This Dying World (Book 2): Abandon All Hope

by James D. Dean

  “Pause it!” Chris all but shouted.

  “Jeeee sus!” Joe gasped, his mouth hanging open as he stared at the screen with widened eyes.

  An ocean of gray mottled flesh stood in every open space within the forest, countless white eyes staring upward at the drone. “There has to be hundreds of ‘em!”

  “No,” Chris shook his head. He trembled, weakened knees barely able to support him as bolts of fear shot through every nerve in his body.

  “Thousands!”

  Chapter 7

  “I finally see why you loved this spot so much,” I said. “You have one hell of a view.”

  I could see for miles in every direction, from the fields to my left to the entire homestead on my right. The dense woods that hid Adam’s monsters sat across the field in front of me.

  “I’m no good at this,” I continued. “I feel like I should have some deep meaningful thing to say, but you know me better than that. Whatever I say will somehow end up in a fart joke.”

  The tree above my head had afforded the area protection from the heaviest of the snowfall, leaving barely a dusting atop the still fresh mound of dirt. I picked through some of the rocks around Abby’s grave, shifting the stones between my hands. I took one in my right hand, rubbing my thumb across its smooth gray surface before throwing it, watching it disappear into the small hole it punched in the snow.

  I exhaled deeply, plumes of white steam carried off by the continual light breeze that crisscrossed the fields that morning. The constant wind helped with the ever present stench of death wafting through the air that had grown more oppressive with each passing day.

  “It’s funny,” I began again. “All the time we were together I had this feeling that you only half paid attention to me when I went off on one of my tangents. Now that you’re a captive audience, I can’t think of what to say.”

  My attention was drawn to the loud whining buzz of the drone’s propellers as it took off. I watched it circle around a bit before shooting off over the field, but not before a quick stop by Lexi.

  “Katie still hates me. Chris seems to think she’s trying to process everything, but I see the look in her eyes. She doesn’t want anything to do with me. Can’t say I blame her honestly. Everyone looks after her, so that’s good. They’re probably just sitting around waiting for me to crack. You should have seen how much Anna wanted to get away from me this morning. Well, until Rosa came up to talk about her and Joe turning the bus into a no tell motel. How about that? I’m feeling like I’m about four cans short of a six pack, and Rosa makes me uncomfortable.”

  I was rambling, I knew it.

  I didn’t really know how to do this. Not just sit and talk to a grave, but to lose someone who had become my life and then have to figure out how to go on without them. I can safely say that I really sucked at it.

  I’d always pictured Abby and I, old and decrepit sitting in our matching wheelchairs racing each other down the nursing home hallways. The thought that she wouldn’t be around never crossed my mind. I always figured that with the trouble I got myself into all the time, I would be the first to go. Abby probably half expected it every time I left the house. I think she would’ve been able to handle it better than me.

  I was unable, or more like unwilling to speak again. The vibrancy of our conversations died with her. Talking to Abby like this felt hollow and empty. It only made the knowledge that I was alone that much more palpable.

  So I did what I always do when I don’t want to talk. I spaced out. I watched the drone for a while as it hovered around the edge of the far off tree line, until it finally started to make its way back. I kept tracking it until it set down in front of the bus that looked like it had been ripped directly from a Mad Max movie. Chris and Joe popped out of the bus long enough to retrieve it before they stepped back inside.

  I felt the need to start rambling again when everyone decided to start firing at once. Lexi’s rifle spoke several times in succession before going silent. I looked across as bodies emerging from the woods fell. Several more shots rang out from the house, dropping three zombies making their way up the driveway from the main road.

  I waited for a couple minutes, scanning the horizon in every direction, waiting for more creatures to appear. It was hard to tell at the distance I was at, but Lexi’s movements seemed more careful and deliberate than usual, almost as if something had her on edge.

  Icy fear began to trickle up my spine as I watched her switch out from her Hawkeye rifle to the Smith and Wesson M&P15T Tactical rifle that was used by anyone on the roof. She didn’t like the larger weapon, but her Hawkeye had a very low ammunition capacity. In a fight, the M&P15 simply threw more lead downrange. The fact that she felt the need to switch to the higher capacity weapon made me nervous. She swept the weapon slowly from left to right, her eye glued to the ACOG scope affixed to the weapon.

  I was so intently focused on her, that I didn’t see Chris slide out of the bus. I damn near pissed myself when he shouted up to her, and presented her with a very impressive display of the bird before storming back inside. This sent the teen girl into a fit of laughter as she set the larger weapon down, switching back to her favorite bolt action Hawkeye.

  “Lexi is turning into quite the prankster,” I said, my tension melting away. “I wish we would have met her before all this. I bet she was a hell of a kid.”

  I picked up another rock from the ground, turning it over in my fingers as I struggled to find my words.

  “I guess we’re taking those bikes with us. I suppose they could be useful for something. It looks like we’re pulling them on a trailer behind Chris’ truck. They decided the truck was a necessity, since the bus would get too cramped eventually, and the truck has a winch.”

  I tossed the rock, punching a second hole into the snow. It hit with a muffled thud as it disappeared.

  “I’m rambling again,” I sighed. “Abby, what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to do this without you? Katie hates me, everyone else thinks I’m nuts…and maybe I am. I either feel a whole lot of nothing, or I’m angry at everything. I need you!”

  My words trailed off, answered only by a chilling wind sweeping along the ground and up my coat. I shivered, bundling the heavy winter coat tighter around my neck.

  The silence was suddenly shattered by the thunderous diesel engine roaring to life. A black plume of smoke bellowed from the bus’s exhaust as the huge motor revved up. Chris shot out from the behemoth, shouting something up to Lexi before bolting toward the house.

  Lexi whipped her head toward the trees, shielding the sun from her eyes as she searched. I watched her sling her rifle over her back, picking up the carbine rifle before carefully making her way toward the ladder at the edge of the roof.

  “Abby,” I said as I stood, trying to shake the numbness from my toes. I felt warm tears flowing down my frozen cheek before I spoke another word. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to come here anymore. I should have come sooner. I should have visited you more. I wanted to tell you what I should have said in those last moments. I want to tell you how much I lov–”

  The sound that interrupted me was not human.

  The screeching roar that suddenly erupted from within the woods belonged to no man or beast I had ever heard. It was as if hell itself had opened up and its herald had sounded its first trumpet. The air stilled as my breath was stolen from my lungs.

  A second bestial howl joined the first, and then a third tore across the barren fields. Soon the air seemed to vibrate with horrific screams from every possible direction. I wanted to run, but my feet were not getting the “hey, run you idiot!” message. I was fixed where I was, those screams burrowing into the fear centers of my brain.

  Like someone flipped a switch, the air grew silent, the world around me becoming oppressively still and cold. I looked toward the house to see Chris had stopped dead in his tracks. Joe had emerged from the bus, and even Lexi stood stark still. They all stared toward the woods, waiting to se
e what new horror the apocalypse was about to deliver to our front door.

  Six creatures stepped out from amongst the trees. They were about thirty feet apart from each other, faces transfixed on the barn. In unison, all six stopped about fifteen feet from the tree line. It was hard to see from so far away, but it looked like a mix of male and female of all ages standing like statues at the edge of the field.

  As if a dam had broken, a vast ocean of dead flesh spilled out of the woods. They were shoulder to shoulder, moving across the snow covered ground like an army on the march. Growls and moans filled the silent void as the mass poured from the woods. Gaps opened up where the six creatures stood, the massive army of the dead flowing around each of them.

  Without rhyme or reason, the sea of corpses came to a stop, packing their bodies close to the original six. Each one of the originals stood still, arms at their sides. The dead grew silent again, the type of quiet I only heard once before…when they were hunting. None moved, swaying back and forth on the field as if waiting for the order to attack.

  That order was given.

  In unison, all six original monsters let out a bellow that almost emptied my bowels right then and there. The multitude advanced, shambling and shuffling, crawling and clawing, using every possible mode of ambulation to start their coordinated attack.

  “Dan!” Chris screamed over the deafening roar of the advancing horde. “We! Are! Leaving!”

  I turned my eyes back to Abby’s grave. I knew I had to run. I should’ve already been running, but my legs refused to listen. This was the last time I would ever be that close to my wife, my Abby again. Once I moved from that spot, I knew in my gut I would never lay eyes on where my wife rested again.

  “Goddammit Dan!” Chris suddenly appeared at my side, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the grave. I didn’t want to turn away, but I didn’t struggle against him either.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” Chris said as he marched me down the hill. “But we have to go! Now!”

  Apparently he thought I was talking to him.

  It was time to go. With a final glance at the makeshift cross on the top of the hill, I turned my back on her grave to face our nightmares once more.

  Chapter 8

  “Hey bro,” Chris started as we made our way back to the bus. “You just need to keep it together until we’re out of here.”

  “No one’s shooting,” I said, ignoring his attempt at a pep talk.

  “No point. It would be a waste of ammo. There’s no fighting this, we have to run.”

  The slick ground beneath our feet forced us to keep our pace to a quick jog until we hit the gravel drive. Neither one of us really wanted to continue the day with a broken nose due to a very poorly timed face plant. Twisted ankles weren’t high on our ‘to do’ list either.

  “Damn,” he exhaled, looking across the field at the advancing sea of rotting flesh. “We need more time. You need to go inside and grab the OS bags. The girls are getting the kids. Grab whatever else you think you might need. We’re not coming back here.”

  “OS bags?”

  “Oh shit.”

  “Clever. What are you going to do?”

  “Remember what Joe said?” Chris started to break away, heading toward the silo. “Everything I wire together explodes. I’ve got one hell of a circuit out there!”

  “When did you do that?”

  “Can we talk about this later?!” He spun around in frustration. “The longer we talk the closer they get!”

  With that, he ran off toward the barn, disappearing from view on the far end of the building. Adam seemed abnormally silent as Chris passed within feet of where he hung. Adam’s attention was drawn to the road, his eyes locked on the driveway as if his undead brain was registering something we could not quite grasp.

  “What the hell is that thing looking at?” Lexi asked, as she walked up beside me.

  “No idea,” I answered. “Run inside and grab those bug out bags for Chris. I want to see something.”

  “Bug out bags? Oh you mean the OS bags.”

  “Whatever,” I rolled my eyes. “Just grab them and toss them into the back of the truck.”

  I walked away before she could say another word. Something was unnerving me more than the sea of death sauntering its way toward our front door. I’d never seen a zombie as focused as Adam was, especially when food was literally staring right at them.

  The dull ache in my knee started to make itself known again as I jogged toward the driveway. I was starting to realize that with all the strain I had put both my knee and shoulder through I would probably never be fully rid of the damage I had inflicted on myself.

  I slowed to a quick walk when I found a spot where I could see all the way down to the road unhindered. A lone zombie stood at the end of the driveway, swaying back and forth like a tree in the wind. It was tall and broad, a thick beard covering its ashen gray skin. With its torn red flannel shirt and grime coated black pants, it looked like an undead lumberjack was paying us a visit.

  It locked its ghostly white eyes on me. Outside of my desire to kill all things undead, I felt deep in my core that this one needed to die. There was something sinister about it, something that felt more dangerous than your common variety walking corpse.

  Of course it was at that point I realized that the only firearm I carried was my Glock, and distance shooting with the pistol was not exactly my thing. I was moments away from retreating to grab a weapon more suited to cracking creepy-as-shit zombie skulls at a distance when the lumberjack snapped its head backward. It opened its mouth wide and bellowed out a deep thunderous roar. It held its scream impossibly long before stopping, lowering its head to gaze at me once more.

  Evergreens lining the road belched a stream of the undead that flowed onto the driveway and gathered in a semi-circle around the lumberjack. The lumberjack stood still, the other zombies giving him a wide berth as they streamed around him.

  “Are you kidding me?!” I shouted. “You flanked us?!”

  I spun on my heels and bolted toward the house intent on either finding a better weapon, or to just get the hell out of Dodge. I was really praying for the latter.

  I was almost to the house when the ground and my feet were suddenly separated. A blast of heat assailed me moments before the shockwave knocked me down to the ground. Windows in the farmhouse splintered under the explosive pressure, raining glass down to the snowy ground. The advancing horde erupted into flame as scores of body parts flew in all directions as a massive fireball lifted to the sky from the field.

  “Oops,” Chris said, standing over me with a shit eating grin on his face, hand extended to help me up. I stumbled when I got back to my feet, trying my best not to hug the ground again while my brain tried to rewire itself.

  “Oops?!” I demanded once my coherence decided to come back out of hiding. “What the hell do you mean, oops?!”

  “I underestimated that one.”

  “Ya think?!” I could barely hear my own voice over the drum solo playing out in my ears.

  “Chris!” Anna screamed, rushing outside.

  “Now you’re in trouble!” I pointed at him. “But before that, we have bigger problems!”

  “Bigger than that?” he thumbed back to the field behind him. “That only slowed their front lines, there’s a lot more coming. That’s still a pretty big problem!”

  “We have a small horde on the road. I think those screaming ones are directing them!”

  “It’s possible. How many?” He unslung his rifle, checking the magazine before slapping it back into place.

  “A few, but I didn’t take a head count,” I answered. “I think this is on purpose. I think they flanked us.”

  “I doubt that, but I’m not discounting anything at this point. Anna, get everyone in the bus. Whatever supplies we have on board right now is all that’s going!”

  She nodded and shot back inside, shouting orders to everyone in the hous
e. Lexi came out the door, dropping the heavy OS bag on the porch. She was trailed by Matt and Mark, both looking ragged and disheveled as if they had just hopped out of their beds.

  Matt stepped out from the house, his AR-15 clutched tightly in his hands. Mark on the other hand had raided the gun collection and walked away carrying a Kel-Tec RFB, telling Chris he had changed up for no other reason than it looked cooler.

  “Dude!” Matt gasped when he saw the roaring fire in the field. He glared straight at me and asked, “What the hell did you do?”

  “Don’t look at me,” I said. “I couldn’t do that kind of damage if I tried.”

  “I kind of like it,” Mark said. “It smells a little better.”

  “It’s not going to take them long to get through the fires, but we have another problem. There’s a small herd on the road and I’m betting they’re halfway here already. I think we should thin the numbers before trying to use the bus as a ram,” I said hurriedly.

  “Mark, start the truck and get it ready to roll,” Chris ordered. “The keys are in it. Just pull it up to the bus and be ready to fly out of here.”

  “You’re the boss,” Mark said. He turned and bolted to the back of the house where the truck sat waiting.

  “Mind if I borrow that?” I asked Lexi, pointing to the M&P.

  “You can keep it,” she answered, handing the rifle to me. “It’s too bulky. Besides, with the scope you might actually hit something for a change.”

  “Shut up!” I said, taking the weapon from her. “So we have the zombie equivalent of a small city bearing down on us, Chris blows up half the damn corn field, and you still find time to give me shit?”

  Chris smiled and started toward the road. Matt was outright laughing as he followed. Lexi shrugged at me before falling in behind Matt.

  I shook my head, smiling to myself before moving to catch up with the group. I suddenly realized that, at a time where I was surrounded by fire and death, when I should be filled with absolute terror, I actually felt better. The hole that had festered inside of me was momentarily filled, not by those around me, but with the knowledge that I was about to kill more of the hellish abominations.