Rancid: A Zombie Novel

by P. A. Douglas

  Man, we don’t have time for this, Noel thought, watching Benjamin point the gun toward her. Dane is sick as crap. The longer we linger around with this junk, the sooner he’s going to turn and everybody’s going to be screwed.

  Not comfortable looking down the barrel of a revolver, Noel turned away. Her gaze locked with Dane’s only to reassure her thought process. He looked like hell. A light red line of drool ran down the side of his mouth as he leaned against the wall to keep from falling down. His focus kept wavering in and out. She watched as he strained to see just a few feet in front of himself. Noel thought back to Trevor on that dirt road and how fast he had turned on Kelly. Her skin crawled just thinking about it. She was starting to regret ever leaving the truck. At least then, Tom would still be alive and on his way to finding his wife.

  Then Dane slumped forward suddenly. She knew he was going to crash to the ground dead beside her, but he didn’t. He pushed himself away from the wall and through the huddled group. His steps were staggering as he tried to maintain his balance. With his bloody bandaged hand held close to his chest, he reached out for Watts and the revolver.

  “Stand down!” Watts shouted.

  The revolver kicked in his grip. The loud report made everyone in the room jump. As the bullet hit Dane in the chest, Watts’ face went white with fear and disbelief. The Earth logo on his white shirt exploded, sending blood and fabric into the air. Dane winced in pain as the bullet tore through him, but he pressed forward anyway. Watts pulled the trigger again, but Dane didn’t back down. The bullet hit him in the shoulder. Dane leaned hard to the right as the bullet ripped through. He regained his balance, landing on Watts before he had the opportunity to pull the trigger again. The revolver fell to the floor, sliding across the tile. Watts fell back off balance.

  Watts pushed Dane’s unmoving body off and tried franticly to reach the gun. He wasn’t quick enough.

  Joe lunged forward and scooped it off the floor. He aimed it at Watts’ head.

  Watts froze, still lying on the cold floor.

  “Stop right there!” Joe warned as Watts was attempting to stand. “Don’t make me pull the trigger!”

  “What the hell is your problem, dude?”

  “I’ll tell you what his problem is, Noel.” Chelsea said.

  Watts glared at her with disgust. She ignored him.

  “Benjamin Watts, the asinine pig that he is… is the one and only C.E.O of the Golden Arch factory that opened of a few years back.”

  “My husband works there.” June said, still against the wall behind her desk.

  “Yeah,… well.” Chelsea continued. “Benjamin here, wrote off on a contract that allowed practically all of the contaminated waste from his factory to get dumped into the river. Dane here,” she pointed at his unmoving body, “was paid to clean up his mess.”

  “You’re talking about the Elk River?” Joe asked, still pointing the revolver at Watts’ head.

  “The one and only,” she confirmed. “He’s been dumping contaminated meat and God knows what else into that river for the last six months or more.”

  “Who cares!” Watts insisted. “It’s not a part of the drinking water anyway!”

  “No one asked you.” Joe reached over and shoved the gun in Watts’ face as hard as he could.

  Blood ran down Benjamin’s nose. He covered his nose with his hand while giving Joe a stern look.

  “This might be true, but it’s the cause of all of this.”

  “You don’t know that, Chelsea.” Watts said, still holding back the bleeding.

  “It might not be the drinking water for Clarksburg, but it does connect to the cemetery.” June insisted.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Watts instantly shut his mouth. Joe came forward like he was going to hit him with the gun again.

  “Yeah… what are you talking about, June?” Joe raised a brow.

  “You guys have never been to the welcome center?” She asked.

  “Get to the point!” Noel argued.

  “The river…” June continued. “It runs along the edge of Clarksburg. Everybody knows that. But what a lot of people don’t know is that it also runs underground right through the Stonewall Cemetery.”

  “Okay, let me get this straight,” Noel said. “You’re telling me that whatever this prick has been dumping into the river also ran underground through the damn cemetery?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You have got to be kidding me.”

  “Makes sense.” Joe said. “The cemetery is where all of this started.”

  “What do you mean it started out there?” Chelsea asked.

  “My partner and I had reason to go out there to check a few things out and the place was overrun with zombies. But those weren’t like the ones outside right now. Those were dead. I mean really dead.”

  “Yeah,” Noel interjected. “Me and my friends were out there tonight, and the dead people, the ones that were buried, came to fucking life and dug themselves out of the ground… if you can believe that.”

  “That’s not possible.” Chelsea said.

  “Ha… now you’re starting to sound like your boss,” Noel grumbled.

  “There’s got to be over a thousand graves out at that cemetery. When we flew into town, I think I would have seen something like that. A mass of people that large walking around would be kind of hard to miss… don’t you think?”

  “Trust me, lady.” Joe said. “When I say all… I mean all of the graves were over turned. And the bodies that were buried in there are outside somewhere walking around! I’ve seen it!”

  “I think the big question now is, what the hell has this dude been dumping in the river? You work for him, Chelsea.” Noel said. “What the hell has this creep been dumping in the fucking river?”

  “I… I don’t know. I’ve never actually been to the waste management area of the factory.”

  “She doesn’t know.” Watts hissed. “And I’m not saying shit; till you let me up and we get more cleanup crews in to take of…”

  Joe stepped forward, shoving the revolver against Watts’ temple.

  “If you know something, buddy, you better speak up now, before I pull the trigger. Don’t give me another reason to go with the other than the ten you’ve already given me! It’d make my day to drop you right here.”

  “You wouldn’t do it,” Watts challenged. “You’re too weak. Weak just like the rest of this little town.”

  “You need to shut the hell up, Benjamin.” Chelsea demanded. Her face was flush with rage.

  Her demeanor only made Watts laugh. “Don’t tell me you’re siding with these lowlifes, Chelsea. You’re better than them. You’ve worked too hard to stoop to their level of living.”

  “Look, dude.” Noel argued. “I just lost a friend back there named Tom. And if there was anything I learned from him in the short time I knew him, it was that life is a lot more complex than any of us realize. That includes your stupid social status!”

  “Has no one been hearing anything I have said since we got here?” The pilot insisted, with one hand in the air like he was at school. “Let’s get the hell out of here. Standing around talkin’ about all this can wait… can’t it?”

  Next to Watts on the floor, Dane began to move, spreading the pool of blood across the floor. At first it was just his hand, but then it was his entire body as he worked his way to his feet. As he forced himself to his knees, blood ran down his face and chest. A harsh rasp came forth from his lungs like an unnatural plea of agony. Ignoring the pain that should have existed in his bandaged hand, he pushed himself up. Breaking the flesh even more under his weight, the wound leaked anew. Red ran down his wrist quickly soaking through the bandages and dripped onto the floor. His eyes were milky white like that of an early morning fog.

  “Shit…” Noel whispered, stepping back and pointing at Dane. “That dude’s turned already!”

  Watts’ eyes went wide with terror as Dane’s glossy gaze met with his. Dane’s mouth
opened, his head cocked awkwardly to the side.

  “What the hell is wrong with him?” Watts said as he jumped to his feet to back away from Dane.

  “Believe us now?” Joe said, aiming the revolver at Dane now. He hesitated with his shot to further prove something to Watts.

  “Shoot him already!” Watts insisted.

  Dane’s dead corpse slowly looked around at everyone in the room. Rather than instantly charge everyone, it was as if he were reflecting on his surroundings. It was as if he remembered something from before death. His eyes scanned left and right at everyone in the room. No one moved, frozen in fear.

  “What the hell are you waiting for?” Noel shouted, hiding behind the pilot.

  Her shouts had startled Dane’s reanimated body. He charged forward toward June. Luckily, she was still against the wall behind the desk. She screeched as Dane collided with the desk. The desk slid across the floor and pinned her against the wall. She cried out.

  As if it weren’t hard enough to get off a close range shot without risking hitting June, everyone was screaming and shouting. Watts stepped forward trying to wrestle the revolver from Joe. Just as Watts rushed forward, Joe managed to push him down. Before he was able to aim again, Shorts appeared out of nowhere, blocking his shot. The old homeless man lunged at Dane. Dane fell away from the desk to the ground with Shorts on top of him.

  Joe tried getting a clear shot once more, but couldn’t. Shorts and Dane were shuffling every which way on the floor. Amid all of the action, Watts went for Joe’s gun again, but before he got to Joe, he froze with both hands in the air. Joe looked up to see that Chelsea had run and snagged his pistol from the ground.

  “Don’t even think about it!”

  “You wouldn’t dare!” Watts said.

  “Try me…” she replied, the gun shaking in her hands.

  Despite her unsteady aim, Watts stood down. Something in her eyes showed she was definitely eager to pull that trigger.

  Although Shorts was a mute, he sure as hell didn’t sound like it now. Screaming out in pain, Shorts pulled his arm away from Dane’s gnashing teeth. In the struggle, he managed to pin Dane under his legs. Sitting on top of his abdomen, Shorts slung a hard left hook to Dane’s face. The smack sounded loud even over the shouts and screams around it. Had Dane been alive, that hit would have jarred him senseless if nothing else. But he wasn’t alive. He was dead. The bacteria in his blood from the bite on his hand had finally caught up to his heart. And if you are dead, do you feel pain? Dane definitely didn’t act like it. Rather than wince from the blow to the face, Dane only lashed out more.

  Shorts didn’t stop either. He swung another good left, but Dane was ready. He bit down hard on the homeless man’s knuckles. Dane tore away the meaty skin. With a painful moan, Shorts watched as the skin peeled away revealing white, red, and pink. Blood spurted out amid the revealed bone splashing Dane in the face. With a satisfied swallow, his teeth sank down again. This time they latched onto the old black man’s fingers. With a loud crunching groan, Shorts screamed. He tried pulling away, but couldn’t. Dane’s grip was too much. His teeth were locked down and not letting go. Something snapped in Shorts’ hand as Dane continued to bite down. Blood pooled in his mouth, as he wiggled back and forth, jittering side to side like a dog playing with a toy.

  Shorts pulled free from Dane’s jaws. He whined as he fell back holding his wounded hand. Three fingers were missing, becoming nothing more than a mangled mess of dangling meat. Dane chewed in robust satisfaction.

  Without hesitation, Joe stepped forward, aimed the revolver, and pulled the trigger. Dane’s head slammed against the tile and his body went limp. The meaty, blood covered fingers in his mouth fell as his lips went slack. The loud report of the revolver sent everyone in the room in silence. Blood ran down Dane’s head, the hole off center. Joe checked the cylinder. He had two shots left. Slamming it back into place, he aimed the gun at Shorts who leaned against the wall next to the supply closet.

  His eyes went wide as he looked up at Joe.

  “No, don’t…” June was cut off as the gun kicked in Joe’s hand.

  Shorts fell limp against the wall. Blood ran down his head and into his right eye.

  “Oh, my God. You shot Shorts!”

  “I had to, June! I’m sorry!” Joe shouted.

  The room fell silent for a moment. Then Joe grabbed Watts by the throat, shoved the revolver in his mouth and spit on him.

  “I’m done fucking around. If you know something, you better speak up now.” Joe demanded.

  Watts stood silent.

  “So be it,” Joe said shoving him away. “There’s one bullet left in this gun and it has your name on it. And yes… this mess is all your fault. So guess who’s going to help drag these bodies to the cells in the back?” Joe shoved the revolver into Benjamin’s chest. “Now move!”

  Watts proceeded to do as he was told, although he did hesitate and groaned about it as he started to pick up Dane’s lifeless body. Joe motioned for the pilot to help Watts with the bodies. After picking up Dane’s gun from the floor, he handed it to the pilot.

  “If Mr. Watts tries anything, shoot him!”

  The pilot nodded, taking the gun. Watts tried to sneak a smile at the pilot, but the pilot shook his head.

  “Sorry, Mr. Watts, but I’m with these people. Whatever’s goin’ on here, I ain’t playin’ around. If that factory of yours is really behind this, then I recon we ain’t friends no more.”

  “What are you doing with the bodies?” June asked, still pinned behind the desk.

  Helping her get unstuck, Joe said, “We’ve got to lock them up. If we don’t, we’re all still in danger.”

  “They’re still going to wake back up!” Noel butted in.

  “What are we going to do after we put them in the cells?” June asked, stepping out past the desk and rubbing her legs.

  “I don’t honestly know.” Joe sighed.

  “I’ll tell you what the hell we’re going to do,” Noel insisted. “Get the hell out of here.”

  “As much as I’m ready to go, where are we going to go?” Joe asked. “And to be honest, if that Watts guy really does know something we don’t, then I want to find out.”

  “Agreed,” Chelsea said, the gun gripped tightly in her hand.

  “We don’t have time for this…”

  “I’m sorry, Noel, but we need to find out what’s behind all of this. We can’t just let him go.”

  “Then lock him the hell up in one of the cells. Let someone else deal with him after we’ve gotten to safety!” Noel protested.

  “That’s a great idea.” Chelsea said. “Lock him up and interrogate him.”

  Joe mulled over it for a second, and then looked to Chelsea. “You’re the one that worked for him. You tell me. You really think this guy could be capable of causing all of this? Do you really think he’s withholding something?”

  “This is Benjamin Watts we’re talking about here, right?” Chelsea said. “He’s the scum of the earth. I can tell you that much, and no I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he knew something we didn’t.”

  “Well, could they have been manufacturing something other than food at that factory?” Joe reiterated.

  “It’s possible,” Chelsea said. “I wouldn’t put it past him. Benjamin is only interested in what would make him more money.”

  Realizing that Joe was pretty set on getting to the bottom of all of this, Noel gave in. As much as she was ready to get the hell out of town, she wasn’t going to leave without Joe. And besides, it wasn’t like the pilot was going to leave without everyone else. Or would he? He seemed even more ready to get the hell out of Dodge than the others. She smiled, realizing she didn’t need to force her spot onto the helicopter once it did leave. She just had to sweet talk the pilot. Hell, maybe she could even talk him into rushing everyone to leave. As much as Joe felt secure in the station, she sure as hell didn’t. Look at what had happened so far, and all within the first thirty minute
s of getting inside, at that.

  “Look…” Noel said, locking gazes with Joe. Her words were soft and regretful. “Let’s just get this over with, please. I’m ready to go. As much as you think we’re safe here, we aren’t… okay? We’re just not. Look at what’s happened. Tom’s dead and we’ve already added two more to that list in the back. Please… let’s just get him to talk and get going.”

  Joe stepped forward taking Noel into his arms. “We’re going to get out of here. I promise.”

  Yeah, I feel like I’ve heard that before, she thought thinking back on the cemetery and all that had happened so far tonight.

  “Let’s just go…” She said, looking up at him.

  She didn’t know why, but although she didn’t feel safe in the police station knowing they had a quick way out on the roof, she did feel safe still wrapped in Joe’s arms. Her body went limp in his embrace. The weight of the night’s horrifying events had tied the muscles in her shoulders into knots.

  FIFTEEN

  Noel sat staring at the blood on the floor. It was a smeared mirror image of Shorts’ and Dane’s recent struggle. The room was quiet and one overhead light flickered in an eerie glow of synchronized blinks. The effect was faint. In fact, so faint that she had only noticed it after being left alone in the room. She’d been sitting in the silence for more than ten minutes before she’d noticed it herself. Had it always been there? It didn’t matter. Nothing really mattered anymore. Joe would disagree though. She guessed that was why he was in one of the other rooms with Chelsea, interrogating Watts.

  Sure, like anyone else she wanted to know what was going on aside from the obvious. A part of her wanted to get down to the bottom of the question on everyone’s mind; Why? But like that flickering light, it didn’t matter. If it were up to her they’d leave Watts locked up in one of the cells and be on their way before anything else happened. The silence ushered in terrible images from earlier of the biting and the gnashing and the spitting and the pulling. The visceral images just wouldn’t leave. She tried pushing them back, but like everything else, it was pointless.