by Aline Riva
“I'm fucking freezing...” he whispered, climbing into the alcove and lifting the sheet, lying beside the corpse and then shifting close up to the cold, dead bones as he shuddered under the shroud,huddling close to the skeleton. He pressed his face against its hair to wipe the blood from his face, giving a laugh that was sliding down into madness as he wondered why this was almost fun. He ran his fingertips over the wisps of fair hair, then rubbed his fingers together as it came away in his hands.
“I wonder,” he murmured as he looked at the skeletal grin of the dead woman, “If they don't care about you down here...maybe they won't care about me!”
Then he began to rub himself harder against the body, not caring that dry flakes of skin and general decomposition were getting caught in his hair, smearing his face, the stench going through his clothing...
“If I smell like one long dead...” he whispered, leaning next to the corpses remains of an ear as he shared his secret, “Maybe they won't notice me creep out of here! Oh, I'm good!” then he leant closer, kissing the dead woman's peeled back lips, “Thanks,” he added.
Jason crawled out of the alcove tasting decay on his lips, as he licked them he laughed again, crawling on his hands and knees through the crypt, where he looked up to see where the crack in the earth began, here the coffins were stacked and if he climbed up over them he knew he would easily find his way to the surface, where he could test a theory he was excited to try out...
After all he had been through, Jason was no longer afraid of death as he stepped up past one coffin, his boot went through another and crushed the skull of a skeleton, he laughed and kept on climbing, until he had reached a stone ridge where a higher alcove was empty. Above it, there was a hole part covered by overgrown grass. Nearby, the creatures were feeding, still tearing lumps off their former living victim.
Jason clambered up to the top of the concrete structure and reached through the hole, then seeing the half dozen gathered creatures pulling apart a dead guard whose uniform he did not recognise, he climbed out of the hole, got to his feet and then gave a glance out of the corner of his eye as a female gnawing at an arm paused, sniffed the air sharply and slowly turned its head, dead eyes set on him.
Jason froze, standing there soaked in blood and stinking of old decay. Then something hit his boot with a dull thud. The corpse woman 's face turned up into an evil smile as she bit greedily into a lump of still bleeding flesh. Then another creature turned its head, this one was badly decomposed, had an eye hanging out and the other bulging, clearly affected by a secondary burst of gas...
These... things... were watching him, waiting...
He knew what had to be done.
Jason snatched up the lump of human flesh and bit into it, fighting the urge not to gag as cold, dead blood filled his mouth and the flesh was clammy and felt like rubber.
As he chewed, the others looked away. Then another creature snapped an arm in half, the female tugged at it and it threw her both pieces, before tearing off the half chewed remains of the victim's head.
It was then he made a run for it. With human flesh still in his mouth and covered in and tasting the blood of the victim, Jason suppressed the urge to giggle as he felt caught somewhere between fear and insane laughter that was threatening to take him over and never stop. He got as far as the yew trees where he saw no more undead in sight and then he spat out the corpse meat and gagged as he ran, spitting again to try and lose the taste of human blood in his mouth. It was then he started to laugh again as he thought of Rick Lester, Mall King. It was all his fault, and he would pay...if he ever got out of here, if he survived long enough to take revenge...
As he ran, he headed for the back of the graveyard, where the wall was high and on either side ran to old, tall spiked railings. He saw a yawning gap far off and realised, this was where they had got in... Perhaps they were from the horde that had been held back by the chained gates – no matter, he wasn't planning on staying around to find out, thoughts of escape and revenge burned still through his mind as he dashed over graves, staggering on uneven ground as he turned a corner.
And there stood two soldiers, again, he did not recognise this dark blue uniform they wore...but three felled corpses were on the ground before him, and their guns were not gas but but bullet, and they had taken one look at his filthy clothing and blood stained face and hands, noticed the stink of death and raised their weapons to fire.
“HUMAN!” he yelled, falling to his knees as he put his hands in the air and started to sob, “Human, I'm human! Please don't shoot..I'm not one of them!”
The guards exchanged a glance, lowered their guns and then went over to him, helping him to his feet as he continued to sob.
“Thank you so much,” he wept gratefully as the two men in uniform he did not recognise as army led him away to the safety of their waiting transport.
Inside the solid old barn that had stood next to the house for more than a century, Tina watched through the gap as the weakened horde continued to press up against the walls and boarded windows of the house, moaning as they thumped and groaned impatiently. Being weakened did not give the living any kind of advantage at all – in their great number, all it would take would be a window to cave in or the door to give way and they would pour inside – and with gas gun cannisters running out, not one person inside that house would stand a chance...
But not all the creatures were over at the house. Some wandered aimlessly about outside, looking at the house, then walking in a circle about the driveway, now and then undead creatures would stop to sniff the air, as if wondering if perhaps there could be more humans out here – but so far, not one of them had looked towards her hiding place.
Tina waited to make the call again on the radio, watching through the hole in the wood as creatures passed by, half lazy and their movements slow and dragging thanks to the gas. Then she kept her voice low, trying the channel again.
“This is Captain Tina Swan, we are at the south end of Waterbrook Forest...I am with the former civilian Arctic squad requesting urgent assistance... Trapped in an abandoned house, surrounded by the remains of a horde...not enough gas...Please, can anyone hear me? Please come quickly, they'll die out here if you don't!”
The radio hissed static in reply as the sound filled the barn, like a final confirmation of a call that could never come. As tears stung at her eyes her thoughts turned back to Vince. They had only just truly found each other, this war was supposed to be coming to a close, they had so much to look forward to...
“It's not supposed to be like this,” she whispered, “Not like this, not now, not after everything we've been through...”
Then she mentally pulled back, shifting away from thoughts of weeping and giving up as she tried the radio yet again. She sent the message again, static came back at her. But Tina kept trying, knowing it was all she could do, there was nothing else left to try now...
The hands that pressed against the boarding on the windows made eerie shadows as the weak sun broke through after the rain, making dead hands rise and fall against the boards, reflecting on the floor, casting shadows on the walls, as they bumped and thudded and the house creaked and groaned with the pressure of the outside force trying to break in, as the group sat on the floor together, looking at a terrible sight they had never thought they would ever see right in front of them– three petrol cans minus their caps, now with rags stuffed inside them...
“I can't do it, I can't light that petrol,” Rick said, shaking his head as he cradled the B Virus child in his arms, looking down at the boy's smiling grey face as the baby cooed and gurgled, unaware of the deadly choice they had just agreed to make when all else failed.
“Me neither,” Marie added.
“I keep hoping we can find an alternate use for it,” added Vince as worry shone plain in his eyes.
“I'll be the one who lights it,” David said, looking to the others, “It was my idea. And if any of you want to try and make a run for it before we get brea
ched, I suggest you do it now because once that horde breaks in, we're all dead – hopefully before they get a chance to infect us!”
“Sit down,” Marie said, holding her hand out to David as he paced the room, looking from the cans to his friends – all of them had planned to survive to the end of this war. They'd all made plans for afterwards...Knowing that seemed to make it even worse as he took Marie's hand and sat down beside her.
“I just need to do something,” Rick said, “Please, no one say a word...I don't want my Lois to know until she has to...I have to do this my way. No pain for her and Flossie until there has to be...”
Then he took the phone from his pocket, took a picture of the smiling baby in his arms and sent it to her.
Somewhere beyond the boarded room, old wooden boards began to creak under the strain of the pressure from the slowed down horde as their sheer force was applied heavily, the creatures moving like the ebb and flow of a tide, back and forth as they pushed at the boarding, waiting for the barriers to crumble.
Rick's phone rang and he answered it smiling, feeling his heart warm through to know he had this last chance to speak to Lois.
“Oh Rick!” she exclaimed, “He's beautiful!”
“Yes I know, just like his big sister. That's why I decided to bring him along, Lois. So he could have a future with Flossie and us. That was my intention...”
“And its a wonderful idea!” Lois paused, then her voice became tense as suspicion and fear crept into it.
“Is something wrong, Rick? You sound...different. If there was something wrong you'd tell me, wouldn't you?”
He drew in a breath, let it out slowly to compose his shattered emotions and then he managed to keep the mood light.
“I just wanted to call you while I had the chance and show you what Rick Junior looks like...I want you to show the picture to Flossie, tell her about him...promise me you'll do that, Lois...”
She paused, then sounded confused.
“Of course I will, but Rick, she can meet him when you bring him home...”
“Yes I know that,” he replied as his voice trembled and he silently cursed his own inability to stay calm in moments of crisis as he used every ounce of the last of his strength not to weep openly, “I just want you to know I love you and Flossie and the reason I wanted this little boy to become part of our family is because I love you so much and I know I'm lucky that you love me just as deeply and I wanted to give that kid a future built on love, that was my reason.”
“You don't have to explain!” she exclaimed, “Rick, why would you need to explain why you chose to bring him with you? It's obvious, because you want to add to our new family – which I think is a wonderful idea!”
Rick had paced over to the farthest corner of the room now, away from the boards and the shadows that crept in through the gaps as their dead hands pressed and the creaks and groans sounded, the noise becoming unbearable now as slowly, with pressure, the creaks and groans of the barriers grew heavier and deeper, reminding them all that they did not have long before the horde poured in …
He didn't turn back to look at the others as tears ran down his face and that grey child in his arms looked up at him, oblivious to their terrible situation, as Rick tried to say words to his lover that would always stay with her, words that would always mean something, so that she didn't look back afterwards and feel anger because he had gone up with the petrol...
“I wish I'd married you.”
She paused again before replying.
“We can get married when the war is over! Flossie would make a lovely bridesmaid... as long as she doesn't chew the bouquet – and we have to remember she chews hair ribbons up like chewing gum. Not just hers, either, other peoples! She's crazy about ribbon! The nurse who gave her the antidote had a ribbon in her hair. She pulled it out when she wasn't looking and chewed it up into a ball and spat it out on the floor! Can you imagine her going that at our wedding...Oh Rick, did you just ask me to marry you?”
Another tear ran down his face as he smiled, knowing Lois had missed exactly what he had said, and he was glad about that – she hadn't realised he was saying he regretted the fact that they would never get the chance to marry now...
“When this war is over,” he said as he gripped the phone tightly, “I want you to make the most of the fact that we were part of the Arctic team... do the interviews, make the money, have a good life, you and Flossie, okay?”
“But you'll be there with us and you said you wanted to sell your story to Hollywood!”
“I know that Lois, but I'm just saying, in case I don't make it back, you never know what could happen, what's around the corner...Maybe I'm worrying too much. I probably am...”
“Well you can stop that before I start to worry too!” Lois exclaimed, then as he wiped his eyes he couldn't help but smile as he heard her speak away from the phone for a moment, “Flossie – Dad is on the phone...Dad.”
“Dad? What do?” he heard her say.
“I don't know,” Lois replied, “I'll ask him....What are you doing, Rick? How long till you come home to the base?”
Rick looked to the others who were still sat together across the room, his gaze fell on the petrol cans and he knew in a heartbeat he had never been more relieved to have left Lois and Flossie behind on a mission...and suddenly, he couldn't hold it back, not if these were his last words – she needed to know the truth...
“That's what I've been trying to say, Lois,” he replied as his voice trembled, “I'm not sure...we have a slight problem here and I could be gone a long time. I may be very late home, sweetheart. Like maybe I won't come back at all. I hope I'm wrong but it's looking that way. Oh no, please, don't cry...”
Lois was sobbing on the other end of the line
“Just get back here, we love you!” she said tearfully.
“I'll try my best,” Rick promised her, “It's all I can do now, try my very best...Kiss Flossie for me. I love you.”
Then the phone was snatched from Lois.
“Dad... It Flossie! What do?”
“Busy, Flossie,” he said fondly, “Very busy...and if I can, I'm coming home...if I can...just know that Dad loves you whatever happens, okay?”
“We both love you, Rick,” he heard Lois say.
“I know you do, I love you both too,” he replied tearfully, then as he ended the call he felt an ache in his heart as if the tie between him and those he loved who were far away was about to severed forever. Rick wiped his eyes, put the phone back in his pocket, then still cradling the child, he went back over to join the others.
They had been talking quietly and had now stopped, and as they all looked at him and then got up from the floor, he looked back at them, unable to read the look that was identical in the eyes of those who had been through so much with him.
“Rick,” said David, “You have that baby to think of...he deserves a chance, and he deserves a family, too. If we can distract the horde, maybe you and the baby can make a run for it -”
“We won't get through!” Rick exclaimed, then he looked down at the child in his arms, his heart breaking as he knew at once their gesture had been made selflessly, but the plan just wouldn't work...he would be pulled down by the horde and so would the child...
“No,” he said quietly as he stepped closer and joined them, looking to each of his friends in turn, “We'd stand no chance out there. I think it's best if we wait this out together.”
“Are you sure?” David asked, studying the gaze of his best friend.
Rick nodded.
“Who knows? Maybe we're all wrong, maybe that rescue unit will show up in time,” he said, smiling despite the uncertainly that reflected in his eyes as he set the child down on a blanket on the sofa.
David looked to the rest of the group.
“Does anyone else want the chance to try for an escape?”
They exchanged glances.
“We stay put and hope for rescue. We're in this together,” Marie said.
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“Of course we are,” Vince agreed.
David listened to the sound of the thumps and creaks as dead hands tugged at the boards that covered the windows. Somewhere a broken piece of glass came loose and made a sound like delicate wind chimes on a summer breeze as it shattered melodically on the dusty floor. Things were breaking apart. It was starting...
He held out his arms to the others.
“Come here,” he said , pulling Rick and Marie close, then as Vince joined them, they all stood there, embracing as the petrol cans stuffed with rags lay ready on the floor, as outside the living dead made the house creak and groan once more as the horde kept trying to break past the barriers...
Chapter 9 : The End, Day Zero
The daylight was fading out, chased off by early darkness pulled in by the cold hand of winter. As the group sat in the dying light, not one of them wanted to mention the subject until David spoke up, indicating to the candles over by the corner where the empty bottles were strewn about.
“Maybe we can light these - in another room, we could sit somewhere else for a while...”
“The cellar!”
As Marie spoke up urgently, the others looked at her.
“What about the cellar?”
“We could hide down there, if it's concrete all the way through it could survive the explosion and -”
“And we'd be cooked alive or starved of oxygen while the rest of the house blazes above us,” David pointed out, “So more than one way of dying there, I like neither option.”
“Unless we can find a way to lure them away from the house...set down the petrol , light it and run -”
“Who ever lights that bomb is as good as dead,” David replied, “Just like the rest of us. An explosion like that will catch the house, we wouldn't get too far with the petrol anyway before we got over run – those creatures are everywhere out there!”
“There has to be another way,” Marie said as she met his gaze, “We can't die like this. We didn't come this far to die like this!”
