by Joseph Zuko
She couldn’t chance trying for the rifle with Ryder at that angle, but if she kept the car in between them, she might be able to make a run for it.
Keep running or find a way to kick this fuckers ass? Sara fumed. She was tired of running. It was time to end this, right now!
Sara moved the door again and Ryder fired until his gun clicked empty. This was her chance. She swung the door open and grabbed the rifle.
As she pulled it from the car she noticed a bullet hole in the side of the SKS. She squeezed the trigger, and nothing happened.
“Fuck!” Sara cursed.
She had to move fast before he reloaded his gun.
Sara leapt into action and raced toward Ryder.
His face went pale after he spotted the Amazonian warrior charging at him.
She flung the busted rifle at his thick gourd. The butt of the gun caught him square in the jaw.
Ryder was laid out and he fell to his back.
Sara wrestled the spear to the ground. She gave it a twist before pulling it from his calf. This woke the man.
He sat forward and threw his empty pistol at her chest.
The hunk of metal knocked the wind from her lungs and she collapsed to the sidewalk.
Ryder’s knife glinted in the spring sun. He swung the blade at her. Sara rolled, and the tip of the knife stabbed the concrete an inch from her scalp.
She pulled her own knife. Ryder’s blood still coated the tip.
Sara’s blade zipped through the air and tagged Ryder’s shoulder, cutting the strap to the crossbow and backpack. A two-inch gash appeared in his skin. He hissed, clutched his shoulder, and rolled away from her.
Sara sprang to her feet. Her lungs finally took in a sharp breath of air.
Ryder got to his knees.
They pointed their blades at each other.
The crossbow and spear lay on the ground between them.
Ryder wheezed, “I’ve got to hand it to you Red. Ya surprise me at every turn.”
“You’re gonna be real surprised when I put this knife through your face,” said Sara as she inched toward the spear.
“How are ya gonna do that?” huffed Ryder as he disconnected the floppy backpack and let it fall to the ground. He grunted loudly as he got to his feet, keeping most of his weight on his good leg. “Ever been in a knife fight? Or hell, even a fist fight? I’m guessing no. Ya don’t stand a chance. You should quit. Drop the knife and come here.” He gingerly hopped on his good leg toward the crossbow. “You can run, but don’t worry I’ll find ya. One way or another you’re gonna be mine. Even if it’s only in your nightmares. You’re mine now, Red. So what’s it going to be?”
“I’m not running!” Sara watched the blood cascade from his calf. He was woozy and pale. His eyes blinked out of sync. The day’s injuries were catching up with him. He talked a big game, but she was sure Ryder was close to passing out.
Her eyes flicked to the spear and in that flash of a micro second Ryder lunged forward.
He slashed at her with the knife. His aim, her midsection.
Sara hollowed out her torso as she dodged the razor’s edge.
But she didn’t have time to evade the punch coming for her ribcage.
Ryder hit her in the same spot he kicked her before. Agony detonated throughout her body.
He hammer-fisted the back of her hand and she dropped the knife. It clattered across the sidewalk. Ryder spun her and wrapped his hand around her throat as he pulled her close to his chest. Her ear was right next to his lips. “Gotcha!”
He held the knife out in front of her as a warning. His fingers closed in around her windpipe.
Ryder breathed in her essence. “You should have run. Maybe, ya would have had a chance.” He squeezed her tight against his body.
Black spots appeared in her vision. Between the blow to her ribs and his chokehold, she was at the brink. Her body went limp.
Ryder put his knife in its sheath. He wrapped his hand around her hips. Fingers exploring the contours of her jeans. “I’ll give ya credit. Ya put up one hell of a fight, but this was gonna happen from the get-go.”
Her chances of getting free from his strong grip were zero. Her only option was to relax and give in. Then maybe he would let some air reach her starving lungs. Sara wilted.
His crushing grip on her throat loosened and her chest expanded.
Ryder’s exhale was hot on her neck. “That’s it. Give yourself over to me. It will make everything easier.”
She hated the sound of his voice, the smell of his body and the feel of his touch. Her stomach twisted into knots. She lost her weapon and had no way to outmuscle this monster.
Her mind raced.
If I move he’ll squeeze the life out of my neck.
If I don’t do something he’s got me for good.
He pawed at her. “I’m gonna have to choke ya out. So, I can gather the gear and take us someplace safe. It’s gonna be scary as hell, but I promise I won’t kill ya.”
He throttled her. It was less than a second but seemed like an hour as he cut the blood flow to her brain.
Darkness skirted the edge of her vision. A low rumbling sound filled her ears.
In the fleeting seconds before she passed out it came to her.
That’s a bus!
Ryder pivoted as a yellow armored bus entered the neighborhood. The distraction caused him to release the chokehold.
Sara saw her opportunity. She launched her elbow into Ryder’s groin. His hands left her body and clutched his now thrice destroyed balls. The anguish was overwhelming. Veins bulged on his neck and forehead. His face went purple.
Sara tumbled forward.
Ryder fell to his knees.
She picked up the crossbow, spun on her heels and aimed it at his face.
Bright red finger marks grew on the pale skin around her throat. Rage burned at her core.
Ryder squeaked out, “I know I’m bad, but you’re evil. You hit me three times in the fuckin’ balls. You’re a maniac.”
The bus zoomed along the street next to her and was followed by a Hummer.
Ryder freed one hand from his crotch and held it out in front of himself as he waved for mercy. He huffed. “I was wrong. They do love ya. You’re not alone.”
The bus screeched to a halt. The doors flung open and Troy raced from the vehicle. With a joyful cry he yelled, “Sara!” He aimed his shotgun at the man.
“So, that’s your real name.” Ryder coughed up a mouthful of blood. “Well, you’re free. You can ride off into the sunset and leave old Ryder here to fend for himself. I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t hurt another person again. I promise.” His grin went sideways.
She hated him more than anything in her life but crossing the line and ending his life was not something Sara took lightly. He was a dirtbag, piece of shit but he was still human.
Sara lowered the bow.
Relief spilled across Ryder’s tortured face. “Thanks, Red. You’re a better person than me.”
“No, I’m not.” Sara raised the bow, tugged the trigger, and sent a bolt into Ryder’s forehead. “And don’t call me Red.”
Chapter 22
Lindsey sat in the parking lot of the church. The sun was tipping toward the horizon. UV rays blasted her. She could tell it was bright because it made her eyes squint, but she didn’t sense the heat on her skin. She was surrounded by monsters and didn’t give a shit. She watched a group of hybrids try to smash their way into a bus. Humans locked themselves into the metal can without the key to get the rig going.
Idiots, she thought to herself. She spotted a tasty young man behind the wheel. It looked like he was trying to hotwire the bus to no avail.
Lindsey spoke with a mouthful of meat. “I should go help them. I want to taste that delicious looking man.” She swallowed the raw flesh. Her belly bulged, and she needed to loosen her belt.
She wondered how her body was going to digest such a large amount of meat. The starving pit inside her was al
most satisfied. A couple more bites would finish it off, but it was her taste buds she couldn’t placate. Every tasty morsel was a new experience. Each scrap an undiscovered world of flavor.
Amanda took a seat next to Lindsey. “How are you doing in there?”
Lindsey didn’t answer. Instead she took another bite of a woman’s arm. She had devoured every chunk of skin, muscle, tendon, and vein all the way to the dear things shoulder.
“I watched you.”
Amanda thumbed a dollop of gore from her own chin and slurped it down. “Your medical degree really came in handy for that meal. You managed to keep the woman alive for a while. Did you avoid the main arteries or something? You’ve got to teach me that trick. My last vic died three bites in. It totally sucked.”
Lindsey managed to get to the middle of this gal’s bicep before she stopped screaming and passed out.
“The flavor diminishes a tad after they stop screaming,” mumbled Lindsey with her mouthful of food.
Amanda grinned, “You’re right. Something about hearing your supper cry for help really adds to the enjoyment.”
Lindsey dropped the limb and wiped the blood from her jaw. She scanned the rest of the lot. A few of her fellow hybrids had a couple zombies cornered at the edge of the property. They looked like a gang of teenagers taunting some underclassmen.
Amanda pointed them out as well. “Look at those kiddos.”
They were shooting into the already wrecked bodies of the beasts. Blasting hands and feet from the infected. If the zombie tried to escape, the hybrids slashed at them with axes and machetes. Hacking into the torsos and severing the limbs. Then they pushed them back into the corner. Never once landing a kill shot.
“Like a cat batting around a mouse,” said Lindsey as she turned to her new friend. “Just because it’s fun.”
“It does look pretty fun. Not really my cup of tea, but I’m not stopping them.”
It took a moment for Lindsey to recognize one of the tortured zombies. She nodded at him and said, “That’s Michael.”
Both of his arms were missing, and he limped on a destroyed leg. One of the hybrid ladies grabbed a rifle and emptied the mag into its chest. Vital organs fell from the gash torn in his stomach by the rapid-fire rounds. It was like the scene in the movie Robocop, when Officer Murphy gets shredded by shotgun blasts and left for dead. Lindsey hated that movie when it came out. Now she could see the appeal.
“He was the preacher in your office?” asked Amanda.
“Yep.”
“I barely recognize him. He was pretty handsome when he was among the living.” Amanda elbowed Lindsey in the ribs.
“About an hour or two ago I was ready to fuck his brains out.” Lindsey couldn’t believe herself. She never spoke like this. Especially with a person she just met, but the infection shut the filter from her brain to her mouth completely off.
“I knew it. I could sense it the moment I entered the room. Sorry I cockblocked you.” Amanda slapped at her crotch. “My sex drive is gone. It’s been entirely replaced with a need to devour. Pretty freaking weird thing to say, isn’t it?” Amanda reached for the dead woman between them. “Are you gonna finish her?”
“Nope. Have at it.” Lindsey watched the hybrids run a machete through Michael’s chest. They left the length of black metal in his torso and kicked him against the fence. The idea of stopping his torture and putting him to rest, dashed out of her head as fast as it jumped in there.
It wasn’t smart to make waves with the others, she reasoned.
Amanda snorted a laugh. “I’ve always wanted to do this. Don’t ask me why.” She ripped open the dead woman’s shirt, lifted the bra and chomped off her nipple. She chewed it like a wad of gum. Amanda used her tongue to tuck it into the corner of her cheek as she muttered. “It would have been way better to do that while she was still breathing, but it’s pretty damn good. Check that off my bucket list. You want to try the other one?” Amanda offered the second nipple to Lindsey.
“Nay, I’ll wait until we have a live one.”
Amanda analyzed the look on Lindsey’s expression. “What’s that big brain of yours cooking in there, partner?”
Lindsey peered at the zombies. “Those things are competition. We should keep killing everyone of them we find. There is a limited supply of humans left in this region and I don’t want to share with those braindead zombies.”
“I like your style, Doc. It will be easy too since we can walk among them.” Amanda flicked at the second exposed nipple like a kid playing with its food. “What’s our next move?”
Lindsey gave it a good long thought. The world was her ‘all-you-can-eat’ buffet and the options were limitless.
“We kill everything here. See who’s left and wants to join in our adventure. Get cleaned up, find some sunglasses so we can pass as humans. Then we locate a camp of survivors and eat until the void in our stomach is content.”
“Say adiós to dieting, am I right?”
Lindsey enjoyed her new confidant. She hadn’t had a close female friend since high school and Amanda was a wild child.
The body they were snacking on started shaking.
“This one’s about to change.” Amanda pushed its convulsing body away from her.
They watched, waiting to see what kind of infected she would become.
“If she’s like us, she’s gonna be pissed that I ate her nipple.” Amanda giggled.
“If she turns into us, she won’t care.”
“True.”
Its lips pulled tight. Exposing its teeth. Eyelids open. Two black eyes. The thing sat forward.
“Dang it. I was hoping for another one of us,” said Amanda. “Why do you think they turn one way or another?”
The zombie got to its feet and shuffled toward the bus full of screaming people.
Lindsey’s scientific mind had diminished since she changed. Her natural curiosity and reasoning altered. She had to concentrate and get the wheels turning to think of a reason why.
“The one that bit you. Did he say anything?” asked Lindsey as she loosened the belt around her waist.
“No. I got the impression he was starving to the point where he couldn’t think straight. I almost got that way on the drive here.” Amanda rolled her sleeve to her elbow and poked at the wound on her arm. She toyed with the tendons and monkeyed with the muscle like a student exploring their first autopsy.
Lindsey rubbed her full belly. “We will never know how any of this works, but if I had to guess, it was luck of the draw. The right genetic code being bit by the correct virus carrier.”
Amanda snarked, “The way you’re stroking that gut full of meat. Ha! You look like you’ve got a baby inside you.”
Lindsey glanced at her bulge. “I should be hunting down a box of antacids.”
“Do you think there are more like us out there? You know around the globe?” asked Amanda. A large ant inched its way toward her. She picked it up and held it in her palm. It ran circles around her hand.
“I would imagine so.”
“Should we find them? Or are they competition too?”
Lindsey took a deep breath. It dawned on the doctor that her lungs were still functional yet her nervous system wasn’t delivering messages to her brain. She wondered what else wasn’t running correctly in her body.
How long will these meat suits last now that systems are shutting down?
Will there be an even better version of this virus wanting to wipe us out? Lindsey’s imagination was sprinting full speed and questions were popping like popcorn. Then the new part of her brain would cough out the answer.
I don’t care! thought the infection. It wasn’t a great answer, but it was freeing. To be unconcerned with things like morality or death gave Lindsey a revitalized attitude toward the rest of her existence.
“I see your computer running full tilt. What’s it trying to rationalize? Is it like mine? One side saying what about this? And what about that? Then the other says. Shut up! I d
on’t give a fuck! Go eat!” Amanda squashed the ant between her fingertips and smeared the insect’s guts around until nothing was left.
Lindsey figured it was the infection operating its new directives. No way were they reading each other’s thoughts. Odds were everyone around them was on the same page. Lindsey was done deliberating about the whys and how comes. The itch was coming on strong. Her ravenous appetite had returned.
Lindsey made eyes at the man behind the wheel of the bus. “You want to go eat that guy with me?”
Amanda spotted the tasty slab of beef. “Oh, that’s Duncan. He’s a lean mean, muscle machine. You want the top half or lower half?” Her grin was contagious.
“I say we split him the long way.” Lindsey got to her feet and offered a hand to Amanda. “I’m Lindsey Bryant. I normally say doctor, but I just don’t give a shit about titles anymore.”
Amanda took Lindsey’s hand. “Amanda. I’m still gonna call you Doc for short.”
Lindsey gave her a lift to her feet. “Deal.”
They walked nonchalantly toward the rig at the far end of the lot. On the way, they picked up a few weapons from the corpses that littered the grounds. Amanda got an aluminum bat and Lindsey grabbed an axe.
Amanda asked, “What kind of flavor do you think he has in those glutes? It’s another thing on my bucket list.”
“Eating someone’s butt cheeks?”
“I’m a freaking weirdo, what do you want me to say. I bet its gonna taste like the best filet mignon in the world. You’re not going to judge me for eating him butt first are you?”
“No. I’ll even show you what parts to avoid so he’ll carry on crying like a terrified baby.”
“You’re a good sister. I can’t wait to eat a ton of people with you.”
Another idea leaped into Lindsey’s head. “Hey, you know what else I want to do?”
“What?”
“I arrived here with a man named Brother Paul. He’s my group’s leader. Most of us believed he had a true connection to God. I kid you not, he could communicate with The Almighty and understand his divine inspiration.”
“No way.”
“Now that I’m on this side of the infection I hear how ridiculous it sounds, but I want to know what he tastes like.” Lindsey imagined this was like becoming a teenager again. Zero cares. A mindset of invincibility. Wanting to chase boys.