Myrna

by Vandam, Vivian

  He took a deep breath, "Good. One last thing." He reached down to the knife on his belt and pulled it off, handing it to Lyle. "Here, if you need to use it. Use it."

  Lyle took it with shaking hands, his eyes wide. "I…I don't know—"

  "That's fine if you don't know-how. The one thing you should always remember, aim for the eyes and throat."

  Deep moaning echoed through the twilight night, he grabbed Lyle's hand. "Come on. We don't have much time."

  ◆◆◆

  The woman collapsed, her eyes rolling back in her head. Mina watched the blood fill the woman’s eyes covering the green mucus red. She lowered the gun, just slightly. She came down the stairs kicking at the woman.

  The dead thing didn’t move. The woman stayed motionless. Mina tried not to vomit all over herself, but the stench of death was overwhelming. She holstered her gun and stepped over the dead body. That night’s dinner was touching the back of her tongue. She pulled the front door open, leaned over to the bushes, and projectile vomited.

  She breathed heavily before vomiting all over again. She just killed two people, two…undead people, but they were alive before. Living. Breathing. People.

  She dries heaved, nothing else was coming out. She had to get home, get to her mother, father, and little sister get the hell out of dodge. Now wasn’t the time to fight—

  “Mmmnugh—”

  Moaning from down the street was getting louder. Just over a few houses, she could see smoke rising. Mina leaned against the door frame, her stomach cramping. “What the fuck is happening?!” She breathed out. She could smell smoke in the air, and the stench of fried flesh.

  She watched embers fly into the night sky, the city was on fire. All hell was about to erupt. “Mom…” She grabbed her keys from her front pocket, running to her F150. Jumping into the front seat, the engine turned over easily. Forgetting about her seatbelt, she fixed her rearview mirror, to where she could see directly behind her.

  Putting the truck in reverse she slammed on the gas, peeling out of the marks house. Her heart was racing in her chest, the adrenalin from earlier crashing. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!” She screamed slamming her hands into the steering wheel. She’s never killed anything before. She’s only ever shot on the shooting range with her uncle.

  She ran through red lights, the speedometer reaching 70. She took a sharp turn, there was hardly anyone on the street. No…there were people, but they were moving like they were drunk. Staggering. With her high-beams on, she could see the sticky blood on their clothes, hair matted—

  “What’s going on?!” She kept shouting. Like the air was going to give her an answer. It wasn’t. She’s never been the one to scare easily, or ever. She took on the life of a professional thief to help her little sister to get her medications. She was sick, but with what…? She didn’t know. Her father and mother never told them.

  She didn’t care, her tires squealed as she took another sharp turn.

  She kept thinking of her parents, her little sister that lived with them. Mina felt her heart could combust at any second. In front of her, she saw a police blockade. She slammed on the breaks; her eyes wide as she turned the truck.

  The tires skidded along the wet road. A fire hydrant had been knocked clean off. Water was spilling over the asphalt, causing her to skid. Her truck slammed against the blockade. Glass came flying at her from the passenger window and the back window. Mina flew against the driver's door. Her side slammed against the metal. The air flying from her lungs.

  Once everything settled, she could hear the cooling metal and could feel the harsh lump on her temple. Shaking her head, she reached for her keys. She tried turning the truck back on, all she got was dry clicking. Mina’s eyes grew wide in fright. “No…” She whispered. She leaned forward, praying as she turned the key again.

  It didn’t even bother to make the clicking sound. The lights on her dash didn’t even come on. “No…no…!” She cried, slamming her fists on the steering wheel. Off in the distance, she could hear guns firing, sirens wailing.

  Amidst all of this chaos, she could hear the spine-chilling cries of the monsters. Now, she was panicking. She was a few miles away from her home, and the streets were filling up with those…things.

  Mina pushed the door open, spilling out on the wet ground. Her head kept swimming. She could smell them; they were getting close. She got up on her feet, the streetlights giving her the smallest bit of light.

  Taking her flashlight that was on her belt, she clicked it on. Her sides ached; she still took off at a run. Going down a side street that would take her out near the pharmacy.

  Glass crunched underneath her boots, her ribs pinching. The stench following her. Come on, come on! She screamed at herself. A dumpster blocked her way to the other side of the alley. It fit squarely in the center, nudged perfectly. She tried pushing it, the dumpster refused to move.

  Mina risked a look over her shoulder, several of those lumbering monsters were after her. She put her flashlight in her mouth as she jumped up on top of the metal dumpster. She stood upright and jumped down landing on her feet.

  Grunting, she got back up. Taking her light she ran, breathing through her nose and out of her mouth. She’s never been a runner, but her family was at risk.

  She came to a sharp stop when she saw Arlene’s Pharmacy, it was ransacked. The glass busted out, blood stained the shards on the sidewalk, and where the glass once was in the door. She breathed heavily sweat running down her face in rivers. The city had gone to hell in less than eight hours.

  She had to think of her little sister, she had too—

  Bodies collapsed behind her, falling over the dumpster, Mina glanced over her shoulder, “Persistent mother fuckers…” More were coming from the street ahead of her.

  She pulled her gun out, using the flashlight to help her aim. Mina pulled the trigger three times. Two of the three bullets struck flesh. The creatures ahead of her fell in large heaps. Rough fingers grabbed at her shirt. She ran full speed ahead of her, as one of the things tried grabbing her. Using her shoulder she slammed into them, the monster fell with a wet slap.

  She breathed heavily, watching as more of them flooded from the pharmacy. “Shit…” On her heels, she turned and scampered down the street. Cars piled up on top of one another, fires were taking over the tall apartment complexes. She could hear women and men scream from the top floors.

  Screams for help, screams of pain…

  She watched as a few bodies fell from the tenth floor. Her eyes followed the body of a woman all the way down, till she slammed headfirst into the concrete below. The sound of the lady’s bones shattering on impact…and her flesh smacking into the ground. It reminded her of a horror movie, where a murderer struck a victim across the back of the head with a bat.

  I have to get home! She pumped her arms gaining as much speed as she could. Her lungs ached and her throat burnt. Glass crinkled underneath her boots; blood splattered all over the asphalt. What happened?! She ran around another creature that was reaching for her. She ducked underneath their arms; she nearly lost her footing slipping on something wet.

  She managed to get up, she was hyper-focusing on the road ahead of her. Just a few more blocks—something jumped out from a car, it was growling, snapping its jaws. She didn’t look over her shoulder, she couldn’t risk it.

  Mina took that final turn, the gray stone of her front steps. The yard was a mess, some of the grass scorched in places and a car was flipped over. It knocked the streetlamp over, causing it to spark. She took the steps two at a time, holstering her gun. Her panic turned into sheer terror when she saw the door, it was open.

  “No…” She pushed it the rest of the way, and the very first thing she noticed was the strong smell of blood. The entire living room had been ransacked. Her father’s brown lazy boy had been over-turned. The glass coffee table shattered. The television set toppled over.

  Everything was a mess.

  On the verge of tears, Mina called “
Mom?”, she followed the smell of blood into the dining room where she saw a bloodied handprint on the connecting wall. It looked like the size of her 12-year-old sister. “Nadine!?” Her voice steadily grew louder. Shouting.

  Into the kitchen, Mina saw where most of the blood was spilled. In the center of the room, spreading out amongst the tiles. She could see where something had been dragged…or someone was dragging themselves. She didn’t hesitate. Mina used her flashlight; the blood grew thick. Congealed…brown. “Mom?!” She cried. “Dad?! Naddie?!” Her heart hurt from the panic.

  “M…Mina…”

  She nearly fell down the stairs to go to the voice, it was unrecognizable. Gurgled. Drowning…her light flashing on a body, curled in the corner, hunched over.

  Another next to it.

  From the stance, she already knew— “Mom…?” She took the final steps. Her mother looked up, her eyes already that moldy green color. She winced at the light, she held her stomach blood still oozing from the wound.

  Her mother fought hard to talk, she sounded like someone trying to speak with a mouthful of water, “Mina…I tried. Your father managed to leave…” Her mother laid back against the brick wall, she was still in her lab coat. “G…go to the police department. You have to get out of here.”

  Mina fought back the urge to scream, “Not without Naddie!”

  Her mother’s head fell forward, chin laying against her chest. “It’s too late. The medicine didn’t work. This was our fault. All of it. Nadine…you…” She tried to laugh, all that came out was a gurgling squelch.

  She screamed unable to hold back, “What do you mean?!”

  Her mother looked up at her, smiling through broken, bloodied teeth. “We’re all going to die Mina. And it’s our fault. There will be a mandatory evacuation for anyone of sound mind. Go to the police station, forget about your father and Nadine. They’re done for.” She watched her mother push herself to stand, “I’m turning into one of them, I got bit.” Her walk had turned into a limp, the closer her mother got, Mina saw the changes.

  Her hair fell out in clumps, her skin sagged, and she had that smell…the smell of decayed flesh. “I can’t…control…” Mina caught her mother from falling, she could feel through her lab coat her mothers’ squishy flesh. She was decaying from the inside out.

  Mina gently shook her mother, “Mom?!” Her mother went limp in her arms, she breathed heavily tears choking her, “Mommy?!” She gave her a solid shake.

  A moan, “Mnnnuh…”

  ◆◆◆

  Ace held Lyle's hand as he quickly took turns through the alley ways. It was a risk, he knew it was, but the streets were filling with those things. Ace had worked and lived in this city for as long as the Company was here. They needed new officers, and he happily agreed to transfer.

  "I…I can't…" Lyle was breathing hard, as he was trying to keep up with Ace.

  He took a moment and ducked into the only place he saw—a small used bookstore—the door was already open, but there was no other place. He quickly grabbed Lyle by the arm and pulled him in. Using his flashlight, he did a quick scope of the old brick building before closing the emergency door shut.

  The fluorescent light above them flickered off and on, the buzzing of it was the only sound he could hear over the roaring of his blood and Lyle breathing hard. It was quiet…almost too quiet for his liking.

  "Are we safe here Officer Wilder?" Lyle kept taking in deep gulps of air, trying to catch his breath.

  Ace raised his hand to quiet the child, bookcase after bookcase lined the right side of the store. The bookcases on the left side had been toppled over and the contents laying out on the carpet. Ace turned to Lyle, "I'm going to put you on the top of that bookcase, while I look around. You stay up there and don't move, alright?"

  The child’s wide eyes were filled with fear, but he didn't question him.

  He put his gun in its holster as he lifted the boy up, the shelves took his weight easily as he climbed to the very top. He had enough room to sit down without his head touching the ceiling.

  Ace pulled his gun back out and used his flashlight to look around the store. There were only a few windows that had been boarded up, and the front door which was made from wood, and a single large bay window. He could feel the muscles in his neck start to relax, as the further he went into the store, the more he saw that it had been abandoned.

  When he got to the front, was where his blood turned to ice, and he could feel his throat tighten up in worry. A single undead woman laid underneath one of the collapsed bookshelves. Her head had been tilted to the left, and he could see that from the waist down she was pinned.

  She lifted her head to look at him, and he paused. The woman—

  "Help me…" She whimpered, "Please God help me…" The right side of her face was covered in blood, her eye hung out on her cheek and four long deep cuts went down to her lower lip.

  Her hair was down and covered most of the injury, but the one thing he could see that made him step back; was the deep black lines spreading from the wound. "I…I'm not infected officer, please help me!" She cried out.

  But Ace knew better, he had seen this happen right before his eyes one time before—

  The woman kept crying out, the black lines spreading over her face and into her mouth. Her tongue began to swell and blacken, gums bleeding a deep brown substance and her nose oozed an ichor that smelled like decay.

  Aiming carefully at her face, the woman never stopped looking at him as she cried out for him—

  "Officer Wilder?" Lyle's soft voice spoke to him from his side.

  He glanced over and saw the boy in surprise, "Lyle, I told you—"

  Lyle pointed to the woman, "Is she sick?"

  "…Yes." Ace, caught off guard by the child, brought his attention back to the woman, whose cries became nothing more than a gurgling, bubbling mess. There was sadness in his voice, but he held his hand out to the child. "Give me the knife."

  Lyle listened and handed Ace the knife back. Ace unsheathed it and kept looking into the woman's eye. Tears were rising in it, "Do it…" She groaned. "Please…" He squeezed the handle of the knife.

  "I'm so sorry…" Kneeling down to her level, he brought the knife back plunging it deep into the back of her head severing her spinal cord. She gave one last spasm before falling silent. Ace pulled the knife free and wiped the blood off his leg. "I'll make sure whoever did this gets what they deserve…I promise."

  Lyle was quiet as Ace stood back up; he gave the boy a quick glance. "What happened to that poor woman will not happen to you, I promise." He pulled the child in close and hugged him to his side, "Do you need more water?"

  "Yes please."

  ◆◆◆

  The pain was quick as her mother sunk those broken teeth deep into the meat of her upper arm. Mina barked in pain. She tossed her mother to the side. Blood surfaced and ran down her arm, she became numb to the pain. Only to stare at the thing rising from the floor.

  She took hold of her gun, aiming it right at her mother. “I don’t want to do this!” The thing shambled forward; brown muck covered the front of her white coat. Her eyes turned completely mucus green, “Mom don’t make me do this, please!”

  Without any other choice, Mina focused the sights on her mother. Right in between her nose and upper lip. “I’m sorry…”

  She pulled the trigger, her mother's head snapped back. She watched as her mother's corpse collapsed to the stone floor in a heap of flesh.

  One

  Ace kept hold of the boy's hand, they had finally moved out of the winding back alleys and walked along the main street. The moon hit its peak and dark clouds threatened rain. He could feel the accident deep in his bones, and the boy was starting to drag behind.

  He could see the exhaustion within his face, even with the continuous breaks, they had to dodge the dead and try to stay as hidden as possible. They tried getting more food at the last store that seemed intact.

  And he was wrong.
>
  Inside were nothing but the shambling dead, groaning and grabbing at anything that moved their way. Ace did the only logical thing, he made Lyle hide in a dumpster while he went inside to get the boy more food and water.

  His uniform had been ripped in two different places, and he was down to one clip left for his sidearm. We have to get to that station soon, or else we're going to die out here.

  "Officer Wilder? I'm really tired…we've been walking for so long…my feet hurt, and I don't think I can stay awake anymore…" Lyle whimpered from beside him.

  The streets were empty for the moment, and the only thing Ace could see was a few cars that had their doors open, and a couple of houses with large X's painted on the front doors. He didn't have too many options and pushing the boy could end up killing them.

  Ace placed his hand on Lyle's back and gently guided him to the first house that he saw. The windows were boarded up and looked safe enough. It was a small ranch-style home that didn't have a porch but had two small steps that led to the front door.

  When he reached out to grab the handle, he noticed that the door was already cracked open. He kept his gun up and pushed it open. The living room was completely empty except for a single couch, chair, and a fireplace. Everything else had been ripped cleanout. The T.V was gone, the DVD player, and any type of game station.

  He lowered his gun, his gut saying it was safe enough. He reached out and grabbed Lyle and pulled him inside the home. Ace closed the door and locked it. There were a few other doors that had been boarded up. Overall, the home was quiet. He nodded over to the couch.

  Lyle walked in front of him, he had the smallest of limps. His shoes were worn down to the soles, and he could see some of his sock sticking out. He flopped down on the couch and let out a soft sigh. He lowered his head and for the first time since rescuing the child, Ace saw the salt crystals on his face.