Dry Rot: A Zombie Novel

by H. E. Goodhue

  -42-

  Before my mind went blank, I must have said the words ‘get down’ or at least some close approximation. I really hoped that I did.

  The remaining husks were knotted together in the middle of my basement. Somewhere in that tangle of dried out dead flesh and teeth was Jared and Danni. As I pushed up from the floor of the bunker, words spilled from my mouth. They felt heavy and chewed. My tongue was thick. My head packed with cotton. I pawed for my shotgun, swatting at empty air and cold concrete. Something heavy and cold brushed the tips of my fingers. I snatched it from the floor and stood on shaky legs. My vision was watery, but at this range and with a shotgun, aiming didn’t really matter. It didn’t so long as Jared and Danni were down on the floor. If I didn’t fire, it wouldn’t matter either.

  The concussive BOOM of my shotgun echoed off of the cinderblock walls. Normally it would make a person’s ears ring, maybe even cause a temporary loss of hearing, but I barely noticed the sound. The only thing I wanted to hear was Danni or Jared. Not the dull moan of the husks or the dry scrape of their leathery feet across the floor. I needed to hear the two of them, to hear that they were okay.

  I felt something vibrate in my pocket. My cell phone jumped. Kara and Lisa were trying to contact me. The keys were broken and I never would be able to respond. I still wanted to read the message, even if it would cause me pain, even if it was bad news. The grip of my left hand loosened on the pump of my shotgun. It wanted to drift to my pocket, to grab my phone and flip it open.

  I shook my head and forced my fingers to tighten and rack another shell. I fired again and then again. Clouds of gun smoke drifted through the basement. Wide, wild sprays of black clotted gore painted the gray walls. My gun was empty.

  The last husk pawed for Jared. Danni lay across her son, shielding him from the monster. I stumbled forward, raised my gun and smashed the stock into the back of the husk’s head. It lurched forward and splayed across the concrete floor.

  The husk scuttled towards Jared like some mummified spider from the tangled corners of Hell. Danni’s knife plunged into the back of the husk’s skull. The force of the blow drove the zombie against the floor.

  Danni’s eyes were wide and shot with red veins. Small clouds of blood crept from the corners of her eyes. I couldn’t tell if she had been screaming or crying. It was probably both. Jared shifted beneath her. She instinctively pushed him back down and tried to cover him.

  “It’s over,” I muttered. “Danni, it’s over.”

  She looked around the basement. Slowly, she stood up.

  Jared climbed to his feet. They were both covered in blood and bits of gore.

  “I’m okay,” Jared said. It sounded more like a question than a statement. A deep gouge ran down the side of Jared’s head where the husk had pulled at his NBC mask. Blood ran from the wound and clotted in his hair. It looked painful, but not serious.

  Danni shook, her knees buckled and she collapsed to the floor, surrounded by husks. She used her boots to push the desiccated corpses further away from her. Each body left a thick snail’s trail of spoiled blood as it slid across the floor.

  “Mom, are you alright?” Jared asked. He knelt next his mother. “Mom? Were you bit?” She had used her body to shield her child. I wonder what that move would cost her.

  “Does it matter?” Danni asked. Her words were thin. “Bit? Not bit? It doesn’t make a difference. It doesn’t matter.”

  “What do you mean?” Jared demanded. “Of course it matters.”

  “No,” Danni answered, “it doesn’t matter. We’re going to die anyway. I see that now. How can I protect you in this world when I never protected you before?”

  “Mom, stop.” Jared stood and tried to pull his mother up with him. “It does matter. Of course it matters. Right, Lucas?”

  “I…uh…” I turned to walk back into the bunker. “I need to check my phone. Kara needs me.”

  “Lucas?” Jared asked weakly. “Lucas!” I could hear the anger rising in his voice. I couldn’t bring myself to care.

  “Sorry, kid. My phone.” Covered in chunks of spoiled flesh and fragmented bone, I climbed onto my bunk and opened my phone.

  -43-

  I walked out onto the front porch. This used to be where I’d sneak off to smoke a cigarette after I promised Lisa that I’d quit. Once Kara was born, I actually found the reason to quit. Kara became my reason to do a lot of things.

  Fatherhood was strange like that. I spent the majority of my life thinking that I knew what I was doing and why I was doing it. I was an adult as far as I could tell. Then Kara arrived and I realized that I didn’t know my ass from my elbow when it came to life.

  There had been nine months to prepare, but I figured that was more for Lisa than me. I figured that I wasn’t going to have to change, not really. I don’t think I had ever been more wrong in my life.

  Sitting on the porch at night always helped to clear my thoughts, to clear out all the crap from the day. Tonight, I was finding it harder to dump the day’s bullshit. Lisa left for the supermarket and took Kara with her. I was supposed to go earlier in the day. A sack of rice and dried beans weren’t going to cut it. Lisa had been pretty pissed – she had been pissed at me plenty of other times, but this time I didn’t seem capable of shaking the feeling.

  A light rain began to fall. October was almost over and the rain was cold – even under the protective overhang of my porch I could feel the chill of invisible fingers plucking at my bones. Still, this was one of my favorite times of year.

  Halloween was one of the few holidays my family agreed upon. Granted, Lisa always wanted Kara to be something cute, some new Disney princess or a pumpkin or some other taffeta shrouded nightmare. But this year was going to be different. This year Kara had finally been old enough to choose her own costume. Lisa tried to sway Kara, to get her to agree to be the latest cartoon fairytale heroine. Evidently, my genetics were stronger when it came to Halloween costumes selection. Kara wanted to be a zombie, but not just some cheesy, green-faced monster in thrift store rags. She wanted to look like a REAL zombie. The kid had done her research. Lisa protested, insisting on the princess. Kara flat-out refused. Realizing she was never going to win, Lisa sought middle ground and suggested that Kara dress up as an undead Disney princess. I don’t know if my smile or Kara’s was bigger. The three of us worked every night after dinner for damn near a week. It was going to be great.

  Screaming echoed from next door. My neighbor, some lady and her kid, had moved in a while ago. Since then I had seen a merry-go-round of men go through those doors. None of them lasted more than a couple of weeks. She seemed okay, I guess. Maybe a little needy, but otherwise okay. The kid seemed pretty together, though Lisa had said he looked lost.

  I listened to something smash. It sounded like a plate, maybe a lamp. I wondered who had thrown it. There was more yelling. Now I could hear the kid’s voice too. Something else broke. It sounded like he was defending his mother.

  I took a few steps down the porch stairs. There wasn’t much thought in the action. Hearing that kid defending his mother stirred something in the back of my mind, some part of me that had woken up with the birth of Kara. I knew it was going to be a lopsided fight and the kid could use my help.

  Halfway across the lawn, my cell phone started vibrating in my pocket. I snatched the phone and looked at the ten digits blinking on the screen. The fact that it was a number let me know that I probably didn’t know the person and sure as hell didn’t want to talk to them. Disappointment stabbed at my heart. I guess I had been hoping that it was Lisa calling to let me know that she had forgiven me and was coming home. I sent the call to my inbox and slipped the phone back into my pocket.

  A dull thud echoed from one of the front rooms in my neighbor’s house. More screaming. A lot of crying. I couldn’t hear the kid anymore. Anger surged in my gut and made my head swim. I didn’t know who was in that house. I didn’t care.

  My phone leapt and twitched in my pocket
again. Angrily, I wrenched it from my pocket. The same ten digits blinked on the screen. No telemarketer or auto-call machine would dial me twice in such a short time, not unless they wanted the Better Business Bureau shutting them down.

  “Who is this?” I demanded.

  They answered and I wished that I had never asked. Somewhere in the distance I could hear shouting, things breaking, more crying, but my brain had shut down. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t move.

  I blinked and life skipped a few frames. There was no more screaming. I wasn’t outside. I was sitting behind the wheel of my car speeding towards a destination that I would have given anything to avoid.

  Two patrol cars shot past me. Some Good Samaritan on my street must have called them. The cops were headed for my neighbor’s house. They weren’t coming for me.

  Not yet.

  -44-

  “Lucas, we’re leaving,” Danni said. She shuffled around the bunker throwing supplies into her backpack. Jared was busy doing the same. He hadn’t uttered a word since I climbed onto my bunk.

  Kara: Daddy, I don’t think me and Mommy can wait much longer. Are you gonna be here soon? I miss you. I think Mommy does too!

  I stared at the phone. Its dark keys mocked me, a dark lighthouse as I was lost at sea.

  “Lucas, I said that we’re leaving,” Danni repeated. “You need to come with us.” She had obviously recovered from the shock of getting attacked by a horde of husks.

  “I need to?” I asked without looking at her or Jared. “I don’t need to do anything other than see Lisa and Kara again. That’s all I need to fucking do. You want to leave? Go ahead, but I’m not going anywhere.”

  “What about those people?” Jared asked, breaking his silence.

  “What about them?” I snapped. “Just stay off the major roads. It looks like they’re traveling in large trucks and there’s a lot of them. It should be easy enough to avoid them. There’s a radio and maps in the Hummer. The preset channel is programmed to Senator Heathway’s frequency. Radio him if you need help or get lost.”

  “Isn’t there a radio in your truck?” Jared asked.

  “What’s your point, kid?” I asked.

  “Shouldn’t one of the preset channels be programmed for your radio too?” Jared glared at me. He asked a simple question, but his words were loaded and sharp.

  “Channel 2 is.” I stared at my phone. “Call Heathway if you get lost.”

  “Lucas, please come with us,” Danni said.

  “I already told you! I’m not going anywhere!” I rolled away from them. With my back turned, I didn’t see Jared leap for my bunk. Before I knew what he was doing, he had snatched my phone.

  “It’s blank?” Jared asked. He pushed the keys and buttons on the side. “It’s dead. Lucas, this phone is dead.”

  I leveled my pistol with the center of Jared’s head. I wasn’t proud of it. In all honesty, I didn’t even really think about it. I just wanted my phone back.

  “Jared? Honey, let me give Lucas his phone back. It’s probably just the battery.” Danni slipped the phone from her son’s hand. She passed it back to me, but not before she looked at the screen and dark keys. “Here, take it. We’ll go.”

  “But it’s blank, Mom,” Jared protested. “How can Lucas talk to his daughter on a phone that’s dead?”

  “You must be mistaken, Jared. Now stop,” Danni said. Her words were sharp and caught Jared by surprise. He opened his mouth, slammed it closed and shouldered his backpack.

  I watched Danni and Jared walk up the basement stairs. The floorboards creaked as they made their way out of my house. I listened to the back door slam. The Hummer rumbled to life. My phone vibrated.

  Kara: Daddy, did you get my last message? Are you coming to see me and

  Mommy? You know where we are, Daddy. We’re waiting at our spot. Hurry up,

  Daddy.

  It wasn’t dead. The phone worked. Jared was pissed off and scared, that was all. The message was right there in front of me. The keys were broken, but the phone worked. Jared didn’t know what he was saying. Fear had gotten the better of him.

  “I’ll be there soon, baby girl,” I whispered.

  I closed the phone and slipped it into my pocket. My own bag waited for me in the corner by the door of the bunker.

  I threw the bag over my shoulder and took the stairs two at a time. Once I was out the back door, I cast a quick glance at my house. This house had meant so much, had protected the things I held precious. None of that mattered anymore. I was going to see my family.

  Deep tire tracks cut across my yard leaving deep furrows in the ash. I could hear a few husks groaning behind a section of fence that hadn’t yet collapsed. It would fall soon enough. None of this mattered either.

  I threw my bag onto the passenger seat of the Bronco II. I was leaving.

  -45-

  There had been so much blood – more than I would have thought a human body could hold and still he was breathing. The human body truly was an amazing machine. It could be abused and destroyed, but would still keep working, could still heal and rebound from whatever had been done.

  A wet cough gurgled in his throat. Red bubbles burbled and frothed around the edges of his mouth. He rolled to the side and vomited blood onto the pillow. The stark contrast of the blood on starched white pillowcase almost looked artistic, something that could be framed and hung in a New York museum. Pollock would have approved.

  I wondered if he would be able to heal, not that I cared. This man, whoever he was, didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was what this person had done. What could never be undone.

  I barely knew this man’s name, had only recently learned that this person even existed. How could I hate someone so completely when I had only recently learned of them? When only a few words had been uttered between us? It had been less than a day since this person entered my life. In those few hours, he had irreparably altered everything I thought to be true, everything that I held dear. Still, I hated this man with such clarity – such resolve that it should have scared me. It didn’t.

  Outside of the room, nurses and other hospital staff rushed past the room. A police officer was supposed to be stationed outside the room. He must have stepped out to use the bathroom. It would have been much harder to get in here if he had been where he was supposed to be.

  The television was on, the sound leaking out of the tinny speaker attached to the bed controls. I couldn’t hear it. Some housewife that was more plastic than human staggered around in a cheap glittery dress spilling wine on her children and laughing. The kids look traumatized. How could anyone sign a kid up for that? Anyone who would didn’t deserve to be a parent.

  Maybe I didn’t deserve to be a parent either.

  Someone shouted outside of the hospital room. Muffled footfalls rushed down the hallway. I could hear someone yelling at me, commanding me to do something. Pain exploded in the back of my skull. A blinding burst of stars exploded from the corners of my eyes. It was dazzling, almost beautiful.

  Handcuffs clicked around my wrists and pinched my skin. More people rushed past me as I was pulled from the room with my hands locked behind my back.

  The stars flickered and faded under the sickly neon lights of the hallway. I watched them blink out of existence. I had watched too many things do the same earlier tonight.

  -46-

  Errant gusts of wind scattered ash across my windshield. I pulled the handle back to spray washer fluid, but it only created a thick paste for the wipers to smear and made the problem worse. I tried a few more times to clear my view and cursed as it continued to get worse.

  The CB radio that hung from the underside of dash crackled and a garbled voice drifted through. I reached over to turn it off, but found myself unable to turn the dial all the way to the left. I never should have even turned the stupid thing on. Who was I going to talk to? Senator Heathway was a moron that had made his own fucking bed and I sure as hell was in no rush to make it mine. Danni and Jared k
new what they were getting when they teamed up with me. My goal was never a secret. But then why had I turned the radio on in the first place?

  “Damn it,” I grumbled.

  Danni and Jared were okay, I’m sure they were. I had given them supplies, directions, guns and a truck. That was more than anyone else had going for them. And they could easily avoid those assholes from the auto plant that were heading towards Senator Heathway and his people. Besides, from what I had seen, those guys weren’t in good shape and probably would keel over before they got too far.

  “Lucas?”

  It was Danni.

  I shook my head. I should have turned it off. I never should have turned it on.

  “Lucas, are you there? Please, Lucas.”

  Why was Danni radioing me? They left hours ago and should have been getting close to being out of range. With all the crap in the air, they shouldn’t have been able to radio me at all.

  Reaching for the radio, I took my eyes off the road. The Bronco II bounced and pitched to the right as something smashed into the front bumper. I wrenched the steering wheel back in the other direction and fought to keep the truck on the road.

  Through the greasy gray smear of ash that caked my windshield, I could see a husk clawing its way across the hood of my truck. The damn thing must have been wandering around on the edge of the street and leapt for my truck when it heard the noise. The husk was missing everything from the waist down, the impact having severed its legs. A thick, black ropey tangle of intestines dangled from the lower half of the husk like the tentacles of a jellyfish, leaving zigzagged trails in the ash. It beat skeletal hands against glass and repeatedly lunged for me with broken, brown teeth.