Detroit Reanimated

by Michael Halliday

  “Get Sarah out of here,” Walter yelled at Jeremy. “I’ll hold them off.”

  Sarah’s radio clip broke when his arm caught her. The radio careened into an undead man’s chest. Jeremy carried Sarah over his shoulder away from the mob.

  “Walter, forget it, come with us!” Jeremy shouted. “You have a wife and son that need you.”

  Walter moved back away from the mob and followed Jeremy when they ran. The safe zone was soon surrounded by the massive swarm. Jeremy, Walter and August watched as more and more shamblers arrived, pulled in by the gunfire.

  “They’ll have to figure out a way to fight them off,” August said. “We need to get Sarah to safety and take care of her.”

  August looked over the gash and lump on the back of Sarah’s head.

  “How bad is it?” Jeremy asked.

  “I’m sure she has a concussion,” August said. “If we can find some first aid kits, I could take care of this gash. I don’t think she needs stitches, but I’m not a doctor.”

  “I’ll carry her,” Walter said.

  “Come on, Jeremy,” August said when Jeremy looked back at the safe zone with anguish plastered on his face. “My men are in there with them, and they have it closed back down. They’ll take care of it.”

  August pressed a piece of clothe against Sarah’s wound until the bleeding stopped. They walked southward on Mercury Drive, which took them to the Dearborn Police Station.

  When the Farmington refugees found out about the cop, they had beaten him, interrogated him, and stripped him of what they thought might be useful. One of the things they took was a set of keys. In order to protect those refugees better, they gave August the keys with hope they could find more weapons.

  “That’s a welcome sight,” August said.

  “What if it’s locked?” Walter asked.

  August took out the keys and jingled them for the men to see.

  “Weapons,” August said in a playful tone.

  “Get inside!” Jeremy snapped.

  To the west, another mob of shamblers trudged toward them. August and Walter hurried to the station. August went through the keys to try to unlock the door. She got one key in, spun it, and heard the latch pop open. Jeremy followed as soon as he saw August and Walter go inside. August relocked the door after she pulled it shut.

  They watched as the mass of shamblers continued eastward.

  “That doctor made life a lot harder,” Jeremy said.

  “I’m responsible for this,” August said. “Just like Farmington.”

  “You didn’t lead those shamblers to us,” Walter told her. “That psycho did. If I find that my wife or son have a scratch on them because of this, I’ll skin the mother fucker alive.”

  “You and me both, Walt,” Jeremy said.

  “I feel terrible,” August said. “At least two are dead because of this. He had shot a woman before we arrived, and Edgar.”

  “That woman was actually a sixteen-year-old,” Walter told August. “Her name was Julie, and she was the only surviving member of Jasper Collins’ family. Jasper let us in his shop when the shit hit the fan.”

  “Oh hell,” Jeremy said. “I didn’t see who it was. Jasper is going to be broken.”

  “Walter, let’s find a place for Sarah,” August said.

  The three found a couch in a lounge where they placed Sarah’s unconscious body.

  “I hope she wakes up soon,” Jeremy said.

  “Can you two find a first aid kit?” August asked. “We need to treat this wound so it doesn’t get infected. I’ll check in here.”

  “Sure thing,” Jeremy replied.

  Jeremy and Walter disappeared to scour the place. August searched the lounge thoroughly for anything she could use to clean the wound. She found a small first aid kit and a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

  ‘At least these assholes did this right,’ August thought when she opened the box. ‘It seems these cops are more concerned with caring for themselves.’

  August put on some latex gloves to keep things sterile. She poured some of the alcohol on a cotton swab.

  “I’m glad you’re out, Sarah,” August said. “This would likely sting.”

  When she dabbed the swab on Sarah’s wound, she woke up suddenly.

  “Welcome back,” August said. “Sorry if that hurt.”

  “What the hell was that?” Sarah said with a pained grimace.

  “Let’s see,” August said. She read the label on bottle. “It says ‘one-hundred percent isopropyl alcohol.’ It’ll do what I need it to do. You took a nasty hit from the doctor.”

  “Where are the others?” Sarah asked. “What happened?”

  “Jeremy and Walter are trying to find some more first aid kits,” August replied. “We are in the Dearborn Police Station. The doctor escaped after he tried to have the safe zone overrun. I’m not sure how many people we lost.”

  “What about the safe zone?” Sarah asked. She struggled to prop herself on trembling elbows.

  “They got it closed back down when we left, but it’s surrounded. We are stuck in here because a large mass of undead just wandered through.”

  “You’re awake,” Jeremy said when he and Walter returned.

  Sarah tried to get up to give him and Walter a hug, but she continued to struggle.

  “Just take it easy, little soldier,” Jeremy said. He went to her and gave her a caring hug. He kissed her forehead. “I’m so glad he didn’t kill you.”

  Walter gave her a hug and kiss next.

  “I’m going to give you a concussion test,” August said. “The guard had officers learn how to do this in case something happened on the field.”

  “Ok, just leave the alcohol out of it,” Sarah said jokingly.

  August performed the test, which Sarah failed.

  “You’ll need to rest for a little while. We’ll stay here tonight, gather some supplies. We can break open these vending machines for food and water. I’ll see if these keys are good for anything else.”

  August placed some triple-antibiotic on gauze. She gently placed the gauze on Sarah’s wound, and then wrapped the gauze with a bandage roll.

  “Ok, now lie back down and rest,” August told Sarah. “If I catch you off this couch, I’ll knock you back out.”

  “Damn straight,” Walter said. “I’ll try and get that machine open.”

  August and Jeremy went to search the station for an armory. They discovered it in the basement next to the evidence storage room. When they got the armored door open, August’s eyes went wide.

  “Oh hell yeah,” Jeremy said with a big grin. “Seeing you with these just gave me the biggest boner.”

  “Good,” August said. She kissed him and led him inside. She pulled down his pants, followed by hers.

  “I don’t have any rubbers,” Jeremy said between kisses.

  “I don’t care,” August said. “If I get pregnant, then it was meant to be.”

  The pair made love in the armory, surrounded by numerous high-powered rifles and assault rifles. August hadn’t become pregnant this time, but she was falling more and more for the Japanese man.

  August and Jeremy returned with four bags full of rifles and ammunition. They also had police utility belts around their waists and handgun harnesses. They had belts and harnesses for each of the other two.

  Sarah was sound asleep when they returned.

  “There’s swat armor, riot gear, just about everything we could need to fight our way back in the morning,” August whispered. “How are we doing for food and liquids?”

  “We have plenty of water and soda, but food is lacking,” Walter replied in a whisper back.

  “I’m sure we can find something,” August said. “Has Sarah been asleep long?”

  “She crashed shortly after you two left,” Walter said. “She said something about her daughter. I think she said a prayer for her, and then she closed her eyes.”

  “She must be worried sick,” August said. “I’m sure you are.”
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  “I trust you when you said they will handle it,” Walter said.

  “I know they will,” August told him. “Let’s go check how bad it is outside.”

  They went to the front entrance to access the severity of their dilemma. To their surprise, the mass had thinned out as some of the shamblers had stopped moving. The main body of the horde had moved on.

  “With that gear, we can do this,” Walter said.

  “Definitely,” August said. “We’ll need a plan though. We’ll work on it tonight and see how Sarah is in the morning.”

  Later that night, August, Walter and Jeremy worked on the plan. August was sure Sarah would be able to participate by the morning. Sarah had slept through the night peacefully, which gave August comfort to know the rest would help her significantly.

  “We’re going to have to use automatic or semi-automatic rifles,” August told them all early the next morning. “They will be the most effective against these things. They are fast, with hardly any delay time between shots. We have silencers thankfully. That means we won’t attract any extra attention. Sarah, are you comfortable enough to use one of these?”

  “Whatever we have to do to make it back to the zone,” Sarah replied. “I look forward to taking as many of those shamblers down. Then I’ll hunt that fuck to the ends of this earth.”

  August, Jeremy and Walter was stunned with Sarah’s f-bomb. They had all seen her as the saintly religious type. A different Sarah woke up this morning.

  The four helped each other get on their swat armor. August attached silencers to each of the M4s they were going to use. Nervousness filled the room as they prepared. Comforting smiles were exchanged.

  Sarah and Walter helped August and Jeremy place a bag of rifles and ammunition on each of their shoulders. August and Jeremy were escorted to the main entrance. Sarah and Walter set their bags of weapons by the entrance to pick up later.

  “We’ll wait until you clear out a path for us before we leave,” August instructed. “Once we’re across the road, we’ll wait and cover your way to us. Don’t worry about getting grabbed or bitten. This material should be able to handle whatever they have. Just shake them off and keep moving. Watch out for each other.”

  “Got it,” both Sarah and Walter said.

  “Good luck, August, and thanks,” Sarah said.

  Sarah and August hugged each other.

  “You too, Sarah,” August replied. “We’ll see you both on the other side.”

  Boots pounded on the stairway as Sarah and Walter climbed quickly to the roof. Their flashlights on their M4s flickered in the darkness. Walter kicked open the door to the roof. They set up a position looking over Michigan Avenue.

  Bullets rained down on the shamblers, and they dropped one by one. After they cleared out a path ten feet wide, August made her move.

  August and Jeremy ran out and fired at the shambler mass. Bullets whistled from the muzzles of their guns and ripped through the heads of their targets. Shamblers continued to fall without even knowing what was destroying them. There was no sound for them to hear, or scents for them to follow.

  A man with two boys ran out from behind the police station. He shot at both the shamblers and the living pair. August’s armor took two bullets, while Jeremy took another shot on the armor slab on his thigh. Jeremy collapsed and clutched his leg. The gunshots got the shamblers full attention.

  “Stop shooting that thing!” August yelled at the man.

  Sarah shot the man in the head, which dropped him to the ground like a brick. Shamblers followed the screams from the boys after they saw their father gunned down. One of the boys picked up his father’s handgun and shot at the roof. He didn’t see the shambler that almost took him down. August shot the undead man down before he could bite the boy. She ran to the pair and pulled them after her toward the other side of the road.

  Jeremy regained his footing and mowed down any shambler within twenty feet with help from Sarah and Walter.

  August snatched the handgun from the furious older boy.

  “Are you little shits crazy?” August asked the boys. “That stupid stunt got your dad killed, and almost me.”

  Jeremy gestured for Sarah and Walter to come. After a few minutes, August saw Sarah and Walter run across the road with the bags of rifles over their shoulders. The four surrounded the boys when they made their way to the safe zone. They ran right into a thick mob of undead. Sarah and August each exhausted their clip. They replaced their clips while Jeremy and Walter whittled down the mob. The two pairs alternated until the road was covered in corpses.

  “How many prepared clips do we have left?” Sarah asked.

  “Plenty,” August replied. “Let me know when you need one.”

  “I’m ok for now, but we’re almost to the zone,” Sarah said.

  The group continued on toward the safe zone. They came across more small groups of undead, but like before, they dispatched the shamblers effortlessly.

  “I pity the sorry soul that comes across us with malice,” Jeremy said.

  “I second that,” Sarah said.

  “There it is,” August said.

  The safe zone was before them. It was now surrounded by thousands of corpses, and more were falling by the minute. Crews of survivors were now out slashing and stabbing the remnants of the massive swarm. Others were collecting arrows to replenish the bowmen on the roof.

  The four hurried the two boys along.

  “Hey! Open the gate!” Sarah yelled once they got to the eastern entrance.

  Sam climbed down from his stand.

  “Sarah?” Sam asked.

  Sarah lifted the visor from her helmet to show him it was her.

  “Get these boys inside, and these rifles,” Sarah said. “We’ll take some spears too.”

  Sam took the bags and ushered the boys in. He then handed each of the four a spear to help finish the job. August ordered the unprotected safe zone defenders back.

  “Take down any that get passed us,” she said.

  One by one, shamblers fell. Some to the spearmen, but most fell to arrows from the roof. The four were getting worn down. Shamblers just kept coming from the west.

  “We don’t need a mistake,” August said. “Let’s go inside for a little while.”

  All of the spear-wielders moved back to the entrance. August and Walter guarded the others as they went in.

  By sundown, the number of shamblers to arrive trickled to nothing. The bowmen recovered their arrows after the spearmen struck down shamblers that still moved. The safe zone survivors were far too exhausted to celebrate this massive victory. Three of their own were killed during the doctor’s assault. More were injured. Sarah had her wound checked and treated by Anthony. A nasty bruise covered Jeremy’s thigh.

  August had two similar bruises on her chest from getting shot.

  Jasper Collins wept over the body of his fallen daughter. August closed the eyes of Specialist Joseph Richardson.

  Sarah, Robert and Scott searched for Edgar’s body. He had reanimated and an arrow was lodged in his forehead.

  Sarah leaned against a wall near her room, crying heavily when Robert found her. He took her in his arms to comfort her. After she calmed down a bit, she looked at him with reddened eyes.

  “I’m not a person who wants a person dead,” Sarah said. “God damned that man for what he’s done. He has to die.”

  “I agree,” Robert said. “We won’t fall for this twice.”

  Sarah looked into Robert’s eyes. She wanted to kiss the man. Instead, she rested her face on his chest. Robert escorted Sarah to her room. Before she went in, she kissed his cheek.

  “Goodnight, Robert,” Sarah said.

  Nikolai met his companion, Randy, at a church in Dearborn.

  “It was a failure,” Nikolai told Randy. “They are far more capable than I thought. We won’t be able to use that trick again.”

  “How many people were killed?” Randy asked.

  “I shot three down,�
� Nikolai said.

  “It wasn’t a complete failure then,” Randy said. “Nik, they left us behind. That alone was a good reason to do it. We’ll find another way to complete the job.”

  ‘No one leaves me behind,’ Nikolai thought.

  “I want to introduce you to a few people I’ve met,” Randy said. “They might be of some help.”

  Randy led Doctor Grayson to an exit, where three men were smoking and talking. One was filthy, extremely thin and he had a bunch of teeth missing. The other two were more normal looking.

  “Gentlemen, here’s the man I told you about,” Randy said to the men. “Doctor Nikolai Grayson.”

  “Doctor,” a tall man with an arm full of tattoos said. “I’m Steve Straytham.”

  “Maxwell Jones,” said another. “You can call me ‘Dirty Max.’”

  “Why do you call yourself that?” Nikolai asked.

  “Dirty living is my game, especially if I get to break the rules.”

  “Hi,” the filthy man said. “Gregory Harrison. I’m at your service. You can call me ‘Skink.’”

  Chapter 9: The Road of Crucifixes

  Doug drove slowly to look at what seemed to be two endless lines of crucifixes. Each one held a soldier or a man in civilian clothing.

  “Doug, why was this done?” Nikki asked. “What could possibly motivate a person to do this?”

  “I don’t know,” Doug said, in complete disbelief.

  The crucifixes went on until they got to Oklahoma City. Vehicles were pushed off to the sides of the roads on each side of the interstate. Someone was busy. Bodies of slain biters also littered the ground. Clouds of flies and other insects lifted off of corpses as the caravan moved through.

  Doug came to a sudden stop. Ahead of him was a checkpoint with six uniformed soldiers. All of them carried an assault rifle of some sort.

  “Evan, should I go, or not?” Doug asked into his walkie.

  “Do you think this was their doing?” Evan asked.

  ‘I’m leading us into a trap,’ Doug thought. ‘Why didn’t I go around?’

  It was too late to turn, and the bus would never be able to quick enough.