by Smith, I. J.
“What the fuck!” Michael muttered under his breath when he saw the woman up close. In a split second, the woman lunged at Michael, pushing her head into his neck, and began biting him. She tore the flesh from Michael’s neck, blood began spraying out. As Michael fell to his knees trying to grab his neck, the woman came into focus for everyone.
Blood poured from her mouth with bits of Michael’s flesh still hanging from her lips, her face was shredded skin, maggots were crawling in her open wounds, and her stomach was all torn open with her intestines hanging out. Jack looked at the woman’s dead eyed face. Jack raised his rifle, but before he could fire, two shots were fired past him and hit the woman in the chest, she fell to the ground. Jack turned to see Frank was still holding up his weapon. Sara Lewis began to run towards Michael, but Jack grabbed her arm, stopping her.
“What about Michael?” she asked Jack, with a scared look on her face.
A groaning noise came from the woman; she started moving and got back to her feet.
“WHAT!” Frank shouted with a look of shock on his face.
Jack pushed Sara back towards the rest of the team; he raised his rifle, and shot once at the woman hitting her in the throat, she still kept coming. Jack stepped closer and shot again, this time in the woman’s head. She hit the ground hard her head bounced off the concrete ground and cracked open.
Jack moved over to the woman to make sure she was staying down this time. Convinced she was finally dead, he turned his attention to Michael. Who stood with his hands still covering the open wound on his neck, blood still gushing out, Michael was shaking, and his face growing pale as the blood drained from him.
“Elle, Andrew, here now!” Jack shouted.
They both ran to join Michael and Jack, “We need to get him off the street!” Jack told them. Elle and Andrew covered Michael’s wound with bandages from their vests and picked him up.
Before they moved away too far a loud scream echoed out, Jack turned around to see dozens of dark figures approaching them, Sara stood there screaming and finally raised her rifle, but fear made her pause and before she could take a shot, she was over run. The rest of the team tried to get to her, but it was too late, Frank ordered them to move back.
Frank watched as those things tore into the flesh of Sara’s body. At that moment, more of the figures moved towards them, groaning louder as they got closer.
“We have to move, NOW!” Jack shouted.
Frank and the rest of the team ran over to Jack, “What do we do?” asked Josh.
Jack and Frank looked around and noticed a shop on the far side of the street, “There, everyone in there and block the doorway!” Jack pointed the shop out to everyone.
Elle and Andrew carrying Michael started to run towards the shop. Frank was still standing in the same place looking at Sara.
“Frank, Come on! Nothing we can do for her now!” Jack told him. Frank did not respond, Jack grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away.
Frank looked at Jack; who noticed Frank was as white as a ghost. Jack pointed to the shop, “In there!” Jack told him.
Frank finally moved towards the shop. Jack took one last look back at Sara, many of the figures were still all over her body, and two of the dead were ripping the flesh from her face, Jack then noticed one of the figures was tearing out her eyeball with its teeth.
“I’m so sorry!” Jack whispered, before running over to the shop himself.
Josh forced open the door of the shop, he went inside with his rifle raised and his attached torch turned on, and making sure the store was safe.
“All clear!” he shouted back to his team.
Gunshots were echoing, as Jack and Frank stood shooting at the figures trying to slow them down. With the team now inside the shop, Jack looked up at the shop sign and noticed a metal shutter.
“Frank, up there!” Jack shouted, pointing at the shutter.
Looking up Frank also saw the shutter, both of them ran to the doorway and reached up, grabbing the bottom of the shutter, and they dragged it down shutting them all inside. The figures outside, just walked into the shutter, banging and trying to find a way in.
Elle and Andrew lay Michael on a desk; they rushed around him trying to stop the bleeding. They both pulled bandages from their medical kits and began to push them against his neck trying to stop the bleeding. Michael looked lifeless, he had no color in his face, and blood covered his uniform. Elle was trying hard to help him, her eyes filled with tears and her emotions showed all over her face. Everyone stood watching as Elle tried her best to save her friend, but it was too late.
She continued to try, shouting at Michael, Fight, damn you, fight!” she cried.
Jack walked over to her, “Elle,” he said gently. Jack put his arm around her shoulders as she cried.
“No, we have to help him!” she protested.
“He’s gone!” Jack, told her.
She started to break down more, Jack pulled her in close, and she threw her arms around him, burying her head into his chest as she cried.
As Jack and Elle stood holding each other, Frank looked around the shop, he could see it was a furniture shop. Tables, sofas, bookcases were all scattered around the shop. “Sara?” Josh asked.
Frank turned and looked at Josh, “NO!” he simply replied. Josh turned and punched the wall; Bray fell back against the wall and dropped to the floor.
Elle had calmed down, she let go of Jack and smiled at him, “What the hell were those things?” She asked him.
Jack moved over to the front of the shop to look through the tiny holes in the shutter. “Cannibals!” Andrew shouted, “They have to be cannibals; the virus must have made them crazy! Andrew continued saying.
“WHAT?” Bray shouted out.
“CANNIBALS!” Josh shouted in a confused voice.
Frank stepped in, “Stop shouting, we don’t know anything!” he told them. “Zombies,” a voice calmly said.
Everyone turned to the direction of the voice, looking at the front of the shop, everyone knew it was Jack. “Come on be serious!” Frank, told him.
“Come on, zombies are not real, they are monsters in stories,” Andrew replied.
Jack turned to look at Andrew, “What else can they be?” he asked sarcastically.
“They are probably just something that we have not thought of yet!” Josh said in a scared voice.
“Frank shot that woman in the chest, I put one in her neck and she still kept coming, then I put one in her head and down she went!” Jack told them, angrily.
“Seriously Jack, stop it!” Frank told him.
“Frank, her intestines were hanging by her fucking knees. So, she is either a zombie or she has taken dieting to a whole new level!” Jack replied in anger.
The room went quiet, Jack moved towards the team, “Come on we have all seen the film Night of the Living Dead,” Jack said jokingly, trying to get them to calm down.
“So, what do we do now?” Elle asked.
The team looked at Frank, he looked uncomfortable, “Erm, I don’t know,” he replied.
Jack looked at Frank angrily. “We keep going; the plan is still the same. Get to the Doctor and wait for a ride out of here!” Jack told everyone.
“How are we going to find him with all those things out there?” Bray asked.
“He sent the signal, which means he is somewhere safe, we just have to get to him!” Jack replied.
“That’s the plan!” Frank said.
Jack was not impressed with Frank, “We need to keep moving!” Jack told him.
“There must be a back door out of this place,” Jack continued.
Everyone began to steady their nerves and check their weapons. Andrew moved over to Michael’s lifeless body to get his rifle that he had leaned against the wall. Andrew stood over Michael’s body feeling guilty for not being able to help his friend; he leaned down to pick up his bag.
A groaning noise sounded in the room, Andrew looked up as Michael’s eyes opened slowly; his eyes were al
l misty and bloodshot.
“Michael?” Andrew asked. Everyone in the room turned to see what was happening.
Andrew dropped his bag and moved closer to Michael, “HE’S NOT DEAD!” he shouted out. Andrew started to touch Michael.
“NO!” Jack shouted. Andrew turned his head to see what Jack was shouting about, at that moment; Michael lunged at Andrew sinking his teeth into the side of Andrew’s face. Michael ripped a chunk of flesh from Andrew’s face; Andrew stood up and turned to the group screaming in pain with blood spraying out of the wound. Andrew’s upper lip and most of his nose had been ripped off. Blood gushed down Andrews’s clothes.
“SHIT!” Josh shouted.
Jack raised his gun, looking at Michael, who was now sitting up and trying to stand, within seconds a bullet shot through his head, Michael slumped backwards. Andrew fell to his knees, still screaming in pain. Elle started to rush to him, but Frank pulled her back.
“We have to help him!” Elle screamed.
Josh and Bray just stood glued to the spot where they just stared at Elle. Frank held Elle back; she screamed again, “We have to help him!”
Then another shot sounded out, Andrew still on his knees fell backwards, the bullet had hit Andrew in the head and the back of his head exploded sending blood and brain matter flying across the room. The room went silent as Josh, Bray, Elle and Frank all looked at Jack. He was standing there, with his gun raised, and still pointed at Andrew.
Jack lowered his gun and looked back at the team, “Hesitate, you die!” he said in a cold voice.
“You... You… Killed him!” Elle stuttered.
“He was dead the moment that thing took a bite out of him!” Jack replied harshly.
“You cannot know that, he might have been OK!” Elle replied.
“Michael was bitten and he turned into a zombie, Andrew was bitten and would have turned into a zombie, too!” Jack shouted.
Frank let go of Elle, “He’s right!” Frank told everyone.
The banging from outside got louder, Josh moved towards the front of the shop, “There are more of them now,” he said while looking through the shutter.
“OK, we need to move!” Jack told them.
“Bray, with me!” he ordered Bray while moving to the back of the shop.
On the back wall, there was a fire exit. “Come on!” Frank told Josh and Elle.
They both started to follow Frank to the back of the shop to join Jack and Bray, but took one last look at their two dead friends. “I am going to open this slowly and I will go first, turn the safety off on your weapons!” Jack told them.
Just as Jack was about to open the fire exit, Frank grabbed his arm. “I should go first; I am in command!” Frank told him.
“Frank, I’m good!” Jack reassured him. Jack pushed the bar; unlocking the door and pushing it open, Jack crept out slowly with his weapon raised.
Emerging from the doorway, Jack stepped into the darkness outside. Looking around as he moved out into a car park, he found that the car park was not empty. Trucks and cars were scattered all round as Jack continued to move forward, quickly followed by the rest of the team. The darkness was again against them, restricting their view.
Frank moved to join Jack at the front, “Anything?” he whispered.
A crash echoed from behind them, Bray turned with his gun ready. The fire exit door had slammed shut behind them. “SHIT!” Josh shouted.
Jack and Frank turned to see Josh about to fire his gun, approaching them from the right was a group of zombies. “Run, “Jack told them.
“We should fight!” Josh replied.
“We don’t have the ammo or the numbers to fight them off, now move!” Jack told him.
Elle grabbed Josh by the arm, “We have to run!” she told him.
The team started to run from the zombies approaching them. Running between the cars, they reached the edge of the car park. Jumping over a small fence, they found themselves on a road. At the far side of the road more zombies were coming, the team changed direction and continued running. They approached a turn in the road, in front of them two zombies came into sight; Elle raised her gun and opened fire. She shot one in the head with her first shot. Before she could take a second shot, another zombie appeared from behind a parked truck. Catching her off guard the zombie was about to grab her, when Jack appeared from behind Elle, shooting the zombie in the head. Elle was shocked, but only for a moment, she quickly raised her gun and took her second shot at the third zombie shooting it in the head.
Josh, Bray, and Frank caught up to Jack and Elle, “There are too many of them, everywhere we turn there are just more,” Bray told everyone in a panic.
Frank looked around at their surroundings, “There,” he pointed to an old building surrounded by scaffolding.
“Do you think these things can climb?” Bray asked.
“Not faster than us!” Josh replied while starting to run towards the building.
As they reached the building, Jack turned to the group, “OK, everyone up, I will cover you!” he told them.
Jack took a knee and held his weapon up, from the darkness more and more zombies emerged. Jack started to lay down cover fire. Elle started the climb with Josh quickly behind her. Jack was shooting ahead not seeing what was approaching from his side. Bray was starting his climb when he looked to the side and noticed a zombie almost at Jack’s position.
“JACK!” Bray shouted.
Elle looked down to see the same zombie, she also shouted, “JACK!”
Before Jack could turn Frank came running over, holding his gun high, over Jack’s head, shooting the zombie.
Jack turned in shock, “Time to move!” Frank told him.
Frank held out his hand to help Jack to his feet. “Thanks!” Jack said to him.
They both ran to the scaffolding looking up as they climbed, they could see the others had already made it to the top. On the way up, Jack looked down to see the zombies crowding around the bottom of the scaffolding with their arms reaching up.
“Finally, some luck, they can’t climb!” Jack laughed.
Frank also started to laugh a little. Reaching the top, Bray and Josh were there ready to help them over the last bar.
Now safely on the roof, they looked around, making sure nothing else was on the roof with them. Jack stayed by the edge and pulled his water canteen out, taking a long drink and looking around; he noticed a small hut in the middle of the roof.
Elle walked back over to Jack, “You OK?” she asked.
“Not really!” he replied, feeling the guilt of killing two of his friends.
“You did the right thing!” she told him.
Jack looked into her dark eyes, as she continued to speak; “You saved us, you kept calm when we panicked, and you were the one strong enough to do what had to be done!”
Jack looked uncomfortable, “I didn’t want to shoot our own people, but… just but!” he sighed.
Elle moved in and kissed Jack on the cheek, “Thank you!” she told him.
“Don’t thank me for that, please!” he replied to her.
Elle smiled and took his canteen of water, “Do you mind?” she asked. Before he could answer, she had already taken a drink. Jack smiled at her.
“OVER HERE!” Frank shouted.
Everyone approached Frank, who was standing by the hut door.
“What is it?” Jack asked.
“In there, I heard something,” he replied.
All of them stood in front of this small brick building, looking at it, they could see it was a storage shed.
“Are you sure?” Josh asked.
A small creak came from the door; the team pointed their weapons at the door. Jack pointed to Josh and Bray to move to the side of the door, he then pointed Elle to cover them while he and Frank went to open the door.
Frank stood to the side and grabbed the door handle. Frank stood still and mouthed the words, one… two… three, quickly opening the door to a small figure rushing ou
t at them. The figure ran right into Elle, knocking her off balance; the small, dark figure swung a metal pipe at her, bashing Elle’s ankle as she tried to drag herself away. Jack rushed over and grabbed the small figure, snatching the metal bar from its hand.
“Don’t hurt me, please!” a young female voice shouted.
Jack held the female while removing the hood that covered her head. Jack was shocked. He had uncovered a child, a young girl no more than thirteen maybe fourteen.
A second figure emerged from the storage shed, “Please, she didn’t mean to, please don’t hurt her!” a young male voice screamed. Looking over to the second voice, a boy stood there looking even younger than the girl did.
CHAPTER THREE
SURVIVORS
The sound of the zombies groaning and banging against the scaffolding echoed in the night, the team on the roof stood in shock at finding two kids. Jack still had a grip on the girl who had attacked Elle, the boy still stood in the doorway of the storage shed. Bray lowered his gun and walked towards the boy, but the boy backed off deeper into the shed.
“Please, leave him alone!” the girl, shouted while trying to struggle away from Jack.
Frank stepped forward, “It’s OK, we’re not going to hurt you,” he reassured the kids.
Jack let go of the girl and she ran to the boy, Jack turned to help Elle back to her feet. “You alright?” he asked her while helping her up.
“Fine, just a bump,” she replied to him, smiling. They both turned their attention back to the kids.
“What are your names?” Frank asked.
The girl looked scared, but eventually she answered, “I’m Clare and this is Joe my brother,” she replied sounding scared.
“Hi, I’m Frank,” he replied her in a soft voice.
Frank then started to point out and introduce the rest of the team, “The man next to you is Bray, the man by the wall is Josh, and they are Jack and Elle,” he told them.
Joe was hiding behind his sister, “We don’t have any food you can steal!” Clare suddenly said.
Bray looked disgusted, thinking of these kids being scared of them and thinking he would hurt them. “Are you hungry?” Bray asked them.
