Detroit Reanimated

by Michael Halliday

  -----

  Evan and Doug eventually made their way to the lobby, where the scenes of death and destruction were worse than they could’ve imagined. Other police officers and a hotel receptionist attempted to put out a small fire caused by burning debris from the explosions. A bellhop had been impaled to the opposite wall from the stair case by a glass end table top. Shards of glass, papers and clothing littered the lobby, and the smell of smoke was mixed with the smell of panic.

  “Sarah, I’ll see you soon. Get yourself and Tracy to a safe place. Remember, you cannot go to those shelters,” Evan said.

  “I’ll go and pick up Colleen and the kids. Please, be careful, Evan,” Sarah pleaded before she disconnected the call.

  Doug spotted a ranked police officer looking over the carnage and rushed toward him.

  “Hey, Captain! Captain Mottiski!” Doug yelled.

  The officer turned to face Doug with a grimace. His face was covered in smoke and he reeked of fear. After a few minutes, the captain looked over at Evan with a fretful expression. The captain called a meeting with the other cops to plan what to do next. Evan leaned against a wall opposite of the impaled bellhop and studied him.

  The bellhop’s eyes reopened after a few minutes. Blood dribbled from his lips and chin as his oddly discolored eyes darted around.

  “What... the... fuck,” Evan said loudly. Others gasped when they saw what Evan was looking at. The lady with the horn-rimmed glasses shrieked at the hellish sight. The man turned his attention to her and tried to reach out for her with an unnatural growl.

  “He was dead! Holy shit! That man is dead!” Captain Mottiski yelled.

  Seeing that the pinned man couldn’t free himself from the wall, the cops and Evan moved closer to get a better view of the man.

  “Are you sure he was dead? Did anyone check him?” Doug asked.

  “Yeah, I did. He had no pulse,” a cop said with a panicked look on his face.

  “He doesn’t look very alive,” Evan stated.

  “No one gets any closer than this, he might be diseased,” Mottiski said.

  “What do we do with him?” Doug asked.

  “Hey, mister,” Mottiski said to try getting the bellhop’s attention. He received a growl and outstretched hands for an answer.

  “Shoot him,” Evan suggested from a gut instinct. “He’s not normal.”

  Captain Mottiski agreed and took his gun from his holster. He shot the man twice in the chest. That only caused the bellhop to become frenzied.

  “Uh,” another cop said, his mouth dropped open.

  “Try shooting it in the head,” Evan suggested.

  Doug didn't waste any time to shoot the man in the forehead. The bellhop went limp promptly.

  “Fuck,” Doug blurted out flatly.

  “I don't believe this shit. This is insane!” Captain Mottiski roared. The people in the lobby were dumbstruck as well as terrified. Mottiski thought for a long time, and came to a decision. "Look, move away from it. Do not go by it anymore. We’re not staying here. Everyone gather your things. We’re going to Sahuaro.”

  Without thinking over the consequences, seventy guests began to pick up their belongings, but Doug spoke out. Evan thought he recognized an extremely short man who simply wasn’t willing to go.

  “Captain, that's not a good idea,” Doug objected.

  “And why is that, Sergeant?” Captain Mottiski asked coldly.

  “Just saying, I was told by Mister Carter here that... well, his brother is a cop in Detroit and he said not to go to the shelters.”

  “Those are the orders given out directly by the government, Doug,” Mottiski informed his subordinate. “We don’t want to keep them waiting, do we?”

  “If a cop from another city said not to go to the shelters, I will not go to the shelters,” the little man stepped in. “I think we should listen to this guy.”

  “Dispatch, dispatch, do you copy?” Mottiski said over his radio as it was clear he was about to lose control of the situation. “There should be someone, what the hell is going on around here? They don’t ever leave dispatch unattended!”

  The lobby grew silent as the weight of distrust fell on everyone. The woman with the horn-rimmed glasses began to cry while one of the officers tried to calm her. Captain Mottiski rubbed his chin as he tried to decipher a solution. Doug approached Evan, who still stared at the dead bellhop.

  “Something tells me we're going to be seeing a lot of that,” Doug stated.

  “I have the same feeling,” Evan said before his phone began to ring. To his relief, he discovered it was Mark’s ring tone. Evan answered it. “Hello? Mark?”

  “Evan? Thank God!” Mark said before he coughed painfully. His breathing was shallow and forced. “Are you ok?”

  “Uh, Mark, I'm fine, but I am looking at a bellhop, who was dead, then came back to life, and he’s dead again. Are you ok?”

  “I need you to listen,” Mark struggled to say. “I can’t get a hold of Sarah… or anyone. I was attacked and they took my weapons, keys and radio. I’m not… sure how I even got a hold of you.”

  “Where are you? Can you tell? I can maybe call someone to help you.”

  “I-I’m on Fort Street, at Composite Forgin…”

  On the roof of Composite Forgings, Maxwell Jones shot at Mark’s hand with the Remington rifle he took from the squad car’s trunk. The call instantly ended right after a second shot.

  Evan glanced at Doug with a vacant look. His mind raced while anger and helplessness consumed him.

  “What was that?” Steve asked when he approached Evan and Doug.

  “That was your brother, wasn’t it?” Doug asked.

  “Yeah, that was my brother,” Evan said morosely. He wiped his face off with his sleeve. “Someone was shooting at him. I have to find a way to get back to Detroit."

  “Evan,” Doug began to say before Evan held up his hand to stop him.

  “I have to get to my family, my wife and kids. I also have to find my sister-in-law and niece.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Doug offered. Evan shook his head again and gestured at the rest of the people in the lobby.

  “You have to look after them. They need you now. You and the captain have to get them out of here. I just hope I can find a way without killing myself.”

  “You see what’s going on around here. It’s all gone to shit,” Steve countered.

  “That’s why you have to find a way, Steve,” Evan replied.

  “I don’t like it,” Steve said. “I suppose there’s no way for me to stop you. We’ll help in whatever way we can.”

  Captain Mottiski and his officers led the group, including Evan, out of the hotel, which was speckled with burning debris. They walked down to the police station a few blocks from the Radisson. They were forced to make a detour to bypass two engulfed gas stations. The Chevron across the road had exploded shortly after the 7 Eleven. Also, a burning tanker truck close to Radisson was the culprit for the destruction in the lobby.

  During the walk, Evan realized why there were so many cops - at least a dozen - that were at the Radisson in the first place. Two of the guests were actors from the hit TV show ‘Game of Thrones’. Peter Tinklage and Kit Harington played two of Evan’s favorite characters from the show. He learned they had been invited to the convention to promote the show. He had struck up a conversation with Kit during the short exodus. He thought he recognized the short man.

  When the group arrived at the station, Most of the police cars and SUVs were gone. Within the station, not a soul remained.

  The northern part of Phoenix quickly became desolate and eerily silent as people abandoned it for the shelters or simply left entirely. There were nearly three thousand total undead wandering around in North Phoenix and they were safely several blocks away.

  “I shouldn’t do this,” Mottiski said. “But it may be the difference between life and death. If anyone wants a gun, come with me,”

  Mottiski took his officers
and a few men downstairs to the armory. Evan was given a pistol, some boxes of ammunition and a holster. He had no idea how to shoot a gun. He never needed to in his life, but he told himself he had better learn, and soon.

  A man walked over to Evan, who stood against a wall outside the armory. The man was in his mid-thirties, with bleach-blond hair, and light-blue eyes. He had a rugged build and a thick neck. He looked as if he spent a lot of time in a tanning booth. He was dressed sharply as if he was made of money.

  “Get an answer from the big guy?” the man asked in reference to Evan staring at the roof.

  “Nope," Evan said flatly. “He’s got more important things to worry other than me right now. I’m just thinking of how the call ended with my brother.”

  “I can’t get a hold of my family. I can’t even get a damn signal in here, and I sure as hell don’t want to go outside again,” the man said. He leaned against the wall next to Evan. He let out a long deep breath. “Some crazy stuff, huh?”

  “You’re telling me! I just saw a dead man come back to life. They shot him twice and he didn't die until Officer Silver shot him in the head. I thought shit like that was fiction!”

  “Yes, likewise,” the man said as he studied Evan. “You said you're going to Detroit?”

  “I’m going to try to. Why do you ask?”

  “Mind if I tag along? I'm from Kansas City and I'd like get to my family, but I’d rather not go alone.”

  “That’s fine by me,” Evan said as he held out his hand toward the man. “Evan Carter.”

  “Judge Edward Morrison,” the man said when he accepted Evan’s hand.

  Evan had seen Edward talk to a young girl earlier, but she had stopped hanging around him since he came inside. In a few weeks, Mottiski and his followers would discover what Edward had done to the young girl.

  “Yes, sir,” Doug said further down the hall after he and Mottiski had a lengthy conversation. He turned away from the captain and joined Evan and Edward.

  “Well, it's official. I'm coming with you,” Doug announced. Evan started to object, but Doug mimicked Evan’s earlier interruption by holding up his hand. “There’s no reason to argue, Evan. My job is to protect people. The captain wants me to see you get to Detroit safely.”

  “It's a good Idea,” Edward said.

  “Fine, but we better hurry. I don't know how much time our families have. Speaking of which, what about yours?”

  Doug gave Evan a contrite look.

  “About that,” Doug said. “Before we go up to Detroit, I need to ask if you could help me get my family. As long as we’re together, we can make our home anywhere.”

  “Are they in Phoenix?” Edward asked. Doug nodded.

  “Ok, we’ll do it. I can’t live with robbing a man of his family when that man is willing to help us get to ours,” Evan said. “It would be nice having a cop with us.”

  “Come with me,” Doug suggested. “The captain says he has a surprise for us.”

  The captain had waited for them and led Doug, Evan and Edward outside to where there were a few police SUVs, squad cars and civilian vehicles sat. Officers and hotel guests worked together to fill the vehicles with essential supplies. They were led to a SUV that looked sturdier than the others.

  “Now that is a nice truck,” Evan marveled. “Why wasn’t it taken with all of this going on?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea,” Doug replied.

  “Well, it’s ours now,” Evan remarked as he ran his hand across the hood.

  “By the way,” Doug said.

  He took out his pistol and aimed it at the SUV’s windshield. He fired a single shot that ricocheted off the glass and flew into the air. Evan peaked up after quickly crouching. He gaped at Doug as if the cop had gone insane. Both Evan and Edward were mystified when they discovered that there wasn't even a chip or blemish in the windshield where the bullet struck.

  “It’s an event truck. As you can see, the thing is built like a tank. All the windows are bullet proof. The siding is made with reinforced steel and Kevlar mesh. We have a dozen of these for major events, like escorting the president if and when he visited or riot control. If anything were to ever happen, these are a sure bet. The captain said he’d sleep better if he knew we were driving cross-country in this.”

  “Doug! Will you fucking knock it off?” the captain yelled.

  “Yeah, this is a nice truck,” Evan repeated.

  “So what’s the plan?” Edward asked.

  “We’re giving you a car so you can split from us when we get near Kansas City,” Doug told Edward.

  “So you aren’t going to help me with my family?” Edward asked.

  “Like Evan said, we aren’t sure how much time we have. Were you planning on coming up to Detroit with us?”

  “No, I wasn’t,” Edward said flatly.

  “We should at least make sure he and his family is safe once we get up there,” Evan stated, with a thankful look from Edward.

  “Ok, if you are willing to do that, I’m willing to as well. After we get my family, we’ll get back on Superstition. We’ll get on 101, which will take us back to 17. From there, we’ll go north to Flagstaff.”

  “That’s as good a plan as any. If you can get a hold of your wife, tell her we’re coming,” Edward suggested. Evan gave Doug his phone so he could try and contact his wife.

  Doug drove the SUV ahead of Edward as they slowly made their way down Superstition Freeway. There were plenty of reanimated citizens of Phoenix that wandered aimlessly about the place, who staggered along while they desperately tried to follow the vehicles that drove by. Nearly three thousand of the undead stood between them and their destination. Some stayed by fresh kills while others wandered about. Others stood around and seemed directionally lost until the two car caravan drove by.

  Doug drove onto the ramp for Val Vista Drive. They turned south until Doug came to a stop in front of a quiet house on East Gondola Lane.

  “Wow. This place is fantastic! You even have ponds!” Evan said.

  “I love it here. It’s usually quiet like this,” Doug said while he looked around the neighborhood.

  A body lay at the end of the circle, but the street was still eerily quiet.

  “Damn, that’s Harold Davis,” Doug said of the dead man. “We’ll go get Nikki and the kids while Edward keeps an eye on things out here.”

  “Do you know that guy?” Edward asked when Doug approached.

  “That was Harold,” Doug said. “We’ll find a blanket to cover him before we leave. Can you hang out here and keep an eye out? Honk if you see anything.”

  “No problem,” Edward said.

  Doug studied the neighborhood and noticed that most of the houses were left with their doors and garages open from residents making their escape.

  Evan waited for Doug by the house. Off in the distance, a large explosion disturbed the uncomfortable silence with a long rumble.

  “Well, that didn’t sound fun,” Evan said.

  “That’s for sure,” Doug agreed. “Someone’s day just got worse.”

  They quietly moved to the door and tried to open it. Nikki had listened to Doug’s instructions. She locked the twin hard wood doors which Evan thought could withstand a military assault. Doug took out his keys and unlocked the doors, tried to open them to discover that Nikki had outdone herself. Doug pounded twice on the door, followed by three knocks.

  After about a minute, he did it again. The sound of something heavy moving inside followed. The doors opened to reveal a beautiful dark haired woman and two young boys. Both boys had long, blond and very curly hair. Doug embraced Nikki and kissed her repeatedly. He then grabbed both of the boys and hugged them both at once.

  “Nikki, this is Evan, the man from Detroit I told you about,” Doug said. “Evan, this is my wife Nikki, and my kids, Eliot and Simon.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Evan said.

  “Thank you for this,” Nikki said. “I know you must be going crazy to get to your family.
We’re in your debt.”

  “Edward’s out by the cars,” Doug told Nikki.

  There was another explosion - much closer this time - that rattled the ground beneath their feet. Doug moved quickly through the house, and grabbed what he thought was essential for the family.

  Doug opened a gun safe, which held three rifles and three handguns. There were also stacks of ammunition on the bottom of the safe.

  “Evan, grab that quilt,” Doug said.

  Once Evan handed Doug the quilt, Doug wrapped up the rifles in it. Evan searched for a bag for the handguns and the ammunition.

  “Find something quiet to hit those things with for each of us,” Doug said. “Try the boys’ room upstairs. I think there are some aluminum baseball bats in there.”

  Evan ran up the stairs promptly.

  ‘Thank God this guy listens,’ Doug thought.

  Doug ran the weapons out to the SUV. Nikki was waiting for them after she got the boys fastened inside.

  “I got bags of food and water ready,” Nikki told him. “I can help get stuff to the vehicles if you want me to.”

  “Thanks, babe,” Doug said.

  Nikki went to work by loading the SUV with the supplies she prepared.

  Doug ran upstairs to check up on Evan, but Evan went out to the garage to find more tools that could be used as weapons. He ripped the expensive comforter off the bed, went downstairs and asked Edward to cover Harold, which he did quickly. Yet another explosion filled the otherwise eerily silent air, and the first among many undead appeared down the road.

  “I think that’s our queue to get the hell out of Dodge,” Evan suggested when he came in from the garage.

  Evan had collected a nice armful of things they could use.

  “Hey! We got company coming!” Edward shouted.

  Doug and Evan looked out the front door to see Edward pointing toward a moderate crowd of people heading in their direction. Some of them moved in a brisk pace in their direction.

  “Yep, it’s time to leave,” Evan said bluntly.

  “Evan, take the front,” Doug requested. They headed for the vehicles and began their escape.

  “Are they following the sound of that explosion? Does that mean they hear things?” Evan asked.