Donna of the Not Undead (...of the Not Undead Book 1)

by Bryan Mosier

  Chapter 7

  ‘We need to get out of here…NOW!” declares Justin, the urgency in his voice returning.

  With the startling realization that the sanctuary of the house will soon be overrun with a horde of zombies set aflame by the conflagration unleashed in the back yard, the boys hurriedly throw open the front door and make for the Henderson’s garage across the street. Fortunately, their plan worked perfectly. Looking across the way they find their path completely devoid of any undead obstacles and quickly their careful sneaking walk becomes a mad dash to safety. Upon arriving at the Henderson’s the boys immediately begin sorting out the situation. Sitting in the garage are three all-terrain vehicles. The largest of the three, obviously built for a larger individual would have belonged to Mr. Henderson seeing that he was a man of substantial girth. The other two mid-sized atv’s were geared for a smaller frame like those of Mrs. Henderson and their son Harold.

  “Okay, so now what?” asks Bryan, looking to Alex for guidance.

  “We get these things started and get the hell out of here.”

  Having never actually ridden an a.t.v.Alex is the first to ask“How exactly do we start these things?”

  “They gottahave a key or something”.

  Suddenly a thunderous racket fills the garage. Brandon, sitting on one of the smaller vehicles, Virgil planted firmly between the chrome handle bars, smiles and says“Turn the key and hit the button, this little lever on the right handlebar is the gas, this is the hand break and down by your left foot is the gear shift”

  “How the hell do you know this?” asks Alex.

  “Remember when you guys were always playing Lord of the Rings edition Risk and you said that it was too complicated for my little brain to understand?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “And you told me to go outside and play?”

  “Yeah”

  “While you guys were doing that I was over here with Harry and he let me ride his four-wheeler.”

  “But I thought he was atotal douche?”

  “He was, but he had a four-wheeler.”

  Alex and Justin immediately jump onto the remaining a.t.v.sand proceed to follow Brandon’s instructions and manage to get both of the vehicles started.

  “OkayBrandon, scoot back so I can drive” says Bryan.

  “I don’t think so. You jump on back and I’ll drive.”

  “Uh, I DON’T think so, I’m older so I’ll drive.”

  “I’m the one with the most experience.”

  “He does have a point” adds Justin.

  As Bryan and Brandon argue over who will have the privilege of driving it is Alex who notices“Hey, guys, we need to hurry. Look!”

  Across the street the house has become fully engulfed in flames and the zombie horde has begun to move away from the house to avoid being consumed by the flames. They slowly begin to make their way to the only other source of stimuli around, the sound of the atv engines echoing out of the garage.

  “Let’s go!” yells Alex.

  In desperation Bryan jumps onto the back of the a.t.v.that Brandon has claimed. As he wraps his arms around the youngster’s waist it is all too apparent to him the awkward vision this arrangement must present.

  “Okay, one click up on the gear shift and give it gas” yells Brandon, demonstrating as he shouts orders. With that his vehicle lurches forward with a hard jolt that almost causes Bryan to flip backwards off the back of the atv nearly dragging Brandon with him. The sudden jolt and loud racket of the engines finally proves too much for the little Boston Terrier to take as Virgil leaps from the front of the atv and scurries off to disappear in the bushes surrounding the garage. As Brandon starts to jump from the vehicle to give chase, Alex yells for him to stay put.

  “I can’t just leave him” yells Brandon, the fear in his voice still audible over the sound of the engines roaring.

  “He’ll be fine” says Alex, trying to project more confidence than he truly feels. “We don’t have time to chase him down and besides, he’s survived this long, he’ll be fine. We’ll come back for him when it safer”. Following Brandon’s instructions Alex lifts up on the gear shift of his vehicle with the toe of his tattered canvas Chuck Taylor tennis shoe but is greeted with a horrible grinding sound that cannot indicate anything positive for the mechanical workings of the machine.

  “Let off the gas then lift up on the gear shift.” yells Brandon as he zips down the Henderson’s paved drive way.

  Doing so Alex feels the gear grab hold and presses firmly on the throttle causing the vehicle to lurch forward with such force that he nearly throws himself from the rear of the machine.

  After a healthy, deriding laugh at Alex’s awkward start, Justin, having learned from Alex’s mistakes, lifts up on the gear shift of his machine and gently presses the throttle causing the ATV to slowly move forward.

  Finally getting the hang of how to manipulate the a.t.v.’s accelerator and gear shift, Alex and Justin take off, zipping through the street, bobbing and weaving around all manner of refuse and debris, including several pieces of high end home entertainment equipment, apparently taken from the homes by looters after the rule of law had broken down.

  Catching up to Brandon and Bryan after a few frustrating attempts of shifting into higher gears, Alex and Justin begin to breathe easier as the chaos they left behind fades further into the distance.

  Having driven for a for what seems like miles and seeing the heavily forested views of the rural county road give way to a relatively more urban view as they get closer to town each of the four youths can feel their apprehension levels begin to build. Back in the safety of their own neighborhood they were surrounded by familiar landmarks and terrain. Even with the mass of undead walking around looking for any chance to take a bite out of them, it was still home. Sure they were zombies, but they used to be their friends and neighbors, so in a weird sense it kinda felt like they were their zombies. Here, closer to town the landscape was less familiar. Sure they had been through here countless times before but most often it was just while riding on the bus passing through as they went to and from school. Passing by these same buildings now seemed like an invitation for some crazed hunger addled flesh eater to jump out from behind a corner and try to take a chunk out of them.

  Alex, looking around to find a quiet, secluded spot away from any houses scattered about the landscape, gestures for the other would be rescuers to stop so they might assess their situation.

  “Okay, so now what?” asks Justin.

  “What do yamean, now what? We ride to Donna’s and save the day and she rewards me by showering me with kisses and, ahem, other expressions of affection. You know, hero shit.” declares Bryan.

  “We are still a long way from where she said she lives. We have to assume that there are a lot more zombies between us and Donna.”

  “Ah crap!” exclaims Bryan.

  “What’s the matter?” asks Alexa look of apprehension on his face at Bryan’s sudden outburst.

  “I forgot Lizzy.”

  “You forgot who? Who the fuck is Lizzy?”

  “My baseball bat. You know the one with the nails in it.”

  “You named your baseball bat Lizzy? What the fuck?”

  “It does seem an odd choice of moniker for such a weapon” adds Justin.

  “I named her after Lizzy Borden, you know the psycho chic that chopped up her mom and dad.”

  “I know who she is but why would you name a baseball bat with nails all over it after a psycho murdering chic from the 19thcentury.”

  “Because, like Lizzy Borden, she’s one mean bitch!”

  “Okaythen…” starts Alex and with that lets the subject drop.

  “We forgot something else” says Brandon, the look of hurt and anger showing on his face. “We just left him!” he says, the look of concern for his little four legged friend clearly evident on his face.

  “Don’t worry about Virgil” says Alex.“There isn’t a thing in this world can get a ho
ld of that little fellaif he don’t want to get caught. He’s probably back there running circles around those stiff legged freaks.”

  “But…” starts Brandon

  “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. We’ll go back for him once we finish our mission.”

  Trying to change the subject Bryan interjects,“You know fellas we could probably stand to replenishour arsenal a bit. Maybe we should find someplace to restock.”

  “There’s the gun shop in town” notes Brandon.

  “Dude, you have so much to learn about the apocalypse” says Bryan.

  With a snicker and chuckle Alex and Justin agree.

  “Yeah, everyone knows that you do notuse guns to fight zombies” says Justin

  “Why not?”

  “For one, they make too much freakin noise. You shoot that one lone zombie with a nine-mil and before you know it you got a freakin herd of brain suckers cominto see what’s the big commotion is allabout” explains Bryan.

  “And what about ammunition” adds Justin. “What good is a gun when you run out of bullets?”

  “Everyone knows that when it comes to fighting the undead, you have to stick with the tried and true melee weapons and throw ranged out the window.”

  “So what kind of weapon is best then?” asks Brandon.

  Justin, seeing his chance to educate the youngster in the fine art of zombie slaying begins,“Well, let us take a moment to examine some potential candidates. If we are talking sheer brute force, blunt trauma well then you are probably looking at some type of axe. Now you could go for the double bit for versatility but you run the risk of one side getting hung up on a piece of skull or rib cage. The single bit axe is less versatile but it does have more weight and, with a flat side, is a more stable skull crushing platform to work with. Now if speed and stealth are more your style, well, there is really only one logical choice, the Katana blade. Its fast, razor sharp and its curved blade makes separating a zombie from its cerebral burndena mere act of child’s play.”

  “You mean like this one, Brandon says, holding up his ebaytreasure from earlier.”

  “Well, um yes, that would be exactly the..um…yes, yes indeed.”

  “Why don’t you just let me hold that for you…” starts Bryan but is quickly rebuffed.

  “Don’t even think about it” says Brandon with a coldness that sends a slight chill through Bryan and the rest of the group.

  “Well, the fact is we need to re-arm ourselves and the best place for that, I think, will be a hardware store. Maynard’s isn’t that far away and it’s not really that close to any houses or apartment buildingsso there shouldn’t be a lot of undead action around.” suggests Alex.

  With everyone nodding in agreement he adds,“Sounds like a plan then. Let’s go.”

  Turning the key and pressing the little red ignition button Alex yells over the din of the a.t.v.’sengine,“Let’s take it slow and everyone be really careful and keep an eye out. We don’t know how many biters might be hiding round any of these buildings.”

  Seeing the look of fear on Justin and Bryan’s faces, Alex slowly turns to look in the direction of their gaze. Looking down the road Alex sees the object of their apprehension as one after another a slow ambling figure stumbles into their path. Drawn by the sound of their engines, the road ahead is soon littered with nearly half a dozen undead obstacles.

  “Oh shit!” whispers Bryan as he ducks low behind the back of Brandon’s a.t.v.“What the hell? How’re we supposed to get through those things.”

  “I got an idea” says Alex. Motioning to Justin to follow, Alex clicks the silver gear shift by his toe up once causing the vehicle to lurch forward. Follow me he yells to Justin as he presses the accelerator hard. Giving Bryan and Brandon a cautious look he quickly starts his four-wheeler and gives chase. Pulling up beside Alex Justin yells“If I might ask, what exactly are we doing? As Alex points at the heavy black metal tubular frame of the brush guard attached to the front of his vehicle, Justin realizes his intent. Feeling his stomach creep up into his throat Justin tries to swallow down the fear. Lowering himself down so that his head is nearly level with the wide flat handle bars of the a.t.v., Justin squeezes the black rubber handle grips hard.

  Taking aim at a stumbling figure a few hundred feet away Justin locks his eyes on his target with a hyper sense of focus. Thinking only about his target and the queasiness in his stomach Justin is surprised as another undead zombie stumbles out from behind a low red brick wall to his right. In an instinctual, knee jerk reaction Justin veers his a.t.v. away from the oncoming undead assailant and in doing so drives his vehicle off the edge of the road, losing control of his vehicle. With his front wheel dropping into the deep drainage ditch lining the edge of the road, the front of Justin’s four wheeler suddenly drops causing the vehicle to get stuck. Still having significant forward momentum, the abrupt change in speed combined with the sharp downward angle of the vehicle’s front end, Justin is propelled forward, flipping head over heels through the air. Landing hard on his back with his helmeted skull slamming hard against the ground the force of the impact momentarily knocks him unconscious.

  Hearing the crash behind him Alex, attempting to see what has happened, looks back over his shoulder. Seeing Justin crash hard to the ground he momentarily forgets his own situation and allows his own vehicle to drift off the edge of the road. Feeling himself losing control of his vehicle, he tries to turn the wheels back towards the safety of the pavement but overcorrects causing his vehicle to lurch hard to the right. This sudden change in direction coupled with the abrupt shifting of his weight stresses the vehicle’s traction control past its limit. Feeling the four-wheelers tires coming off the ground Alex is forced to make a split second decision. He can either hang on with all his might and hope for the best or he can abandon his grip and leap from the doomed vehicle hoping that any possible injuries would be less severe without the five-hundred-pound machine rolling on top of him. As he finds himself rolling on the hard asphalt, he quickly realizes that he made the right choice in abandoning the a.t.v. as he sees plastic and metal shrapnel flying from the wreckage of the vehicle as it comes to a rest as a mangled hunk of jagged metal and plastic.

  Groaning, Alex can already feel the aches and painsstarting to set in as his adrenaline rush subsides. “Oh shit, that’s gonnaleave a mark.” Just as he begins to lose consciousness Alexremembers,“OH FUCK! Where is the zombie?” It’sat that moment he hears“Aaargh, slobber, slobber, drool” (Well, maybe he doesn’t actually hear the slobber, slobber, drool but definitely the aargh). Looking up Alex sees standing over him the blood covered,maw agape horror of the zombie, it’s glowing red eyes fixed on his as it starts to lurch forward to take a bite out of his face. The only thing that registers in Alex’s mind as he sees his life pass before his eyes is the peculiar sound that it makes. Something like the cross between a chainsaw being revved to its limitand one of those crappy techno dance mixes with the loud distortion effects with a couple of“WoooHooo’s” thrown in. Then it hits him,“Zombies don’t go WooHoo.” Alex barely manages to throw himself back away from the zombie before the a.t.v.rushes past. It all happens so fast that when the head of the zombie lands at his feet, he still isn’t sure what exactly just happened. As he sits there in bewilderment Brandon and Bryan pull up close, skidding to a halt on the last functional vehiclethey have. Brandon, still in the driver’s seat jumps off and says “WOOOOOOHOOOOOO! That was flippinawesome”. Bryan, holding the blood covered katana blade so prized by the youngest member of their group simply says“I so gottaget me one of these”.

  “Nowhand it back over, don’t want you gettinany ideas” says Brandon

  Handing the sword back to Brandon, Bryan asks Alexif he’s alright.

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Looks like my makeshift armor ain’t just for surviving zombies. It helps with four-wheeler accidents also.

  Looking around Alex sees the remaining undead figures ambling towards where he and the others are standing.“Shit! What
the hell are we gonnado?”

  Looking at his brother Brandon, his tone brimming with overconfidence, calmly says,“Don’t worry fellas, I got this.”

  “Fuck, what do we do now. We ain’tgot any weapons.”

  “You ain’tgot any weapons” says Brandon as he jumps onto his a.t.v.

  Before anyone can protest he jams his vehicle into gear and races off towards the group of zombies. What happens next is both at once wondrous and terrifying.

  Zooming at top speed toward the lead zombie Alex and Bryan are sure of Brandon’s intent to slam head first into the stumbling corpse but are surprised as he quickly decelerates. Gripping the handle hard, engaging the vehicle’s front break, Brandon leans forward as the rear tires of the a.t.v. quickly rise into the air. Rolling forward, as if doing a wheelie in reverse the vehicle comes to a momentous, heart pounding halt, pausing mere inches from the anticipatory maw of the snarling creature. Thrusting his sword forward, Brandon pierces the creature’s forehead, pulling the blade free just as the rear wheels of the vehicle return to terra firma.

  Watching from the safety of their distant vantage point, Alex feels both fear and pride for how his little brother is handling the horror show that their reality has become. The way the youngster manages to manipulate the four-wheeler with one hand as he first pivots the vehicle towards his next victim only to swerve and sway his way around zombie after the other, dispatching each with an unnerving deftness, hacking and slashing with the katana blade in the other hand. The maelstrom of blood and body parts would seem like something out of a Tarantino movie lacking only the garnish of musical accompaniment. In this case however, the only aural accents are the“WooooHooos” bellowing from the youngster each time his blade makes contact with one of the undead. When the motorized melee is complete and he comes screeching to a halt in front of the other three, it is with a little uncertainty that each of the three spectators takes a step back, unsure if he was content to stop with the undead. With one last“WoooHooo” Brandon sits smiling with a sense of extreme self-satisfaction.