Never in his life did Ty think he would shoot a man, let alone flee for his life from zombies. Since the beginning of the event he had played it cool and felt he was in control of his destiny as well as Sugars. Now dread and fear filled his mind squeezing his chest like a giant vice. He wished he were alone like he originally planned, but now he had other survivors with him and he felt responsible for their safety. Would the Bixter Building prove to be their tombs? The question pounded at his head.
One office over, Katie sat at a desk with her feet up. Her head was tilted back and she stared at the ceiling. Thoughts pertaining to the past twenty-four hours swirled. She had survived multiple attacks by the undead as well as the rednecks. Unfortunately, one of the rednecks was still alive and in the same building with her and he seemed to have a crush on her. The thought disturbed her. She felt safe with him for the briefest of moments, then Ty or Tim (she thought he called himself), swept in and saved her. He was quiet, sullen and attractive even with the world ending and the dead walking the streets. It was something in his eyes, his unwavering kindness and determination to keep all around him safe. He touched her lower her back when they arrived at the building pointing her in the right direction. The touch gave her goose bumps. Maybe it was all the excitement of just trying to survive, but she felt something for him and it would become a problem sooner or later. Probably sooner.
***
Sugar hopped up, wagging her tail, which was always a good sign, Ty thought.
Jess stood outside the door wondering if he should knock or let Ty sleep a bit longer. Then he heard Sugar scratch at the door.
“Whoever is out there, come in.” Ty announced looking for his shoes.
Jess opened the door and began petting Sugar behind the ears. “Hey, Sugar, you being a good girl?”
“What’s up dude?” Ty asked.
“Just wanted to check on you. Since you’re awake, you want to run me through the buildings operations again?”
“Yeah, no prob. Let’s start with the sub-basement and work our way up. Let the others know well be down there for a while”.
Ty searched the office for his .357 finding it sitting atop a small filing cabinet. Jess stood at the door with his shotgun resting in his arms.
“You need a bigger gun my friend. Something like this.”
“If I get into a spot where I need a gun that big, I’m probably fucked.”
Jess stared back at Ty for a moment and then laughed at the remark.
“You a funny dude sometimes.” Jess said walking down the hall.
“All I’m saying Jess is we have to be smart about this. I don’t know how long the power or water will last in the building and we don’t need to attract any attention to ourselves. We may only be here a few days or we may be here months. Firepower isn’t the only thing that’s going to keep us alive.”
“Yeah, well firepower isn’t a bad thing to have.”
“You’re right. But try to contain yourself while we’re in the building. If we go on a food run you can be the gunner.”
“Now you’re talking.”
Jess walked on ahead. Ty stopped at the slightly opened door and peered in. Katie stood just on the other side looking back at him smiling slightly.
“You wanna tag along?”
Katie’s smile grew a little wider. “Love to.” She answered.
“Come on then, The Sundance Kid up there has an itchy trigger finger and I need to keep him in line.”
Katie laughed a little stepping out of the office having no idea what the Sundance Kid was. She walked next to Ty with Sugar following close behind. Down the hall Jess was speaking with Rick. The group rounded a corner into a small lobby finding Tom asleep on a couch.
“Should we wake him?” Katie asked.
“Tom. TOM.” Ty said shaking him by the shoulder.
“What?” Tom said with a slight attitude.
“We’re heading down into the sub basement. The dime tour if you’re interested.”
“Nah, you go ahead. I’m wiped out.”
“Stay crisp Tom. We’ll be back in an hour or so.” Ty led the group down the interior stairs to the lobby. Tom remained on the couch and soon fell into a deep sleep.
The lobby was wide open and the mid morning light filled the vast area. Shadows filled one corner of the lobby, cast by large boulders set outside the building as part of the landscaping. The double doors at the main entrance were well secured with traditional locks and a heavy chain. After arriving at the building during the early morning hours, Ty, Rick, and Jess moved heavy cement trash cans in front of the doors. The three of them moved quickly encountering no zombies. Now several were walking outside the building.
“How the fuck do they know we’re here?” Rick asked the group while staring out the front doors.
“I have no clue.” Ty answered.
The group stood silently watching the zombies pass by the end of the walkway leading to the front doors. So far, they hadn’t found their way to the doors but Ty wasn’t worried. The cement trashcans were too great an obstacle for the zombies to over come. They wouldn’t be able to leverage any collective weight against the doors (he hoped).
“Is it just me, or does there seem to be a shit load of those things out there?” Katie’s question struck a nerve with Ty.
“Yeah, their numbers seem to be growing but I wouldn’t worry. They can’t get in here, besides I doubt they know how to work together.
The group stood in the lobby a bit longer watching the zombies wander around the front of the Bixter Building. At one point the front entrance became clear of the undead until a bloated, naked male with grey skin and a bloated penis stepped beyond the line trashcans. The group took a collective breath as the zombie walked to the front doors. His grey eyes stared straight ahead. Katie felt he was looking straight at her. She stepped in behind Ty and peered over his shoulder. The zombie stumbled forward into the glass doors bending his bloated penis awkwardly to the side. Ty, Jess and Rick all grimaced. The zombie bounced back and gained its footing. It stared at the front door. Sugar began to growl loudly.
“Shit, we need to move on before that thing attracts any more attention to the entrance. Everybody move slowly to the stairwell.” Ty said as he reached back gently pushing Katie.
As the group took its first step back towards the stairwell the zombie burst into a sprint slamming hard into the front doors. The doors shook hard against the frame but didn’t show any sign of giving way. Katie let out a slight scream and caught herself cupping her hands over her mouth. Sugar growled even louder but didn’t bark. Jess instantly raised his shotgun. Ty reached out and caught the barrel shaking his head.
“Get down stairs. NOW!” Ty said pushing Katie back a little harder.
The group made their way down to the basement. Once at the bottom of the landing Ty told the group to stay out of sight on the bottom level and only use the interior stairwell. After some discussion, Ty finally began his tour of the buildings operations leading the group through the basics while Tom slept on the couch in the third floor lobby unaware the numbers of the undead were steadily increasing outside of the building.
Thirty-Nine
“Don’t look, boys.” Mariano said wiping sweat from his brow as he maneuvered the bus around eviscerated bodies, abandoned vehicles, and other obstacles lining Interstate 5. Stretches of the interstate south of the city were nearly impossible to navigate. He spied the occasional discarded arm or leg full of meat but for the most part he passed bloody piles of human remains. Multiple vehicles sat empty leading Mariano to believe the occupants fled to the nearby tree line. He hoped they found safety one way or another. He crested a small hill and peered down at a significant choke point, stopping the bus.
Along the grassy center-medium near the overpass for Knighton Road, signs of a massive slaughter was evident. Mariano could see where people were torn from their vehicles leaving bloody piles of human waste scattered about. He figured panic must have gripped the
remaining survivors scattering them in all directions. He noticed crashed vehicles, small fires and the few walking bodies off in the distance. Mariano shook his head looking out over the bloody battlefield. Behind him Dayton and his friends sat on the floor not looking out the windows.
Mariano drove through the grassy medium to the northbound lanes squeezing between a disabled big rig and a school bus. He didn’t bother looking at the bus not wanting to know. The city bus hugged the side of the soft shoulder progressing nicely down the Interstate away from the carnage. A ray of sunlight shone down on bus 2317 as it passed the city limits giving Mariano some hope for the future. As they passed the “Welcome to Redding” sign Mariano looked in the side mirror stopping. He opened his window looking out at the sign. Vandals had painted over the sign with red paint, or at least he hoped it was paint.
Welcome to Necropolis
population…ALL.
Mariano watched the small gas station and food mart for any activity as rain fell against the windshield of the bus. He sat idling on the off ramp. Although the fuel gauge read just over half a tank, he felt it best to fill up and gather essentials before heading south to the farmlands. Dayton and his friends slept in the rear of the bus not stirring. Mariano wanted to sleep but the travel was slow and he had to find a safe place to rest. The gas station was looking like a good prospect for fuel and food.
There was no traffic on the interstate as Mariano inched the bus forward over the overpass. He watched a flock of geese fly by heading south. For a moment he thought about finding a plane and flying out of the area but reality quickly set in remembering he didn’t know how to fly. He rolled the bus into the parking lot, spying the green handled pump for the diesel fuel dispenser. He pulled the bus along the pump island. He didn’t shut the engine off.
“Dayton buddy. Wake up.” No answer.
Mariano looked up into the interior mirror seeing the boys were still fast asleep. He began to walk back to wake Dayton but decided against it. Let them sleep while they can. He exited the bus, walked around to the driver’s side window and closed the front door using the control handle common on public transit buses. With the rear and front doors secure he slid the window closed making sure it didn’t latch.
Mariano carried his shotgun as he walked to the front of the small food mart and looked in the window. He could see no activity inside. In one corner Mariano spotted stacks of bottled water and in another he could see candy and nutritional bars. A foul odor emitted from the front door causing Mariano to hesitate fearing a zombie on the other side. A large poster listing a great price for soda blocked his view of the floor. He grasped the door handle pushing slightly. The door didn’t budge. “Shit. It’s locked.”
Mariano raised the butt of the shotgun, readying to break the glass when he read, “PULL” on the door. Shaking his head he reached out and grasped the door once again. With his shotgun readied, he pulled the door open and instantly saw what was causing the odor. The corpse of a bloated woman wearing a dress lay near the door. The top of the woman’s head appeared to have been bashed in by a blunt object. Mariano scanned the store. Another quick look at the corpse told Mariano the woman had been dead for some time. He choked back the urge to vomit as he walked passed.
Mariano grabbed a small cart and headed for the water. After loading the cart, he remembered he had to turn on the pumps before he exited the store with his first load of supplies. He walked behind the counter and the sight before him was far worse than any he could’ve imagined. What once was a small boy, maybe eight years old, was now an emaciated zombie struggling to move weighing no more than forty pounds. The boy’s grey eyes looked right through Mariano as its mouth gaped revealing blackened gums and decaying teeth. The boy tried to crawl forward like a newborn puppy but fell on his face.
Mariano stood motionless before sitting on the floor. He watched the boy crawl towards him. Tears welling up in his eyes he lifted the shotgun taking aim. He felt a rush of empathy for the boy but needed to put the thought out of his mind. He knew the boy was a killer hell bent on feeding on the living. But the feeling wouldn’t go away. The boy looked so pathetic as his scrawny body clawed at him from only a few feet away. Tears streamed down his cheeks. The boy reached his leg but didn’t possess the strength to move further. A small gasp escaped his dead lungs.
“I’m sorry little dude.” Mariano stood bringing the butt of the gun down crushing the child’s skull.
Mariano found the fuel pump switches. He walked out pushing the cart full of water to the bus. He looked in through the windshield seeing the boys were still asleep making him want to sleep as well. The fuel pump sprang to life with a pleasing hum. He began fueling the bus and stepped to the rear looking to the interstate. It looked clear. He turned to walk back to the food mart and saw them. Zombies, a whole bunch of them, were walking slowly through a small field. He studied them for a moment looking for Runners but saw none. He estimated he had a good eight to ten minutes before they arrived. He sprinted back to the mart.
He tossed as much food as he could possibly fit into the cart. He knew this was his one opportunity to retrieve supplies before having to waste ammunition on the slow moving zombies. He filled the cart with nutrition bars, candy bars, snack cakes, jerky, and essentials from the small personal hygiene aisle. He pushed the cart back to the bus resting it against the stack of bottled water. He moved around to the driver’s side window spotting a few more zombies walking from a different direction. A runner broke into a full sprint upon seeing Mariano’s movement.
“Mother fucker.” Mariano said as he opened the front door.
“Boys. UP NOW!” He yelled.
In the back of the bus Dayton and his three friends startled awake by the sudden yelling. They all looked at each other with perplexed looks on their faces.
“Dayton. Come to the front of the bus now.”
Without hesitation, Dayton broke for the front of the bus.
“Help me load this stuff.” Mariano began handing Dayton cases of water. Dayton, with exceptional upper body strength, handled the cases with ease tossing them down the aisle. The boys in the back of the bus caught on quickly and began helping.
Mariano kept peering in both directions. He counted to himself for a moment estimating he had thirty seconds before the runner reached him and three minutes before the zombies from the field reached him. He tossed the last case of water to Dayton and grabbed an arm full of food throwing it into the aisle of the bus. Mariano picked up the shotgun, pulled it in tight against his shoulder, took aim, and pulled the trigger. A deafening boom rang out from the shotgun and the head of the runner exploded. He swung the shotgun around and took aim on the slower moving zombies in the field. Two minutes.
“Move to the back of the bus, Dayton and get on the floor. Tell your friends to do the same.” Mariano didn’t look back for confirmation and moved to the fuel pump.
The zombies in the field were closing the distance faster than Mariano had anticipated. Their grey eyes seemed to be fixed on him as he pulled the fuel nozzle out. A sudden feeling of walls closing in on him was now all too real. He tossed the nozzle aside, turned, and made for the front door of the bus. At the front of the bus was the walking corpse of a former tow truck driver. His face was blackened and dark green mucus crusted around his nose and mouth. His eyes were sunken and dark grey. The man’s body was bloated and gases escaped with every step he took. His arms were outstretched and a low rumbling growl emitted from his black mouth.
“Where the fuck did you come from?” Mariano said raising the shotgun.
Without warning the zombie broke into a run. Mariano pulled the trigger, hitting the zombie in the upper body with buckshot knocking it back several feet. Mariano raced for the front door of the bus but slipped in a puddle of bodily waste and blood. He attempted to curse but found all the wind in his lungs expelled upon hitting the ground. Struggling, Mariano was able to get to his feet on time to see the bus was within seconds of being overrun by the
undead. He gasped for air while walking the last four excruciating steps to the entrance. His lungs slowly filled as he stepped up onto the bus and lunged for the door control. The front door closed with a clear crisp release of air. He climbed into the driver’s seat looking up just as the first zombie reached the front of the bus.
The zombie climbed onto the front bumper of the bus banging hard on the windshield. The force of the zombie’s strikes shocked Mariano. It slammed its open hand near the upper corner of the windshield splitting it apart in a bloody mess. Chunks of rotting flesh stuck to the glass exposing the bones underneath. Just when Mariano thought he had seen it all, the zombie struck the windshield with its skeletal hand sending a spider web through the glass and breaking multiple bones. Mariano accelerated turning the bus sharply to the left running over two slow-moving zombies. Dayton and his friends remained on the floor not looking up. The zombie on the front bumper fell after a sharp right turn. Mariano sped out of the parking lot. He entered the Interstate heading south towards the farmlands as the rain increased.
Forty
The exposed bone of its fingertips scraped against the metal door. For the past week it had been trying to gain entry. Night and day, rain and shine, it was there. Scrape, scrape…scrape. The zombie dropped to its knees, its decomposing hands slid slower and slower on the door following the same bloody trail. The grey eyes recessed further into its head. A puddle of rotting fluids had formed on the ground around the zombie. Flies and maggots flourished in the putrid soup.
A tear rolled down Ruth’s cheek, which she quickly wiped away. She watched Mr. Twells from the window just as she had over the past five days. She walked away from the window and Mr. Twells to conduct her morning rounds. She felt Morning View held up very well and the skill and dedication of the nursing staff, what was left of it, ensured no residents expired in that time. She had three nurses working the halls, including her. Some kitchen staff also stayed at Morning View knowing it was safe and plenty of food was available, even if the electricity failed. Most staff had fled when the event began. There had been no communication with any of them. Some of the remaining staff contacted friends or family through email, cell phones and social media. They were told either to stay where they were or decided to stay after hearing the news in or around their neighborhoods.
Welcome to Necropolis Page 17
