Still Alive Series Box Set, Vol. 2 | Books 5-6

by Bonds, Javan

  The cannibal tried to scream but was unable to stretch its jaw more than to let out a momentary whimper. The doctor forcefully ripped the barbs from the warm holder, sending blood spraying from the neck as he rammed the other end of his mace into the opposite side of the creature. Ribs were shattered and organs ruptured as the zombie crumpled to the floor in a heap.

  The spiked head again was flipped and slammed down onto an infected cranium. This completely flattened the brain. Eyeballs popped free from their sockets. Even though it was still twitching, the bleeding body was clinically brain-dead. No amount of resuscitation would sustain the fading un-life

  The trio continued to dismember revenants until the flow of enemies trickled to only one at a time. Three on one the protagonists easily eviscerated these stragglers. The Expert finally pulled her trusty 1911 from within the suit. What was going to be her final line of defense would now be used to finish off the last of the horde.

  As what they discovered to be the last enemy on the alert climbed over the desk blocking the door, she sent a .45 round into its chest. The bullet exploded out the lower back, sending guts, bile, and crimson blood flowing onto the floor.

  The naked ape collapsed with outstretched arms. It fell into what looked like a Superman pose. That is, if Superman were naked and covered in feces. Most of the body was blue and there was some red in the ensemble. There were similarities, but a gaunt monster couldn't be confused with the last son of Krypton.

  Each used their weapon as support, spent from the exertion of the extended hand to hand combat. The Expert unclipped her helmet and started to let it drop to the floor but changed her mind when she looked down. She gasped and forced out words. “I think that was all of them.”

  The Medicine Man spoke through his voice changer between ragged breaths. “I would be surprised if there are any more in the city.” His chuckle came out as a wheeze. The voice changer altered the wheeze and Hammer could only smile, imagining Darth Vader with COPD.

  Looking across the room all they could see were piles of steaming, quivering, filthy, vile smelling mounds of piss covered, dung drenched genitals, blue boobs, arms, legs, charred bodies and pools of liquefied zombie meat. Even the ceiling was covered in a mixture of every type of body fluid in existence that dripped brown rain which covered every inch of floor except the small patch the protagonists had defended.

  The Expert stepped over bullet riddled bodies surrounded by hundreds of empty cartridges. She peered out the door into the hall decorated by John Wayne Gacy. The floor was mostly three deep with massacred, eviscerated former humans. The walls on the opposite end of the hall were completely gone, giving a glimpse into adjacent rooms. Even the walls of these rooms had spots eaten through with the incendiary explosive.

  She turned back and looked up to her compatriots. “Well, let’s go get what we came for.”

  ☠☠☠

  The haul was so meager; it was barely worth taking back. A couple ARs, a 9mm, and a .22 revolver were the only weapons not too rusted to worry about carrying back. The boxes of ammunition barely made up for what they had spent today. Topping off the ammo bag were a few bricks of .22 caliber bullets.

  The only oddity worth retrieving was a pair of spiked brass knuckles and a knife disguised as a writing pen. “Now,” sighed The Expert, “we only have to do this a few hundred more times.”

  All three humans had their helmets removed as they loaded the boxes of ammo in the bag. Hammer grinned at The Medicine Man with a chaw poking from her cheek. “Kumar tells me y’all ran into a mama.”

  He was taken aback by the casual way she spoke of the infected; especially the female carrying the next generation of former humans. “It was at least several months pregnant. It goes without saying that the woman was bitten while she was with child.” He put his hands up, gesturing for her to wait. “There’s no way the fetus remained uninfected, and it is obvious the infection does not disturb gestation.”

  “So it’ll be nine months like normal?” she questioned.

  Infection didn’t disturb gestation, but he wouldn’t assume it would speed it up. “I am fairly certain, unless the mother was pregnant at the time of infection as this one was, there should not be any births earlier than usual.”

  Throwing their loads over their shoulders they made their way out of the exposed shop. Heading down the eerily quiet street of another dead southern town, this trio wasn’t expecting another fight. If there were any infected left in the area, there would surely be pregnant females. Carriers of the coming baby boom of peevies. Rarely seen in the next few months of gestation like most mammals, they wouldn't be treated as queens. But as in most species the pregnant females would be cared for to some extent.

  The doctors shuddered at the thought. The number of these demonic cannibals would exponentially grow as time went on. The species at the top of the food chain usually remains while others become EXTINCT.

  ☠☠☠

  20

  Memoirs Of Benji 3

  THIS CHOPPER HAD the name Skywalker printed on the side of the nose. The only things that could've made this ride any cooler was if “Flight of the Valkyries” or “The End” were playing. What? Anyone who knows anything about pop culture knows about the iconic songs in Apocalypse Now. It’s not like I’m a secret geek or anything. No one in my family is the nerdy type.

  Ghost Rider and Indiana Jones flew in our Jedi ride in the direction of the Lattiwood water tower. The spare ammo box from the Cherokee came in handy and we were prepped for touchdown. Well, our guns were reloaded. There’s no way to prepare yourself mentally for witnessing the depravity of the horrors known as peevies.

  ☠☠☠

  “Fuck if I know. One of them seen me and started hootin’ and hollerin’ and must have told the rest of them where we was!” Colin Ashley was filling in companions on the reason there were suddenly countless undead surrounding their pillar of solitude.

  “Quit wastin’ shots!” He screamed at Kevin while the younger man popped .22 rounds into the infected creature's craniums. “They can’t get up here!”

  Peevies dropped one right after the other as Kevin Dunlap cracked open blue skulls and dead heads. A beast would look up, only to take a bullet through their front teeth. Lead would then go through the top of the mouth entering the sinuses. This would blow out the top of the head, after first scrambling some gray matter.

  The scourge beside its now truly dead comrade would similarly look up to receive its own piece of lead. Going through a yellow eye or catching the creature in the temple, it would collapse just as its fallen brother. There had to be dozens of infected bodies with holes in their skulls scattered for yards around the water tower!

  These survivors assumed they were the last living humans in the county, or at least on Sand Mountain. Safe back at home were Colin’s wife, Mary Ann, and their daughter, Libby, who was Kevin’s wife.

  Colin, his son-in-law Kevin, and Kevin’s simpleton brother Scooter, had come to the water tower earlier. There was a tank of clean water here, ripe for the taking. They didn’t want it to go to waste.

  Kevin and Scooter had climbed the ladder to work on opening the tank. At about twelve feet up, they used bolt cutters to severe the ladder from being reached by anything at ground level. Colin traveled to the truck and was headed back with an aluminum ladder when one of the peevies caught sight of him. He had just enough time to lean the ladder against the pillar, climb up to the bars attached to the tower, and then pull the flimsy aluminum ladder up with a rope.

  With nothing but his .22 rifle, Kevin had decided to put down even more of the peevies. They were in no danger, or so Colin assumed, or it might be safer to say he hoped, that peevies couldn’t fly. Just as he called for the fire to stop, he witnessed something he would have said was impossible before this very moment.

  On the ground, the three amigos could see a human pyramid being formed, by the inhuman monsters. Dozens of the screaming blunatics stood against the base of the tower waiting
for others to climb onto their shoulders. This process was repeated for several layers.

  Colin had an idea! He lifted a flask from his boot. The skinny metal container was full of something he carried for medicinal purposes. Everclear. He unscrewed the lid and flipped back the top before turning the container over emptying the contents on the growing pyramid of zombies below. Pulling a folded handkerchief from his pocket he tied a rifle round in the corner. He then used his Bic to set one corner alight, releasing it to watch it fall.

  When the falling cloth reached fumes of the near ethanol, the air in the immediate area filled with flames. A fireball exploded on top of the peevie pyramid, engulfing everything under the ladder. The growing tower of peevies started collapsing under oppressive fire. Oxygen was ripped from infected lungs as superheated air pushed the monsters to the ground.

  Blue demons at the highest point of the pyramid suffered the most heinous injuries. Doused in accelerant, they received the initial wave of flame. Not one of the creatures received death by fire, every one of them toppled to the ground as they were singed. Bones were broken and organs ruptured as their bodies impacted the hard ground.

  Roasted skin, fried hair, and smoked diarrhea came together to form a vomit inducing scent that was worthy of a title. The horrible aroma wafted up to the survivors on the tower and Kevin couldn’t see through the tears for a few seconds. Colin leaned over the railing to empty his stomach of what little rations he had consumed that day while Scooter collapsed on the metal grating and began weeping.

  With the current tactic appearing fruitless, a new one was tried. A pair of the blue monsters picked up the section of ladder lying on the ground. Even though Kevin frantically tried to drop every one of the creatures carrying the ladder, they were eventually able to get it against the tower.

  It was now standing, appearing to be attached. Monster after monster charged up the rungs, anticipating the tasty food above. Human flesh hadn't been tasted in so long; the peevies were committed to achieving their goal. Necessity is after all the mother of invention.

  As the former humans bolted up the iron bars, they screamed with delight. Kevin’s .22 bullets collided with infected heads but couldn't stem the tide. For every one that fell from the ladder, at least three more surged up. When they had nearly crested the opening, numerous .556 rounds began relentlessly slamming into their backs.

  ☠☠☠

  “I wished like hell this thing had its dam GAU-16 .50 cal mounted!” I screamed over the whir of the blades. Shrugging, I knew my M4 would do the job!

  Devin piloted Skywalker, being a trained chopper pilot, while I stood, strapped in, at the opened door unloading magazine after magazine from my M4. We were so close to the tower, peevies that fell from the ladder were actually being blown against the pillar, as if gravity had been altered. Force from the blades also pushed the monsters down. The rough stone of the water tower left bloodied blue flesh clinging to the sides as they were forced downwards.

  It was nearly painful to watch. The animals would be slowly rolled from the top of the stone pillar to the ground. Almost every piece of skin was ripped from their bodies, leaving peeled blunatics writhing on the ground. They looked like wads of flailing hamburger meat!

  The older man, among three survivors looked to be in charge. “Hey!” I yelled at him over the roar of the chopper. My hands were cupped over my mouth. Jokingly, I questioned him. “Do you guys need some help?”

  Even though the zombies were almost on them, he smiled back and nodded, holding up his hand with his thumb and middle finger about an inch apart “A little bit!”

  The pilot of the whirly bird pitched us up so that the rotors were above the top of the tank. Reaching over to pick up my Devin’s M4, I started unloading dual automatics at the climbing beasts. No matter how many peevies crashed to the ground, they were still making headway. The kid with the little rifle was throwing everything he had at the wave down range, but they still managed to top the walkway. First it was just one and then over a handful were on their feet and charging.

  When I threw the rope ladder, it dangled first in front of a large, weeping kid. “Fucking move!” I screamed at him. He reached out to begin pulling himself up the rungs.

  He was halfway up the ladder and I yelled down to the next closest individual, the young man popping off the small rifle. He reached up only after knocking one of the blunatics back with his rifle butt.

  Finally, the older guy was up. Devin angled Skywalker to line up with our third to be rescued. But the man knew the score. It was too late. There was nothing he could do when one of the blue cannibals dove at him. The wind was knocked from his lungs as he was violently pushed back.

  “Fuck.” he wheezed.

  I could see what was happening but helpless to do anything. “Sumbitch!” His back collided with the railing and he actually remained standing for a brief second. But the next damn monster that slammed into him tipped him over the guardrail and he fell.

  Screaming unintelligibly was the only thing I could do. It was excruciating to watch the man flip head over heels on his way to the ground. Nothing could've been done differently to save the man. Both weapons simultaneously clicked empty but it wouldn’t have made any difference.

  At least he could take some small solace in knowing the peevie toppled over with him. The monster only screamed and flailed its arms as it drove face first, straight to the dirt. The man screamed for what seemed like an eternity. It would have been merciful to kill him when he hit the ground. Yet, I couldn’t do anything but scream and curse the fates.

  If he impacted feet first, the survivor could only wish to have a heart attack, or rupture an artery, or anything else that would make death come more swiftly.

  His blue partner for the short trip was luckier. Cranium was the first body part to touch the ground. Its skull seemed to disintegrate and was replaced with a glob of goop. All bones above the sternum pushed behind the ribs as the ground destroyed the zombie slamming into it. The body being crumpled, twitching a few times before muscles and nerves gave up trying to get a reaction from the brain. Remember, it's not the fall that kills you, but the sudden stop.

  In the same instant, Colin fell just beside the dead blue monster. This one, though, was completely opposite. The man hadn't been infected. Also, he didn’t die instantly. His feet hit the ground before anything else. Metatarsals, ankles, and every bone below his shins immediately shattered. Bones shot through the kneecaps and poked through the skin for several inches. Looking up at the helicopter, the man screamed in inconceivable pain.

  There was nothing to be done. As much as I wanted to be merciful, my accuracy from this range couldn’t be guaranteed, plus I was shaking with rage.

  “I’m sorry!” I knew he couldn’t hear me, but hopefully he could read my lips.

  Beside me, the kid with the rifle ran to the open door. “Colin!” he screamed down at the man. I’m glad he didn’t try to line up his .22 on Colin. There’s no way I’d even let him attempt that.

  Only having time to put a fresh magazine in the well, I looked down to see the mass of peevies gathering around the injured human. They weren’t going in for a bite, they were preparing to fucking carry him! I had seen them do this before. Colin was going to become like cattle and held alive for a slow, long, and torturous slaughter, one piece at a time.

  I yelled at my copilot over my shoulder. “Get closer!” There was no point in telling him, he was already dropping the pitch.

  Dozens of monsters had their hands on the survivor. They were carrying him as fast as they could. Out of the chain-link gate in the blink of an eye, the reanimates surged in the direction of the closest tree line.

  Bullets rained down, dropping infected. Even our newly rescued supplied a few rounds from his .22. Skywalker turned around and came over the crowd for a second volley. My shots didn’t slow the undead. Only a few more feet and they would be safe under the trees.

  I screamed and spit at nothing. This was fuckin
g unfair! He didn’t deserve that and I felt like a failure because I couldn’t save him or at least stop it. I just found out Colin’s name and had never even seen him before today, but there was kinship, being one of the last living humans not in Guntersville. Thinking about what he would have to endure, turned my stomach.

  ☠☠☠

  Kevin and Scooter were our two new comrades. It was hard for them to believe there was an entire city full of people only miles away. They had seen next to no one besides Colin, his wife and daughter, and only a few traveling survivors here and there. Trying to put thoughts of Colin aside, they began asking details about our community.

  I raised a finger. “Before we go home, are there other survivors? What about Colin’s family?”

  Kevin was embarrassed and angry at himself for having almost forgotten his wife and mother-in-law. “Where are they?” I questioned. He pointed to the east. I turned to give my copilot instructions, but I noticed he was already banking in that direction. He knew!

  Every time he proved he knew what was going to happen, I wasn’t sure how I should react. I wanted to scream at him, to punch him, to thank him for keeping me alive, to ask him why the hell he even agreed to go on these adventures if they ended in such horrible losses.

  “You’re always at the place you are always supposed to be.” I reckoned he’d tell ME.

  ☠☠☠

  Interlude 4

  Again I emerged on the deck a few minutes too late. The roundtable was already chatting with my dad over the radio. Brother Williamson mixed up a batch of trail mix– with extra raisins. I don’t think I have to tell you where I was. Maybe I should start scheduling my daily constitutional earlier so that I can get upstairs on time. But that would require thinking ahead.