Four (Their Dead Lives,1)

by Scott, Zack

  Jimmy...what happened to you?

  Tapping outside brought Alec closer to the broken glass doors. He stepped carefully over Miller. Over blood, guts, and chairs. Outside, the street was clear. An apartment complex stood at the street’s other end. Once again, a yellow fire hydrant caught his eyes.

  Tapping came from around the clinic’s corner.

  Forget it. Go back to Nicole. He flipped inside, just as he heard her scream echo from within the exam room. He was running, his feet slamming into the carpet, splashing blood, kicking chairs, squashing a kidney. “Nicole!” He yelled before even reaching the door. And when he swung it open, his world crashed down around him. Wind blew through the open window. He touched the empty bed. It was still warm. He pressed his hands against the windowsill and looked outside, seeing only a tall line of brush over dry grass. He swung both ways. No sign of her. “Nicole!” He launched out the window, scraping against broken glass. The night blurred as he sprinted from one end of the clinic to the other, screaming her name. Fuck if anything hears me, where is she?

  Alec ran back to the entrance. No Nicole. Why the hell did I just leave her? He fell to his knees and clenched his hands to his chest, screaming her name.

  “Alec,” a cold voice said from behind.

  He twisted on the cement to Kale. “Where is she?”

  Kale grinned lifelessly. “Who?”

  He burst to his feet and grabbed Kale’s shirt and spat at him, “Nicole.” His lips tremored with rage.

  “I’ll tell you, but first, get back inside and keep quiet. They come.”

  Alec tugged Kale harder. “You tell me right now, you piece of shit, or so help me, I’ll peel your stupid face right off your goddamn skull.”

  Kale was calm. Too calm. “Please, get inside. I want you to see something.”

  Alec shoved him forward toward the waiting room. Kale glanced at Miller’s massacred corpse and laughed. “Poor Jimmy, right?”

  Alec had no answer for that. “Tell me where she is.”

  “Soon, you must see something first.”

  When they reached the hall, he saw the doctor crawling on the ground. Dylan’s shaking hand stretched from his blood-soaked shirt. He moaned, “Kale did this.”

  Before Alec reacted, Kale threw him into the exam room that once had Nicole and locked the door. Alec twisted on the ground, under the window, feet kicking glass. “What the hell, Kale!”

  A dark horror consumed Kale’s face. His now lifeless eyes, black like those of a doll, stared down at Alec. Black veins pulsated through his arms and neck. A dark sliver ran up his cheek.

  Alec gasped in recognition. “You turned. They made you an Embracer?”

  “No, you fucking did.”

  Anger pushed Alec to his feet. “You better hope you kill me.”

  “I plan on it.”

  A blade burst out of Kale’s sawed-off wrist. He’s a monster. Alec quickly scanned for a weapon, then remembered the scalpel. He swung it from his pocket.

  “Mine is bigger,” grinned Kale.

  Alec’s grip around the blade was sweaty. “Tell me where she is.”

  “She’s fine. She’s with a friend. Don’t worry.”

  “You have no friends.”

  Kale hissed, “I do now.”

  Alec lunged first, missing entirely. Kale laughed at him then struck. Skin broke over Alec’s arm. A shallow cut. Alec tried another strike, nicking Kale’s shoulder. They sidestepped around one another in the compact room. Kale parried the scalpel on the third attack. He charged. Alec’s lower back crashed into the counter as Kale pinned his wrist next to the sink.

  They were face to face. Alec clenched his teeth. Kale snarled.

  “I hate you, Kale,” cursed Alec.

  “You’ve always hated me.”

  His once true friend, turned Embracer of Death, lifted the blade over Alec’s head. No. Nicole. Save her. Alec roared and threw an elbow to Kale’s temple. He freed himself off the counter.

  Kale launched his foot into Alec’s gut. The scalpel slid to the door. With dazed eyes, Alec crawled for his weapon until his face was forced to a lift, slamming against a wall. Pinned. Blade wrapped around his neck.

  “Tell me I was right,” Kale whispered into his ear. His rotten breath made Alec gag.

  “Tell me where Nicole is.”

  A bang on the door, followed by another. “Let me in, damn you,” groaned Dr. Dylan on the other side.

  They ignored him.

  “Jeff will kill you when he returns.” Alec tried to shove away but Kale slammed him harder, his face digging in plaster.

  “He won’t get the chance, not yet, not here.” Kale spun Alec to the bed. Paper ripped as he shoved off, as a foot snapped his jaw. He tumbled over the windowsill, glass stabbing his chest. He grabbed a shard. His hand dripped blood as he snapped it off. Spinning, he swung.

  Kale’s dagger dug deep into Alec’s shoulder.

  “You spare her!” Alec cried as the pain stabbed through his body, as his legs wobbled, as he slid weakly to the floor.

  Kale retracted the blade. “I want you to see.” He turned his back.

  “See what?” Alec choked, tasting blood.

  Quickly turning, Kale held out his cupped hands to Alec, showing two red eyeballs. “I want you to see what you’ve made me.”

  “Nicole, Nicole! What have you done?” He tried to rise but Kale shoved him back to the floor.

  “Relax, these are not her eyes.”

  Jimmy. Alec wanted to fight but pain and evil locked him in place.

  “Tell me I was right,” whispered Kale.

  “Never.” And Alec apologized for failing his love.

  Kale simply shrugged, saying that wretched word, “Meh,” and his fist crushed Alec’s face. Again. Again. Cheek broken, chin shattered, nose pulverized. Again. Again. All destroyed.

  The room bled to nothing.

  KALE

  Kill.

  He remembered Jeff’s smile. How dorky and fat it’d been. He remembered Scot’s smirk. How annoying and selfish it’d been. And he remembered Alec’s stare. How silent and cold it’d been. With his three friends, he had left the hospital a hero that day.

  Eight years ago, he’d been a hero.

  Time dwindled into the black void that consumed him now. I am something else. Something worse than my former self. Something evil. But he knew there was a chance, a fragment of hope as long as Alec finally realized what needed to be done.

  So he tossed Alec to the ground. Dark blue sky chilled across the barren ledge of the cliff they were on.

  Alec jolted on the ground, lashing out aimlessly. Blood stained his face a dark red. A crook in his nose. Swollen eyes. I’ve managed to turn this beautiful beefcake ugly.

  “Where are we?” he choked, lying on his side, grabbing his gut. “What have you done?”

  “Relax. It ends soon.” I wish they’d listened to me from the start. “Stand up when you find the strength.”

  Alec’s swollen face lifted an inch off the dirt. “You killed Jimmy Miller.”

  “Yes.”

  “Nicole is alive, though?”

  “Yes.” He paced around Alec. “Now I know you have the strength. The power. Find it, friend, and rise.”

  “Kale,” he choked again. “I’m not what you think I am. I hurt and I’m in pain. I’m dying.”

  “You’re not.”

  “Let me see her once, please.”

  I wish things were different. “You’re the hero this world needs, Alec. And I’m the push you require.”

  A muddy mix of drool and dirt hung from Alec’s mouth. “You’re insane.”

  “Maybe.” Kale crouched by his side, running his stub gently over Alec’s arm. Alec flinched with disgust and pushed him away. “I’m trying to help you.”

  “You want me dead.”

  Kale bit his lip, staring off at the dark surface. “No. I want you to accept your path.”

  “To be a hero?”

  With a nod,
Kale said, “Whatever you want to call it. But she holds you back, man, and she always has.”

  “She makes life worth living.”

  Kill. Kale stood, impatient. “Rise already.”

  “I can’t feel anything. You beat me numb.” He rolled on his back, coughing.

  “You’re being a baby.”

  Alec pushed his upper body off the ground with his shaking arms. His chin hung down to his chest. “What happened to you, Kale?”

  “It came for me.”

  “And did what? Turn you? You can fight it.”

  “I can’t.” Sometimes I think I’m stronger. Sometimes I feel I can overcome it. But it consumes me, gives me warmth, gives me purpose. Now I wait for its command. “The Eradicator of Life claims you.”

  “The what? Jesus, Kale, listen to yourself. This isn’t a game.”

  “I know that!” Kale slammed his foot at Alec’s face, sending his head flying to the side and on the dirt.

  Alec grabbed his broken nose, whimpering. Blood gushed down his lips. He crawled closer to the cliff. But Kale snagged his ankles and dragged him farther from the edge. Alec clawed at the dirt, trying to slow down. His body bumped over a rock.

  Kale dropped him and flipped him over. His face bled more, wobbling on his weak and bruised neck.

  Alec’s voice cracked. “What do you want?”

  “I want you to rise, Alec. You survived that day at the well. Jeff survived the submarine and the zombie attack. Scot survived the stabbing during the egging. You all rise. You all are set to do great things. Marvelous things.” He crouched over him. “So rise, motherfucker.”

  And if he does rise, maybe I can help. Maybe we can fight this evil together.

  Or maybe I’ll kill.

  Alec lay there a minute. The sun began its rise, a sliver of orange wanting to break free across the sky. Don’t think of it as a sign of hope. Hope died with me.

  Teeth clenched, Alec pressed his hands to the dirt, and his back shook as he lifted. He wobbled around, but finally stood, swaying with no strength on his feet. He stumbled toward Kale, who caught him. “I’m up.” Blood oozed down his nose, over his lips, off his chin. “P-please take me to Nicole.”

  “No.” Kale let go and circled around him. “We have to talk.”

  A painful groan dripped bloodily from Alec’s mouth. “What?”

  “This Eradicator, it came to our world, it turns the living into its Embracers of Death. It turns the dead into its decayed army. It wants this world for its own, rid of the human race. But Alec, we can fight it together.”

  “You’re a murdering psycho, Kale. You don’t want to save anyone.”

  “I do!” I do. “But it possesses me!”

  Alec’s trembling hands ran over his ripped shirt, soaking blood. “So now what?”

  “I want you to run. Get as far from me as you can. Find Jeff. Hey, even find that pathetic piece-of-shit Scot. And do what you guys were born to do. Save.”

  Alec stepped into Kale’s circling path. “You tell me where Nicole is first.”

  “Damn, Alec! I’m sparing you and you ask for her.”

  Alec placed a hand on Kale’s shoulder. A light touch. “I admit, I’ve never given you a fair chance. But she is my world. And without her, I have nothing.”

  Kale shrugged his hand off. “Don’t get cute with me.”

  “Listen. I know you think we’re meant for more. I can see why, but that’s all false. Us sticking together, with the ones we care about, and surviving this mess, that’s the only truth left. It’s not too late for you.” He tried to grab Kale but he shrugged away again. “Hey, let’s get Nicole, go back to the clinic, and all live together.”

  Kale grinned. “Happily ever after?”

  Alec even smiled. “As four.”

  The whisper lashed through Kale’s skull. “He lies to you, boy. He’s using you to get her.”

  “He’s not,” said Kale.

  Alec raised a bloodied brow. “Huh?”

  “Kill him now. You don’t need me. Let your envy, your frustration, and your hatred guide you. Destroy him. You wanted their power, always wondered why you weren’t in that well. But you now have their gift. Use it.”

  “I, I can’t kill him.”

  Alec stepped closer, peering at Kale. “Who the hell are you talking to?”

  “He never cared about you and he never will.”

  Kale grabbed his own skull. “Get out of my head!” Twirling around, waving his stub, he bumped Alec. “Run! Get out of here! It’s coming back!” The darkness flooded through him. The bone-dagger unleashed. And as Kale transformed, Alec made an escape.

  He should’ve charged me off the cliff. He should’ve ended my reign of death and suffering that will be forever me.

  Like dark lightning, Kale flashed to Alec’s side, running faster with his new powers. He could have been a hero. Alec slammed into dirt from Kale’s spinning attack. He crawled and kicked at the ground, back facing the cliff. We all could’ve been heroes. Kale grabbed Alec’s head as he tried to rise, and shot a knee at his neck.

  Alec rolled over, grabbing and choking. He reached for Kale. “Please, don’t do this. I’ll do whatever you want, tell me where she is, tell me she’s safe, and I’ll do anything.”

  “Anything?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Kale cocked his head. “You’re pathetic. Both you and Scot. You were given a gift that went to waste. All for what, some pussy? At least simple-minded Homer tried to make something of himself, even if he did abandon me. And you know what, Alec? You don’t deserve any power. I do!” With a ferocious anger, Kale yanked Alec off the ground and flung him a good ten yards away from the cliff. Alec tumbled, rolled, and sprawled in the dirt. But he did try to rise.

  They should have embraced me.

  Alec knelt. “I’m sorry, Kale. Fuck, I’m so sorry. I tried. I really did. Fighting fires, fighting for Brian, damn it, I tried. I’m nothing.”

  Begging now, pathetic. Kale ran his fingers across Alec’s cheek, then teased his flesh with the bone-dagger. And Alec just knelt quietly, waiting for his death. “Fuck,” his lips trembled, “just let me see her one last time. Please, Kale.”

  “God! Blah, blah, blah! There you go again. Her. It’s always her. Some stupid, weak, girl with big tits. All the while, so much good, man, so much you could’ve done. And I sat by, watching you waste it all for her.” He slapped Alec hard in the face. “Now rise and fight me.”

  Alec’s legs shook but he stood, struggling at Kale’s side. “You’ll never understand,” he said.

  “Oh? Understand what?”

  Alec stood straight, fists clenched. “My love for her is stronger than any power you can ever have. So you know what, Kale?” A muddy gob of saliva flew from his mouth and stuck to the Embracer’s shirt. “Go fuck yourself.” And he struck.

  In a single swift motion, Kale ducked, impaling the bone-dagger through Alec’s stomach. Warm blood spilled on his face. A quick lunge at Alec’s chest sent him back to the ground.

  Alec pushed off the dirt, one hand blocking the leaking wound. “Kale!” He charged and the Embracer dodged nimbly out of the way.

  Alec tumbled, rolling over his back, chest, back, chest, back. Kale flashed over as he tried to rise. Hovering above his face, Kale gave him a quick slap. “Get up. Use your power. Rise!”

  Blood bubbled from Alec’s throat. “I, I can’t.”

  “Then, I’m sorry.” Kale knelt, touching Alec’s chest. His eyes were sad. “Goodbye, friend.”

  The Embracer’s brush painted red across the canvas of Alec’s flesh. Its victim’s eyes widened. Lips broke. Gurgles. Alec grabbed the slit in his neck, his legs kicking, quickly drowning in his own blood.

  Kale’s grin formed as he realized the Eradicator had no control over him. He had wanted this death. He’d needed it.

  Red froth bubbled over Alec’s trembling lips. His bloody fingers grazed Kale’s cheek. Regret filled his eyes. And as Kale salivated over ev
ery last pain Alec felt, he finally realized his destiny.

  All shall die by my hand.

  episode five

  SAVE

  SADIE

  She snapped the strings on Oderly’s guitar, Moonjava.

  The old hippy had the bad habit of occasionally breaking into song, oblivious to the world dying around them. So Sadie, in order to keep the two of them safe, broke the strings on his guitar.

  After the attack on the restaurant Neptune’s Retreat, the two of them had escaped and fled to a nearby beach. Most of the zombies had gone for Kelsey, Scot, and the others, leaving a safer path for Sadie and Oderly. But she was still pissed. I call the darkness down on them for leaving me with this smelly singing hippy.

  On the beach, Oderly sulked next to her. “My poor Moonjava.”

  “Do you want them to almost eat us again?”

  Oderly lowered his head, his hair a curly red and grey cloud. “It’s such a terrible place to live now.”

  “Darkness. Accept it, Choderly.”

  “I like lighter stuff. Such as marshmallows, ice cream, fairies and blueberries and whipped cream. Oh! And how I love rainbow sprinkles. Don’t you?”

  Sadie stopped dead in the sand. Waves crashed at her side. Kelsey, she wondered how her friend was doing.

  Mere hours had passed since the attack on the restaurant, but it felt like ages, and—

  “Sadie, Sadie, Sadie—” He would not stop. “Sadie.”

  “What?”

  Oderly stretched out his hand to get her attention. “Rainbow sprinkles, do you like ‘em?”

  May the Dark Dragon burn him down. But she deeply inhaled and breathed. “Sure, sure.” She grabbed his wrist. “Let’s keep moving.”

  They found an alcove on the beach to rest. Warm sand slipped beneath her toes until they walked on heated, soothing pebbles. The alcove provided shade from the striking sun. Oderly had complained numerous times that he’d burn without protective sunshine jelly. Who the hell calls it that?

  She pressed her back against the soft alcove. Some shriveled roots hung above her. Curious.

  “I miss Moonjava’s strings. Why did you hurt her?”