Demise of the Living

by Iain McKinnon

  Colin jogged along behind her. The girl was spry, pelting up the stairs with astonishing speed. She was well ahead of him and through the library doors and out of his sight. For a moment he wondered if this was a trick to try to give him the slip, but when he ran into the library Karen was standing by the south corner window.

  He walked up behind her and looked out.

  His jaw dropped. “Bloody hell!”

  The road that had led them to the school was packed. In broken steps, an army of zombies was marching on the school. Some of the vanguard had already started to congregate around the fence and shuffle up to the gate.

  “Why did you bring them here?” Karen asked.

  “We didn’t,” Colin said. “I mean we didn’t mean to. They must have been following the car.”

  As he watched, a zombie bumped into the gate and to his horror the gate eased open enough for the creature to amble through.

  Colin cursed, “Christ! That dick didn’t lock the gate!”

  Colin ran for the exit, then stopped and turned back. He grabbed Karen’s hand and, despite her screams of protest, he dragged her along with him.

  “Billy! Thomas!” Colin screamed, running into the refectory.

  Neither of the two men could be seen, but stacked against the outside wall, neatly piled, was the contents of the kitchen store.

  Still dragging the schoolgirl by her wrist, Colin walked out of the side door onto the parking lot. He looked out towards the gates. Already half a dozen zombies had pushed their way in. Keeping his eyes on the gate, he walked up to the mini bus and tried the door. Thomas hadn’t gotten around to opening it.

  “Get back inside and wait by the door,” Colin said.

  “Why?” Karen asked.

  “I’m going to shut the gate. When Billy and Thomas get back we’ll get the mini bus out of here.” He let go of the girl’s arm and bent down to look her in the eyes. “I promise I’ll get you out of this.”

  “Wish you hadn’t bothered coming here,” Karen said.

  Colin stood up and spotted Jenny’s car.

  “Have you see Miss Alvarez?” he asked.

  Karen appeared frightened again.

  “Have you seen her?” Colin asked more forcefully.

  “She’s dead.”

  “What?” Colin said flatly.

  “She’s dead.”

  Colin shook his head and placed a balled right hand to his mouth.

  In her mind, Karen was weighing her options. She could tell him the truth that Shan had killed her, or she could lie.

  “She was one of those things,” Karen heard herself say.

  Colin howled, “Oh, Christ, no!”

  He stumbled backwards, reeling from the news.

  Down the parking lot a zombie moaned, loud and long, a doleful call like that of a mournful dog. It was foremost, though, a cry for the others of his kind to rally to.

  Colin turned and looked towards the moans through anguished tears. The six or so lumbering zombies slowly trudged towards them and behind the school gates a throng of their decayed brethren jostled to squeeze through. He snorted in a scorching breath hot with grief and gazed down at Karen. The poor girl was clearly terrified.

  Colin wiped the tears from his face and steadied his breathing as best he could.

  “Okay,” Colin said, mustering as much calm as possible, “get back inside, out of sight. I’ll be back.”

  He dashed over to John’s car and hoped that Billy had left the keys in the ignition. Pulling the door open, he let out a breath of relief when he saw that he had.

  Colin slipped inside and started the engine. Reversing the car round in as tight a circle as he could, he did an about-face with the car. There was an angry thump from the back tyre as it scuffed up against the kerb that marked the beginning of the playing field. Colin ignored it and looked down the parking lot.

  All of the zombies who had squeezed through the gap were now alert to him and walking in his direction.

  Colin revved the engine and then dropped it into gear. The car shot off from its standing start much quicker than he had anticipated. He steered it straight towards the closest zombie. Striking the first creature square on with the front of the car, it snapped down hard against the hood of the car and slithered up the windscreen over the roof. The car’s momentum was slightly reduced by the impact, but Colin was far too disorientated by the collision to keep proper control. The car skidded as he tussled with the steering wheel, trying to put the car back on course for the second zombie. It wasn’t enough and he careened past the second creature. Ahead, closely grouped, were the next three targets. Colin held the wheel steady and kept his foot on the accelerator. In quick succession the car battered into the trio.

  Thump! Thump! Thump!

  The strikes came too quickly for Colin to register them as anything other than a blur and a tumultuous crashing.

  In a surprising act of autonomy, the car’s wiper blades slid across the blood-smeared screen, attempting to clear the view, but it was a hopeless task. Gore and grime was being wiped to and fro across the windshield, obliterating any chance of seeing through it.

  Peering through the murk, Colin abandoned his plan to try hitting the last zombie and aimed as best as he could for the gates. Little chinks of the road ahead revealed themselves as the wipers busily swiped backward and forwards, smudging the gory splatter into homogenous pink goo.

  The dark outline of the gate leaped up in front of him. For a split second Colin felt himself becoming weightless, then everything went black.

  ***

  “Come on, big guy. Let’s get out.”

  Colin's hearing was muffled by ringing. He felt strong, muscular arms around his chest.

  “Help me out here, buddy,” the voice said, heaving at him.

  His neck and shoulders buzzed with pain like he’d been repeatedly slapped, but he pushed out with his legs, letting himself be pulled from the car.

  “Billy?” Colin asked.

  “Sure is, buddy,” Billy replied.

  Colin’s senses started to come back into focus. He pushed the deflated airbag out of his path and stumbled out of the car. The ringing in his ears changed and he looked out over the school gates. There was a throng of undead pressed up against the fence, clawing at the air, trying to get in.

  “Watch your step here,” Billy warned.

  Colin looked down to see a lifeless corpse sprawled on the tarmac. It was right up against the side of the car and must have been trying to smash its way in to get him before Billy dispatched it.

  “Thanks,” Colin said weakly.

  “You blocked the gate pretty good, but it won’t take them long to take the fence down,” Billy pointed out.

  Colin found his eyes sweeping along the front of the car. It ended quicker than he expected. The gate’s long, sturdy bars bit deep into the car and bent slightly towards it where they erupted from the paintwork.

  “You okay to go?” Billy asked.

  Colin went to nod his head, but pain shot up the length of his spinal column.

  “Sure,” Colin hissed out against the agony.

  “I can’t wait to see John’s face when you tell him about his car,” Billy said.

  The large man ducked his head under Colin’s arm and supported him on their trip back up the car park.

  As they got closer to the mini bus he could see Thomas and Karen loading it up.

  Colin immediately moved to help, but Billy held him back.

  “Go sit in one of the front seats and keep an eye on those fences,” Billy said. “We’re going to load up the bus with as much stuff as we can before we leave.”

  “Jenny and Shanquel?” Colin said.

  “I’m sorry, mate. We found your friend. She’s been dead a couple of days now.”

  Colin took a deep breath. “And Shanquel?”

  “Who?” Billy asked.

  “Shan,” Karen said from somewhere behind Billy.

  “Shan…right, your friend. We hav
en't seen her,” Billy said.

  “We need to find her,” Colin said without conviction.

  “If there’s time, buddy. Now you take a seat and watch those fences.”

  Billy ushered Colin into the bus.

  Colin sat in the chair opposite the driver’s seat. He felt woozy, his eyes heavy. He turned to Thomas, who was loading up the back seats with cans.

  “Thomas, we need to find Jenny and Shanquel,” Colin said.

  “Um, we’ll get on that.” Thomas said.

  Colin turned back round, feeling sleepy. He looked along the road to the gate. There was a car against it. It looked like John’s. On the other side of the gates there was a solid wall of bodies. Their arms were outstretched, begging to be let in.

  Colin stood up and immediately had to hold onto the seat across the aisle. His legs felt weak and his head was swimming.

  “Where you going, big man?” Billy said from behind him.

  Colin looked round to see Billy stacking tins of pineapple rings in the back of the mini bus.

  “They want in,” Colin said, pointing at the crowd.

  “They sure do, buddy. Let’s say you sit back down and keep an eye on them, eh?” Billy said, placating him.

  “That looks like John’s car,” Colin said.

  “Sorry?” came the voice from behind.

  Colin turned round to see Thomas loading a pallet of cans into the back of the mini bus.

  “I need to find Jenny,” Colin said.

  Billy came up to join Thomas. The two men spoke quietly for a moment, then moved back to the school building.

  “Mr. Lee?” A girl’s voice.

  Colin jolted his head up.

  “I must have been sleeping,” Colin said. “Have you got your homework, Karen?”

  “I don’t have any homework, Mr. Lee,” Karen replied. “School’s stopped.”

  “Yes, of course,” Colin said, remembering the events of the past few days.

  Karen looked intensely into Colin’s eyes.

  “Are you feeling okay, Mr. Lee?” she asked. “Your friends told me to come sit with you and make sure you were okay.”

  “That looks like John’s car crashed into the gates,” Colin said.

  “It was you drove it into them, Mr. Lee. Don’t you remember?”

  “It was you who,” Colin said, exaggerating the last word. “It was you who drove into them. Not it was you drove.”

  “Um… sorry, sir.”

  “How long have you been at the school?” Colin asked.

  “Since Tuesday,” Karen replied.

  “Have you seen Miss Alvarez?”

  Karen sat still, not wanting to answer.

  “Well, answer the question,” Colin demanded in a harsh tone.

  “Um…” Karen hesitated.

  “Where’s your homework, girl?” Colin said.

  “Oh my god!” Karen screamed.

  She ran from the bus.

  “They’re in!” she shouted at the school building.

  Billy and Thomas came running out, Thomas empty-handed, Billy cradling a massive bag of dried pasta.

  They looked out towards the gates. Although Colin had effectively blocked the entrance, the wire fences around the playing fields were nowhere near as sturdy. A large section of the fencing had buckled and become trampled flat by the mass of reanimated bodies pushing in on it.

  Thomas ran past Karen and into the driver’s seat.

  “Don’t just stand there!” Thomas shouted. “Get in, girl!”

  Karen stood, unable to move. The sound of the bus’ engine joined the wailing of the dead.

  She heard the back doors of the mini bus slam shut. Billy ran up to her. He was a hulk of a man, his greying red beard whipping in the wind.

  “One last thing, Thomas,” Billy said, slapping the side of the bus. “Then we’re good to go.”

  He trotted back into the school.

  Karen followed him halfway.

  She called out as loud as she could, “Shan!”

  Then she waited silently, hoping for a reply. The only sounds that came back were the moans of the approaching dead.

  The door bounced open and Billy came scuttling through, struggling with a huge cooking pot. As he waddled past her, Karen could see the massive gun metal-grey pot had all manner of utensils crammed inside: spoons, labels, knifes, even other smaller pots.

  “Come on, girl. We need to leave,” Billy said softly.

  Karen cupped her hands to her mouth.

  She screamed, “Shan!”

  She scanned the windows for a sign of her friend.

  From the bus she heard Billy dumping down the pot and the rattling of the various odds and ends within.

  “Shan!” she called again.

  “Get her on!” Thomas called from the bus. “We have to go!”

  “Okay, girl, we need to leave,” Billy said, placing a strong hand on her shoulder.

  Karen looked up at Billy with sad eyes, and nodded. She let the stranger lead her to a seat beside Colin.

  Colin was asleep, his head tilted back. Karen sat looking out of the window.

  “How do we get out of here?” Thomas asked no one in particular.

  “I don’t know. Is there another road into the school?” Billy replied.

  “Girl,” Thomas said.

  When Karen didn’t reply, he spoke louder until she broke from her trance.

  “What?” she cut back.

  “Is there another road out of here?” Thomas asked.

  Karen looked up at the car park. It was now thick with the walking dead.

  “No,” she said.

  “There’s got to be,” Thomas said nervously.

  Karen’s mind pictured the hemmed-in strip of wasteland she and Shan had used to enter the school. The bike parked at the entrance would only carry two of them and there was no way the others could make it far on foot, let alone carry all the supplies.

  “Over the playing field,” Karen said suddenly.

  “The playing field?” Billy asked.

  “They started doing some work on the corner that keeps flooding—drainage, I think,” Karen explained. “They had to knock down a length of the fence to get the diggers in. It’s just that temporary mesh stuff they have in place and there’s a ramp onto the main road.”

  “Go for it,” Billy encouraged.

  “Which way?” Thomas asked.

  Karen pointed.

  Thomas put the bus in gear and they drove off, bouncing across the field.

  ***

  “Wake up, sleepy head.”

  Colin felt a hand tapping his cheek. He pulled open his heavy eyes. Billy was uncomfortably close to his face and he could smell his bad breath in his nostrils.

  There was a screeching noise, metal on metal, and the mini bus juddered and lurched. There were cars all around, mainly burnt out or smashed up. A banner fluttered in the wind. He read the words, but they made no sense in his clouded mind.

  “Come on, wake up,” Billy urged.

  “Can he drive?” Thomas asked.

  Billy shook his head.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Karen asked.

  “Either a brain haemorrhage or concussion. Hopefully the latter,” Billy replied.

  The mini bus ground to a halt and Thomas hopped out of the driver’s seat.

  “What can we do for him?” he asked.

  “Fuck all,” Billy replied. “If it’s concussion he should just be able to sleep it off. If it’s something more serious, he’ll die and there’s nothing we can do to help him.” He patted the extremely drowsy-looking Colin on the shoulder. “Sit tight, buddy. We’re moving out in a minute.”

  He nodded at Karen and they followed Thomas out.

  Thomas was on the ground, half under the mini bus.

  Billy pointed at the shutter door. “Give me a hand with this.”

  Karen stepped in behind him.

  Billy bent down and tugged at the shutter’s handle. There was a click and t
he metal slats rose up a few inches.

  “We’re in luck—it’s open,” Billy said. “Now I’m going to pull this all the way up and you keep watch for anything… unpleasant. You got me?”

  Karen nodded. “Sure.”

  Billy flexed upright, bringing the shutter with him, and the daylight exposed the interior of a workshop, like tomb robbers breaking into a burial chamber.

  “Hey there!” Billy called, but there was no reply, living or dead.

  He scurried inside and made a quick scout about.

  “Looks clean,” he said.

  There was the clang of metal on the concrete and Karen whipped round.

  “Here’s the bastard!” Thomas called out.

  Karen and Billy turned to see Thomas standing up at the front of the mini bus.

  “What is that scaffolding bar?” Billy asked.

  “It’s an outer strut of one of those temporary mesh barriers we tore down. It was imbedded in a radiator.”

  Billy shook his head.

  “Can we fix it?” Karen asked. “I mean, we’re at a garage, right?”

  “Yeah, sure I can fix it,” Thomas answered.

  “Don’t be stupid,” Billy said.

  “You don’t think I can fix a simple radiator?” Thomas asked, offended.

  “I don’t doubt you could, but how long will that take? Two hours? Four?”

  “Maybe, if I find the right parts. Or I can weld it closed. It’ll be messy, but it’ll get us home.”

  Billy marched up to a beige metal box fixed to the wall inside the workshop. He pulled at it, but it didn’t open.

  “What’re you doing?” Thomas asked.

  Ignoring him, Billy picked up a wrench and smacked the metal box. The front snapped off its hinge and flew open. Billy casually tossed the wrench to the floor and tilted his head sideways to scan the keys on the rack.

  “Got you,” he said, plucking a key from its hook.

  “What’re you doing?” Karen asked.

  Billy walked over to a large black people-carrier and hit the unlock button. The vehicle’s lights flashed and the doors unlocked with a chirp.

  “Give me a hand hooking this thing up,” Billy said, nodding at the toe hook on the back of the car.

  “Or we just jack a new ride,” Thomas said.