by Ian Woodhead
“Obviously, I must have needed the rest,” he whispered. Then again, yesterday had been a pretty strenuous day. Not only had he fought zombies, ran through that strange town not once but twice, he'd even gone outside in the real world! “And almost got run down. Let’s not forget that bit.”
The last thing he thought about before going to sleep was what had been wrong with that car's other passenger. Jenny called him Barry. Jordan found it strange to think that despite all the weird shit that had happened to him yesterday, all he could think about was why this kid needed to go to hospital. He'd even dreamed about that car journey. The only difference to what Jordan had witnessed last night was he was the one in the car and Barry had been the gormless bastard who'd stopped the car. He also remembered moving Jenny’s hand away from his sweating forehead to see why they'd stopped. It hadn't surprised him to see that Barry looked exactly like his dad. Unlike the girl's mysterious ailment, Jordan knew exactly why these two were rushing him to hospital. He was pregnant. Some random shrink would have a right breakfast with his fucked up mind, that's for damn sure.
He licked the plate as clean as he could get it then leaned over and carefully placed it on the carpet. There was no way he was going to drop the plate. If that broke then his mum really would break his neck. Speaking of his parents, the two ancient ones must surely be moving around by now and yet, apart from bird song, he heard nothing. Well, apart from his own breathing. Jordan couldn't even hear his sister mouthing off either. That was a rare thing. Sunday afternoon nearly always kicked off with at least one of them getting all rowdy.
Jordan shrugged to himself. He might as well enjoy the silence while he could. He leaned over the bed again and picked out a couple of cold donner meat slices, flicked off a few bits of brown iceberg lettuce and popped the meat into his mouth.
“Okay, let's do this,” he said, after swallowing the chewed up food. It's time he caught up with the fun and games in Necrovoid. Jordan reached for the box, took out the sensenet and rolled it over his head. He couldn't wait to rescue Jenny, get that shotgun and shells, get all romantic with her then find out more about that damn conspiracy. After all, getting to the bottom of who started this infection and why was supposed to be the while point of the game. Oh, he also intended to blow away as many of those walking dead bastards as he could too!
Third Insertion
Jordan raced over to the two dead things, intending to stab them both in the neck. Before he could reach them, they both just let go of the wood and fell, landing in a single heap of tangled limbs.
Two of those limbs pushed through that pile and grabbed one of his ankles, he shrieked out in utter agony when those fingers squeezed tight. Jordan didn't know what to do! Out of sheer desperation, he stamped down on the closest wrist. He heard bones snap but the bastard thing still didn't let go of his leg. Panicking now, Jordan slammed his foot on their arms, over and over. All the time, acutely aware that the two dead things still had an arm each to spare and they were doing their best to grab hold of his other leg. The pain had become unbearable and he knew that he was about to lose his balance. If that happened, it really would be all over. The fuckers would crawl all over his helpless body, just like Gail did to him.
He pulled out the knife and slashed at their arms, cutting deep into the flesh. Blood spurted everywhere, covering his hand and the knife in cold blood. He heard someone saying something about the blood running down the streets. Jordan didn't realise the voice had come from him until the knife slipped from his fingers.
Their remaining limbs reached for his other leg while two sets of teeth snapped at his fingers, missing his tender flesh by just a couple of millimetres. Jordan used his remaining strength to try to get away from those monsters one last time. “Oh, God. Help me!” he screamed. Jordan turned his head towards the door, to see Jenny had just wrestling with the other dead thing. She growled then rammed her knife into its eye, then pulled the blade out. Jenny pushed it away then raced over to Jordan.
The two corpses had managed to pulled Jordan to his knees. Their jaws lunged towards his face. The woman dropped beside him and thrust her blade up through the nearest dead thing's jaw. The creature immediately stopped moving.
It fell backwards, taking her knife with it.
“Kick the bastard, Jordan! Don't just look at it, boot the bloody thing in the head!”
He did as she screamed and kicked out, twisting his other ankle in the process. Jordan's boot connected with the dead thing's forehead, lifting its head up. He kicked it again, while Jenny scrabbled over their bodies. The moving corpse still managed to wrap its fingers around her foot. Jordan cried out when it pulled her back but it was too late. The woman had already jerked the blade out of the other dead thing's skull. She wrapped her own fingers around its neck and forced it into the long grass then pushed the tip of the blade into one of its nostrils and pressed down.
The pressure on his leg suddenly vanished. Jordan put his arms around Jenny and pulled her body off the vile monster. “Thank you,” he whispered. “I thought I was a goner just then.” He lay in the grass, listening to bird song and the sound of his heart trying to beat its way through his ribcage and wondered how he was going to stand, let alone walk or run.
“I still expect to hear the sound of the cars, you know. I just can't get used to all this damn silence.”
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I think so. Just a few more bruises to add to the ones I already have.”
“It's not totally quiet, Jenny.”
“Oh, you mean the birds? Yeah, They are out in force today. Probably laughing at us stupid humans, waiting for us all to stop moving so they can reclaim the planet.”
“Yeah, give it another thirty years for us survivors to finally die out and those annoying winged bastards won't have to worry about us trying to wipe them out along with every other animal species.” The image of thousands of starlings, all wearing straw hats entered his mind for some weird reason. “Jenny, I think I'll need you to help me up.”
The woman got to her feet, pulled the knife out of the monster's nose, wiped the mess on its jumper and put it away before she grabbed his outstretched wrist and gently pulled him up. “Can you walk unaided?”
“I'm not sure I want to put that to the test just yet,” he replied. Jordan dare not look at the damage those bastards had done to his ankle. Even so, they couldn’t stay here. “Jenny. I might have to use you for a bit longer.”
The woman pulled his arm over the back of her neck and guided him back over to the gate. She opened it and turned left.
“Jenny, we need to go the other way.”
“Don't start that again. I'm taking you to the contact point and that's final.”
As the woman passed the gate, he reached back and wrapped his fingers around the top wooden slat.
“What the hell are you playing at?”
“I'm holding this gate, my dear. Holding it as tight as those two dead bastards held my poor ankle.”
“You're insane!”
“Perhaps. Just tell something, Jenny. This contact point, you mentioned, are the people in there well armed? You know, with hunting rifles, perhaps a couple of pistols, maybe a Gatling gun?”
She shook her head. “Barry had the only gun.”
“You're shitting me? He had a sodding air-pistol! Those things are about as dangerous as a fucking egg whisk. Look, Jenny. You need to listen very carefully. Those dead things have our scent. Where we go, they'll follow, meaning if we do go back to your contact point, we'll end up bringing all those flesh hungry ghouls with us. We will have signed the death warrants for all your survivor friends.. Is that what you really want?”
“How do you don't know they'll follow us?” she snapped back. “I bet you've only been out of your house a couple of times since this nightmare started. I've been fighting those things ever since it began. If anyone knew how they acted, it would be me.”
Jordan heard the anger but he also sensed the uncer
tainty in her voice. “Do you want to find out if I'm right, Jenny? I'm not going to let go. So you can either take my advice or piss off and leave me here.”
“You're impossible. Do you know that? Okay, fine. We'll go the other way. Christ, talk about acting like a spoilt brat.”
“You're welcome, and you can thank me for saving your life later, Jenny.” He took his fingers off the wood as Jenny turned and started to go in the direction that he wanted. “When we pass a shop, do you think we'll be able to check if they have any painkillers? My leg feels like it's on fire.”
“After the way you've been acting? I still have a good mind to drop you and leave.”
“Please?”
She sighed deeply. “We don't have to stop. Remember what I said about fighting those dead things since day one?” Jenny tapped the small grey canvas bag on her back. “I'm always prepared. I have some pills in here as well as a bottle of water. “If it is true about what you said, it's probably best that we keep moving. At least, not until we reach this place you keep banging on about.”
Jenny pulled him along the cobbled road, past another dozen houses. He saw a small amount of dead things either stood motionless in the gardens or leaning against the back of the houses. None of them made any attempt to chase after them, obviously Jenny did point this out but Jordan opted to stay quiet. The woman was already walking a bit too quickly for his liking and wasn't too keen on piss in her off anymore, in case she started jogging or even worse, she did decide that he was too much trouble and left him behind. If that happened, you could be sure that all of the dead things currently doing garden gnome impressions would soon start to shamble his way.
“I think we had better get those painkillers down your gob, Jordan. You're starting to to look a bit pale.” Jenny slowed down then stopped and leaned him against a lamppost. “I sure hope you're right about this, Jordan.”
“I am. As soon as we're tooled up, we'll go back and get your friends, then we'll work out what to do next.”
She dropped a couple of white capsules into his palm and handed Jordan a bottle of water. “You know, it’s weird isn’t it? I mean, I know I’ve said this already but I just can’t shake the feeling that the authorities will arrive at any moment, with their sirens blaring.” She took a deep breath. “I ask you, what a sight that would be, to see dozens of cop cars screaming down the main road, followed by some fire engines. Those dead things wouldn't last five minutes after a bunch of fit men train their fire hoses on their stinking bodies.”
“I think the army would be better suited, to be honest. Flame-throwers and assault rifles would be more effective than a bit of water.” Jordan drank his own water all the way to the bottom then threw the bottle onto the grass verge. “Gail would have thrown a right strop if she'd seen me do that. She had a bit of a thing for dropping litter. Don't suppose it matters anymore.”
Jenny fastened the bag, threw it over her shoulder then grabbed Jordan's arm. “I suppose we had better get going. I'm not too keen on getting caught in the open when the sun goes in.” She started moving, a little slower than before. “Jordan, why do you think we never saw any police? We never saw any soldiers either for that matter.”
He shook his head. Jordan had become aware of a dragging sound coming from somewhere behind them. He turned his head but saw nothing. It didn't mean the dead weren't following though. Sound travelled a long way in a silent world. “Gail asked the same question a couple of nights ago. I thought the answer was obvious. They're as human as you and me, meaning they were just as liable to become infected too. Think about it. Imagine just two soldiers turning overnight while everybody is asleep in their beds. How many do you think they'd be able to infect before someone sounded the alarm? At least soldiers had weapons. Imagine the same scenario inside a police station or a fire station?” He paused to listen for sounds they were being followed. A few seconds later, he made out that same distinctive noise of one of those things dragging their feet. “We're lucky to live in a small town. From what we saw before the TV and internet died, the cities and large towns really did turn into hell on Earth. I daren't think how many must have died during the first few days, or, for that matter, got back on their feet after their hearts stopped beating.”
The sound had become more distinct now. Even Jenny turned her head. “Shit,” she whispered. “I can hear them.”
Jordan nodded. “They've been behind us for a while now. Cut down Brick lane, and onto Commercial road. We can lose them in the shopping mall. It's what...” his words tailed off.
“What were you going to say?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. It doesn't matter.”
Jordan was about to say that it's what they did the last time. Was he losing his mind? He glanced over his shoulder. The dead things certainly were visible now. Oh Christ. It looked like half the town were behind them, with more joining. Two dead things slid out from under a parked green van and were swallowed into the mass.
They had walked past the bloody van just minutes before. Why had they waited until now before making their presence known. Jordan decided that he didn't want to know the answer to that as they still had to walk past a load more cars, parked on both sides of the road, before reaching the shopping mall. Thinking about what might lay under all those cars really could send his mind over the edge.
“I think we ought to stay away for the cars,” he hissed. “Stay in the middle of the road.” Her silence probably told him that she'd already had the same thoughts.
Jenny speeded up. “Nearly there, Jordan.”
He nodded and gritted his teeth against the pain. The drugs had already started to where off. When they found somewhere totally safe, he'd take a look at what those things had done to him. Right now, it felt like the bastards had squeezed all muscle away from the bone. Jordan honestly believed that when he did finally summon the courage to roll up his trouser leg, he'd see ten deep, purple grooves in his flesh.
“Crap. We need to run, Jordan. Will you be up to it?”
He looked behind him. Another five things had joined the huge crowd. They'd also gained ground too. “Like I have a choice in the matter? Jenny, leave me, and go that window put through. There's half a brick behind that's trade bin, next to the newsagents.”
“The doors might be open.”
“They're not! Just do it, Jenny, we're running out of time.”
The woman dropped him and raced over to the doors, despite his words, she still tried the door before finally resorting to what he asked in the first place. He continued to limp and hop towards her, fully aware that the dead were almost on him.
The sound of the bottom window smashing sounded like high-pitched thunder. It was so loud. Jenny ran back, grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to the mall. “Get though first. Jenny.”
She nodded, dropped to the pavement and crawled thought the smashed window-frame. Jordan followed. He had just about gotten all the way through when he felt fingers brushing against his feet. He yelped out in terror, believing that at any second, that horde of moving corpses would pull him back outside. Jenny turned around and helped him through, before they did fasten their hands on him again.
“Can you run?”
“You've already asked me that!” he panted. The dead things were having trouble working out why they couldn't reach them. That wouldn't last long. “I can move, I think that's about it.”
Jenny ran across the light brown tiled surface and picked up her brick. It had come to rest beside a shop selling stationary. “We'd best see if we can slow them down even more then.”
She walked over the shattered glass, stood beside the hole she'd made and watched as the first dead thing finally figured out where the pair of them had gone. It slowly lowered its body then just fell onto the floor. After another moment, it started to crawl towards the hole
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Shut up a second.”
The dead thing pushed its arms through the hole and dropped them onto
the tiles, straight into the glass. Thick blood pooled around the digits but the corpse obviously wasn't concerned with that. Jordan took a single step back. His gaze shifted back to the huge crowd of monsters outside. As if on cue, they all began to lower their bodies. “Oh crap. We are so fucked now!”
Jenny looked at him and grinned. “Don't be such a big pudding.” She then slammed the brick down on the back of the creature's head. Jenny left the brick lodged in it head and moved around the now still thing. She grinned again then took his hand. Okay, we can go now.”
He looked over his shoulder and watched the second creature try, with no success, to push its own body past its companion only to find itself in the same predicament. “It won't hold them for long.”
“True, but it will buy us a bit more time.”
“Smart arse,” he replied, finding himself smiling for the first time since the tragedy. Jordan suddenly stopped, pulling Jenny back.
“What are you doing?”
He looked at the escalator which led to the mall's eatery. “I'm really hungry, Jenny.”
“You're kidding.”
Jordan shook his head.
Chapter Six
He tore the sensenet off his head and threw it on the floor. What the bloody hell was all that about? Like the MC is suddenly going to fancy a fucking burger right in the middle of the apocalypse. Jordan mentally traced his progress through this session, trying to figure out what he could have done wrong. Why had it taken them so long to get to the shopping mall? It didn't make sense. In his first game, he'd done all the usual boring stuff right at the beginning.
Maybe it had something to do with Jenny rescuing him instead of the other way round? After all, in the first session, His wife had turned almost straight away, munched down on the kid before trying to sink her teeth into him. It looked like he'd been right about the game being part sandbox, part narrative.