by Joseph Zuko
It wasn’t long before most of the garage floor was stacked two or three bodies deep. Sara and Ryder looked like the classic picture with the caption, ‘When you paint yourself into a corner.’
Dead bodies lay at her feet. It was as far back as she could go without losing the space needed to thrust the spear with enough power to slice through the next zombie’s twisted mug.
Sara was exhausted as she extracted her spear.
A few more trickled through the door.
Ryder waved them on and yelled, “Come on, step to me, bitches.” He landed a powerful downward swing. When it made contact, it filled the room with a disgusting crack as the plates around the zombie’s brain shifted. He tossed the limp body aside as Sara stabbed the last monster in the face.
Its skull slid slowly from the tip of her spear. Gore and flesh clung to the sharp spikes of the edger. Black blood coated the spear’s handle.
Their chests heaved. They were splattered with goo and appeared crazed, like wild animals.
Ryder wiggled his eyebrows at her.
“You said you’d let me go.” Sara wiped the bloody palm on her jeans to freshen her grip on the spear. She pointed the weapon at Ryder.
He gave her a crooked smile. “I say a lot of things.”
“You get close and I’ll slice off what’s left of your balls.”
“Sounds like foreplay.”
Behind her was the locked door, and Ryder stood next to the latch. In front of her was a slippery minefield of tangled limbs.
If I charge at him with the spear and miss, he’s got me. Her mind searched for a way out of this.
“I see your wheels turning,” said Ryder as he ran his sleeve across his bloody face. “I’m thinking the same damn thing.” He spit a wad of gunk to the floor. “Except my version is how do I get out of here with the both of us still breathing.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “You wanna hear the truth? I have no idea how I’m gonna do it.”
She spied a patch of dry concrete about three feet away and close to the center of the room. Sara was confident she could land the jump, but then what?
Move too fast, trip and fall.
Move too slow, and he’ll tackle me from behind. Sara thought to herself. Every option had a negative.
He grunted and lifted the weapon in his hand. “I could chuck this hammer at you and hope to God it only stuns ya. Of course, if I break a bone or hit you in the head I risk killing ya.”
Sara widened her stance and prepared for the jump.
“You’re pretty damn quick with that spear. You think you can poke me somewhere important before I grab the handle?” Ryder spun the hammer in the air and caught it after one full rotation. “I’m pretty quick too. Well, I was before I got beat to hell.”
Sara’s eyes shifted from Ryder to the clear spot on the floor. She watched him as he got ready to spin the hammer again.
That idiot thinks he looks so menacing tossing that tool in the air. Sara narrowed her brow and waited for his next move.
He gave her a cocky grin as the hammer left his hand.
The instant it was airborne, Sara jumped.
Her action caught him off guard. He fumbled the tool as he leapt after her.
Sara’s boot landed dead center of the dry spot.
Ryder charged across the room.
The hammer crashed to the floor.
Sara swung her spear at him at the same time she jumped to the next spot. She prayed the knife would make contact somewhere vital.
With the twisting, jumping, and swinging all happening at once she misjudged the timing. The tip of the knife missed Ryder’s face, chest, and thigh by less than an inch.
Her foot touched the floor and slipped on the slick black fluid.
Ryder tackled her. They crashed onto the mass of corpses. Sara lost the spear. Their momentum caused them to roll across the wasteland of infected flesh. Her world spun, and she caught glimpses of black eyes, torn flesh, and exposed teeth. They were coated, head to toe with bile and blood. Ryder’s big head appeared. Sara launched an elbow at his broken nose. The impact sent the cartilage in the wrong direction.
He howled and released her to clutch his busted sniffer.
She wiggled and wormed over the mounds of slick limbs and torsos. Sara clawed her way toward the door, her fingers plunging into the corpses open wounds. Chunks of brain matter squished in her hands. She got to her knees and was ready to transition to her feet when Ryder grabbed her by the leg and yanked her to the floor.
A powerful fist met Sara’s stomach and she crumpled into a ball.
Ryder got to his hands and knees. He sounded like he had a cold when he spoke. “My nose was already broken. Why hit it again, bitch? Ya want me to break your fucking nose?”
Sara couldn’t get her lungs to work. Zero oxygen coming in crippled her. As she lay there with her arms crossing her stomach, begging for the agony to dissipate, she spotted the police officer she put down.
There’s a gun on her belt! Sara eyed a pistol grip that poked from under its body. Now if she could get her arms to move. Ryder didn’t seem to notice the weapon sitting only a few feet from him. He moved slowly and got to his feet.
Come on, lungs! Fill with air! Sara panicked.
“I should have known you were going to put up a hell of a fight.” Ryder’s fingers touched the sides of his bent nose. With a snap of his wrist he reset the broken cartilage. He moaned. His hands turned to fists and they shook uncontrollably. “Goddamn that hurt.”
Sara sucked in a good amount of air.
Ryder lost his balance for a second as the mountain of bodies shifted under his weight. “I’ve got to say, this is the grossest thing I’ve ever experienced. Wrestling on a stack of dead people is just nasty.” He stabilized and stared at his prize. “Look at you. You’re a damn ball of blood and guts. I’ve got to find us a working shower, so we can get cleaned up.”
Sara’s ability to move had returned, but she didn’t want Ryder to know. She stayed in her tiny ball hoping he wouldn’t hit her again. The pistol grip was just outside her reach. Which meant she would need to crawl before she could grab the weapon.
It’s gonna be a risky move. Sara dreaded the idea of Ryder getting to the gun first. It would squash any chance she had to escape.
Ryder looked around the room. “Where did you put that duct tape?” He checked the bench full of tools. “Maybe they have zip ties. That’d be better.”
He kicked his way through the slop and searched the table. “I’ve got to be honest. I’m pretty tired.” He dumped out a box of junk. “This is gonna disappoint you, but I’m gonna need a nap before I can even think about getting my hands on your sweet little body.” He sifted through a drawer in the bench. “It’s gonna be a hike, but I know a place where we can re-”
Ryder’s body went stiff as fifty thousand volts of electricity coursed through his system.
Sara was wrong. It wasn’t a pistol she spotted on the officer. It was a taser. She kept her finger on the trigger.
After the initial jolt, Ryder’s body went limp and he collapsed. Unable to blink, he was forced to stare at the woman on the other end of the taser.
Sara got to her feet and kept feeding him volts. She spit venom as she said, “This is gonna disappoint you, but I’m gonna cut your cock off before I slit your throat.” Sara searched for her spear, so she could make good on her threat.
Chapter 12
Karen screamed, “Stop! They’re up in the attic!” She slapped at the window as if she was a dog excited to see its owner coming up the walkway after a long day at work. It was difficult at this angle to get a good look, but she could clearly see Robin’s bright red hair poking up from the window.
Jim twisted in his seat and spotted the waving hands. “Oh my God she’s right! Leon pull over!”
Leon motioned at the horde of infected monsters racing toward them, “We can’t stop. There are too many z-bags coming at us. They’ll bust the windows and tear us apart.”
Karen hated to drive away from her babies, but Troy was right. They only had a handful of ammo and it wasn’t near enough to clear a horde that size.
She regained control and blurted, “Hurry!”
Leon pushed the accelerator to the mat.
They’re alive! She exclaimed. All her thoughts about suicide were tossed into the void. Now she was in Mama Bear mode. Her gears turned at lightning speed as she soaked in the house’s layout and the surrounding property. When they wiped out the mass of zombies at Desiree’s house they had the bus to keep them safe. This van was a piece of shit with no protection. They would have to corral them or get them to funnel through a tight gap. She didn’t see anything on the farm that would help with either plan.
We’ll figure it out, she told herself. The important thing was the girls were alive.
Shawna kept my babies safe. Karen’s desire for revenge lessened after seeing her children.
I don’t have to kill her, but I don’t have to be her friend either. Karen didn’t stay on that subject for long. She went right back to solving the major problem: how to take down this mass of zombies?
Jim was so relieved to find the girls. It wasn’t the caffeine pills making his heart do jumping jacks. He loved them, they were a part of his soul. What he couldn’t take, was Karen’s suffering. This drive to make each other happy was what kept them together and a strong couple. If Karen was down and needed a pick me up, even if they didn’t have the money for it, Jim would buy something, anything, to make her happy. Wine and chocolates were his go to surprises.
If they hadn’t found the girls, Karen made it clear she wasn’t going to last another day. There was no amount of booze or sweets that could make her better. No fixing it. No getting her to smile again. Just a bullet to the brain and the idea of losing her gutted him.
He had already experienced the heartbreak of coming home to his apartment to find it empty. He had of course assumed the worse. Jim went insane. He destroyed his apartment and smashed a zombie’s head in with his bare hands. If it wasn’t for Frank and Sara begging him to help them he would have ended it right there.
Maybe it was the rush of finding the girls, but Jim’s whole body vibrated. He was sure he could take on that army of the dead with only his spear.
In the attic Valerie turned to Shawna and asked, “Did they see us?”
“I think so.”
“Where are they going?” asked the question box.
“They’ll be back.”
Shawna turned from the window and moved toward her rifle. She lifted it from the plywood floor, popped the mag, grabbed the box of ammo from her pack and thumbed shells into the empty case.
Beth raised her tired body from the stool and headed for the window. “Who was it?”
Valerie faced Beth with a twinkle in her eyes and said, “My Mama and Daddy. Oh, and Uncle Troy. Oh wait, there’s also Leon. He’s the driver.”
“The whole family is here to get you then.” Beth stepped next to the children and peered down at her farm. A swarm of infected chased the van as it zoomed along the highway. Sadly, most of the horde remained.
Through the floor they could hear the monsters thrashing around her home.
Shawna loaded the last shell and slapped the mag into her rifle. “The rig I drove here is just down the road. It’s full of gear. They must be heading back to it so they will have enough ammo to clear the area.”
Beth poked Valerie and Robin in the back. “You think they’ll have room for one more?”
Valerie lit up and asked, “You wanna come to our Nana and Papa’s? That’s where we’re heading.”
“Well kiddo, if your folks do come back and shoot all those pesky buggers down there, this place will be one hell of a mess. You wanna help clean it up for me?” Beth jested.
Valerie and Robin shook their heads and said, “No!”
“Me either, and I can’t stay here. So…” Beth nodded at the little ones.
“You should come with us.”
“Us.” Seconded Robin.
“Okay, you talked me into it.” Beth kept a brave face until the little ones resumed their stance in front of the window.
Beth’s stoic features cracked. The woman had lost everything and was now about to abandon her son and the only home she ever loved.
Brother Paul scratched at a dark red stain on his jeans. It occurred to him he couldn’t recall who’s blood it was. He had lost so many people that morning it was difficult to pinpoint when he received that exact douse of body fluid.
Which one of my friends could this be? Paul pondered as his thumbnail dug up a chunk of crust.
He made a mental note to himself: We will all need a fresh set of clothing.
That meant hitting a large clothing store sometime soon. Big stores were dangerous. People flocked to the shopping centers after the mess hit the fan. Most retailers were now overrun with infected. He breathed in a nose full of his own stink. The smell turned his empty stomach. Even though it was going to be risky, it had to be done. A gust of wind sent an even stronger whiff of body odor from him and the other passengers in the vehicle.
Sooner rather than later, Paul thought as he breathed through his mouth to keep himself from passing out.
The Hummer ride from the new church had been quiet. Paul glanced at the other passengers. Their expressions said it all. They had questions. He just wasn’t sure he had answers.
Lisa sat behind the wheel. She gnawed at her bottom lip and stared at Brother Paul in the rearview mirror.
Cooper sat next to her and nervously scratched at his neck between glances at Paul.
Alayna, the heavy machine gun operator, rode in the backseat next to Paul. She held an uncomfortable grin as she fiddled with a box full of fifty caliber shells.
Lisa could no longer hold it in and asked, “Doctor Lindsey Bryant was investigating this disease before we had to leave the church, correct?”
Paul nodded.
“Did she get very far with it?” Lisa weaved through a set of abandoned cars in the middle of the road.
The other passengers sat forward and listened intently.
Paul shifted in his seat as he struggled to generate an answer. “You would have to ask her for the details.”
It was painfully evident he failed to answer her question.
Paul set his rifle in his lap. “Are you sure you want to know? It has not eased my conscience.”
They waited eagerly for him to continue.
Paul cleared his throat. “According to the doctor, everyone is already infected. Have any of you witnessed someone dying from a car crash or some other accident and they still turned, even though they were never bit?”
They all shook their heads.
“Well, it is true.” Paul turned toward his window and watched the evergreens speed by in a blur. “I know you are thinking, how is that possible? The answer is, we will probably never know. Doctor Bryant is one of the top in her field, but without a proper facility, a full staff of experts and years to investigate the disease… I think you get the picture.”
Their expressions went blank, hopeless.
“I told you it would not help to know.”
Alayna’s eyes became glassy. “Do we have a plan? I mean is there any way to survive this?”
Paul reached for her hand. “I will promise to do my best to keep everyone secure, but this is uncharted waters and I’ve lost my compass.”
Cooper grunted, “Has God abandoned us?”
The bluntness of the question caught Paul off guard. He answered, “What do you feel at your core?”
Cooper uttered, “I still feel His love, but the world around me…” he drifted, unable to find the words.
Lisa chimed in, “I feel the same way, but I’m not sure how much longer I can hold on. Not unless something good happens. Soo
n.”
Paul held his head high and said, “True faith is loving our Lord in the good times and the bad. Believe me, I was close to cutting ties. But when you are being tested, that is the time to double down and give twice as much devotion.”
The group pondered Paul’s words.
This was where he excelled. He was one of the best at finding people in their darkest hour and turning their lives around. It was how he gathered such an amazing group of survivors to his church.
Before they could stew too long on his last statement he asked, “Cooper, what drew you to us? Why did you join our church?”
Cooper took off his sunglasses and baseball cap. He rubbed his tired eyes and gathered his thoughts. “You already know why.”
Paul interlaced his fingers and gave him a gentle smile to continue. “Please, go on and tell us.”
Cooper sighed, bowed his head, and snapped his cap back on. “I spent most of my youth bouncing from foster home to foster home. After high school I took a few college classes, but I found myself hanging with the same types of people that pulled my mother down.” Emotions got the better of Cooper. He slid his sunglasses on to cover his eyes.
“One morning, after a rough night, I had this vision of my future and it sickened me.” Cooper crossed his arms. “If I kept going along my path. I’d be just like Dad. Too addicted to care if I got my girlfriend pregnant. Abandoning my child. I despised the idea. I wanted a new group of people I could call my family. People that wouldn’t let me hit rock bottom.”
“And?” Brother Paul pushed.
“I found the church online. Came the next Sunday and sat through a sermon. You approached me at the end and asked if we could talk so you could explain the overall focus of the church. At the time I thought it was a little strange. I figured this group was like any other church, where you studied and attempted to live like Jesus.”
Lisa and Alayna’s expressions lightened. This was the part of the story everyone had experienced in one way or another.
Cooper raised his head. “You explained how it wasn’t just a place of worship and that intrigued me. You said everyone here was preparing for the unthinkable and that you were after people that wanted to protect each other in a crisis.” He looked back at Brother Paul. “It was everything I was looking for and more.”