Race the Dead (Book 1): The Last Flag

by Cavanagh, Wren

  Kate grabbed the flashlight and lit the entry and stairway. “Okay, you stay here, Logan. If it looks bad I’ll be right back.” She took out the gun and flipped out the cylinder, holding it out for Logan to film. “Five bullets.” She played to the audience. “I'm going up there and I’ll try be right back. I don’t want to run over my cameraman on the way out if things go bad. I won’t take unnecessary risks.”

  Logan nodded. “Hurry up!” He mouthed to her, with emphasis. This gig had gone belly up and he was ready to cut loose. The entire thing was one big unnecessary risk and he was sorry as fuck he’d ever gotten involved in it.

  With handgun and flashlight raised and pointed as she had seen in scores of police procedural TV shows, Kate made her way into the building. Law & Order: My Friends Are All Dead Unit, she agonized. She went up the stairs as quietly as she could on the serrated metal steps. She heard them and smelled the blood before she saw them, dozens of them filled the next flight of stairs and they were feeding unharried.

  She swept the stairwell with the flashlight, the beam revealed Cho’s dead face, pressed against the metal grate outside the entrance to the second floor, where her luck and options had run out.

  Logan had waited for her outside. She looked at him, then into camera, wiping her tear streaked face and shaking her head. “The stairwell doors had been locked from outside entry, she couldn’t get in.” She got out between sobs, then rushed out of the alley crying. Out in the street, she stopped under an awning and took out the map. Resolute, driven by anger, fear and need she walked toward Logan and held out the map to the camera, crying and with teeth chattering, she pointed to its center.

  “There…circled in red, not even ten blocks away. Humboldt Street. That’s where I'm going for the third flag, then the last one, and I am done.” She bolted down the street, toward her destination. Almost a block down she looked back, expecting to see Logan following her. The cameraman hadn’t moved; shoulders slumped, with a dismayed and disgusted expression stamped on his face, he hadn’t moved a step. He wasn’t even holding up the camera.

  Desperate, Kate ran back to him. “We can win this!”

  “I'm done. I'm not doing this,” he said. “I'm going back to the store and wait for the army to get me out.”

  “Please?! At least give me the camera. I’ll film it!”

  “No,” was his succinct reply as he walked away from her. She didn’t follow him at first, but eventually he heard her footsteps and jagged sobs behind him. “Oh...And the snow is picking up again. Just...Great,” he groaned. “Just. Great.”

  They both walked quickly to keep the cold at bay. Logan slipped, fell on his knees with a cry of pain, the camera flew from his hands.

  “Hahh...fuck!” Damn that hurt.”

  Jesus, what had he stepped on? He tried to figure out the shape, and as he picked up the camera, it came to him. Oh...a leg. Legs. Fuck. He followed the limbs upward to the torso leaning against the car, its owner’s white face partially covered in snow. The dead man’s colorless eyes set in a colorless face looked back at him. With a guttural scream Logan scrambled away on all fours like a dog, as the man’s arms came out from their frosty white shell to grasp him. He frantically backed away, dragging the camera along and sending snow flying in the air until he finally managed to get enough traction to stand up.

  “Almost got me! Oh Jesus Christ, God, he almost got me!” He looked around anxiously and backed away as the man he had tripped on was still trying to reach him. “Kate? Kate!”

  He saw her several yards away, facing off with two of the Turned. She stomped on the knee of one of the snow-covered wraiths and spun him to the ground, then danced away from the one still standing, but another materialized behind her as if by magic against the falling snow. The second dead man grabbed Kate’s mane of blonde hair and yanked her backwards. She fell on her ass and dragged her attacker to the snow with her.

  Logan ran to save her but a strong tug on his leg tripped him, sent him back down to the sidewalk. He twisted around to see that the thing had finally reached him. Whatever had laid him low in life had prevented him from getting up, but it hadn’t stopped him from crawling. He had grabbed Logan and tripped him but had only managed to clamp his teeth around his boots, and was now trying to chew his way through the leather.

  “Fuck!” Terrified, he kicked and stomped at the gnawing face. “We gotta get ou...”

  He never finished his sentence as the Turned that had been coming up behind fell on him and buried him beneath their bodies. Kate heard him scream as she finally broke free of the dead man, yanking her head away, leaving skin and hair behind. She crawled away from her pursuers, until she managed to her feet.

  She looked for Logan, followed his screams and barely saw him beneath the Turned that pinned him to the ground, he was losing a hopeless fight, writhing and screaming. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, he stopped and his limbs relaxed, a copious flow of blood soaked the snow beneath him. And finally, his attacker set themselves to an undisturbed meal. Kate screamed, began to cry, her tears turned to ragged gasps as she ran away.

  ----------

  I was having the most wonderful dream: my family and I were all eating at the dining room table, and it was warm, I was happy, and everyone was happy. I couldn’t see their faces but I knew it was my family. Then kids woke me up. Kids, of all things, here? Too bad, really. Such a wonderful dream it was. They didn’t mean to — to wake me. They skulked like a parody of inexperienced cat burglars. The girl was literally on her tippy toes, as the boy lingered then disappeared down one of the hallways, coming back shortly with two baseball bats before heading below. I thought I was dreaming again, for a few seconds. For a few insane seconds, I really thought he was off to a baseball game. Nuts, I know, personally I like cricket.

  Evidently being recently dead will really mess you up in the head. Because being incredibly tired wasn’t enough, right?

  I got up to talk to them and almost hit the floor face-first. It looks like after I fell asleep, they tied my ankles, and I thought they were my friends! Ha, just kidding, dear reader. My ankles are tied, but I feel better, warm. I feel my fingertips against my skin. I hope this lasts; that it won’t reverse. I have no answers. I'm still tired. I'm going back to sleep.

  ----------

  Emma got up first, she stretched and slowly crept out of the sleeping bag, now wanting to wake Lew and trying to hold on to every inch of warmth it offered, every inch of comfort that she had to surrender to the bitterly cold room. God, I am so cold. I can see my breath, she mused, put on her jacket and pair of thick dry socks, courtesy of the abandoned store. She laced up her still-damp shoes, while admiring the windows, they were covered with a pattern of frosted crystalline white ferns. The warmth of their bodies had provided the humidity, and the cold had made a fractal decoration of the condensation. She yawned, after taking a few more minutes for herself she nudged Lew and Ross awake.

  Now, I want coffee, my friends, she thought. The store’s camping section was tiny, but it had small outdoor stoves and their fuel. She intended to make full use of them. The prospect of hot steaming coffee put her in a good mood. Fuck a bunch of Zombies! She was getting some coffee this morning nothing would stand in her way.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen,” Ross announced; his headset already on, “I have WiFi.”

  “Yeah?” Lew finally opened his eyes, he felt drained and unless he got out soon this business would be for nothing. “And there was much rejoicing.” He snorted his replay and stood up, unsteady on his feet but faking it. “God, let’s go, not doing this for the giggles. Let’s wrap this up and get out of here. We have one flag and Anjali; one more flag and we're done. Better yet, let’s challenge Scott for his and we can be out by sunset. Emma?” He looked at Emma, who was digging in her backpack with increasing alarm. “What’s wrong?”

  Coffee forgotten,
Emma looked outraged as she upended her backpack spilling medkits, bandages, protein bars, and all the other crap the production had rewarded them out on the floor. She rifled through them, frantically then went back to look in and under the sleeping bag and pillows on the sofa had been their bed.

  “Emma?”

  “No flag. The flag is gone.”

  “No, that’s impossible.”

  They both looked toward their opponent at the same time. Scott Pine was still here, asleep. The kids were not.

  “Kids...The dang kids?” Lew whispered. “Must have been the kids.”

  Emma nodded. “Don’t wake him up. Let’s check downstairs.”

  They searched for Carson and Tessa as they went, but the two were nowhere to be seen. By the time they reached the main floor and checked out the entrance, there was no room left for doubts.

  “Oh no. No, no, no.” Lew murmured as he pulled on the entrance door. “Well, that was thoughtful of them —closed and secured from the outside.” Two set of footsteps, disappearing under the falling snow, pointed away from the store. “They're gone. Do they think they can win this on their own?”

  Emma shook her head. “Scott had a hold of the last prize backpack with the new address and key, but I don’t think either one of the kids cared.” A loud crack followed by a sharp scream came from the second floor. “Oh God, Anjali!”

  They rushed upstairs, fearing for the worst. Scott towered over the woman, he looked bleary-eyed confused and menacing as he panted with rage, he swung the bat again, slammed it into the floor inches from Anjali’s face.

  “Who? Who’s this dead thing?” He bellowed and turned to them. “And where are my kids?”

  Lew held out his hands trying to placate the man. “She's the woman we were asked to rescue, okay? Tom said she's worth the same as flag; she is not dead and she is not a thing.”

  “Hey, hey, hey!” Ross yelled, as he filmed, “Camera on you man, chill out.”

  Scott’s lips curled in a sneer of disgust when he noticed him and began to advance on him, bat at a ready. Emma was grateful for the distraction and rushed to Anjali’s side, unlocked the bike chain and dragged the woman away.

  “Please, put the bat down. She is not one of the Turned.” She pointed at the camera. “Everyone is watching. Do you want them to see you kill an innocent woman?”

  For a minute it looked like Scott meant to do just that, then with an howl of frustration he threw his bat at Ross. The cameraman dodged it with a leap, and from behind the camera mouthed a silent, “Asshole” , then with a surprised look on his face held up his hand.

  “Everyone! I got Tom calling in, hold it! HOLD IT!”

  They froze in place and looked at Ross much like the Hebrews must have looked upon Moses when he returned with a score of rules and regulations after a walk up a mountain.

  “Tom, about time! Thought I’d never hear from you again.” Ross tilted his head as he listened to Tom reply.

  The silence dragged on too long and Lew ran out of patience. “Spit it out already.”

  “Tom says we gotta get out. The Army will pick us up.”

  “Oh yeah, he’s gonna pay us if we quit?” Lew asked. “Not doing this shit because my weekend was two days too long!”

  “We got the flags; we're playing,” added Scott “I'm not giving up.”

  “We don’t have...” Emma interrupted him, and chocked out after a brief hesitation, “...the flags.”

  Scott blinked in confusion, Looked about, understanding dawned on him. “Where are my kids?”

  “They left, with the flags.” Lew replied.

  “They're gone?” Scott gasped in disbelief.

  “Yeah, they locked the door from the outside, you can still see their tracks in the snow, check if you still have the map in the pack.”

  Scott rummaged through his backpack and retrieved the map. “Yeah, and the key.”

  “Maybe we can catch up to them, get the flags back. Get them back, and make sure they stay safe.” Lew headed upstairs. “I'm getting my coat and going after them. Ross, tell Tom we're not quitting.”

  Emma ran after him. “Lew, it’s too dangerous to split up. It might cost us some time but it'll be safer if we stay together.”

  “Wait, let’s think about this.” Lew stopped, faced her and placed his hands on her shoulder, his eyes still glittered with fever and the heat from his body hadn’t gone down. “What’s most dangerous is time in this city. The longer we stay, the worse it seems to get. And we have Anjali.” He turned to the doctor. “No offense Anjali, but you walk slow.”

  “None. Taken.”

  “Emma, get the map. Take Ross, Scott, and Anjali, and grab the next flag if you can, then head for the hospital. I’ll catch up to you there. If you don’t see me by three o’clock, call Tom and get everyone out.”

  “I get the impression you don’t think I get a say in this.” Scott’s angry retort got their attention. “Those are my kids, and that flag is mine. Anyone goes and gets them, it’ll be me.”

  Lew looked the man over. He was worried about what he’d do if he caught up to the kids with no witnesses. He might not want to kill them, but he’d definitely teach the boy a lesson. And leaving him with Emma…she could take care of herself, but wouldn’t have the advantage of surprise a second time around.

  “Fine, we are going together. Give the key and map to Emma and we’ll go find the kids.”

  Scott’s face was pale with anger, his large fists were clenched and he looked ready for a fight that Lew didn’t want but was ready for. Silent tense minutes passed, then Scott smiled. An unpleasant display of hostility as his lips drew back and he bared his clenched teeth. Dumbass spent too much time in front of the monkey cage, thought Lew, and waited Scott out until the man finally tossed the map and key at Emma.

  “Establish a route,” he ordered.

  Emma spread out the map on the counter, studied it briefly, then with a finger she traced the path she would take.

  “All subject to change of course; but I’ll try to stick to this path, and will wait for you at the hospital. we’ll...”

  “Let’s go, we're wasting time,” Scott interrupted her.

  “Calm down. Shopping spree.” Lew headed for the hardware aisle and soon returned with zip ties, scarves, hats, and heavy work gloves. He covered his shoes with layers of plastic and tied the make-do winterizing with the zip ties for traction. “Couldn’t find proper shoe covers. You wanna do the same, Scott.”

  “I’ll decide what I want to do.”

  Lew shrugged. “Seventy percent of heat leaves through your head. Just a thought.” Lew slapped his hands together and grabbed his Bo. “Ok, now we're ready.”

  “Myth,” said Anjali softly.

  “What?” Lew asked her.

  “Myth. Just, 1940 myth. Head 10 percent of body, rest of your body covered, math.” The stiffness of her face finally broke and she managed a genuine smile. When she noticed, she laughed, touched her cheeks, and traced her lips. Her smile grew wider. “But, bundle up.”

  “Will do, Dr. Aluri.” Lew smiled back at her. It was the first damn sincere happy smile he’d seen in days. He looked at Emma and saw she was smiling too, and it hit him. They hadn’t even bothered to ask her if she wanted to go on. “Dr.Aluri? Anjali,”

  “Yes?”

  “Anjali, we're going on with this...race. But do you want to stay here? I’d bet they can come and pick you up.”

  She thought about it only briefly. It’d be the third time someone had left her behind in this mess. Not again. She shook her head. “No.”

  “You want to come with us?”

  “Yes.”

  Lew nodded. With the matter settled, he went to the entrance and broke one of the windows, reached outside, and busted the padlock with the
crowbar. They were off.