Val: Prequel to The Zombie Chronicles

by Peebles, Chrissy

  “Don’t waste the ammo. It’s already dead,” he said.

  As my eyes adjusted more to the dim light, I saw that Rob was right. The zombie with dirty blonde hair and a sunken face was floating on its back, looking up at the ceiling, with a bullet hole in its forehead. I took a deep breath and continued.

  We waded through the waist-deep, brown water, shining our flashlights around in the dark tunnel. When I felt something else bump my foot, I cast my beam down and made a grim discovery: The water was full of dozens and dozens of dead zombies. I touched every one we neared with the barrel of my gun, just to make sure they were really dead. I continued moving forward, trying to zigzag around the dead corpses. It was hard to spot some of them, because their decayed, dark flesh blended in so well with the trash and stagnant water.

  We stopped for a minute when Marvin reached a slime-covered sign. He wiped it with his glove to read it. “Good,” he said, nodding. “We’re heading in the right direction.”

  After a turn to the left, we walked through a channel some twelve feet wide.

  Chirping caught my attention, and I glanced down and saw a couple of grasshoppers surfing on a discarded Snickers wrapper, as if they were oblivious to the demise of the world and having the time of their lives. As one of the buff guys walked past me, a ripple swept through the water, knocking one of the insects off. In that very instant, a black tongue burst through the surface and swallowed the poor thing whole. “Zombie!” I shouted.

  Chapter 19

  My body trembled with panic and alarm as haggard fingers suddenly wrapped around my ankle and pulled. I aimed my gun and fired a shot into the dark water. Unscathed, the zombie stood and jumped at me, snapping its jaws and jagged teeth hungrily. My breath hitched in my throat, but I managed to pull my trigger again. The thing crashed back into the water as the sound of gunfire blast through the tunnel.

  “You okay?” Rob asked.

  I took a deep breath. “I’m fine.”

  “We got a regular Annie Oakley on our team, ladies and gents!” Marvin hollered.

  I smiled and my cheeks blushed.

  Being in such dark, confined quarters was very dangerous, and it could turn deadly without warning. I shifted through the bonanza of garbage and heard a squeak coming from the left. A rat with red, beady eyes floated by on a Styrofoam fast food carton, staring at me as if it was angry that I was trespassing. Ten of its matted, long-tailed cousins were sitting atop a zombie carcass that floated, facedown, in the ooze. The relentless squeaking and nibbling made me shiver as more mangy rodents passed, some of them actually swimming with some kind of miniature dog-paddle.

  “We’re here,” Marvin finally said.

  Someone tapped my shoulder, and I spun around. “Yeah, Rob?” I asked instinctively, only to discover that it was a zombie who was tailing me. I couldn’t fire at such close range, so I used my gun as a bat and swung with all of my momentum. With a hiss, my stalker crashed into the water and disappeared under a slimy mound of murky trash and wet pizza boxes.

  “Just keep moving,” Marvin advised.

  “I don’t want that thing comin’ back to bite me in the butt—literally.”

  “I don’t blame her for that,” one of the men said. “She’s got a cute one.”

  I sneered and was half-tempted to bash him with the butt of my rifle, too, but then I thought better of it.

  The water finally receded, much to my delight, and we walked on. When I heard a loud shriek coming from the adjoining tunnel, I shined my light in and gasped. A big, buff zombie in a black suit was stumbling our way. It let out a long, chilling growl. I peered through my scope and saw that I almost had a clear shot. My finger rested on the trigger, waiting for the perfect moment.

  “Hold your fire!” Marvin commanded. “We don’t wanna draw too much attention when we’re this close to the exit.”

  One of the men threw a knife at it, and it dropped with a hiss.

  Still, I knew more were coming, because we could hear them. Their moans and rasps gave me the creeps, motivating my feet to walk even faster through the slippery sludge.

  We stopped under the next manhole, and one of the men stood on the ladder and snaked a flexible, tactical camera through the gaps. He studied the small screen, then bent and angled the long, adjustable neck.

  The screams grew louder; the zombies were coming. My hands shook as I held my gun, and my heart began thrumming in my chest. I had never been claustrophobic before, but I wanted out of that sepulcher, that dark, dank hellhole. Droplets of sweat rolled down my back when another bloodcurdling shriek echoed through the sewer corridors. I peered through my scope and swallowed hard. Shuffling footsteps and loud, garbled moans grew closer. We were being followed and hunted, and we were sorely outnumbered. My eyes focused on the shadows lingering in the dim light. When I squinted, I could make out the first line of them, their eyes flashing with hunger. The resounding thud of heavy, clumsy footsteps was louder than ever as the herd stalked us, their living prey.

  “They’re coming!” David shouted, his voice shaking.

  “Thank you, Captain Obvious!” the woman snapped at him, obviously not a big fan of his.

  “Is it safe?” Marvin frantically asked the cameraman.

  “Looks clear,” he said.

  “Okay, people,” Marvin shouted, “let’s move out!”

  The man retrieved his military camera and removed the cover.

  Figures danced in the swirling shadows, howling for our flesh. I was near the end of the line, and that wasn’t very comforting, because I could easily be picked off back there. Ignoring Marvin’s orders, I began firing at the wretched creatures, trying to hold them back so the others could get up the ladder. Following my lead, Rob swept his machinegun back and forth, sending the zombies crashing backward. The heavy gunfire was loud and pierced my ears.

  Marvin shoved me. “Go!”

  Shivers ran up my spine as I clambered up, taking rungs two at a time. The men at the top reached out their arms and helped me up, then Rob and Marvin right behind me. The zombies thrashed and moaned below, missing us by mere seconds. My ears were still ringing, but I was just glad they were still attached to my head and not being nibbled on like a dog treat.

  The sun was shining brightly, and it was nice to breathe in fresh air after our nostrils had been filled with nothing but stench for so long. I’d hoped my thundering pulse would calm once we got out of that underground nightmare, but it was really only the beginning. We still had to face the cannibals.

  Without a word, Marvin used military hand signals to motion us all to a nearby copse of overgrown vegetation. I peeked out from our hiding place and saw dozens of armed guards patrolling the area. We split up, and half went around back. I stayed in my current position and looked through my scope, studying the path I would take to the same side doors I’d burst through to freedom just a few hours earlier. I knew the way back to the room where we were all held. Being there again gave me shivers, but I knew I had to get those people out.

  We crawled behind the shrubs, examining the guards and trying to figure out the safest way to take our enemies down. Marvin gave us hand and arm signals as we closed in on our prey. When we were given the signal to fire, I let out all my anger and frustration. Grenades exploded, and dirt and grass showered over me. Machinegun bullets sliced the air, and there were sounds like claps of thunder booming in every direction. Chaos ensued as the guards shouted in confusion and terror and ducked for cover.

  We were quickly met by a curtain of enemy fire, and rounds began pummeling the ground all around me. Marvin and the others swung their machineguns like true commandos. I pumped a round into my chamber and peered through the scope, then took aim and squeezed the trigger time and time again. In no time, dead bodies were strewn everywhere. I stepped over them, knowing they would reanimate any second. In all my years with the police, and even though I’d been shot at before, I’d never experienced such an up-close-and-personal faceoff against so many. It reminde
d me of a scene from one of the war flicks Travis used to make me watch on Saturday afternoons.

  I made my way through the courtyard, using up a couple rounds of ammunition along the way, and took cover behind a hedgerow, a line of closely spaced shrubs growing six feet tall. A second barrage of gunfire rang out, but then all was eerily still. I dared to peek out and saw that most of the guards were dead, littering the grass and concrete. I bolted over to a very out-of-place statue; angels had absolutely no business being in the middle of Hell. I moved a few more feet and knelt down behind a huge, empty water fountain while bullets began spraying again, dinging off the stone. I took a trembling breath. The front of the fountain was being peppered with bullet holes, and they were obviously targeting me. Droplets of sweat rolled down my face as more bullets bounced off the fountain, missing me by mere inches. Where are they coming from?

  I peered ahead and scanned my surroundings, but I didn’t see anyone. When I glanced up, though, I spotted the sniper on the roof. Tired of the aerial assault, I aimed my rifle and looked intently through the scope, until I had my target in the crosshairs. I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger, nailing him in the shoulder of his firing arm.

  Another guard ran at me quickly, likely thinking a woman was an easy mark. I easily lifted him off his feet and shoved him over my hip, and his feet went skyward in an arcing motion. I then dropped him down on his back before he even knew what hit him.

  “Val!” somebody yelled.

  A group of our men had made it to the side doors and motioned for me to hurry over.

  I glanced around for a second before I made the perilous sprint.

  “It’s locked,” Marvin said.

  “Yeah, there’s a code on the door inside, but—” Rob started.

  “I got your code right here, little brother,” Marvin said. “Stand back.”

  I covered my eyes as he shot out the glass and opened the door, then used his teeth to pull a pin from a grenade and launched it at the door with the electronic lock. After a sudden, violent explosion, the door popped open.

  With my gun drawn, I darted through the smoke as my boots crunched over the glass.

  One of the men shined a bright flashlight in every direction. “Which way?”

  I motioned for them to follow me, and we walked down the corridor, sweeping our guns back and forth and checking for clear pathways. When some guards turned the bend and started firing at us, it was all-out war again. Men screamed and fell, and the smoke of gunfire clouded my view.

  As I tried to move forward, a zombie jumped in my path, a reanimated guard. It reached for me, and my fingers instinctively pulled the trigger. Just as it crashed backward into the wall, another corpse reached for my leg. Through the swirling smoke, I could see the creature that longed for my flesh. I shot it in the head, but two more immediately came for me. I fired in rapid succession, putting them out of my misery.

  As if the zombies were not horrible enough, more guards filed out of the corridors, trying to stop us. When one took a swing at me like some kind of prize fighter, I swept his leg out from under him, then elbowed him right in the kidney. He collapsed, and I finished him off by kneeing him brutally in the face, hard enough that he wouldn’t wake up to bother me again. I fought like my life depended on it, because it did. I hated delivery deadly force to humans, but in this case, I had no choice. Truly, it was kill or be killed.

  Another man came at me, and I rearranged his jaw with the butt of my rifle. My weapon packed a powerful punch at both ends, so the man crumbled to the ground. The next one who came at me was punched right in the throat; if he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t fight.

  I glanced down the hall and saw another guard opening fire on my team while they ducked for cover. I rushed over to the shooter and delivered a severe blow to the base of his spine. As he crumbled to the floor in a heap, Marvin’s men shouted in victory.

  “Thanks, Val,” one said.

  I nodded and led them down the hall, pointing out where the guns were stored.

  “Jackpot!” one of the men yelled in excitement.

  “She wasn’t lying,” another said.

  “We so needed this,” David muttered.

  Marvin pointed to two of his men. “You and you, go signal the girls to bring the bus, and make sure you cover them.”

  While the men smiled at their loot, Rob and I continued walking down the corridor to the huge room where we knew the unconscious victims were being held. When we turned the corner, I saw four guards posted in front of the door.

  “Those sick…” Rob started but didn’t finish. Instead, he opened fire and dropped them in three seconds flat.

  Pointing my gun around, I walked in the room and made sure it was secure. The IV bags were hanging up again, pumping the sleeping people full of sedatives.

  Rob looked at me. “How are we gonna get them all out? They can’t even walk.”

  “Many hands make light work, right? We’d be able to carry them or wheel them out if your friends would get their butts down here. Where are they?” I asked.

  “I guess they were really only in it for the guns,” he said, shrugging.

  “Well, we can put more than one person on one of these beds and push them out ourselves,” I said, cranking up the bed so the wheels would pop out.

  “You mean, uh…just stack them up? Val, I don’t think—”

  “We have no other option. Carrying them out one by one will take too long. If any of those guards escaped, they’ll be back any minute, pissed and with plenty of backup.”

  “All right,” he said. “We’ll make it work. But I don’t understand how you and me can carry a bed with all those people.”

  “You’ve never worked in a hospital or nursing him, have you?”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “The beds roll.” I pointed down to the wheels. “See? I released the wheels.”

  “We’ve just gotta make it fast. There are only a few of us, and I’m not sure how we’ll fare against an entire town.”

  “Stealing their stockpile of weapons and their future barbecue won’t make them happy campers.”

  More gunshots echoed, and I looked up at Rob.

  “It’s either reinforcements or zombie soldiers,” he said.

  I hoped it was the latter, because a few zombie stragglers would be much easier to take down than a whole platoon of wannabe mercenaries. We guided two rolling beds out into the hall, then ran back in to grab some of the sleeping people. I picked up a teenage boy and rushed him over to one bed. Rob gently laid a woman on the bed horizontally next to him. Unbelievably, we were able to load people on each bed, and we each pushed one down the hallway, back toward the door.

  When I rounded the bend, one of our guys actually helped me roll the bed to the exit. Several guys covered us, and Marvin ran past me with an armful of weapons. When I saw that they’d brought two buses, I was relieved. Sammy opened the door of one and came out to help us carry the unconscious passengers inside. We began by seating them in the back of the bus, working our way up.

  When I ran back to get the empty gurney so I could go get more people out of the room, I was shocked to see that Marvin had commandeered it to haul more weapons. He was unbelievable. He cared more about the weapons then the people who needed to be rescued.

  “We could use some help,” I said to him.

  “You do your thing, and I’ll do mine,” he answered back. “You’re just lucky we’re giving you backup, as well as the gas you need to run that bus.”

  I rolled my eyes, infuriated that he seemed to place so little value on human life. Sammy, Rob, Mindy, and I went back to get more people. Rob managed to recruit two more guys for our worthy cause, so Sammy’s bus was full in no time.

  Marvin just continued loading the other bus with weapons.

  “Let’s do one last check,” Sammy said frantically, “and then let’s get outta here.”

  I nodded, and we headed down the corridor. When we turned the corner, three
zombies emerged. I recognized one immediately as the nurse, Jeanette, who had taken my vital signs and medical history and tried to pretend like everything was fine and dandy. When she reached for me, I aimed right between her eyes. I pulled the trigger and exploded her unforgettable face in a shower of blood and gore. Sammy shot the other two, then motioned for me to hurry.

  When I walked into the room, I was horrified to find Rob on the floor, gushing blood from a massive wound in his chest. Marvin was holding his hand, speaking words of encouragement.

  “What happened?” I asked in stunned disbelief.

  Marvin whispered something to his comrades, then looked up at me. “He was stabbed by that crazy nurse. She rammed a scalpel right into him!”

  “I ran into her,” I said. “I put her down.”

  He nodded. “Good. You and Sammy go with Tom. He’ll get you back to the bus safely. We’ll be right behind you.”

  “You’ve gotta get out of here now, Marvin,” I said. “We can’t stick around here.”

  He looked at me with anger in his eyes. “He’s my brother, Val! I just need a minute alone with him.”

  “We’ve got to go!”

  “He’s dying!” he shouted. “He’s the only family I’ve got left. I’ll come when I’m good and ready. Now just go!”

  Rob blinked a few times and looked up at me. “Marvin, I need to…let me talk to Val for a minute,” he muttered, wincing in pain.

  Marvin shot me a look. “Just for a minute, little brother,” he said, leaving the room.

  I nodded. “Why won’t Marvin get moving?” I asked him. “We need to get away from here.”

  “His mind is clouded from drugs…and now grief. He’s not thinking clearly.”

  “You’re not dying but we have to go…now! We don’t have time for these games.”

  “I’m never gonna leave this place,” he said. “That nurse nailed me good.”