Rancid: A Zombie Novel

by P. A. Douglas

  They sat in silence for a moment. Chelsea swallowed hard wondering if she should have opened her mouth. She was going to be fired, she just knew it. As nice as that sounded, because she loathed Mr. Watts, she couldn’t afford to lose her job. The room grew thick with anticipation. Her palms began to sweat. She crossed her legs, feeling uneasy about the way Benjamin was looking at her. She had no idea how he was going to respond.

  He remained calm, just the opposite of what she expected. Benjamin took one massive gulp of bourbon and sat the empty glass down on the desk. He leaned back in his chair and smiled.

  “You know, Chelsea. No one has ever stood up to me before. I like you. I can see now why I hired you. You’ve got guts.” Benjamin rose from his chair, grabbed his empty glass, and walked over to the minibar again. “You want me to make you a drink? You know, now that I think about it… what are you doing tomorrow?”

  “Have you heard anything I’ve been saying?” Chelsea tossed the manila folder onto the desk and jumped to her feet. “We have been dumping contaminated meat into the Elk River for the last three months and it’s finally come back to bite you on the ass! People are getting sick. Real sick, Benjamin!”

  He grinned, taking a sip of his newly filled glass. She had never called him by his real name before. Always Mr. this and Mr. that.

  “First time you’ve called me that before.”

  “What?”

  “By my first name…”

  “Uhhh…” Not even realizing it, the pen in her hand flew across the room softly hitting Benjamin in the chest. “Wake up, Mr. Watts. Clarksburg and the surrounding area are under attack by the town’s people, because of mad cow or some shit. And it’s your fault. Do you even care?”

  Benjamin went back to gazing out the window at the floor below. Chelsea walked over to the bar, picked up her pen, and turned to walk out. She had enough of his crap. He was a self-centered, egotistical prick. Then it came to her. Just as she reached the door ready to leave the office, she took in a deep breath and sighed.

  “Just think, Benjamin. What is going to happen to this company after an investigation?”

  He ignored her.

  “Just think…,” she continued. “Just think what is going to happen to you and your precious retirement when they find out that you caused all of this and did nothing to clean it up!”

  Hell, you’re probably going to jail, dumbass. She thought. Ehh… who am I kidding. You’ve got enough money and friend power to get around that.

  Realistically, Chelsea knew that this thing was way bigger than Mr. Watts or anything he could do about it. In fact, she had already taken the initiative to contact people at Corporate. Apparently, something similar to this had happened in North Florida a few years back and they had a cleanup crew to take care of things. Based on the call she made to Corporate, some specialists were already on their way to the Clarksburg police station to set up base and hopefully have everything cleared up by sunup. More than anything, she just wanted to see Mr. Watts realize the errors of his ways. Sure, once this was all over and cleaned up, he could be the one in front of the camera signing all of the insurance checks. And yes, he would do it with a smile knowing that it wasn’t doing anything to damage his personal pocket. She just wanted for something in him to change. She wanted that smile to be genuine when he did the right thing.

  “Well…,” she said, standing at the door. “You going to do something? I’ve already called Corporate and have a…”

  “You what?” Benjamin yelled in surprise and turned away from the window.

  “That’s right,” Chelsea pressed her fists to her hips. “Corporate is already on the ball and you’re not. How bad does that make you look?”

  Benjamin laughed. “And you made the call?”

  “I did.”

  “Well, in that case. It doesn’t make me look bad at all. You’re my assistant, which means I had you make the call. Good job at making me look good.” Benjamin went back to overseeing the workers on the first floor, all hard at work. “Come here, Chelsea. Come look and see what I see.”

  Hesitant, she stepped away from the door and made her way around the large desk. She walked up beside Benjamin, whose breath reeked of alcohol and lack of hygiene. Standing close to him, she could tell that he was tired and a lot more irritated than she realized. She looked out the large window down at the first floor. It was a view she had seen more than a hundred times since starting her job with G.A.C.. Over nearly a hundred workers, all wearing white coats, gloves, hard hats, and masks were busy about the factory floors. All they did was process meat twenty-four seven. The area below the office was nothing, but large machine after large machine, pushing meat into grinders to be turned into fast food patties or processed chicken nuggets. The thought of food processed like this made her cringe. Shortly after getting the job, one of the first things Chelsea did was stop eating the stuff. It made her sick just thinking about it.

  The contaminated food was even worse. She had never been to that part of the factory and had no intentions of ever going. That was where they sorted the stuff that had spoiled. She covered her mouth with one hand.

  “You see all these people, Chelsea?” Benjamin put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing unreasonably tight. “They would be nowhere without me. They would be nothing. Have nothing. This town that you’re so worried about would still be the nothing that it was, had I decided to not move this plant here. You know how many jobs I’ve provided this dead city and all its weak little towns around it? Do you know how much I’ve offered them? I’m like God to these people.” He pointed down at the workers below. “Today I am their king. Tomorrow… when all of this is cleaned up and blown over, I will be their hero. And you know why? Because you made that call.”

  He turned his attention to her, resting his hand on each shoulder. She lowered her head, swallowing hard. He always made her feel uncomfortable. It was easy for him, and right now was one of those times.

  “I’m glad you called Corporate… I am.”

  Benjamin leaned in and embraced her with a hug. He liked the way her breasts felt against his chest, as he squeezed her tighter. He smelled her hair and caressed her back with soft intent, then pulled himself away smiling at her. This type of appreciation was something she had never seen him display before. Being honest with herself, she wasn’t sure how to take it. In was kind of frightening in a way.

  Benjamin slapped her across the face. The sudden smack resonated throughout the large office. His hand came away revealing a rosy red cheek on her left side.

  Chelsea winced from the unexpected pain. She pulled away, her eyes starting to swell. She was stronger than him. She didn’t need to show her weakness.

  “Don’t ever go over my head again! If I want Corporate’s involvement, then I will let that be known. Do I make myself clear?”

  She didn’t respond, still shocked that he had actually raised his hand at her.

  “Come here…” Benjamin leaned in and took another breast filled hug. “I’m sorry. I didn’t really mean that. It’s just that I had to make you realize how serious I am about my job. It means a lot to me that you showed initiative. Really, it does. But… next time… I don’t care how important it is. Don’t wake me up in the middle of the night for anything. I need my beauty sleep. Not all of us are blessed with great looks like you, Chelsea.”

  “Yeah,” she sighed. “I just want to help you do a great job. You mean a lot to this community. The Golden Arches Co. has helped rebuild hope for the people here.”

  Yes, the factory had provided many jobs in a sinking economy for Clarksburg and the surrounding area, but that was unimportant. What she said was a lie. She hated him. And no one ever raised a hand to her. Ever! She wasn’t about to sit by and let that slide. At this point, she was ready to quit right on the spot. There was only one thing keeping her from doing it now, and it wasn’t her bills. Fuck that. Clarksburg had always been her hometown and somebody needed to do something. If anyone was going to be ther
e to make sure this thing got cleaned up, and that Mr. Watts would be there to take the fall, it would be her. She would see to that, if it were the last thing she ever did.

  She leaned in, forced a smile, and then kissed him on the cheek.

  “Well, there’s no point in getting to bed… yet.” She winked. “I’ve already called your personal pilot in. Like you, he was a little cranky to pull out of bed this late. But… he’s here. Even though we have some cleanup crews already setting up base at the Clarksburg police station, I think it would be good if you at least made an appearance. Show Corporate that you’re at least concerned and ensure the locals that this kind of thing isn’t going to happen again.”

  It took a little coaxing on her part, but after nearly ten minutes of pleading and subtle seduction, Benjamin was on the factory roof and in the helicopter. Thankfully, he had a lot to drink already; otherwise, Chelsea wasn’t sure she would have ever gotten him to go.

  Other than the pilot always being a little on the cranky side, Chelsea enjoyed her experiences in the air. The helicopter smell reminded her of her dad, a machinist, after a long day at work. It reminded her of him. She thought it was cool wearing the headgear and being able to talk over the sound of the propeller. It always made her feel like she was in a movie. Her first time riding in a helicopter was with Mr. Watts. If there were anything she was going to miss once she did finally tell him off, it would be the flying.

  With the chopper in the air, they started toward Clarksburg. The moon was bright, revealing the world and the ground below in a luminescent hue of greys. It was just bright enough to see everything as they flew overhead. Chelsea watched as the helicopter drifted over the drop zone that had caused all of these problems. A large series of pipes that were connected to the factory ran down a narrow fenced in field to eventually drop off into the Elk River. As they passed over it, the contents of contaminated bile still poured from its pipes. Chelsea cringed. The idea that she was associated with the people who were damaging the river she grew up on made her sick to her stomach. The helicopter followed the river for a while, and eventually gave way to the cemetery and Clarksburg beyond that. The town was in ruins. Buildings were ablaze and people ran wildly in the streets. If they were looting or not, she couldn’t tell. One thing was sure, she was surprised to see that so many people were out of their homes this late at night.

  “We’s got a call comin’ in from the cleanup crew in Clarksburg.” The pilot said, breaking the silence.

  Chelsea’s heart skipped a beat. The pilot’s words were clear in her headset as if he were sitting right on top of her. She looked to Benjamin to take the call, but he waved her off. She scowled at him, and then took the call herself. Leave it to Mr. Watts to pass the actual work onto others.

  “Put it through,” she said, then stared at Benjamin knowing he could hear everything. “This is Chelsea, Mr. Watts’ assistant.”

  “Hello. I caught word that Mr. Watts was headed here to assist in the cleanup. That’s good to hear.” The male voice on the other end said. “Unfortunately, I do have some news. Bad news.”

  “Oh…” Chelsea said.

  “The reports that we were getting in of people becoming sick is much worse than we could have ever imagined. And with that, I am only calling to give you a heads up.”

  “Thank you,” Chelsea insisted. “But I believe we are already aware of how bad the situation is and we should be there shortly.”

  “Really?” the man said. “Just what have you heard so far? Because with the way things are right now, it could take weeks to get all of this cleaned up.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We can’t get in and do our job when my men are in danger. That’s what I mean!”

  “You mean the reports of violence?” Chelsea curled her brow.

  “You really don’t know do you?” the man on the other end of the radio said.

  “Look, I understand that the river has become a big problem and a lot of people have gotten sick. Some have even resorted to violence, but there is no reason this should take more than a day to fix.” Chelsea insisted.

  The call went silent for a moment. Chelsea shrugged her shoulders at Benjamin, and then looked to the pilot. The pilot was too busy flying the chopper, so she looked back to her boss.

  “Look…” the voice finally came back. “I make it my business to go in and clean up Corporate America’s fuck up’s. I’ve made it my profession. But in over a decade, I have never seen anything like this. These people aren’t just resorting to violence. They are eating each other, for Christ’s sake. In the last hour, I have sent out three teams to survey the total damage. I’ve only heard back from one of those teams. And you aren’t going to believe this when I tell you, but… two of the members of that team are dead! We’re not built for this kind of shit. We’re a contamination cleanup crew, not a fucking military outfit. If you think that I’m going...”

  His voice trailed off, filling the headsets with static and muffled banter. The last thing any of them heard was what sounded like muffled screaming. What sounded like a gunshot filled their ears then the call ended.

  Chelsea swallowed hard and looked to Mr. Watts with terror showing in her eyes.

  Benjamin smiled, looking at her chest and not her face. He could care less

  TEN

  “What kind of a car do you drive anyway, Tom?” Joe asked, standing at the church’s back door.

  “Nineteen-eighty-two GMC Truck… Why?”

  “Just wondering what we are looking at here.” Joe said. “Is there going to be enough room for all three of us inside? I don’t want any of us getting stuck in the bed to potentially fall out. Last thing we need is a ridiculous accident like that happening.”

  Tom nodded. “Yeah, tell me about it. No, there's enough room. It will be a tight fit, what with it being a stick-shift. I’m sure we can make it work.”

  “Window…” Noel slightly raised her hand.

  “You’re the shortest. Sorry, but that kind of automatically disqualifies you.”

  “Look who’s talking, Joe. And it doesn’t even matter. I called it!”

  Joe’s grin turned sour. His eyes squinted down at Noel as if to burn holes through her. She just smiled back, cocking her hip for emphases. Tom shook his head at them both, knowing that they were probably somewhat close to the same age.

  “Look,” Joe said, his playful demeanor demolished. “Once I open this door… We follow Tom. Try to stick to the shadows, and for God’s sake, please keep quiet.” He looked at Noel’s plethora of jewelry and gothic accessories. “The sooner we get into the house, get what we need, and get out the better.”

  Noel and Tom stared blankly.

  “Also…” He continued. “Tom, do you have any weapons in the house? Guns, preferably?”

  “Sorry, but no. It took my wife five years to talk me into putting a bat next to the bed.”

  “That’s better than nothing,” Noel offered.

  “True,” Tom agreed, looking down at the bloodied bat in his hands. “But, this is the only one I have. We never had kids, so there was no need for sports equipment, you know. We tried, though…”

  Noticing that Tom’s attitude had suddenly dropped to super negative, Joe patted him on his bare back and smiled.

  “Hey, look at it this way, holy man. At least, you only have your wife to worry about in all of this shit. Right?”

  Tom just shrugged making Joe feel even more uncomfortable. Maybe he should have just kept his mouth shut.

  “What if we turn the alarm back on?”

  “Why the hell would we do that?” Joe asked.

  “Because,” Noel said. “It would cover our noise and possibly even attract all of the others from town to this location. When we leave, they could possibly end up heading this way and make it safer for us out there.”

  “Hey,” Tom grinned. “That actually sounds like a good idea.”

  “Sounds like a good idea and is a good idea are two totally differe
nt things.” Joe ran his hand through his hair. “Glad to see you have your thinking cap on, Noel. But, I don’t want to attract any attention. Period. We don’t know what we’re going to get into next door. Let’s just keep it as quiet as we can and move on.”

  “But…”

  “But nothing. Between now and when we actually get into Tom’s GMC, I don’t want to attract any… not any attention.”

  Noel sighed. “I guess you’re right.”

  “Okay,” Joe finally said after a moment. “Let’s do this. Just like we said. Steady, quiet, and in the shadows. We are going to be right behind you, Tom. Noel, I want you to follow up behind Tom and I will be close behind. No matter what happens, don't stop. You got me?”

  They both nodded, tension twisting their expressions.

  “Alright then…” Joe turned the knob opening the door. “Let’s move!”

  The door opened up to the darkness. The back of the church building was nothing, but grass with a path that led to a few small trashcans. Ignoring them, Tom darted across the grass at a steady jog. His house was just across the way, but seemed so much farther in the dark. Their near silent steps were almost instantly met with those of another. Joe looked up to see a mangled pursuer in the parking lot dashing toward them. Their location had been compromised. At full sprint, the creature howled a guttural moan. As it crossed the parking lot, several ghouls rounded the church building, after leaving the double doors.

  “Go! Go! Go!” Joe shouted.

  Noel looked back and started to slow down, but Joe caught up to her and pushed her forward. Noel watched Joe bring his pistol to the air. With one foot franticly still in front of the other, she put her hands to her ears. It really didn’t help. With Joe practically hovering over her, pushing her to keep going, the gun’s report blasted in her ears. Her ears rang and her head blurred for a moment. Joe shoved her hard sending her falling forward. She fell to her knees. Expecting to land in the cold and damp grass, she fell onto soft carpet. She looked back, seeing Joe fire another shot outside, then slam the door shut. The lights went on and she found herself in Tom’s living room.