From the top of a hill, he saw one of the few small hiding spots built by desperate survivors and zombie hunting fanatics. Most of these very small yet useful shelters were made of debris. After building them, some survivors would return later to see if people had been there. They’d occasionally find a few zombies to loot and sell. No one knew who the zombies were sold to or why the buyer or buyers wanted them. Many believed zombies were wanted for scientific research or to be used as weapons.
Jason spotted three people standing in the cramped pocket. Upon getting close enough, it was clear to him that they were dead. The pasty skin and overly slender frames were a dead giveaway. As he walked by, the zombies used scrawny arms and bony hands to reach through the small openings. Jason couldn’t help but constantly look back at them until he was too far away to see them.
Not from the south, Jason had no idea where he was. He grabbed what he could get his hands on and fled as soon as the media began making announcements about the epidemic. It didn’t take long before roads became graveyards and warzones for the crazed, desperate and unprepared.
Jason walked down the wide and clustered road for several hours and decided to start searching for a place to hide for the night. Time was not on his side. The sun went down prior to him finding any buildings. Traveling at night was too frightening and stupid. He’d only do so if he had to flee. Survivors fond of resting beneath a car was unheard of. Unfortunately, he could think of nothing else.
Six hours were spent sleeping without being disturbed. He awoke to the sound of people talking.
“Brice,” said one man. “Where are we going?”
“How am I supposed to know?” Brice answered.
“Other people are probably nearby. Those who were smart enough to run will be scattered all over the area.”
“I don’t understand why people would want to stay after seeing that yellow mist fog up the whole town.”
“People are stupid.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Then I guess we’re to be bandits again?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m going to tell you something. I’m not going to eat like that again. I mean it this time.”
“I hope we’ll never have to. If it has to be done, it has to be done. You know that.”
“I haven’t felt right since we saw that mist. I think we inhaled something we shouldn’t have.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“It could be something used for population control.”
“Shut the hell up. We have no way of knowing what it was.”
“I feel sick.”
“Shut the fuck up. We’re fine. Let’s just go.”
An hour passed before Jason peeked from beneath the car to find out if the area was clear. It wasn’t. A pack of starving wolves stared at him from twenty yards away. He slowly got out from beneath the car and began to walk away. Tears rolled down his face when he noticed the pack of wolves following with hungry eyes.
3
Disoriented, Austin woke up to the scary realization that he’d been stripped of his clothing and belongings. Someone had tied him to a mattress. He was surrounded by forty or so others who were also restrained. All were inside a massive makeshift tent. A victim would die from devastating wounds, blood loss, sickness, starvation or thirst and turn every few hours.
Austin and others were panicking. The captives could do nothing until people in hazmat suits came in, removed their restraints and removed them from the tent. Those who tried to fight were immediately shot in the head.
Austin was dragged into a small room inside a building next to the tent. His captors forced him into a chair. In seconds, a man dressed in a fancy suit entered the room.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” said the man. “I don’t want the men in the protective suits to kill you. Enough deaths have occurred today.”
“Why aren’t you in one of the suits?” Austin asked.
“I’m immune to all diseases.”
“You’re crazy.”
“No, sir. I am not.”
“Yep. You’re a lunatic. I’m going to be killed. I’ll probably die in a horrifying way.”
“I’ll let you in on a little secret.”
“Okay.”
“The mist was chemical gas. The attack was supposed to kill all of you. Surprisingly, ten percent of you survived.”
“I guess I got lucky.”
“You can be one of us. To do so, you must undergo the initiation.”
“Explain this initiation.”
“Eating the flesh of a painted one is necessary to become like us.”
“Okay.”
“Run out and find the one you’re supposed to feast on.”
“You know you’re not making any sense.”
“Okay. I can tell you’re coherent. I’ll stop.”
“Much appreciated.”
“I’m not crazy.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“I was testing you.”
“Just kill me or let me go.”
“Walk out of here.”
A man in a hazmat suit handed Austin some clean clothes. Austin got up, slowly put on the clothes and walked out of the room. He escaped but didn’t get far. An unknown individual crept up from behind and knocked him unconscious while he rested against a dead tree.
When he came to, he realized he was covered with a gooey substance and tied to the tree. He was able to free his arms but not untie the thick knots binding him to the tree. A note was found in his front right pocket.
“You’re covered in what I believe is a zombie repellent and being watched by yours truly. You can’t see me, but I can see you. You can’t free yourself. I made sure of that. I truly hope the zombies will not be interested in eating your flesh.”
He knew the repellent wouldn’t work. Austin cried when a single wandering zombie noticed his existence. It hobbled on over to satisfy itself with an easy meal.
4
“He just doomed an entire town,” a man whispered to his wife. “We can’t be a part of this anymore.”
“We will stay with whoever keeps us alive, Landon.”
“They’re going to kill us when there’s no one else left to toy with. There will never be a time when it is a good idea to ally ourselves with psychopaths.”
“It’s our best choice right now, Landon.”
“James just wiped out a whole town.”
“We stay with the group. I’m done talking about it.”
“You’re going to listen to me, Kate. He killed more than men and women. He slaughtered children.”
“Those kids were lucky. They avoided a more horrible fate.”
“Who is he or anyone else to make a choice like that for a child?”
“It had to be done.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I’m not sure if I know you anymore, Kate.”
“You do.”
“I wonder.”
“Eat your food and be grateful we’re on the winning side.”
“Where did Harry and the others go?”
“Guard duty.”
“What?”
“Yeah.”
“We were supposed to leave today.”
“I convinced them to see things my way.”
“I definitely don’t know you anymore.”
“Oh, well.”
“I’m leaving this group.”
“No one’s stopping you.”
“Holy shit. You’re really going to stay here if I leave.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
“You’d really do that to me?”
“Yep.”
“I hate you.”
“You’ll get over it.”
Landon sat in the corner of the tent and went through his belongings. Enough food and water to get through a week or so, a few tools and miscellaneous items, a pistol with no ammunition and a sword. He turned and glared at his wife.
“I know you’ve done a lot for me. I thank you for it. Still, I’m not going to leave this group’s company until it is a good idea. It isn’t a good idea and won’t be for a very long time. Leaving the group is out of the question.”
“I refuse to surround myself with monstrous human beings.”
“I wish you’d listen to reason and stay.”
“I’m leaving when the sun comes up.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll probably never see you again.”
“I know. Get some rest, Landon. You’ll need all the energy you can muster.”
Landon said nothing else to his wife. He took his leave while she slept. Three days of wandering through the dead forest passed before finding an abandoned city. Landon had gotten lucky. Plenty of untouched food, water and supplies in numerous places was up for grabs.
He slept in a service station’s restroom. Refusing to leave so many useful items behind, Landon barricaded the doors and windows. He was reading a car magazine in the restroom when he heard a person quickly trying to remove the barricade just outside the restroom’s door.
Landon jumped to his feet and readied his sword. A man in body armor rushed in and stared.
“I mean you no harm,” said the man.
“Then leave.”
“I need to get you out of here, sir. It isn’t safe here.”
“Leave me be.”
“There is a massive force of undead nearby. It’s a miracle you’re still alive.”
“I haven’t seen one of those things since I got here. Go away.”
“Fine. I’ll leave. Head to the sewers if you need a safe place to stay with good people. Nobody will bother you there.”
Landon refused to leave the mass of useful items behind. He knew nothing was worth dying for. However, his greed tightly took control. He resided at the gas station for some time. Fortunately, the time to create more barricades and traps was given. After two months had passed, he formed an alliance with four others. Only four weren’t foolish to go toe to toe with him. Dozens who did met a quick end.
“Everybody’s happy with twenty percent, Price.”
“Not me.”
“Accept it or leave.”
“You know I won’t accept this anymore, Zack.”
“There’s always the option to take your share and get the fuck out of here. If you’re done working with us, go on. We won’t stop you.”
“Come with me,” Price said to Landon. “We’ll take what we want when we want.”
“I’m fine with what we’re doing here,” Landon replied. “You have a good thing going for you right here, Price. Why leave when you can make a fair living with a group that fights as one?”
“I just wish there were four of us. I think five people in this group is one too many people.”
“We’re greedy enough as it is. I don’t think any of us need to change anything we’re doing.”
“The woman with the shotgun hasn’t helped us at all since we saved her from those bandits. Why keep her? She’s good for nothing. She just eats our food and drinks our water.”
“I’m loyal,” the woman barked. “Loyalty is nearly impossible to find.”
“I think it’s time you left,” a tall masked man said to Price.
“Really? The newcomer thinks he can decide if I leave? I don’t think so!”
The conflict was resolved in seconds. The masked man had already been reaching for one of his many knives before Price reached for his pistol. The thrown projectile jabbed Price’s throat. Everyone split Price’s possessions, dumped his body over the nearby bridge’s side and continued their business as usual.
“Never knew how well he had it,” Landon said, opening a bag of potato chips. “He was a greedy mental case.”
“That he was,” the masked man agreed before making his climb up the ladder and into the guard tower.
Zack and Landon made their rounds around the store while the woman and masked man handled the store’s customers. With medicine and professional medical attention being so rare, most survivors didn’t make risky decisions when interacting with others. There was little trouble with the business.
There were always angry customers. In the end, everyone paid if they wanted something badly enough. Customers were always trying to get a good deal. Landon and the others made sure everyone got ripped off. None tried negotiating twice. All customers knew the shopkeepers had the upper hand. They’d always prefer buying goods at ridiculously high prices over going without.
Everything was going as planned until a horde of zombies limped into the area mere minutes before light sources were put out. The four remained quiet. They watched the moonlight reveal a horde of thousands limping through. The survivors didn’t move from behind the counter. All sat still and listened to that ever so common moan.
5
Landon never got used to the sound of that moan. He despised the monsters. The fear would overwhelm him until the day he stopped breathing. Fleeing was always preferred over fighting. He was certain that was why he still lived.
He had abandoned people several times. He and his wife tried convincing previous groups that large populations were too hard to control. Landon and Kate knew every group would fall without a supreme number of trustworthy people and supply surplus. Greed, mental instability or an invasion would cause a group’s downfall again and again. Landon believed he knew the solution but felt that the absence of common sense made such valuable knowledge useless.
Zack met Landon six days after people from the sewers persistently urged Landon to consider relocating. Zack traded with Landon and asked if he’d be interested in teaming up. At first, Landon refused the idea. Zack proved his loyalty by killing every zombie and human attacker in the area for two weeks. The woman with the shotgun was once a prisoner to six bandits. Zack and Landon killed her captors after they tried to sell her to them. The skinny, tall masked man was young and new to the group but often proved his usefulness.
The smell of rotten flesh, frightening appearances and moan of death was everywhere. Landon accepted the belief that he’d never escape the dangers lurking around every corner. He tried not to think so often. Pondering the future resulted in depression. No more fun or friends. There was only hunger, thirst, death, horror, greed, psychotic behavior, betrayal and more betrayal. That’s all life was anymore. Forgiveness was nonexistent. Landon believed the planet was now overrun by hell.
No one in the service station said anything for three days. The young masked man finally complained about the restroom’s smell.
“Really?” the woman whispered. “Shut up.”
“As long as we whisper, those things won’t be able to hear us.”
“You’re risking our lives.”
“No, I’m not. They can’t hear us if we keep our voices down.”
“The zombies are searching for us.”
“We all know that. We’re doing everything we can. Might as well perceive the zombies as our first line of defense.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ve outlived most people, shotgun lady. How can you not know what I’m talking about?”
“I never saw or experienced anything too harsh. I was a slave living in a crate. A crazy rich guy had me kidnapped. My safety and well-being were great until bandits killed the guy and took me a few months ago.”
“You’re new to all of this?”
“Yeah.”
“You need to adapt quickly.”
“I know.”
“Cannibals are the biggest threat. They’re more clever than you’d think. They use distractions when they can. The zombies outside would be a good one. If cannibals know where we are, they will also know it’ll be harder for us to escape while being surrounded by the undead.”
“I wonder how many people have been killed by cannibals.”
“A really sad number of people. Consider yourself lucky.”
“You don’t know enough to rightfully tell me to consider mysel
f lucky.”
“You’re right. My apologies.”
“Apologies don’t mean shit.”
“Regardless, I truly am sorry.”
“Just keep whispering to me.”
“It’ll be fine, shotgun woman. There are a million reasons to freak out. Keep in mind that choosing not to do so is always at your fingertips.”
“How do people tolerate sharing a world with zombies and crazy people? What if we run out of food before those things move on?”
“Worrying isn’t going to make anything about this situation better. Just deal with everything as it comes.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
“We’ve all been through it.”
“There’s basically no one anymore.”
“There are many people hidden away. Don’t ever look for people. You’ll probably meet your end if you do. Some people might disagree with that, but I don’t care.”
“How have people survived for so long? It has been well over a year and a half.”
“Humanity is stubborn.”
“What are the odds of finding a good person?”
“There aren’t any good people left, lady.”
“I’m a good person.”
“If what you say is true, you’re the last of your kind.”
“Why keep me?”
“You’re needed.”
“And when I’m no longer needed?”
“We’ll part ways.”
“We need to stick together.”
“I agree,” Landon chimed in. “We definitely need to stay as a group. We’re very fortunate to have each other. We can’t let another Price into our group.”
“So,” Zack whispered after taking a sip of water. “What’s the plan? We have enough food, water and supplies to last us a good while. I think we should stay here for a while longer. If anyone disagrees, let it be known.”
No one opposed.
“Okay. We’re good right now. Why change anything?”
“It’d be nice if those dead people would go away so we can start getting customers again,” said the woman.
“They’ll eventually move on,” the masked man replied. “Hopefully. I’d rather not have to burn through precious ammunition just to be able to leave and move on.”
Jeffrey McElyea's Zombie Compilation Page 6
