Wake the Dead

by Vanucci, Gary F.

  “Tire?!” she asked disbelievingly. “Tell me you’re fucking kidding!”

  “Car,” he answered dryly. “We need another vehicle—and fast!” he said, peering into his rearview mirror and seeing a mob of zombies rushing toward the mini-van. They were a good distance away, he recognized, but they would close the distance quickly. “Or we need gas for this one.”

  “There’s a gas can right here,” she said, shoving it to test the capacity. “Looks like there’s some inside, like someone was preparing to fill her up,” Selina explained, still trying to keep Shadow calm.

  Alex leaped out of the mini-van, leaving the door open, rushed to the side door and grabbed the can.

  The zombies continued to close the gap.

  He frantically spun open the gas cap and shoved the spout into the opening for the fuel tank and waited as it slowly drank in the gas with methodically timed gulps.

  “Selina, I might need some cover,” Alex said frantically as she gazed through the rear window toward the onrushing mob of the living dead.

  “Alex…you’ve got about thirty seconds,” she said calmly.

  Alex finished his task and tossed the gas can away, running to the driver side, hopping in, closing the door just as a zombie slammed into the rear of the mini-van with such tremendous force that the window cracked under the impact. Shadow growled in response, and Alex closed his eyes as he jammed the screwdriver into the ignition switch again. It started up once more and he floored it, knocking over and leaving zombie attackers behind as he headed toward the filling station up the road a few miles.

  Five minutes later and they arrived at their destination, having lost the zombie mob in the distance. Alex jumped out and started to fill the car with gas, looking inside to see how Selina fared with Shadow. The wolf seemed to be calm now and Alex smiled, thankful that he hadn’t seriously injured the wolf. Luckily, the zombie took the brunt of the arrow’s force and he hadn’t had time to pull back deeply on the bowstring.

  Alex ran into the filling station market, seeing the remnants of their last visit, and found a few bottles of water and a case of soup cans in the back of the store. He covered his mouth and nose as the rotting and burnt flesh that remained stunk to high heaven. He gagged and almost puked, but held it down.

  He ran back to the mini-van and tossed a few of the soup cans into the back, Selina opening them with a can opener and she poured them out into a hub cab, allowing Shadow to eat.

  “It’s New England clam chowder—his favorite,” he added with a silly grin. “Now let’s get that humidifier.”

  ***

  He pulled the mini-van slowly into the SuperMart parking lot, which was a few miles further up the road from the shopping center with the grocery store. He slowly maneuvered around to the side of the building, noting several pockets of undead meandering aimlessly around at the front side of the lot.

  He stopped the mini-van beside a few other abandoned vehicles there, including a trailer that had been most likely scheduled to make a delivery, its tires flat and one door in the back was partly open. A minute later and Alex spotted a side entrance to the store.

  “An employee entrance?” Alex asked, pointing to the door. It was steel and looked pretty secure.

  “Probably,” Selina agreed, opening the side doors to the mini-van and looking to Shadow who had already finished his meal.

  “You coming, Shadow? Or do you wanna sit this one out?” Alex asked, climbing into the mini-van and inspecting the dressing. The bleeding had stopped for sure, but he seemed very ginger, not moving in the slightest to exit the vehicle. “You stay here, boy. We’ll be back soon.” Alex shut the door, locking all the doors except the driver side and removing all of his gear again, as did Selina. “Looks like it’s just you and me,” Alex said absently, making off toward the side door.

  “Wow, it’s our first date,” Selina said with a deadpan expression, sliding her sword from its casing.

  Alex smirked wryly and climbed the four concrete steps to the door, pushed against it, and it swung open easily enough. Selina stepped inside as Alex removed a flashlight.

  “Gimme that. You’ll need two hands for that bow,” Selina said, taking the flashlight from him. She shone the light back and forth revealing countless numbers of tall, steel racks filled with goods in the distance, a few desks and chairs along the walls and a forklift or two.

  “Guess there’s no power in this store, huh?” Alex asked rhetorically, pulling an arrow from the quiver and readying it.

  “I could use a lighter sword,” Selina mentioned, maneuvering the sword through the air with one hand on the pommel. Alex took note the movements weren’t nearly as fluid as when she had held it with both.

  “Beggars can’t be choosers and all that,” he said sarcastically now, looking to her for the response, but none was to be found. She was intently focused on her surroundings. “You'll manage, I'm sure,” Alex said, following her and the beam of light through the back racks, looking for a humidifier. “We should probably grab an extension cord or two, in case they don’t have any.”

  “I’m sure they have plenty—“

  They both froze upon hearing something in the distance. The skinny beam of light displayed a zombie rushing toward them.

  ”Don’t waste an arrow,” Selina said. Alex watched the beam of light as it moved back and forth. He heard the distinct and sickening sound of the sword edge cutting through flesh, followed by the sound of something hard hitting the floor. That, in turn, was followed by another sound, coming from something much heavier than the first.

  Selina shone the light on the floor to reveal the undead body and the severed head, the source of the consecutive thuds. She also revealed a notable and deep gash on her arm from the attack.

  “Are you—“

  “I'm fine,” Selina interjected, moving away from him. “Let’s keep going.”

  “Maybe we should go out into the store,” Alex whispered, hearing more sounds in the back area. “That way we can at least see in the daylight coming through the windows.” Selina nodded and redirected the flashlight all about until it finally landed on a set of double doors. They quietly moved through them, down a short hallway, and into the store, where the light was indeed brighter. Alex noted that even with the natural light, there were also many pockets shrouded in darkness.

  Alex pointed to the left, meaning to sweep the store systematically until they found their target. However, he was suddenly distracted upon seeing the sporting good section and paused to inspect the area.

  “Selina, over here a minute,” he said, moving toward that section. Once they rounded the corner, they could see that several glass cases were already broken into and their insides ravaged, however, many arrows and other supplies remained. “Would you like a knife to go along with that other pig sticker?”

  Selina laughed at that. “I'm fine with this, Lancelot,” she teased, drawing the desired frown from Alex. “Get what you gotta get and let’s get moving. I wanna get in and out of here as fast as possible. I don’t like this place.”

  “Fair enough,” Alex said, sifting through the arrows and finding a handful more carbon arrows that he grabbed and tossed into his pack. As he was about to leave, Alex noted a very nice Swiss army knife left in the case and, kicking at the rear of the case, managed to get it open. He bent low to retrieve the knife, grabbed it, but when he stood, he witnessed two figures standing before them cloaked by the darkness. Each of the pair had a gun pointed at either of them. As they entered into the light, he recognized two men, both looking a bit haggard, unshaven and jittery.

  “What we got here?” said one of the two.

  “We might be having a party, Ted,” said the other, gesturing with the barrel of his weapon to Selina. “You wanna watch yer girl get hers?”

  Alex said nothing and instead looked in the immediate area for something—anything!—that would aid them in this dire situation. The bow and arrow would be too slow for him to use in this close proximity.r />
  “I wouldn’t,” Alex suggested through clenched jaw as Selina held her weapon, tip out toward them.

  “I don’t wanna kill you…we just want to know where you hang your hats. Ain’t that right, Sammy,” said the other, blonde haired man, moving closer to Selina. “You better put that down afore Ted there shoots ya, sweetie.”

  “Fuck you!” Selina barked angrily.

  “I really don’t wanna have to kill ya, little lady. Now, I’d put that weapon there down, or I’m gonna shoot you,” warned the one named Ted, a dark haired man with a full beard. Both were smaller than Alex was, but both were also armed with pistols, which gave them a distinct advantage. “You got a car around here with supplies? You two sleeping in your vehicle? Talk!”

  Think, Alex! he thought angrily.

  “I’d rather die than tell you anything,” Selina said through gritted teeth as one of them closed the gap between them, avoiding stabs and thrusts from her, but not easily. Then Alex watched in horror as the man, sensing that Selina knew how to handle the weapon, fired a shot at her. It all happened so fast that Alex saw the discharge of the weapon and Selina fell backward, dropping the weapon and the flashlight in one fell swoop.

  Alex could only see blood on her right arm at first and wondered how badly she was wounded, fearing the worst. Ted, the shooter, was closing the gap and stood over her now, slapping her and falling over her, yelling for her to give up their location. He had to hurry. He was not going to let anything happen to this woman. Not another friend would be mistreated or worse while he still drew breath. Such was his vow he’d only recently taken during his fishing excursion, and it was his final pledge to honor Sara’s memories.

  Alex finally saw something that would give them a chance—a chance at a much-needed distraction. He looked down on the floor and saw a discarded gun just lying there. Alex bent down to pick it up, not knowing if it was loaded, a toy, or something else altogether, but it was something. However, when he bent down to grab it, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his skull and neck. His world went fuzzy and began to fade. The ground rushed up to meet him and he found himself lying on the floor among broken glass and a cold, hard surface.

  Sporadically, he could see the two men slapping at Selina, shaking her hard and he saw the blood dripping from her arm. He could hear Selina screaming, fighting and kicking in between clouds of blackness. He shook the pain and everything from his head and tried to stand, slowly. As he pushed himself up, his hand found a thick shard of glass, which he grasped in his left hand. He felt the glass cut into his flesh and used the pain to aid him in his effort. He was unsteady, but through sheer force of will, compelled himself to continue. His right hand curled around the hilt of his hunting knife as he unsheathed it.

  Before either man could turn, he was upon them, one to his immediate left and the other directly in front of him, kneeling over top of Selina. He jammed the broken piece of glass through the blonde man’s neck, blood erupting from the wound, and then, with the collective anger and pain of his losses, he jammed the knife directly into and through the dark haired man’s skull.

  Blood slowly seeped and intermingled with man’s dark locks as Alex used the handle of the knife as a handle, yanking the man off Selina before he too collapsed.

  ***

  Alex heard what he believed to be a gunshot.

  Pain resonated in his head. That was the only thing he could sense immediately—pain.

  His neck and head ached as if someone had crushed them in a vice, as the sound of the gunshot reverberated in his ears. He felt hands on him and panicked, his right arm shooting out to grab his assailant—a blob was all that he could perceive—by the throat.

  “Alex!” he heard through the pain and blurriness. “Stop! You’re hurting me!” His vision cleared and Selina was in his grip. He let go immediately and his eyes broadened in shock. Alex looked around and saw the results of what he could have sworn was a dream; or a nightmare, really.

  A pair of dead men lay on the floor, off in the far distance, and Selina, a rag tied around her right arm, was leaning over him.

  “I'm so sorry, Selina….”

  “Sorry for what, you dumb ass? You saved my life. Again.” She leaned over him and hugged him tightly. “I am forever in your debt, Lancelot.” She smiled at him, and in spite of the scene around him and all of the horrors that accompanied it, he felt the warmth of that smile transport him to a place of peace. In that very instant, he was able to shut out the pain, the anger, and the many losses he’d suffered, and truly felt a harmony that he hadn’t felt in a long time…not since he first met Sara.

  “This is gonna sound silly, but everything is fuzzy. What exactly happened?”

  “You saved me from those assholes. They were going to kill me if I didn’t talk. maybe worse, who knows? They wanted to know where our camp was…where our vehicle was. But you killed them, instead,” Selina explained. Alex rubbed his head, tried to stand but felt dizzy, and instead, fell to his backside against the floor, staring up at her. “Don’t try to move yet.”

  “I don’t really remember anything. I mean, in that instant,” Alex stated, noting that the palm of his left hand was bleeding.

  “Yep, you took a nice hit to the head. That dumbass there clubbed you with the butt of the gun. You stabbed that one there in the neck with a shard of glass and then killed that one there with your knife.” She stood, retrieved the weapon and handed it back to him. “I cleaned it for you.”

  “Oh, right. Now I remember,” Alex stated, recalling now the gruesome deeds and simultaneously dropping his knife as pain resonated in his left hand when he attempted to test its flexibility.

  “Let me wrap that for you, I just found a clean cotton shirt and soaked it in peroxide,” Selina added, bending low and tying the rag around Alex’s wounded hand.

  “And I heard a gunshot…I think?” Alex asked, trying in vain to shake free the pain from his hand and the ringing in his ears.

  “You did. The man you stabbed with the glass, he became a zombie shortly after he died, couldn’t have even been five minutes I don’t think. So, I shot him,” she explained, nodding her heard toward the remains of the blonde man. “My sword was over there,” she pointed, “but his gun was right next to me. I had to use it, he was too close.”

  Alex nodded. “Why didn’t they kill me if they were just going to try to get the answers from you?”

  “I have no idea…maybe you were plan B,” she said, bending over him and dabbing at the back of his head. When she pulled the rag away, it was smattered with blood. “I'm just glad they didn’t….”

  “Man, that fuckin’ hurts,” Alex winced. “Shit, how long have I been out? Is Shadow—“

  “He’s fine,” Selina was quick to interrupt. “After I killed that joker, I quietly made my way back to the vehicle to see if they came in from the back or if they found the mini-van. Shadow was alone, still locked inside the back and he was lying down. Now, relax.” Alex did finally exhale slowly, leaning forward and allowing her to dab at the wound.

  “Are you…okay?” Alex asked sheepishly.

  “I'm fine Alex. You got ‘im before he did any real damage.” Alex was relieved at hearing that, though he remained stoic. Her shirt was torn open from the neck down revealing hints of a pink bra, and a tear could be seen on the front center of her left pant leg. Her face was bruised, too, blood dripping from a cut on her left cheek.

  “I meant your arm…,” Alex said, tapping the cloth that covered her biceps.

  “Oh, my arm? He grazed the skin. It’s not all that deep. I'm in better shape than you, it seems.” Again, she smirked at him and he could not help but feel a very real sense of lucidity at the genuine kindness of her smile. He nodded, retrieved his fallen knife absently, and returned the blade to its sheath. She knelt down and stared into his eyes, leaning closer and once more dabbing at the head wound. Her scent washed over his senses, she was so close, her chest against his face and he swallowed hard.

 
; “You should get some ice on that pretty face of yours.”

  She stared at him again, closing the gap between them very slowly, leaning in, her lips moving close to his. He did nothing, unsure of what she was doing at first. Then she kissed him, much to his surprise…and delight.

  Alex reflexively recoiled, not expecting it, as he banged his head against the wall. “Ow, damn!” he whispered as Selina backed away, but remained on her knees, eyes level with his.

  “I'm sorry, Alex. Are you okay?”

  “Um, yeah. Sorry. I didn’t mean….“

  “It’s okay. Surprised me too!” she rebutted. “But, I feel…something for you. I don’t know if it’s real or not, but it’s something.”

  “Me too,” he admitted, dabbing at the wound himself, which seemed to have stopped bleeding.

  “Is it okay if you…I mean we…made love?”

  “Now?” Alex asked incredulously. “Here?”

  “Yes, you dumb ass! I don’t know if we will ever get the chance again,” she exclaimed, staring at him wide-eyed. “Besides, who the hell knows if we’ll even live through the night in this crazy world?”

  “You don’t have to do this if you feel like you owe me something.”

  “Are you really…?” she uttered dejectedly. “You don’t get women, do you?”

  She lingered for a long time as Alex stared back at her, literally becoming lost in pools of green, the shade so pure that he equated them to a pair of emeralds. Her pupils also exhibited hints of gold around them, adding to the unique beauty that was Selina. He could see more than a modest hint of disappointment reflecting in those eyes, and he did not want to be responsible for that.

  He was suddenly overwhelmed by his emotions, grabbed her wrist forcefully, and yanked her back to him, this time kissing her hard on the lips.

  She responded in kind.

  At that moment, Alex forgot about the pain in his head, the wounded wolf in the car, and every other thing that they had to accomplish. He was fully overtaken by lust. Suddenly, he came to his senses and pushed her away, holding her at arm’s length.