The Feral Children [A Zombie Road Tale] Box Set | Books 1-3

by Simpson, David A.

  He stared at his big toe poking through the worn-out thrift store tennis shoes. He was going to have to ‘borrow’ a bicycle and ride up to the nearest little city to get himself supplied for winter. La Crosse was about thirty miles north and it was big enough to have a few donation boxes around town. He’d never had name brand anything, just cast offs, hand me downs or stuff he took from thrift shop donation boxes. His clothes were worn but clean. He alternated between the two sets he had and washed them in the bathroom sink with hand soap after the park was closed.

  The barn was an ideal spot to hide out during the day where the chances of being caught were almost zero. Once there were a crowd of kids in the petting zoo, he could walk over, make sure no one was looking and disappear into the empty goat stall. From there he could scurry up the ladder and be out of sight in the loft. While he waited, he lay beneath an old elm in the wooded area behind the panther enclosure where he’d spend the morning lounging and reading one of the books he borrowed from the visitor center library. The risk of daytime discovery scared him, but the night was his. He could roam freely, finding leftover food, dropped sunglasses and change in the coin slots of the vending machines. He’d even found an iPod once, but his conscience prevailed and he put it in the lost and found box.

  He’d begun sharing his spoils with the panther who he discovered loved corndogs and hamburgers. He didn’t know what the zoo called the big black cat, but to Donny, he was Yewan, one of the few Chinese words he’d learned. Night in the language of his mothers’ people. The panther, like him, was most active after dark. He’d listened to one of the staff answer questions about him and learned he’d been bred in captivity and had been a family pet until he got too big. One night, with a pounding heart and more than a little fear in him, he’d climbed over the fence with his offering of corndogs. The panther may have looked fierce and vicious but it was just a big kitten. It longed for human touch, it had grown up being cuddled and loved and missed playing and roughhousing. Donny spent most of his nights in the enclosure after that first timid meeting and had taken to bringing his blanket and curling up with him near dawn to sleep together.

  He daydreamed of setting him free and the two of them racing through the night on the hunt, their prey never knowing what hit them until powerful jaws closed around their throat or his spear pierced their heart. Like the panther he was fast and strong. Lean and wiry like a distance runner, he knew together they could rule the forest. Man and beast, tooth, claw and spear, striking fear into the hearts of the lesser animals.

  His fantasy of roaming the jungle with the big cat was interrupted by the screaming from the front gate area. Donny felt panic surge through him. Screaming meant something bad happened, someone could call the police. If they started poking around they might discover him, start asking questions he couldn’t answer even if he wanted to. He considered abandoning his new home, but he finally felt like he had a place to call his. He couldn’t leave, Yewan was the only friend he’d ever had, but he needed to know what was happening. Horns began to honk as people screamed and a strange keening sound filled the air.

  Donny raced along the edge of the wood line to a better vantage point. His eyes widened in disbelief when he saw what was happening at the front gates.

  9

  Main Entrance

  Robert Baynard white knuckled the edges of the sink. The water and aspirin weren’t helping, if anything he felt worse. His head was killing him. He was drenched in sweat and his insides felt twisted up. Uncontrollable rage coursed through him in waves. The bathroom door swung open as a man entered and the sunlight hit the mirror Robert stood facing. He grimaced as the light reflected into his eyes, the pain like white hot daggers and he felt a growl in his throat begging for release. He forced it down and splashed more water on his face.

  “Hey buddy, you don’t look so good,” the man said.

  Robert ignored him.

  “You need some help or something?” the man asked.

  Robert tried to tamp down the rage building inside of him and remained speechless, teeth gritted, once again gripping the edges of the sink as hard as he could.

  A hand touched his shoulder and a concerned voice asked, “You want me to get you some help?”

  Pain flared through his body at the contact and before either man realized what was happening, Robert whipped his head around and bit down savagely on the man’s forearm. He yelled in surprise and pain, shoved Robert away and fled the bathroom. Robert was flung backward, stumbled over his own feet and fell, striking his head on the edge of a urinal. He lost consciousness as the zombie virus continued to course through his veins. Robert Baynard, proud veteran and school teacher, died on a bathroom floor as something new and hungry took control of his body. His eyes shot open, black and lifeless as an uncontrollable need filled him. A need for blood, a need to bite and rend. A need to replicate, duplicate and populate. An insatiable craving for human flesh. He smelled them and heard them only a few feet away and sprang to his feet.

  Kelly stepped into the nurses’ station, concerned over the prospect of a guest being bitten by an animal. It was shaping up to be one hell of a day. They were short staffed, most of the crew had called in sick. There were already lines forming at the gates as families and tour groups took advantage of the nice weather before the days grew cold. And now this. It wasn’t unheard of for some of the animals to get a little rowdy, but nothing had ever warranted the panic she’d heard on the radio.

  The nurse’s station was near the main entrance near the visitors’ center. This area consisted mostly of park benches, the snack bar, gift shop and a playground for the kids. The closest creatures were the barnyard animals in the farm display that doubled as a petting zoo. There were a few goats, the chickens, a pair of cows, some free roaming peacocks and an old alpaca. They’d never had any trouble from any of them.

  Although, it could be one of the capuchins, she thought. The little monkeys occasionally darted out of their enclosure if a handler was careless and would start begging or stealing junk food from the guests. Along with their wallets, watches, earrings or any other thing they could get their paws on.

  A burly man sat on the edge of the examination table. Blood dotted his t-shirt and jeans. Anna held a compression bandage to the wound on his arm, a tube of antibiotic cream in her free hand.

  Kelly bustled in, washed her hands and approached the man who was trying to be cavalier about the whole thing and maybe do a little flirting with the pretty aide.

  “Sir, may I see?” asked Kelly.

  He nodded and massaged his forehead with his free hand. Sweat ran freely from under the bill of his John Deere cap. He was in a lot of pain, much more than a simple bite would cause, and was starting to have trouble maintaining his air of nonchalance.

  Anna pulled the bandage away and he drew his breath in sharply at the pain. Black streaks were spreading outwards from the bite mark. A huge chunk of flesh was missing, the human teeth impressions plainly evident.

  “How did this happen?” Kelly asked as she studied the wound. “Was there an altercation?”

  “I guess,” the man said. “I was just trying to help. Some guy in the bathroom looked sick, he was sweating and looked like he was about to throw up. I was just trying to see if he was okay and the jerk bit me.”

  “We’ll dress this for now but you need to get to the emergency room and have a doctor look at it.” Kelly said. “We’ll call you an ambulance, this really needs to be examined.”

  Anna shook her head and tried to convey something without the man seeing as he agreed, his good humor fading fast as the waves of pain became worse.

  She had the man lie down on the examination table as she dressed the wound then pulled Anna aside so they wouldn’t be overheard.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “I’ve tried contacting EMS, the Sheriff and the fire department.” Anna said barely above a whisper. “No one is answering. I think this might be serious. I think the biter might be ca
rrying the virus that’s been all over the news.”

  “I thought that was only in the big cities.” Kelly said. “And they’re not sure what it is, Anna. Some are saying it’s just opportunists taking advantage of the situation and starting riots so they can loot.”

  “Well, that’s no ordinary bite. It’s moving too fast, Kelly. It only happened a few minutes ago and he’s already feverish. You saw those black strands of infection spreading away from the wound. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Me neither.” Kelly said worriedly. “Where is the man who attacked him?”

  “Still in the bathroom, yelling and beating on the door. He’s gone completely insane. Derek and Will are over there now to make sure he doesn’t get out.”

  “If you have this under control, I’m going out there to see what’s going on.” Kelly said.

  “Go, I’ll try to get his fever down and keep calling EMS,” replied Anna.

  Kelly arrived at the bathrooms and heard for herself the guttural growls and pounding coming from inside. Derek stood by the door but there wasn’t much he could do to secure it. There wasn’t a handle on the outside, it was a push door. She pulled out her phone and dialed 9-1-1. The man sounded completely deranged and they needed professional help.

  “I sent Will to try to find the keys so we can lock it.” Derek said “If there are any. I don’t remember seeing them hanging on the board.”

  She quickly filled him in on the situation as the phone rang and rang. If the virus was that contagious and took hold as quickly as it had with the man at the Nurses station, they should consider shutting the park down.

  “I think you’re right.” Derek agreed. “Something is wrong. Big time wrong and this guy trying to tear the door down kind of scares me.”

  The phone continued to ring then abruptly disconnected, leaving her with a dial tone. She tried again but instantly got an all circuits are busy message. She bit her lip and her eyes held worry, edging on fear.

  A few people had gathered around the bathrooms, curiosity piqued by the banging and growling coming from inside.

  Derek tried to defuse the situation. “Apparently, he ate some bad Mexican food folks, go enjoy yourselves, we’ll have this sorted in a minute. There’s another set of restrooms by the haunted house right over there,” he pointed at the visitors center a couple of hundred yards away.

  He got a few laughs as the people drifted away, most of them dismissing the incident without a second thought.

  Will came hurrying up to them and shook his head.

  “No keys,” he said. “These doors never get locked; they’ve probably been lost for years.”

  “Maybe it’s just the cell phones.” Anna said, hitting the redial button for 9-1-1. “I need to get back to the infirmary to see how our patient is doing and I’ll try the land line. Maybe I’ll have better luck.”

  “I’m going to let the boss know we need to shut this place down.” Derek said, wincing as the man inside the bathroom screamed and slammed against the door again. “Will, make sure no one tries to go in there.”

  “Okay.” Will said and eyed the steel door dubiously. “As long as he doesn’t figure out how to open it.”

  He pulled out his own phone and tried to call his wife.

  Kelly was reaching for the door of the first aid station when the bitten man slammed it open and barreled out. She was knocked off the porch into the hedges as he howled and flew down the steps, blood staining the front of his shirt. He sprang off the porch and launched himself at a young couple staring open mouthed and dumbfounded. With snapping teeth and keens of hunger, he tore into them rending flesh and spraying hot blood across startled faces. It took a moment for anyone to react but when they did, panic ensued and screams echoed through the park. Terrified parents grabbed their kids and ran for the entrance. The fear in the air was tangible and catching. There was something terrible and final about the gurgling screams from the couple and people ran away from the sounds of death and whatever was causing them. Those who hadn’t seen the carnage didn’t have to. They knew a lion or tiger or something equally vicious had escaped and was killing people. They heard it. Heard the horror, the shrieks of sheer terror and ran for their cars.

  The man slashed and bit then leaped away from the dying couple in a frenzy. His infected brain drove him to seek new victims and he took down an elderly man who stood there paralyzed, mouth agape at the brutality and speed of the blood covered man.

  Kelly scrambled from the hedges and dashed into the first aid station. All hell was breaking loose and panic was threatening to overwhelm her. Anna was sprawled on the floor, her throat torn out, her blouse torn open and a huge pool of red soaked into her hair. Anna fumbled for her radio, she had to warn Cody, had to tell him to hide. To get inside a cage and lock the door behind him. Anna twitched and sat up, her eyes were black, her lips were curled and a hissing sound was coming from her shredded throat.

  “Go ahead, mom,” came a voice over the radio and Anna launched herself towards the noise. She flew across the room, easily jumping the fifteen feet, fingers clawing for the fresh blood.

  Kelly screamed and threw up her hands to shield her face as she backpedaled through the door. One of the Anna’s legs tangled in the IV stand and she smashed to the floor, breaking the fall with her face. Teeth skittered across the tiles and she lunged for Kelly again as she tried to slam the door. Hands clawed for her and broken teeth gnashed for tender flesh. Kelly screamed at the monster and with adrenaline charged strength, shoved her weight against the door, finally latching it when Anna’s feet slipped on the blood slicked tiles. The rampaging monster hurtled herself against it, into the safety glass, and it spider webbed into hundreds of tiny cracks. She banged her head repeatedly against it, her skin shredding and black blood splashing across the window. The reinforced door held and Kelly watched in horror at the thing that had been her friend only moments before destroyed her face against the unyielding glass.

  Across the park, Demonio and Diablo shook off the effects of the tranquilizers. They woke up slowly, their noses filled with the scent of the man who hurt them with his pointed stick. They licked at the stinging needle marks and sniffed the ground, followed the footsteps to the gate. Diablo shoved his toothy snout against the bars and it inched open. They slunk out and smelled the wind. The scent of the man and was strong, his aftershave astringent and unique to them. Lips curled in a low growl and they padded towards the smell. Towards the revenge. It was all they knew. They had been trained to fight, trained to kill anyone or anything that tried to hurt them and the man with the strong smell had hurt them both. The shaggy hair on their hunched backs stood on end as they slipped down the trails towards the front of the park.

  Will was really, really starting to get a feeling that things were spiraling out of control when the inhuman shrieks and the banging on the door finally stopped. Thank God for small favors. He could hear screams from other parts of the park now, though. He stared at the useless phone in his hands. Things were going nuts, he couldn’t get ahold of his wife, nobody answered his 9-1-1 calls and the sounds of terror made his blood run cold. He needed to go, to get home. He needed this job too and his sense of duty wouldn’t let him just abandon his post. He needed to check on the guy in the bathroom, maybe he had died. Maybe he had finally knocked himself out or something.

  He pushed the door gently inward and dared a peek. The thing that once was Robert Baynard lunged, sunk his fingers into Wills eyes and bit into his face. Will added his own scream to those all around him as he felt the flesh pulling free. The zombie savaged him viciously then left him dying on the floor as he sprang out of the door in search of fresh prey.

  Moments later, Will’s body lurched upright. An unnatural hunger consumed him and drove him to his feet. He barely noticed his dangling eyeball and a face that was raw, oozing meat as he joined the hunt.

  Derek saw Kelly fly off the porch into the bushes as he was hurrying towards the Visitor center and the offices
there. He ran for her, ignoring the man screaming and tearing into an old man when he saw a young couple that had to be dead leap up from the ground. They were covered in bites and slashes and blood and there was no way they could be alive. There was no way they could be running and screaming after a woman struggling to run with her toddler out the front gate. There was no way they were leaping on all fours like animals. There was no way they ran her down and tore into her, sending gouts of blood spraying across the asphalt.

  But they did.

  The parking lot was utter chaos as the zombies fell on the fleeing guests. The blind fury of the freshly turned undead was relentless and brutal. Windows were smashed. People were torn from cars. The fastest runners were easily brought down with inhuman speed and strength. One became five. Five became ten. Engines fired up and revved to the limit joined the sounds of killing and dying. Screams of terror and screams of rage were drowned out by screeching tires and crunching metal as dozens of cars all tried to squeeze through the same exit. Keening, clawing, biting monsters were there ripping into the broken cars and tearing bodies apart in their insatiable hunger.

  Kelly turned away from the bloody glass and the undead thing that kept trying to bite through it as Derek ran up the steps.

  Her eyes were wide, on the verge of panic, but seeing him brought her back from the edge a little. He was something sane in an insane world. Something solid she could cling to. Something that kick started her brain to get it working again and get out of the continual loop of this can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. The last of the bloody, ravaged things had chased the terrified people out into the parking lot and wholesale slaughter was happening out there. But not inside the park.

  “The gate! We’ve got to close the gate!” she screamed and sprinted for the big wrought iron fences before any of the gibbering things in the parking lot came back.