by Jamie Marks
He had shone the flashlight down to where Tyler lay sprawled on the roof holding his groin, and he saw the ghoul attempting to crawl after its thrashing prey. Its teeth were striking together at the night air.
Allowing himself to drop as gently as he could, Steve landed to the far side of the legless thing, and then called to Cook for his baseball bat. He raised it high into the air and brought it down on the Dead thing’s mutilated head.
“Are you okay?” Kathy asked from the other side against the wall.
“Yeah,” Steve answered.
“Are you all right, Tyler?” Steve asked.
“I’ll be all right. However, this is the first time I’ve done the splits for about thirty years,” he said.
“Can you stand up?” Steve asked him with a wry smile.
“In a minute, just give me a moment.”
Tyler sounded embarrassed.
“Get the door,” Tyler said as another set of feet landed on the roof behind them.
Expecting to see Cook, Steve found himself surprised to see Kathy.
She speedily ran over to her husband and embraced him.
“Stop being so damn brave,” she said.
“I’ll try,” he said.
“Can someone shut the fucking door,” Tyler said as he sat upright and rubbed his groin.
Steve reached for the open stairwell door, only to launch himself rapidly backward as he came person to person with another Dead monstrosity at the top of the stairwell.
The thing howled as Steve stood only inches from its gaping mouth.
“Not tonight,” he said, as he slammed the door in its face, leaving it trapped forever.
The next rooftop they traversed was flat and unobstructed. The only feature being two skylights, which revealed the interior of the store below. Tyler peered downward into the store, but the darkness refused to reveal its secrets. He then stepped over another low wall and rubbed his sore groin as he examined their next challenge, a high-pitched corrugated roof.
Tyler turned to the others. “I’ll climb up first and drop the rope down to you.”
“Can you climb with that groin?” Cook asked him with a grin from ear to ear.
“Sure, it’s feeling better already,” Tyler said, while he checked for a place to start climbing.
Having easily spotted the screws that held the metal sheeting to the roofing gables, Tyler positioned his boot on one.
It gripped.
He then reached up and found another screw, and gripped it with his fingertips as he raised his other boot to the next row of screws.
Before long, he was on the axis of the roof and looking down the other side.
Much of the rooftop area was hidden from view, but it had a flat deck and what appeared to be a pigeon coop at its midpoint.
“How’s it look?” asked Cook.
“Good and bad. There are no Dead things over here, so that’s good. Although the next roof looks to be separated by an alley, so this might be the end of the line for us.”
“Can you see the firehouse?” Steve asked.
“Hang on,” Tyler said as he inched along the axis of the roof and found a ladder down to the next level. He tied the rope to the top rung and flung it down to the others.
“Answer the man,” Susan said. “Can you see the firehouse or not?”
“Yeah,” Tyler retorted. “I can see it. And it looks clear.”
“Who wants to go first?” Steve asked everyone.
“Ladies first,” said Kathy. “Susan, would you like first dibs?”
“I don’t think I can climb a rope like this,” Susan said rubbing her arm. “It really hurts.”
“How about you go first anyway, and I’ll help you up from behind,” Kathy said, “then Tyler can pull you up from above. You’ll be up there before you know it.”
Susan moaned.
“Come on, ladies,” Tyler said.
“Sorry,” Kathy answered him.
However, Tyler knew Kathy wasn’t to blame as he glanced down at the things below.
The creatures in the street beneath knew something was close, and they moaned in frustration.
They wanted them; they wanted to touch them, to feel their warmth.
The Dead things sensed them --- fresh and clean --- unpolluted from death and decay. They could almost smell their vibrant blood, as if it breathed through the pores of their living skin, ebbing and flowing in strong-scented currents; pumping and coursing with living cells that stirred through blue veins and twitching muscles. Warm blood that drove through the heart’s chambers embracing its beat and feeding it energy. Dark ruby-red blood, which sparked the brain with living memories and conscious thoughts. Blood that when spilled, warmed the Dead’s flesh for a few moments as it flowed down a dry throat to nowhere.
They were dead.
Dead things, which craved the soothing, warm liquid of life.
Tyler leaned over and looked into alleyway, which separated the two buildings. It was close to pitch-black down there, he thought. “We’re going to have to climb down from here,” Tyler said. “Hopefully that car blocking the entry will hold the Dead back.”
He pointed to a car that obstructed the street entrance to the alleyway.
The Dead were already trying to inch their way around the side of the abandoned car. Tyler understood that if one or two of the things could get past the car, it would spell disaster for everyone. We have to move fast, he contemplated.
As Tyler and the others disputed the order of descent, Kathy investigated the pigeon coop.
There were several birds inside the cage, alive and crooning.
She strolled around to the backside of the coop in search of the door.
“What are you doing?” Cook asked her.
“It would be cruel to leave them locked up in there.”
When Kathy found the door, she saw it was ajar and smiled.
“Is this what’s going to happen to us once we take up residence in the firehouse? Will it become our very own gilded cage?” Kathy asked.
Cook shrugged and followed her around to the back wall of the building.
Looking beyond the empty car park, which was surrounded by a high-wire fence, they saw the firehouse.
“If we’re lucky,” he said.
“Can’t we just force the door?” Susan said.
“It’s a firedoor, damn near impossible to break open,” Steve answered.
“Not to mention the noise we’d make,” Tyler added.
“I don’t want to climb down.”
“We can’t stay here. We can’t break open the door, there’s no other choice, Susan,” Tyler said, as he glanced once more down to the dark alley and saw one of the Dead things edging along the side of the abandoned car.
“We must climb down, there is no other choice; we’re wasting time,” he said as he tied off the rope at the bottom rung of the ladder and then threw it over the side. The rope was too short. “Shit.”
“What?”
“The rope, it’s too short for the climb down.”
“How short?” asked Steve
“About six feet, I’d say.”
“Then we can’t do it,” Susan said with a sense of triumph.
“We can and we will. The first person down will have to drop some distance. From there on in, it’s only a matter of helping the others,” Tyler said.
“That’s crazy, someone might break a leg,” Susan said.
“Nobody is going to break a leg,” Cook said standing beside her.
“Are you a fucking psychic now?” Susan asked.
“What’s crazy is ---” Tyler attempted to say.
“Can you read minds too?” Susan asked Cook. “What the fuck am I thinking now?”
“I know what I’m thinking,” Kathy said standing alongside Cook.
“Really?”
“I said, what’s crazy, is not ---” Tyler tried again.
“Maybe Cook could use his super magical wonder cop powers and levitate us all to the ground,�
�� Susan said speaking over the top of Tyler once again.
“Why don’t you just shut up,” Steve suddenly interjected.
“Ooooh, fatty’s balls have dropped.”
“You bitch,” Kathy said, stepping forward and raising her hand to strike Susan.
“Where’s Tyler?” asked Cook.
“Fuck him,” said Susan.
“Fuck you,” Kathy answered, her nose an inch from Susan’s face.
Tyler’s feet hit the ground at the same time as the Dead thing finished squeezing past the car. Behind the first creature was another, a small blonde female who found the going much easier.
Tyler tried to reach the rope that dangled down, perhaps the drop was more than six feet, possibly, it was more like nine.
The rope was out of reach, there was no way back.
Tyler looked up and saw the other four looking back down at him.
“Are you all right?” Steve asked.
“Fine,” he answered.
“It would serve the bastard right if they ---” Before Susan could finish her sentence, Kathy slapped her across the face.
“Susan,” Kathy said, “I don’t care if you’ve suffered a mental breakdown or not. As soon as the chance arises, I want you to leave,” Kathy said to Susan, who rubbed her face with the back of her hand.
She was bleeding; the bitch slapped me. Why couldn’t I just stay quiet? Susan thought as she stared at Kathy. She felt tempted to shoot the bitch where she stood. Fuck her, screw ’em all.
“Sorry,” Susan said, “I don’t know what happened.” Not yet though, not yet.
Steve dropped his baseball bat down to Tyler. “Catch,” he said as he gripped the rope.
“Steve!”
“I’ll be fine,” he said to Kathy who was still shivering after striking Susan.
“Wait a minute,” she said and then kissed him. “You brave and stupid man.”
Steve smiled.
Then he was gone.
“I’m next,” Susan said as she avoided eye contact with Kathy.
Tyler moved toward the first zombie past the car; he clenched the bat tight. “This one’s for the fans,” he said to himself as he saw more Dead trying to get access to the alley.
“If you’re coming down, can you speed it up, Steve?” Tyler said.
On the count of three, swing.
Tyler swung and struck the Undead thing out of the park, or to be more accurate, in the direction of the ground.
Steve under no circumstances was much of a rope climber, up or down, and he certainly didn’t require the extra pressure.
This is harder than it looks; then he fell!
“Steve!”
Tyler turned around and saw Steve on the ground.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Fine... I’m fine,” he said as he stood upright and dusted himself off.
He felt more embarrassed than anything else.
“You’re sure?” Kathy added.
“Never been better,” he answered her.
Steve wandered over to Tyler who smiled broadly at him.
“Give me the bat,” Steve said, his pride still hurting. “You can help Susan down; me and my little friend have a history.”
As Susan neared the end of the rope, Steve rushed forward and drove the bat into the first Dead thing’s head, splitting its nose and splaying what was left across its ruined face. Steve then spun his bat like a gunslinger and swung hard into the temple of the Dead thing, finishing it off.
He’s good, Tyler thought as he was stretching upward to help Susan. He could almost touch the bottom of her feet. Just, a few feet more... Out of the corner of his eye, he continued to watch Steve work his magic; the man could throw a bat. “That’s it, Steve, keep on swinging,” Tyler said as more ghouls began appearing at the entrance of the alleyway. Tyler almost had her. “That’s it, steady,” he said, “a little more.”
“I can’t hold on,” Susan answered; she sounded anxious.
“Just a little lower, everything’s fine,” he said as his arm stretched for her ankles. “Drop now.”
“No! You haven’t got me.”
“I’ll catch you. Let go.”
“My arm is aching. I can’t hold on.”
“Then let go, I have you,” Tyler insisted.
“You better have,” said Susan as she let go of the rope and slipped through Tyler’s hands, and landed awkwardly on the ground.
Tyler feint an apologetic look.
“You prick!” said Susan.
“Kathy, it’s your turn now,” Tyler said as another thing came toward Steve.
The Undead thing moved between the car blocking the alleyway and the wall of the building with ease. Its sole remaining and exposed breast was criss-crossed with bloody scratch marks.
Following behind her, were more. Steve estimated that there were already a dozen, and very likely more on their way. Taking a pace forward, Steve smashed his bat to the Dead woman’s jaw, smacking it to a severe right angle. Her jawbone now hung from her face, and merely remained attached by a loose piece of dried leathery skin.
As Steve raised the bat yet again, the other dead that were behind the woman began to clamber over the car, encouraged by all the excitement.
Kathy began her descent. “You’ll do fine,” Cook said from above, “just go easy.”
Tyler stood below her. He was ready this time.
“I bet you won’t drop her,” Susan said as she stood behind him.
Cook could see Susan was about to become an unwanted distraction.
“Susan, leave him alone and help Steve!” Cook said.
Susan glanced in Steve’s direction and saw his next swing dispatch a girl to the ground, her head smashed open.
“Looks like he’s doing fine to me,” she said as she walked in the other direction behind the building.
When she was out of sight, Susan reached around her back and fingered her gun. It’s nearly time, she thought.
The parking area was empty of vehicles. Nothing was there, nothing she could use to her advantage.
Susan glanced at the wire fence. It seemed intact, and there were no ghouls waiting for her on the other side. Should I leave now? Should I go? Susan walked toward the wire fence, the closer she got to it, the higher it seemed.
Unexpectedly she saw something, a small hole, a hole she could fit through.
Should I go now? Should I leave them behind?
Ignoring the commotion behind her, Susan approached the hole in the fence as if in a daydream.
The fence is maybe eight to nine feet. Fairly high, and then the razor wire...
The razor wire looked old and loose, but it would take time to climb. If you didn’t know about the hole it would be a real obstacle, especially if someone’s...
Even so, the code, the damn key code to the firehouse, she thought, and then covered the hole.
By the time Susan wandered back to the alleyway, Steve was preoccupied fighting another creature as another lumbered toward him, its arms outstretched and hands clutching.
Steve readied himself for another stroke of the bat.
Susan glanced up at the rooftop and saw Cook getting prepared to climb down.
He lowered one leg over the side of the building, and then steadied himself as he grabbed the rope with both hands.
Tyler stood below him, waiting.
It was then Susan decided to speak.
“You understand that if anything happens to Cook as he’s climbing down, say if he falls, we won’t have the code to the firehouse,” Susan said with sufficient volume for everyone to hear her. “If he breaks his neck, we’re all fucked!” she added. Out of the corner of her eye, Susan saw Steve’s swing and knock another thing to the ground. Nobody answered her.
“Be careful, Cook. Take your time,” Tyler said.
Cook took a deep breath. “I’m fine,” he answered.
“I’m not joking, people, if he dies, we’re all fucked, and I mean, really fu
cked.”
“Shut up,” Kathy said.
Susan spun around to face her and said in a whisper, “You shut the fuck up. If he falls, your husband might as well cut out the middleman and bash your fucking head in too. You stupid bitch.”
“Don’t rush it, Cook,” Tyler said again.
“Are you doing all right, Steve?”
“Yeah, I’m doing fine. It’s like a day in the park,” Steve replied, as his breathing begun to labour. This was damn hard work.
“I’m fine,” Cook said. “I just don’t like heights.”
“Great; he’s going to fucking fall!” Susan said as she unexpectedly backed away from the group, her face colorless.
Susan’s heart skipped a beat when she saw who began climbing the car that blocked the alley. The thing struggled, but the thing had always struggled, with everything --- life and love --- since its creation, long before it died. She felt her stomach churn inside of her. I should have shot you in the head, you fat fuck. I should have.
It was Charlie.
Why the fuck now!
Dead Charlie gazed at Susan; he wanted her. It needed to taste her, a single bite, a morsel of flesh would do. He wanted to feel her slide down his dry throat into his dead gut, to feel that he was one with her. The sight of her alone, drove the poor thing forward.
Susan took another step back. Why the fuck now, why come here at this moment? I am about to decide their fates, and now you come along to determine mine.
Charlie slid down the bonnet of the car and crumpled to the ground at Steve’s feet. Dead Charlie was just another Dead thing to Steve, another walking corpse to dispatch and dispose. However, Tyler knew Charlie.
“Hello, big boy,” Steve said to Dead Charlie.
Kill it, kill it, Susan willed Steve. Kill the thing; smash its head before they see him. Smash its damn face in. Kill it now.
Cook knew him too. Do it now before they notice him. Steven, fucking kill it! Cook closed his eyes. “On the count of three I’ll go,” he said to himself.
“Just tell us the code before you fall and leave us all stranded!” Susan said, her voice rising in pitch. I’m running out of time.
Tyler spun around. “I know the code,” he said to her.
“What is it?”
“You don’t need to know,” he answered.
One, Cook counted.
“What in hell would you know about what I need and don’t need to know! You want me to die out here, don’t you! You want to abandon me like you did all those women and children --- you murderer!”
