by Josh Vasquez
She died quickly. The doctors were still struggling with the dead girl, so they didn’t see the nurse stand back up. Others began turning too. One man strapped down on a gurney, turned into one of those things, and flipped himself over trying to grab one of the paramedics. The nurse attacked her would-be rescuers, freeing the first girl. Things escalated very quickly.
I don’t really remember what happened next. Fear took over and adrenaline surged. I just turned and ran for my car. Like a fucking coward. I wish I could say that I ran back and helped the doctors. I wish I could say that I went back and saved my own grandmother. But I didn’t. I just ran. She could be dead, eaten by one of those freaks. Oh God, even worse, she could still be asleep in her room. Can you imagine waking up in the middle of all this? Can you imagine waking up in this world? My brain told me that the hospital would be evacuated, but my heart screamed for me to go back. My legs just didn’t listen. They just kept running.
Next thing I knew, I was in the car, driving away from the hospital. I remember tears running down my face. What were my parents going to think? I remember feeling angry with myself. I think that was the first time I felt the- What did you call it, Jeremy? The Rage? Yeah, I felt the rage start to creep up into me. I felt like I was going to rip the steering wheel off. I was sitting at a red light, ready to burst out of my own skin. It didn’t last long though as I watched a man run out into traffic and get creamed by a semi.
I didn’t know at the time it was one of those crazy runners. It got hit hard and was pulled under the truck. It rolled underneath the truck’s tires and crushed both of its legs. It tried to get back up. The rage quickly drained from me and was replaced with pure liquid fear. It crawled a few feet before a car sped by, crushing its head. The head actually got caught in the wheel so that the car dragged its face across the pavement leaving a bright, crimson streak. I blew chunks all over my dashboard.
I ran the red light and shot down Waters. I headed to the nearest gun shop I knew of on Montgomery Crossroads. Not sure why I felt the need to get a gun, but I felt like crap was about to hit the fan. I wanted to be ready for anything.
Well, turns out I picked the wrong gun store. It’s where I ran into the aforementioned ‘bubbas’ who apparently thought too many ‘niggers’ had guns already. I never even got the chance to look at a gun. The owner didn’t want any trouble from them, so he just let them take what they pleased.
I tried to just leave and go on my way, but they wouldn’t have it. They shot out the tires on my car, so I took off running. I think they enjoyed ‘hunting’ me. How sick is that? I hate to think that maybe the dead aren’t the ones we will have to worry about. I ran through neighborhoods and jumped over fences like I was in an episode of COPS. I thought I had lost them when I reached Dutch Island, but they cornered me in front of Jeremy’s dad’s house. And that’s when I met up with him.”
Ben paused for a minute, thinking to himself.
“I should have gone back for my grandmother. I should have gone back for her. I just left her there. She was in a coma and there was no way for her to protect herself. I don’t know if I can ever forget what I did. I don’t think I can forgive myself for that.”
Chapter Twelve
There was silence as Ben finished his story. Nobody really knew what to say. So, Lexx spoke anyways.
“Hey man, you did what you had to do. Hell, we’ve all done stuff in the past day that we probably regret. Don’t let all these tattoos and my stunning physique fool you. I may look like the bad-boy type, but before yesterday, I wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Tori mumbled, “Yeah right.”
“I ain’t lying babe! Underneath this beautiful exterior is a heart of gold. It’s all mutha-fuckin rainbows and southern charm with me,” Lexx said with a smile.
“Did you say rainbows?” Jeremy asked. “Cause that sounds kinda gay.”
“Not your kind of rainbows fruitcake,” Lexx huffed. “Manly fucking-rainbows.”
Everybody except Lexx laughed.
“Anyways, as I was saying, I wouldn’t hurt nobody. Except Mr. Chan. Oh man, could I hurt that little man. He was always yelling at me. And in some ‘ching-chang’ language too. I’d be all like, ‘Mr. Chan, I can’t understand you!’ and he’d be all like, ‘Ching-chong, ching-chang!’
Yesterday, oh yesterday he pissed me off something good. He was yelling at me, like usual, this time about how I was handling the meat wrong. He kept going on and on about respecting the meat, handling the meat, be gentle with the meat. I could only handle him saying meat so many times. And then he was all was like,
‘Lexx, you so ignorant. You so uncultured.’
Ok, so uncultured? Maybe. My parents did name me Lexx with two x’s. I wasn’t really brought up in a ‘cultured’ environment. But ignorant? Hells no! Despite my upbringing, I always excelled in school ‘n shit. Half the time I was smarter than the teachers! That probably got me in more trouble than anything.
I flipped my lid and told him I quit. He started yelling that I was fire. He meant fired, but kept yelling fire. I was already walking towards the back door when one of the waitresses ran in the kitchen, yelling that one of the customers was choking. So, being the good guy that I am, I ran out into the dining room to see if I could help. When I got out there, the first thing that caught my eye was the pretty little thing on the shelf above me.”
“Oh, please,” Tori said.
“No, for real babe. The way you were giving that fat guy the Heimlich, kinda turned me on. I was thinking, ‘Man, I wish she’d pound me like that.’”
She leaned over the edge of her shelf and shot a dirty look at Lexx.
“I will shoot you,” was all she said.
“Yeah, yeah. She was giving the ol’ heave-ho to this fat boy who couldn’t handle his egg roll. Only thing was, he wasn’t choking. He was turning. But we didn’t know that at the time. When he had went limp, everyone just assumed he had passed out. But he really died. Tori laid him down and was about to go all mouth-to-mouth on the guy when his eyes shot open.
Everyone was relived at first when he sat back up. We all thought he was fine. That he was ok. That was until he tried to bite ‘first responder Barbie’ over here.
Man, this girl went from trying to save the guy’s life to givin him a knuckle sandwich directly to the face. She sent him sprawling across the floor, but he didn’t even seem to register the pain. He scrambled back towards her, jaw flapping up and down as he went. To be honest, I’ve never seen a guy that big, move that fast!
As soon as he got close enough, Tori gave him a boot to the face, and with the skirt she was wearing then, I wouldn’t have minded taking a boot to the face either!”
“I didn’t get dressed this morning with the idea that I’d be fighting these creeps all the time,” Tori said, sighing afterwards. “Luckily I had these jeans in my car. I’d probably just ditched the skirt all together.”
“Why did we have to find those damn jeans?” Lexx said with a hint of sadness in his voice, shaking his fist in the air with mock-frustration. “After the boot to the face, fat-boy, as I like to call him, realizes he should pick an easier to acquire snack. He grabs the closest thing to him, which just so happens to be some middle-aged lady. Took a huge chunk out of her arm. Blood started gushing from the wound everywhere.
Now up until that point, everyone had remained relatively calm. I think they were all just in shock, but man, when he bit that lady, the whole place blew up. People started running and screaming. Everybody just panicked. The lady’s husband tried to be all hero and ended up being fat-boy’s next entrée, if you know what I mean. Not a good scene. Blood everywhere. By this time, Mr. Chan had run back into some backroom. I thought he was a coward and was going to hide. He came back out with one of those ninja swords. Whataya call em? Katanas? Either way, the sword was as big as he was.
He knew how to handle it though. I watched as he scurried over to fat-boy and in one fluid movement, removed the top of the guy’s skull fr
om his head. I didn’t think the little man had it in him! He really was badass! It seemed so effortless when he did it too. It was almost like he had practiced it or done it before.
Still wasn’t enough though. The woman’s husband was starting to get back up, which was odd, because she hadn’t yet. I tried to warn Mr. Chan, but there wasn’t enough time to get the words out. He spun around quickly, only to slice off the guy’s arm. It wasn’t enough to slow him down, and his six foot, two hundred and fifty pound frame was just too much for Mr. Chan. They both crashed to the floor. The geek got him right in the neck. I heard Mr. Chan scream something Japanese and then watched as his sword thrust straight through both of their skulls.”
Lexx paused for a second.
“He knew. I don’t know how he knew, but he knew you had to get them in the head. How could he have possibly known that? They weren’t lucky guesses. He knew.”
He stopped again, lost in thought.
“Yeah, it was strange that he knew that,” Tori chimed in. “After Mr. Chan executed both himself and the geek, I gave Lexx a shove towards the back of the restaurant, asking where the back door was. We ran like hell through the kitchen and out into the alleyway. The coast was clear so we took some time to figure out whose vehicle we were going to take. I had a Jeep Cherokee while ‘Mr. Tough-Guy’ over here drives a hybrid. It wasn’t much of a discussion.”
“Hey,” Lexx interjected. “We probably wouldn’t have run out of gas like we did!”
“Yeah,” she continued on. “We also wouldn’t have been able to go off road like we needed to. And boy did we have to go off road! The only thing worse than Savannah rush hour traffic is Savannah rush hour traffic during the end of the world. These people do not know how to drive!”
Ben chimed in, “So, what were you doing at the restaurant Tori? “
“I was waiting on a blind date who I’m pretty sure stood me up. No big deal though. The guy had a horse face,” she said matter-of-factly.
“I must say that you are one of the most straight forward women I have ever met,” Ben added.
“Yeah, I get that a lot,” she replied. “My father was- is a Marine. He’s stationed out at Parris Island. I’m the son he never had. When my mom passed away, I was the only woman in his life. He did his best with me, but I’m a little rough around the edges because of it. Growing up around Marines will have that effect on you. I’m no tomboy mind you, I like to dress up, and go out drinking downtown with the girls too. It’s just not the end of the world when I break a nail, you know?”
She yawned. This started a chain reaction of yawning.
“Look,” she said. “We all need to get some sleep if we’re going to be any good tomorrow. I’ll take first watch and I’ll wake you up in a few hours, okay Ben? Then you can wake up Jeremy and Lexx can take last watch.”
“Sounds good,” Ben yawned.
Lexx passed the lantern up to Tori and she dimmed the light so that it was barely on. Jeremy lay there in the darkness; his mind racing with the day’s events. He glanced up at Tori, who was propped up in her “bunk”, scanning the warehouse for anything suspicious. She noticed his staring, which he quickly redirected his gaze. He could have sworn he saw her smile.
“This really doesn’t feel like camp to anyone else?” Lexx asked. “I’m just sayin’. This feels a lot like camp.”
Ben started laughing, but it wasn’t long before everyone else joined in. Even Tori.
“Sure, man. This does feel like camp,” Ben said, his laughter trailing off. “And just like camp, let’s get some sleep.”
“Okay. I’m gonna rock that zip line tomorrow though,” Lexx said, letting out a big yawn.
It was answered by more yawns. Jeremy felt his eyes grow heavy. His mat wasn’t the most comfortable bedding in the world, but right now, it was heaven. As he fell asleep, he tried his best not to think of Tori taking her bra off.
***
Earlier, when Tori and Lexx were checking the perimeter of the yard, they searched carefully for any kind of weak point. The warehouse ran along one side of the yard and the office building ran along three quarters of the other side. A chain-link fence topped in barbed wire ran across the front and back sides.
The back of the yard was covered by metal roofing and filled with all kinds of plumbing fittings and material. PVC and cast iron pipe, elbows and tee’s littered the ground. They were inspecting several bins of fittings when Ben and Jeremy pulled up, leaving the bins to go see who was entering the gate.
If they had only gone back a little further, they would have found a shelving unit full of more material. But it wasn’t the shelves that they needed to see. Hidden behind the shelves was a drainage ditch that ran parallel with the back fence. The running of water over the years had created a small gulch underneath the fence. Jagged rocks would have made it difficult to access, but to someone not worried about pain, they would serve as no deterrent.
Chapter Thirteen
Jeremy eyes shot open. He lifted his head off of the table and looked around. He was in the break room at work. He must have dozed off. His empty energy drink can sat in front of him.
Was it all a dream? He thought. Did I just dream all of that?
He looked at the clock. It was only 4:15. He’d been asleep for five minutes. It had all been a dream. A really fucked-up dream. It was cliché, but he pinched himself to make sure. Yes. Pain. He sighed a breath of relief and went to stand up, but as he did, Ashley walked into the room.
“Jeremy, what are you doing? Brian is looking for you!”
He went to open his mouth, but she placed her finger on his lips and pushed him back down on his chair. She quickly straddled him and sat on his lap.
“I’ve been looking for you,” she whispered seductively into his ear.
She slowly ran her hands through his hair, tugging his head back gently, but firmly, as she began to kiss on his neck.
What is going on? He thought; his mind racing.
And then it became evidently clear as another figure entered the room. This woman was slender, like a runner. Her blonde hair was long and full of tight curls. It hung loose around her head, but would look equally good pulled into a pony tail. She was wearing a loose-fitting Foo Fighters t-shirt, with one shoulder exposing a bright red bra strap. She was wearing no pants; her smooth legs tight and muscular like someone who ran.
Oh no, Jeremy thought.
The woman walked over to him, as Ashley continued to nibble on his neck. She reached up into her shirt and unclasped her bra.
Oh no, oh no.
He was dreaming. This wasn’t happening. He tried to shake himself awake, but the two of them held him down.
“You want to leave us?” Ashley asked painfully.
“You’re not real!” Jeremy yelled. “This is a dream!”
He squirmed to get free, but the two women’s grip was solid.
“Oh, Jeremy. Don’t you think we’re pretty?” Ashley asked, as the skin from her face began to fall away.
It fell in clumps to the floor, until finally just muscle and bone was exposed.
Wake up Jeremy! WAKE UP!
***
Jeremy’s eyes shot open. He awakened to Lexx looming over him, one finger pressed up to his lips. The man had a very serious look on his face. He took the finger from his lips and pointed towards outside. Jeremy nodded. Something was wrong.
Tori and Ben were both already awake. Tori was checking her weapon. Ben was at the cracked back door peering out. She moved over next to him, pushing him aside. She shook her head and closed the door. Jeremy stood up and moved towards the others. He could feel tension in the air.
“How the hell did that thing get in here?” Tori whispered harshly. “You were supposed to be keeping watch Lexx!”
“Me? You had first watch!" He shot back.
She swore under her breath.
“Let’s just go shoot it and be done with it,” Ben interjected.
“And attract more of them with a g
unshot or its moan? I don’t think so,” Tori said.
Silence.
“So, what do we do?” Jeremy finally spoke.
“We take it out. Quietly,” Tori said.
They began collecting their weapons. Ben grabbed his hatchet; Jeremy his machete. Tori grabbed a crowbar from the tools borrowed from the hardware store. Lexx ran out of the back room and returned quickly with an odd looking hammer. It had a square head, flat sides, and a long, chisel-like end.
“Found this up on one of the work tables. Should do the trick,” he said with a smile.
“Alright,” Tori started. “Who wants to be the bait?”
“Bait?” Ben asked.
“Yeah, someone is going to have to distract it while the rest of us run up behind it and bash its brains in.”
“I’ll do it,” Jeremy said, not waiting for someone else to volunteer. He shocked himself with the willingness he just had. He’d never do that at work.
Tori nodded. She motioned for Jeremy to move towards the door.
“We’ll wait for you to get its undivided attention, then we’ll flank it and take it out. Sound good?”
Jeremy nodded and stepped outside.
As good as it’s gonna get.
***
The zombie wandered around the yard aimlessly. He was a large one too. Easily over three hundred pounds. Jeremy could not tell if it was always this big or was bloated from “over-eating." Whoever he was before he died, he did not mess around when it came to getting food.
Let’s hope that’s changed, Jeremy thought to himself. Who am I kidding? Look at this fat fucker.
Jeremy slowly crept around the large oak tree that seemed to grow out of the center of the yard. The fat boy, as Lexx would say, was on the other side of the tree, standing there in a daze. It just stood there. A twitch or leftover muscle spasm every now and then, but other than that it was glued to the spot it stood on. As Jeremy was about to come around the tree into view, the zombie started sniffing the air. Maybe sniffing is not the correct word. Snorting? Inhaling large amounts of air through the bulbous piece of flesh that used to be its nose? Either way it smelled something. It smelled food. It smelled Jeremy.
