Season of the Dead

by Adams, Lucia

  After lunch, when we returned outside to finish unloading, I could see three zombies pawing at the truck. I wondered if they could smell my scent from living in there and if they'd always gathered around previously-inhabited areas for that very reason. They moved slowly—like frozen zombies—and Gerry easily picked them off.

  Sharon came out onto the porch, her rifle ready. He waved her away and yelled, “It was just a three-bullet problem.”

  She nodded her head and went back inside.

  “Were you so fast because you are scared?” I teased him.

  “No, my fucking balls retreated up inside of me once we came back out into the cold.”

  “Yeah, I'm missing that fireplace,” I said.

  “Me too,” Kitty’s teeth chattered, “so let's hurry the fuck up.”

  Everything was desolate and still. “I think the rumors that zombies don't like the cold are true,” I said.

  “Let's hope so.” Kitty held the scope of the rifle to her eye and scanned the woods.

  Even though she was still young, Kitty was strong. I smiled.Safety in numbers, I thought.

  CHAPTER 35

  Dublin, Ireland

  Paul

  William Boland, the Taoiseach’s aide, handed me a glass of whiskey and took a seat opposite me. Everybody else had left the room, busy bees that they were.

  “Single malt,” he said. “Might as well enjoy the good stuff.” He swirled the amber liquid in his own glass and tipped it back, savouring the flavour before swallowing.

  “Thanks,” I answered. It was very fine indeed. Nothing but the best for these government pricks, I thought.

  “Okay, look, this is the story,” he began. “Professor Tompkins, probably our top man in the field, at least the top man still alive, has been working in a secure laboratory underneath Trinity College. He and his team hope to find a vaccine in conjunction with other scientists around the world. They need to get their research to a facility in Canada. I can’t go into details; I’m sure you can understand, but the Taoiseach and what’s left of the government are relocating there. It’s ironic really—many of the world’s governments have finally come together, united in a common cause when it is probably too late.”

  I held up a hand. “What? The government are fucking off to Canada? What does that mean?”

  He sighed and drank again. “Look, Ireland is finished as a country; we’ve lost all our towns and cities. There is a seat on the plane for you, if you want it.”

  This was all coming at me too fast. Finished? Canada? Only a couple of hours ago I was running for my life through the deserted streets of Dublin.

  “Is all hope gone?” I asked.

  “No,” Boland answered. “We’ll regroup, find a vaccine, and then hopefully try and rebuild.

  “Jesus!”

  “Some have gone already; more will follow.”

  “What about those left out there, what about the survivors?” I could feel my anger start to rise. “And why fucking Canada?”

  “Look, I can’t go into specifics. The infected move slower in the cold. That’s why Captain O’Neill and his squad patrol at night, looking for survivors, foraging and protecting us. We are trying to find as many as we can.”

  “But what about the ones you don’t find? Are you just going to abandon them?”

  “As soon as Tompkins arrives we are leaving. You are welcome to be on that plane.” He drained his glass and stood up.

  I thought about Gary and the others—were they doomed? Maybe I should have thought about that before I burned the fucking building down. The least I could do was give Sean and his army chums the address and ask them to keep an eye out for the dozy gobshite.

  “Make sure he doesn’t leave any doors open,” I said.

  Sometime later, after several more whiskies and another nap, I got a nudge. It was Sean. “Paul, Professor Tompkins is here. We’re taking you lot to the airport. Time to shift, bud.”

  The whole thing just felt surreal. I’d barely had time to catch my breath, and I was heading off to Canada, of all places.

  “Sean?” I grabbed his arm, and he turned. “Is this it? Is this the end of us… everything… mankind?”

  “Fucked if I know,” he answered.

  “What about you? Won’t you be coming?” I asked.

  “Not this time. We’ll take you to the airport and then come back. There’ll be other planes; we’ll follow eventually. When I get there, we’ll have a beer.”

  “I’m buying,” I said. I was genuinely sad. I could not help but feel that the longer anybody stayed here, the more likely it was to be staying for good. Then again, was where we were going likely to be any better?

  The door opened, and another soldier walked in. He was carrying something wrapped with a green cloth.

  “We’ve got you a present,” Sean said, taking the bundle from the other soldier. “You were so good with that thing on your belt, we thought this might serve a bit better.” He handed it over to me.

  “Holy shit!” My eyes widened. It was a replica double blade battle axe, complete with stainless steel head and wire wrapped handle. “This is bleedin’ deadly,” I said, giving a few experimental swings. I threw Robbie’s fireman’s axe away without a backward glance.

  When we went outside, it was still dark. I could see shapes moving slowly around beyond the main gates of the courtyard. A shiver ran down my spine.I’m leaving, I thought,but this is far from over. Nothing got in the way of the armoured car; what it could not go around it went either through or over.

  Professor Tompkins was a right narky prick, even becoming irritable with the Taoiseach. He also kept sneezing over our glorious leader. His rudeness was tolerated. I suppose you get away with more when you have the potential to save mankind.

  When we arrived at the airport, the sun was starting to come up. The sky was turning a peculiar shade of orange. I probably would have thought it a nice view if it was not the end of the world. We drove straight up to the plane—a government Lear jet. I was going in style. I could hear the whirring of the engines the moment I stepped from the Mowag.

  There were more Army milling around the runway. They had done a pretty good job of securing the area, for the moment at least. I could see, beyond a wire fence bordering the tarmac, hundreds of infected clambering against the barrier.

  “Let’s get this show on the road and the fuck outta here before they start getting active,” a voice full of authority shouted.

  Suited me. I was happy to get on that plane. As well as me, the Taoiseach and the scientist, there were several soldiers, Boland, and three of Tompkins’ assistants. As I walked up the steps, I heard a crash from the rear of the plane. The scientists all stopped as Tompkins let out a roar.

  “Bloody idiots!” he shouted, and gesticulated at a group of soldiers who had dropped a wooden crate they were loading into the cargo hold.

  “It’s okay, Professor, they’ll have more and better equipment where we are going. What’s important is what you carry in your briefcase,” one of the assistants said to placate the narky git. It seemed to calm him, and with a grunt he carried on into the plane.

  We were travelling in luxury: plush leather armchairs, tables between facing seats. I noticed for the first time that Tompkins had a brown leather satchel handcuffed to his wrist, similar to one an old school master would have carried his lunch into school in. At least, as far as I can remember, they only ever had their lunch in there. I suppose they may have held the odd book or two. He turned and caught me looking at his case. Our eyes met, and he shot me a look as if I’d just slid my hand up his girlfriend’s skirt.

  Prick.

  “You really were in the right place at the right time.” The Taoiseach smiled across at me. I nodded a grateful smile.I’m still not going to vote for you, you wanker. Tompkins sneezed again, followed by two of his assistants. Jesus, I survive a city full of zombies, and I’ll die from the flu.

  As the plane taxied down the runway, I suddenly looked up
. “Shit!”

  “What? What is it?” Boland looked around, his face wide with alarm.

  “We forgot about the duty free,” I said. Nobody laughed.

  I looked out of the window at Dublin Bay and the surrounding countryside, the patchwork fields and tiny buildings dotted about, wondering, would I ever see it again? Was there even anybody I knew left alive? Once we went through the clouds, I tilted my chair back and fell into a restless sleep.

  I dreamt somebody was screaming—a high pitched wail of terror and desperation. It was so realistic it jolted me out of my slumber. Funny enough, when I woke, the screaming had not stopped.

  Oh shit!

  The assistant who earlier had placated Tompkins was on his feet with his jaws buried into the neck of one of the soldiers. Suddenly there was pandemonium in the small plane; everybody was on their feet. The second soldier had his sidearm out and pumped several rounds into the head of the scientist; blood sprayed everywhere before he dropped. The soldier turned to his friend then and, without a second thought, put a bullet between his eyes.

  The world had become a fucked up place.

  I heard a snarl from behind. One scientist was baring his teeth in a grin of pure evil at me. He got a smack in the face from a battle axe for his trouble. The second scientist clambered up the wall of the plane and dropped behind me. The Taoiseach tried to fend him off with an arm. The zombie scientist took a chunk out of it.

  One of the pilots opened the door of the cockpit to see what the trouble was. He took one look and slammed the door. I heard the lock sliding into place. Bastard.

  The Taoiseach got a bullet in the head from the soldier.

  “You shot the fuckin’ Taoiseach!” I said—some guard he was. He did not have time to respond, as the scientist was on him.

  I saw Boland unclip his seatbelt and make a run for the door.

  “What are you doing?” I said in horror as his hand reached for the lever.

  “I can’t die like this!” He’d snapped, I realised. I did not know much about aerodynamics, or pretty much anything for that matter, but I’d seen enough James Bond movies to know that opening the door was not a good idea. I made a grab for him.

  Too late.

  At first, it was blind panic as I tried to swim through the air. It didn’t work. Below me, a blanket of white and green kept coming up faster and faster.

  Oh shit! Please don’t let this hurt too much.

  I spotted Boland ahead of me; the bastard had a parachute strapped to his back. I made myself into a dive-bomb and aimed for him. It wasn’t much of a chance, but it was the only chance. I hit him hard, grabbed for his jacket, and clung on just as he pulled the cord.

  Jesus Christ! I did not like that. I’ve never even liked roller-coasters. I was screaming my lungs out; my breath was just as quickly snatched by the rushing wind. After the initial rush of the chute opening and slowing our descent, my emotions calmed to simple blind terror. Strangely, Boland appeared very quiet, all things considered.

  I realised my eyes had been closed the whole time. When I opened them, I was looking straight into Boland’s face. He did not look well.Who would blame him, I thought. His glare was focused on me, but seemed uncomprehending, which was odd considering I was clinging onto him for dear bloody life, God only knew how many thousand feet in the air.

  Then I saw the blood on his collar. Had he been shot? I craned my neck, slowly. Half his ear was… oh shit! The words tumbled through my head: bite, infected.

  His eyes widened and his brow furrowed as if he were in great pain; a string of translucent snot, like a trailing egg-white, hung from his nose. A strangled sob escaped from his open mouth. For a moment I forgot where I was and jumped with fright—it was enough. My arms grabbed at fresh air; my legs tried to run like an old time cartoon.

  We were just about to hit the trees. It was crash, bang, wallop as I fell through the forest canopy, hitting pretty much every branch on the way down. I lost sight of Boland as I struggled to grab hold of something, anything. I braced myself as best I could. This was going to hurt.

  Strangely though, it didn’t. The hard earth seemed to cushion my fall; more than that, it embraced me, drew me in. I had the strangest sensation of being wrapped in a damp, pungent blanket made of moss and soil and sodden leaves. I felt as if I were sinking into a mattress made of the softest feathers and being wrapped in a duvet smelling of spring and winter all rolled into one.

  Then I was falling… falling through dark earth into a thick white sheet, solid, compact. Only the ice was not hard or freezing; it welcomed me, called to me. I saw a herd of woolly mammoths, their great shaggy hides shambling along trunk to tail, with the smallest one at the back. A great cat the size of a pony, with sabres for teeth, stalked the herd. The lead mammoth raised his trumpet and blew a long, low note of mourning into the air.

  In a flash, the hunter and prey were gone. A huge lizard raised a heavy head into the air, rows of razor sharp teeth dripping red grinned at me as it bellowed its annoyance and frustration in my direction, before returning to rip at the side of a horned beast it had slain.

  Finally, I was released by the frozen womb of the earth and left to lie next to a boiling cauldron of bubbling mud and molten rock. A myriad of colours danced before my vision, crawling from the primordial soup. Billions of single-celled creatures snaked towards me, all individual, all part of the collective. They inched up my arm, my legs, over my face.Virus: the word tumbled through my mind, echoing along the dark corridors of my subconscious. I’m infected.

  No! I am the infection. I am the virus.

  Then all went black.

  CHAPTER 36

  Lucia

  “Let's dig a wide ditch surrounding the entire lodge, fill it with oil, and light it on fire. That'll keep the zombies away.” Kitty nodded her head as she spoke. The overstuffed chair in the lodge had nearly swallowed her. At the rate she was sinking, in a few minutes, I'd be able to squint my eyes and just see a talking head mounted on a piece of furniture.

  Sharon's neck snapped to her left as she looked at Kitty. “It's also likely that we'd burn the entire lodge down, as well as a sizable amount of Canadian wilderness.

  “I'm just day dreaming,” Kitty sighed.

  “Sick of zombies?” Gerry chuckled.

  “Ha! Can you tell?” Kitty shifted in the chair, but sank deeper. “Well, does anyone have any other ideas?”

  “I have one.” I spoke up suddenly and surprised myself with my own voice. “Maybe we should cut a hole in the roof and make a trap door, not only as an alternate escape route, but so that we can walk the roof to scout for zombies. I'm not sure if it’s possible to do so and maintain the integrity of the roof’s structure, but I for one would like an escape hatch.”

  “Sure, we can cut a hole in the roof—climb up through the attic and mount a ladder of some sorts. I saw some wood stacked in the shed that we could use, and a Sawzall is in the basement,” Gerry said.

  “Great idea…” Sharon paused. “I don't want to start a panic, but with all of the windows in the lodge, this place isn't really secure, even with the shutters. We should board up the ground floor windows from the inside as well. I think that is our first priority.”

  Everyone exchanged glances and nervously muttered their agreements at the same time.

  Gerry sipped his coffee and then spoke, “Soon the ground will be frozen. With only four adults, I don't think we really have the time or the resources to spend digging pit traps. Besides, they'd only maim a zombie, and even the ones missing limbs will still crawl after us for some brain chow. We could string up tin cans and things like that around our perimeter so we could hear them approaching. That might be more effective. What we really need is some C4.”

  Kitty picked a copy of “Trout Stream Fishing” magazine off of the table next to her and fanned herself. “Yeah, some C4 and tacos would just about make my fucking day.” Everyone looked at her and she shrugged.

  I scratched myself under m
y squirrel suit again. “Before we start booby trapping the place, can I take a shower? I smell like squirrel funk.”

  “We noticed,” Sharon laughed.

  My eyes widened, “Hey, end of the world and all…”

  “Yeah, you can shower, then you can help Gerry and me haul all of the lumber inside to board up the windows. Kitty can watch Parker, then two of us can secure the windows while the other two string cans together,” Sharon said.

  *

  As I showered, I felt like I was scrubbing zombie soot off of my skin—the dirt from traveling for weeks with fear seeping out of me, and the collection of things baby wipes hadn't washed away. A year of showers wouldn’t make me feel clean—I was certain of it. My hair sat in a lathery dollop on the top of my head and my entire body was covered in suds. I stood and let it soak in for a minute, laughing at the realization that I'd exchanged a squirrel costume for a soap suit. I rinsed myself off and emerged from the shower, now keenly aware of the scent wafting from my squirrel suit which lay crumpled on the bathroom floor where I had left it. I’d hand washed it a few times, but knew it was time to toss it into the washing machine, even if it did shrink.

  After I dressed, I walked down the steps to find everyone already working on stringing the cans together.

  “All ready?” Gerry asked.

  “Yep!” I said.

  Kitty locked herself and Parker inside of the lodge while Sharon and I took turns helping Gerry carry the lumber, alternating who kept watch for zombies. I nearly suggested the lookout was unnecessary when I heard a rustling in the woods. I took two steps to approach the noise, but retreated back to wait for it to come to me. “Gerry, Sharon… I hear something,” I called over my shoulder. As they arrived, two female zombies emerged from behind a tall pine tree. The one in the lead was a dirty, blonde-haired girl with a large bite mark on her cheek. The matted hair nearest her face was colored red from blood. She wore a t-shirt that said, “Don’t Mess With Texas”, but her abdomen was partially exposed and tangled in her rib cage was the exceptionally long hair of a second obese zombie, thus creating a leash of sorts by which the first zombie led the second around like a dog.