Clickers vs Zombies
Page 29
“Ia verminus Ob…” Clark’s voice faltered.
Michele turned to him, and gasped in horror. Blood ran from his mouth, nose, ears and the corners of his eyes. His fingers, lips, and other extremities had swollen, bulging and pulsating from an incredible pressure within him. The humming noise increased, and her teeth began to ache. Dropping her pistol, Michele clamped her hands over her ears and stumbled toward Clark.
“Stay…back.” His hands flailed, warning her away. “Ia destrato Ob!”
Clark exploded in a cloud of wet, red pulp. Screaming, Michele shielded her eyes with her hands as bits of him rained down upon her, blotting out the circle. The hum ceased, and the dust cloud dissipated. Snatching up her weapon, which was now slick with Clark’s blood, she turned toward the zombies, only to find them all laying motionless on the ground.
Pensive, she approached the bear and nudged it with her toe. It didn’t move. When she placed the barrel of the gun between its eyes and pulled the trigger, it was still dead.
They all were.
Dead again.
Collapsing to her knees in the bloodstained remnants of the circle of protection, Michele McKenzie, the last Black Lodge agent left on Earth, raised her face to the sky and wept.
San Pedro, California
Rick, Jim, and their loved ones stood in the middle of the street, gaping as all around them, the dead died once more. The zombies collapsed in mid-charge, slumping to the pavement, unmoving. One of the monstrous Clickers toppled over onto a car, crushing the vehicle’s hood and setting off the car alarm, which blared in the sudden silence.
For a long time, they just stood there, blinking in confusion, bodies still tensed in anticipation of a fight. But as the minutes passed and their foes didn’t rise to confront them, they began to relax. Slightly nauseous from the leftover adrenalin coursing through their veins, both men trembled as they held their children close. Richard let a very upset Princess out of the SUV. She jumped and barked and licked their faces, tail wagging happily.
They retreated back to Tammy’s home, where they convalesced for several hours. Occasionally, they peeked outside, waiting to see if a new horde of zombies or a marauding band of Clickers would emerge, but the streets remained empty. Eventually, Richard was able to get a signal with his phone. Soon, he verified that the same thing was happening all over the world. The zombies had all been rendered mysteriously and suddenly inactive. Now, various military units were dealing with the remainder of the Clickers.
“Try to call your Mom,” Rick urged his son. When they couldn’t reach her, Rick assured the kids that maybe her cell phone service was still down.
But deep down inside, he felt the truth. Maybe the world hadn’t ended, but he and his children had suffered a personal apocalypse all their own.
Hours later, the ragtag remnants of a National Guard unit passed through. Their halftracks clanked on the pavement, and the diesel engines belched plumes of blue smoke into the sky. As they advanced through the neighborhood, survivors began emerging from their homes. Jim, Tammy, Rick, and the kids did the same. The guardsmen assured them that the threat of the Clickers had passed, for the moment, but that units were still engaging them on other parts of the coast.
After they had passed on, Rick stuck out his hand. Jim clasped it firmly. The two men shook.
“You’re welcome to stay for a bit,” Tammy told them. “I’ve got room, and Jim just lives a few blocks away.”
“No,” Rick said. “I appreciate the offer. I really do. But I think the best thing for us to do is go home and start picking up the pieces of our lives.”
“You going to be okay?” Jim asked. “I’m betting parts of the city are impassable. And you heard what he said. There might still be a few Clickers about, not to mention people who might be taking advantage of the chaos.”
“We’ll manage,” Rick said. “It’s not like we don’t have firepower.”
Jim nodded. “True enough.”
“Thanks again for your help. We really appreciate it. Stay safe.”
“You, too. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“Maybe one day,” Rick replied, as Richard, Melody, and Princess got into the SUV. “Until then, I’m just happy we’re still alive.”
Jim, Tammy, and Danny stood on the sidewalk and watched them drive away. After the SUV had turned the corner, they surveyed the damage to the neighborhood. Dead bodies lay everywhere, along with the carcasses of dozens of Clickers. Most of the homes had broken windows or doors. Wrecked cars lined the street. Telephone and electrical poles lay like fallen trees. The air smelled of smoke.
Tammy reached out and gave Jim’s hand a squeeze. “Looks like you were wrong.”
“About what?”
“It’s not the end of the world after all.”
“Isn’t it?” He grinned. “It sure looks like it from here.”
She nodded, staring at the devastation. “Yeah, I guess it does. Danny, I want you to stay inside. Don’t go wandering off.”
The boy, who’d been inching close to a dead Clicker on the neighbor’s lawn, drooped his shoulder in resignation. “Okay, Mommy.”
“Do you really think we can rebuild?” Tammy asked.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Jim said. “I think, in time, anything can be rebuilt. Like Louis L’Amour said, there will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.”
They each took one of Danny’s hands, and together, they walked back inside the house.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
J. F. GONZALEZ is the author of over a dozen novels of terror and suspense, including Back From the Dead, Primitive, Survivor, The Beloved, and Bully. His short story collections include The Summoning and Other Eldritch Tales and When the Darkness Falls. He also works as a technical writer and screenwriter. A Los Angeles native, he resides with his family in Pennsylvania. Visit him on Twitter @jfgonzalez or online at www.jfgonzalez.com
BRIAN KEENE is the author of over twenty-five books, including Take The Long Way Home, Urban Gothic, Dead Sea, Dark Hollow, and The Rising. He also writes comic books such as The Last Zombie. Several of his novels and stories have been developed for film, including Ghoul, The Ties That Bind, Castaways, and Darkness on the Edge of Town. Keene lives in Pennsylvania. You can communicate with him online at www.briankeene.com or on Twitter at @BrianKeene
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
PART ONE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
PART TWO
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
PART THREE
ELEVEN
TWELVE
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
PART ONE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
PART TWO
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
PART THREE
ELEVEN
TWELVE