Detroit Reanimated

by Michael Halliday

  “How many people do you have here, Jasper?” Sarah asked after she received a nod from Craig with an assurance that Jasper was ok.

  “We have eighteen here, but three of them are out trying to scavenge for more medical supplies.”

  Sarah and Craig looked at each other for a moment as if they knew what each other were thinking.

  “Any idea where those three might have went?” Sarah asked.

  “Walter said something about a Walgreens further down the road in Redford. I think that’s where they are.”

  “Robert, Craig and I are going to get those three. Edgar, could you see these people get back to the safe zone?” Sarah requested.

  “What’s this safe zone? Is it a military camp?” Jasper asked in confusion.

  “No, sir, the military is lost. We’re on our own,” Sarah said before she walked out the door.

  -----

  Mary pushed an undead woman away from her which caused the thing to tumble backwards down a slope. The teen dropped to the ground next to the overturned hybrid and crawled through to the other side where Evan helped her to her feet. Mary and Matthew began running back toward the Police SUV with Evan following.

  "Doug! Come on!" Evan yelled back.

  Doug shot three rounds at the incoming undead, striking a male twice on the chest and a female in the forehead. She toppled to the ground limply. He followed Evan and the kids back to the truck.

  A blood-covered hand reached out from an upturned car. A woman was pinned in through her stomach, but grabbed onto Doug's right shoulder. Her strength was horrifyingly unnatural as she tried to draw Doug toward her. The struggle caused Doug to drop his handgun. It forced him to bash at her with his fists. He pulled sharply, which tore his uniform. The woman continuously tried to reach out and grab at him while gnashing her jaws hungrily at him.

  The only sound Doug heard was his heartbeat drumming in his ears. The woman was badly disfigured and the image of her reaching at him burned the memory into his mind. She seemed to move in slow-motion, and Doug feared he was losing control of his body.

  A sense of dread swelled up within Doug as he looked around him. Numerous undead appeared from the hill on the right side of the interstate. On the left was a large gulch covered with cactuses and brush with at least a dozen more of the horrifying monsters.

  Someone speared the woman in the mouth with a tire iron. Doug looked at the rescuer to see Nikki telling him to follow her. He couldn’t hear the words his wife spoke, but she grabbed him and they both ran for the SUV.

  ‘Don’t get cut off,’ Doug told himself mentally. He hurried toward the SUV.

  A group of reanimated men and women made it to the interstate and began to pursue Doug, nearly cutting off him off. He sprinted back to the SUV as fast as he could manage, with his heartbeat still the only sound he heard. He had shot down three of the undead on the way. The shots were nothing more than muffled thuds.

  He reached the truck to find Evan and the boy was safely inside. He got into the passenger’s side to let Evan drive. Evan instantly set the SUV in motion while Doug tried to regain his breath. Nikki peered horrifically at the torn uniform. Panic eventually released its grip on him and the heartbeat dissipated so he could hear again.

  The next thing he saw was that Mary wasn’t in the SUV.

  “Where’s the girl?” he asked with his heart in his throat.

  “She’s with Edward in his car,” Evan responded.

  Nikki leaned forward and examined Doug’s shoulder to make sure he was unharmed. She couldn’t blame him for freezing up with panic during the attack with the undead woman. She didn’t hesitate to get out and help him, as she loved Doug more than anything.

  Matthew watched out the window behind him, where he saw a few of the undead shambling towards after them, but he didn’t see his mother. She had been there when he had looked over his shoulder during his flight to the truck. Evan noticed that the boy’s eyes were flooding and red, shaking his head sympathetically at the thought that he had just experienced the loss of the kids’ parents.

  "I am so sorry. We have something in common now," Evan told the boy.

  Matthew looked at Evan questioningly with new tears streaming down his face.

  "Who did you lose?" he asked with a quivering voice.

  "My brother is dead, maybe my best friend. Hell! Maybe even my entire family. I don't know."

  “Where the hell did they all just come from?” Doug asked.

  “I’m guessing they came from the pile-up. They grew in number by taking other disoriented travelers down. They must have just wandered off since there was nothing to catch their attention, since these two hid in the overturned hybrid,” Evan said. “That was smart by the way.”

  “Thank you for helping us,” Matt said.

  Nikki was checking out the small cuts and scratches on Matt’s forehead from the glass. He also had a large scrape on his arm.

  Fifteen minutes pass and Evan had begun to get a feeling that he should look at his phone. He tapped the power button, saw no signal, but there was a text message that somehow slipped through.

  "Hey Doug, Can you plug this in? I’m almost out of juice," Evan asked.

  "Sure thing, Evan," Doug said, noticing the worry in Evan's face. "What's wrong?"

  "I got a message and I almost don't want to read it."

  "I can," Doug offered.

  "Please, I can't," Evan passed the phone over to Doug.

  After a minute, Doug’s head fell back on the seat with a drained look on his face. Letting out a long sigh, he looked forlornly at Evan with a slow shake of his head.

  "What? What is it?" Evan groaned.

  “I don’t think it’s a good…” Doug sighed.

  “Please tell me,” Evan pleaded.

  Doug showed Evan the screen. The words didn’t register right away. *I’m sorry, Evan. Colleen and the kids didn’t make it.*

  “What? Is that from Sarah?” Evan asked with a growing dread.

  “Evan, stop the truck,” Doug suggested.

  Evan did so, and he got out of the truck. Doug got out after him, followed by Matt.

  “What does that mean?” Evan asked. His hands gripped his hair. “W-what does that mean, Doug? W-was that Sarah?”

  “Evan…” Doug started.

  “What the fuck did that mean?” Evan yelled in an emotional explosion. He began to breathe hard, and he was on the edge of crying. His hands were clinched tightly.

  Matt felt the same. He wanted to do something. He watched Evan’s despair bring him down.

  The next thing he knew, sharp pain struck both his knees as he landed on them forcefully against the concrete. He ignored the physical pain as the emotional anguish consumed everything.

  Doug got Evan to the truck, with the help of Matthew, who held the door open so Doug could get him in. When everyone was back inside, he looked to Nikki for an answer as to how to help the suffering that Evan must feel. He attempted to call Sarah for more answers, but there was no signal.

  "Let's look for a safe place. We need to give Evan some time. I say we stop up at Cordes Junction. We might find something there that we can use for another vehicle.”

  Nikki nodded her support at Doug’s suggestion. Today, he loved his wife and kids far more than he ever thought he could.

  “Is he going to be ok, dad?” Eliot asked.

  “Hope so, Eliot. I really hope so,” Doug told his worried son.

  Less than an hour had passed and the small caravan had stopped at an abandoned gas station outside of Cordes Lakes. Evan was still in the truck with Eliot and Simon. Nikki was standing by the SUV looking out into the Arizona wilds. Doug, Edward and Matthew went looking around to make sure the place was clear. The station was still intact and the power was still on, but no living person was around.

  Matthew went to check on Evan with a worried look on his dirty face. He stood looking into the window at Evan, a young face that possessed a frown and strong hazel eyes filled with sympa
thy. He wasn’t sure if he should say anything to Evan or not. Evan hadn’t shed a tear, and just sat there with his hand over his eyes. Matt opened the door and put his hand on Evan’s shoulder.

  “Mister Carter, I’m really sorry about your family. I guess we both really do know what it feels like to lose someone,” Matt said, studying Evan’s face for a reaction.

  Evan looked up at the boy with surprise. They looked at each other for a few moments, studying each other. Evan put his hand on top of Matt’s, patting it.

  Matt felt relief that Evan didn’t just brush him off like most people he knew would, but at the same time, he didn’t want to bother the grieving man too much. He closed the door, but continued to hold eye contact with Evan.

  ‘He lost his entire family?’ Matt thought to himself. ‘Why is this happening?’

  "Does anyone need any kind of medication?" Nikki asked when she approached Edward, Mary and Matt.

  They each shook their head negatively. Matt knew his sister wasn’t taking any of this well, but she was also trying to remain calm for her little brother. No one held a smile except for an uncomfortable one from Edward, directed at Mary. Matt saw Nikki give Edward a look of disapproval. His mother had the same look when men looked at the nearly sixteen year old girl. For Matt, this created a protective wall against Edward.

  "Matt, do you want to go in with me?” Edward asked. He received a slow nod from Matt. “Be extremely careful, but take as much as you can. We’re going to grab everything we need.”

  ‘As long as it keeps you away from my sister,’ Matt thought.

  Matt looked back at Evan a few times while he walked away, and he felt the pain ebbing from Evan, who had put his hand back over his eyes.

  "I guess I’ll try and ask Evan,” Nikki said. “I’ll get us refueled from these tanks.”

  Nikki went to try the pumps to see if any gas spouted out, and to Nikki’s welcome surprise, they still worked. As she filled the truck, Nikki walked around and opened Evan's door. Evan was still leaning against his door. His eyes now appeared lost into another world as he looked out.

  "Evan? Hey… Evan?" Nikki said. She gently shook Evan's shoulder. Evan snapped back into reality. "Welcome back, Evan. I need to ask you a question, honey."

  "What is it?" Evan said softly, and he rubbed his temples. She looked sympathetically at the man.

  "I need to know if you need any kind of medication, for any medical issues that you might have. Is there anything you need?"

  "Other than a strong dose of reality, I really don’t," Evan said with a sigh. He tried not to sound like a jerk toward Nikki, but the statement added an explanation point to his sorrow.

  Nikki tried not to laugh with a decision to give Evan a hug anyways. He accepted her hug and assured her he’d be fine. She closed the door, looked around and saw Doug marveling at something excitedly. She went back to filling the even truck.

  Parked beside the station was exactly what Doug wanted. It was a JT Cruiser, which was perfect for the trek across the country. He opened the driver’s side door, which caused a handgun to fall to the ground. He picked up the gun, checked the ammo, flipped on the safety and put it in his pocket.

  He leaned into the truck to look for the keys, and found a set in the cup tray between the front seats.

  Approaching from the village of Cordes Lakes was a group of seven reanimated citizens. One had gotten within just a few feet of the unaware police officer. It grabbed him and snapped its jaws a few inches from Doug’s ear in a very narrow miss.

  "Jesus!" Doug bellowed and he elbowed the undead man on his nose, which forced the undead to lose his grasp of Doug.

  Evan had heard Doug, reached for a bat that lay on the back floor and quickly got out of the truck. He ran furiously toward Doug and the incoming undead. At the same time that Doug scrambled out of the way from the freakish man. Doug stumbled and nearly lost his footing.

  Doug only had his pistol for protection. He unsnapped it from the holster quickly, nearly fumbling it. He struck the undead man hard on the forehead with the handle that caused it to fall to the ground hard with a thud. He flipped the safety and shot the undead man in the head.

  Doug shot two more of the afflicted beings in the forehead. Their strides came to a sudden stop and they slumped to the ground like rag dolls. Evan swung fiercely at the next one nearest to him, which caused it to stagger and stumble into another. Regaining his grip on the bat from the strike, Evan took the opportunity to strike both of them down with one long swing of his bat. It struck them both on their temples, which crushed their skulls inwards with a terrible cracking sound.

  “Two left,” Doug gestured at them as they slowly moved forward.

  Evan struck down each of the incoming reanimated men as they approached, followed with fatal blows that caved in their craniums.

  "You ok?" Evan asked.

  Doug was still trying to capture his breath from the experience, and he was hunched over with his hands on his knees.

  "Yeah," he tried to say while breathing heavily. "That was the second fucking time, Evan! You know this is going to get old real fast!"

  Evan looked over the different undead they destroyed. One of the things Evan noticed was the lack of wounds on their bodies. They had moved at a fast-paced walk, and they had at the worst a single bite mark. Evan pointed out these observations with Doug.

  “So we don’t want to get bitten then? What’s with the one in the Radisson? Was he bit?” Doug pondered out loud.

  “He was killed by a glass table top. Wasn’t he?” Evan said with a thought. “Dammit, this is too much.”

  "One thing’s for sure. One of these buggers is ripe!" Doug said with a look as if he was about to vomit. "That smell is too much!”

  "Yeah, I noticed it too," Evan covered his face with his shirt. He wandered around a few yards to see if anymore of the undead had found their way in the area, but it was clear. "What do you think we should call these things, anyways?"

  "They seem to like to bite, so maybe just 'biters,'" Doug suggested.

  "Works for me," Evan thought for a moment. He looked down sadly. "I-I’m sorry for losing it, Doug."

  “Don’t worry about it, Evan,” Doug said, and he placed his hand on Evan’s shoulder.

  “We need strength, and I could have flipped the truck with my reaction.”

  “You first lost your brother, and after that, you lose your wife and kids. How can anyone react differently? You had lost a lot in such a short amount of time. I would have likely…" Doug imitated a gun with his fingers and placed his hand below his chin.

  "You didn’t see what just happened, did you, with Matt. There’s something about him. What are we going to do about them?" Evan asked. "Maybe someone is out there looking for those two. There has to be somebody!"

  "I don't know. I have a feeling in my gut that we’re their family now. Try starting it."

  Evan sat on the seat and attempted to start the truck. It quickly jumped to life.

  "Woo hoo!" Doug threw his hands up in a touchdown sign.

  Evan drove the Toyota over to the pumps, got out and began filling it. Doug followed on foot behind, while he watched toward Cordes Lakes to see if more of the risen were coming.

  “Hey Doug, maybe I should drive this one with Edward, Mary and Matthew. You can have the police SUV with your family. It was getting kinda stuffy in there.”

  “I actually found this one with you in mind. That sedan of Edward’s is not the type of vehicle we need. We’ll continue to get more like this one if and when we find more people. But damn! This one is nice, isn’t it?”

  "That it is... good God! What the fuck is that smell?" Edward asked repulsively. His arms were full with bags of supplies. "Ah, looks like you had company."

  The smell from one of the undead had drifted over, and it was still just as bad.

  "Yeah, we took care of them," Doug snorted. “Seven biters came in from that town.”

  "Is that what we're calling them? I he
ard the gunshots, but we had a few of our own to deal with, but they’re inside, locked in a cooler. Matthew is one crazy little shit."

  "What happened?" Evan asked sternly.

  -----

  Edward and Matthew had started grabbing supplies as soon as they walked in. Matthew had rounded a corner when he came across three feasting undead who knelt over a mutilated attendant. They ripped pieces of flesh from his body. The sudden stop made Matthew’s shoes squeal on the tiled floor. They all stood up to look for the sound. Matt made a squeak as he stumbled backwards.

  "Edward!" Matthew cried.

  Edward came around the corner, and his mouth dropped open.

  "Oh, uh," Edward stuttered, and he looked around for an escape plan for himself.

  Matthew glanced toward a far wall that had a walk-in cooler. He picked up a canister of oil and threw it at one of the undead that struck its face.

  "Hey freaks! Over here! Come get me! It’s meal time, uglies!" Matt yelled. He sprinted for the door and threw it open.

  "Matthew! Have you lost your mind?" Edward shouted.

  "It's ok, I got this!" he said confidently, and he went to the back of the cooler to act as bait.

  One of the undead started toward Edward.

  "Hey! Come and get me!" Matthew yelled again. The third undead male's head snapped back at Matthew and growled, traipsing over toward the door with a limp.

  Two of them were almost on top Matthew, but he dropped to his hands and knees, quickly crawling to the open door. Both completely misjudged their slow grasp. The third one was at the doorway when Matthew crawled underneath it.

  Matt hopped up and completed a spinning roundhouse kick which landed squarely against the reanimated man’s back. The attack caused the undead to collide with the other two inside. He reached for the door and slammed it shut. Matt slid down against the door and gave Edward an accomplished grin as he recaptured his breath.

  Edward’s face was ghost white and he could barely catch his own breath.

  "Do you have a death wish or something?” Edward asked firmly.

  “No, but we had to take care of them, right?” Matt disputed.