They went from one side of the tower to the other firing. John looked down in despair.
We can’t go out like this, he thought.
“We’re being overrun,” Stephanie shouted over the gunfire.
Demons were pouring over the fence from all sides.
“They’re at the tower,” Derek said.
Derek grabbed the shotgun, put a full clip in his rifle and headed down the stairs.
He turned to John. “You stay here with them,” he said. “I got this...”
John nodded.
Derek race down the stairs. He was met at the third landing by six demons on their way up. He fired the shotgun, pumped and fired again and again until all the shells were spent. The six demons tumbled down, wounded but still alive. He un-slung the M4 and methodically put rounds in each one of the demon’s heads as they tried to get back to their feet. When he was satisfied they were all down for good he returned to the top.
“Stephanie did you bring more shells for the shotgun?’ he asked.
She nodded no. Derek dropped his head and sighed.
“I’m sorry,” she said weakly.
Derek tossed the shotgun to the side. He would use it as a club if he had to.
Everywhere they looked demons continued to climb over. They fired at each one. Many made it inside the fence and were ravaging the compound. They entered the living quarters and tore it apart.
Derek fired into the mob at the gate. Hundreds of zombies pushed against it. Finally the gate gave way. A tsunami of dead poured in. Soon the entire compound was swarming with walking corpses.
“Concentrate on the demons,” John shouted.
John had lost count but was sure he had killed at least thirty demons so far.
The zombies crowded the stairs and were slowly making their way up. They were at the second landing already. There were four more to go before reaching the top. Derek looked around the tower frantically. He opened a box in a corner and pulled out a piece of nylon rope twenty feet long.
“Bingo,” Derek said.
“What are you going to do with that?” Stephanie asked.
“Tie it across the stairs,” Derek answered.
“Like that’s going to stop them,” Stephanie said.
“It may not stop them but it will slow them down,” John said.
Derek bounded down the stairs to the third landing. He tied the rope to the rail on his right, ran it to the other side, looped it around twice and back to the other side where he tied it off.
He stood back and watched. The zombies continued to push forward finally reaching the rope barrier. It strained with the weight but held.
Derek raced back to the top. “It’s holding,” he said. “But for how long I don’t know...”
The battle continued. Soon ammo was running low.
“There still coming,” Derek shouted.
John turned to see the dead still streaming up the road. His heart sank. There was no way they could fight off all these zombies. They were trapped with no way to escape. He thought there were so many in the compound you could walk across the top of them if you wanted.
“John!” Derek shouted. “I’m almost out of ammo.”
“Me too,” Stephanie said.
“Same here,” John said. “We’re going to be down to pistols real soon.”
“Ammo check,” John said. “How much do we have left?”
“All I have for the M9 is the clip that’s in it,” Derek said. “I have two rounds left in the rifle.”
“Me too for the pistol,” Stephanie said. “I’m down to three rounds in the rifle.”
“Same her,” John answered. “One clip for the pistol and ten rounds in the rifle.”
“Forty five rounds,” Derek said. “Wow...”
Jimmy sat in the corner crying. Amy sat beside him holding the baby and trying to comfort them. She felt strange not taking part in the battle. She knew that her role in the group had changed but if the dead made it to the top, she would fight.
Zombies littered the ground. More were entering the compound every second.
“Did we get all the demons?” Derek said.
“I don’t know,” John said.
As soon as the words left his mouth there was a scream from below.
“Scratch that,” John said.
They looked to see the shirtless demon standing in the center of the compound. The dead backed away when it screamed again and circled him as if waiting on instructions. Derek scanned the compound in search of more. He only saw the one demon in the center.
“One left,” Derek said. “The leader...”
Its red hate filled eyes bore into theirs. It screamed again. The mob became even more agitated. The demon stood with outstretched arms and started turning slowly. It screamed as it turned faster and faster whipping the swirling mass of zombies into a frenzy.
The noise was horrendous. The growls of the dead a steady cacophony that assaulted their senses. Jimmy covered his ears tightly with his hands.
“He’s getting them worked up for a final assault,” John said looking at Derek.
There was a loud snap as the rope holding the zombies back on the stairs gave way. The zombies surged forward.
“The rope broke,” John shouted.
They looked back to the demon below. It stopped spinning, looked up at them, and took a step toward the tower.
“Take him out,” John said.
Derek was ready. He sighted in and fired his last two rifle rounds one after the other. The demon’s head exploded in a dark red cloud of pulverized brains and blood. It stood for a second, dropped to its knees, and fell face first into the dirt. The top half of its head blown away.
“Bastard...” Derek spat.
He dropped the empty clip from his rifle, inspected it, and tossed it to the floor. He pulled his pistol out and flipped off the safety.
“This is it,” Derek said with a determined look on his face. “All I have left is the pistol.”
He headed over to the stairs and stopped to looked back at the others. “I’ll hold them off as long as I can,” he said. “It’s been fun...”
“Wait,” John said.
“What?” Derek asked.
“Listen,” John said.
“Listen to what?”
Amy quieted Jimmy and held Nicole tightly to stop her from crying.
“That,” John said.
“I don’t hear anything,” Derek said.
“Right...”
Silence met their ears for the first time in over thirty minutes.
Derek returned to John’s side and peered down at the scene below. The zombies were silent and not moving. The dead that were circling the demon in a frenzy just seconds before stood staring down at its body. John looked down at the zombies on the stairs. They stood still and silent as well.
“Look,” Stephanie said pointing toward the gate.
The dead who had been approaching the tower from the road had stopped and were standing still.
“What the hell is going on?” John said.
They looked back at the body of the demon. The zombies who had been clustered around it, as well as the rest of the zombies inside the fence, were turning and slowly making their way to the gate and out of the compound.
The zombies on the stairs turned and headed back down. The dead who had been approaching the tower from the street were turning around and heading back down the steep one lane road.
The sound of growling and teeth snapping were gone. Other than the occasional grunt the zombies made no sound.
“Derek cover me,” John said as he headed down the stairs.
“John what the hell are you doing!” Amy asked.
“Just checking on something,” John said.
John reached the bottom and had to wait a minute for the last of the zombies to move off the stairs. He stepped out amongst the dead. He walked into the center of the mob and stopped. He raised his arms and turned around several times. The dead
walked around him. He smiled and waved up to the others.
“He’s lost his mind...” Stephanie said.
“No not really,” Derek said looking over the side. “Looks like they’ve all turned into drifters...”
John lowered his rifle and stood his ground. The zombies gave him a wide berth as they walked around. Soon they had all passed. John turned and watched the last of them crowd through the gate.
He rejoined the others in the tower and looked down on the scene below. Bodies lay where they had been dropped. It looked to John like zombie confetti had fallen. The stood and stared down for several minutes.
They were so happy to be alive none of them even noticed the massive stench that permeated the air.
“What does all this mean,” Amy said finally breaking the silence.
John turned to look at the others.
“I have my theory but you’ll have to develop your own,” he said.
“What is your theory,” Amy asked.
“Well as far as the demons go,” John said. “I think until today what we’ve been dealing with were just the foot soldiers.”
“What do you mean foot soldiers?” Stephanie said.
“I mean not real demons. Just their minions,” John said. “But today... today we saw a real demon. And maybe the zombies have been under their control all along.”
Derek looked at him for a second and rubbed the stubble on his chin. “That’s some deep shit dude,” he said.
“If Shanna were here she would say you were bat shit crazy,” Amy said smiling.
“Guys look,” Stephanie said pointing down to the gate.
Outside the gate stood a single zombie staring up at them. It high stepped over and stopped by the bodies the demons had stacked at the entrance. They had been knocked over by the stampede of dead.
“Gomer,” Derek said.
It stood and watched them for a minute, leaned down and dragged the bodies away from the gate.
“What is he doing?” Stephanie asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Derek said.
The gomer left the regular zombie’s bodies and moved only the bodies the demons had placed at the gate. He dragged them over to the edge of the road and pushed them over the side to watch them roll down the steep hill and come to rest three hundred feet below.
When he had cleared them all away he returned to the gate and stood staring up at them.
“We should go and say hello,” Amy said handing the baby to Stephanie.
“Say hello?” Stephanie asked. “Really?”
“Yes really...” Amy said. “Stay up here with Jimmy and Nicole please. It’s not safe for them down there yet.”
“OK.”
They descended the stairs and walked to where the gomer stood. He eyed them curiously.
“Thank you,” Amy said.
The gomer looked at her without changing facial expressions. Amy stepped closer. She looked intently into its eyes.
“Amy be careful,” John said.
“It’s OK,” she answered.
Amy and the gomer continued to look into each others eyes.
“I know you can’t talk, but, I want you to know that we know you’re in there...” Amy said and paused looking for some kind of recognition. “I know you can hear me.”
The gomer continued to stare into her eyes. She could sense that someone, some conscious person trapped deep within the zombie, was staring back at her through the gomer’s eyes.
“I wish you could somehow acknowledge that you understand me,” she said becoming teary eyed.
The gomers expression stayed the same. It stepped closer to her and put its face only inches from hers. His blue eyes, albeit a little red, were clear. He cocked his head to one side. Amy could see an almost imperceptible smile start at the corner of his mouth. That was the signal Amy was looking for.
“Is there anything we can do for you?” she asked.
The gomer looked at her with a blank look on its face, reached into his back pocket and pulled out a wallet. He handed it to Amy. She opened it up.
“Oh my God,” Amy said wiping a tear from her eye.
She handed it to John. John examined the drivers license and a photo.
“Unbelievable,” he said. “His name is David. David Simmons. He’s Nicole’s Father...”
John held up the wallet to show Derek the photo. The gomer mother, in better days, sat holding a six month old baby Nicole. Seated beside her was the man standing before them. The happy family smiled at them from the past.
Amy stepped closer, reached up and put her hand on the gomer’s shoulder.
“We’ll take care of her...” Amy said choking back tears.
The gomer looked at her and nodded. Amy stepped back, tears streaming down her face, and looked back at John. John felt a lump form in his throat as his eyes watered. Derek’s eyes misted over. The emotion and significance of what was happening getting the better of them.
John handed the wallet back to the gomer. He put it back in his pocket, looked them in the eyes one more time then looked up at Stephanie who was holding the baby and looking down on them from the tower. He gazed up at them for a moment and turned to walk away. After a few steps he turned to look at them one last time and continued on. They watched until he reached the bottom of the hill.
“He was here to thank us,” Amy said still wiping away tears.
“Maybe it is over now,” Derek said.
A growl to the right drew their attention. A lone zombie walked out of the brush and snarled as it advanced on them. Derek walked to it and put a bullet in its brain at very close range.
“Not over yet...” Derek said rejoining them.
“Maybe not, but, I think the demons met their Waterloo here today,” John said.
“I hope you’re right,” Derek said.
“Looks like your trick of walking amongst the dead wasn’t so smart after all,” Amy said sarcastically to John.
“Right...”
Derek laughed.
“It’s not funny Derek...” Amy said not amused.
They looked around in awe at the carnage. The reality of the massive clean up before them setting in.
Stephanie stood guard while John and Derek repaired the gate and spent the rest of the day disposing of the bodies that littered the compound. They put the SUV, and the trailer they found in one of the buildings, to good use helping them. Many trips back and forth were made loading the trailer with bodies and throwing them over the hillside. They finished with only a few minutes of daylight to spare.
That evening they cleaned up their living quarters and put everything back in order.
John and Derek made an uneventful trip to the Mart the next day and emptied the baby food and diaper isle. They also acquired a crib and a toddler bed and tied it to the roof for the return trip.
They saw very few hostile zombies and left the ones they saw alone. No demons were seen.
Before returning to the compound they drove to the park. Derek pulled up to the three way and stopped. He and Derek sat and stared at the scene in front of them.
“You couldn’t squeeze another zombie in there if you tried,” Derek said.
Derek looked in the rearview mirror to see a single zombie approach the rear of the SUV. It passed on John’s side but didn’t turn to look at them. It walked across the street and disappeared into the mass of zombies on the other side.
“Well...” Derek said laughing. “Maybe one more...”
“Yep,” John said smiling. “It looks like every one of the dead that attacked us came here after they left.”
“Yeah,” Derek said. “And it looks like they weren’t gomers after all.”
“Right...” John said. “Just zombies who gave up the hunt.”
When they returned to the compound, another zombie was lying dead at the gate. Stephanie stood on the other side with her rifle. John dragged the body over and rolled it down the hill.
“He walked up while ya’
ll were gone,” she said. “He was out here raising hell so I shot him.”
She let them in and locked the gate.
20
Hydrophobia
-------------------------------------------悪魔死--------------------------Over the next weekDerek and Stephanie grew closer, the group adjusted to their new living arrangements, life with a baby, and learned to live with what they had.
The occasional stray zombie would appear. How it knew where to find them they had no idea.
Plans were made for a possible move. But only when the time came that they could be sure all the dead were gone.
On the eleventh day since their arrival at Glassy Mountain, Derek and John stood at the gate peering through at the zombie stumbling toward them. This was a new straggler from town and the first they had seen in two days. They had been watching its approach for the past fifteen minutes as it tried to make its way up the steep one lane road.
Finally when it was fifty yards away and faltering, Derek raised the rifle and sighted in.
“We know what happens to them now,” Derek said. “I may as well kill it myself.”
“Don’t waste the ammo,” John said. “I doubt if he even makes it up the hill. He could drop any second. He’ll be dead again soon.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Derek said. “Do you think it’s pretty much over?”
“Yeah I think so,” John said “It won’t be long before the few that are left are down. I mean this is the first one we’ve seen in three days. Of course there’ll be the more recently infected we’ll have to keep an eye out for, but for the most part, yeah I think it’s over.”
“You know...” Derek said, “I’m going to miss those gomers.”
“Right, they were entertaining. Even the manager and security guard.”
“I know,” Derek said. “None top Mike and Jane though.”
“Once the dead are gone we’ll only have to worry about the danger from other survivors like the three bone heads at the Mart,” John said.
“Yeah they’re more dangerous than the dead,” Derek said.
“Right, but for now we’re pretty isolated and safe where we are,” John said. “We’ll settle in here and see what happens. In maybe another month or so we’ll leave.”
“The sad thing is there aren’t many people left,” Derek said. “But that could also be a blessing.”
The Demon Dead: Troubled Waters Page 20
