Joann, seeing his awkwardness, blew him a kiss to razz him.
“I heard you wrapped up the two missing person cases,” said McDonald out of the side of his mouth. “Nicely done. Feel better?”
“Chris, there was nothing nice about it.”
“What was the deal with that clown?” asked the Mayor. “I heard he tried to eat a man.”
“He took a good bite out of Alice Krueger’s arm too,” added Holbrook. “Drugs.”
McDonald shook his head in disgust. “Well, once this is over you can focus on the storm, not that I think there’s anything to focus on.”
“Don’t forget the murder investigation.”
McDonald smiled and waved. “Jim, looks like you have your murderer. You killed three birds with one stone.”
“I don’t think Marie murdered Billy. I’m not even certain Marie Russo did what it looks like she did to Mario and Sophia Russo.”
“Why complicate things, Jim? You have everything wrapped up nicely with a bow. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the best explanation.”
Holbrook really didn’t feel like arguing with Mayor McDonald at the moment, particularly when he didn’t have any evidence exonerating Marie. He saw Robbie and Lena standing on the side across from Johnny Wong’s radio booth. They were both waving to him.
As he and McDonald came up on where Lena and Robbie stood, Holbrook quickly darted to the side, snatched Robbie up, and put him on his shoulders. He ran back to resume his march beside McDonald.
“Hi, Mr. Mayor!”
McDonald quickly moved on from his prior conversation with Holbrook. Like flicking a switch, he flashed a toothy smile at the boy. “Hello, Robbie! So glad you could join us!”
Robbie sat atop his father’s shoulders, a wide grin on his face as the crowd on either side of the boardwalk cheered and waved to him. It made him feel special to have his father pluck him out of the crowd and join the parade.
Holbrook felt better having Robbie on his shoulders. Thoughts of missing persons, murders, and superstorms fell by the wayside. He felt Robbie hopping up and down and waving on his shoulders. He was glad he could include Robbie. One of the few perks of the job.
Ted grabbed Vinnie’s arm. “Look, there’s Frankie.”
“See, I told you…” Vinnie said as he followed where Ted pointed.
Frankie staggered around, pale as a ghost, with dark shadows under his eyes, behind the wall of spectators a few storefronts down to their right.
Frankie grabbed a woman by the hair, like a caveman. She let go of her stroller as he yanked her head back and sank his teeth into her throat. There were screams, and the crowd parted around him, obscuring him from view.
“What’s he doing?” asked Ted, who ran over to the throng.
“Ted, wait…” Vinnie turned to his left, his attention drawn by a stirring in the crowd farther down the boardwalk. There were screams and yells as people began to back away from another spot.
Joann was on the radio immediately. “We’ve got two crowd disturbances.”
“I see them,” responded Lawson.
“On it,” said Pike.
A man stumbled out from the crowd disturbance down the boardwalk right into the path of one of the unicyclers.
Joann waved Breslin over. “We’ve got a drunk.”
“Let’s go,” said Breslin.
The two officers crossed the parade line and ran to intercept. The man staggered over to the swerving unicycler and snatched her off the bike, throwing her to the ground. The woman screamed as he began to tear into her with his fingers and teeth, spraying blood all over himself.
“Oh my God!” shouted Breslin, panting as she ran.
The auxiliary cops were there first. One grabbed the ravenous drunk off the woman performer, but the drunk let out a horrid screech and turned on the cop, biting him in the shoulder.
The other auxiliary pulled his baton, came up on the drunk from behind, slid it under his chin, and pulled backward.
Mike and the children were just in front of the scene.
“What’s that man doing?” asked Alessandra, on the verge of tears.
Mike pulled her close, grabbed Salvatore by the scruff, and pulled the both of them to the other side of the boardwalk with Dharma.
Breslin ran to the injured auxiliary, and Joann advanced upon the drunk being restrained by the other auxiliary. She extended her baton and beat the man’s legs.
He collapsed on his knees, but he kept fighting.
“Don’t let go,” said Joann, as she brought more blows down upon the drunk.
However, it was like it wasn’t even fazing the guy. It was like he didn’t feel it at all.
Farther up the boardwalk, Holbrook took Robbie off his shoulders and placed him between himself and the Mayor.
“What in Sam Hill is going on?” cried the Mayor.
Holbrook looked back for Lena. “Where is she?” he muttered to himself.
Pike and Lawson advanced on the ever-widening circle of spectators toward the front of the parade. As the crowd parted, they saw a woman face down with hair torn out of her scalp bleeding out on the boardwalk. Frankie Martinez had Ted in his lap and was pulling Ted’s entrails out of his abdomen. Ted clutched onto Frankie like an infant to its mother, only Frankie was the one feeding on Ted.
“Holy shit!” yelled Lawson.
Both officers drew their weapons, and the crowd widened. Some spectators ran away screaming, some watched in horror, and some had their cell phones out taking video.
Frankie looked up at Lawson and Pike and smiled, blood dripping down his chin.
“What do we do?” Pike was frantic.
Frankie made some throaty barking sounds, almost like a seal, and then he screeched bloody murder.
“Fire!” shouted Lawson, firing into Frankie.
Frankie tried to stand and in the process stepped head-first into a bullet. He dropped like a ton of bricks to the boardwalk and was still.
“Oh my God! You killed him!” shouted a spectator video recording with his phone.
The auxiliary cop struggled to restrain the drunk as Joann produced her Taser. “Clear!” she yelled.
The auxiliary released the man and took several steps backward. Joann fired into the drunk, pumping him with electricity.
The drunk dropped to his knees, but continued to reach out for Joann. She hit him again, and again, but the bastard kept coming.
Breslin stood next to her and drew her weapon.
“Kneecap him,” said Joann.
Breslin aimed low and shot the man in the leg. The blow momentarily knocked him off balance, but he kept coming, putting weight on the leg.
“The other one,” said Joann.
Breslin hit him in the other kneecap, and the man stumbled to the ground. He reached forward, gripped the edge of a board, and pulled himself forward, snapping his jaws at them.
Joann hopped around him, knelt on his back, and grabbed the man’s right wrist as her other hand went for her handcuffs. She slapped it on his wrist and grabbed his other hand, twisting it around his back. She could’ve sworn she felt his shoulder pop. She cuffed the other hand, released him, and stepped back. The auxiliary cop cleared the crowd away.
“I don’t believe it,” said Breslin.
The man squirmed on the boardwalk, inching toward her like a damned inch worm.
“We need medics,” said Joann, grabbing her radio.
Johnny Wong got a front seat view of everything. “There seems to be a few spectators misbehaving in the crowd, but the local law enforcement is on it.”
“What’s going on?” said Tara, watching Officer Campbell cuffing a man on the boardwalk.
“It’s Officer Joann,” shouted Lenny. “She needs help!”
Tara grabbed him firmly by the arm. “Oh no. Not this time.”
Marcus caught a glimpse of someone moving fast in his periphery, coming from inside the arcade behind them. When he turned, a pale woman with yellow teeth and rac
coon eyes threw herself at him. She wrestled with him as she craned her neck to get a bite of his.
“What the fuck?” Marcus threw her to the ground.
She spun around quickly and grabbed his ankle, pulling herself toward him.
Tara let go of Tyrell and started beating the woman’s head with her purse, cursing at her.
The woman now embraced Marcus’s leg and chomped down on his thigh. His shorts softened the blow, and he tried to squirm out of her grip as Tara kicked her in her side.
Tyrell and Lenny looked on in horror.
Not getting a good bite, the woman slid down his leg, just below the hem of his shorts, and this time her teeth found purchase.
A woman with wild eyes yowled in rage and lurched toward Holbrook, Robbie, and the Mayor.
The Mayor grabbed Robbie by the shoulders and placed him in front of him.
Holbrook stood in front of them both, blocking the crazed woman’s path.
“Freeze!” He drew his weapon.
The woman kept coming, reaching out for them and snapping her jaws.
Holbrook fired at her leg, and she stumbled forward. She landed next to Holbrook and swiped at his leg, but he pulled it away in time. She pushed herself up and reached for Robbie, and he shot her in the back.
Robbie tried to run, but McDonald held him in place in front of him, using him as a human shield. The woman grabbed Robbie’s leg when her head burst in an eruption of blood and brain matter. She dropped lifeless to the boardwalk.
Holbrook snatched Robbie away from the Mayor. “Kissing hands and shaking babies, Mr. Mayor?” He knelt down in front of Robbie. “Are you okay, buddy?”
Robbie looked like he was going into shock. Holbrook examined the leg the woman grabbed, and then the other leg. “Are you hurt?”
Robbie didn’t answer.
Satisfied there was no injury, Holbrook hugged his son.
“What is this, a riot?” asked the Mayor. “It’s a family holiday. What’s wrong with people?”
They all turned around when they heard the sounds of dogs barking and then the agonized cry of baby bears.
“No fucking way,” said Holbrook.
The crowd parted as poodles ran up the boardwalk followed by the thunderous footsteps of the two baby bears. One dragged his handler for a moment until the handler let go.
The parade came to a halt as confusion gripped the event. Mike grabbed Alessandra by the hand and pulled her close as Dharma grabbed Salvatore’s hand.
“What’s going on?” asked Mike.
“I don’t know,” said Dharma.
They looked on in horror as individuals set upon various spectators and marchers in the parade, attacking them like wild animals.
Dharma pulled Salvatore close as she saw a man and a woman approaching diagonally from either side, eyes locked on her, Mike, and the children. “Mike, look!”
Mike gasped as he saw it, too. The two people were deliberately meandering through the parade line, smoky raccoon eyes wild with aggression as they stalked their prey.
Mike grabbed Alessandra and backed out of the parade line to the other side of the boardwalk, Dharma and Salvatore retreating with him, until they hit the fence above the beach.
“They’re still coming!” cried Dharma.
“What’s wrong with them?” asked Mike.
They looked on in horror as the two maniacs crossed the parade line, snapping their jaws like novelty windup teeth, confused marchers swerving around them as if they instinctually knew that something was wrong, something unnatural.
Backs against the fence, they had run out of boardwalk. Dharma grabbed Alessandra under the armpits and lifted her up. “Honey, I’m going to drop you down onto the beach.”
“No!” Alessandra struggled. “It’s too high. I wanna stay with you.”
“Dharma’s right,” said Mike. “It’s not safe here. The sand is soft. It’ll break your fall.”
Salvatore saw the two attackers closing in. They were pale and disheveled, and their stench caught the ocean breeze, wafting into his nostrils, filling some primitive part of his brain with revulsion and triggering a primal survival response.
It was the way the whole crowd had reacted, whether they fully realized it or not. It was nature’s hard-wired fear of death taking over.
“It’s okay, Ali,” Salvatore told his sister. He mounted the fence, slipping his feet in between the chain links while holding on to the pipe at the top. “We’ll jump together.”
Alessandra looked like she was on the verge of tears as Dharma pulled her over the top of the fence. “Okay, on the count of three, you two jump!”
“They’re almost here!” called Mike.
“One, two, THREE.”
Dharma dropped Alessandra, and Salvatore jumped off the edge of the raised boardwalk. Salvatore landed on his feet in a crouch, but Alessandra face planted into the sand. She pushed herself up, spitting sand out of her mouth and crying.
Salvatore pulled her up by her hand. He looked up at Dharma.
“Go! Run!” she shouted down at them.
As they took off along the side of the pier toward the water, Dharma mounted the fence, swinging her right leg over the side. She paused at the top. “C’mon, Mike.”
“I’m too old to climb fences,” he said. The two attackers were only twenty feet from them and closing.
“I’m not leaving you up here!” she insisted.
“Go! Keep the kids safe! I’ll be all right!”
“Mike!” she pleaded.
“The kids need you! Go!”
Dharma shot Mike a look of concerned disapproval. “Mike, run!”
“Don’t worry. I will.”
She swung her other leg over and jumped down to the sand. She landed in a crouch and looked up as Mike disappeared from the edge of the boardwalk. Satisfied that she could do no more for him, she took off toward the water where Salvatore waited with Alessandra.
Mike tried to run, but his path was blocked on both sides by the two advancing aggressors. He was able to get a closer look at them now as they reached out for him. Their pallor and vacant expressions reminded him of his Mary lying in the coffin at the funeral home. Their stench reeked of death.
Mike recoiled as the woman screeched at him like a savage animal. He grabbed the fence in desperation, trying to swing a leg up as he felt fingertips scrape his back.
Vinnie emerged from the bedlam and tackled the man into the woman, sending them both crashing to the boardwalk. They snarled and snapped at him as he rolled off the heap.
Mike turned around and saw his young friend scrambling to his feet. He turned and gave the woman a swift kick to the head as she tried to push herself up. He felt the man clawing at his pant leg, and he stepped out of his reach.
“Where’s Dharma and the kids?” asked Vinnie.
“They’re on the beach!” Mike pointed out toward the water, and he saw Vinnie’s eyes go wide as he traced Mike’s finger.
“What is it?”
“Look,” said Vinnie.
There was one of the shambling attackers on the beach, shuffling in the sand in the direction of Dharma and the children.
Vinnie grabbed Mike and pulled him around the crawling man and woman, and they dashed toward one of the ramps to the beach.
“Everyone’s gone crazy!” shouted Vinnie as he pulled Mike past a stunned ticket-taker cowering in her booth at the entrance to the ramp.
They descended the ramp and took to the sand, Vinnie pulling ahead of Mike. Mike struggled to keep up, burdened with the urgency to reach Dharma and the kids before that…thing did.
Mike knew that these attackers weren’t crazy. They were sick. They wore the stench of death on them like a cheap suit. The last time he felt this was when Mary was in the nursing home. It was all over that place like a dark aura, but it wasn’t as potent a sensation as this.
This was worse.
Vinnie looked back at Mike, but Mike waved him forward. If he was going to reach D
harma and the children in time, he couldn’t wait for Mike.
Vinnie took off, dodging people sitting up on their blankets and standing, watching the tumult of the boardwalk. The lifeguards stood on their towers, looking over their shoulders at the chaos on the boardwalk.
Vinnie heard whistles as swimmers were called out of the water. He saw the shambling man working his way along the side of the pier in pursuit of Dharma and the children.
The lifeguards and beachgoers were too preoccupied with the boardwalk to notice, but apparently Dharma noticed because she pulled the children under the pier.
Vinnie doubled his efforts, closing the distance between him and the shambling man as the man disappeared under the pier and out of sight.
Shit. Vinnie ducked under the pier and dashed between the pilings, catching glimpses of Dharma, the children, and their relentless pursuer.
He turned on a diagonal and darted between the pilings until he caught up with the shuffling man, picking up speed on the more solid wet sand.
Vinnie tackled him, throwing him face-first into the sand. Dharma turned and saw him. “Vinnie!”
The man rolled over and growled at him as he reached up and grabbed Vinnie in a horrible embrace. Vinnie squirmed and shoved the man back into the sand as he snapped at him, eyes filled with sand and wide with fury.
Vinnie rolled off of him and got to his feet as the man slowly pushed himself to a standing position.
“Go!” shouted Vinnie.
Dharma hesitated, holding both children’s hands. Alessandra shook while sobbing, and Salvatore looked lost.
“Go!” he yelled again. This time she ran off and disappeared on the other side of the pier.
Vinnie backed away from the man as he shrieked, hands reaching out to grab him.
“What’s wrong with you?” Vinnie shouted at the man. “What do you want?”
Mike ran under the pier, meandering through the maze of pilings as he heard a horrible shriek over the crashing waves and the whistles of the lifeguards in the distance behind him.
The Creeping Dead: A Zombie Novel Page 30