The Demon Dead: Troubled Waters

by Arthur M Wyatt

  “Rough way to go,” Derek said.

  “Yeah,” John said.

  They flew on in silence. John forcing the thought of Dean and his family from his mind.

  Finally John saw the Mountain off in the distance.

  “Guys,” John said. “I see it.”

  Amy left her seat and went to the cockpit.

  “Where,” she asked.

  “Straight ahead,” Derek said pointing.

  “We’re about ten miles out,” John said.

  John made a wide circle around the area. The small town of Pickens was within five miles of the mountain. He banked over a large shopping center circling it several times. They looked down on the scene below.

  “Check that out,” John said.

  The parking lot was literally crawling with the dead. Half of them on the ground crawling.

  Stephanie, listening on the headset, watched from the side window. “I told you,” she said. “They’re dying.”

  “Right...” John said.

  “When we need more supplies we can come here,” Amy said.

  “We need a vehicle,” Derek said. “Maybe we should stop and get one now. You can drop me off and I’ll meet you there.”

  “No way,” John said. “Too dangerous.”

  They flew over City Hall. Several zombie wandered around the parking lot. They looked up and clawed at the sky as the helicopter passed overhead.

  “Still walking,” Derek said.

  “Yep,” John said.

  John flew the few miles to Glassy Mountain and pulled into a hover over the forestry compound.

  He was surprised to see twenty of the dead gathered outside the gate. A steady, light drizzle fell. John shivered involuntarily.

  “Look,” Derek said. “There is one zombie inside the fence. He’s in a uniform. Looks like a forest ranger maybe.”

  “And there is his truck,” John said pointing to a South Carolina Forest Service vehicle parked near the tower. “Four wheel drive too.”

  “Look on the ground beside it,” Derek said.

  Lying on the ground by the passenger’s side of the vehicle was a lone female body. Dressed in a pink housecoat and covered in blood, it lie with its abdomen ripped open. Intestines and internal organs littered the ground around it.

  “Looks like our friendly Forest Ranger had this lady for lunch,” John said.

  “Yeah looks that way,” Derek said.

  The compound was two hundred by one hundred and fifty feet and sat at the very top of the small mountain. The two hundred foot fire watch tower was twenty feet from the fence in the South corner of the compound.

  One twenty-five by twenty and one twelve by sixteen building were nearby. A small water tower stood in the far corner. The center of the compound and one corner were empty.

  John positioned the helicopter over the landing area in the center and reduced power until the wheels touched down. The ranger zombie was standing facing them fifty feet in front of the helicopter.

  “Guys,” Derek said. “Stay inside. I’ll get out and take care of him.”

  The zombie shuffled forward.

  “No,” John said. “Wait.”

  John reduced power. As the speed of rotation slowed, the tips of the rotor blades dropped lower. The forest ranger’s zombie walked into the spinning rotor blades and was instantly decapitated. They watched the head fly over the fence as if in slow motion. The headless body stood for a moment then fell to the ground.

  John looked over at Derek. “See?”

  “Nice...”

  When the rotors stopped, John turned off the power and took off the headset. All was silent. Light rain splattered against the windshield.

  “Are we there yet?” Jimmy said.

  “Yes,” Amy said. “We’re here.”

  “Good,” Jimmy said. “I’m hungry.”

  “Of course you are,” Amy said laughing.

  The relief of being on the ground hung in the air. Derek took a deep breath and climbed out of the helicopter. He opened the side door to let out the others.

  “I’ll check the buildings,” Derek said flipping the safety off his weapon.

  “I’ll go with you,” Stephanie said.

  They approached the body of the ranger. Derek reached down and ripped the name tag from his uniform shirt.

  “Thomas Neele,” he said examining the tag closely.

  17

  Ranger Neele

  -------------------------------------------悪魔死--------------------------Park Ranger Thomas Neele woke early and left the house without waking his girlfriend Linda. He drove to the Waffle House and stopped for breakfast. He thought it odd that there were so few cars or trucks in the parking lot. It was usually pretty crowded at this time of morning. He exited the vehicle and walked inside.

  Sitting down at the counter he called out for service. A waitress shuffled out of the backroom. Her hair matted with blood. In the room he could see a pair of legs on the floor lying in a puddle of blood.

  Mesmerized by the sight of the waitress he froze. She growled and snapped her teeth as she approached the counter. Thomas recoiled at the sight, jumped to his feet and backed away from the counter.

  Before he could turn to leave his arm was grabbed from behind and bitten. A chunk of flesh ripped away as he screamed out in pain.

  He elbowed the attacker hard in the gut and grabbed him by the shirt. He held him at arms length as the man, looking at him with wild crazy eyes, snapped his teeth and clawed at him. Thomas shoved him against the wall and ran out of the diner. The evil look on the face of the man stuck in his mind.

  He ran to his forestry SUV, jumped in and locked the door. The crazed man followed him out and beat at the window. Thomas sat and stared in shock.

  He pulled the keys from his jacket pocket and fumbled with them trying desperately to get the key in the ignition. Finally he managed to start it and raced out of the parking lot. Turning on the radio he caught the tail end of a report of the death and destruction going on around the country.

  He raced home as fast as he could. Sliding to a stop in the front yard he jumped out of the vehicle and ran for the door. Linda ran out to meet him. She was still dressed in a pink nightgown and housecoat. Purple fuzzy slippers on her feet.

  “Have you heard the news?” she said. “They said something about zombies.”

  “Yes,” he said. “Pack some things now. We’re leaving.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “The ranger station at Glassy Mountain,” he said. “We can stay there until all this blows over.”

  He winced in pain and touched the wound on his shoulder.

  “Oh my God,” Linda said. “What happened?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Are you sure you’re ok?”

  “I’m fine,” he said. “Just get your stuff. I’ll pack some food and water.”

  Around the neighborhood walking corpses stumbled out of their houses and wandered in the street in search of prey.

  Thomas took his gun from the nightstand and inserted a clip with nine rounds. He loaded the SUV and ran back in to help Linda who was packing two pieces of luggage.

  “Leave that stuff,” he said. “You don’t need it. Just take a change of clothes.”

  “I need to put on something else,” she said.

  “There’s no time. We have to go now.”

  They rushed outside to find four of the walking corpses between them and the SUV.

  “Shit!” Thomas screamed. “Stay behind me.”

  Raising his pistol he fired at each one. They stumbled backwards but came at them again. He took more careful aim and shot three in the head. They dropped immediately. The fourth made it to him before he could fire another shot. He grabbed it by the shirt to shove it away. In the process he was bitten again on the hand. A large piece of muscle ripped away at the thumb.

  “Son of a bitch!” he screamed.

  Getting in the SUV Thomas started it and sat for a moment brea
thing heavily. He looked down at his gun.

  Only two rounds left, he thought. I should have bought more ammo when I had the chance.

  Linda sat in the seat beside him crying.

  He put his hand on her leg. “It’s ok. We’re safe now. We’ll go to Glassy and wait this out.”

  She looked up at him and shook her head. “Ok,” she said weakly.

  Thomas turned the Ford around and headed for the Mountain three miles away. He pulled up to a red light and stopped.

  Dumb ass, he thought. Why are you stopping?

  As he hit the gas to go through a figure jumped on the hood and beat at the windshield. Its eyes wild with rage it screamed at them through the glass. Linda slumped lower in the seat.

  “Do something,” she shouted.

  Thomas swerved trying to dislodge the man from the hood. When that didn’t work he rolled down the drivers side window, stuck the pistol out and pulled the trigger. The bullet missed. Before he could fire again the demon knocked the gun out of his hand and tried to reach into the vehicle. Thomas fought to roll the window back up.

  Finally he slammed on the brakes and turned the steering wheel sharply to the right. This time the demon lost its grip and flew off the hood to tumble over and over on the pavement.

  Thomas pressed the accelerator to the floor, spun the SUV around and headed straight for the zombie. The demon, attempting to rise to its feet, was run over by the heavy vehicle and crushed under the all terrain tires.

  “You can get up now,” Thomas said.

  Several times during the short trip he had to swerve to avoid hitting the dead walking in the streets.

  Reaching the gate to the ranger station, he stopped the SUV and got out. He unlocked the gate, drove the SUV through, parked it beside the tower and closed and locked the gate.

  He got back in the vehicle and leaned over the steering wheel trying to catch his breath.

  Linda put her hand on his arm. “Are you ok?” she said.

  “Yes,” he said. “I’ll be ok. Just let me rest for a minute.”

  Thomas breathed deeply. His diaphragm hurt with every breath. His breathing became labored. Linda put her palm on his forehead.

  “You’re burning up,” she said.

  He felt as if his head would explode. He was sweating profusely and felt like he would throw up any moment. His arm throbbed with pain. He felt dizzy.

  He laid his head on the steering wheel and closed his eyes. His head was spinning as he passed out for a few minutes.

  “Thomas wake up!”

  He jerked upright. “I’m ok.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” he said lying. “I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure we’re safe here?”

  “Yes Linda,” he said fighting back the bile that rose in his throat. “We’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  A sharp pain shot through his gut. Blood ran from his ears and nose.

  “You promise?” Linda said crying.

  “Yes, I promise...” Thomas said as his stomach cramped.

  Vomit surged from his gut. The foul taste of stomach acid covered his tongue as he lost consciousness for good.

  18

  New Blood

  -------------------------------------------悪魔死--------------------------Derek and Stephanie looked down at the ranger’s body. The light rain turned to a mist.

  “This guy wouldn’t have lasted much longer,” Stephanie said. “He’s close to falling apart.”

  Derek pushed on the torso with his foot. The rib cage cracked and caved in. Thick black goo oozed from his headless neck.

  “That’s disgusting,” Stephanie said.

  They walked to the body by the SUV and studied it for a moment.

  “Still in her housecoat and slippers,” Stephanie said. “Looks like they left home in a hurry.”

  Derek looked in the back of the vehicle.

  “They brought food and water with them,” he said.

  Stephanie peered over his shoulder. “And a change of clothes.”

  “They didn’t bring much,” Derek said.

  “Well...” Stephanie said. “Judging from his wounds, they were probably fighting for their lives to get here.”

  John joined them. Derek filled him in on their observations.

  “These two came here to get away from the dead,” he said turning to point at the ranger’s body. “He was bitten pretty severely. He must have turned after they got here... and then killed her”

  Derek gestured toward the female on the ground.

  “He stomped on her head,” John said pointing to the crushed face. “You can’t even tell what she looked like.”

  Amy crawled out of the helicopter to join them.

  “Jimmy hold onto Spanky until I come back, ok?” she said as she exited.

  “Hey guys,” she said when she reached them. “Can we get this mess cleaned up soon. We can’t live here with that lying around.”

  She looked down at the body and gagged.

  “Right...” John said. “We’ll get it.”

  Amy smiled. “You do that...”

  Stephanie and Amy went to the buildings to check them out. They went to the largest building first. The doors were locked.

  Amy returned to the SUV and retrieved the keys from the ignition.

  “I hope one of these works,” she told Stephanie.

  The last key she tried unlocked the door. They walked into a large room. There was a desk in one corner. Two cushioned chairs sat in front of it. A computer monitor sat on the desk alongside a phone. On a table was a two way radio.

  On the wall beside the desk was a book case with a coffee maker and a microwave oven. A water cooler stood by the book case. Three large water bottles for it sat nearby.

  On the far wall were two doors. One led to a small dark room with no window.

  “I hope that’s a bathroom,” Amy said opening the door to the smaller room.

  “Cool,” Stephanie said looking over his shoulder. “It is.”

  “And a shower,” Amy said. “A nasty shower but still a shower.”

  In one corner of the bathroom was a standup shower with a moldy curtain. A sink was immediately to the left. A toilet right beside it. The floor was dirty moldy tile.

  “Wow,” Amy said. “Circa 1975...”

  Stephanie laughed. “Better than nothing. You can tell mostly men used it.”

  “Yeah,” Amy said. “And there is no toilet paper.”

  “Oh no,” Stephanie said smiling. “A woman’s worst nightmare...”

  Derek and John spent the next hour moving the bodies. They used one of the tarps they brought with them, wrapped the bodies in it and tied it tightly with nylon rope.

  “How we gonna do this?” Derek asked.

  “Well...” John said pausing to think for a moment. “You lure the dead to the other side of the fence and I’ll drag the bodies out the gate and roll them off the hill.”

  “Why don’t we just shoot them?” Derek asked.

  “Because I want to keep an eye on them,” John said.

  “Why?”

  “So we can watch them die,” he said. “That way we can tell when they’re getting close to the end.”

  “Makes sense...” Derek said.

  Amy walked up to them. “Here you’ll need these,” she said tossing John the keys.

  “Thanks,”

  “You ready?” Derek said.

  “Yep, do your thing.”

  Derek went to the gate to get the walking corpses attention and took the butt of his rifle and dragged it along the fence to make as much noise as possible.

  “Hey!” he shouted. “Over here.”

  The dead turned as one and followed him along the fence. He lured them around to the other side.

  John unlocked the gate with the first key he tried and dragged the body to the edge of the narrow one lane road. There was a steep rock slope on his left. He pushed the tarp wrapped bodies over the si
de and watched them tumble end over end to the bottom.

  Returning to the compound he closed and locked the gate. Derek joined him. Of the twenty zombies who followed him to the other side, only nineteen made it back around.

  “We lost one,” Derek said counting them.

  They scanned the fence line to see the missing zombie crawling along the ground, dragging an empty pant leg behind him. One leg gone.

  “There it is,” Derek said pointing to the leg lying ten feet behind the zombie.

  “Yep” John said.

  “Lets get set up and see what we have,” Derek said.

  “We’ll leave most of the supplies in the helicopter,” John said. “Just in case we have to leave here in a hurry.”

  Amy cleaned the bathroom and readied it for use.

  “At least we can take a Navy shower,” John said looking in the bathroom.

  “What’s a Navy shower?” Jimmy said.

  “It’s a very short shower,” John said. “You pour water over yourself to get wet, then lather up and rinse with as little water as possible.”

  “Cold water...” Derek commented.

  “We’ll dig a slit trench for a bathroom,” John said. “Do not use the toilet. We don’t know how much is in the water tower. We can’t afford to waste any. We can use the sink for brushing teeth and washing up.”

  “How long will we be here?” Stephanie asked.

  “I don’t know,” John said. “Until it’s safe to leave.”

  “How will we know that,” Amy asked.

  “We’ll know,” John said.

  “And if we’re not sure we won’t leave,” Derek said.

  “I’m hungry,” Jimmy said. “So is Spanky.”

  Amy made them something to eat and set to work fixing up their new living quarters.

  John and Derek investigated the second smaller building. Just on the other side of it was a liquid propane generator. Along side were two one hundred pound propane tanks. John checked them. One was full and the other was at two thirds.

  “If we use these sparingly they should last us for a while,” John said.

  They checked inside the building. There was a walk in door and a ten foot wide garage type over head door. Inside sat a small trailer with a riding lawn mower strapped to it. A push mower and a gas trimmer sat beside it. A large tool box sat in the corner. Three five gallon gasoline containers were by the toolbox.