by Steve Wands
Joseph looked back and forth from his mother to Eddie. Looking for a clue and seeing nothing but bad news in their faces.
“…I’m dying.”
“No…”
“Sorry baby. I…I got scratched on the bridge. Didn’t think it was anything, but I can feel it inside me.” She put her hand to his face as he began to tear up.
Eddie put his arm around his shoulder.
“I’m sorry Mom, I should’ve been there to make sure nothing happened to you. We should’ve protected you.”
“It’s not your fault. I want this. I want this to be over.”
“You want to die?”
“No, but I do want to be with your father, and with the little ones. They still need me. You two are all grown up. Look at you both. Two big strong men.”
“No, mamma…”
“Come on honey, looks like they found a boat.”
“What are we gonna do Mom?”
“I told your brother what to do if I make it off the boat.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, son. I love you both so much. I’m proud of you both. You both turned into two good men. I know I wasn’t always perfect, but I know I raised you both right.”
“It isn’t fair.”
“No it’s not. Nothing’s fair. Life isn’t fair. Now stop crying and get us out of here. I don’t have much time. I’m going to fight this as much as I can so we can get off that boat together. I don’t want to die on the water.”
Janice held both of her sons by their faces, wiping away their tears with her thumbs. “Your father would’ve been so proud of you both. He never said it enough—he wasn’t much for the mushy stuff—but he loved you kids.”
Chuck and Jon climbed onto the boat. It was a big vessel—a charter yacht—and wasn’t more than a few years old. The Protean was elegantly scripted across the back of the boat.
“It’s beautiful,” Chuck said.
“You can drive it?”
“I can’t drive it—a Captain pilots a boat.”
“Ok, Chuck, can you pilot it?”
“Of course I can, but let’s make sure there aren’t any surprises in the cabin.”
“Lead the way, Captain.”
49 CAPTAIN CHUCK
(back to top)
Chuck and Jon came back out of the cabin as the others waited close by on the dock, huddled together. Jon waived them on board, saying “All clear.”
“What about the keys?”
“We’ll have to check inside the marina.”
“Any volunteers?”
The usual suspects all started for the marina. Scott began helping everyone else on board.
“Ed, there’s no guarantee the keys are in there. The owner might not keep them here.”
“Well, then what the fuck are we supposed to do?”
“I don’t know. I thought it made sense to find the boat first and then look for the keys. We have the slip number. If we just ran in and grabbed all the keys I think it’d be more chaotic to find the boat after that.”
“You’re probably right. But maybe we should’ve scouted for a back up boat?”
“Whatever guys,” Frankie said. “It doesn’t matter, we’d have to do this either way, right?”
That was enough to keep them quiet while they reached the patio doors of the marina. Frankie pulled the door handle and was relieved to find it opened. They stepped inside and no sooner did a pair of bloodied yuppies wearing bloodied boat shoes and Dockers come staggering out at them. Frankie was quick to attack and so was Joseph. They both took down their dead attackers and mashed their faces into the floor.
“Holy shit, does it stink in here.”
Chuck made his way to the counter and rifled through the key compartments.
“There’s got to be another one in here. Two of ‘em can’t smell this bad.”
“Who gives a shit? Are the keys in there or what Chuck?”
“Yes they are. I’m going to grab a few more in the same row just in case.”
A door burst open in the marina. In the darkness though, no one could see from where. Joseph ran for the door and called the others to follow. Chuck pocketed a bunch of keys and they jangled as he ran over. Then a deader clutched his arm out of the darkness and Chuck howled in fear. Frankie pulled the dead thing by its greasy hair as it was about to bite down and pulled it back, throwing it against the wall. As Chuck ran for the door Frankie bashed its head against the wall so hard it cracked the sheetrock. He let go of the dead thing and followed the others out the door, wiping the greasy film off his hands and onto his pants.
Several other deaders had begun to approach the rear of the marina, seemingly emerging out of the darkness. Eddie and the others didn’t bother with them and ran toward the boat.
Once on board Chuck was able to start the engine. Eddie struggled with unknotting the rope from the boat slip until he remembered he had a knife in his pocket. He dug it out and began cutting the rope but it was too big and proving to be just as difficult. Chuck jumped down and helped him out.
“Thanks man,” that was one hell of a knot.”
“Well, I’m sure the owner didn’t want it drifting away on him.”
“Probably not.”
“Should we give these guys a lift?” Chuck joked, pointing at the approaching deaders.
Eddied forced a laugh and then followed him onto the boat.
Frankie stood on the deck, looking down into the water. It was dark, and the waters were still, but he could see something just below the surface. At first he wasn’t sure if it was the moonlight reflecting on the water, but after a few moments he was able to start making out forms. He looked on both sides and off the back and finally he accepted what his eyes were trying to tell him—deaders were under the water grasping at the bottom of the boat. Disgusted and disturbed he had to make sure he wasn’t going crazy and he called Eddie over.
“Ed, come here a second will ya?”
“What’s up man?”
“Look in the water.”
“What am I looking for?”
“Keep looking.”
“Oh…”
“You see ‘em?”
“Yeah, yeah I see ‘em. That’s pretty fucked man.”
“Ok, I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t seeing shit.”
“Everyone, get inside the cabin and make yourselves comfortable. Captain Chuck is going to get us the hell out of here.”
Most of the group had already collapsed in the cabin upon boarding the boat earlier, but those that had hung around now started to make their way down into the luxurious belly of the boat.
Eddie, Joseph, Janice, Frankie, and Scott hung around up top with Chuck.
“You know where you’re going?”
“Basically. Might be one hell of a sightseeing tour. We’re going to have to follow the Hudson out into the Atlantic and head up the coast. Going to be weird seeing New York in darkness.”
“Well I think I’ll keep you company.”
“Me too. Wish I had a cigar,” Frankie said, scratching at his growing beard.
“I’m sure whoever had this boat has some stogies on board. In fact, there are probably all kinds of goodies down there. Actually, if any of you go down there, I could use some water or something.”
“I’ll go check it out,” Scott offered. “If I find any drinks I’ll bring a few up too.”
“You the man.”
Chuck piloted the boat slowly out of the dock and into the Hudson, slowly increasing speed and eventually hitting a nice cruising speed.
Scott came back up with a handful of cigars, bottles of water, and a bottle of Johnnie Walker Gold Label under his arm. Judy followed behind him with a few glasses.
“There we go,” Chuck smiled. “I knew there’d be a few amenities down there.”
“There’s more than a few. Whoever owned this thing was a party animal. All top shelf shit too. There’s two showers down there. Soap! Toothpaste, toilet paper, man we
got everything.”
“Don’t get too attached. Hopefully we’ll be off this boat before we can fully enjoy it.”
“Till then I’ll be dutifully dulling my senses.”
50 FAREWELL
(back to top)
Clem stood in the middle of the street watching the dead shamble out the front doors. Their ghastly rasping made his stomach churn. The thought of becoming one of them was maddening. He felt like he was burning alive, like the sun itself was drawing closer to him. They moved closer but Clem was slow to respond, too swept away in his own aches and pains to be able to move out of the way. Though he was dying, the dead didn’t seem to care so much anymore. Why they didn’t bother when he escaped the cell was beyond him now. Maybe they didn’t like his singing. Whatever the reason they decided they wanted what little life he had left bled out into their mouths.
Clem didn’t even feel the first few rips into his flesh. It wasn’t until he was on his back underweight of the horde of deaders that he knew what was happening. Only then did he begin to scream. Their dead jaws rended the flesh from his bones. Blood poured from the holes in his skin, filling in like sand on the beach after the surf comes rushing back.
“Oh God, is that Clem? Is that Clem screaming?”
“Easy, Danni, he was dying anyway. At least it will be over for him soon.”
“How can you say that? That’s a horrible way to die…them things eating you…”
Danni bolted out of the cell.
“Danni, no! Don’t just go running out there like that. You’ll get us all killed.”
Davis and Topher followed her out of the cell but she was already bursting through the doors leading outside.
“No!”
She didn’t listen as she ran outside. Some of the dead that had not descended upon Clem turned toward Danni as she screamed at the horror that was her friend.
Danni pushed past the first few deaders that moved for her and headed into the street towards open ground.
Davis and Topher came through the door more slowly, but upon seeing how close the deaders were they ran towards Danni. One of the deaders lurched for Topher and landed a solid grasp on his shirt, jerking him back and pulling him close enough to bite him. Topher turned to defend himself but was bit on the forearm for his troubles. He stared in disbelief as the dead thing ripped a thin patch of skin from his arm.
He pulled away and ran towards the others.
“I’ve been bit…I…I…”
“I saw. I’m sorry.”
“Me too, man. What do you want to do?”
“Can I come with you guys?”
“Sure.”
“Where are we going anyway?”
“Well, I’m going home. Then I’m coming right back here and putting everyone of these motherfuckers down.”
“Someone’s coming.”
“Wha…Walter Caulfield. God damn.”
“Come on, get to my truck. Looks like these fuckers are still hungry.”
Once in Davis’s truck they drove off and down the road to the approaching pick up being driven by Barbara Caulfield.
“Dad, isn’t that the Sheriff?”
“Sure is. Pull up alongside them.”
“Look at all those zombies,” Jeff noted.
“Gotta be about two dozen of them.”
“Walter. Man, am I glad to see you.”
“Likewise, Sheriff. We were taking a drive to see if we could find anyone else left in town. And low and behold…”
“Tell me you would’ve come into the station?”
“Sure,” Walter nodded, “especially if your truck was out front.”
“Goddamnit, if we just sat back we’d all have made it out alive,” Davis mumbled.
“What’s that?”
“Just a bit of fatal irony is all. We were stuck in one of the cells—surrounded by those guys coming up behind us. Two of us didn’t make it--”
“Make that three,” Topher added, waiving three fingers in the air as if calling over a bartender.
“Three of us didn’t make it.”
“That’s a shame. I wish we came here sooner, Bruce. I really do. Where are you headed to now?”
“I was gonna head home. Got a bit of an arsenal. Was going to come back and re-secure the station.”
“Want a few extra hands?”
“You betcha. Follow me back to my house?”
Davis sped away, relieved to be out in the world again. Danni sat with her head against the window in a state bordering on shock. Topher sat in the back holding his wound, trying his best to think of the good times, but could only picture Clem dead on the ground and think of his future, wondering if he would share the same fate.
“Sheriff?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you put me down when I turn?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
“Not so sure. What if life on the other side isn’t so bad?”
“And what if it’s hell on earth?” Topher said, pondering it as the words slid out of his mouth.
“Point taken. Whatever road you want to go down, Topher, you got it.”
51 LIVING DEAD
(back to top)
In the cabin all the children with exception to Christopher had fallen asleep. They lay huddled together on the large luxurious bed that still smelled of fresh linen. A smell many of them had forgotten till now.
Alexis rummaged through the cabinets, sorting through the clothes. She set a few pieces aside for herself and moved along as Dawn did the same. Abdul took the opportunity to shower in one of the two bathrooms and after realizing there were indeed two bathrooms—and two showers—Alexis jumped at the chance to use the other one.
“My hair is so disgusting I want to cut it off. It’ll take hours to wash out all the grease.”
“Well don’t use all the shampoo. I’m going next.”
“I’ll try to save you some hot water.”
Then looking around, Alexis realized that Carrie wasn’t among them.
“Dawn? Did you see Carrie?”
“I don’t think she made it sweetheart.”
“Oh.” She had grown to hate the woman. Though she didn’t want her dead, part of her was relieved that she was no longer with them. “Well if you find any makeup, let me know.”
“I didn’t even think about that. I hope there’s a pack of slims somewhere in this heap.”
Alexis turned on the water. Just hearing the spray of the shower was soothing to her. As the steam started to fill the room and fog the mirror she put her leg in to feel the temperature and in seconds she stepped in. It was comforting, invigorating, and from the look of the murky water pooling at her feet, cleansing. There was a small bar of soap. The smell of it filled her nose and she realized how often she’d taken that scent for granted all her life.
She dried off in front of the mirror. With the dirt and grime washed away she almost looked like herself. Her skin felt soft and fresh and she could no longer detect her own odor. She brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and put on someone else’s deodorant. She put on the new clothes she found, and despite them being a little loose and a little long they fit her good enough.
Topside, Chuck had maintained a good cruising speed. The Tappan Zee Bridge was now fading in the distance, but ahead in the dark waters of the Hudson floated any number of dangers. The Hudson grew narrow and presented a frightening view of both New York and New Jersey. Both coasts lit only by the moonlight. Boats sat adrift in the water with no signs of life. Then a boat, not far from a small dock near the coast, had a deader rise up and walk toward them, walking right off the boat and disappearing under the water with a small splash that was barely heard.
“Did you see that?”
“Yeah. Kinda funny.”
“Funny, but kind of sad, don’t you think? Those deaders are dumber than dirt. It just walked right off the boat. And these things are fucking destroying us.”
“That just
makes it even funnier.”
“Come on, Frankie. How is that funnier?”
“Just is man. The whole thing is just a fucking joke.”
“Everything’s a joke.”
“Then how come you aren’t laughing?”
“I was close, that deader made me smile. Almost made me laugh. And that’s a good thing, man. I didn’t think I had any in me.”
“Any what?”
“Laughter, hope, whatever. I thought it was all gone. Do you know why I followed you over that bridge?”
Eddie paused. Uncertain of how a single comment erupted into this.
“I followed you over because I figured we’d all end up dead. And it didn’t mater anymore because I didn’t feel like I was alive. It’s almost like I’m one of the living dead. What’s the point of going on when all we are is gone?”
Janice began to cry, “Oh, Francis, I felt the same way. I’ve wanted to die for too long now, and right before the bridge I wanted to live again. Something welled up inside of me just before—a little light, a little hope, I guess. I didn’t want to leave you boys, I couldn’t, but I didn’t want to live either. Francis, boys, you can make it in this world. I can see it in you. There’s a fire.”
“I thought I lost it.”
“Did anyone else go along just to die?”
“Fuck no,” said Chuck.
Scott shook his head, holding Judy’s hand as she said, “No way. We went along because we thought we could do it. Maybe not alone, but together I thought we could. Not to be a part of some suicide run.”
“What about you, Joe?”
“I want to live. I want my family back, but I don’t want to die. We’re all going to go one day anyway, so what’s the rush? I want to get back at these deaders. I want to survive them. For me, for you, for everyone they’ve take from us. I…I want…revenge.”
“Don’t live on hate, son. Please.”
“I promise you I won’t live on it forever.”
“We lived on love a long time, Mom, because of you. You and Dad. But maybe hate’s what we need right now. Maybe that’s the only way we can live in this world. We’ve been running on fear and anger this whole time. I got some hate to give.”
