by Luke Duffy
Tina crept back beyond the safety of the bushes. She moved along in a crouch, almost hopping from one foot to the other until she was out of sight. She raised herself back to her full height and approached her brother. Again, she raised her fingers to her lips but the expression in her face had softened and seemed more understanding of his fear.
“It’s okay,” she whispered as she pulled herself close to him and raised her mouth towards his ear. “It doesn’t know we’re here. We can still do this, Chris. We just need to be very careful and make sure we don’t make a sound.”
Christopher pulled away from her and began shaking his head. He started to say something but Tina pushed her fingers up against his mouth.
“Chris, we have to do this. It was your idea to close the gate and a good one too,” she continued encouragingly and attempting to appeal to his own sense of pride. “We can’t leave it open now. If we do it right, it’ll be over in just a few seconds and we will be back in the warehouse before you know it.”
He looked at her blankly and then up at the gate. It was just a few metres away and it would not take long at all. He glanced at the area of the bushes where he knew the body of the infected sat, just out of sight. It would all be over before the corpse managed to climb to its feet and he would be gone from the area long before it reached the gate. He gulped hard and nodded, closing his eyes and fighting desperately to swallow his fear and force himself into positive action.
Tina smiled and lightly brushed her hand against the thick material that covered his bulky shoulders. He looked down at her glove as she began to turn her head and body away from him. It was the first sign of physical affection she had shown him in months.
Shaking himself internally, Christopher began to creep along behind his sister. As he passed the end of the row of bushes, he glanced nervously to his right and saw the corpse still sitting with its back to them, completely unaware of their presence. He focussed his attention back on the shoulders of Tina and remained within arm’s reach of her.
Don’t fuck this up, he heard the nagging voice in his head say again.
At the gate, Tina paused and quickly surveyed the area for anything she had missed. Then she turned and glanced back at the sitting infected body just a few metres to her right. She had a clear view of its profile now. Its face looked flat with very little protruding in the way of its features. Its nose had rotted away to nothing more than a hollow stub and its eyes were sunken deep into its skull. She wondered to herself how good its vision was but she quickly shook the thought from her mind. It did not matter and they would know the answer to that particular question soon enough when they slammed the gate shut.
She took a quick glance over her shoulder to check on Christopher. He was close, very close. Stretching her arm out in front of her she began to reach for the rolling gate, but something made her stop dead in her tracks. Something was wrong. They remained unseen but there was definitely a serious threat. Subconsciously she had seen and recognised it but it was taking a while for her brain to register what it was.
The danger was behind her.
Tina slowly turned her body, keeping her feet planted against the tarmac so that she did not create any noise with a careless foot movement. Christopher’s bulk came into view and his face appeared as she slowly panned around to her right. His eyes were blazing at her and his lips were curled back into a snarl. Then she recognised the barrel of the gun that was being pointed directly at her face.
Where the fuck did that come from? She gasped internally.
Christopher’s hands were shaking but the muzzle remained firmly pointing into the area between her eyes. He had taken a step backwards, careful not to get too close to her and allow his sister the opportunity to snatch the weapon from his trembling hand.
Tina recognised the hatred and anger in her brother’s face. The insanity in his eyes raged like a bush fire and his sweat soaked, pallid skin added to the appearance of a man that was on the verge of madness. A knot suddenly formed in the pit of her stomach and the blood in her veins seemed instantly to freeze, sending a shiver through her entire body and causing her cranium to tingle and the hair of her neck stand out.
At that moment, it did not matter where the pistol had come from or the reasons why her own brother now stood poised to put a 9mm round through her face. The glare in his eyes and the vile expression etched into his features told her everything she needed to know at that moment. He was going to shoot her.
“Christopher,” she began in a hushed and calming tone, “listen to me. Whatever it is I’ve done wrong, please don’t do this. We can talk this through, Chris. Whatever the problem is, we can fix it. I’m your sister and I want to help you.”
His fingers tightened their grip on the Glock and his face became more twisted and unrecognisable as he stared back at her in hateful silence.
“Please, Chris,” she pleaded, “you don’t have to do this. If you want, I will just leave and I will never come back.”
He remained impassive to her reasoning. His face held its snarling grimace and his aim did not falter.
She suddenly realised that any attempt at negotiation or compromise was futile. Her brother was clearly committed to putting an end to her life. Her shoulders sagged and her body threatened to collapse from beneath her. Her death was just moments away. She felt nauseous and dizzy and her skin flushed with a dread filled sweat. It felt as though her bowels were contorting and writhing and her bladder suddenly felt particularly full as a surge of adrenaline flowed into her bloodstream. Her survival instincts were preparing her for ‘flight or fight’ mode but there was nothing she could do. Christopher was too far away for her to make a grab for the pistol and too close for her to turn and run. She was completely at his mercy and the expression in his face told her everything she needed to know about his intentions.
He was going to kill her. She had no doubt in her mind.
Suddenly, with a speed that she had never seen from her brother, he barged forward and threw out his foot. It happened so fast that she was unable to move in time and the kick caught her squarely in the stomach. The wind was instantly knocked from her and she was sent flying backwards through the air. Her left shoulder struck the edge of the roll gate with a loud clang and she felt a shooting pain rip through her upper arm and into her neck as the joint dislocated from its socket. The loud rattle of the fence and the high-pitched ringing sound of her crowbar falling to the floor immediately caught the attention of the infected that were scattered about the car park.
The corpse sitting against the fence line just a few metres away from the gate opening also turned its gaze in their direction. Struggling to pull itself free from the steel mesh, the body writhed and kicked as it saw the warm radiant flesh of Tina as she sailed through the air and crashed into the hard asphalt with a yelp of pain and fear. The pitiful cries of the walking dead began to echo as they converged, their voices joining in a mournful wail.
Tina rolled onto her side, unable to breathe and almost blinded by the pain in her shoulder. Her right glove had come away from her hand in the violence of the kick and she became distantly aware of the grated skin across her palm caused during her rough landing. She attempted to push herself up and regain her feet but her legs were refusing to cooperate. They slipped from under her and she fell back against the floor. Again, she attempted to stand as she began imploring her brother.
“Please, Chris, don’t leave me like this. Help me.”
Taking a second to glance at her surroundings, Tina quickly saw the corpses making their way over to the corner of the parking area where she lay helpless. She was crying with pain, fear, and the hopelessness of her situation. She looked back at her brother.
The terror and desperation in her eyes were plain to see but he was beyond caring now. He had committed himself to his actions and he was determined to see them through. Her cries and pleas did not register in his hate filled mind as he reached out for the gate and began pulling it towards him, he r
aised the pistol in his free hand and pointed it at Tina.
“No, Chris, no,” she screamed as he squeezed the trigger.
The first shot boomed out across the expanse of the car park as the round smashed into the asphalt beside her, peppering her with sharp chips of tarmac and particles of disintegrated rock from beneath the surface.
Tina screamed and rolled to the side, hoping to get out of the way of the next shot. Again, the gun roared and the bullet snapped through the air beside Tina’s head. She twisted and turned away from it and slithered across the ground in an attempt to escape. He had missed with his first two rounds but she was sure that his next would be accurate.
“Please,” she was screaming as she crawled away from him and towards the nearest of the parked cars that were no more than twenty metres away.
Tears were streaming down her face from agony and terror. She suddenly felt alone and utterly vulnerable as she lay at the mercy of her murderous brother. She had been taken by complete surprise, and even now, as bullets smashed into the ground around her and the moans of the dead rang out from all directions, confusion and shock was taking their toll.
The decomposing body at the fence had managed to pull itself free, leaving large portions of its decayed flesh still clinging to the wire and forcing the swarms of flies to choose between the static remains smeared over the fence or the moving corpse. It climbed to its feet on rickety legs and began to lurch towards the writhing form of Tina as she scrambled away from the gate.
With blurred vision, ringing ears, and searing pain, Tina continued to crawl. Some of her nails had been torn away from her fingers as she desperately clawed at the ground and dragged herself along. Another two rounds cracked loudly beside her in quick succession and showered her with debris as the impacts sent up small fountains of stone and dust.
“Stop, Chris. Please stop,” she croaked desperately between sobs.
Her voice had weakened substantially. She was now just waiting for the shot that would end her life but she could not sit idle. Her instincts forced her at least to attempt to survive. However, she had only managed to crawl a few metres and the protection of the nearest car was still a long way off.
“Please, stop…”
The gun blasted again and this time it felt like someone had suddenly hit her with a hammer in the lower right limb. She felt the muscle tear and her calf spasm as the bullet ripped through her trousers and punched a hole through her leg. Then she screamed as the true pain hit. Her blood-curdling howl reverberated over a vast distance, reaching far beyond the industrial estate as the agony of her shredded flesh assaulted her brain like an electric shock. Her head spun and her vision danced as an instant nausea loomed over her threatened to cause her to black out.
Reaching down and clamping her hand over the wound, she could feel the warm blood soaking through the material of her trousers and pouring out over the shredded magazine that was still wrapped around her damaged limb. The pain was excruciating but somehow, she managed to remain conscious and still moving away from the gate, kicking and clawing at the tarmac with her remaining good arm and leg.
Behind her, she heard the heaving clang as the gate was pulled shut and the clunk of the bolts as they were slid into place. She stole a quick glance over her shoulder and saw the huge shape of Christopher standing beyond the railings, still holding the pistol in his hands and staring out at her as she slowly pulled herself along the ground. She also saw the corpse from the fence line staggering towards her. It was still a few metres away but already its arms were outstretched in anticipation. Its mouth hung open and black bile seeped from its shrivelled lips. It grunted and gargled, stumbling after her and grasping at the air with its long bony fingers as it closed in on her wrecked body.
Tina gritted her teeth and renewed her efforts to escape. Her fingers were torn and bloodied from scraping along the rough surface of the car park but she was numb to the pain. Her shoulder, though wrenched from its socket and being dragged limply at her side, had become a distant burning sensation and even the hole in her leg had faded into a dull ache as the terror of being eaten alive filled and overwhelmed her senses.
The creature closed in as Tina attempted to climb to her feet. She pushed herself upwards and roared as a torrent of pain shot up from the bleeding wound in her calf. She almost collapsed back to the floor but the excited wail and snapping teeth of the corpse as it lunged towards her drove her forward. It missed her by just a few centimetres and careened off to the side before turning to pursue her again.
Tina stumbled on, her damaged shoulder rendering her left arm useless and her wounded leg slowly her dramatically. She had no idea where she was trying to get to or what she would do when she got there. All she could think of was getting away from her brother before he fired again, and the infected monster that was now close on her heels.
She made it to the first of the cars and reached out, placing her hands on the hood to stabilise herself and pushing her weakened body around to the other side. There was more of the infected coming. They were closing in fast, much faster than the pathetic hobble that she could manage. She needed to hide somewhere, anywhere, but there was nowhere that she could escape to.
She stumbled and fell, crashing to the floor and hitting her head against the solid surface of the parking area. Her shoulder slammed hard against the tarmac and the pop of the socket as the bone slipped back into place echoed loudly in her ears. Stars erupted across her vision and her head swam as her senses were knocked off kilter. She rolled to the side and groaned with pain and confusion. She tried to stand but fell again. It was impossible for her to get her body to obey her mind. It was like trying to swim in oil. Her movements were slow and clumsy, uncoordinated and feeble.
She rolled onto her back and looked up in time to see the rotted corpse from the fence reaching down towards her with its mouth agape. Its knee landed on her upper thighs and she was pinned to the ground beneath its weight. She pushed against it with both arms, ignoring the searing pain in her shoulder as her hands sunk into the cold mushy grey flesh of its chest and her fingers slipped through the bones of its ribcage.
The infected man did not acknowledge the damage caused to its body. Its entire focus was on sinking its teeth into the warm tissue and muscle of the writhing woman beneath it.
Tina desperately struggled to push the creature away from her but its grotesque face continued to descend towards her own. Its putrid stench filled her nostrils and its gurgling groans assaulted her ears, threatening to drive her into a dark pit of madness as she screamed and roared with fear and frustration. She thrust hard against it, and brought her left arm, the shoulder burning and aching immensely, down towards her belt in a desperate attempt to reach one of her weapons. She did not care which one, anything would do. Her fingers clutched and grasped as she frantically felt for something that could be brought up to help her, but there was nothing there.
Her ear splitting screams of terror and agony shattered the silence of the countryside for miles around the complex.
Christopher stood in the darkened warehouse, his back pressed up against the locked hatch set into the loading bay doors. He panted and gasped for air. His hands shook uncontrollably and his knees trembled. The sickness he felt rising up in his stomach threatened to burst through its floodgates at any moment. He was crying and shaking his head, blubbering away to himself incoherently, unsure if he had done the right thing in killing his sister.
Her horror-filled shrieks still echoed through his mind, freezing his blood and torturing his darkening soul.
“Shut up,” he screamed into the darkness, “shut up.”
He smacked himself on the side of his head, forgetting that he still had the Glock pistol clutched tightly in his hand. The sharp pain as the magazine housing crashed against his skull sent spasms of irritating throbs through his brain.
“Cunt,” he snarled through gritted teeth, “fucking cunt.”
He turned and staggered towards the door lea
ding out from the warehouse and into the administration offices. He was mumbling and wailing to himself as he made his way through the doorway, cursing himself in one breath and then justifying his actions in the next.
“How could you?” He called out in disgust as he made his way through the incinerated corridor on unsteady legs.
“How could you do that to her? You killed your own sister, you piece of shit.”
He slammed himself against the wall and then threw himself against the door at the far end, as though trying to punish himself or knock the feelings of remorse from his mind. He burst out from the darkened passageway and into the long sunlit room of office cubicles. Saliva foamed at the corners of his mouth as his bloodshot eyes focussed on the doorway at the far end. He launched himself forwards, his massive legs rippling as the layers of fat were jolted from the impacts of his heavy feet against the floor.
“She was a bitch,” he snarled as he ran. “I hate her and she deserved it. I warned her. I told her not to push me.”
The fact that he had never spoken a word of warning to her or made any sort of threat, other than to his own reflection in the mirror as he wrapped himself up in a world of fantasy, did not register with him.
He raced through the offices and out into the reception area. He ploughed on, charged his colossal body up the dreaded thirty-five steps of anguish, and headed for the manager’s office. He could no longer hear his sister’s screams but he wanted to see the feeding frenzy that was no doubt taking place in the car park by now.
Barging through the door, he covered the distance to the large windows in just a few strides and hurriedly swept back the thick curtains and flooded the room with dazzling sunlight. He squinted in its brightness and raised his hands to shield his eyes while they adjusted to the sudden change.
Out in the car park he could see a large number of corpses appearing from the peripherals of the industrial estate and around the edges of the various buildings. Some walked and others ran but they all headed in the same direction. The commotion had no doubt attracted many of them from the surrounding areas but Christopher did not care about that. The parking area could hold thousands of bodies for all he cared. He was safe inside the supply depot and was confident that the barricades would hold out. He had no intention of stepping outside again now.
