Theo shook her hand, "Theo. Theo Kinkaid. Thanks for not splattering my brain matter all over the backyard there. I appreciate it."
Erica smiled at Theo. "You're welcome. Sorry. I'm a bit jumpy."
"Understandable."
Theo and Erica were standing in the small kitchen of the house.
Theo hobbled over to the kitchen table and sat down. "Say, Erica, you wouldn't happen to have anything to drink around here, would ya? I'm beyond thirsty." Theo was somewhat hungry too, but after seeing the lunatics devouring that body, he didn't have much of an appetite anymore.
"Yeah sure." Erica opened the fridge and tossed Theo a bottle of water. Even though the fridge had been off for several hours, the water was still cool.
Theo chugged half of the bottle. He noticed Erica staring at him. "Sorry, I'm a pig."
"That's fine," Erica said with a chuckle. Erica was tall and slender with olive tinted skin. She had long straight auburn colored hair with the tips dyed a dark red. Erica was wearing khaki jeans and a light green jacket over a plain white v-neck. She had light green eyes and a small round face.
Theo caught his reflection in the toaster that was sitting on the kitchen counter. He was covered in sweat, dirt, and blood, not all of which was his. No wonder Erica thought he was one of those crazy people outside. Theo grabbed the dish towel and began to clean himself off.
"So Erica, you think those people out there are corpses?" Theo asked.
"I don't think that, I know that," Erica answered.
"Yeah, how?"
"That's what the television said about an hour before the power went off. Something about the deceased are coming back to life. Or the recently deceased, I didn't get all of it. They don't know if it's a disease or some virus or something."
"Well if they're dead, then why the hell are they running around? They were hot on my heels back there. I barely managed to shake them. I've never seen a corpse do that."
Erica shrugged her shoulders, "Beats me. That's what I caught on the television. I don't know why this is happening, I'm no doctor."
"Me either." Theo finished cleaning himself off. "How did you even know I was out there?"
"I was upstairs, looking out the back window and I saw you reversing down the road. I saw your accident and then you take off out of your car. Then I saw you fall on your ass in the alley. Nice wipeout by the way."
"Ha. Thanks. So is this your place? I don't think I ever saw you around here."
Erica shook her head. "No. This was my friend's house. I was visiting her and her husband when all of this stuff started."
"Oh? Well if you were just visiting, maybe we can take your car and get the hell out of here," Theo suggested.
"Yeah about that," Erica replied. "They took my car to go get some lunch. Their car is in the shop."
Theo sat back in his chair and sighed, "Of fucking course."
"Yeah, I know."
"That your pistol?"
"No, I knew my friends kept it in their dresser drawer."
"Know how to use it?"
Erica nodded, "Oh yeah. Both of my parents were police officers. They taught me."
"Well, that's cool.I'd probably blow off a toe or three."
Theo looked around the house. The living room had thick dark brown curtains, he couldn't see outside, but at least the corpses wouldn't be able to see inside. Erica had moved the living room couch up against the front door.
"How'd you lose your shoe?" Erica asked.
"One of those corpses grabbed a hold of my foot and tried to chomp down. I had to shake my shoe loose."
"Clever."
"It just sucks because these are my favorite shoes. Well just 'shoe' now."
Erica chuckled at Theo. "I think we have more pressing matters, Theo. You can always get new shoes."
"Yeah, I guess."
"There's a lot of boxes packed with old clothes down in the basement, I'm sure we can find something for your feet."
"So where are you holed up? The upstairs?" Theo asked.
"No, down in the basement," Erica answered. "I spent the night down there on a pile of old clothes."
"Sure beats a stuffy old attic."
"That's where you were?"
Theo nodded, "Yeah. My old place actually. I came back here to the old 'hood to come and visit some of my buddies and the damn apocalypse begins."
"Yeah Theo, this is all your fault," Erica joked.
"You know, you sound like my second ex-wife. She's the type that would blame me for something like this."
Theo got up from the kitchen table and walked over into the living room and took a peek out of the window, opening the curtain ever so slightly. He didn't want any of the corpses outside to spot him.
There was a dozen or more of them wandering around the street in front of the house, one of them was clutching at an arm that had been eaten away. The corpse would stop every few steps and take a large bite out of the severed limb. Theo turned away from the window after he saw that.
"Bad?" Erica asked him.
"A little. There are ten or twelve dead things out there right now."
Erica noticed that Theo was staring at something behind her, "What is it?" Erica asked.
"Backyard," Theo whispered back to her. "Get down."
The two of them crawled over to the windows at the back of the kitchen and watched as a small group of corpses shambled their way down the alley. One of the dead things broke away from the group and stumbled into the backyard.
"Oh no. No, it can't be," Theo said under his breath.
"What?"
"Joanie?"
"Who?"
"A friend of mine. Her boyfriend's one of the dead things as well. I was hoping she had made it out. I guess not."
Joanie was still in her pajamas, her pink bathrobe was riddled with dark red blood stains. Her straight blonde hair was soiled with blood and mud. Most of the flesh around her right eye socket had been eaten away, revealing parts of Joanie's skull.
Theo and Erica watched as Joanie stopped walking towards the house and just stood in the middle of the yard, examining the house. Theo and Erica ducked down behind the kitchen counter to get out of sight.
"If she sees us, we could be in big trouble," Erica told Theo.
Theo agreed. "Yeah I know, just stay down."
After a few seconds, Theo peered back over the top of the counter and watched as Joanie made her way back out of the yard, rejoining the group of corpses in the alley.
"That was close," Theo said.
"I think we should get into the basement, just to be on the safe side," Erica told Theo.
"Yeah, might as well. Let's gather up what food we can and get down there."
Erica and Theo rounded up what supplies they could find upstairs, which amounted to a few bags of potato chips, three boxes of granola bars, and a few bottles of water. They headed down into the basement. Erica helped Theo lift one of the heavy boxes of clothing up the steps and they placed it behind the basement door should any dead things get in the house. Theo began rummaging through the rest of the boxes, trying to make himself a suitable bed while Erica searched for a pair of shoes for Theo.
"Find anything for my feet?" Theo asked.
"Nope. But I'll keep searching," Erica answered. "I'll try to find you a weapon too."
Theo laid down on the pile of clothing and stretched out. He was right; it was a million times better than sleeping on the attic floor. It was cooler in the basement too. The last thing that Theo heard before he drifted off was Erica still searching through numerous boxes. He wanted to stay awake to keep Erica company, it was nice meeting a fellow survivor and all, but Theo couldn't fight it anymore, he needed to get a good night's sleep.
Chapter 3
When Theo awoke, the basement was empty and Erica was nowhere to be found. Theo rubbed the sleep from his eyes and got up. He was still wearing his one sneaker on his left foot. Theo kicked it off and looked up the stairwell. The box of clothes had been
moved and the door was cracked open. The morning sun was shining down the basement steps. Theo instinctively reached for his sunglasses when he remembered that they fell off his head when he had that initial scuffle with Mike.
"Hey Erica, are you up there?" Theo called up the stairs.
"Yeah."
"Whew," Theo whispered. He made his way up the steps, joining Erica at the kitchen table for some breakfast.
Erica tossed Theo a granola bar. "Here you go, fresh off the pan."
"Ooh. Homemade? Nice."
"Yeah, I slaved all day over the stove making that for you."
"The wrapper too?"
"Just eat your damn breakfast."
Theo looked at the stairs that led to the upper flat, "What's it like up there?"
"Empty."
"All of it?"
"Yeah. My friends cleaned it up real nice. I think they were going to try and rent it out, but they never got around to it."
"I think I might try and get out on the roof later."
"Why?"
"Just to see what it's like around here. Try and get a big picture view of things. Care to join me?"
Erica shook her head. "No way. Absolutely not. I'm terrified of heights. The farthest I've ever fallen is out of bed."
Theo chuckled. "Okay, suit yourself. Can't go out there until I find something for my feet though."
Erica stood up from the table. "You just reminded me." Erica handed Theo a pair of worn, black work boots. "Will these do?"
Theo was impressed, he took a liking to them right away. "Yeah, lemme see if they fit." Theo slid the boots on and walked around the kitchen.
"How are they?" Erica asked him.
"Kind of roomy, but I'll get used to them. Thanks a lot, Erica, seriously."
"Not a problem." Erica herself was walking around barefoot, she slid her chair back and stretched her long legs out on the kitchen counter and put her hair back in a ponytail.
"So what's going on with our 'friends' out there?" Theo asked her.
"Nothing much. There was one of them out by the back gate, he wandered near the garage for a few seconds and then stumbled back out into the alley. He was nasty looking too. He had a big piece of flesh missing from the front of his throat. Blood was oozing out all over the place. Other than him, it's been pretty quiet."
"If it's quiet out there, maybe we can try to get away?"
"And go where?" Erica asked Theo. "I don't think we'll make it five feet out that front door."
Theo began to run his and Erica's options through his head. "Maybe the military has something set up somewhere? I dunno."
"Right now, I say we wait for a little while until everything calms down out there. I'd say it's a little too risky to try and escape. We don't even know where to go. You wanna risk going out and trying to find somewhere safer? Be my guest, Theo. But I'm staying right here for the time being."
The prospect of heading out all by himself was not something that Theo was interested in, so he decided Theo looked at Erica's pistol resting on the kitchen table. "Oh yeah, I forgot. I need some kind of weapon."
Erica smiled at Theo. "I've got another present for you." She opened a kitchen drawer and handed Theo a medium sized butcher knife. The blade was razor sharp and it had a black handle. "How's this for a weapon?"
"Very nice. It has a serial killer vibe to it. I like it." Using the blade like a mirror, Theo fixed his hair. "The world has ended, and my hair is still fantastic."
"Yeah, I'm starting to regret taking you in."
Theo smirked at Erica. "You'll get used to me." Theo tucked the meat cleaver into the front of his jeans, "Okay, I'm heading out onto the roof. Are you sure you don't want to come along?"
"Absolutely. Have at it. Gravity can be a real bitch."
Theo walked to the upper flat and took a quick look around. It was very similar to his old home except there was no back porch area, just an empty bedroom. Theo walked inside the room and looked out of the window, seeing his car was still stuck in the intersection with a few corpses stumbling about. That car wouldn't be moving around anytime soon. Theo resumed his inspection of the upstairs. If this home was anything like Theo's old place, he'd have to get to one of the rooms at the front of the house.
Finding the bedroom that overlooked the front of the house, Theo managed to slide the window open. It was a bright early afternoon day, and it seemed like the sun was directly above the house, shining down on it. The awning above the porch was hot to Theo's touch, he had to slide outside carefully.
Theo slipped outside and made his way over to the chimney, being careful not to burn himself on the hot roof. Looking towards the downtown area, Theo saw that although the skyscrapers were no longer engulfed in flame, several floors were still smoldering on a few of the buildings. Theo then looked to his left, towards Michigan Avenue. He had a difficult time making things out, but from the small section of road that Theo could see, it looked pretty bad. Well over fifty corpses were moving around the road, and the parking lot of the convenience store on the other side of the avenue looked to be packed with the dead as well.
"Damn," Theo said. "What the hell happened?" He had enough of being out there and slid back into the home.
As Theo was closing the bedroom window, he locked eyes with a corpse that had been meandering down the road. "Uh, oh," Theo said. The corpse shrieked and charged towards the home. Theo ran downstairs as fast as he could.
"Well, how is it out there?" Erica asked.
Before Theo could answer her, the dead thing came crashing through one of the living room windows. The corpse became tangled up in the curtains as it struggled to get up to its feet. Theo pulled the butcher knife from the front of his jeans and charged towards the dead thing.
The corpse, a younger guy that was wearing a navy blue jacket and jean shorts fought himself free from the curtains and lunged towards Theo. Theo swung his blade at the dead guy back and forth wildly, slicing off a few fingers from the corpse's left hand. In the commotion, Theo couldn't hear Erica screaming for him to get out of the way so she could shoot the dead thing.
Theo quickly brought the cleaver up over his head, and in a downward swing, brought the blade of the butcher knife down into the top of the corpse's skull at a diagonal angle. The dead thing went limp and collapsed onto the living room floor.
"Holy shit," Theo muttered. He turned back to the kitchen to check on Erica.
Erica pointed to the living room windows, "Theo look out!"
Another corpse came into the house through the broken window. An older bald man wearing a light gray business suit. Theo went to swing at the corpse with the butcher knife, but the blade was firmly lodged into the skull of the first corpse lying motionless on the living room floor. The dead thing grabbed Theo's left hand and prepared to bite down into Theo's forearm.
Erica jammed the barrel of her pistol into the left side of the corpse's head and pulled the trigger. The right side of the dead thing's head exploded in bits of brain matter, blood, and skull fragments. Inside the cramped quarters of the living room, the gunshot was deafening. Theo fell to the ground clutching at his ears.
The corpses outside heard the gunshot and began to charge towards the home. Erica could hear their shrill growls and wails. She picked Theo up off the floor and the two of them went running towards the basement. The backdoor in the kitchen came crashing down and another corpse entered the house. Erica, with Theo in tow, turned and ran to the upper flat. Theo stopped and kicked one of the dead things in the face, knocking it back down the stairs.
"In here!" Erica yelled. She and Theo ducked into the bedroom at the back of the flat and hid inside the closet.
"Erica, I can't hear a thing!" Theo shouted. His hearing hadn't returned.
Erica covered Theo's mouth, "Shh. They're right outside," She whispered. Theo nodded and the two of them sat in silence, as the dead things ran around in the upper flat.
Eventually, Theo's hearing returned. "How many are up here?" He whisp
ered to Erica.
"I dunno," Erica answered.
Theo cracked open the closet door and peeked out into the room. There was a female corpse standing in the doorway with her back turned to them. She was wearing a black tank top and jean shorts with red sneakers. Large chunks of flesh had been eaten away from her back and shoulders.
"Are there any?" Erica asked Theo.
"Yeah, one for sure," Theo whispered. Erica raised her pistol, but Theo pushed it back down. "I don't think that's the best idea."
"Then what are we going to do?" Erica asked.
"We need to use something else. The corpses heard the last gunshot."
Erica looked around the closet. "Theo, this place is empty."
Theo spotted the clothes rod. "Here, we can use this."
"How?"
"Break it in half so that there are two points."
As quietly as she could, Erica broke the thin wooden stick across her knee, handing one of the points over to Theo.
Theo examined it. "Not bad. This should do. Watch my back."
Theo crept out of the closet and over towards the corpse that was standing in the doorway. He stood up preparing to drive the wooden spike through the back of the dead thing's head, but the corpse spun around and tried to grab Theo. In addition to the flesh chewed from her back, the woman's lower lip had been eaten away as well.
Before the dead thing could do anything, Theo in a forward thrust, sent the sharp end of the clothes rod right between the dead woman's eyes. The spike protruded through the back of the dead thing's head. The corpse fell on the bedroom floor in a heap, hitting the ground with a low dull thud.
Theo stood over the dead woman in shock, just staring at the body. He had never killed anything in his life, and now he had just killed two people in a matter of minutes.
Another dead thing came from around the corner, this time it was the corpse of a man wearing blood-drenched mechanic's coveralls. He grabbed Theo by the shoulders, and the two stumbled over the lifeless body of the undead woman.
Theo kept the corpse at bay by keeping his hands on his shoulders, but he was quickly losing the strength in his arms. Then suddenly, the corpse went limp. Theo threw the dead thing off of him and saw the other clothes rod sticking out of the back of the corpse's skull.
Urban Decay Page 3
