They all turned to the glass door, as all of the metal security gates were down, and saw a man in the rain ambling over toward them.
“Is that Johnny Wong?” asked Randy.
Johnny Wong saw the light coming from the door and made a beeline for it. He collided with the glass, as if he didn’t know it was there, smearing blood on it where his face pressed against it.
“What is he, drunk?” asked Nancy.
Randy made to go open the door to let him in, but Mike grabbed his arm. “Wait a minute.”
“What? It’s raining out there,” said Randy.
Johnny pressed his hands up against the glass and shrieked.
“What the fuck?” gasped Randy.
Vinnie’s eyes went wide with realization. “He sounds like…”
“One of those things from yesterday,” said Mike. “Look how he isn’t opening the door.”
Vinnie walked over to the door.
“What are you doing?” said Nancy. “Don’t let him in.”
Vinnie locked the door from the inside.
Johnny snapped his jaws against the glass, desperately trying to get at Vinnie.
“He’s scaring me,” whimpered Alessandra, on the verge of tears.
“Dharma, why don’t you take the kids to the back and show them the Halloween decorations?” said Mike.
Dharma nodded, looking terrified herself, but she took Salvatore and Alessandra back to the Classics Room. Alessandra was happy to go, but Sal looked over his shoulder at Johnny as he threw himself against the glass like a lion at the zoo.
“What’s wrong with him?” asked Vinnie.
Johnny made some odd throaty sounds and projectile vomited green and black liquid on the glass.
“Get away from there,” said Mike.
Vinnie backed away from the door. “It should hold him.”
“I’m calling 9-1-1,” announced Nancy, pulling out her cell phone. “Hello? Yes, this is Nancy Longo at Blackbeard’s Pier. We need help. There’s an emotionally disturbed person banging on our door, throwing up everywhere, and we want to get the hell out of here…That’s right…Blackbeard’s Pier, on the boardwalk…Yes, please hurry.” She hung up the phone. “They’re sending someone.”
There were more pops outside. Johnny turned his head in the direction of the gunfire. He turned heel and walked off to track the source of the sound.
“See,” said Nancy. “He saw me calling the police and decided to get smart.”
“Yeah, right,” said Randy.
Vinnie and Mike walked up to the door and peered out through the blood and bile. “Oh shit.”
“What?” asked Nancy.
“There’re more of them,” said Mike. “They’re staggering around the boardwalk.”
“There’s gotta be over a dozen of them,” said Vinnie.
“What do you mean?” snapped Nancy. She stomped over to the front door and looked out. She saw for herself. “Oh, for Pete’s sake!”
“Back away from the door,” said Mike, gently nudging her away. “We don’t want to draw their attention.”
“Don’t you touch me, Michael.”
Mike rolled his eyes at Vinnie, who rolled his back and looked out the door.
“While you’re at it, go turn off the lights,” he told Nancy.
She put her hands on her hips. “Don’t you think you can order me around, buster.”
“I’d lower your voice, too, before you become a human chew toy,” said Mike.
She huffed, but she knew he was right. She stormed off to turn off the lights as Mike winked irreverently at Vinnie.
When Nancy flicked the switch and the lights went out, they heard Alessandra scream from the back of the arcade.
“Go find them,” Mike told Vinnie, “explain to them what’s happening, and for God’s sake, tell them to be quiet.”
Vinnie ran to the Classics Room to find Dharma and the children, while Mike stood on the side of the door peering out through the vomit. It didn’t seem like those things outside heard Alessandra’s scream over the howling winds.
“Guys, you’ve gotta be quiet. There’re more sick people out there. We can’t draw attention,” said Vinnie.
“More sick people?” asked Alessandra. “Like yesterday?” She grabbed her brother’s arm.
Salvatore, traumatized by the attacks the day before, just looked traumatized.
“We’re safe,” said Dharma. “They’re not getting in here. Right, Vinnie?”
Vinnie managed his best reassuring smile. “Right, but you guys have to be very quiet.”
Vinnie and Dharma looked into each other’s eyes for a moment.
“I have to go back,” said Vinnie.
“We’ll be fine,” said Dharma. “I’ve got some games on my phone we can play with the volume off.”
Vinnie left the Classics Room to rejoin the others when Randy intercepted him.
“I gotta talk to you, man,” said Randy.
They stepped behind the carousel. Chills went down Randy’s spine as he saw the looming silhouette of the zombie statue.
“What is it?” whispered Vinnie.
“Vinnie, do you know what’s going on here?”
“No, what’s going on here?”
“Think about it—sick people biting other people. The bitten become sick themselves and start biting others.”
Vinnie stepped back and put his hands up. “Don’t say it, bro. Just don’t. I know what you’re going to say.”
Randy leaned it and whispered, “It’s fuckin’ zombies, man.”
“No. There’s a reasonable explanation for it. Mike thinks they’re sick.”
“Exactly,” said Randy. “It’s some kinda virus manufactured by the government or from aliens.”
“You’ve been smoking too many trees, my friend.”
“Think about it, Vinnie. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“There’s no such thing as zombies, Randy.”
“Oh yeah? Tell that to the flesh-eating, shambling monsters outside this arcade.”
“They’re just sick or jacked up on bath salts or something.”
“Where’re the Goddamned coppers that my tax dollars pay for?” Nancy whispered.
“I don’t know, Nancy,” whispered Mike, “but when they do show up, please don’t remind them that you pay their taxes.”
“Why, are you afraid of them? I’m not. Their job is to protect and serve me.”
“You know, that’s your problem. You think everyone exists on this planet to serve you.”
Nancy pursed her lips. “Do you know what your problem is, Michael? You don’t know your damned place.”
“My place? Just what’s that supposed to mean? Just because you make more money than me and happen to employ me, you think that you’re better than me?”
“I never said I was better than you, but now that you mention it…”
“Yeah, well you sure act like you’re better than everyone.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m surrounded by a bunch of morons.”
“Really? Miss High and Mighty Super Genius? You never even went to college.”
“Oh yeah? Well neither did you, you old fool.”
“Old fool? Maybe I am an old fool. I admit it.”
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
“Because of this…” Mike leaned in, slipped his hand behind her head, and kissed her on the mouth.
Nancy was stunned, but she didn’t exactly pull away.
Mike felt a stirring in his pants he hadn’t felt for years.
After a few seconds, she pushed herself away from him. Their lips parted with a wet smacking sound.
“How dare you? This is sexual harassment.”
“How can it be sexual harassment? I’m so far beneath her Royal Highness. If anything, you sexually harassed me.”
“You’re the one who kissed me,” she insisted.
“Well, you looked like you could use a little sexual harassment, if you ask me.”
“I didn’t ask you.”
Mike was about to open his mouth to respond with another quip when a loud alarm sounded. All of the shambling figures stopped in their tracks and started looking around, confused.
Vinnie and Randy came out, both children following them.
“What’s that sound?” asked Randy.
“It’s the flood alarms,” said Mike. “They’re going to evacuate Smuggler’s Bay.”
“Where are those police?” asked Nancy. “We can’t stay here.”
Mike made a sweeping gesture toward the door. “Well, if you want to be the first to rush out onto a boardwalk of murderous freaks, then be my guest.”
They waited for a couple of hours by the concession stand, feasting on candy bars, stale popcorn, and guzzling soda while they waited for the police to come. Not one of them took their eye off the gore soaked glass door.
“Stay here,” said Vinnie to the children.
They stayed put with Mike and Nancy.
Vinnie crept over to the door. Randy followed him. They both peered out at an angle so as not to be seen from the outside. Although it was pouring outside, very little of the syrup that Johnny Wong spewed on the glass actually washed off.
“Holy shit,” said Randy. “There’re more of them. Where are they all coming from?”
Vinnie jumped as water crashed onto the boardwalk. “Holy smokes, did you see that? A wave just crashed onto the boardwalk.”
Everyone jumped out of their skin as they heard a wave slap against the back of the arcade.
“That’s not good,” said Nancy. She walked over to the back. Randy and Mike followed. Vinnie kept watch by the front door, and Dharma kept an eye on the children.
Nancy ran to the back window looking out on the beach, only she didn’t see a beach. “Oh my God.”
Mike and Randy stood next to her and gazed out at a churning ocean that had engulfed the beach entirely. Waves began to rise and crash against the back of the building.
“We’ve gotta get out of here,” said Mike
There were more popping sounds, and Vinnie saw flashes in the gloom. “Hey, guys, there’s something going on!”
They all ran to the front door to peer out, except for the two scared children who stood frozen by the carousel. The adults pushed and shoved to get a good look.
“Someone’s shooting,” said Vinnie.
* * *
Everything had gone horribly wrong. Holbrook and Joann splashed down the boardwalk taking wild shots at their undead assailants. They were trained to aim for center mass and they were running, so few of those shots actually connected.
They skidded to a stop in front of Blackbeard’s Pier Arcade, Joann nearly losing her balance entirely, grabbing onto Holbrook for support. They were cut off by a band of attackers coming from the other direction.
“I’m out!” shouted Joann over the howling wind.
“Me, too!”
They both extended their batons.
Their approaching attackers howled and screeched over the wind, a synergy of horrid sound.
Joann cradled a nasty bite on her forearm.
Holbrook thought he heard someone shouting, but it was tough to tell over all the commotion.
A flash of light caught his eye. Someone hung out of the Blackbeard’s Pier Arcade waving an illuminated cell phone.
He grabbed Joann’s arm, and she winced. “Let’s go!” He pulled her as they ran to the door, at this point with twenty or thirty attackers on their tail.
Vinnie stood aside as Holbrook barreled into the arcade.
Joann, however, stopped short at the doorway. “Lock the door!”
“Come in!” shouted Vinnie.
Holbrook turned around and walked back to the open door. The wind carried in ocean spray and the unholy shrieks and wails of the dead. “What are you doing?”
“I’m already dead, and you know it!” Joann shouted.
Before Holbrook or Vinnie could respond, Joann pulled down the smaller metal security gate over the door.
“No!” Holbrook shouted. He heard metal scraping on the outside. He reached down to try to pull up the gate, but it wouldn’t budge. “She locked it from the outside,” he cried out in panic.
He put his ear to the gate, and he and Vinnie heard Joann shout, “Follow me, you motherfuckers!”
There was a rush of footfalls and then nothing.
Then there was a bang on the metal gate, and they heard screeching and moaning as the gate buckled on its hinges.
“Get back!” said Vinnie, pulling Holbrook out of the doorway. He closed the glass door and locked it. The dead outside started pounding on all of the gates all around the arcade, the effect like thunder. Waves crashed on the back window of the arcade, shaking the pane of glass inside the frame.
“Somebody get the lights,” said Dharma.
“I got it,” said Randy. He walked over to the shooting gallery and flicked on the lights.
Mike and Nancy walked over to Holbrook. “What happened?”
Holbrook, still shocked by Joann’s brave act, took a moment to regain his composure. “They’re dead. They’re all dead.”
“How?” asked Nancy.
“We were in the middle of an evacuation when these…” He didn’t want to say the word, because if he did it would make it real. “…zombies came out of nowhere. They started killing everyone. Eating them.”
“Ha!” said Randy, jumping up and down in triumph. “I told you, Vinnie. They are zombies.”
Everyone glared at Randy.
“Will you put a sock in it, you numbskull?” snapped Nancy.
Holbrook took a deep breath. “The streets were clogged with slow moving traffic. They didn’t stand a chance. We were trying to clear the boardwalk, make sure everyone was evacuated, when we were overrun.”
“Where’s my mommy?” asked Alessandra.
Holbrook looked at Mike. “You didn’t tell her?”
Mike hung his head. “No, I didn’t.”
Holbrook steeled himself. “I had her at the station. We found your grandma. She’s dead.”
Alessandra gasped. Salvatore gawked at him.
“And your grandma killed your father.”
“What?” cried Salvatore over the thunderous pounding of the dead on the security gates. “My Dad was killed? By Nana?”
“I thought your mother did it, so I held her at the police station, but I let her go.”
Mike put a supportive hand on Holbrook’s shoulder. The Police Chief was soaked to the bone and trembling.
“Where is she?” asked Alessandra.
“I’m afraid I don’t know.”
“Was Nana one of the zombies?”
“Yes, I’m afraid she was, son.”
Alessandra began to cry.
Nancy, of all people, put her arm around her to comfort her. “There, there, dear. I’m sure your mother’s all right. She’s probably worried about you and your brother.”
“So what now?” asked Randy. “There’re more cops coming, right? We’re going to be rescued?”
Holbrook shook his head. “Honestly, I-I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“Easy, Randy,” warned Mike. Randy backed off, but he began pacing back and forth in front of the carousel.
“I just saw half of my force cut to ribbons by those freaks out there,” said Holbrook, “and that was just on the boardwalk.”
“What about your radio?” asked Mike.
“One of those things ripped it off of me,” said Holbrook. “Let me try my cell.” He took his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Joann. As the phone rang, he prayed she would answer, because if she answered it meant she was alive. However, with each ring he knew the horrible truth.
“Okay,” he said, hanging up. “Let me try someone else.” He tried a few of his officers, but no one picked up. He tried the police station, but again, no answer. “No one’s answering.”
“Great,” s
aid Randy, still pacing. “So we’re cut off.”
“That was why Joann locked us in here,” said Holbrook. “She knew we’d have to hole up for a while. I’m sure no one’s answering because they’re a bit preoccupied at the moment.” He hoped that was true.
“We’re going to die!” cried Randy. “We’re all going to fucking die!”
Nancy slapped him hard on the face.
Randy stood there stunned. He put his hands up to his face and began to cry.
“Listen, I don’t want to be here either,” said Nancy, “but since we’re here, we might as well make the best of it. Pissing and moaning won’t do us any good. We have enough candy and soft drinks to last us a week. Maybe more.”
Another wave crashed on the back of the arcade, shaking the building on the pilings as the dead continued to rattle the metal gates.
“When do you think they’ll get tired?” asked Vinnie.
“They’re zombies,” said Randy. “They’ll never get tired.”
“Will those gates hold up?” asked Vinnie.
“They should,” said Nancy.
“She’s right,” said Holbrook. “For a while, anyway. They’re designed to take a licking.”
“What about this arcade?” asked Vinnie.
“Unfortunately, I think the gates are the strongest part of the building,” admitted Nancy.
“Great, so we’re trapped in an arcade hanging over the ocean surrounded by zombies in the middle of a super storm,” said Holbrook. He thought about Lena and Robbie. He was glad he sent them off when he did, before the shit truly hit the fan.
“So, what are you saying?” asked Vinnie. “That help isn’t coming?”
“It all happened so fast,” said Holbrook. “I’ve been in touch with the CDC, and they’re looking into what they think is patient zero. I’m going to call in the State Police.”
“How about the National Guard?” added Mike.
They heard more gunfire in the distance.
Holbrook picked up this cell and dialed. “Operator? This is Holbrook, Chief of Police in Smuggler’s Bay.” He rattled off his badge number. “I need you to patch me through to the State Police right away.”
They put him on hold.
“What about my parents?” asked Dharma.
“Or mine?” added Vinnie.
Holbrook shook his head. “I don’t know. It doesn’t look like many made it out.”
The Creeping Dead: A Zombie Novel Page 34