by Thomas Baker
Hannah had come up beside JT without him noticing. She let out a low moan like that of a wounded dog. "Ashley?"
"Thomas...he cut up. I think....he might have ate...ate him," Alan choked out. His life seemed to leak out of him a little more with each word.
"My God," JT said, stunned beyond the ability to say much more. The horrors flashing through his mind. He wanted them to stay. He wanted to-"
"Hannah, where are you!" Harold bellowed into the night. "We are to be married tonight. I have already picked out the most beautiful white dress for you."
"Get out of here," Alan said, coughing up blood. "I'm all done, anyway. I'm going to take this disgusting asshole out with me." Alan looked up at JT. He watched a calmness settled over Alan's face. "I'll draw him in. When he gets closer, boom!" Alan held up a lighter.
JT didn't even protest. He pulled Hannah by the hand, motioning to the rest to follow. They ran as fast as they could into the woods. They didn't make it far before a loud explosion, like a clap of thunder, rumbled over them. The night sky lit up behind them. A fireball launched into the sky. The group jumped and flinched as one as they twirled around. Even with the distance they had covered, he could still feel the heat and concussion from the explosion.
JT paused for a moment before continuing to crash through the forest blindly. He had no plan on where they should head. JT could hear Hannah next to him, sobbing as she ran. After what seemed like hours she panted. "We have to stop...my side. I need to catch my breath."
They found a large fallen log with a little dip in the ground behind it. They hunkered down in it. JT hugged Hannah close to him. She let her tears flow freely.
"Ashley, Gus, Alan.....I just can't...I...I...can't, oh my God....God..." She buried her face in JT's chest unable to speak.
"Man, that escalated quickly. You know what I mean?" Tyrone said. He sounded like he was in shock, his voice was monotone.
JT filled Dusty and Tyrone in on what Alan had told him. It was hard to tell their reaction in the filtered moonlight of the forest, but he heard Tyrone getting sick as he jogged a few feet away. Dusty stood and gave JT a shove. JT was so surprised, he just about fell to the ground, taking Hannah with him. She drew back from JT.
"You knew! He warned you to leave, and you didn't bother to tell any of us!" Dusty yelled. He got right up in JT's face. "You talk about me and then pull shit like this!"
"I'm warning you right now Dusty, don't lay a finger on me again," JT seethed through clenched teeth.
"Oh, big man. Why didn't you say anything to us? He pulls you aside and pretty muchthreatens you. Then we go through this charade of having a vote without you telling us this crucial piece of information earlier. What if I had never found that book?"
Hannah shoved her way in between them. "Dusty, you were right. You were right all along and maybe if he had told you, then maybe so many people wouldn't be dead now. Who knows? It is too late to do anything about that now. We need to get out of here alive. That's the mission, Dusty!"
Hannah turned to JT. "And you. I love you but you're a dumbass. That was a stupid decision. We are all in this together now. There should be no secrets. We might not get along all the time. We might not even like each other some of the time. What we have to do though is trust each other. That is what's going to keep us alive."
JT and Dusty were both stunned into silence.
"You love me?" JT asked. Her words made the entire world stop for that moment. It made the night seem even more surreal.
Hannah stood on her tiptoes, and planted a long, lingering kiss on JT.
"Yes. And what I should have realized before is that now more than ever, time is short. We need to make the most of what we have. I trust that Ashley is safe with God now. I trust you and God will keep me safe. Let's get far away from here, JT." She held onto him tightly, giving him another kiss.
"When your make-out session is done, we need to figure out what our next move is," Dusty said, still amped and pacing. "Maybe you will all listen to menow. We left a lot of equipment behind, I think we're going to-"
There was a snapping of twigs and the rustle of leaves to the right. Hannah screamed, she couldn't help herself. The sound of something approaching them sped up.
"No way," Tyrone whispered.
JT was thinking the same thing. Could it be Harold? Could he have survived the explosion?
"Hannah, Tyrone, either of you guys have a gun?" JT hissed at them.
"No man, I got a knife, that's it. I ran like the devil was trying to tackle me, you know what I mean?"
"I don't have anything either, JT," Hannah said with growing concern.
"You have us," Dusty said, pulling his weapon. "Here it comes. Stay behind me and get ready to run."
It half shuffled, half ran at them, out of the bushes. One leg twisted to the side, with the bone sticking out the side of its thigh. The zombie used to be a woman. JT wondered if she once had been smart, or beautiful, a mother or a teacher. Now, she was nothing, a sad, empty vessel for an uncaring virus.
"Tyrone get her! I don't want to take a shot and bring more down on us," Dusty commanded.
Using his great speed Tyrone worked his way around the zombie and crashed into it from behind. Knocking it to the ground, Tyrone drove his knife deep inside of her brain. It twitched once and was then still. Tyrone pulled his knife out with a thick plop, like emptying wet dog food from a can.
"What are we going to do? We can't fight a pack bare handed," Tyrone was bouncing on his toes about to go into a full-blown panic.
More sounds of something moving came through the night. A voice called out. "Hannah, where are you? Hannah. Come with me, I will keep you young forever."
"You have got to be shitting me!" Dusty exclaimed.
The four of them moved on as stealthy as they could. Harold kept calling out, repeating the same things he'd spewed out at the cabin. It wasn't long before the sound of his voice faded away.
JT had no idea how much time had passed. He tried to keep Hannah and Tyrone calm, whispering soothing words to them whenever he could. The woods thinned out. JT's eyes had adjusted to the dark, he could see they were coming up to a parking lot, and a large square building. A paved road ran off from the parking lot into the distance. None of the street lights were on. Not that he would expect them to be.
"Hey, this way," JT hissed.
He motioned to the building, and they followed. When they got closer JT could see the building had a rundown, abandoned look. One brick wall was partially collapsed. JT decided this is where they would go in. "We're going to get inside and find some place to hide out and regroup."
"Not bad, superstar," Dusty agreed. "If we can get walls on three sides of us, then it will be easy for us to defend if it comes down to it. Let's move, quickly and quietly people."
They entered through the rubble and clambered down inside, JT first. He was standing on a metal walkway. To the right was a small flight of stairs going down to the floor. To the left were stairs going up to where the walkway was suspended high in the air. It crossed the building as far as JT could see. Pinpoints of moonlight shone through the roof. JT was about to suggest going down andlooking for an office, when he noticed the pile of body parts. There were arms, legs, and torsos in various states of decay. JT thought maybe this was a bad ideaafter all. He was about to tell everyone to get back out, when he heard Harold's faint bellowing again.
"Let's go up," JT silently ordered, against his better judgment. "Dusty, why don't you take the lead?"
Dusty went, followed by Hannah, then Tyrone. JT covered the rear. He looked down from the walkway and saw a group of zombies; he counted fifteen, milling about the floor among the conveyor belts and machinery.
The sound of Harold approaching was getting louder. The zombies got visibly restless. They moved towards the opening in the wall. JT thought they would get some luck for a change. Harold and the zombies, maybe they would kill each other. Harold went silent. So much for that idea. A horrible
squeal of metal on metal shattered the silence. A steel cord holding up part of the walkway snapped. The section Tyrone was standing on tilted and sway dangerously.
Fifteen sets of dead eyes all looked up at once. The group froze and Tyrone looked at JT with a face full of fear and desperation.
Dusty whispered over his shoulder, "Up ahead I see some kind of room. It looks small but I think we can all fit. Let's go on three. One...two...three."
Dusty and Hannah broke into an all-out run. Tyrone slowly tiptoed across the swaying piece and then sprinted as soon as he was clear, just about bowling over Hannahin the process. JT saw the dead shuffle towards the staircase leading up to the walkway. Well, doesn't this suck big hairy donkey balls. He put one foot on the broken piece. It gave way under his weight. He pulled back his leg; it was dangling in emptyspace, as the walkway piece crashed down. One handrail impaled a zombie, pinning it in place.
"You have got to be shitting me," JT whispered to himself. He looked across the gap. "Knee don't fail me now."
He backed up to the top of the stairs, ran and jumped. He made it, landing hard enough to make the walkway swing back and forth violently. Sprawled out, his body throbbed on the metal. His bad knee felt as if someone had jabbed several sharp pins into it. He bit back a scream, He could see below, through his blurred vision, that the zombies had turned back and were now gathered around the walkway wreckage.
After pulling himself up, JT looked across the missing part of the walkway. He saw a figure standing in the wall's opening. He squinted, trying to get a look in the pale moonlight, even though he was sure he knew who it was.
A tiny light flicked on, which blossomed into a bigger light. The figure made a motion; the light flewthrough the air. It landed among the zombies. With a whoosh, it exploded, setting fire to everything around it. Zombies silently writhed back and forth on the ground as they burned. The smell of rotten meat burning reached JT's nose. The smoke thickened as the fire spread.
"What are we going to do now?" Tyrone asked, as JT caught up to the rest.
Before JT could answer, Harold's voice boomed out, filling the air.
"Come out my dear Hannah. I will not hurt you. So help me Jesus. There is no need for your beauty to die in this filth. With me you will be young and beautiful forever."
JT could see Hannah visibly shivering in the yellow flicker of the fire's light. Her face was a mask of revulsion. He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'll die before I let him touch you."
"JT, listen. I have a plan," Dusty said, looking worried for the first time. "I warn you, it's going to be tricky. I will go back across the gap, luring Harold in a little more and keep him distracted. You three will go down that chain hanging over there. It goes down all the way to the floor of the plant. Tyrone first, then Hannah, then you."
"Dude, I don't think I'm going to be able toshimmy down that. Me and climbing don't go well together," JT said.
"I don't see any other way down, unless you want to try jumping the gap again."
"No, you are staying with me JT," Hannah insisted. She coughed, as the thickening smoke reached them.
"Do we really have to split up?" Tyrone said. "Dusty sir, I'm terrified."
Dusty gave Tyrone a grim smile and a pat on the shoulder.
"We all are, son."
"If we do this, maybe I should go first," JT offered. "That way I'm not landing on someone and making this whole nightmare even worse." He looked to Hannah.
"I don't care how you do it, but it's now or never. If I don't see you again, just remember, I told you so big man." Dusty gave them a salute.
JT couldn't help but laugh, even if it was a dick thing to say. That's Dusty.
"As Gus would say, good luck Sarge. It's been a hell of a ride."
Dusty just nodded and took off, jumping back over the gap in the walkway.
Tyrone jumped and slid down the chain like it was ice. Showoff. Next went Hannah, a bitmore slowly. He waited to start until she was just about at the bottom. Well, here goes nothing. JT grabbed hold and went down fast, his hands burning. He held on until the pain was unbearable, then he just hoped for the best. He landed with a thud on his back, knocking the wind out of him. He inhaled sharply then choked, the smoke was much thicker down here.
"Quiet," Tyrone hushed. The fear in his voice was unmistakable. They didn't have to worry about the sound they were making. Gunfire started off in the distance, sure to draw the remaining dead.
Dusty fired, trying to simultaneously draw the zombies towards Harold and pin him down at the same time. The catwalk pinged around him as Harold returned fire. I have to come up with a better plan. I have no cover here.
"Harold, you crazy nut job!" he shouted out. "Hannah's gone, you will never have her. I'm sure I can get you a corpse bride among the zombies, you sick fuck. Just come on in, let me pick one out for you."
Harold laughed, his jagged tone causing the hairs on Dusty's neck to stand at attention. "Soon, you all will join the ranks of the undead. I will make sure of it. Except for my precious Hannah that is. I know she is in here, and you deviants have taken her. There is no way she would leave me under her own free will."
Dusty could see the mass of zombies getting closer and closer to the opening. Some were still on fire. Maybe I can get him so mad and so distracted he won't notice them until it's too late.
"I will burn all of you blasphemers to the ground!" Something sailed over Dusty's head. Flames spread across the walkway. So much for that idea. Man's crazy but he was still smart enough to bring serious firepower with him.
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JT, Hannah, and Tyrone choked and coughed their way across the floor of the plant. They came to a glass sliding double door blocking their path. JT looked through, his vision blurring from the smoke. He saw white eyes staring back at him, too many to count.
"If it wasn't for bad luck, we'd have no luck at all," JT said to no one in particular. "No way we are going through there. I knew it was too good to be true, only seeing those few zombies."
The zombies pressed up against the glass. Thud. Thud. Thud.. "At least they can't get through here with the power out," Hannah said, "We need to find another way."
JT grabbed Hannah's hand as they turned around, plunging back into the plant. Tyrone followed, hacking continuously.
JT had no problem seeing where he was going now, a raging inferno had grown in the middle of the huge space. Bodies, wood, and the dead leaves that had blown in became fuel for the fire now. Through the shimmering heat, JT could make out the shapes of Dusty and Harold still fighting it out.
"Don't let go," JT said over his shoulder to Hannah. He headed as far to the right as he could, hoping to find a space between the fire and the outer wall to squeeze through.
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Dusty fired wildly with the last of his ammo as he charged down the stairs. Harold shot back, clipping him in his side. Heat and burning pain radiated from the bullet wound. With all his momentum he hurled himself off the staircase. As he soared over the rail at Harold, he dropped his empty gun and pulled his knife. Light from the fire gleamed off its surface. Harold tried to react to the unexpected melee attack, but it was too late. Dusty landed on top of him, the knife driving into the center of his chest. Harold's hair was completely gone, his face was a ruined mask of burnt flesh. Dusty could hardly believe he was alive, let alone fighting back with such strength.
Undead arms reached for them as they laid prone among the rubble. Rotted hands pulled at Harold's head and shoulders, dragging him towards them.
"Looks like you will be the main course tonight," Dusty said. I'm not abandoning anyone this time. I'm not letting you get away.
Harold's gun became trapped between their bodies as they fought for control. Dusty wrenched it away and situated the barrel under his chin. Once it was in place, he looked deep into Harold's eyes.
I won't
fail in my duty.
He pulled the trigger. Harold struggled, trying to get Dusty's dead weight off of him. More and more hands grabbed a hold of him. A flaming zombie climbed on top of them both, ripping and tearing.
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JT helped Tyrone and Hannah skirt around to the other side, towards the opening where they came in. Shock froze him for a momentwhen he saw Dusty's lifeless body on top of Harold's. He couldn't believe it. Of all the people he thought would survive the longest, Dusty was at the top of his list. He shook his head and watched as the zombies dog piled on top of them both. I didn't like the guy much, but he sure didn't deserve that. JT turned, Hannah was calling his name.
"Here JT, I've found a door!" He followed Hannah out an emergency exit door, into the night.
"Wait! Where's Dusty? We can't leave without him!" Tyrone doubled over, coughing.
"He um...he's not gonna make it kid," JT said, putting an arm around Tyrone's shoulder. "I saw him, he killed Harold. He died a hero. That arrogant son of a bitch saved our lives." JT could feel a ball of emotion in his throat but he choked it down. The other two wept openly. He didn't know how Hannah had any more tears left.
They stood and held on to each other, listening as Harold's shrieks filled the night air. It sounded like the dying of sanity. Hannah had a look of grim satisfaction on her face as Harold's screams died away into a dead silence, except for the crackling of the fire.
"We probably shouldn't stick around here any longer," JT said, watching the abandoned building go up in flames. "There could be a whole world of trouble coming this way after all that noise. Seems we can't find a place that isn't full of zombies."
Hannah said nothing, she just clung to JT's arm like a frightened child.
"Maybe..." Tyrone started, trying to get himself under control. "Maybe we can at least get the truck going andget far away from here." JT turned and hugged Hannah tightly while he nodded to Tyrone.
When they got back to the cabin, Déjà Vu smackedJT in the head. Didn't we just leave this scene? The three of them stood in front of the burning cabin in disbelief. Hannah and JT held hands, their faces looking almost childlike in the faint glow. Just about everything they had left in this world was going up in flames, as the fire spread from the exploded gas tanker.
