Wake the Dead 2 (Wake The Dead Series)

by Vanucci, Gary F.

  “Is that why you wanna go?” Alex asked her, looking for her to expand on her reasoning about wanting to head south.

  “It’s one of many, yeah,” she admitted. “I dunno, I don’t really wanna watch someone else slowly die.”

  The next few miles again passed in silence until Selina finally spoke up once more.

  “Why not try there?” she asked, pointing to Alex’s left, where a sign for a relatively new family development rested in the upright position, advertising new homes for sale, but was slightly bent backward as if something slammed into it. As they got closer, Alex could see that the letters were splattered with what could only be blood, making it all the creepier to Alex. Whether it was human, zombie or animal blood, he had no idea.

  “looks a bit ominous, eh?”

  “A bit? More than a bit.”

  Alex slowly pulled the ambulance into the development. He more than half-expected zombies to come rushing at them from everywhere, but, to his surprise, none came forth. He continued driving through the section, the two of them looking at all of the cars in their various states of abandonment. Some vehicles were left in driveways, or pulled off to the sides of the roads, some they had to maneuver around, doors open wide with no one inside. It did not look promising as they continued along, some of the houses not even completely finished, as they made their way most of the way around the horseshoe-fashioned drive to the opposite exit before they saw any movement at all.

  A lone zombie, feasting on something that was unrecognizable beside one of the abandoned wrecks, shot up upon hearing the vehicle. It raced toward them wildly, closing the distance in a hurry. Alex removed his gun, but Selina placed her hand on the barrel and pushed it down, making him lower the gun.

  “I’ll get this,” she said, exiting the ambulance and waiting for the zombie to close the gap. He thought about how insane the prospect of fighting these undead monstrosities was once again, recalling his first encounters with them.

  The only advantage we have is human cunning and tactics. They are deadly, emotionless, killing machines with no regard for their own personal safety—the most deadly of opponents.

  And yet, there she was, sword in hand, testing her meddle and courage, one zombie at a time. She was reminiscent of some samurai warrior to Alex; someone with courage and conviction, the stuff that transcends regular folks. She was born to be this warrior, he believed.

  He watched patiently, listening to Shadow growl uneasily from behind him, until she swung her sword with one clean strike, beheading the zombie. She had sliced its head in half at an angle, its body falling right where she stood only a heartbeat ago, but had sidestepped it when she swung the blade. She stared back at Alex with a look of satisfaction, truly relishing the deed and happy with herself.

  “I fuckin’ hate jokers,” she said to him through the open window, wiping her blade on the grass, replacing it in the scabbard and climbing back into the front seat. “If I could, I’d slice every one of their goddamn heads off personally.”

  “That’s so sweet,” Alex teased, laughing at her reaction, which was a slow transformation from the grim-faced warrior that she had just witnessed, to the soft-eyed, smiling woman that he was so used to seeing. He continued driving around and got to the opposite exit, pulled onto the street, and then turned left back in where they had initially entered, having gone full circle.

  “Looks eerily quiet, right?” Alex asked her, reaching for his pack and the binoculars inside. He put those to his eyes, scanned the area again and then put them back.

  “It kinda does, yeah,” Selina finally answered. ”But, it might be a good place to start looking. There could be some cars still in garages that haven’t even been touched,” she suggested, tapping Alex on the shoulder.

  “True. What the hell, let’s give it a shot.”

  Alex noted that each house had a garage attached to the house, and so, they began their exploration, systematically going from house to house, starting with the ones that were unlocked.

  Chapter 11

  Alex and Selina, along with Shadow, searched for several hours until they had made it more than halfway through the development, and were now at what had to be the tenth home once-occupied home.

  They had come across a few that were locked along the way, but they had found the spare key in a hideaway rock or under the mat on every one. One even had the keys still in the lock, caked with dried blood.

  This particular one had the door unlocked, and so they entered quietly.

  After a quick inspection of the house, they were pleased to find that it was absent of the living dead.

  Once they finished their rounds, they found themselves in the kitchen, blinds down and weapons spread out on the kitchen table. Alex looked to Selina, who had retrieved a few canned goods from the cabinet for Shadow, opened them with a can opener she found from one of the kitchen cabinet drawers, and emptied them into a bowl. She then began munching on a Twinkie while the wolf noisily devoured some kind of meat from a bowl.

  “Is that ‘Spam’ you gave him?” he asked her suspiciously. She nodded shamefacedly, then grinned that look away, truly enjoying her cream-filled cake. “Ugh.”

  “Well, he seems to enjoy it,” Selina put in, defending her choice.

  “He eats zombie parts, so I guess this isn’t all that bad in comparison,” Alex said sarcastically.

  “Well, either way it’s nutrition.”

  “Hollow calories,” Alex quipped with a grin, inspecting the arrows in his quiver. “Since all my backup arrows are in the van, I’m gonna need to borrow some of the ones I got for you.”

  “Oh, sure. And you’ll get around to teaching me one of these days, right?”

  “Well, I could do it right now, but we kinda have more important business to get to, don’t we? Besides, you’re handling yourself pretty good with that sword.”

  “Yeah, it’s kinda shitty at long range, though. Speaking of important business...have you even looked in this garage?”

  “No, I haven’t. Been here with you the whole time, sweetness.”

  “Sweetness, now? Keep thinking on that one.”

  “Why not?” Alex said, looking through the cabinet and finding a box of cupcakes. “Gotta love this shit.”

  “Yeah, tiger. Preservatives are our friends nowadays.”

  “Lemme check the garage,” Alex said as he made his way to the door, listened for a long moment, and then twisted the handle open.

  He fell back as small critter on four legs raced past him. He almost fell over completely, but caught himself on the refrigerator handle, which had been conveniently positioned right beside the garage.

  “What the fuck was that?!” Selina said, leaping out if her chair and grasping the hilt of the sword.

  Alex looked toward where the thing was headed and saw that Shadow now had the thing in his maw, shaking it back and forth. When he stopped, they could see that it was an opossum.

  “Wow! I guess he likes that better than the spam,” Selina said with a chuckle, seeing that Shadow he made the animal his meal instead.

  “Guess so.”

  Alex opened the door to the garage the rest of the way and was delighted to find, a 2008 Ford Escape in the garage, surrounded by mechanic’s tools—so many in fact, that he had to believe that it was everything that anyone could ever need. “This guy was a motorhead!”

  “I guess that’s a good thing?” Selina called to him from around the corner.

  “Hell yeah!” Alex inspected the vehicle under the hood, inside and out, found the owner’s manual, spare parts lying around and couldn’t believe his luck. After a few more moments of searching had passed, he was suddenly crestfallen. “Shit. I can’t find the keys!”

  “You mean these?” Selina said, shaking a set of keys in her hand. She swiftly poked her head in the doorway to see his reaction, winking at him. He raced over to her and kissed her, then grabbed the keys and hopped into the front seat. When he turned the key, it did not turn over. He tri
ed again and nothing happened.

  “Dammit. Starter, alternator, what?!” he yelled, cursing his luck as he stepped out of the driver’s seat. “Gonna take some doin’.”

  “Well, we’ve got nothin’ but time.”

  “Good point,” Alex said, staring out the window of the garage to the neighbor’s house next door. Alex couldn’t believe what he saw when he focused his eyes on the house’s top window. He saw the unmistakable figure of a woman staring at him before moving away from the window, disappearing just as she caught him looking.

  “Shit. There’s someone alive over there,” he said. Selina joined him at the window and stared at the woman who looked pleadingly toward them.

  “You sure?”

  “I'm pretty sure. I’ll go check it out,” Alex said, removing his gun and refitting the silencer that was in his front pocket. Selina looked at him questioningly. “What? I got tired of this thing pokin’ me, so I took it off.” She laughed and led him out into the kitchen where Shadow sat eating the possum carcass, seemingly content.

  “Gross,” Selina said, following his eyes and staring at Shadow.

  “You stay here with him. I’ll be back in a few minutes once I find out what’s up.” She stared at him wryly.

  “That’s how horror movies start, ya know?”

  “I’ll be careful. Trust me.”

  Again, she stared at him, crushed him in an embrace, and then plopped back down in a chair at the kitchen table. Alex walked out the front door and then came right back in, staring at her thoughtfully.

  “On second thought, if I’m not back in five minutes, I’m okay if you come lookin’ for me. That fair?”

  “Sure, Lancelot. I think you might have a thing for saving the damsel in distress,” she said mockingly.

  “You wanna go instead?”

  “Nope. I’ll stay with him,” she said as Alex headed out the side door on the garage and closed it. He crossed the grassy section that separated the two houses and lightly tapped the glass pane on the front door. When no one answered, he silently turned the knob, opened the door slightly, and then headed inside.

  He saw a set of stairs leading up, which was where the woman was that he saw from across the way. He placed his foot gingerly onto the first step and then began a slow steady climb.

  “I'm up here,” called a voice from one of the rooms. Alex picked up the pace and stood in front of the door, raised his gun and shoved wide the door, not sure what to expect. A blonde-haired woman with streaks of gray in her hair lay on the bed, coughing and looking quite haggard. She was wrapped in a thick robe that looked to Alex like it hadn’t been washed in a long time. And it wasn’t long before he caught a whiff of her, understanding that she stank of body odor.

  “What happened to you?” Alex asked as he stepped into the room and lowered his gun, seeing no one else in the room.

  “I’m sick, but I didn’t wanna bother you,” she said, clearly trying to explain why she ducked out of sight when he saw her. ”Been sick for a couple days, now. and so’s my son, Andy.”

  “Well, where is he?”

  “He’s downstairs or maybe in the basement. You didn’t see anyone when you came in, right? When you came in?” she repeated with a cough. “He just went lookin’ for meds for me. Probably none left in the bathroom.”

  “I didn’t see anyone, no. How long ago?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe half an hour or so,” she said, looking at the analog alarm clock that was at the side of the bed on the nightstand and coughing again.

  “What’s in the basement?”

  “It’s where we keep extra supplies of meds and we got extra food in the freezer. I used to buy up everything on sale before the world turned crazy, ya know,” she said with another coughing spell. “He went down there a bit ago and I'm worried he got hurt, or worse,” she said, sitting up and sliding off the side of the bed, barely getting to her feet. “Stairs are treacherous.”

  His immediate thought was to leave her to her own devices, but immediately felt sorry for her and decided he would try to help after all.

  “What can I do then?”

  “Can you check on him, please!?”

  “Of course,” he said, staring back at her and clenching his gun handle.

  “Sandy. My name’s sandy. And thanks,” she said, wandering on unsteady legs toward the door.

  “Okay, Sandy. You look like you haven’t eaten in days and you’re coughing. Are you okay?”

  “I’ll be fine. Worried about Andy is all,” she said, heading slowly down the hallway.

  “Well, there’s some food next door, we’ll get you somethin’ there once we find Andy.”

  “Don’t need food. Got plenty in the freezer. But thanks, mister,” she said, flashing him a yellow-toothed smile that was complete with a missing tooth. He shuddered, coming to the quick realization that this woman had not taken care of herself, despite a home that appeared well kept for the most part.

  “I'm Alex. And where’s the basement?”

  “There, she said, pointing to a door down the stairs on the first floor. “Please hurry. He’s a clumsy boy and all I can think is that he tripped down the damned steps,” she said lethargically, shaking her head as the pair made their way down the steps to the basement door

  Alex opened the door and raised his weapon again, unsure of what he might find. He flicked the light on the side of the wall, and a light in the basement flickered on, but did not illuminate the steps at all.

  “You got a flashlight?” he asked, taking a step down and raising his gun, then taking another two steps.

  He continued leveling his gun at the darkness, believing he heard something out of sight in the dimly lit area below where he could not see just yet.

  “Sandy? Flashlight, please?”

  “Sorry. No flashlight.”

  “Fine, I’ll get one,” he said, spinning to head up the stairs and facing the woman, who now held a gun on him.

  “So sorry, Alex,” she reiterated. “But I gotta feed my boy.”

  Alex’s heart thundered in his chest as a sick feeling came over him. he felt the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck as they stood on end.

  “What do you mean by that exactly?” he asked, slowly trying to raise the gun back her way.

  “Don’t move!” she barked. “I’ll put one in you right now!”

  “Hey,” Alex said, remaining still. “I can help you, Sandy. I can help Andy, too.”

  “Drop…the gun,” she said coldly. “Do it or I’ll put one in the back of your head! Now!”

  “Okay, Sandy,” he said, placing the gun on the step. He did have the knife with him strapped to his side, but that would do him no good right now if she decided to shoot. He had to play along until an opportunity presented. “I can help, Sandy, I swear!”

  “Yeah, you can help him all right,” she said, moving to encompass the doorway. The weapon was a semiautomatic of some kind, and to Alex’s chagrin, it appeared as if the woman was familiar in its usage. He decided to test her anyway, as he had nothing else to lose.

  “You won’t shoot me…especially if the safety’s on, Sandy.”

  “I wasn’t born yesterday, Alex. I know the safety’s off. It’s not the first time I’ve had to use this,” she said with a distinct and sudden malevolence to her tone, her cough completely absent now. “Had some folks come through here a few weeks past, too. They didn’t fare so well either.”

  That callous admission was enough to send Alex’s heart to pumping again.

  “Now, take a few steps down and have a look-see at my boy,” she commanded. Alex did just that, almost slipping on one of the steps and catching himself on the railing. As the light reached the steps, he looked down to see dried blood on them, under his feet where he now stood. He looked back up to the woman and she smiled a wicked smile back at him, truly malevolent, as if she enjoyed what was happening.

  As he knelt to peek under the sidewall, he could see that thing that she referred to as
‘Andy’. He was once a boy—heavy set with blonde hair, dressed in coveralls—chained to the basement wall across from a huge freezer.

  Alex suddenly shuddered as he gave thought to what might be in that freezer.

  He could certainly kill the zombie with the knife if he had to, but then what? If she saw him do that, she’d kill him for certain. He tried reasoning with her one last time.

  “Sandy, I can get you help. You’re sick and need attention,” he said, staring up at her.

  “Is it sick to want to keep my boy fed? All I wanna do is take care of him.”

  The tone with which she said those last few words was altogether different. There was compassion and pain in her voice. She truly believed that she was helping her son, in some sick way. She was past delusional, he figured, which would make reasoning with her a near impossibility.

  “Sandy, listen to me, okay? Andy is dead. He’s not alive anymore,” he said carefully, measuring his words.

  “No, he’s sick is all. He’ll get better,” she said calmly and with conviction.

  “Now get down them steps, or I’ll put one in your head. Do it now.”

  “It doesn’t have to be this way, Sandy,” Alex said firmly, backing up another step, and trying a last desperate attempt to reach a rational side of her.

  “Oh, but it does. My boy needs to eat and—“

  A sickening gurgle interrupted her last statement before it was finished and Alex heard, and then saw, her body hit the floor. He bounded up to the step where his gun rested, not knowing what had just happened, picked it up, and was ready to fire when he saw Sandy’s dismembered head roll down the steps past him to land at the bottom.

  In the doorframe was now the familiar form of Selina. She stood there looking down at him, sword grasped tightly in her hands, the blade stained with fresh blood.

  “That bitch was crazy,” she said, taking a step down as Alex rushed up to meet her. He hugged her and she hugged him back, the embrace tightening with each second that passed until they heard a moan from downstairs.