Ashley Drake, Zombie Hunter

by Dana Fredsti

  Kai jerked his head towards the second cabin. “Ashley, how ‘bout you and Mack check that one out? Kaitlyn, you wanna cover me here?”

  Kaitlyn took her place without argument and without her usual scowl.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Who died and made you mister action hero in charge?”

  Kai shrugged. “I'm just going with the flow, baby girl.”

  “Did he just call me ‘baby girl’?” I said to no one in particular.

  “He did just call you ‘baby girl’,” said Mack.

  “I'll have to kick his butt for that later.”

  Kai moved purposefully towards the door of the first cabin, kicking it in with one booted foot, then quickly leapt to one side, back flat against the cabin wall like a commando so Kaitlyn had a clear shot if she needed it.

  “Very macho,” I commented.

  Kai grinned. “Thank you for noticing.”

  There was method to his macho madness, however, because he knocked a zombie ass-over-teakettle with the move. As it struggled to its feet, Kaitlyn stepped up and shot it in the head. Kai nodded his approval and the two went inside.

  Mack and I turned to the second cabin. “You wanna kick it open or shall I?” I asked.

  Mack grinned. “How about we use the doorknob instead? I'd rather leave the showy stuff to other people.”

  “Works for me,” I said.

  Putting my hand on the doorknob, I paused, listening for any movement inside. Nothing. Water dripped into my eye from my forehead, where moisture had condensed under the rim of my helmet. I wiped it away, turned the doorknob, and pushed the door open, copying Kai's pseudo SWAT team evasive move just in case an unusually quiet zombie lurked in the cabin and Mack needed to shoot it.

  “Looks clear.” Weapon ready, Mack entered the cabin and I followed close on his heels.

  There wasn't much in the way of space inside: a bedroom, bathroom, and a closet without a door, really just an indentation in the wall with a clothes pole running the length of it. No sign of occupation, either human or undead. Thankfully no body parts either.

  A quick peek in the bathroom and we moved on to the next cabin while Kai and Kaitlyn took care of number four. And yes, he kicked the door in on that one too.

  Several headshots later, the four of us met outside and headed across the parking lot to the three remaining cabins. A painfully skinny and totally androgynous zombie wandered out from the trees and I shot it almost as an afterthought.

  “Is it just me or are we getting used to this?” I said quietly to Mack.

  He shook his head. “I don't know that we'll ever get used to it. But I think it's better to have a handle on the adrenaline factor. What's the point of jumping every time one of them staggers up? We know what they are and we know how to stop them. The only real surprises are when they pop out like jack-in-the-boxes.”

  “Bad movie scares.”

  “Exactly.”

  We reached the cabins. A couple of weathered glider rockers sat in a small clearing on the left, a little table in between. A wine bottle lay on its side, its contents having long since trickled out over the side of the table to the grass below.

  Kai and Kaitlyn headed to the cabin on the far left, so Mack and I took the middle, grinning at each other when Kai kicked his third cabin door open. Then I put my hand on the doorknob and listened, and gave an inward hiss of surprise when I heard the sounds of sobbing intertwined with a human voice muttering something over and over, too faint to make out the actual words.

  “Mack, I think we have a survivor!”

  Mack's face brightened with excitement; nothing made him happier than finding someone alive in the midst of all the chaos and death.

  I turned the doorknob, but the door wouldn't budge, locked from the inside. I rapped on the wood with my knuckles. “Hello? Hello, can you hear me? We're here to help!”

  I put my ear to the door. The sobs continued, along with the muttering. I used the barrel of my gun to knock on the door in case they didn't hear me the first time. “Hello?”

  Still no answer.

  I looked at Matt in confusion. “You'd think whoever it is would be jumping with joy about now.”

  “They might be too scared to answer,” said Mack. “Or maybe not in their right minds. Living through something like this is enough to drive a lot of people over the edge of sanity.”

  Something was bothering me, but I couldn't put my finger on what wasn't right or was missing from this picture. Oh well, I'd figure it out later. Right now we had a survivor to rescue.

  Kai and Kaitlyn emerged from the first cabin. I grinned at Kai and said, “You feel like kicking down another door? Sounds like we have a survivor inside, but he or she isn't answering and the door's locked.”

  Kai beamed. “Oh yeah! I'm likin’ the door kicking.”

  I put a hand on Kai's arm. “Let me take point after you get the door open. If whoever's in there is scared, I'm probably a little less intimidating than you.”

  “You find me intimidating?” Kai looked pleased at the thought.

  I snorted. “As if. But someone else might.”

  “You know how to knife a man's self-esteem right in the gut, girl.”

  I knocked on the door again and raised my voice. “Whoever's in there, we're going to open the door. We're here to help you, okay?”

  Still no answer.

  Without further ado Kai stepped back and kicked the door open with enough force that it hit the opposite wall and bounced back to a nearly closed position. I winced, hoping he hadn't just given the person inside a coronary.

  “Thanks, Lando.”

  Kai gave me a little salute and dashed off to the third cabin. Kaitlyn followed, shooting me a little smile over one shoulder. I nearly fainted with shock, but managed to smile back. Hey, I don't hold grudges.

  “I've got you covered, Ashley.” Mack kept his gun trained on the door as I pushed it back open with my free hand. When nothing appeared in the doorway, I slowly stepped inside.

  The smell hit first: the coppery, thick stench of blood and other bodily excretions. I choked and almost grabbed for my noseplugs, but quickly forgot about them when I took a good look inside.

  Blood splattered the walls and floors of the cabin in thick, viscous smears. A trail of bloody handprints followed by more smears of blood led from the far side of the room to the closed bathroom door as if someone had tried desperately to crawl away from his or her attacker towards the temporary safety of the bathroom. They'd never made it.

  The sobs continued, rising from the other side of the queen-sized bed, wooden headboard against the back wall. The words continued as well, only now I could hear what they were: “I'm sorry, I didn't mean it.” The same six words repeated over and over, interspersed with the choking sobs and—some other sound I couldn't quite place. Blood and other things were thick on the white crocheted bedspread. My heart froze in my chest and the hair rose on the back of my neck. Something was seriously wrong here.

  “Hello?” I slowly walked over to the bed, conscious of the blood beneath my feet, and peered cautiously around the corner. What I saw would haunt my dreams for years to come, if I lived that long.

  The partially devoured bodies of a woman and young boy, still a toddler, lay on the floor next to each other, clothing in shreds. A man in blood-soaked jeans and a blue flannel shirt now dark with gore, crouched over them, sobbing and repeating, “I'm sorry, I didn't mean it.” Then, as I watched in disbelieving horror, he lowered his face to the woman's abdomen and took a bite of flesh, wrenching the meat away from her body with a feral wrench of his jaws. His sobs didn't stop as he chewed and swallowed, then started up the litany of “I'm sorry” again.

  I made a choked sound in my throat and stumbled backwards. I yelled as I backed straight into a hard body; Kai, who'd come up behind me. He braced me with his hands on my shoulders.

  The sound of my yell was enough to distract the man. He looked up at us, eyes red and swollen with tears, mouth and tee
th dripping with blood and pieces of flesh.

  “I didn't mean to do it,” he whimpered. “I didn't want to do it. But I couldn't help it. I couldn't help myself. I was so hungry … and I could feel myself rotting… the inside, everything decaying… Oh God, I'm sorry… I didn't mean it. I'm so sorry…”

  He curled back up over the bodies of what must have been his wife and son, rocking and crying and muttering and—eating.

  “He's bat-shit crazy,” I whispered, willing myself not to throw up.

  “You're not kidding,” said Mack, sounding as sickened as I felt. “Question is, what do we do with him?”

  I swallowed hard. “We'll have to get him back to Big Red, I guess.” My gaze was drawn almost against my will back to the man weeping and dining on what had almost certainly been his family. “Where's Kai and Kaitlyn?”

  The sound of gunshots answered my question before Mack did. “Cleaning up incoming.”

  “Let's get this guy outside and find Gabriel.”

  “You sure that's a good idea?” Mack said doubtfully. “He's dangerous, no doubt about it.”

  “I'm a good husband,” the man said suddenly as if in response to Mack's words. “A good father. I love my family. I tried to save them when those … those things attacked us. But they … they smelled so good and it burned inside…” He started rocking again, but the tears seemed to have stopped for the moment.

  I took a deep breath, immediately regretted it. “What's your name?”

  “Jake,” he said slowly. “Jake Konig.”

  “Mr. Konig … Jake … how long have you been trapped in this cabin?”

  He thought about the question for a moment. “I'm not sure … maybe a week?”

  Oh God, the combination of hunger and the sheer horror of seeing the dead walk must have taken his mind right over the edge.

  “You really need to come with us now,” I said, struggling to maintain a calm, neutral tone.

  “Oh no, I couldn't do that.” He shook his head. Drops of blood flew off his lips with the movement. I did my best to suppress a shudder.

  “Jake, you're ill. You need medical attention.” I spoke as soothingly as possible, as if trying to calm a spooked horse. Mack stood stock still behind me, but I could feel the tension thrumming through him as he waited poised for trouble.

  “I can't leave Shanna and Tyce.” He shook his head again. “They need me.” He tenderly stroked his son's forehead, then leaned over to kiss his wife's lips—before taking a bite out of them.

  I nearly lost the battle with my rising gorge, but somehow managed to keep everything down. “They'll—” My voice cracked. I pulled myself together. “We'll bring them with us too. You can all go together and get some help, okay?”

  “All of us?” Jake looked up at me, pale blue eyes sincere in the bloody mask of what had once been a pleasantly handsome face under a shock of curly brown hair, now matted and tangled.

  I nodded, wanting nothing more than to get out of this haunted cabin with its smell of death. “All of you, I promise.”

  Mack and I backed up a few feet as, ever so slowly, Jake got to his feet. I hoped he didn't need a helping hand because I didn't know if I could touch him without throwing up. Besides, he was bat-shit crazy and I didn't trust him not to attack me too.

  He managed it on his own, swaying slightly as he stood up all the way. He put a steadying hand on the bedpost, his shirt sleeve pulling up to reveal his forearm. A circle of teeth marks stood out against the pale skin, crusted with dried blood.

  I inhaled sharply. “When did you get that bite, Jake?”

  “This?” he rubbed his arm, a vague look on his face. “Those things … first day here. I got Shanna and Tyce back into the cabin, but one of those things bit me. I got really sick…Shanna … she took care of me, nursed me until I felt better. But then things started rotting inside…”

  Great. Looked like we had a totally loony Wild Card here. Super strong, super senses, and super psycho.

  I gestured towards the door, trying not to be too obvious that I had my gun aimed in his direction. Just in case. “Come on. We'll send someone in to get your family, okay?”

  He nodded hesitantly. “Yeah… yeah, that'd be really good. I think Tyce needs a doctor.”

  Mack and I backed slowly away to give him space to exit the cabin before us. I didn't trust him at our backs.

  He neared the door, then paused, glancing back towards the bed … and what lay on the other side. “You'll get Shanna and Tyce?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, we will.” I held my breath when he took a step back towards his dead wife and child. “Jake? You just need to come outside now, okay?” My eyes flickered back to the bite on his forearm.

  He heaved a huge sigh and all the tension seem to run out of his body. “Yeah … okay. That's probably a good idea. It smells funny in here.” He moved towards the cabin door, his gait stiff and unsteady as if he hadn't moved a lot in the last few days.

  Kai chose that moment to poke his head in the cabin. “Hey, everything okay in here?

  Jake's head snapped up and reared back on his neck, looking freakily like a human cobra as he bared his bloody teeth and hissed—yes, hissed—at Kai. Kai took one look at Jake's gory face, hands and clothes and immediately leveled and raised his M4 and pressed the trigger.

  “No!” I lunged forward and knocked the barrel to one side. The shot missed Jake by inches. He yelped and cowered down against the bed, hands and arms over his head.

  “Damn it, girl,” snarled Kai, “Are you crazy?”

  “No. But he is.” I jerked my head towards Jake. “He's human, Kai. He's not a zombie.”

  “But his mouth…”

  I shook my head. “Look, we have to get him back to Big Red. He was bitten and he's still alive. He's a Wild Card.”

  “Mother fu—” Kai stopped and got himself under control. “Okay, so we have to get him back to Big Red.”

  “Go get Gabriel, okay? Just ask Kaitlyn to help cover him. But tell her to stay outside!” Kai ran out of the cabin and I hunkered down next to Jake, still not willing to touch him. “Jake, we're sorry about that. Kai thought you were a zombie, okay?”

  “One of those things?” Jake's eyes narrowed, his expression switching from terrified to dangerous in the space of a few seconds. “I'm not one of those things. Don't you call me that.” A drop of blood trickled down his face to his upper lip. He flicked it off with his tongue, eyes closing briefly as he savored the taste. Then his eyes went wide with horror and he wiped the back of his sleeve across his mouth, scrubbing his lips so hard they'd soon be rubbed raw, if they weren't already. “I'm not one of them,” he whimpered.

  “You're sick, okay? We have to get you to a doctor. Let's go outside.” I felt like a broken record as I repeated this several more times, but Jake responded to either my words or my tone and finally he left the damn cabin. You can bet Mack and I were right behind him. Kaitlyn waited for us outside.

  “Just sit here,” I said, pointing to one of the gliders. He sat, limbs folding up underneath him like someone cut his strings.

  Jack rocked slowly back and forth in the chair, pushing off with his feet. The chair creaked in protest, hinges in dire need of oiling. “I'm hungry.” Creak. Creak. Creak.

  I ignored him, scanning the fog-shrouded parking lot and buildings for Gabriel and the rest of the team.

  “I'm hungry!”

  “We'll get you food when we get you to a doctor.” It took an effort to keep my voice calm. I'd seen Jake's last meal, which hadn't been that long ago. Why was he hungry? Oh, right. He had that whole crazy thing going on.

  “I've got a protein bar,” said Kaitlyn, reaching into one of her pockets and pulling out a Think Thin bar.

  She held it out it to Jake.

  Jake's eyes flickered towards the bar. He reached for it.

  “Kaitlyn, no!” I lunged forward as Jake reached for the protein bar, then grabbed Kaitlyn's arm, jerking her off balance into his arms as he sank his teeth
into her neck. She shrieked with surprise and pain, dropping her M4 as she clawed frantically at his head and hands, trying to throw him off. He clamped onto her like a leech, chewing and worrying at her flesh, ignoring whatever pain he must have felt from her hands clenched in his hair, pulling with all her strength.

  I managed to wedge my arm in between his neck and her body, getting him in a chokehold and cutting off his oxygen supply. Kaitlyn jabbed a finger into one of his eyes; he screamed involuntarily, teeth losing their hold, and Kaitlyn immediately jerked away from his mouth, her neck pouring out blood from the ragged wound he'd inflicted. He still had a hold of her arm, however, and yanked her back towards him, growling in his throat even as I pressed my forearm harder into his neck.

  The stock of Mack's gun smashed down against Jake's wrist, shattering bone and forcing him to let go of Kaitlyn. She staggered back, hands clasped against her bleeding neck as blood spurted out between her fingers.

  Deprived of his prey, Jake twisted like an eel in my grip and went for my neck. I managed to shove my arm against his Adam's apple before his teeth sunk into my flesh. He snapped at me like a rabid animal, his breath wafting over me like a week's worth of spoiled meat.

  I heard yelling, and out of the corner of my eye saw Mack raise his weapon and smash the butt end down on Jake's head with a sickening crack. Jake went limp and crumpled to the ground, blood oozing from an indentation in his scalp.

  I scrambled out from under Jake's dead weight and looked for Kaitlyn, who swayed on her feet, hand still clasped over the wound on her neck, blood seeping between her fingers. Her face was chalky white from shock and blood loss. I grabbed her before she collapsed on the dirt next to her attacker, leading her to the glider as her hand slipped off the wound in her neck and fresh blood gouted out. “Shit!” Slapping my hand over the wound, I looked frantically up at Mack. “She's bleeding to death!”

  Things happened really quickly after that. Mack dashed into one of the cabins, emerging almost immediately with a red flannel pillowcase. As he knelt by Kaitlyn's side and pressed the cloth against the wound in her neck, Kai dashed back across the parking lot, followed closely by Gabriel and the rest of the Wild Cards. Gabriel took in Jake's body, his gaze flicking to me and my blood-splattered hands and clothing. “Ashley, are you okay”