The Z-Day Trilogy (Book 3): Plague of the Living Dead

by Mark Cusco Ailes

  He felt anxious. He just wanted to get to the mall, get his wife inside, find his daughter, and get away from all the zombies. He was trying to remain strong for the both of them. Up ahead of them, an explosion erupted sending several cars into the air and landing on top of each other. He couldn’t see what was happening, but he knew the way in front of him was going to be blocked. Suddenly, all the cars directly in front of him were being tossed aside like discarded ragdolls, and he could see the top of a semi-truck heading toward him totally engulfed in flames.

  “We have to get out of the car now!” he screamed, looking at his wife in panic. “We have to get out now!” He scrambled to get out of the car and made his way to the other side. He quickly opened the door and snatched his wife from her seat right as the truck slammed into his car. They were forcibly knocked to the ground. He was the first to make it back to his feet. He looked at the line of chaos the truck had made, and then his eyes bulged in terror. A shambling mass of mindless hunger was shambling toward them. He snatched his wife to her feet and forced her to follow him across the front yard of a house with its door slightly ajar. He didn’t know if any zombies were inside it, but he’d rather be inside than outside with the creatures making their way into the front yard.

  He felt helpless. Killing zombies wasn’t something he knew how to do. He wished they were mutated rats or something like that. In that case he would have a better idea of how to deal with them. They reached the front door to the house, and without thinking, he swung it open, and then ran into the living room, not before closing the door behind them. He immediately looked around to make sure they were alone. They were in luck. In this part of the house there weren’t any zombies waiting to devour them.

  He told his wife to wait near the door while he checked the rest of the house. He needed to make sure there weren’t any surprises lurking secretly inside the house. He returned momentarily reporting to her they were alone in the house. He felt at ease. Now he had a chance to try to figure out how they could get to the mall. He decided he would check out the TV to see if anything useful was being reported. He was thankful this side of town still had electricity. He found the remote to the TV and turned it on and channel surfed until he found a newscast.

  “I repeat, the safe zone has been compromised. Citizens are urged not to come to the downtown area. All roads leading in and out are blocked. Hordes of zombies were seen trying to break through a roadblock the National Guard had setup and for now, they seem to be holding. From what we’re being told, the zombies haven’t breached the Illinois borders and are being destroyed by the National Guard.” The reporter on the screen paused to listen to something being said through her headset. “A military command center is being setup at a mall in Joliet where we confirm it has been cleared. We’re told a plan has been developed and will be executed there. We don’t have any other details. We’re going to come back with more details as we get them.”

  Mr. Billings switched the channel and stopped on a channel showing reruns of Modern Family. Five minutes later he turned off the TV and turned his attention to the sound of pounding on the front windows. His wife stood frozen in horror as it reminded her of what had happened at her house.

  “Don’t worry; I don’t think they can get inside.” He went over to the door to make sure it was locked. He then went over to the curtain and looked behind it. Eight zombies were clawing at the glass, trying desperately to find a way to enter the house. He looked at them in disgust. One of them stared hungrily at him with its jaws snapping open and shut spasmodically, trying to gnaw through the glass. He quickly closed the curtain and looked at his wife. He didn’t know how much more she was going to be able to take. He approached her and helped her to the couch and helped her sit down.

  “Wait here,” he said. “I haven’t checked the garage yet. I’m going to go see if they have a car we can use. If we need to get out of here in a hurry, we’re going to need a car.”

  He left her and found the door leading into the garage. He cautiously opened it. He heard some commotion coming within the darkness. He couldn’t tell what the commotion was. He ran he fingers along the wall until he found the light switch and flipped it on. He sighed heavily. Parked in the middle of the garage was a red Buick with four zombies trapped inside it. They must have turned while they were trying to get away. He now knew they didn’t have a car they could use to get away if they needed to in a hurry. He looked around the garage, ignoring the zombie family. He was searching for anything he could use as a weapon. So far, all he could find was a garden rake and a shovel with a splintered handle. Neither of them would be useful against a zombie attack. He kept searching until he came to a large, white utility cabinet with the door slightly opened. He was hopeful. He opened the door and smiled. It was loaded with several things he could use. He pulled out an ax and examined it. It appeared to be in perfect shape. He leaned it against the cabinet and pulled out a pair of garden shears. Next he pulled out a compound bow and a quiver of six arrows. He placed them aside and pulled out a bolt cutter. He didn’t know why the family would have needed them, but he didn’t care. At least now he had some weapons to use in case something happened.

  He continued to look at the weapons, not realizing one of the zombies in the backseat had managed to open the door and was getting out of the car. He picked up the ax and held it firm in his hand. He swung it around satisfied it was the perfect weapon. He felt something grab his arm and heard a low hissing sound. He looked and saw a young female zombie trying to take a chunk out of his arm. He pushed her backward with his leg and stared in horror as it lunged toward him with its teeth exposed like a crazed dog. He brought the ax down through her skull exposing her brain. She crashed to the floor with the ax stuck in her skull. He turned to look at the car and a second zombie had left the car and was shambling toward him.

  He snatched the compound bow and quickly affixed an arrow. He let it rip, hitting the zombie right between the eyes. It toppled over. He looked at the car once again. The two adult zombies were desperately trying to free themselves from the car. Lucky for him they hadn’t figured out how to open their car doors. He listened to them growling for a moment, trying to think how he could safely get the other two out of the car and kill them. If he could manage to accomplish it, he would have the car he needed to make a hasty retreat. He suddenly came up with the perfect plan. He could shoot an arrow into both of their skulls from the open back door. Then all he would have to do was move the bodies outside of the car.

  He loaded the bow and made his way to the opened car door. The zombies inside were batting the air and growling. He didn’t care what they were doing as long as they didn’t escape the car and attack him. He let the first arrow rip and the mom zombie became still. He loaded the second arrow and let it rip. The garage became silent. Now all he had to do was clear the car of them and clean up the mess so his wife wouldn’t be reluctant to get inside.

  After clearing the car, he placed all the weapons in the back of the car. If he and his wife could get out of the house and make it to the mall, he knew he was going to need weapons to get inside. He knew it was being setup as a command center for the military. He knew if his daughter was there, she was going to be safe. He knew he couldn’t stay at the house. They would be like trapped rats, and he wasn’t sure how long it would take the zombies to get inside. He decided he needed to make a bold move now to get out before there were too many zombies outside. He ran back into the house and found his wife staring at the front door. There were sounds of pounding on it as if somebody was desperately trying to gain entrance. He didn’t want to wait and find out if it was the zombies or somebody else. He grabbed her arm.

  “Come on; we can leave now. There is a car in the garage, and it has a full tank of gas. We’ll find a way to get to the mall. I know our daughter will be there, and I’m pretty sure she’s safe.”

  “It’s a beautiful day to go to the mall,” she said. “Emily is meeting us there.”

  He l
ed her into the garage, and she stopped when she saw several tarps covering bodies on the floor. He tried to pull her but she wouldn’t budge.

  “They won’t bother us. They’re all dead. I covered them so you wouldn’t have to see them. Come on; we don’t have time to waste.”

  They heard pounding on the garage door. It worried him but he knew he had to get out of the garage. He was going to have to take the chance of getting out of the garage with the zombies just on the other side. He helped his wife into the passenger side and closed the door. He then got in the other side and made sure all the doors were locked.

  “It smells like somebody cleaned inside the car,” she said quietly.

  “I wanted to make sure you got inside a clean car,” he said with a smile. “I know how you like a clean car.”

  “A clean car is a happy car.”

  He tapped her left knee. “Of course it is.”

  He turned on the car and got ready to ram the garage door. He knew if he tried to lift the door, the zombies would file in blocking their exit. The only way he was going to get them out of the garage and out of the neighborhood was by ramming into the door and hoping he could push through it. He made sure his wife’s seatbelt was fastened and counted to three. He hit the gas and the car squealed backward into the garage door. The door splintered and gave way, pushing several zombies out of the way, causing them to roll awkwardly down the driveway as the car made its escape. He slammed on his brakes and switched the car into drive and hit the accelerator. He wasn’t able to go far because the road ahead was still blocked. He swerved his car back into the front yard and swerved around the zombies blocking his path. He knew he had to keep going no matter what. He looked at his wife. He had to keep going for her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Roxy Woodbury stared at Officer Delgado as they pulled into the parking lot of the local drugstore. His breathing had become raspy, and it was worrying her. She figured if she could get him some medicine, it could ease the symptoms he was experiencing. She parked the car as near to the building as she could.

  “Why are we stopping?” he asked. “Are we at the mall?”

  “Not yet. I need to get inside and get you some medicine. You’re not sounding good, my friend. How do you feel?”

  “Like someone is squeezing the life out of me. I can barely breathe.”

  She looked around to see how much zombie activity was in the area. She saw a few in the parking lot, but most of them were concentrated in the street. She figured she could handle the nearby ones if they became a problem. The real test would be once she got inside the store. She didn’t know how many were inside. If there were more than a handful, she could be in some trouble. She put her hand on his knee. “Please don’t turn on me while I’m inside. I’m going inside for you, not me.” She snatched her ax and exited the car and looked around the parking lot. So far none of the zombies seemed to notice she was there. She turned and made her way into the store. She stopped and listened. She heard Neil Diamond being played overhead. She made her way over to the medicine isle, not particularly sure what kind of medicine she needed. She thought about getting some basics: aspirin, cough syrup, and an inhaler for Officer Delgado’s breathing. She snatched the items she needed and put them in an empty shopping basket resting on the floor near her feet. She made her way to the bandages and put several boxes of them in the basket. Next, she went to the candy isle. She grabbed a couple of bags of jelly beans and stared at them. Why not? I haven’t eaten in a while. She was about to leave the isle and get some soda pop when she heard some growling coming from the isle nearest to the door. She knew she had caught something’s attention. She placed the basket on the floor and prepared her ax to defend herself if necessary.

  She stood frozen listening to the thing growl. She could hear it moving slowly across the aisle, heading in her direction. She tightened her grip on the handle. She needed to make quick work of it and get back to the car. She didn’t want to waste any more time; she decided she was going to strike first. She sprinted down her aisle and turned around the next and slammed her ax into the head of the zombie. It fell to the ground. She stared at it. It was wearing a light blue jacket with a name tag on it. Rob, huh? Well, Rob, I’m sorry to have ruined your day. She grabbed the handle of her ax and forcibly removed it from its head. She returned to the aisle where her basket was and grabbed it and made it to the front door.

  She suddenly stopped. A young girl wearing a white nightgown was standing on the other side of the door. Her nightgown was covered in fresh blood. She hissed at her, alerting her she wanted to kill her.

  “Great! I hate killing the young ones. It proves that the zombie apocalypse doesn’t show mercy to anyone.”

  Roxy stood staring at the young girl, wondering how she was going to get past her. She didn’t need to find a solution. Officer Delgado pushed the young girl to the side as hard as he could. He looked at Roxy and slowly motioned to her it was safe to leave the store.

  She left the store staring at him. “Come on hero; we need to get some medicine inside you.”

  They sat inside the car while Officer Delgado took the medicine. Roxy watched thinking he was going to turn into one of the creatures at any moment. He was looking much worse than he looked when she ventured inside the store.

  “How do you feel now?”

  “Much better. I think the medicine is already working.”

  “Don’t lie to me. Even I know medicine doesn’t work that fast.” She stopped to figure out the best thing to say to him. “I don’t think you’re going to make it to the mall. Look, we’re not that far from my house. Let me take you there and we’ll wait this thing out. I don’t want you to turn alone.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying I have feelings. I’ve never seen anybody when they turned. I’m sure they would have appreciated someone being there when they turned to put them out of their misery. I don’t think you want to walk around as one of those things.”

  He managed a slight laugh and then coughed. “No, I suppose not.”

  She was startled by the sound of pounding on her side window. She turned to look. It was the young girl again. Her mouth was gaped open, eager to devour anything she could sink her teeth into. She felt sorry for the girl. She wished she would have been with her before she had turned. She wouldn’t have to walk around as a zombie. She thought about putting her out of her misery, but she had another person she had to worry about.

  She left the parking lot and made a left hand turn. She was heading back to her house where she knew it was clear of zombies. The mall would have to wait for now until Officer Delgado was dealt with. She wasn’t going to let him turn alone. She looked at him.

  “Don’t worry; it will all be over before long. I’ll make you some chicken noodle soup once we get you to my house.” She knew it was a silly thing to say. She knew he wasn’t going to eat the soup.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Doctor Krage felt nauseous. He knew he was slowly turning into one of the creatures. He was walking inside ‘The Arc’ looking at his zombie animals. He was proud of his collection. He had spent a great deal of time gathering species from around the globe to make into his smart zombies. Now they were going to be the only survivors. Several of the scientists had already died and been dealt with after turning. For some reason, the airborne virus wasn’t turning them into smart zombies as anticipated. Something was drastically wrong. He couldn’t understand it. Now he didn’t have any time left to solve the problem. He was one of the last scientists still alive, and he knew it wouldn’t be long before he joined the others.

  He had given up hope and now wanted to spend what little time he had left with his menagerie. He stood in front of his giraffe wondering what it could do. All of them had been trained to obey orders, but soon that would all change. There wouldn’t be anybody left to give the orders. He sat down on a park bench. He had several of them placed throughout so he could sit and relax with his animals. He remem
bered the first day he was asked to join the smart zombie program. He was working on an animal cloning project that was supposed to save species that were on the endangered species list. It was an important project for him. He had grown up a lover of animals. During his life he was always surrounded by them.

  He considered himself to be a modern day Dr. Dolittle, which in fact was one of his favorite movies. He remembered when he met Kathy Hollman with her idea of making the perfect soldier by making zombies. He thought the idea was absurd. Then she mentioned she could make a formula that could also save his animals and at the same time, find a useful purpose for them. Of course, he was intrigued. The concept of turning animals into smart soldiers was one way he could communicate with them and they would respond. But he wondered about the human aspect of the idea. Where was the humans coming from for her project? What humans would volunteer to be turned into zombies? That’s when he learned the homeless would be used for their experiments because nobody would miss them. This idea bothered him. Besides, how did she know she could control them?

  At first, he declined involvement in the project. He didn’t want to have any part of a project that would use the homeless as human guinea pigs. Then he had a visit from General Poe who was adamant that he got involved in the project. He went as far as to promise him the new facility they were working in, and he promised he would be put in charge of the whole program once the formula was developed. The general had promised him the world, including the building of ‘The Ark’, which was something he had wanted his whole life. He would be able to communicate and control all his precious animals.

  He finally agreed to head the project, but he never realized the formula would be flawed, or become airborne. He never thought thousands of innocent people would die. He never thought a bomb would be dropped on parts of Indiana. He never thought it would spread to Illinois. The problem was he never thought about any of the consequences. Now he was slowly turning into one of the creatures. He realized he had made several mistakes, and he was soon going to suffer for them. If only he had more time to make things right. Even if he did have time, he wasn’t sure what steps he should take next. Everything they tried was a complete failure. He looked at his giraffe.