The Night is Long and Cold and Deep

by Terry M. West

  “We gotta have them for the human audience, few though that audience may be.”

  “I brought in a dozen eggs. I’ll have some PAs flick egg whites on Suzie and do some pick-ups.”

  “Before the finale, right?” Mike said.

  Gary clenched his fists and motioned with his eyes toward Suzie, who was fiddling with a smart phone on the cot. Gary pointed to his own ear, reminding his dense producer that Suzie could probably hear them. Mike made a zipper motion on his lips and stepped away.

  Gary turned back to Ella. “We have a little dialogue, and then we’ll go right into it. I want you on the main camera. Let Felix go handheld. Make the old bastard work a little for once. You can direct him.”

  Ella nodded. “Will do. A gangbang lends itself to wide angles, and these guys never squirt. I’ll cover each group and then have Felix step in for close-ups and reaction shots.”

  “We have ten groups. We are going to limit each cluster to ten minutes, so we are not here all night.”

  “Roger that,” Ella said. “Maybe I won’t miss happy hour after all.”

  Gary chuckled and approached Suzie. The ghoul had two make-up people performing a spot check. “She’s good,” Gary said, dismissing them. Once he had Suzie alone, he said, “How are you feeling about this?”

  Suzie thought about it for a second. “I’m all right. If I told you I wasn’t a little concerned, I’d be lying. I can handle four or five of them at a time, but more than that and my odds are fucked.”

  “It will all be under control. And you’ll do great,” Gary said.

  Suzie smiled. “Thanks. And hey, I am just going to be bold, here. You want to go out some time? As long as I don’t let my hair down, I’m not that bad to be with, you know?”

  “I’m flattered,” Gary said. “But I don’t really date. And you could do much better. Believe me.”

  “Okay, but I am going to work on you, Gary Hack,” Suzie promised, sheepishly. “Don’t be surprised if I change your mind.”

  Gary grinned and walked back toward the door. Sadness flashed in him, for a second, but he bit it down. He spoke to Patricia and she went to get the first batch of zombies.

  Morton herded them in, ten for the first scene, and then he closed the steel door on the set. He watched with harsh disinterest as Gary pulled everything together.

  The zombies lined up in front of the director. Gary addressed them.

  “Restraint,” he said, eyeing them all up and down. “That’s the number one rule today. You go in there with Suzie, do your job, and keep your teeth to yourselves. You are not to harm Miss Young. When I call cut and we have all that we need, there are fresh rats on standby.”

  Gary motioned to the cage. The rats noticed his attention and squealed and started to move around, nervously.

  The director pulled an index card with sides written on them. “Who here has acting experience?” he asked.

  The zombies looked around at each other. One in the back finally raised his hand. He was young, and still relatively handsome, even through the decay.

  “What have you done, son?” Gary asked.

  “A couple of national commercials, before I croaked,” the zombie informed Gary.

  Gary stepped to him and held out the index card. “Then you have just been upgraded to featured zombie, my friend.”

  “Do I get paid more?” the zombie asked.

  “No, but I will give you an extra rat,” Gary replied.

  The zombie smiled and took the card. “Deal, man.”

  Fucking actors, Gary thought. They were always so willing to give their souls away for magic beans; or a second helping of rat.

  Gary got the group in place and instructed them to wait for their cue. Suzie stretched out on the cot and pretended to sleep. The featured zombie took a minute to memorize the lines, and then he informed Gary he was ready.

  “Roll camera,” Gary called out loudly, like the fucking captain he was.

  Ella called speed and Gary called action.

  The zombies stepped slowly into the scene. One nudged the cot. Suzie woke up and gasped. Her eyes grew and she clutched at her lingerie.

  “Oh, Gawd,” she said, fearfully. “Zombies. What are you going to do? Eat me?”

  The zombies looked at each other, and then they began to pull out their purple, rotting pricks.

  “We haven’t had a decent piece of ass since the apocalypse started,” the lead zombie said. “And, yeah, I am going to eat you, all right; starting with that tight pussy of yours.”

  The zombie snapped his fingers and the others stripped Suzie down. The lead went down on Suzie. He licked at her with a black tongue, as the other zombies pulled at and hardened their flaccid dicks. Gary wasn’t sure how this was possible. He knew blood flow was important to an erection. But despite all scientific arguments, the dead could fuck. And Gary figured the magic more responsible for this than biology or science.

  They could fuck, but not climax, because the devil was a mean-spirited prick, obviously.

  Gary looked over at Patricia. She looked green around the gills. Gary turned back to the nasty orgy, realizing there wouldn’t be an obvious place to cut. The director noticed their hunger rising as the zombies put their dead cocks on and in Suzie. They were becoming more aggressive with the ghoul. Gary stopped it at ten minutes, before the dead studs hit the point of no return. Felix quickly grabbed some inserts, and then the zombies were marched to the rat cage where they each took a squealing rodent and devoured it. An immediate calmness struck the dead bastards as soon as that live rat flesh hit their tongues. Patricia finally scampered to a corner and retched loudly.

  Then the first group of zombies was led back to the main hall by Morton.

  There were enough rats to cover all but the last group brought in and that’s when things were going to get gruesome. And though Gary wanted this shoot to be a memory he could drown later that night, he dreaded it. Why the hell did that damned ghoul ask him out?

  “You ready for round two?” Ella asked.

  Gary thought about it. He needed a break already. “No. Let’s grab those cum shots. Somebody bring in the eggs.”

  ***

  They were down to the last group. Suzie was looking very haggard. The make-up team escorted her off the set for a bathroom break and there were cracks in her make-up that needed filling. Ella was having a smoke in a corner and Felix was drinking a bottle of water and sweating like a pig. Even that stiff-faced prick Morton was looking peaked.

  Gary decided that it was time to cut some folks loose. He didn’t want to be held responsible for any PTSD given to the uninitiated. He started with Patricia, who still looked surprisingly chipper.

  “You can cut out, kiddo,” Gary told her. “You have done a great job and we can handle it from here.”

  Patricia frowned. “No, Mr. Hack. I have made it this far. I am going to stay.”

  Gary looked around to make sure Suzie hadn’t returned yet. “Listen, there are some things that are about to occur that aren’t going to be very pleasant to witness.”

  “Mr. Stücke told me all about it,” Patricia confided. “I know how this is going to end. And I am seeing it through, because he’s watching.”

  Patricia motioned to the security cameras above them.

  Gary stared at her curiously. “And you are okay with this? I mean, you seem so nice. And this… isn’t.”

  “Mr. Stücke has taken me under his wing. He has promised me a career as a director if I am willing to pay my dues. I don’t like what’s happening. But it’s art. That puts a wall around it for me. I am okay. Can I get you anything?”

  Gary shook his head, and then he walked over and dismissed the boom guy. Gary handed the boom pole to Mike Cooke, who frowned but took it anyway.

  Suzie finally returned and took her place. Gary shooed the make-up people off set and checked on his actress. “We’re in the home stretch,” he said. “We are almost at the martini shot.”

  “Thank God,” Suzi
e said, rubbing the back of her neck. “They are wearing me out. I think I am going to bunk down in a nice crypt somewhere and sleep for a week after this. You want to join me, director-man?”

  “I’ll think about it,” Gary said, with a wink.

  “See?” Suzie said, pluckily. “I am growing on you.”

  Gary smiled and crossed the room over to Morton. “We’re ready.”

  Morton nodded and left. Gary knew the last bunch we’re being instructed to go with their instincts at the end of it. He braced himself.

  The last group came in, but they were not as apprehensive as the previous ones. Gary could sense their cockiness as they approached the set. They filed into the shadow and waited for their cue. The rat cage was empty, and Gary hoped Suzie wouldn’t notice that detail. The ghoul slurped at an energy drink and got her second wind. She clapped her hands, psyching herself up. “All right, you shitbags,” she teased the final participants. “I want you to fuck me and fuck me really good. Let’s go out with a bang, boys.”

  Everyone got into their places and the action began. It started like the other sessions. When the ten minute mark came, Gary could feel everyone’s anxiety. The zombies grew stronger and crueler with their touch. They slapped and twisted at Suzie’s flesh. They gnashed their teeth at her. She felt her disguise melting, no doubt. She looked to Gary.

  “Call fucking cut already!” she screamed. “They’re getting too worked up!”

  “Fuck you, ghoul cunt!” one of the zombies said, jerking his head downward and biting into Suzie’s thigh.

  She screamed and her dentures fell out. She wrapped herself around the one who had bitten her and she sank her short fangs into the back of his neck. But Suzie was outnumbered and the others pulled her off their friend, his flesh stretching in her mouth. They tore her apart. Her screams shook through the crew and continued even when her head was separated from her body. Suzie’s shocked, hateful eyes stared at Gary until the zombies tore the orbs out and devoured them.

  “Cut,” Gary said, softly.

  He watched Patricia cover her mouth and run toward the entrance. Morton intercepted her, and he was surprisingly gentle.

  “It’s all right, kid,” he said. “It’s over.”

  She looked up. Her small hand stuck a revolver under Morton’s chin and she pulled the trigger. The startled sentry fell to the ground, gurgling and clawing at his chin.

  Patricia immediately ran to the sliding door and locked it with a pin on a chain. She turned and regarded the zombies. “He’s yours, my undead brothers!”

  The zombies dropped the remaining pieces of Suzie that they were beginning to squabble over and they converged on Morton and feasted.

  Patricia held the gun on Gary and company. She was no longer the frightened and demure girl. She looked confident, committed and driven. Her façade had cracked and quickly flaked off. “I am Livia Sassano, the co-founder of Z.A.P.!”

  “What is she talking about?” Gary asked Ella and Mike. He was trying to understand what was happening.

  “Zombies are people,” Ella explained. “They are an undead rights group.”

  “Bat shit crazy extremists,” Mike added.

  Livia ignored the living in the room and concentrated on the zombies. She tore off the gris-gris bag and threw it and the gun to the ground. “Consume me, my friends! I give my body to you freely! Let my flesh strengthen you! Join your horde out there and make your stand! I give my life today for the rights and freedom you truly deserve!”

  The zombies didn’t hesitate. They were on her in seconds.

  “Long live the dead!” Livia shouted joyously, as the zombies pulled her to the ground.

  She didn’t scream, even when they bit into her.

  Mike ran near the gory location and went for Livia’s gun. As he reached for it, one of the zombies pulled off of Livia and grasped Mike. The zombie bit deeply into Mike’s forearm. He screamed in anguish and shock.

  Suddenly, Felix stepped up, a light stand in his hand. He swatted the zombie away, allowing Mike to scramble off to the side. Three of the horde immediately pounced on Felix. Two tore his stomach open and the other bit into his neck. A geyser of blood shot out of Felix’s mouth and the old man went down quickly.

  “Felix!” Ella shouted, horrified.

  The other zombies noticed Gary and Ella. They began to slowly stalk them. Their gray faces wore the blood of the fallen.

  “Do you hear it, my kin? What commands you?” one of them asked.

  “The hunger!” the others answered in unison.

  “What are we, my kin?” another zombie asked.

  “We are one!” the others shouted in reply.

  “Holy shit! They are in full horde mode,” Gary said, pulling his 9mm out and pointing the weapon at them.

  Gary squeezed the trigger but nothing happened.

  “Jesus, you have the safety on!” Ella screamed, pulling the gun away from Gary.

  She released the safety and began to fire on them. The zombies shouted in agony from the smoking silver wounds, but still they approached. The silver was hurting them, slowing them, but they were closing in and looking angrier and hungrier with every step.

  Ella distributed the ammo evenly, trying to keep them all an equal distance away, until she was out. Gary and Ella had backed all the way to the rear wall of the room and there was no exit.

  Then, Gary saw Mike, who had managed to somehow slip unnoticed to the sliding door. He unpinned it with the little strength he had left. Guards in riot gear poured into the room and took down the zombies with ultra-powerful tasers. The zombies fell and jerked, their gray eyes rolling up into their heads. Gary figured it was the best way to put a stop to that horde frequency. Security hauled the zombies away, and Gary was sure the undead bastards would feed a bonfire.

  Gary and Ella walked toward Mike. Ella stopped for a second and looked at Felix’s remains. Half of his face lingered. His belly was emptied down to his spine.

  “You grumpy old bastard,” Ella said, fighting back her tears.

  Mike sat against the door. His sunglasses were still firmly attached to his pale face. Gary suspected some sort of super glue. Mike stared with great fright at his wounded arm. He then looked up softly at his friends. “I think I am fucked, guys.”

  “You have a few hours before the transition hits and if we get medicine in you, you’ll beat this,” Ella said, hopefully.

  “What about my arm?” Mike asked. “Shit, man. I fucking write with this hand.”

  Gary and Ella stared at each other bleakly and then they pulled Mike up and took him out of the room. Guards poured in and aimed their flamethrowers at the remains on set.

  In the main hall, security was torching the holding pens. They were lighting all of the zombies on fire. The tormented screams and the stench drove Gary and crew outside. It was hell, live on stage and in 3D.

  It was nighttime already. As soon as they hit the sidewalk, three of the guards took Mike while two more security men held Gary and Ella back. The producer asked frightened questions as the silent guards put him into a van. Once he was loaded in, the van took off.

  “Where are they taking him?” Gary demanded of Glass, who was quietly watching the proceedings.

  “Your boy’s been bit,” Glass said calmly. “We’re taking his ass to a private medical facility. They gonna try to save him. He’s gonna lose that arm, though. Guarantee that.”

  “They got Morton,” Gary reported. “I am sorry.”

  “Fuck him,” Glass said, coldly. “He was a big boy.”

  Glass left Gary and went back inside. The sickening stink of burning dead flesh was beginning to drift outside. Ella stepped back to Gary.

  “I’m leaving, Gary,” she said. “Tell Mike goodbye for me, if he makes it.”

  “What? Wait, where are you going?”

  “I have a cousin in Mystic. She has a great place near the aquarium. She has been trying to get me to move there for years. You should come, Gary. Get off the poison
and come to the country with me. My cousin is single.”

  “Is she pretty?” Gary asked.

  “She has a great personality,” Ella replied, and then they both laughed.

  “I’ll think about it,” Gary promised.

  Ella smiled sadly and knowingly. “No you won’t. But I will text you the address anyway.”

  Ella kissed Gary on the cheek. “Goodbye, my dear friend. And send my check.”

  She turned and disappeared around the corner.

  Glass came back outside.