Darlings of Decay

by Chrissy Peebles

  We were all set to go, but my heart sank. I couldn’t imagine leaving Claire and Jackie to their fates. I just hoped I could convince them to change their minds—especially Jackie, who I was really taking a liking to. Nick gave me ten more minutes to try and convince her to go with us. I found her in the humongous master bedroom on the bottom floor. What made the room really neat was that it extended from the house with three glass walls and a glass roof. “Hey,” I said, noticing she had cleaned up and changed into new clothes. They were a size too big, but they were much more practical than what she’d been wearing earlier. I was sure Val would be impressed with her blue jeans, white t-shirt, and black tennis shoes. She’d also put her hair up in a long ponytail. “We’re getting ready to leave, but I wanted to talk to you first.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got the gun you gave me.” Jackie glanced out through the spacious glass wall, watching as the setting sun flooded the sky with brilliant colors. She placed her hand on the clear glass. “It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?”

  “Yep. Something like that could even fool you into thinking the world hasn’t gone to hell in a hand basket.”

  She frowned and sat down on the bed. “I was trying to block all that out, if only for a minute.”

  I sat next to her. “This is a cool bedroom. It’s kind of like a glass cube.”

  She glanced up. “Yeah. I bet it’s neat to see the stars shining at night.”

  I stared at her black hair with blonde streaks. It was striking, original, and beyond cute. I loved her bold look. “So, what’s your story?” I asked.

  “My story?”

  “Yup. Everyone’s got one, right?”

  “Right, but I guess right now I’m only concerned about the ending.” She sighed. “I just want to live another day. Tell me, Dean, is it really possible to survive in such a hostile, undead world?”

  “Yes, and that said, I have to make one last-ditch effort to try and convince you to change your mind and come with us. We’re leaving in a few minutes.”

  She continued to stare off into the sunset. “Give it your best shot.”

  “Jackie, there are plenty of cities out there that are still safe, like the island in Ohio where Nick and I live. I’ve been there since the outbreak, with no problems. The zombies aren’t immortal beings. They can’t bust through brick walls or get through our military. We have machineguns, bombs, and all kinds of ways to stay safe. Supplies are flown in every day to help people survive the battle.”

  She met my gaze. “If it was so great, so safe, then why’d you leave?”

  “I didn’t—not on purpose anyway. Our helicopter crashed on a trip for make-believe supplies.”

  She cocked a curious brow.

  I continued, “I know it sounds weird, but it’s a long story. I can tell you all about it on our road trip.” I was pretty cocky and certain she’d change her mind and come with us. By the twinkle in her eye, I could tell she liked me, at least a little.

  “I’m sorry you crashed.”

  “It was what it was,” I said. “I can’t cry about it now. I need to stay focused and keep moving.”

  “Can we ever defeat these things? I mean, do you think our lives will ever be normal again?”

  I reached for her hand. “Yes, I believe we will prevail. Zombies will die off, and eventually their bodies will rot away. All we have to do is outlive the infected. Yes, there are overwhelming odds stacked against us, but we can do this. I believe with all my heart that humanity can overcome anything, as long as we don’t lose hope.”

  “So you’re heading to a safe haven, one of the walled cities?”

  “Yes. We can hold out in the fortresses created around the United States. Zombies will run out of food and die, and we’ll get our world back. We just need a little time.”

  She nodded. “You make a good point.”

  “Then come with us. I’m sure Claire will cave once she sees you’re serious about leaving.”

  A thump on the window drew my attention.

  Jackie jumped. “What was that?”

  I turned and couldn’t believe my eyes. A zombie with rotting flesh and oozing eyeballs was hitting his head against the glass. He shot me a stone-cold, glazed-over look that said in not so many words, “I want your brains…now!” The stupid thing seemed stumped as to why he couldn’t pass through the transparent glass wall.

  Speechless, Jackie pointed to the other glass walls.

  I gasped. Crap. Another one stared me straight in the eyes. This one looked like a raccoon, with blackened skin around her eyes; she definitely had that I-just-got-out-of-the-grave look about her. The dead seemed to be coming out of the woodwork like cockroaches, multiplying before our very eyes. Our beautiful view of the sunset had turned into a grotesque nightmare.

  I stood, but my sudden movement made them moan and groan even louder. Decaying human hands pounded on the glass walls from all three sides of the bedroom, and my heart raced. Brain-hungry walking corpses staggered around with white, sunken eyes and green, mottled skin. It was downright disturbing. I sucked in a deep gulp of air.

  The glass shook, and I wondered if it would shatter. I gasped as bloody handprints streaked across the glass. Windows are notoriously easy to break, but I wondered how well a glass wall would hold up. I sure didn’t want to find out.

  I backed up slowly, focusing on the zombie who was making the most fuss. Even though he had decayed hands with exposed tendons, he still kept pounding. I cringed at his blue-green veins and the open flesh wounds on his forehead, cheeks, and neck. Through a tear in his shirt, I noticed an exposed ribcage with decaying flesh hanging off of it in grotesque shreds. The right pant leg was also torn to reveal a long white femur. Even a famous horror writer couldn’t have invented anything as horrible as the very real monster I was staring at.

  “Let’s go!” Jackie said, grabbing my shoulder.

  “Nick!” I yelled. “We’ve got to go…NOW!”

  Chapter 8

  With the orange light of the setting sun as a backdrop, the zombie looked like a creature out of a horror movie. His decaying palms pressed against the smooth surface of the glass wall, and his open mouth dripped with spit and blood as his dead gaze focused on me, making me flinch. For a whole second, I could barely breathe, let alone form a coherent thought in my head, and then it dawned on me that we had to get the heck away from there.

  I grabbed Jackie’s hand and headed down the hallway, calling as loudly as my lungs would allow, “Nick! Val! There’s a pack of zombies out there. We need to get going now!”

  Our feet pounded the hardwood floor as we passed the hall and rounded the corner into the living room. The door stood ajar, as though no one had bothered to close it behind them. I yanked it open and stopped in my tracks when I took in the two towering guys resembling wild mountain men with their unkempt appearance, greasy hair, and long, thick beards.

  “Going somewhere?” one asked.

  “What the heck?” I took a step back, unsure whether they were friends or foe. They didn’t look like zombies, but for all I knew, they could’ve been bitten and might turn on us any minute. Even if they weren’t part of the undead army yet, they could have still wanted our food and weapons. “Who are you? How did you get in here?” My grip tightened around Jackie’s hand as I pushed my body forward to form a shield between her and the wildlings. If they wanted her, they’d have to force their way past me first—not that I could have been much of a safeguard against a pair like that, but I hoped I could at least buy her a few seconds to get away.

  The one in the red checkered shirt raised his hand and waved his rifle at Jackie and me. “You two with them?” He pointed behind him, toward my brother and Val, who were lying on the ground, their mouths pressed in a grim line that didn’t leave me much hope. With Nick holding the back of his head and Val’s bloody lip, I knew they’d been attacked and put up a good fight. The wildlings were clearly after our food and weapons. Whether they’d leave us alive or not wouldn’t mak
e much difference with the zombies out there, ready to burst in any minute.

  I took a deep breath, and then a step forward while pushing Jackie behind me. “Look, mister, there’re zombies out back! We’ve got to get outta here now!”

  The other wildman regarded me for a second, probably considering my words and trying to read my expression, to see if I was telling the truth. He patted Jackie and me down and took our guns.

  “You don’t trust me?” I spat through gritted teeth. “I wouldn’t either in your situation, but if I am telling the truth—which I am—we’re all dead. Go and see for yourself.”

  The red checkered shirt guy motioned the other forward and then aimed his gun a bit higher, right at my face. I didn’t even flinch as I watched his companion walk past. The mountain man then forced me and Jackie to stand next to the others. A few seconds ticked by before his friend returned, his face a pale mask of horror. I saw his faint nod, and then the red checkered guy lowered his weapon. “We’re gonna have to work together if we wanna make it out alive.”

  I nodded and heaved a big breath. “Give us back our weapons,” I said, pointing at my brother and the girls. “We won’t be of much help if we can’t shoot.”

  The red checkered guy nodded and held out his hand. “I’m Earl, and that’s my friend Tahoe, like the lake.”

  I ignored him as I walked past. We had to work together to get out of this mess, but I had no doubt the hillbilly twins would happily shoot our heads off and take all our food and supplies once the zombies were properly dispatched.

  “I’m Nick,” my brother said. “That’s Dean, Val, Jackie, and Claire. Give us back our weapons…now!”

  Tuning them out, I headed for the side door, pulling Jackie with me. I wanted to see if the zombies were starting to come around to the front of the house. Unfortunately, we didn’t get far before a flat, metallic click warned me of danger. I turned on my heel slowly, my gaze focusing on Earl’s rifle, which was now pointed at me again.

  “Stop, or I’ll shoot you both dead in your tracks.”

  My automatic response was to touch my holster, but then I remembered that Tahoe had disarmed me, so I remained frozen to the spot. “I figured that much,” I said dryly. “But I thought you said we need to work together.”

  “We were just trying to get a position on the zombies,” Jackie said. “Do you think we’d leave our friends behind?”

  My gaze became harder and colder, signaling I wasn’t scared of him.

  Earl narrowed his gaze. “We are working together. You help me ward off any zombie attack, and I’ll spare your lives…for the time being. Sure sounds like cooperation to me.”

  “Right. Sounds like a great deal…for you.” I snorted. “What makes you think we’ll have your back the moment those zombies barge in here?”

  “What makes you think they’ll barge in here at all?” Tahoe said, speaking for the first time.

  For some reason, the younger gruff one seemed to feel safe, as if the zombies were no threat and couldn’t possibly get inside the glass house. I wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t a military fortress. I marveled how young he seemed. On closer inspection, I realized beneath the facial hair hid a wrinkle-free face.

  He stepped closer as he stared at us. “You have yet to answer my question. What are you all doing in our house?”

  Val picked up a family portrait and ran a finger across the dust. “Funny. You don’t look like these happy people, and pictures like these are plastered all around the house.”

  Earl’s mouth twitched at the corners, as though her sarcasm amused him. “They’re all dead. Zombies got ‘em. So we figure since they don’t need the place anymore, and we were the first ones to get our hands on it, it’s our house now—at least as of two days ago.”

  His eyes sparkled, making me wonder as to the validity of his story. Did zombies really get the poor inhabitants, or was it these two? I bit my tongue hard so I wouldn’t comment and risk their wrath. After all, they were still the only ones holding weapons.

  “We’re not monsters,” Tahoe said, reading my disgusted expression. “We didn’t kill ‘em. They were dead long before we arrived. Can’t you tell from all the dust in this place? Nobody has been here for ages.”

  He had a valid point, and I hoped they weren’t murderers. Just because they didn’t kill the inhabitants of the house didn’t mean they wouldn’t kill us.

  “Fine. You’ve claimed the house,” Val chimed in. “Just let us go, and we’ll be on our merry way. You can have your home sweet home all to yourselves.” Of course she forgot to mention the part about us loading up all their food and water in their vehicles.

  “Sure. You’re welcome to go, as soon as the zombie threat is over,” Tahoe said. “Don’t worry. We got four strong men here. Besides, they’ll never break in.”

  I was almost inclined to believe him when a loud thud echoed through the room, startling us. Urban legends about zombies touted their slow reaction time and their inability to form coherent plans, but they were just that: legends. No one knew for sure whether they still had any morsel of humanity in them. For all we knew, their brains retained some ability for reasoning and possibly for their own survival. If they did, which was pretty obvious from their attempts to get in, then we were screwed; it would only be a matter of time before they would double and triple their efforts and succeed.

  “We have to go, even if it’s on foot,” Nick said with a glance toward the hall. “Trapping ourselves in this house is suicide. I don’t know about you, but we’re leaving.”

  “And going where?” Claire yelled. “Zombies will rip us to shreds!”

  Nick shrugged and shot her a hard look. “I don’t care. I’d rather die trying than to sit around in here doing nothing.”

  “I’m sorry, Claire, but I’m with him. The faster, the better,” Jackie whispered.

  For a second, I felt like hugging her. I was so proud of her for standing up for herself, even if it meant defying her cousin’s wishes.

  “You don’t know anything for sure,” Claire said. “None of you do. Maybe we should hole up here until those things leave. They’ll get bored and go eventually, and we can leave in a few hours, once the coast is clear.”

  Jackie shook her shoulder. “No, Claire. Waiting is a horrible idea!”

  “You’re safe here,” Tahoe said. “There are a lot of them, but they can’t bust through these walls. And like Claire said, they’ll get bored after a bit and move on for easier prey. I’ve seen it a million times before.”

  “I agree,” Earl said. “It’s best to hide out here until they leave. It’s stupid to engage them, but if they break in, of course we’ll fight with everything we have.” Earl shot me a look. “You owe me for saving your lives.”

  “What?” I asked. “If you would’ve let us leave, we would have been long gone already.”

  Earl gave me a cocky grin. “Wrong, my boy. What you’d be is dead. I’m offering you protection here, and when this is all over and done, I expect to be paid for it.”

  “Paid? With what? We don’t have any money,” Claire said. “We only came with the shirts on our backs.”

  Earl smirked. “Who said anything about money? I just want one of you cute gals to keep me company tonight. Is that so much to ask for the price of saving your lives?”

  Nick’s hands balled into fists. The vein on his forehead throbbed so hard that I prayed he wouldn’t do something stupid, like try to hit the guy. Fortunately, he either came to his senses on his own or the rifle pointed at his face made him reconsider.

  I grabbed my brother’s arm, just in case, and hissed, “Don’t let him rile you up. We gotta leave with our heads still attached to our shoulders.”

  Claire scowled at Earl. “Our lives are on the line! How can you blackmail us like this?”

  “Mmm. Feisty. And I love redheads.” Earl looked her up and down, then inched closer. “I bet we could have a lot of fun, you and me.”

  “You’re sick!” Val shouted but
didn’t inch closer.

  I glared at Earl. The man was a disgusting sleaze ball and an absolute idiot. Zombies were literally knocking down our doors, but all he could think about was bedding down with a helpless girl. Maybe we can find a car in town, I considered. Zombies were prowling out back, but I was willing to take my chances if it meant keeping all three of the girls as far away from Grizzly Adams as we could.

  Nick straightened his stance. “No deal, jerk! Move out of my way because we’re leaving.”

  “Fine. You boys can go,” Earl said.

  “We boys?”

  “Yep, but we’re keeping the women. You owe us for all the dead corpses I’ll have to clean up in the front yard tomorrow morning.”

  Jackie gasped.

  “What do you need us for, huh?” Val spat. “Let me tell you, mister, if you come anywhere near me, I’ll bite just as hard as those zombies will. You might lose something really valuable if you go waving it around at me!”

  Tahoe cleared his throat, as if he was trying to stifle a laugh.

  Val took a step toward him, her eyes darting in my direction, signaling something. She was trying to get their attention so we could devise a plan.

  Nick must’ve realized it, too, because he nudged Claire. “You still got that stun gun?” he whispered.

  She nodded, wide-eyed, and touched her pocket.

  Nick bobbed his head slightly. “Good. On the count of three, stun Earl while Dean and I tackle the other guy. Then stun him too.”

  “And then we run,” Jackie said.

  I moistened my lips and signaled that I was ready.

  Claire wrapped her fingers around the stun gun just as the zombies from the back of the house moved onto the front lawn. They were shuffling everywhere. The scratch of their cracked, yellowed nails raked against the glass. There were so many that I had no idea how we’d get past them without being attacked. We had lost our precious opportunity, thanks to Earl and Tahoe.