Seasons of Z (Book 2): Dead Spring

by Riva, Aline

  “No!”

  “But I want to see!”

  “Wait!” she told her firmly as she stood there, looking to the field as the figures tied to stakes seemed to twitch and sway with the light breeze. Fingertips moved, heads bobbed... it wasn't... right...

  “Those are the creepiest scarecrows I've ever seen!” Mickey said in surprise as he stood beside Joy and his long coat blew open as the breeze passed through the farmland.

  Joy was looking intently at the figures in shade as the sun shone down, part obscured by growing wheat.

  “I don't think this is right... who has so many scarecrows in one field?” Joy murmured, then she went back to the lorry to fetch her gun.

  “What are you doing that for?” Mickey asked, “They're scarecrows, Joy – don't tell me you've got a phobia, who's scared of scarecrows? I didn't even know that was a thing!”

  Joy felt safer now she was armed, and possibly a little ridiculous too as she looked at the field of scarecrows and wondered why she had grabbed a weapon. But still the sight of them sent a chill down her spine.

  “Neither did I until now,” she said, her gaze set on the figures in the distance, ragged under the sunlight as the wheat shifted and they seemed to shift with it.

  As she stood by the car, River looked thoughtfully at the field, then stepped away, getting closer as Chris followed the sound of her boots on to the grass verge as she looked across the field.

  “That IS odd.”

  “What's odd? I need a quick description, River,” Chris reminded her, indicating to his dark glasses.

  “The scarecrows... they're all over the field by the farm house and... I don't know... they look like they're moving.”

  “Maybe it was Halloween display last year, before the outbreak took hold,” Sage suggested, but she was still clutching her gun tightly, “It makes sense. they look very human and very dead and if this place did Halloween events maybe that was around the time the infection reached these parts, so they just got out and headed for an evacuation zone and left everything standing... I think we are looking at Halloween props. Look at them, there's more than a hundred all around the field, and I see something else...” she lowered her weapon, feeling much safer as she smiled at the sight of the lane that led to the building.

  “See those plastic bats tied to the entrance? They run all the way down the lane...”

  The others looked, feeling relief to see strings of large plastic bats that also bobbed on the breeze as they shifted with it, as if alive, they ran both sides of the nearby lane, and as Mickey and Joy walked a short distance closer to take a look, they saw a sign, and as the others joined them, they saw it too, as River laughed and Chris asked her what was so funny.

  “It's a big white sign that says Hell's Farm in red paint,” she told him, “And it's got admission prices – and a website address for booking tickets, event runs for a week, ending on the big night of Halloween, when there's an interactive zombie hay bale maze... and there it is!” she pointed over the other side of the farm land, to the side of the house, there was a large maze of stacked hay bales. There was a tractor too, and a cart attached to it, with a sign and an arrow pointing towards the Horror Trail Ride. Joy started to smile as she turned her head and her hair was ruffled by the spring breeze.

  “I had no reason to be scared,” she told Mickey, “They had this place set up for Halloween theme horror nights, and then they evacuated. Maybe we should think about resting here for a while. It's a long way to the next town, and then there's a city and we need to avoid that one unless we come up with a spectacular plan!”

  As they headed back to the vehicles, Mickey glanced at her as amusement danced in his gaze.

  “I'm still trying to figure out what you're so afraid of... Is it a thing? Scarecrow phobia? Straw people phobia?”

  She laughed as she reached up to climb back into the cab of the lorry.

  “Shut up, this is embarrassing!” she told him, shaking her head.

  They drove down the country lane, at the bottom of the bat strewn, tree lined way, they reached a wide parking area, and Joy parked the lorry close to the gate as Sage took the car near to the house and River parked the van beside it. As they left their vehicles, Poppy's face lit up in a bright smile. Sage smiled too, glad to see her little sister looking brighter after the trauma of saying a last goodbye to Lina. Now Poppy had a distraction: Ducklings were waddling fluffy and quick, following their mother to a duck pond, where the duck led the way and the small family began to paddle on the flat surface.

  Poppy walked over, watching intently as the ducklings followed their mother, she weaved around a stick that had fallen into the water, and so did they. Then she weaved around a rotting hand that poked out of the pond with fingers of exposed bone. Poppy's eyes widened as she looked down, seeing through murky water lit by sun, she saw a rotting face, eyes gone, skin withered and partially eaten as fish darted through a hole in the cheek of the dead woman and swam out the other side.

  “Sage!”

  They had been heading for the house, but everyone stopped as Sage turned back, saw the look of horror on her sister's face and then ran over, as Mickey followed, hampered by the weakness in his leg as he dashed to her side. Sage got there first, and she saw a fallen branch, then a stick and then she realised the other sticks were not wood – they were bone, attached to flesh. A rotted hand was just above the waterline, and she stepped closer, seeing through sunlit murky water, there was a dead body in the duck pond. Clearly, it had been there a while, and was not a reanimated corpse. The body was decomposed but it was clear a section of the throat was missing. Clearly, the zombies had passed through before evacuation was completed, and this poor woman had been attacked, dying from her wounds as she drowned in the pond, and had not reanimated. Often those bitten fatally did not return, their purpose then became a food source for the undead... Sage looked away from the pond and into the frightened eyes of her little sister.

  “It's okay, Poppy. She's dead, but she's not a zombie. This is someone who died before they could get out.”

  Chris sniffed the air, then turned his head towards the field.

  “Every time that wind blows in our direction, I can smell them.”

  “It's probably just the smell from the pond,” Joy replied.

  “I don't smell much from the pond, it's like stagnant water – I'm talking about something on the wind, Joy.”

  She laughed it off, wanting no more remarks from Mickey about her fear of the scarecrows.

  “There's nothing here,” she told him, “You'd be very sure if you thought zombies were on the way. We travelled this route for miles, it's deserted out here.”

  Chris frowned as he lowered his voice, half turning toward River as she stood beside him.

  “So why didn't they get out in time?” he wondered, and River shook her head.

  “Who knows where they came from? A sudden horde passing through, maybe infected people turned on the road and wandered off in search of feeding... we'll never know. But it is clear that now, there's nothing here to worry about around here.”

  Despite River's statement, Chris felt uneasy. Poppy was left with him and River while Sage, Mickey and Joy grabbed their weapons and checked the house, then checked the barns nearby.

  Everything was empty with not a threat in sight.

  There was a cackling, life-size witch mannequin at the front door and a large cauldron of candy, along with a sign that told visitors to queue by the gate that led to the field for the horror hay ride. And that cauldron kept Poppy occupied while River and Chris waited with her, as River looked up at the old house, giving a description to Chris:

  “Old stone building, quaint and charming. Lace nets at the clean, unbroken windows. Wooden front door,open and ready to step through - and undamaged because Mickey broke in around the back... it's got beams on the ceilings and the walls are decorated in old fashioned floral wallpaper. The carpets are dark green and there's a lot of wood in here, that t
icking you can hear is a grandfather clock at the end of the hall.”

  “Let's go inside,” Chris said.

  Poppy grabbed more candy and stuffed it into her pockets, then she followed the adults into an old fashioned, and beautifully decorated home that carried the smell of age and wood polish. River spoke up as they made their way from room to room, describing an ordinary, but very charming house with its old furniture and polished floors and – and the best thing about it was, there was no smell of death in this place. What ever had happened here, had happened outside. This place was clean.

  The trail taken by the horror hay ride was partly overgrown with weeds, but the track was still visible. Sheets covered by balloons still bobbed here and there in nearby trees, some of the ghosts hung as nothing but ragged sheets, while others still had their white balloons beneath them. Plastic pumpkins were strung along a low fence beside the trail, and there was a scythe propped up against a tree, it was marked with something dried dark and from where she stood, Joy wasn't sure if the blood was real or fake or if the tool had just rusted and had never been intended to be used as part of this Halloween display. Experience both as a copper and experience of this hellish world turned into a place dominated by the undead told her instinctively to look toward the trees, into the shadows – but despite the growth of fresh new leaves and the way the wind rustled them, it was clear nothing lurked within. Through gaps in boughs, then further on, where the trees ended and sunlit chased in along the ground, there was a clear view of nothing but open space, and it was empty. She breathed a relieved sigh and then as something touched her shoulder she turned her head, her eyes growing wide as she gave a yell, turning sharply as the severed hand hit the floor and bounced as she raised her gun and...

  “Fuck no, Joy!” Mickey gasped, raising his hands in alarm as he stared into the barrel of her gun, “It's a rubber monster hand, I found it on the tractor! Shit, you almost shot me!”

  He lowered his hands as she lowered her weapon, then she took a deep breath, shaking her head.

  “Never, ever be so stupid again!” she fumed, “You scared me with a fake zombie hand, in the middle of a REAL zombie outbreak? There's zombies everywhere and you put that thing on my shoulder?”

  He looked at her apologetically as he gestured to the rubber hand on the ground with a wave of his own weak hand.

  “I thought it was funny because I forgot for a moment -”

  “We're out here checking for zombies and you forgot?”

  “I forgot there was a threat, because I see no threat here, Joy!”

  He stepped closer, and as he stumbled in a small dip in the ground he grabbed at her shoulder for support as she reached for him, holding him steady.

  “Oops,” he added, “Again, I'm sorry.”

  The look in her eyes softened.

  “Why can't I get really angry at you and just shout and be done with it?”

  He started to smile as amusement shone in his gaze.

  “Because I'm cute?”

  “No, you're an arsehole!”

  “A cute arsehole, then?”

  He sounded so hopeful. She couldn't help smiling as she leaned closer.

  “Definitely an arsehole!” she told him, and gave him a brief kiss.

  A barn door closed firmly and they turned to see Sage locking up the second of three large buildings. The third was wide open with a rusted door wedged firmly, and now all three places had been searched, found to be empty, it was safe to assume no threat lingered here.

  “I'm heading back to the house now,” she told them, “It's all clear. I'll leave you two lovebirds to... possibly go and have a roll in the hay?”

  As she said that she glanced to the open barn, then she laughed and turned away and walked back towards the house.

  Joy and Mickey stood there on the path for a moment, exchanging a glance and a smile that felt like a reminder that while they came from opposite sides in the old world, here, in this new one, they fitted perfectly together. Then she looked down at the green rubber hand once more and playfully slapped his arm.

  “A fake zombie hand? I can't get over that one! That's a whole new level of stupid from you!”

  “Don't slap me, officer,” he replied playfully, “I might have to file a complaint!”

  Then he looked over her shoulder, smiling at the sight of the big, tall maze in the joining field, ironically, the sign set up next to a ticket collection booth that sat empty read, Zombie Death Trap.

  “A criminal and a cop walk into a hay bale maze,” Mickey said as he laughed.

  As they headed towards the entrance, Joy glanced at him.

  “That sounds like a joke and I bet the punchline is terrible.”

  “No joke, Joy,” Mickey told her, “Let's see who gets out first!”

  “Mickey -”

  He was gone, hurrying off as he stiffly darted in and turned a corner. She saw a flash of his dark coat tail and then he was gone. Joy gave a sigh.

  “Okay, I'm coming in – but this is no time for games, Mickey – we have to get back to the others!”

  She glanced up at the sky. The sun was dipping already. She didn't want to be out here for much longer, not once dusk fell. But Mickey had set a challenge, and she was willing to accept. Joy stepped into the maze and took the same left turn, walking along a narrow pathway where all around was wall to wall stacked hay bales that smelled of damp as they dried out slowly under spring time sun.

  And in the heart of the maze, as it caught the scent of fresh prey, a zombie in rags sniffed at the air. It gave a low snarl, as waist length dark hair caught of the breeze and danced, then wispy tendrils still stained with blood from a feed too long ago fell lank against shoulders covered by a dress torn and stained with blood fake and real, this woman had once been employed as a zombie in the hay maze, and on the night she had turned into a real undead creature, she had torn into those fleeing the scene... The creature began to silently move down a pathway from the heart of the maze, taking a turn in a long white, ragged dress as it followed the scent of the living, salivating and baring sharp teeth as it hungered to feed once more...

  Chapter 4

  The smell of damp hay bales that had sat through Autumn weather, then Winter rain and frost and snow, made the stench of damp grow heavier as Joy turned another corner, leading into yet another narrow pathway. It branched off left and right. Joy knew she was heading deeper in as she stopped, hit again by that stink of damp hay.

  “Mickey?” she called out.

  His voice drifted back to her from the other side of the maze.

  “Are you lost, Joy? That's terrible for a copper – come and get me, put me in your cuffs, you know you want to -” there was a thump.

  “Ouch!” Mickey hissed, then as he got up he paused to brush hay from his coat.

  “I just slipped!”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, just my stupid leg again....and then my stupid hand when I put the wrong one out to save myself! This ground is uneven... I'm going to head for the exit, I think it's this way...” his voice still carried back clearly, “I'm staying on the outer part of the maze, Joy. I went in deeper but it's all dead ends... looks like I'm going to beat you to it!”

  “Wait up!” she called back.

  “I'll be out before you!” he called to her, and now he sounded far off.

  She turned around heading back the way she came in, avoiding a dead end, carrying on straight to a sharp turn. Joy took the corner. And the stench of damp hit her again. And the smell of death. It was the stink of zombie and she knew it a second before the creature lurched around the corner, baring teeth and giving a feral roar as she stood there looking at her attacker, a Halloween zombie actor who had become a real zombie, and it had probably been trapped in the maze for a long time, if that look of sheer hunger in its eyes was anything to go by... The creature ran at Joy.

  “MICKEY!” Joy yelled as she raised her weapon, and she heard him dash and slip and dash again as he ran
stiffly closer.

  “Where is it?” he yelled back.

  The creature gave a roar and lunged at Joy as she raised her gun, firing off shots. The last shot was nothing but a click as the shock hit Joy at once : Out of ammo...The zombie was punched bloody in the shoulder now, and the second shot had blown off half its face, exposing bone. It had been thrown backwards by the hit, all Joy could do was dash past avoiding a grasping hand as she ran on blindly through the maze.

  “Where is it?” he called to her.

  “Mickey, don't shoot, you might get me!” she yelled upwards, “I'm out of ammo too!”

  Then she turned another corner where two pathways led left and right.

  She turned her head so fast her neck ached: Left or right? One way led out, the other to a dead end and despite Mickey's theory that a copper ought to find this easy, all these hay maze routes looked the bloody same...

  But not the left side of the route. That now had a looming shadow approaching, bringing with it the stink of death to mingle in with damp and rotting straw. Joy stepped back cautiously, quietly, her eyes on the looming shadow as she heard the zombie snarl.

  “Come on Mickey, think of something!” she whispered, and lurched around a corner, only to find herself in a long corridor with no option to turn off. At the bottom was a dead end. The zombie gave a roar as it took the corner and ran towards her, and Joy ran for her life, sure that her life was about to end the minute she hit the hay wall at the other end of the route, because she had no bullets left...

  Mickey was limping heavily by the time he reached the gate and yelled for help, Sage and River had come running, heard the zombie roar and as they hurried closer, Joy yelled for help again. Sage looked to the barn where a metal ladder was leaning, and ran to grab it. Mickey's head was spinning with panic as he helped Sage to climb up to the top of the hay, where she dragged the ladder across the maze, the hay remained stiff, as if welded together by damp and rain and last winter's melted snow and decay.