“I’ll never tell anyone,” Sam replied.
“But there’s cameras. I can’t afford to get this fixed, and I can’t go to prison!” My grip loosened on the extinguisher, my movements hesitant.
“Rose! Fucking smash it or we’re both going to die!”
I flinched as Sam screamed at me, my grip tightening as I lifted the extinguisher up and crashed it back down onto the computer. I couldn’t hear anything above the sound of me hitting the small computer over and over, which fizzed and popped, pieces of plastic and glass splintering in all directions.
I only stopped when Sam’s hand came down on my shoulder and I turned, wide-eyed, to stare at her.
“You did it,” she said with a shaky breath. “It’s okay, you did it.”
“I did?” I asked, my voice shaking. “It worked?” I looked towards the door Sam had previously been holding, grateful to see that despite whatever lay behind it, the handle barely moved in place anymore. I looked down at what used to be the computer. “Wow, I completely fucked that up, didn’t I?”
Sam let out a nervous laugh. “What now?”
I shrugged and finally looked at our surroundings. There were shouts and cries coming from inside the main terminal of the airport. But from where we were there was just blood and body parts. Lots and lots of it. Blood was smeared on the walls, the floors, across bags and newspapers, and bloodied limbs were strewn about the floor like abandoned teddy bears. I stared around us in disbelief.
“That’s a lot of blood,” Sam said.
I nodded in agreement, swallowing down the vomit I had just brought up. “Yep, and a lot of chicken wings.”
Chapter Eight.
Sam
“U m…chicken wings?” I looked at Rose in confusion, my mouth gaped open slightly. “You can’t possibly be hungry looking at this,” I said, indicating the carnage. My stomach was doing somersaults, churning and whirling. A person could have shoved my absolute favorite dessert into my face—classic cheesecake with raspberry drizzle—and I wouldn’t have been able to eat a bite. Not a single bite. And I’d once joked to my dad that I planned to marry great-Nana’s cheesecake.
Rose sheepishly responded, her cheeks going pink. “It’s easier to think of this as something other than people parts.”
“Oh.” I forced the word out from around the lump in my throat. “Yeah, I get that. Although I might never eat chicken again. Vegetarianism here I come.”
“At least I didn’t ruin steak for you.” Rose shrugged and tried to smile. She couldn’t manage a convincing one though.
The mutilated computer still fizzled and popped next to us. Rose had apparently knocked over a half-filled coffee cup while going Negan on the electronics. Honestly though, the wreckage of the flight check-in system and door controls made me feel confident in my companion. If she could do that much damage with a fire extinguisher, imagine what she could do with a proper bat wrapped with barbed wire.
“We should keep moving.” My eyes roved the interior of the terminal. I wished the building was smaller, wished I could see through the walls and locate dangers before we chose left or right, wished I was fucking Superman and I could Lois Lane Rose and I right out of there. We wouldn’t need a plane and a pilot, just a cape and the absence of kryptonite.
“Yeah.” Rose bit her bottom lip. “But which way?”
“Right,” I said, glancing up at the signs hanging along the ceiling, directing people to baggage claim, restaurants, and gift shops. “Baggage claim is always near the main exit. That’s where we want to be.”
“And then?” The young woman’s face was so pale. I had the urge to pull her into a tight hug, but we had more imperative things to do.
“Terminals this large, they normally have rent-a-car places, right?” I’m nodding and so is Rose, as if we’re both on the same thought track.
“And that means keys to a car,” Rose confirmed.
“A car that’ll be filled with gas.” I realized, as I said the last part, that the tunnel behind us had gone quiet since we’d managed to lock it. Turning toward it, I felt Rose stiffen, like her nerves had gone into overdrive and were now sending little shockwaves out to heighten my own fear. I closed the gap between where I was standing and the reinforced door. Breathing heavily, I leaned in and rested my ear against the cool metal. “I think they’re gone.”
As soon as I said the words, a crash sounded in the near distance—the sound of glass cracking and bodies falling over one another in their rush to enter. A human scream tore through the space around us. Rose sucked in a breath and backed up next to me. “We’ve got to go,” she whispered. Still, though, we stood with our back against the door.
Until the metal against our bodies shuddered, responding to fists trying to break in, trying to get us.
“Shit!” we yelled, nearly in unison. But it made us move again, made us head toward the open path between gate waiting areas that ran the length of the building. We took the corner at break-neck speed, me sliding cross the over-polished industrial tiles and almost falling, thinks to the nonexistent tread on the bottom of my leather sandals. The only thing that kept me upright was Rose’s ninja grip on my hand.
Snapping and snarling behind us made me look back. More of them…the monsters. Whatever the fuck they were. They weren’t close, not really, yet I felt I could almost reach back and touch them. Touch them and probably become one of Rose’s chicken wings. A whole bucket’s worth, even though I was skinnier than a supermodel during swimsuit season.
“There’s five of them behind us.”
“Five?” Rose squeaked out.
“They’re not close. Not really.” I tried to make my voice soothing, but I sounded like a child just faced with her worst fear.
It was Rose’s turn to look back, to see how close the devils were. “Eight now,” she said, squeezing my hand so hard I thought she might break bones. “Not five, eight.”
I wanted to snap at her that I heard her the first time, but I know she repeated herself because she was scared. “Don’t look back again, just keep running.”
We were passing Gates F and E now. Each area was bloodier than the last, like there’d been more people there, closer to baggage, closer to the exit. Families waiting on loved ones, boyfriends waiting on girlfriends, grandparents waiting on…
I didn’t want to think about it. I looked a bit too hard at the carpeted area under the pale blue seats in Gate C. There was more blood, even more blood and death there, but worse—the chicken wings were child-sized. Enough of them to make up a half dozen kids. And they’d died, been killed, by the things chasing us.
The shuffling and growling was still as loud, or as quiet, as it had been. We were faster, we were going to be fine.
Signs not too far in front of us showed restrooms and vending machines. I could see the large shape of the baggage claim, like a mountain in the distance, a recognizable geographical landmark that tells you you’re going in the right direction when lost.
“We’re almost there,” Rose said, a note of relief in her voice.
But then she was screaming, screaming as a body launched out of the restroom to the left and knocked into her.
“Get off of her!” I screamed, pushing the assaulter with all of my strength. It was a guy—at least I thought it was, by the cut of the hair and the broadness of the shoulders. He and Rose were a tangle of arms and legs, both desperately trying to get away from one another and stand. “I said get off!” I kicked out this time, the toe of my shoe slamming into his side. He was muscular under the loose gray shirt, his body not yielding to my kick.
“Christ! Just give me a second!” His voice was deep, the thrum of bass coloring his speech. Rose was pushing upwards, squirming and gasping. He was three times her size and had landed right on her; she’d be lucky if she didn’t have a cracked rib or two.
Finally, they were separated and standing. Rose was wide-eyed, hugging herself. “Where the bloody hell did you come from?”
The man looked at her,
his chest rising and falling rapidly, his dark brown eyes tightened at the corners. Cocking a thumb behind him, he indicated the bathroom. “I was hiding in there, but one of those fuckers was locked in the last stall. Spitting and snarling and trying to break the hell out.” The man looked from me to Rose, then back at me again. “Do either of you know what the fuck is going on?”
“Not really,” I said, glancing behind me to make sure the things were still far enough away. “We literally just landed. The plane was filled with these monsters when we crashed.”
“The whole world’s gone mad,” he snarled, his gaze going behind me. “There’s more coming.”
“We need to go,” Rose said.
Without waiting for the guy to respond, she grabbed my hand and yanked me as hard as she could. I stumbled slightly but started running with her, keeping pace. I could hear that the man was following too, his large frame so heavy I could feel the vibrations of his footfalls.
“Name’s Nolan, by the way!” the man behind us called out. As athletic as he looked, he seemed to be breathing harder and harder the faster we went.
But it wasn’t fast enough; we’d wasted too much time in front of the restrooms dealing with Mr. Clumsy.
“I’m Rose, this is Sam,” Rose called back without turning to look.
It was then that I realized Rose hadn’t grabbed the fire extinguisher. We had nothing to fight with, nothing to defend ourselves with.
We were close enough to baggage claim to see luggage still moving along the revolving track. The bodies were thick there, strewn about the floor like confetti sprinkles on birthday cake. That was better imagery for me than chicken wings. Sprinkles were delicious and represented happiness and birthday cakes. And birthdays were lovely things.
“Does airport security have weapons in America?” Rose looked around, as if trying to find a body in uniform. “I mean, it’s America, right? Everyone here has a gun.”
“TSA doesn’t carry anything like that. Not even handcuffs or Mace or anything.” I knew that because I’d read it in the magazine on the plane that had been stuck in the pouch of every chair. It had felt…comforting at the time. I didn’t have to worry about being shot by an overzealous security guy. Now, though, I wish the article had read differently: Enjoy our new, improved security measures! Uzis on all personnel, minimal training provided! The snaps and snarls were right behind us now. Right the fuck behind us, and we had no lifeline to cling to.
“There’s got to be something!” Rose said, sounding frantic. Her eyes roved across the floor. She let go of my hand, moving a few feet away. Bending down, she moved a man’s arm, laying it gently across his mangled body, and she revealed a walking cane. Standing up, she bounced it in her hands. “It’s not heavy.”
“It’s something. Anything’s better than nothing.”
“Confiscated crap.”
Rose and I turned to the man, who was pointing at the metal detector station. “Maybe there’s a knife or something.” He walked away from us while I turned in circles looking for something I could use. We were out of time though. Out of goddamned time!
The first one to reach us was a tall woman wearing a striped business jacket, the sleeve of which was now torn at the shoulder. She opened her mouth, almost in a great yawn, but infinitely more menacing, and she lunged for Rose, who quickly lifted the cane in defense and brought it smashing down on the woman’s head. It seemed to stun the attacker—stun but not stop.
Another man, hot on the woman’s heels, reached for me. I fell to the ground, feeling the rush of wind as his hungry fingers swiped through the air above my head. All I could hear, in that moment, was the blood rushing through me and filling me with adrenaline. It felt like the first time I took lead, stepping out onto the stage with its bright lights and crushing pressure. I was blinded by the brightness then. I am deafened by fear now.
“Here!” the man’s voice shouted near to me, and I felt something brush against my hand as I jerkily crab-walked my body away from the man still trying to grab me. I took precious seconds to look at what Nolan had rolled over to me, finding a large can of hair spray.
Hair spray. I wanted to yell “what the fuck, man,” but I couldn’t because the monster was now on top of me
I choked out a breath as the weight of his body crushed me. Fumbling for the hair spray, I grabbed it and lifted it up, my index finger already depressing the nozzle as I pointed it at my assailant’s face. I didn’t expect it to hurt the monster, and it didn’t, of course.
“Move!” Nolan shouted, and I rolled out of the way and watched in gross fascination as he flicked a lighter to life and pushed the flame against the hair-sprayed zombie’s cheek. In a flash, the monster’s face burst into flame. I gagged as the face began to crackle and pop, the hair sizzling like sausages on a barbeque.
“Sam!” Rose’s yell moved my attention to her. Three of the monsters were bearing down on her, pushing her toward the moving conveyer belt and its differently hued passengers. I stood and rushed toward her with the bottle of hairspray still in my grasp.
I could only hope Nolan and his lighter were fast behind me.
Rose was holding her own, beating back the three aggressors with the cane. She might have been small, but she was feisty as hell. As soon as I reached her, I rammed my shoulder into the woman in the striped jacket, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground. Immediately, I held the hairspray above her face and I started spraying. She reached up blindly and slammed her hand against mine, causing me to drop the hairspray. It clanked against the floor, bouncing up on one end and then falling to its side. I fumbled for it, trying to grab it before it rolled away. My fingers grazed the cool metal surface, but I was too slow.
The woman sat up. Her grip found my forearm and she dug her long nails down my arm. Blood began to bead at the wound and roll away in thin rivers of red. I wanted to stare at my arm, full of fear at the implications of being injured by these monsters and what that could mean for me, but my thoughts were rambling and out of control. Besides, we didn’t know what was happening, we didn’t know what was causing these people to act like this, or if it was even an infection you could catch.
A fresh smell of burning flesh wafted to my nose. I looked over to find the woman in the suit on fire. Flames licked up her arms, quickly spreading across her chest. I turned away at the sight of hair singeing and flesh bubbling, though she seemed highly unconcerned with the fact.
I looked back and saw Nolan helping Rose to get up, both of them beating back the monsters, all the while I was clamping my hand over the blood on my arm and fearing the worst.
Chapter Nine.
Rose
T hose things were strong.
Way stronger than I anticipated, and clearly stronger than Nolan anticipated, going by all the grunting he was doing as he tried to push them away from us.
From somewhere, I could smell the scent of burning flesh, pungent and overwhelming, almost to the point of making me heave up the aeroplane food I had eaten only an hour or so earlier. Christ, that was all it had been—an hour.
An hour since my life had changed from dream getaway to end of the fucking world as we know it. Sixty damn minutes. That was bloody insane to me.
Nolan grabbed hold of the last of the zombie people, gripping the back of its shirt by the neck, and then he made me yelp in surprise as he slammed its head down on the conveyor belt with sickening force. The sound was violent and nauseating, but he continued to do it over and over again until the skull was crushed in and there was a trail of blood and brain traveling full circle around the baggage carousel.
“Nolan!” I called, bile rising in my throat. “Stop! Bloody hell, it’s dead!”
He finally let go of the thing and stood back up, his chest heaving and his skin speckled with sweat and blood. I tried to swallow down the vomit that was lodged in my throat, but it wasn’t going anywhere—not down or up, which was worse, because if I was going to vomit, I’d rather get it over and done wi
th.
Sam walked over to us, her steps hesitant. Her face was pale, her eyes wide, but it was the hand she held tightly to her own arm that had me concerned.
“Sam?” I whispered to her, scared half to death to move towards her.
Blood seeped from between her fingers, drops of it splattering the ground beneath her. Tears were heavy in her eyes but she wasn’t letting them fall, though I doubt that was for my benefit. No way, because the thing I had quickly come to realize about Sam—Sam who looked dainty and gentle—was that she was tough. Tougher than I’d ever be. She wasn’t not crying for her sake, nor mine or anyone else’s. She just refused to show any weakness.
“Fuck,” Nolan said as his own gaze traveled to Sam’s arm. “One of them got you.”
It was a statement, not a question, and Sam didn’t bother to answer it. Nolan’s hands were covered in blood and lumps that I assumed to be skull and brain from the monster he had just killed. He looked down at them, his brow furrowing as he flicked bits of gore off himself, and then just like that he looked up, his gaze hitting Sam’s dead center.
“Did it bite you?”
“It’s a scratch, not a bite,” she all but whispered, “but I could still get sick from it, I guess. I mean, I don’t know how any of this works or what it even is.” Her voice shook and she stopped talking to take a breath.
He stalked towards her, his footsteps steady and even, and I held my breath wondering what the hell he was going to do. Sam didn’t cower under his dominance; her chin trembled but she stood firm, awaiting whatever fate he saw fit.
Nolan stopped directly in front of her, staring at her, his eyes cold.
“You don’t scare me,” she said.
He shook his head before reaching down, grabbing the hem of her skirt, and tearing a strip of material off the bottom. He stood back up and gently peeled Sam’s hand away from the wound and began wrapping the makeshift bandage around it before finally tying it off.
Red Eye | Season 1 | Episode 1 Page 7