The Demented Z (Book 2): Desolation

by Derek J. Thomas

  Still hanging onto the flashlight, Tom began repeatedly smashing it into Flannel’s head. Pain shot through Tom’s face and neck as the demented ripped into his flesh. After several solid hits from the flashlight Flannel’s movements began to slow. Two more solid hits and he went still.

  Kelly had made it inside the boiler room and closed the metal door. Demented pounded on it from the outside, desperate to get in. She saw Tom finishing off Flannel. The door handle began to jiggle. “How do we get out of here?” She shouted.

  Tom was struggling back to his feet. “Behind the boiler...there’s a metal access.” He started heading that way.

  Kelly raced down the short span of stairs, meeting Tom at the bottom.

  “Stay behind me. There are three demented ahead of us somewhere.” Tom said. He really wished he had a gun. Turning back to Kelly, he held out the bloody flashlight and said, “Trade me.”

  Kelly looked at the flashlight with a grimace and then hesitantly traded the surgical knife for the flashlight.

  Reaching the back corner of the boiler room, Kelly shined the light down into the dark tunnel, illuminating bare cement. Distant noises trickled out of the opening. Tom used the light to navigate down the rickety ladder. Inside the tunnel Tom could clearly hear the sounds of running feet and angered growls. They sounded distant, maybe fifty yards or more down the narrow tunnel, but the echo made it difficult to pinpoint.

  Tom heard the metal door in the boiler room above slam into the wall. Demented screamed out in delightful anger, knowing they were that much closer to their prey. This caused Kelly to let out a muffled scream and begin a rapid descent down the ladder. As soon as her feet hit the floor, Tom began racing down the passageway. Kelly’s light bounced from behind him, casting an eerie human shadow that flickered ahead of him.

  Screams and sounds of a struggle reached Tom from somewhere ahead. The demented had caught up with those from their group. With no light they were probably having a difficult time finding the escape ladder. Fighting in the dark would be equally difficult if not more so. Struggling past his fatigue, Tom raced faster down the tunnel. He had to help them. Kelly’s light slowly began to diminish as she lost ground to his sprint.

  Demented began to drop into the tunnel behind them. Their growls could be heard clearly. Tom had to focus on getting to his friends, pushing away his rising panic. The thought of being pinned between two sets of demented in the tight dark tunnel was terrifying. He could only imagine the terror Kelly felt.

  From just ahead he heard Hank yell, “Get up the ladder!” There was a loud scream followed by a shallow grunt.

  Kelly’s faint light finally reached the struggle. Tom could just make out dark forms with their backs turned to him. Neither one turned at his approach, consumed by the fight. In the dim bouncing light they looked like apparitions dancing in the darkness. The angered sounds of fighting were the only clue to something more sinister.

  Knife raised, Tom sprinted up behind them and slammed the blade into the closest ones neck. The demented reached back awkwardly, trying to find the reason for his pain. His arm jerked spastically. A few swipes for the knife’s handle and then he lowered his arm and began to turn around. Tom pulled the blade free and then banged the knife’s hilt hard to his temple. The demented convulsed and dropped to the cement.

  The second demented crumpled to the ground before Tom could move in for the attack. In his place stood a blood drenched Hank, holding a makeshift metal club. He swayed a bit. Tom stepped over and grabbed him by the shoulder.

  Kelly came running up on them. “They’re coming, hurry!”

  Hank stood in place.

  “Move...get up the ladder.” Tom shouted while spinning Hank around, facing him to the ladder.

  Hank nearly tripped over a couple bodies on his way to the ladder, but once there he made quick work of climbing up the rungs. At the top he heaved open the metal cover, letting the fading light of evening spill in. A pair of faces stared down at him. At first Tom thought it was a pair of the demented, but then recognized the faces and realized Hank must have sent them ahead. Relief washed over their faces.

  Tom turned to Kelly. “Follow Hank.” She started to say something and then thought better of it.

  Pounding footsteps grew louder. In the faint light Tom could just make out dark forms racing his way. They saw him standing in the glow that spilled down from above, growling in anticipation. They were incredibly loud. Tom knew there must be dozens of them.

  Looking up, he saw Kelly just climbing up over the lip of the entrance. Tom raced after her, taking the rungs as fast as possible. Nearing the top, one of the demented grasped his legs, but with a couple of rapid kicks he freed himself and hoisted his body up and out of the nightmarish tunnel.

  Hank slammed the metal cover closed. “Pins, are there hinge pins?”

  It took a moment for Tom to realize what Hank was talking about. When he remembered how they had gained access to the locked tunnel system he said, “On the ground...they should be right there on the ground.”

  Hank felt around in the dirt and grass. Once he located the pins he shoved them back in place. “That should hold ‘em.” He said while turning and sitting on top of the entrance. Both Kelly and Tom sat down next to him, exhaustion taking over. Hank looked over at them, blood streaming down his face and neck. “Well that went to poo.”

  Jenny stepped over and said, “Is this it? Nobody else made it?”

  Tom shook his head. “Not unless they went another way...we were followed by dozens of those things.” He looked up at Jenny and added, “Who else made it out with you?”

  A younger man, wearing a t-shirt that barely clung to his body it was ripped in so many places, stepped over. Crimson stains streaked across his white cotton shirt. “Just me. That was the worst plan ever. We’re lucky to...”

  “Hey, I didn’t hear any ideas from you when we were stuck in the OR.” Hank shouted.

  Phillip snapped back, “We were better off up there.”

  “You’d have died there if not for Tom.”

  Tom raised a hand and said, “He’s right.”

  Hank looked over at Tom, shock on his face. “What...you just saved all our asses? Now this kid...this punk blames you.”

  Looking down at his feet Tom felt the full weight of responsibility. “Lincoln was after me...” He shook his head. “None of this would have happened if not for me.”

  Nobody said anything more, they just sat in silence. Tom knew there was nothing he could do to change things and had to move on.

  The sound of something moving through the nearby brush suddenly broke the stillness. Tom hopped up, knife in hand. All of them tensed, staring at the quivering bushes. A muffled huff sounded from low to the ground. Tom slowly moved in a low crouch toward the source of the noise.

  Bursting out of the thick foliage raced a dark shape. Tom swung with his knife, but miscalculated the quickness and just missed over the top. The dark form hit him low, driving him backwards to the ground. Tom tried to bring the knife around, but the creature was on top of him and moved right up to his face. It furiously started licking him.

  “Zeus? Is that you boy?” Tom said.

  The dog started whining furiously. He padded his feet and then shifted off of Tom, waging his tail excitedly.

  “How’d you get out? I thought I’d lost you for sure.” Tom looked up at the others. “Found him in an abandoned house just out of town. He hates the infected just as much as we do.”

  “Where did they take Sam?” Kelly asked.

  Tom hadn’t forgot about Sam, but with all the death and chaos he had shoved the thought to the backburner, both because he knew there was nothing he could do yet and because his fear for Sam’s fate was almost too much to bear. “The school...he’ll be at the school Lincoln took Hank, Rachael, and I to. It was up on the north end of Spokane.”

  Kelly said, “We need to go. Let’s get a car.”

  “First we need a plan.” Tom said.

>   Hank stepped over next to the two of them and helped Tom to his feet. “And lots of guns. I’m not going anywhere near those guys without lots of guns.”

  Chapter 10: The Price

  After spending a few minutes developing a basic plan, and then nearly an hour locating a vehicle, the five of them and Zeus were now on their way to Tom and Kelly’s home. They hadn’t seen any other demented or undead during this time. It was like all of them had made their way to either the hospital or the school, leaving the rest of Newport alone. No matter the reason, Tom was glad to see Newport fading away in his rear view mirror.

  From the backseat Phillip said, “They’re going to be waiting for us at the school. The only reason they left the note is to get you to show up so they can kill you. They’ll be ready.”

  “I already told you, you don’t have to go. This isn’t your fight.” Tom said. “Both of...”

  Hank sat forward in his seat, peering out the front window with squinted eyes. “What is that?”

  The highway leading out of Newport had been clear of vehicles. There were occasional wrecked cars off to the side of the road, but even those were infrequent. Looking ahead, Tom saw an overturned black SUV in the ditch. Its back end rested up against a large Ponderosa Pine. This did not seem all that unusual and Tom guessed it was not what Hank was looking at.

  Tom was just about to ask Hank what he was talking about, and then he saw it. Beyond the SUV, through a thin stand of trees, was a helicopter. It had not crashed, but instead had landed in a small clearing, the rotors slowly spinning. In the fading evening light Tom could see movement around the helicopter. He eased off the gas.

  “Military crash hawk.” Hank said.

  “There’s guys outside...can’t tell if they’re infected or not.” Tom added.

  Kelly chimed in, “Just keep going.”

  “They might know something. Either what’s going on or a way to fix things.” Tom said as he began feathering the brakes. “If they’re not infected we need to talk to them.”

  Easing to a stop, they all remained in the car. They sat staring out the windows, trying to decipher what was going on. There were three men outside the chopper that wore OD green hazmat suits. A pilot remained inside the cockpit. A pair of the men in hazmat suits looked at the stopped car and then turned toward each other. After a few moments of gesturing back and forth, one of them ran over to the chopper and grabbed a silver canister out of the bay.

  “Definitely not infected.” Tom said.

  Nobody said anything in response. They all sat mesmerized by the space alien looking group.

  The man with the canister quickly moved over next to the edge of the clearing and began operating a pump handle on the top of the device. He started using the pump sprayer to hose down something that was just out of sight in the tall weeds.

  Tom grabbed his door handle and said to Hank, “Let’s go chat with ‘em. Everyone else stay put.” He left the car running and stepped out onto the pavement.

  Hank stepped out as well and said, “I really wish I had a gun about now.”

  “We might have better luck unarmed.”

  Zeus whined frantically, desperately wanting out of the car.

  “Stay.” Tom commanded.

  As they started making their way through the trees, one of the hazmat guys started shouting at the other two. His voice was muffled from this distance. The man with the canister turned and ran toward the helicopter. The other two remained in place just outside the chopper bay.

  Tom waved his arms over his head and shouted, “Hey! We’re unarmed. We just want to talk.”

  The man placed the canister back in the chopper and began digging through a small bag. One of the other two men ran over next to him and reached back into the shadows. Canister man turned and ran back toward the edge of the clearing, packing a pair of wire cutters.

  Tom and Hank continued to approach. They were only about thirty feet from the clearing when the nearest man turned and raised a hand palm out. “Stop! Don’t come any closer.”

  It was difficult to understand him talking through the dome hazmat bubble, but his intent was clear enough. Both men stopped. Tom shouted back, “What’s going on? Can we talk?”

  The evening light was beginning to fade, making it difficult to see. Canister man knelt down at the edge of the clearing, working on something just out of sight. The third man that had been digging around in the chopper spun around holding an M4. The cold black rifle had a tactical, quick acquisition scope mounted to the top rail, making it look as menacing as a piece of steel could look. He raised the rifle and pointed it directly at Hank and Tom.

  Nobody said anything. Tom and Hank both raised their hands above their heads. The four of them stood their unmoving.

  After what seemed like a very long time Tom began lowering his hands and slowly walking toward the men.

  “Stay right there!”

  “We just want to talk.”

  Canister man stood and ran back over to the chopper. The other two men quickly backed their way to the helicopter and climbed in. The M4 remained pointed directly at Hank and Tom the entire time, never wavering or dipping. Once all three men were inside, the rotors began spinning up. The heavy wind picked up sticks and debris, flinging them in all directions. Hank and Tom used their forearms to protect their faces.

  Once they were no longer getting battered by flying objects the helicopter had reached the tops of the trees. They looked up to see its glowing lights disappear into the sky. An eerie quite came over the clearing as the whump, whump, whump faded into the distance.

  “Not very neighborly.” Hank said.

  Tom started walking toward the clearing. “Let’s see what they were up to.”

  “I don’t think I want to know.” Hank whispered after he started following Tom.

  “What’s that?”

  “Nothing, just excited about the whole situation.”

  At the edge of the clearing lay four people, three men and woman. All of them laid face down in the weeds, clipped zip ties scattered next to the bodies. The woman had a large hole in her back, blood and chunks of meat were splattered and clinging to her ragged shirt. The man next to her was also covered in blood, but no wound was immediately noticeable. The other two bodies were filthy, but otherwise appeared unharmed.

  “This just gets better and better.” Hank said.

  Do you think they...” Tom stopped mid-sentence, staring at the bodies. Pointing down at the two filthy ones, he said, “Are their chests moving?” He knelt down next to the closest one and felt his neck. Quickly standing back up, he said, “Alive...still alive.”

  Hank knelt amongst the others, checking each of them for a pulse. “These two are dead.” He sniffed at the air and then smelled his fingers. “Chemicals...smell that?”

  “Must be the spray...the canister.” Tom said.

  The bodies started twitching, even the two dead ones. It began with small jerky movements, and then turned more coordinated. Their heads started shifting around looking, and arms their grasping for the unattainable. One of the undead got his head turned far enough to the side to see Tom. He let out a low moan and started to rise to his knees.

  “They’re all infected.” Hank said as he stepped away.

  “Army’s experimenting on them. Bet they have some kind of implanted tracker or something.” Tom said.

  Hank scratched at his scruffy chin and said, “Maybe they’ve found some kind of cure.”

  “We may need to take a trip later, but right now we better get outta here before these uglies wake all the way up.”

  ******

  For the next hour they dodged through wrecked cars on highway 2 and discussed what the helicopter meant. All of them agreed the military was looking for a solution, but the real question was if anything was working.

  Kelly sat next to Zeus, looking out the window, watching the thick trees blur by. “Even if this spray worked, how would they ever distribute it?”

  Hank repl
ied, “If it’s contact spray it would be tough. They could use spray planes like crop dusters, but it would be impossible to get all of them...even then it would take an astronomical amount of liquid. On the other hand it if is inhalation or something similar it might be a lot easier.”

  “Undead don’t breath.” Phillip said.

  Hank looked over at Tom. “He’s got a point.”

  “Once we get Sam we’re going to take a trip. We have to know more.” Tom replied.

  Along the way they made a detour to Tom and Kelly’s house to gear up on supplies. Most everything had already been looted by Lincoln and his crew, but they were relieved to find the gun safe still intact. After loading up on weapons and ammo they all felt much better about their odds.

  Hank stood looking over a large bore rifle, slowly working the bolt. “I feel so much better.”

  Phillip said, “I’d feel better with food.”

  Tom stepped over. “We can either stay a night here and move out in the morning or head straight there now.”

  “I like the cover of darkness. I say we move now.” Hank replied.

  Nobody argued, all of them wanting to get this over with. It would be a long night with Sam still held captive.

  “If anyone wants out, now is the time.” Tom said while looking each of them in the eyes. He expected Phillip to back out, but even when looked at he simply nodded his head. “Okay then, let’s roll.”

  Scattered buildings marked the edge of north Spokane. The buildings had broken out windows and debris scattered all around. Most had been looted in the first week of the infection. Everyone was hungry, but there was likely little to gain by entering any of the buildings and the risk would be extremely high. Just within the last half mile they had seen dozens of infected staggering around the buildings. Each of them gave blank stares, watching the car speed past.

  “Nearly a full moon, the extra light could help us out.” Tom said while hunching forward to see out the top of the windshield.