she stares off into nothingness. Sarah’s head jerks and she stares directly at April. Even though the girl’s eyes are already glossed over and turning white, April can’t help but to think she senses something there; a faint hint of the child that used to be, a subtle spark of awareness.

  She tucks her head into Johnny’s shoulder and he holds her tightly as the dead fill their home. Their howls drown out April’s sobs. Their wails muffle her cries. The breaking glass and splintering wood stifle her breaking heart.

  ·7

  Pain nurses away the last bits of hope from April’s heart as she trudges along behind Johnny, halfheartedly trying to keep up with him.

  “Come on,” he urges her. “It’s not much farther.”

  She looks up toward him, her eyes puffy and red, diverting her gaze from the ground. “Johnny, I’m tired. I need to rest for a minute.”

  “It’s only another few blocks,” he says, turning to her. “We can rest once we’re there.”

  “How do you know it’s still there?” she asks. “What if it was looted? What if those things are there and we can’t get through?”

  “It’ll be fine, trust me,” he says, waiting for her.

  “But how do you know, Johnny?”

  “Listen, this place is only a few blocks from my work,” he explains. “My buddy lives there. He’s a total packrat. There’ll be more food than we’ll know what to do with.”

  “What about the dead?” she asks.

  “There’s a secret way in through the train yard,” he explains.

  “Will your friend let us stay there?”

  “Yeah, Mike’s a great guy,” Johnny says. “He just has a tendency to overstock on supplies. I think it’s called OCD or something.”

  “So he lives in a shit hole.”

  “No, that’s not it,” he replies. “He’s really organized. He just has a lot of stuff.” Johnny inspects a portion of fence between some overgrown hedges and turns to April with a smile, “Through here,” he motions.

  April crouches down between the hedges and follows Johnny through an open portion of fence. The gap is tight, but she’s able to wiggle herself through. She snags her shirt on a piece of fence that is hanging precariously from the other links.

  “Damn it!” She exclaims as she unthreads her shirt from the wire.

  Johnny tries to help her, but reaches her as she finally gets loose. “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she replies, adjusting the shirt on her shoulders.

  At the edge of the property, Johnny gazes upward along a narrow building on the other side of the fence. A series of catwalks connect along the back of the building, extending to ladders that wind around to each level.

  “So we went through a fence to be blocked off by another fence?” April questions.

  “There’s a way around here,” Johnny says. “Did I happen to mention that Mike’s a little paranoid?”

  “And?”

  “And he used to come in through here so no one would know that he was home.” Johnny reaches up to a low hanging branch and pulls himself up.

  “Yeah, that is a little paranoid,” she replies.

  Guttural howls snap them back to reality. From across the train yard, a horde of the undead shamble pass train tracks, eyes locked on April and Johnny.

  “Shit!” Johnny shouts. “Grab my hand!” He reaches down and grabs April’s arm.

  “Hurry, they’re coming,” she cries.

  With all his strength, Johnny pulls her upward as her feet scrape on dry, brittle bark, searching for a foothold. He leans forward, bracing himself on the branch and clasps his other hand around her wrist.

  The dead wind through the train cars, crunching along loose gravel as they make their way toward the promise of movement. Dried blood cakes to their uniforms, blots out nametags, and blurs the image of the station logo that adorns their shirts. With rabid cries, a few of the dead are on April, clawing at her pants as she tries to kick them away. She screams and flails her other arm, grasping for anything to take her away from their snapping mouths.

  With a burst of adrenalin, Johnny tugs her upward, nearly wrenching her over the branch with the force he exerts.

  “Oh, Jesus!” April pants in terror as the rest of the undead who were lagging behind reach up toward them with snarling faces and broken, bloody teeth.

  Close to the first series of catwalks, Johnny reaches out and snags the
railing. With a quick movement, he heaves himself over and lands on the catwalk. “Come on,” he says as he reaches out to April, helping her over.

  The dead grow in numbers, rasping out unintelligible growls as they probe the low hanging branches of the tree in an attempt to get at the moving feast.

  “Where the hell did they all come from?” April asks, still shaken.

  Johnny could see the story play out in his mind. One of the dead got in, probably the bag lady at the back of the crowd of bodies, and bit one of the workers. The infection took hold and reanimated the poor bastard. He, in turn, bit one of the other yard men and so on until they were all infected. What his imagination couldn’t convey was how they had snuck up on them without warning.

  From the images he had seen on the news it wasn’t hard to piece it all together. The infection was relentless. Within minutes of being bitten, people started to change. Their eyes went white, their hearts stopped beating, and they returned to this unnatural state, hungry for blood.

  He didn’t want to know any more, he didn’t want to consider the spiritual implications or the mass carnage that was ripping through the city. Beyond anything else, he didn’t want to think of how far this had spread. He couldn’t begin to imagine what the rest of the world looked like now. He suddenly thought of distant islands, of places void of the dead and the idea of escaping out on a boat into the ocean became all that much more gratifying.

  “Are we going or not?” April asks, pulling Johnny from his daydream.

  “Yeah,” he shakes the thoughts from his head, “it’s just up there.” He points a couple of floors up to a landing.

  They take to the stairs as the dead moan bellow in nervous hysteria, frantically searching for a way to get at them.

  “This is it here,” Johnny says, peering through the window, shielding his eyes to get a better look at the inside of the apartment. “It doesn’t look like he’s home.”