DEAD AMERICA
LOWCOUNTRY
PART 4
BY DEREK SLATON
© 2021
CHAPTER ONE
Day Zero +3
The sun barely peeked over the horizon when the noise began. Dante opened his eye, waiting a moment for it to adjust to the dim light. He couldn’t quite make out the sound… it was almost as if someone was moving in another part of the house.
He looked around, doing a quick head count of his companions. Cam and Phillip slept by the TV. Bailey was on the couch, and Lily sprawled across the floor beside Katie, who was clustered up against the stove to avoid the splayed limbs.
Dante listened hard, straining his ears, but didn’t hear Abigail or her girls moving. And while he had only known Ace for a couple of days, he couldn’t imagine the redneck had ever been this quiet in his life.
The noise persisted, a shuffling combined with light tapping. He jumped at a loud BANG and sat up straight. The others stirred in the living room, but he hopped up, rushing past them to the window. He peered through the gaps in the wood that Cam and Phillip had put up the day before. The sun was up just enough that he could see movement by Ace’s window.
Two zombies stood there, smacking on the wood blocking Ace’s bedroom. Dante sighed with relief. It was only two, and the boys had done a good job of securing the outside of the house.
Movement tickled his periphery and his relief quickly flew from him as three more ghouls raced out from behind the trees at the edge of the yard. They ran straight for their brethren, joining in on the banging on the side of the house.
The impact roused everyone that had still been sleeping in the living room. Dante’s brow furrowed at another zombie, moving much slower than the others instead of at a dead sprint.
“What’s going on?” Cam asked groggily.
Dante turned away from the window. “Unwanted visitors.”
“Just tell them to come back later,” Cam moaned, throwing an arm over his face, and then sat up straight, fear in his eyes as it clicked that they were in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, and the people outside weren’t salesmen. He shook Phillip. “Get up man, get up!” he urged.
His companion rolled towards him, propping his arm up on his elbows. “Dude, are you kidding me right now?” he whined.
The pounding on the side of the house intensified, and Cam shook his head.
“Dante, what is it?” Lily asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes as she emerged from the kitchen.
“Ace’s room,” Dante replied.
She looked around, grabbing a big butcher knife from the counter and heading down the hall with him to her cousin’s room. As they moved down the hallway, Abigail opened the spare room’s door.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
Dante nodded. “Everything’s fine,” he replied gently, “just some early morning visitors. Just stay in your room for a bit while we handle it.”
Abigail nodded and Bailey approached, slipping inside and kneeling next to her sisters’ cot.
“Don’t worry,” she said firmly to the terrified girls, “Dante’s going to protect us.”
The kids looked up at him and he gave them a nod, and then Abigail shut the door.
Dante paused at Ace’s door and side-glanced his companion. “Do we knock, or what?” he asked.
“Depends,” Lily replied with a smirk, “does Ace strike you as the type of person you want to just walk in on unannounced?”
Dante immediately shook his head. “I’ve seen enough horror for the last few days,” he declared. “Let’s give him a few minutes to cover up.”
Lily laughed and banged her fist on the door. “Get your ass up boy, we got a situation!” she barked. There was no sound from the room other than the consistent smacking of the zombies. She furrowed her brow and pounded again. “Ace, open up, cuz!” she yelled.
There was still no answer, and they shared a concerned glance, and Dante slowly turned the doorknob. He pushed it open, the door creaking as he carefully revealed whatever sight awaited them inside.
The duo recoiled at the sight of Ace sprawled on the bed, stretching over the entirety of the queen-sized mattress, wearing only a tattered pair of tighty whities. He wore a large set of headphones, a long cord connecting them to a CD player on the side table.
The banging on the window was loud, but they could hear the music blaring from the headphones over it.
“It’s a wonder he’s not deaf,” Dante muttered, looking away from the scantily clad redneck.
Lily rolled her eyes. “You check our guests,” she said, “I’ll awaken sleeping beauty.”
“Good luck,” he said wryly, and headed for the window. He peered through the slats, seeing the five zombies right outside. Four of them were right up against the window, banging away, while the fifth slow one was just reaching the group.
Lily grabbed Ace’s leg with both hands, and gave it a good shake, acting like it was a zombie clutching him just before biting.
The sensation startled Ace awake, who began flailing about in a panic. He screamed and tore the headphones from his head, scrabbling to the head of the bed, eyes wide.
“What in the holy motherfucking shitballs are you doing, woman?!” he cried when he realized it was just his cousin. “I thought I was getting eaten!”
She wrinkled her nose. “With the way your tighty-whities are stained, they’d really have to be slumming it,” she said, clucking her tongue.
He looked down, realizing how exposed he was, and hopped away from the bed to find a pair of jeans on the floor. He threw them on, zipping up as he looked around, confused. “What the hell is that noise?” he asked.
“Zombies,” Dante replied.
Ace blinked, just realizing that the bigger man was in the room too, but headed over to the window to survey the situation. He peeked through the slats, scanning the ghouls.
“Holy shit, that’s the Robinsons,” he muttered, looking over the older couple with three teenagers. Everyone but the woman had visible bite marks on them.
“You know them?” Lily asked, approaching them.
Ace nodded. “Yeah, they had that house at the edge of town,” he explained, motioning vaguely. “Built it a few years back.”
“Guessing that’s not one we cleared?” Dante asked.
The redneck shook his head. “I didn’t think we needed to,” he admitted. “The morning this all started, I saw a big ole SUV pulling out of the driveway and hauling ass outta town.”
“Looks like whoever left, it wasn’t them,” Lily murmured.
“Well, obviously, Lil,” Ace said, rolling his eyes.
Ignoring him, she peered through the wood to get a good look at them. “Judging by the looks of them, the momma keeled over and took the rest of them with her,” she said.
“Met Fred there a few times,” Ace declared. “He always struck me as a bit of a wuss. No surprise he got eaten up by his wife.”
Lily crossed her arms. “Apparently his kids didn’t fare much better.”
“There any other houses you think are empty but we didn’t check?” Dante asked.
Ace shrugged. “Well hell, based on this, I think we need to check the rest of ‘em,” he suggested. “There’s one more beside their house, and two more on the other side of the gas station. I saw ‘em leave that morning, but now that I think about it, they could have left someone behind.”
Dante nodded in agreement.
“Well, that’s going to have to be after breakfast,” Lily cut in, still looking out the window. “We gotta figure out what to do about these five first.”
Ac
e cracked a smile and headed for the closet. He rummaged around for a few moments and then returned with a large medieval looking sword.
Dante and Lily blinked at him as he held it up in a victory pose.
“Okay King Arthur,” Lily drawled, “what in the hell are you planning on doing with that thing? No. Wait. Scratch that.” She held up a finger. “First question. Why in the hell do you have that?”
Ace grinned. “You remember a few years back when I was dating Betty-Sue?” he asked.
“Yeah?” she replied, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, she dragged me to one of those renaissance fairs down near Savannah,” he explained, “and let’s just say I got caught up in it. Saw this on the way out and just had to have it.”
Lily crossed her arms. “Somehow I doubt that a sword from a renaissance fair is going to be a viable weapon,” she said dryly.
He pointed it up and touched the tip of his finger to the pointy end, playfully recoiling as if it were incredibly sharp. “I know I’m not going to hack through them,” he admitted. “But this thing is solid enough that a direct shot to the face should do some damage.”
“It looks thin enough to get through the wooden openings,” Dante added. “Can’t hurt to try.”
Lily stared at him, eyebrows raised, disbelieving that the tall man would buy into her cousin’s ridiculousness. Dante just smiled and shrugged.
“Yeah, I know, I’m just as shocked as you are,” he admitted.
She shook her head and chuckled, turning towards the window and sliding it open. The noise intensified as she did so, the zombies’ moaning accompanying the loud banging. Their thrashing grew more excited when they realized they were so close to a fresh meal.
“Well, let’s see if this works,” Ace said, and put the tip of the sword on one of the wooden boards, lining up his shot with a face. One of the teenage zombies had pushed its way to the front of the pack, its face missing a good chunk of flesh from the cheek.
Ace readied himself, getting into position, and then thrusting forward. The sword slid perfectly through the opening, the tip of the blade piercing the zombie’s rheumy eye.
The creature convulsed for a moment before sliding off of the blade and down to the ground, only to be immediately replaced by one of its family members.
Ace pulled the gooey sword back inside, shooting his cousin a triumphant smile. “Ren fair for the win, what what?!” he declared.
She rolled her eyes, leaning against the wall. “Yeah, yeah,” she said flippantly.
He lined up another shot, this time on the ghoul that used to be Fred Robinson. “All right, time to put you out of your misery,” he cooed, and then thrust again.
The blade cracked through the bridge of the zombie’s nose, entering into its skull. As the heavier ghoul fell limp, it didn’t dislodge from the sword, and when Ace tried to pull on it, he couldn’t get it back out.
“Son of a bitch, let go Fred!” Ace bellowed.
The remaining zombies outside thrashed about, putting weight on Fred as they tried to get at the source of the noise. One of them pushed down, causing the sword to bend. It didn’t take much more pressure for the blade to snap in two, leaving the broadsword a short sword.
Ace pulled the busted hilt back inside and stared at it for a moment before tossing it over his shoulder back towards the closet.
“Well, got my money’s worth out of it at least,” he drawled. “Well… technically I got my money’s worth out of it after the ren fair because Betty-Sue was all into that medieval shit. That night we—”
“Stop talking,” Lily cut in, putting up a hand. “I just watched you impale two zombies, but if you finish your thought, I’m going to throw up.”
Ace chuckled and turned to Dante. “What do you say,” he said, “you wanna go finish them off outside so we can have some breakfast in peace?”
“Lead the way,” Dante replied, motioning for the door.
The redneck nodded. “We’ll head out the back and stop by the shed,” he said. “Got another idea of something I’ve always wanted to try.”
“Three of us should be able to take them out pretty easily,” Lily added.
Dante cocked his head. “Actually, I’d like you to stay here.”
“Don’t go getting all protective on me now,” she replied with a pout.
He raised his hands. “I would never dream of it,” he promised. “But they’re fixated on us right now. I just want you to hold their attention while we come around behind them.”
She smirked and gave him a playful punch on the arm. “Just giving you a hard time,” she replied. “I’ll keep them occupied.” She winked at him and then stood in front of the window, making silly faces at the zombies clamoring to eat her through the wood.
Ace led Dante out through the living room, where the other three were perched on the couch, looking nervously all around.
“Is everything okay?” Katie asked.
Dante nodded. “Yeah, just a few of the neighbors paying a visit,” he said. “We should only be a couple minutes, so you guys hang tight.”
The trio nodded, and the two men headed through the kitchen. Dante grabbed a handgun from the counter as they went, pausing at the back door to make sure there weren’t any more unwanted guests. Ace peered around too, and thankfully the backyard was empty.
Dante inclined his head towards the small wooden tool shed at the back. “So, you got something useful in there?” he asked.
“Oh yeah, and better than that, I already have an idea!” Ace declared.
His companion raised his eyebrow. “Color me impressed,” he admitted, “and terrified.”
Ace laughed and opened the door. The two of them darted over to the shed, the redneck slipping inside while Dante kept watch. There was a clamor in the shed before Ace emerged, holding a giant pitchfork and a sledgehammer.
Dante stared at him for a moment. “Really?” he finally asked.
“Oh yeah, really!” Ace replied with a huge grin on his face. He held up the pitchfork, which had foot-long spikes at the end. He handed over the sledgehammer.
Dante took it and tested its considerable weight in his hand. “So what’s the plan?” he asked.
“Those things are pressed up against the wall, right?” the redneck asked. “Well, I figure if I get up a head of steam, I should be able to punch through them with this and hold them in place while you go all Gallagher on them.”
Dante chuckled. “Little early for a Sledge-O-Matic reference, but we’ll roll with it,” he said.
Ace gave him a little salute and then took a wide turn around the house, Dante close behind. They went out to the far edge of the grass, a good thirty yards away from the zombies that were still stacked at the window.
Ace moved forward, but Dante grabbed his arm, holding him back.
“What’s up?” the redneck whispered. “You see something?”
Dante shook his head. “I don’t know,” he murmured.
“Okay?” Ace asked.
His companion sighed. “Sorry,” he whispered. “Just, when they were running up, the girl zombie on the right side there was moving slow.”
“How slow?” Ace asked.
Dante tilted his head back and forth. “I mean, faster than I would have liked,” he admitted, “but about half the speed as the others.” He watched closely, staring at the ghoul, seeing it was even hitting the window a bit slower than the others who were still at full speed.
“I mean, I got a video camera in the house if you want me to run and get it,” Ace teased quietly.
Dante shook his head. “No, I’m good.”
“Okay, with the way they’re stacked up, I should be able to pin two of them together,” the redneck whispered, miming the motion with the pitchfork. “I’ll hold them in place while you deal with the third. Sound good?”
Dante nodded. “Lead the way,” he said.
The two of them broke out and raced towards the zombies. The grass softened their footsteps, and
Lily started to yell as they approached to muffle their noise even more.
“Yeah, you want a piece of this, you limp-dicked dead fucks?!” she bellowed.
Ace held the pitchfork out like it was a jousting lance, picking up speed and aiming it for the torso of the teenage zombie in the back. There were two of them stacked up perfectly behind one another, while the slower ghoul was to the right.
Ace let out a scream as he thrust, jamming the business end of his weapon through the back of the rear zombie so hard that it went all the way through to the front one. They didn’t even notice, continuing to focus on Lily’s taunting.
The slow zombie did notice them, however, and turned to the redneck. Before it could fully lean towards Ace, Dante grabbed the back of its shirt and took several steps away from the window before throwing the corpse into the yard.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ace cried.
“Get them on the ground!” Dante barked.
The redneck shook his head and pulled the ghouls away from the window. He wrenched the pitchfork to the side, causing them to tumble onto the grass. He leaned forward, skewering them into the grass.
Dante swung the hammer down forcefully, driving the weighted end through the back of the top zombie’s skull and right into the second one. The single blow was enough to kill both, and the two corpses twitched before falling limp.
As soon as they stopped moving, Ace jerked the pitchfork free and swung around to face the third zombie. He relaxed and furrowed his brow when he saw that not only was it not running towards him, it was struggling to even get to its feet.
Dante rested the blood-soaked sledgehammer over his shoulder, cocking his head. “Good to see I’m not crazy.”
“Motherfucker, you crazy as hell!” Ace declared. “Just throwing that thing down behind us on a hunch?”
His companion shrugged. “Figure it was worth the risk,” he said.
“How the hell do you figure?” the redneck challenged.
Dante motioned to the zombie. “If these things are slowing down, don’t you think that would be useful information to have?” he asked.
Ace wrinkled his nose, but finally nodded. “How do you know she didn’t just break her leg or some shit?” he muttered petulantly.
Dead America: Lowcountry | Book 4 | Lowcountry [Part 4] Page 1