Dead Summit:
Containment
by
Daniel Loubier
www.DarkInkBooks.com
Copyright 2018 Daniel Loubier.
All Rights Reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-943201-15-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018936149
Cover Art: Nick Rose
Cover Design: Alicia Mattern – ZombieSquirts.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or author.
First Published by Dark Ink Books, October 2018
www.AMInkPublishing.com
Dark Ink Books is a division of AM Ink Publishing. Dark Ink and AM Ink and its logos are trademarked by AM Ink Publishing.
Prologue:
Zombies are real.
PART ONE: THE DIARY
Chapter 1
All eyes peered anxiously from the windows as the van climbed slowly up the access road. They were searching for signs of them.
Signs of the dead.
A centuries-old curse caused the dead to reanimate in the area every fifty years. There was no known method to remove the curse, and the few who knew about it made it their responsibility to protect the secret, lest the country—and the world—find out.
The area depended on tourism to survive; without it, thousands of locals would need to find a new place to live. And while it was not a catastrophic event to have to relocate a few thousand people, a select, stubborn few did what was necessary to contain the secret and silence the few outsiders who found out. It was their preference, and containment of the dead once every half-century was, to them, a small price to pay to continue their way of life.
“Do you see any?” one of them asked.
“Not since the last one,” said another in reference to the walking corpse they passed three miles back.
They were surprised to have seen any at all. This late after the outbreak, there shouldn’t have been any left, or so they understood.
The elders had already informed them that once the outbreak reached the point of over-saturation—more zombies than humans—there would be nothing left for the dead to consume and they would simply break down until their bodies rotted away completely. It didn’t always work out like this, and nobody was clear on when the outbreak had begun, but the elders seemed confident it had been at least a week and maybe longer, and chances were, there was no human life left on the mountain.
The van pulled to a stop. Without delay, a door slid open on the side and men holding heavy guns stepped cautiously into the dark, early morning. They gathered into small groups of two and three, then they faced their leader.
“This is it,” said Robert. “The hut isn’t too far from here. Shelly and I will head there.” Then he addressed two of the men specifically: “Ryan, Liam, you guys follow us in, but give us a head start. If there’s anyone at the hut, we don’t want to give them the impression there’s an army coming for them, so hang back and out of sight of us. Make sense?”
Ryan and Liam nodded.
“Good.” Robert then motioned to three others. “You three, head northwest and start canvassing the trails. These things are most likely to take the path of least resistance. They won’t be walking through trees and brush and stuff. They should be easy to spot, and when you do, take them down. And if you see living people…” He hesitated but maintained confidence. “You know what do to about them, yes?”
The three men nodded and walked around the front of the van and onto a trail.
Robert then faced another trio of men.
“I want you guys to head southwest, past the ravine. There’s no camping and very little hiking on that side so you shouldn’t see much activity, if any, but we still need to check it out.”
“You got it, boss,” one of them said.
“Good. Head on out then.”
As they walked away, one of the men stopped and turned around.
“Hey Chief…”
“Yeah?” Robert asked.
“Anyone else up here?”
The man was referring to the noticeable lack of support. Robert knew the men felt they were short on numbers, but he wasn’t worried.
“I’m sure you and your pops have it under control,” the man continued, “but it just seems like we don’t have enough to cover the entire mountain.”
Robert nodded, hearing the man’s concern and then offering a comforting smile.
“I’m glad you asked,” he said. “We’ve got others out there, far from here. My dad said they arrived a few hours before us. They began their canvas from various trailheads. We might see them, we might not… but don’t worry. We’ve got plenty.”
This seemed to satisfy the man and he left and caught up with the two other men on his team.
After they left, Robert looked at the final pair of men without an assignment. He opened his mouth to address them, but stopped. He looked around, gauging the distance between them and the others who had already left. Ryan and Liam were still there, but they didn’t concern him.
After Robert decided the others were out of range, he spoke.
“Tom, Kyle, I want you guys to circle back down the road about ten minutes, then cut into the mountain and take the main trail that leads to the hut. If there’s anyone left and they happen to get past us, you know what to do.”
The two men stared back with no response.
“You do know what to do, right?”
The taller of the two men raised his weapon and rested his finger against the trigger.
“Pop-pop, Chief.”
The girl, Shelly, twisted her head and winced in disgust.
“Good,” said Robert. He then turned to the girl. “Shel? You good?”
“Nope, not at all,” she said matter-of-factly.
Robert threw her a quick, sidelong glare before returning his attention to the remaining men. Her attempt to hide their tension in plain sight with a bit of sarcasm angered him, and he felt a sharp acceleration of his blood pressure. Shelly’s dissonance may have compromised his authority in front of two men who were supposed to look to him as their superior, but there was nothing he could do about it now.
“Ha, always the kidder. All right then, let’s do this. Tom, Kyle, radio if anything. Ryan, Liam, same goes to you. And remember, wait about five minutes, then follow us in.”
“Sounds good, Robert,” said Ryan.
“Good. Talk to you all soon.”
***
“So we’re really doing this?” Shelly asked.
They had left the van twenty minutes ago and were a quarter mile from the hut, and far enough away from Ryan and Liam to be able to speak openly.
“For fuck’s sake, Shelly. We’ve been down this road already, many times. YES. We’re doing this.”
“I know, but I mean, like… really doing this.”
Robert sighed. He stopped for a moment and stared at her.
“Look, you had your chance to say no. There are no more chances. You’re here now, and we have a job to do.”
“You don’t feel cold at all?”
“What? Whaddayou… yeah, I mean it’s chilly, but--”
“I’m not talking about the air, Robert. This whole operation. Doesn’t it make you feel like a kill--”
He pointed a stern finger at her.
“Don’t you do this. Not now. You had your say days ago. Weeks ago, even. And yet you’re still here. To me, that means you’re in. And whatever you were about to say… no. I don’t. I don’t feel like that at all. Now let’s keep going. I’m not
talking about this again.”
Robert didn’t give her a chance to respond and continued along the path. Shelly followed behind him, her head down. Thoughts of running away lingered, but he was right. She had many opportunities to say no, and yet here she was. It was her choice to be here, nobody else’s, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling it was the wrong choice. Unfortunately, to leave now would incur dire consequences.
She stole a glance behind her where two men, Ryan and Liam, followed on the same path. In the low light, she couldn’t see their forms from this distance, but she thought about what their conversation must be like. Were they talking about the same thing? Were they like her, considering running away every second of this heinous journey, or were they just like Robert—cold, hardened, and willing to do anything to protect the secret?
She remembered both men from high school, but she was more familiar with Liam. They had shared a few classes together and he was always nice and respectful, but very quiet. She recalled catching glimpses of him watching her without his notice. Stolen glances in the school hallways while she and Robert made silly faces at each other in front of their lockers. She never interpreted Liam’s behavior as stalking, but rather an unrequited… like? It couldn’t have been love. He hardly knew her, nor she him, but she always suspected there had been something.
It became obvious when they spoke at a party at the home of a mutual friend. Liam had been shy, but funny and cute, and Shelly finally realized how handsome he was. Their conversation had been mostly small talk, but it was enjoyable, and Shelly had hoped a new friendship had begun.
The day after the party, Liam went quiet again. Shelly assumed her relationship with Robert had discouraged Liam from approaching her at school. She also knew Robert was the reason she never approached Liam. Robert had never been a jealous person; in fact he was quite nice to her, but Shelly knew he could also be mean towards others who weren’t close friends of his.
Shelly didn’t see Liam much after high school, but she heard through town gossip that he had become very successful doing… what was it again? Computers? Either way, he had done very well for himself and Shelly wondered what brought him back to this place.
He doesn’t seem like someone who would buy into this, she thought.
She also thought about how Liam might have responded if she just had the same conversation with him instead of Robert, and it comforted her to think he felt the same as she.
Shelly and Robert reached the hut and they stood outside the main door. The sun was only just above the horizon now and the light barely touched the outside of the building as it sifted through the trees. Robert reached out his hand and closed it around the door handle. It was locked.
“Damn,” he said. “There must be someone inside.”
“How do you know?” Shelly asked.
“Because anyone leaving this place would have done so in a hurry. Nobody would have had the sense to lock the door behind them. No, there’s someone in there.”
He reached out a fist to knock but Shelly grabbed his arm.
“Wait! What if the noise disturbs one of those… things?”
Robert laughed.
“You think the zombies locked themselves in? Seriously.”
“Well, I don’t know!” She realized her comment did not make any sense. Then she said defensively, “You don’t know any more about this stuff than I do.”
“Maybe that’s right, but I am willing to bet it’s not the case.”
Shelly remained concerned.
“Look,” he said firmly, “if anything dead comes at us, I have plenty of firepower to knock ‘em on their asses. Okay?”
Shelly sighed, then said, “Fine.”
Robert reached out again and pounded on the door.
“Hello!” he called out. “Is anyone in there?”
There was no response.
Robert knocked again.
“Hello! Is anybody inside?”
Through a small square window in the upper half of the door Shelly thought she saw a figure moving around.
“Look!” she said. “I think I saw someone!”
Robert moved closer to the window.
Shelly was right. He saw movement.
On the other side of the door at the end of a long hallway, a figure appeared. It stood tentatively against a wall and looked back at them.
“Jesus,” Robert said. He cupped a hand above his eyes. “Are they alive?”
Shelly squinted. “I can’t tell.”
“Hello!” he called out. “Can you hear us? We need to come in!”
The figure inside the hut began to move toward them. It moved against the wall and up the hallway. Soon it was close enough and they could tell it was a woman.
“You should probably play it cool,” Shelly offered, surprised by her own suggestion as it seemed to elicit a kind of deception. In fact, she wished no harm on this person and only salvation for her, and yet she had just made a recommendation that supported Robert’s strategy to gain entry.
“You’re right,” he said quietly. “If she’s been holed up in there, she probably doesn’t need someone spooking her.” He cleared his throat, smiled, and in a gentle but louder voice said, “Hi! Can you let us inside? We just hiked up and need a place to crash. The door is locked. May we come in?”
As the figure came closer, he was shocked by her appearance.
He said quietly to Shelly, “Jesus Christ. Is she human or what?”
“Stop,” Shelly said. “You don’t know what this woman has been through.”
“That’s for sure.”
The woman continued to approach the door with caution until finally her face filled the window. Shelly stared at the woman’s bewildered eyes, the dried-up dirt, scratches, and—was that blood?—on her head and cheeks, and the rogue strands of hair that fell unkempt in front of her face.
My God, Shelly thought. What are we doing here?
Chapter 2
What the hell are you doing here? Grace asked herself as she stared at the newcomers through the window in the door.
They were the first faces she had seen in days, other than that of her own reflection. Except these faces were clean. Well… clean-ish. A thin layer of sweat on their skin indicated they had obviously been hiking for a while. They weren’t dirty or bloodied, though, like most of the faces she had seen of late.
The sun is barely up, Grace thought.
The man had mentioned they were ‘night hikers’ and had begun their ascent when it was still dark. Grace had never heard of night hiking before. Who would voluntarily hike at night, especially on a mountain as treacherous and merciless as Mt. George?
Grace was too tired and cared very little to know the answer to that question. Besides, if they had started at the base, that meant the trails were clear of the undead and she could finally get off the mountain. She opened the door for them.
They entered the hut and surveyed the interior with curious yet cautious eyes.
“Where is everybody?” the man asked.
He expected the place to be crowded with people, apparently.
Who says the place has to be full at all times? Grace thought. Something didn’t seem right about these two. The guy continued to fire question after question, yet the girl was quiet. Grace was hardly listening, lost in her own thoughts when he shouted.
“Hello!” He snapped his fingers.
“There’s nobody here,” Grace said.
The guy mentioned something about a dead body out by the lake in front of the hut.
Yeah, Grace thought, there’s a few of them around here, and many of them are still on two feet.
Then she realized he may have been referring to her friend, Roy, and she felt an uprising of sadness.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
Grace had made the mistake of expressing her sorrow, but she shook it off and blinked a few times rapidly.
“Nope. All good. I’m going to go now.”
“Wait,” he s
aid. “You’re leaving?”
His voice sounded incredulous and he wore a stubborn, pouty look, and Grace took satisfaction in not giving this man-brat whatever he wanted. He was obviously there to find something specific and he wanted Grace’s help, but she had nothing left to give to this place.
“Yes,” she said. “I need to go.”
The man inhaled sharply, as if he was about to launch into a tirade, but he held it back.
Then his tone shifted back to a friendly one, even jubilant, when he said, “We just got here! Could you be so kind as to show us around, maybe?”
The girl finally spoke up and mentioned something about a gun. Before Grace could respond, she saw a flicker of annoyance on the man’s face and knew at once he didn’t want Grace to know about it. The girl continued, saying they had found it by the lake and that it was not loaded. This appeared to further infuriate the guy, but he kept his mouth shut lest he personally volunteer any more information he didn’t want Grace to hear.
“That’s good,” Grace finally said. “You’ll probably need it. There are some more bullets around here… somewhere.”
“Look,” the guy said, “we just need you to help us. Can you--”
“Yeah, well,” Grace cut him off. “You guys don’t look like cops and you didn’t identify yourselves as such, so I’m going to go now.”
His face turned red and his muscles tensed, but just as it seemed he was about to fly into a rage, he backed off. The girl didn’t seem to mind that Grace was leaving, but something about him told Grace she needed to get out of there. Throughout the entire interaction he seemed to be engaged in some internal struggle with whether or not to let Grace go, or to somehow prevent her from leaving. Even if he was telling the truth and they really did need her help, what help could she give to them? Her head was not in a place to provide assistance. It was time for her to go home. Time to fulfill a promise, and to tell a story to anyone who might believe her.
With no further argument from either of the newcomers, Grace walked out of the hut and pulled the door closed.
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