Survivors

by Dave Willmarth

  “Who gives a shite how you was raised!” Evan practically screamed at him. The amount of pent-up rage in the man was surprising.

  “We didn’t invite ye down here to breathe our air or eat our food! We was just fine by our lonesome!”

  Evan took a step forward and lunged at Griff. The man was strong and imposing, but Griff was a soldier. A combat veteran. And he was calm, while Evan was clearly ‘roided out of his mind. As Evan grabbed a fistful of Griff’s t-shirt with his left hand, he drew his right fist back and prepared to smash Griff’s face.

  Griff didn’t give him the chance. His hands still up between them, he moved almost without thought. His right hand curled slightly and he jabbed it into Evan’s throat. Hard.

  Evan immediately let go of Griff’s shirt and grabbed his injured neck with both hands as he gagged.

  Griff kicked at Evan’s shin with his hard-toed boot and the man bent in pain, lifting the leg and trying to curse through his bruised larynx. Not feeling the slightest bit merciful, Griff put a hand behind Evan’s head and slammed his face into the table. Evan went limp and fell to the floor.

  Griff turned to Lisa, his adrenaline pumping. She was still on the floor, eyes wide and tears streaming down her face. She was shaking her head back and forth as if trying to deny what she’d just seen.

  Griff stepped close and reached out a hand, offering to help her up. She didn’t take it.

  “Oh, no,” she whispered. “You shouldn’t have done that. He gets angry sometimes, but he wouldn’t have hurt you. Not really.” She continued to shake her head. “He’s going to try to kill you now. I mean, when he wakes up.”

  Griff retracted his hand, confused. Was she saying he should have just let the man beat on him? That wasn’t happening in this lifetime.

  “He’s been beating you, hasn’t he? For a while now?” Griff spoke softly. She didn’t answer, just stared at Evan’s limp form on the floor. Blood leaked from his nose and dripped on the tile. His lip was swollen and bleeding as well.

  Finally, Lisa spoke, her voice ragged and barely audible.

  “It started a month or so ago. He’s… havin’ a hard time down here. But he’s too afraid to go out there. We saw on the TV what was happening, and he’s angry with himself for being afraid.” She paused as she drew a ragged breath. “Then you came down here. From out there. With a story of getting away from one of the creatures. Made him feel like even more of a coward. And when you and I started to play the game, well…”

  Her voice drifted off. Griff didn’t need her to finish the sentence. He understood completely.

  “I can try to talk to him when he wakes up. I’m no hero; I didn’t want to be outside either. But I’d have starved if I hadn’t. And I screamed like a little girl when that bloody bear attacked. I didn’t fight, I just ran as fast as that old Jeep’d go!”

  Lisa smiled slightly, clearly thinking Griff was exaggerating for her benefit. But she shook her head again, tears still streaming down her face.

  “He won’t listen. He just… ain’t made that way.” She reached out her hand this time. Griff helped her up and she began to gather the dishes from dinner. He did the same, helping her clean up.

  “Plus, he don’t see no future,” she continued. “Ya know he won’t upload to the game. And if we do, he’ll be by hisself here. He’s been tryin’ to convince me not to do it since the first day.”

  Griff shook his head. His mind was, already trying to work out a solution. He could lock the man up somewhere. Or take him outside and tell Peabody not to let him back in. He could stomp on the defenseless man’s neck here and now and solve the issue altogether. But one look at Lisa, and he knew she’d never forgive him.

  “What should I do? I’m willing to apologize…”

  Lisa hesitated. “Help me get him to his bed. We’ll leave him there for the night. Be sure and lock your door, and I’ll do the same. He’ll be in a evil mood when he wakes.”

  Griff nodded in acquiescence and bent to take hold of Evan. He got a hand under each arm and lifted the man to his feet. Holding him upright against a wall, he bent and put a shoulder to the man’s waist before letting him fall forward, lifting him in a fireman’s carry and following Lisa to Evan’s quarters.

  When he reached the bed, he simply dumped the man off his shoulder. Evan’s body bounced once and rolled forward, his head knocking against the wall. Not feeling the slightest bit guilty, Griff just turned and exited. He waited in the corridor for Lisa to emerge.

  She didn’t say anything, just put a hand on his arm as she passed. He watched as she walked into another room, closed and locked the door. They were sturdy metal doors, and Griff was sure Evan couldn’t get through it without him hearing.

  He turned and entered his own quarters, locking the door behind him. As he sat on the bed, he said, “Peabody, do you have cameras in the corridor outside this room?”

  “Of course, admin Griff. I have cameras in most rooms. Excepting bathrooms, sleeping quarters, the locker rooms attached to the fitness center, and the research labs.”

  “Okay then, please alert me if Evan tries to gain access to Lisa’s room or my own. Or if he engages in any activity that might cause harm to us or this facility.”

  “Certainly, admin Griff. Has Evan become a hostile entity?”

  Griff shook his head. “Maybe, Peabody. We’ll see tomorrow. Good night.”

  “Good night, admin Griff. Sleep well.”

  Griff changed from his jeans and boots to a pair of sweat shorts and crawled into bed. He shut off the lights, but it took more than an hour for him to drift off to sleep. He couldn’t help but picture all the ways in which Evan could cause trouble for them and maybe get them killed. The world outside was unforgiving, and one mistake could mean the end of them all.

  It seemed he’d only been asleep for a moment when Peabody’s voice awakened him.

  “Admin Griff. I am sorry to wake you, but Evan has just activated the elevator. He is heading for the lobby level.”

  “Is Lisa with him?” Griff had a sudden and horrifying vision of the man dragging her out onto the surface in some misguided effort to find a new place to live.

  “Lisa has not left her sleeping quarters. Evan is alone. He took a shotgun from the security office right before calling the elevator. Which is why I began to try to wake you.”

  Not bothering to dress, Griff threw open his door and ran to the security office. There were several monitors there with feeds from various cameras around the building. He focused in on the one that showed Evan just stepping off the elevator at the lobby level.

  “Peabody, please put Evan on the main monitor and track his movements.”

  “Of course, admin Griff.”

  The camera angle changed as the AI switched to a camera inside the lobby. It showed Evan heading for the garage exit. When he disappeared from view, the camera changed again time to one above the exit door. Griff got a good look at the scowl on Evan’s face as he pushed the door open. The camera angle changed again, this time to one mounted above the door on the garage side.

  Griff watched Evan pull a set of keys from his pocket and move to a beat up old Volvo sedan. He unlocked the car and got in. A moment later the engine turned over and the headlights came on. Griff imagined that he could hear the tires screeching as Evan gunned the motor and cranked the wheel to one side.

  The car sped up the ramp toward the exit gate.

  “Peabody, open the door garage door before he just crashes through it!” Griff shouted.

  The AI had anticipated the need, and even as Griff spoke the door began to rise. Evan shot through underneath before it was even fully open and the door began to lower again immediately. Peabody switched to exterior cameras mounted near the roof that showed Evan’s car bouncing as it hit a deep pothole, nearly careening into a burned-out car. A moment later, it disappeared around a corner, headed in the general direction of the Tesco store.

  “That damned idjut!” Griff cursed to himself. “H
e’ll get killed out there.” Despite his low opinion of the man and Evan’s clear hatred of him, Griff’s first instinct was to try and save him. But it would be foolish to go out there now. And there was no way he would leave Lisa here alone. His new horrifying vision was one of Evan re-entering the building after becoming contaminated. Then turning into a zombie creature and ripping apart the facility.

  “Peabody, I need you to lock down the building. If Evan returns, let him into the parking garage, but no further. And notify me as soon as he appears on your cameras. Do not open the exterior doors for any reason without my approval.”

  “Certainly, admin Griff. I will classify Evan as a threat and revoke all access.”

  Griff poked around the security office for a bit longer. He picked up a stapler and tossed it from hand to hand. He paced the room, watching all of the exterior feeds. A thought occurred to him, so he asked Peabody a question.

  “Peabody, what did Evan do when he left his room? Did he go anywhere in the facility before leaving?”

  “He went to the kitchen, and remained there approximately three minutes. Then he went to the research labs that you and Lisa have been using. He remained there for less than five minutes, then retrieved the shotgun from the security office before leaving.”

  “Please show me the camera feeds for that time period. Beginning when he left his room” Griff watched the feed as Peabody spliced together Evan’s movements onto the main monitor. He did indeed go to the kitchen. He filled a backpack with food and a few cans of soda, then left for the labs. There were no cameras in the those rooms, presumably because the company didn’t want their R&D secrets at risk. So he couldn’t tell what happened inside. After watching Evan retrieve the gun and get on the elevator, he said “Thank you Peabody.”

  Leaving the security office, he went first to the kitchen and checked the stove and gas lines. It occurred to him that Evan might try to sabotage the place before leaving. The ultimate ‘screw you’ from a deranged madman.

  Finding nothing wrong in the kitchen, he moved first to Lisa’s lab. It took him less than five seconds to see what Evan had been up to. The control panel was smashed. The plexiglass bubble that covered the top of the pod was cracked, though not broken. And the aluminum facing along the side was dented in as if it had been kicked. Griff sighed and checked the rest of the room before going to check on his own pod. Not surprisingly, the control panel had been ripped from its cradle and stomped to pieces on the floor.

  It didn’t look like Evan had bothered trying to damage the plexiglass or body of this pod. Probably he’d learned his lesson after the first.

  Griff said many bad words under his breath as he stooped to pick up the smashed panel.

  “Coward! Ye couldn’t face me? Ye had to destroy our hope o’ savin’ ourselves by uploadin’.” His mind raced. There was still one working pod, so he would make sure that Lisa could-”

  He slapped his forehead as he realized what he was saying. “Ye daft fool! Yer in a damned manufacturing facility. Everything ye need to fix these is right here in the buildin’!”

  He dropped the smashed hardware to the floor and began to walk toward the elevator. Glancing at his watch, he saw that he had about three hours before Lisa woke up, and less than four until they were expected at the village to start their dungeon run. As he walked, he said “Peabody, I’m going to need some tools. And do you have access to this facility’s inventory?”

  *****

  Evan pulled up to the front of the Tesco store and shut off the engine. The glass doors were wide open, and he could see the first several feet of shelving. Items were strewn everywhere across the floor, and he spotted what might be old bloodstains.

  “Screw soldier boy! If he can get food, so can I.”

  He tried to psych himself up. When he opened the driver’s door, the squeak of the hinge sounded like a trumpet call, echoing against the glass storefront and back across the parking lot. He froze, listening, his head jerking left and right as he looked for movement.

  After a minute or two of nothing, he spat on the ground and began to move toward the door. Just as he reached the threshold, a shuffling noise from inside made his blood run cold.

  A store flyer pushed by a breeze danced a short distance across the floor in front of him before settling down.

  Releasing the breath he’d been holding, he muttered, “Get ahold o’ yerself boyo.” He raised the shotgun and proceeded into the store. A few steps in, he spotted a rack of candy bars that looked unmolested. Reaching for his pack, he cursed again when he realized the pack was already full of food. Poor planning on his part.

  Looking around, he spotted a shopping cart and went to retrieve it. He set the shotgun across the seat, and began to push it around despite the loud complaints of the squeaky left front wheel. He remembered what Shari and Mace had told them that first day. Only food sealed in plastic or non-organic containers. Fresh items weren’t safe. So he moved through the half-empty store grabbing items here and there, and dropping them into the cart. When he reached the back of the store, he tried the double doors that led to the warehouse. But they were still blocked by the bar Griff had put in place a few days earlier.

  Evan shrugged and moved on. By his reckoning, there was plenty of food here for him. He passed by a large area covered in dried blood. The floor, the packages of food scattered across it, and the lower several feet of the surrounding shelves were all splattered with blood, as if something or someone had exploded.

  He began to notice other patches of blood as he moved around the store, filling his cart. Now he kept one hand on the shotgun as he reached out to pull items down from shelves. The blood was all a dark rust color, the shade you’d expect from months-old dried blood. He didn’t see any of the neon blue blood Shari had warned them about. But it didn’t take a genius to figure out that the zombies had gotten in here at some point and killed people.

  “Probably in the first day or two,” he mumbled to himself. “Poor bastards.”

  In the next aisle he discovered something that made him smile.

  “Ale!” He grinned to himself as he pushed the cart to one side and began pulling six-packs from a shelf, shoving them onto the lower shelf of the cart.

  He was grabbing another one when he felt something impact his leg. Half a second later, he was yanked off balance. He crashed to the floor and the six pack did the same. Two of the bottles shattered and a third had its cap loosened. Beer began to spray across his vision.

  Wiping his face, he looked toward his leg. A dull pain was only just now registering. When his eyes focused, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. A giant snake had latched onto his left leg, its jaws clamped tightly just below his knee, and the thing was slowly crushing his bones as it stared at him with dead eyes.

  “No! No no no no!” Evan began to kick with his right foot, slamming the thing’s nose and eyes to try and make it let go. He saw his own blood dripping onto the floor and went into a panic.

  Grabbing one of the broken bottles next to him, he began to stab frantically at the creature’s face. It didn’t even seem to notice, just kept squeezing as neon blue blood splashed on Evan’s hand and face.

  That was when something deep down in his lizard brain made the connection.

  “I’m bleedin’. This thing’s already killed me. I’ll become one o’ them zombies,” he said aloud, his face and voice dead calm.

  He watched dispassionately as the now-bloody creature changed its grip on him. It briefly let loose of his leg, and as his brain screamed at him to pull away and run, the thing scooped his foot into its mouth and clamped down again on his knee.

  The realization that the giant zombie snake intended to eat him alive snapped him out of his stupor and he screamed. He began to stab the thing again, bursting one of its eyes and turning its face into a mangled mess with the sharp edges of the broken bottle. But still it continued to work its way mercilessly up his leg.

  When its jaw reached his crotch and hip an
d its progress became obstructed by his other leg, the creature paused. Its one good eye looked him over for a moment, then it raised its head up off the ground. Its powerful body, at least half a meter wide and ten meters long, lifted Evan’s weight with ease.

  He screamed again as he flew into the air. He kept going up and up until he was near the high ceiling, dangling by one leg from the snake’s maw.

  His screams were cut off as the creature whipped its head to one side and slammed Evan into the wall. Then it reversed direction and used his body to knock over the nearest rack of shelves. The second time the snake smashed him into the wall, Evan lost consciousness. Several of his bones were broken and his skull had been half crushed by the impact.

  The creature set his now mostly limp body back on the floor and resumed trying to swallow him whole. It pushed and pushed, flexing whatever internal muscles it used to move food down its throat. Eventually there was a loud pop as Evan’s hip dislocated and his leg was pushed up so that his foot was now above his head. The pain was enough to wake him briefly as he screamed in mindless agony.

  The relentless snake consumed him inch by inch, but Evan was only half aware. His mind had shattered from the horror and the pain. He alternated between screaming and babbling nonsense until he just stopped making any noise at all.

  Chapter 12

  Any Port in a Storm

  Shari was the first to wake. It was early yet, but a sound had awakened her from a deep sleep. Turning toward the source of the sound, she was greeted with Mace’s face just inches from hers. Drool ran from his open mouth and down his cheek as he snored loudly.

  “Lovely.”

  She gently pushed his chin upward, closing his mouth. The snoring abated for a moment, until he smacked his lips and his mouth dropped open again. She tried a different tactic, slowly and gently turning his head to the side. This resulted in him rolling his whole body away from her. It put an end to the snoring, but now exposed her body to the cool air of the room where his nice warm body had been.