Controlling the Dead

by Annie Walls

  I sling zombie brain off my face. “Glinda! You could have shot me!”

  She gives me apologetic eyes and shakes out her hands. “Sorry, Suga. I wasn’t thinkin’. That fuck had all kinds a nasty.”

  Gunshots keep thundering. “Move out!” someone shouts. I don’t know who it is, but I grab Glinda and drag her to the front of the truck and shove her in the front seat. I hop in after, making her scoot to the driver’s seat. A famished slams against the driver’s side door right before an arrow goes through its head. It’s female and as she slumps into the door, her hair sticks to the window by thickened blood. She’s jerked from our sight.

  The door opens causing Glinda to scream and Rudy jumps in on top of her. Layers of slaughtered bits and blood coat his body. My breath comes out in a whoosh of relief at seeing him okay and unharmed. Glinda wiggles out from underneath him as he passes his bow for me to hold. I look out the front window to see the team’s vehicles, indeed moving out, but with a few famished hanging on. Even the truck moves back and forth slightly from zombies frantically trying to get in. Rudy starts the truck, punching the gas. We follow Sander’s van out as it turns so sharply the famished fly off the roof. Rudy follows him and a big explosion comes from the gas pumps.

  Glinda gasps. “Reece! Yew gotta stop!” She grabs the wheel in a moment of blind panic. Rudy flings her back with his arm. Her head bounces on the seat as he grabs the wheel again in a tight grip.

  “Now, look here before you go getting hysterical. Reece made bombs with long fuses. I saw him pull out behind me with Gwen.” His face tells me he speaks the truth. I let out a breath.

  “Oh. Thank gawd!” Glinda chokes out. “I don’t know whut I’d do if he died.”

  “You’d move on, because that’s what you do,” I tell her, thinking of Mac and the reason he is dead, and the way everyone gets on with life just fine besides Gwen, Rudy, and I.

  Horror dawns on her face realizing what she said. “Oh Suga, yew know I didn’t mean it that way.”

  “Yes, you did,” Rudy says, staring at the road. That’s a very Mac thing to say. Maybe he’s thinking about it, too.

  I gape at him. Glinda takes a sharp breath. “Yew are surely tha one ta talk—”

  I tune her out as she chews him out for nothing. She did kind of get hysterical prematurely for a second, but I can’t help thinking I’d be the same way. I place a hand on her arm. “It’s okay. Reece is okay. No need to fight and make this sucky situation worse.” She shuts up, agreeing with a nod of her head. Rudy shoots me a grateful look. I continue, “Mago was right about being invulnerable to the famished here. They ignored me, but I couldn’t slow them down with my will.”

  “Did you think he wasn’t telling you the truth?” Rudy asks.

  “It’s not that. I’m glad he warned me. Otherwise, I’d be freaking out right now.”

  Rudy checks his mirrors. “I would be, too.”

  *

  We follow them until they stop in the wide open and we can see for miles. This is just a stop, clean up, and make sure everyone is okay. Everyone seems all right. None of us has experienced an attack like that in years. We all say as much.

  “Maybe we aren’t prepared to do this,” I say to Mago.

  He stands silent and stares me down. “Yes, you are.”

  “Can’t you do anything about them? It’ll make it easier.”

  He shakes his head. “It would take days, and I’m not equipped for the many invocations it would take to aid everyone.” Right. If he can’t do it for everyone, he won’t do it for anyone. Not to mention, it does take days and tons of energy. I shudder to think of the lethargy. All at once, he lets me see how tired he is. His skin is so dark, it hides his bags, but his face sags with sadness. It doesn’t reassure me any.

  “I thought…maybe they would try to catch them, not eat them. Like I saw at the cult, you know?”

  “I suspect, Kansas Moore, that we will run into many more before we get there. In my opinion, the revolutionists are taking precautions. They have been attacked by you once, they don’t want it to happen again. Once we get to Mya. We can get the majority of incidents to cease.” He turns and walks the other way. I sigh. He isn’t going to be any help, but if they expect another visit from us, it doesn’t bode well. And who’s to say they won’t inject a bunch of people. The revolutionists have to know the injected can’t be controlled without Mya’s spells.

  I walk to the group. “I have an idea.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Staring at the setting sun, I glimpse down at my map. Famished mill around waiting for something to put them in a whirl. There’s nothing. I left the group four hours ago to attempt to breach this compound. After the attack, we decided to camp farther away from the compound to try and keep everyone safer while they wait on me. My sole mission is to find Mya and map out the compound as well as I can.

  Mya can control the famished, so we can bring in the team and gather survivors. I’ll try to get information whenever the chance arises. With all the famished roaming around, I’m close. I can’t step backward without running into one, but none of them pay me the slightest attention, just like at the gas station.

  I grab my pack, putting my guns in the holsters. The extra ammo goes in my belt. I leave my bow in the car since I won’t need it for the famished. Folding the map, I stick it in my pack.

  I roll up my dreadlocks and slip on a toboggan and thin gloves. My hoodie and jacket keep me mostly warm. Everything’s black, so I can blend into the night. I even have on a pair of Sam’s black jeans. They’re baggy and bulge at the top where my belt holds them up. When I start walking, I warm up even more. A welcome feeling.

  Trudging through hordes of zombies sets me on edge. I suspect this would be how I’d have felt walking through the warehouse full of them. For some reason, I feel these zombies. I never noticed it before, but it’s there. On the brink of my mind and pulsating beneath my skin. It could be the fact I’m so close, I’m not sure, but their presence is in my bones.

  Rank bitterness rises to my nose. The cold keeps most of the smell away, but there’s no mistaking decomposing flesh. Famished and putrids of all kinds. I try not to look at them. They aren’t waiting around like the ones at the community. They are antsy, with teeth gnawing in their jaws. Every now and then, a snap echoes from the low moans of the rest of them. A light chattering of teeth hovers close to my ears as I pass through two standing close together. When a groan vibrates, the hairs on my neck stand on end as I shudder and keep moving forward.

  I’m glad for my jacket so I don’t have to skim against their cold, clammy skin as they bump into me. Vacant eyes of milky white and dark blood leer about in an eerie way. Discharge seeps out of the old, festering wounds covering their bodies. Some have globs of scalp missing, with a few scraggly hairs leftover. Some of them can pass for the newly dead, looking a bit ghastly with translucent skin and roadmap veins. Goose bumps sweep up my arms, making me wish for the light of the sun. My heartbeat picks up speed watching them creep around and bump into me in the moonlight. One bite. That’s all it would take, but I’m more worried about rogues. Every snarl brings my attention into focus, and my nerves light up with icy fear.

  I finally have to put my mind somewhere else—pushing aside the possibility of rogues and trying to forget about walking through them, period. When going over the plan, I could tell Rudy didn’t like it, but kept it to himself. He knows it’s the only way to get in. My lips pull into a half smile. He was all business, standing there with his arms crossed and jaw working as his mind frantically tried to come up with another way.

  He demanded Sam get me a pair of his black jeans and pulled me to the side. “Don’t hesitate to shoot anyone who gets in your way.” He stared down at me knowing it would be hard for me to do such a thing. “If you get backed into a corner, fight your way out. Forget Mya. We’ll figure something else out.” I swallowed and nodded, turning toward the car I would be driving. “Oh, Kansas?” I looked at him ove
r my shoulder. “If you are not back by morning, I’m coming after you.” He said it deep and deadly before flashing me a smile.

  I shiver at the thought of killing living people to get to Mya, so, I mentally prepare myself. I let my mind go blank and don’t think about living people verses the dead as it should be, but nothing is black and white. It’s very gray and very ashen. It’s us verses them.

  After about an hour, I come across a large fence. Twelve feet high, including the barbed wire scaling the top. I walk down the length of it, looking in. Indiscreet buildings are scattered and all appear alike, lit up with electricity. A mingle of assorted food scents permeates the air. This must be the independent housing. Large floodlights beam across the walking spaces. I’ll have to stick to the sides of the buildings. Behind a bigger building, I find a good spot to climb.

  Taking a large towel from my pack, I fold it, placing it under my arm before climbing the fence. The gloves help protect my hands. When I get to the top, I drape the towel as best as I can.

  Something grabs my foot and jerks. Holding on, I glance down. A rogue gnashes its teeth trying frantically to pull me down. I kick it with my other boot and as it lets go, I dangle and grapple with my feet before regaining balance.

  Sweat beads down my face as I swing my legs over. I’m finally gripping the other side of the fence, looking down on the famished. I try pulling the towel off because it’s a dead giveaway someone crossed this fence. It rips to shreds, but I pull most of what I can off. A piece of it snags from me pulling too hard, and I drop to the ground on my back.

  The air rushes out of me and the world spins before I can get air back into my body. Gagging on my breath, I sit up and spit on the ground. My legs feel like Jell-O as I stand and hope this doesn’t take away my stealth. I glance at the rogue famished, who is now reaching as far as it can through the fence, snarling. I need to get out of here.

  I make my way to the shadow of a building and go around it, skipping across the grass to another, which I soon figure out, is a house. I rest against it, catching my breath and wiping sweat. The close call is in the forefront of my mind. Any slower, just another second, and it would have gotten me. I bury the meaty part of my palms in my eyes, shaking my head. My hands tremble. After a minute, I make myself move on, hoping to find Mya. If I don’t, I’m in serious trouble.

  I’m right about the independent housing. The buildings seem to go on forever with no change. This compound is huge. Like a peeping Tom, I peer in windows to find a house without children. One thing this compound has the other one didn’t is TV. It appears to be compound-made entertainment. In one house, toddlers watch a televised puppet show. How lame. Poor kids, they need cartoons. You can’t be a kid without cartoons. The least they could do is play old reruns of something kids would actually enjoy watching.

  In another house, a couple heats up on the couch. She straddles and kisses him as he rubs her protruding belly. From the lack of children, I guess it’s their first child. Bingo. I sigh at their obvious stupidity and go into the backyard to try the sliding glass door. I sigh again as it opens. It seems I’ve picked the right house of morons. I guess they aren’t expecting any zombies to break in, or anyone else for that matter. Music plays softly, and it sounds as if they are getting their teeth cleaned or waiting to get to the top floor in an elevator.

  I creep through the kitchen, dropping to crawl into the living room. I’m behind the couch when she giggles.

  He moans. She giggles again. “Oh Bryce, you know you like it.”

  “Yes, I do,” he says in a husky tone. She gags. I roll my eyes and scrunch my nose. I should have gone to the next house. Great. Peering over the couch, I see her head bobbing as his hand guides her, every now and then pushing her too far, making her gag. This is not a sexy kind of gag. There’s a difference. This guy is really pushing her. After this, I don’t think Bryce will ever get another blowjob without looking over his shoulder.

  I wrap my arm around his neck with my fingers on a pressure point and put my cocked gun to his temple. He freezes, shocked beyond words. The girl lifts her head. She is way too young for this guy. My stomach flips at the sight of her innocent face. I meet her frightened gaze. “You make a sound and I’ll shoot him.”

  Bryce tenses when he hears my feminine voice. I ignore him and tighten my grip on his neck. “Please put his dick in his pants. It doesn’t look like he’s enjoying it anymore. Although, why hearing you gag turns him on is beyond me,” I say into his ear as she tries unsuccessfully to zip his pants. White hairs peek from the opening of his ear. “Maybe it won’t when she tosses chunks all over you.”

  He finally speaks, his voice full of pure terror. “Wh—what do y—you want?”

  “I want you to tell me about this compound.” A crossword and pencil lay forgotten on the coffee table. “Draw a map.” I jerk my head to it and she complies.

  “Don’t Ash—” I jerk my arm, choking off his words.

  “You dumb fuck, I’m here to help you. Now shut up and let her draw the map. I’ll explain.” I tighten my arm for emphasis. Truth be told, my arm trembles in effort, and I still have a long night to go. I don’t want to be man handling anyone. She hastily starts drawing. Thank anything holy.

  “Good momma. Now, think about a place where you can go anywhere, with no zombies. You don’t have to live inside a gate. You can go to a job you like doing. You don’t have to live by these fucked up rules.” The girl stops to look at me. “I bet you got a vaccine, right?” She nods. “It doesn’t work. If you don’t believe me, you can go outside and put your arm through the gate to find out for yourself. They do it to keep you under control, to follow their ways.”

  “You’re lying,” Bryce chokes out.

  “Think about how I got in here. Did you know I walked right through all the famished. They paid no attention to me.” I see no reason to bring up the rogue. “I jumped the fence. Just like that. Never has happened before, hmm?” He shakes his head as much as my arm will let him, eyes wide.

  I don’t want to tell them more than that. Who knows if they will be able to tattle before the party even starts. I take my gun and pistol-whip Bryce. He goes out cold, easy since I kept blood from pumping to his brain from the pressure point. The girl yelps, watching his head slump backward on the couch. I put my finger to my lips. “My arm was getting tired,” I shrug. She swallows. “Now explain the layout to me.” I tell her and she does, stumbling over her words, peeking at Bryce. “Thank you,” I say, standing up with the map.

  I grab her arm and make her go with me. “Rope and duct tape?” Her eyes widen, but she obliges. “Sit down there.” I point to a chair.

  She hesitates. “Wait. You should see something.” She holds up her hands to let me know she isn’t a threat and walks slowly toward a stack of papers. I narrow my eyes in curiosity as she skims through them and she hands me a leaflet of some sort.

  I gasp at the cover. It’s me, the seventeen-year-old me when I was arrested for computer forgery. The picture captions my full name, complete with armed and dangerous in a conspiracy against the government. Another picture is beside mine. I stare at it. Even without seeing the name, I’d know his face anywhere. Rudy stares out at me, making pissed off look hot. The picture was captured a while ago. The first remarkable thing is his hair, or lack thereof. It’s cut short, sticking up in the back as if he didn’t brush it. The rest of it falls right above his brow, curling a little. His ears stick out at me, but that’s because I’m not used to seeing them without hair. He has his sideburns, but a week’s worth of stubble scatters his chin. His face also lacks the character I’ve come to love. Both eyebrows are full, lacking the scar that now splits one in half.

  They have our pictures side-by–side, as if we are post-apocalyptic Bonnie and Clyde. Julie’s picture states kidnapped in a caption. I can’t help laughing. The girl stares at me. “This is just another scare tactic.” I wave the leaflet at her.

  Upon scanning the other pages, grainy pictures from c
ameras show Reece and I fighting famished on the base. My white legs seem to be the only color. There are also after photos of the damage to the base. Another grainy photo of Rudy beating Gray in the face takes up a whole page. I’m on the ground in the garage. In the picture, my body sports clothing. It’s computer edited. As if I was never naked at all. Anger surges through me. There’s another photo of Gray’s dented skull. My heart skips and I swallow, but my eyes burn with fierce satisfaction.

  I clear my throat, stuffing the leaflet into my pack. I tie her up first, so she won’t do anything stupid while I’m tying up Bryce. “Your name?”

  “Ashley.”

  I smile, “That’s pretty. I guess you know my name is Kansas, but I go by Kan.” She blinks. “I told you I didn’t want to hurt you. I just want every zombie wiped from the earth’s surface. This is a precaution, I’ll be back for you.” I pause, “You know they are not the government, right?”

  Her eyes are wide. “I really don’t know what to believe, but I do know you could kill me.”

  “That’s right, but I want to help you, and I will. I have one more question, and I want you to answer truthfully.” She nods as I tap my chin. “Good, where is Mya staying?”

  “Um, I think in the women’s singles dormitory. I’m pretty sure.” I nod and wrap duct tape around her head, so she can’t scream. After that, I lay her chair sideways on the floor putting a pillow under her head.