Survival Instinct: A Zombie Novel Paperback

by Kristal Stittle

  She walked to the bus stop and sat in the shelter there. She sat and she sat and the bus never came. She waited for nearly a full hour before deciding that the bus was never going to come. Later, she found out that the bus drivers had gone on strike that night at midnight. She started walking home.

  The apartment that Jessica rented with a friend wasn’t that far from the school if you looked on a map, but there was a river between the two that had a fairly long and round-about way of getting from one side to the other. Taking the bus didn’t take too long, but walking always felt like forever.

  As she neared the main bridge, she looked down at the river. It carved a ravine into the landscape that was surrounded by large amounts of foliage. There was also a path following one side of the river that lots of students walked, biked, or jogged along in nice weather. At this time of night though, Jessica did not trust the path. She did, however, trust the trees.

  Once she crossed the bridge, she climbed down the side, into the forest. She and her roommate had spent many weekends exploring these woods and she knew all the trees and all the hidden deer paths. She made her way through the dark with confidence. It would cut her travel time down by over half. She saw only a couple of people the whole time. They were two boys sitting on the opposite bank of the river, just off the path. Judging by the glow that kept passing between them, it was likely a couple of stoners. The stoners usually came out to the woods at night to get high.

  As Jessica neared the end of her journey, the path on the other side of the river crossed over a footbridge to her side. She met up with it where it bent to go uphill and joined with the street. Her apartment building sat on the corner where they met. She was almost home.

  “Well, look what we have here,” a voice spoke out of the dark on the other side of the path. “Looks like a lost, little deer.”

  Jessica had turned to face the speaker, but wound up having something cracked into the side of her skull. She was stunned, and it took her a moment to realize that she was being dragged into the woods. She screamed, but it was cut short by a hard punch to her face, and then a kick to her stomach. She gasped for air, not able to breathe for a moment.

  “Shutyourdirtymouth.” It was a man’s voice, and it had turned harsh and violent. “Give me your wallet.”

  Jessica realized she was being mugged. She pulled her bag to her and started to open it, but the man grabbed it out of her hands. She watched as he tore open the bag and rooted through the contents. She remembered thinking how upset her group would be when they found out part of the report had ended up on the dirty forest floor. Some of it was even getting picked up by the wind and heading for the river.

  The man had a large beard and beady eyes. He was very dirty. He found her wallet and tossed the rest of her bag aside. Opening it, he took out all the cash and stuffed it into a pocket in his pants. He then pulled out her debit card.

  “What’s the pin?” His head snapped, and he glared down at her.

  At first, Jessica had no idea what he was talking about. What pin?

  “What’s the fucking pin?” He pulled a gun out from the back of his waistband, pointing it at her face.

  For a moment, Jessica couldn’t breathe again. She tried to say something, anything, but it wouldn’t come out. The gun was then cocked.

  “8472,” she said. She wasn’t even sure that that was the right number, but it was the only thing she could get out.

  The man put the card into his other pocket, then glanced back at the path.

  “Please, let me go,” Jessica whimpered.

  “Let you go?” The man faced her again. “But honey, we’re just getting started.”

  Jessica knew only fear and pain for the next half hour. The man jumped on her and crudely grabbed her breasts. Jessica turned to scramble away, but she only managed to crawl a few paces before he grabbed her hips and pulled her back to him. The muzzle of the gun was placed against the back of her skull.

  With the gun there, Jessica was afraid to do anything as the man reached his other hand around the front of her. He squeezed her breast again, hard. Then he undid her jeans and yanked them down with her panties in one tug. The gun moved away as he presumably undid his own pants.

  Now was her chance. Jessica kicked back with one of her legs. She wasn’t sure what part of his body she hit; she just tried to scramble away again. She was foiled by her dropped garments though, and tripped, scraping open her chin on the root of a tree. Before she could try to get back, a shot was fired, narrowly missing her head. She never forgot that sound. It was the loudest thing she had ever heard. She froze. The man was on her again in seconds. She tried to scream again, but a dirty, smelly hand was clamped over her mouth.

  “Don’t try that again,” he hissed in her ear, the gun placed against her temple. “I’d rather do this while you’re still alive.” His words were emphasized by the dead body. Another girl lay in the leaves nearby, her dead eyes staring. Watching.

  He then forced himself inside her. The only thing Jessica could do was lie there and cry. She could only smell his dirty hand, and practically taste it too. Part of her mind couldn’t even fathom what was going on. It couldn’t comprehend that she was actually being raped and that there was a dead woman beside her. He didn’t stop with just once, either. The second time, he raped her up the ass.

  When it was finally over, he hit her in the face with the gun, leaving a small gash and a cracked cheekbone.

  “Thanks for the fun, hun,” he said as he did up his pants. He then spit on her and left.

  Jessica lay there the rest of the night, too hurt and afraid to move. She had pulled her pants back up, not caring about the dried leaves that had gathered inside them. She then curled into a ball and sobbed for her and for the unknown dead girl. She should’ve made her group find the time to meet again, so they wouldn’t have had to stay so late. She should’ve accepted the ride from her friends or they should have insisted. The bus drivers shouldn’t have gone on strike that night. She shouldn’t have walked through the woods. She should have, she should have, she should have.

  She was found the next morning by a jogger. Three other joggers had gone past that day, but all of them had headphones on and didn’t hear her. This one, Liz Patterson, happened to enjoy the bird song and never listened to music while she jogged. She thought she had heard a wounded animal, but when she went to look, she found Jessica’s ruined form instead.

  Jessica was taken to the hospital, patched up, and had a rape examination done. She was assigned a councillor who helped her through the emotional aspects. At first, Jessica didn’t want the help. She wanted to curl up and die of shame.

  The man was named Albert York. He had sudden onset schizophrenia and his family had been looking for him for days. He was caught when an ATM camera picked him up trying to use Jessica’s card. This was three days after the attack. Those three days were a nightmare for Jessica, knowing he was out there. He had gone through her wallet; he would know her address.

  The dead girl had been another student, also walking home, who had fallen victim to Albert about an hour before Jessica. She had been killed by a severe blow to the head.

  When Albert was caught, Jessica felt only slightly better. She knew there were other people out there like him. She dropped out of school, moved home, and did nothing for a year but read books and see her therapist. Eventually she got a job as a temporary secretary. Then as a full-time secretary. Then she joined the Marble Keystone family and started her career. She was better.

  At least she thought she was better.

  * * *

  Abby laughed loudly next to Jessica, her voice filling the car. Jessica winced at it. Such laughter wasn’t right. Jessica turned and looked at her. She was obviously laughing at something Cillian had said. He was smiling back in the rear-view mirror.

  “I have to go to the bathroom,” Jessica said loudly in order to be heard over the others.

  “Now?” Tobias frowned.

  “Yes,
now,” Jessica scowled at him. “Do you have control over when you have to go?”

  “I could probably do with a pit stop myself,” Cender agreed.

  Tobias sighed. Arrogant little freak. They turned out of the convoy they had joined and went down a dirt road. It was some sort of access road for a farm field. Tall stalks of corn passed on either side. Once they were out of sight of all the other vehicles, Cillian stopped the car.

  Instantly Jessica popped open her door and got out.

  “Do you want me to come with you?” Cillian called from the driver’s seat.

  Jessica shook her head.

  “Be careful, don’t go too far,” he cautioned.

  Jessica held up her shovel to show him she had it, then disappeared into the stalks. She didn’t actually have the slightest urge to use the facilities, but she needed some air. And some time alone. She walked a way into the corn, the dense leaves brushing against her skin. It was dark surrounded by the corn stalks. Once she felt she was far enough, she knelt down in the mushy dirt. She put her hand in one of the pockets of her scrub pants. She hadn’t been able to accept the gun she was offered, but she did find a sharp combat knife. By slicing a few seams open in the bottom of the pocket, she had been able to turn it into a makeshift sheath. No one knew she had it.

  Jessica didn’t even know why she had taken the knife. It had been on impulse, but she was very glad she did. It made her feel safe. Safer, even, than her shovel, although the shovel had already proven itself in combat. Maybe it was because more people expected violence from a knife. Especially a knife that looked like this one. She could intimidate people with it, like she had once been intimidated.

  Guns were overpowered in Jessica’s opinion. With one, you could do so much damage with so little effort. A little kid could kill a fully grown man the size of an elephant if his aim was good. So much power, yet so little control. A reckless force that one needed no training to wield. The knife, though. So up close, so personal. It took real skill to use one well. Jessica didn’t have that skill, at least not yet, but she was sure she could learn. She had time for it now. She never needed to go back to work; she never needed to worry about making money. She could do what she wanted; she was free.

  “There you are.”

  Jessica nearly jumped out of her skin. She got quickly to her feet, brandishing her shovel. It was only Abby.

  “I’m sorry, did I startle you?” Abby asked the obvious question. “I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t being quiet or anything.”

  “I was thinking.” Jessica sat back down on the dirt. She used to worry about getting her clothes dirty; now she did it without thought. Of course, these weren’t really her clothes. Only her underwear actually belonged to her. Hospital pants, a stranger’s shirt, and Abby’s boots. Abby’s boots, which were too small for her feet. She knew she had blisters, and they pained her constantly. She was beginning to like the pain, though. It reminded her that she was alive.

  “Thinking about what?” Abby sat down not far away. Close enough to be seen through the clustered corn leaves.

  About slitting your dirty throat. Jessica didn’t know where that thought came from, but it wasn’t the first time. She had first thought it in the limo. It surprised her then, but now she was getting used to it. She almost followed through with it when they were in Cender’s friend’s house. They were alone in the bedroom, and Abby’s back was to her. It would have been easy. She wouldn’t have been able to cover it up though. The house had already been checked for zombies, and it would have been pretty obvious if one came smashing through a window. No, she didn’t do it then. They were alone now though.

  “Just… Everything,” Jessica finally answered her question.

  “I know what you mean,” Abby nodded.

  She had no idea what Jessica meant.

  “All this craziness.”

  Was she calling Jessica crazy?

  “I can’t believe it’s all happening.” Abby looked up at the nearly dark sky. In the corn, it was already a dark night, but her long neck was still very visible.

  One swift slice was all it would take.

  Some noise came at them from the car’s direction, interrupting Jessica’s impulsive plan. Someone was coming through the corn toward them.

  “Jessi? Abby?” It was Cillian’s voice. “Where are you girls?”

  “We’re here,” Abby called back.

  Jessica scowled at her in the dark.

  Cillian came through the corn and found them. He looked down at Jessica, through the corn leaves, a smile on his lips. A fake smile. Jessica always knew when he was lying, even when it was just an expression.

  “Come on, we should get going.” Cillian held out his hand.

  He didn’t even ask if Jessica was done. She took his hand anyway and let him help her up.

  There was another rustling through the corn, only this time it didn’t come from the direction of the car. The rustling was coming toward them from deeper in the fields. Jessica raised her shovel. A high pitched squeal came at them; clearly it was one of the infected.

  Another squeal sounded between them and the car.

  * * *

  Jessica ran laterally to the squealing. She didn’t think twice about it, just ran. She used her shovel to help slice her way through the corn leaves but many of them still whipped painfully past, especially against her legs. She didn’t think about that either, just ran.

  Where Cillian and Abby may have gone, she didn’t know. She didn’t care. Well, she cared a little for Cillian, how could she not? She didn’t want him dead. Maybe hurt a little as punishment, but not dead.

  She hit another path in the corn, this one more like a footpath than the one the car was on. She picked a random direction and headed down it. She didn’t care where she went as long as it was away from where she was. There was more squealing in the corn now. Most of it behind her, thankfully. It seemed odd that they were all screamers.

  Up ahead was a large barn. Jessica made a beeline for it. Something behind her started to give chase. Jessica didn’t dare look back in case she tripped. She had tripped once before, never again. The barn was her only focus. Get there and she would be all right. As she got closer, and the corn dropped away from around her, she could see a door standing open. That was her goal. Get into the barn, and slam the door closed behind her.

  She passed through the entryway and swung the door shut. When it was halfway closed, she realized it was a Dutch door, the kind that was in two halves, and she was only closing the lower half. A zombie could easily grab her through the top half.

  Jessica saw no zombie though, as something hit the door. She locked the latch and was very confused when something furiously tried to get through the lower section. A child perhaps? She slowly looked over the edge at the squealer, holding her breath. It was a pig. Jessica frowned wondering why a pig was trying to kill her.

  It took a moment for it to sink in. Pigs were similar enough to humans that their heart valves could be transplanted into one. Not to mention that whole swine flu thing that had happened. Whatever virus that woman on the radio was talking about, it clearly infected pigs as well. That might have been useful knowledge for her to share.

  Then again, she might not have known. Jessica worked for Keystone for how many years without knowing something as shady as this was going on? She wondered if her superior knew. She wondered if she would have been let in on the secret when she got to her new position in Australia. She thought she would have been. That she would have been told, and that they would have had some contingency plan in place for the employees. That she would have been whisked away to some secret and safe facility.

  Instead, she was here, trapped in a smelly barn with the most psychotic pig in existence trying to get in. In addition, she could now hear gunshots in the distance. The others were trying to shoot the psycho pigs. Maybe they were succeeding, maybe they weren’t. Either way, Jessica flinched at every shot.

  She decided to look around the barn.
There was a hayloft up top and stalls down below. She thought maybe the stalls were for the pigs, but then she saw the horse looking back at her. It snorted and stamped its foot against the stall door.

  Jessica walked toward the horse. She had always liked horses. In fact, part of her therapy had been to ride one for a day. It was a simple trail ride, walking down a path, but Jessica loved it. Suddenly the barn didn’t seem so stinky. It still reeked something awful, but now it had more friendly associations as well. The horse flared its nostrils, its ears flicking forward and back. It didn’t know if it could trust Jessica and, it too, was scared by the gunshots and the pig from hell.

  Jessica let the beast sniff her hand, then she gently placed her palm on its nose. The horse whinnied and shook its mane but then let Jessica pet it. She stroked its hard yet velvety soft face. It had a little white star between its eyes. Jessica wondered if its name came from that star. She liked to think it did, even though, for all she knew, it was named Bob.

  She inspected Star’s pen and found out how to undo the latch. She opened his pen and stepped aside quickly. Star burst out and turned circles in the space between the stalls. He, or maybe she, then charged the half door where the pig was still smashing its face. Star stopped at the last moment, but even Jessica could tell he was issuing challenges to the pig. The pig, of course, was brain dead, and just kept butting its head.

  Jessica had an idea then. It was, quite possibly, an extremely stupid and suicidal idea, but it was an idea none-the-less. She made her way toward the half-door, being very careful of the large horse. Its movements were erratic, and Jessica didn’t want to get smashed up against a stall. She made it safely past however, and reached the half-door. Before she could think about not doing it, Jessica undid the latch.

  The pig came bursting through the door, squealing its undead brains out. Star, the horse, roared at it, raising its front hooves. Jessica never thought she’d ever see a fight between a pig and horse, yet here it was. The pig got in a few good bites, and Jessica worried for Star, but then the big horse managed to get a hoof down right in the middle of psycho pig’s back. The pig’s back was broken instantly, but regardless, it continued to fight. Unfortunately for it, so did Star. His heavy hooves came crashing down again and again until most of the pig was turned to mush. The horse then turned a quick circle and dashed out the gate, favouring one of its bitten legs.