Zombie God of the Jungle

by Dane Hatcell

  The Professor’s entourage of twenty came well equipped for the mission. More than half carried rifles, some fully automatic. The expedition also brought with it explosives meant to tame the rugged terrain of the jungle. Along with tranquillizer darts and specialty grenades designed to confuse an adversary without lethal consequences.

  “We will assist you any way that we can. I ask only that I be allowed to take photographs of the encounter and for the remains of Kilomba once he is defeated,” the Professor said.

  Barlak hesitated, finding it difficult to believe that he was negotiating the destruction of his God. His spirit was worn down to the point that he no longer cared if he lived or died. He knew though that he had to hang on until his village was safe, or in the end, die trying.

  “I agree to your terms. The thing that lives in the cave is not our God. It is not Kilomba. It is an imitation created by the Devil. Better to be rid of it, and purge it from our memories,” Barlak said, sealing the commitment with a handshake.

  *

  Changchang raised the tripod slightly and tilted the camera forward. The LCD screen on the back framed the mouth of the cave and she pressed the control to zoom in on the view.

  “I have the camera ready, Professor,” Changchang said.

  “I’ve just finished setting up the video. The camera is rolling,” the Professor said. “The perspective from this ridge is perfect.” He stood with his arms up in the air as he looked down below.

  A series of hills bordered the eastern side of the cave of Kilomba. Professor Brigtsen, Mary, and Changchang were in position to capture images of the beast as it emerged from its lair. The cave faced a large, mostly clear area. Dense jungle began some fifty-yards away. A perfect place for Roscoe and his men to hide and wait.

  “Excuse me you two, am I getting in your way?” Mary said, hands on hips and binoculars dangling from her neck.

  “Not at all, Mary. Carry on,” Professor Brigtsen said, testing the pan of the camera.

  “I was being sarcastic,” Mary said. “I’m being ignored. Why did you want me to come again? To be your pack mule? You could have used one of the natives to help haul the equipment.”

  “The natives consider this sacred ground and will not venture this far,” the Professor said.

  “Whatever. You bring me up here to do what? Watch you and Chingaling scurry about like ants while I stand back here looking at your rear ends.”

  “Mary! Her name is Changchang, and please stop with your incessant whining. Changchang, please excuse my wife,” the Professor turned his head and stared at Mary. “Her hormones are obviously imbalanced and she should seek medical attention as soon as we get stateside.”

  Changchang wiped the sweat from her forehead. “It’s okay.”

  “Come in, Professor,” Roscoe’s voice sounded tinny as it blasted over the radio speaker.

  Professor Brigtsen unclipped the radio from his belt and lowered the volume before speaking. “Brigtsen, here. Is the mission a go?”

  “Set your watch for ten minutes. We’ll send in some bait, let you get a few pictures, and then we’ll try to bring him down in one piece.”

  “Use plan B only as a last resort.”

  “I know, Professor. Don’t worry. My men have been informed. Roscoe out.”

  Professor Brigtsen turned to Changchang and smiled, then reached for her hand and squeezed it for reassurance. Changchang smiled back and pulled him into her for a hug.

  Mary suddenly felt alone, as if she were intruding in their special moment.

  Something below caught Mary’s eye. “David? Oh, my. David, when you find the time to pull yourself off her, look.”

  Professor Brigtsen and Changchang turned to Mary, and then where she pointed. A saber-toothed tiger trotted through low foliage toward the cave of Kilomba.

  “I don’t believe it! Changchang, get video while I snap some pictures,” the Professor said as he headed for the equipment. “That cat has been extinct for over ten-thousand years. Look at it!”

  He lowered the camera and focused in on the saber-tooth, taking shots as fast as he could before it escaped from view.

  “It looks as if it’s over ten feet long. I imagine it tips the scale at over four-hundred pounds.”

  Mary watched through her binoculars as the cat slinked its way across the valley. This truly was a historical moment. For the first time she was happy that she had made the trip.

  As the saber-tooth neared the entrance of the cave, it dropped to a crouching position, fur stood on the end along its spine.

  Kilomba exited from the cave knuckles first, turning its lifeless eyes toward the savage beast.

  “Oh, my God,” the Professor said, looking away from the camera, mesmerized by the sight of Kilomba.

  Changchang quickly turned her video camera toward the ape.

  Mary let out a cry of surprise and dropped her binoculars.

  Kilomba looked like a hairy, withered, bag of bones. His lips peeled away from his teeth in a ghastly display of his foot long canines. Some of his fur split away from his skin, exposing rotting flesh. Maggots infesting a wound poured down his leg.

  The saber-tooth twitched his tail four times and sprang upon the huge ape.

  In four quick leaps the saber-tooth had an arm of Kilomba in its jaws. It jerked its head about, trying to throw him to the ground.

  Kilomba hissed, grabbed on the tiger with his free hand, and tossed it to the side.

  The saber-tooth tumbled through the air with a large flap of fur and skin held tightly in its teeth. It hit the ground on all fours, and ran off into the dense cover of the jungle.

  Kilomba stood and banged his chest as he let out a roar. Birds scatted from all directions resembling a black cloud emerging from the treetops.

  The radio squawked to life. “I was going to use one of my men for bait, but he’s out of the cave. We’re going in. Copy?”

  “Copy that, Roscoe. Good luck,” the Professor said, replacing the radio on his belt. Then turned to the women. “You might want to cover your ears.”

  Four concussion grenades flew out the jungle and landed to either side of Kilomba. The Professor and his party were far away enough that all they heard were four short pops.

  Kilomba’s body shuddered as the sudden blast of kinetic energy hit him. Professor Brigtsen thought he could see the shock waves roll through the giant’s skin.

  Three of Roscoe’s men emerged from the jungle with rifles raised. The tranquilizer darts flew through the air finding its target in the confused zombie ape. As fast as they were able, the three reloaded and fired again.

  “The men did a fine job,” the Professor said. “I can see all six bright red darts sticking in the torso.”

  “How long will it take for him to go under?” Changchang asked.

  “It could take as long as three-minutes. Each one carried enough punch to stop a bull elephant.”

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” Mary said.

  Kilomba turned his gaze toward the men, having recovered from the blast. The tranquilizers had no effect.

  The men fell back into the jungle. One narrowly escaped the sweeping arm of Kilomba as he made a grab.

  “Fall back! Fall back!” Captain Roscoe screamed. “All right, mates. It’s a go for plan B. Fire when ready.”

  Professor Brigtsen watched as small orange flashes lit the jungle perimeter from Roscoe’s men, filling the valley with chain fire from automatic rifles. “That bloody bastard isn’t slowing down at all. Nzambi, what we call zombie. I now understand. I’m finally starting to believe that perhaps that beast is somehow dead and yet has been reanimated back to life.”

  “He’s going into the jungle after the men. Oh, David. What if he can’t be stopped? What will we do? He’ll kill us all.” Mary ran to the Professor and held his arm.

  “Now, now, Mary. Don’t worry. Captain Roscoe has a plan. One where the terrain will come into play and will defeat that monster.” Professor Brigtsen signaled to C
hangchang with a nod.

  “Do you really think so? I’ve never been so scared in my whole life. This is like a living nightmare,” Mary said.

  Professor Brigtsen grasped her by her shoulders and pushed her away as he looked her in the eyes. “You have absolutely nothing to be concerned about. I am here by your side. To have and to hold. Till death do us part.”

  Changchang smashed the side of Mary’s head with a large chunk of limestone, sending her straight to the ground.

  “Thank goodness. I don’t believe I could have stood to hear that annoying voice for another second,” the Professor said, wiping his palms on his shirt.

  “I have dreamed of this moment for a long time. We won’t have to sneak around anymore, pretending only to be teacher and student,” Changchang said.

  “No too fast, my dear. I must play the role of the grieving widower long enough to avoid suspicion. You better learn how to fake a tear or two if you know what’s good for you.”

  Changchang nodded her head. “I know . . . I just want us to be happy. Do you think the others are far enough away to go ahead with our plan and toss her down the hill?”

  “Alas, I have thought of it. Now that it is a reality, I can’t bring myself to watch her to tumble down like a rag doll.” Brigtsen narrowed his eyes. “I want that bitch to suffer.”

  Changchang bit her lower lip. “What do you mean?”

  “I want to tie her up and leave her in Kilomba’s cave. Roscoe will either be unsuccessful and Kilomba will return to the cave and find her as a tasty snack. Or he will kill the beast, and she will wake in darkness. All alone, her only companions the creepy crawlers of the earth to pick at her soft flesh bit by bit.” The Professor removed his hat and slicked back his hair. “Either way, it would not equal the years of misery I have endured. We won’t have to worry about her being found, the villagers wouldn’t dare trod on scared ground.”

  The Professor wrapped Mary’s hands and legs with thick packing cord while Changchang circled duct tape around her mouth and head. The two now shared a secret that would bind them tighter than the scared oath of marriage.

  * * *

  “That was a truly dreadful thing to happen, Professor Brigtsen. I can’t imagine how you must feel,” Roscoe said, his hand on Brigtsen’s shoulder.

  “It happened so fast . . . it didn’t seem real. Mary lagged behind on our way back to the village when the saber-tooth sprang out of nowhere and dragged her off. I was in total shock,” the Professor’s voice broke. “Perhaps if I had reacted faster I could have given her a chance,” he stopped and rubbed his eyes until they were red.

  “Now, Professor. You didn’t have a prayer against that prehistoric beast,” Roscoe said.

  “By . . . by the time Changchang and I tracked it down . . . she had been torn to pieces. I wanted to kill the brute with my bare hands,” the Professor hesitated. “Then it looked and me and roared showing me its bloodstained teeth. I knew I could do nothing to help Mary. Not wanting to make matters worse, I realized my responsibility was to lead Changchang to safety. Here we are now, there Mary is. God forgive me . . . .”

  “You did the right thing, Professor. You had no other choice,” Roscoe slapped him on the back. “At least the ape is no more. We filled him with so much lead that he probably weighed twice what he should have. Fortunately the plan worked. We coaxed him to the edge of the cliff and sent him plunging five-hundred feet over the edge to the rocks below.

  “The ship should be in position right about now to haul the carcass on board. I hope his remains will still be worth something to you.”

  “Come in, Captain Roscoe,” the radio squawked to life.

  “You see? Right on time.” Roscoe keyed the microphone. “Roscoe, here. Go ahead.”

  “Captain, we’re at the coordinates you provided. There’s nothing here sir. Are you sure the coordinates are correct?”

  “Of course they’re correct. Did the tide pull the body out to sea?”

  “No, sir. The tide won’t roll out for another five hours.”

  “Hold your position and wait for further instruction,” Roscoe said, and stroked the stubble on his chin.

  A young warrior ran into the village, speaking franticly and making elaborate gestures with his arms.

  “What now?” Roscoe said.

  The Professor rose from his chair and hurried outside the hut, Captain Roscoe followed.

  Changchang was outside. She acted like she wanted to run to his side, but hesitated.

  The earth shook slightly. The jungle rumbled with brush and small trees crunching under massive weight.

  “I don’t believe it,” Brigtsen said.

  The jungle parted and the Ape-God emerged to claim his sacrifice. His body flayed from bullet fire and dragging his left leg behind as he lumbered forward.

  “Kilomba lives,” the Professor said to himself. “Or worse, Kilomba cannot die.”

  Then the professor saw a sight that startled him more than the combined surprise of seeing the saber-tooth and the zombie ape. Mary hung tightly around Kilomba’s neck.

  “There,” she yelled in the God’s ear.

  Professor Brigtsen froze in shock, numb in horror, and stood with his mouth open wide.

  Roscoe and Changchang backed away as Kilomba snatched Brigtsen up and bit off his left arm at the shoulder.

  He was only a few feet from Mary as she clung to Kilomba’s neck. She gave him an evil grin.

  “Like you said, David. ‘Until death do us part.’” Mary laughed from a place of madness. Bones crunched with each mouthful and Brigtsen’s screams ended abruptly. Mary wished they could have lasted longer.

  Satisfied with the daily sacrifice, Kilomba tuned away from the village and headed to the solace of his cave.

  Mary slid from his neck and down his back, her feet landing on the ground.

  Changchang backed up as Mary approached her, and halted when she bumped into Roscoe.

  Mary stopped when she reached arm’s distance and slugged Changchang with her fist.

  Changchang fell to her backside on the ground, and rubbed her chin.

  “You two should have had a better plan. You should have paid more attention to detail,” Mary said, standing over Changchang. “Kilomba only eats men.”

  The End

  From Severed PRESS

  Alien microbes mutate with the DNA of the dead, reanimating corpses to life. A cop, Rico, and a junkie streetwalker, Angie, barely escape the onslaught of zombies. As they head for sanctuary, a jealous pimp seeks revenge, and Angie’s drug addiction, become a greater threat than the undead.

  From Severed PRESS

  INTRODUCTION BY JOE MCKINNEY

  “Scioneaux and Hatchell double-down on the horror and thrills in this gritty, action-packed zombie thriller. This one has real bite." – Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author of Rot & Ruin and Dead of night.

  "Scioneaux and Hatchell give you a fast-paced narrative full of oozing bodies and narrow escapes and poignant ruminations on the fragility of a man’s body and the resiliency of his character" – Joe Mckinney, Bram Stoker award winning author of Flesh Eaters and Inheritance.

  From Severed PRESS

  ««««« Rated “The Perfect Read” by The Bookie Monster!

  “SLIPWAY GREY is just as lovably cheesy and sleazy as you’d expect from its wonderful serial killer + giant shark premise. It’s goofy, gory fun!” -- Jeff Strand, author of WOLF HUNT