“Hi there,” Jeremy said, as he walked out from behind the tree. “Do you have a minute to talk about the Lord Jesus?”
The zombie snapped out of its daze and lunged for Jeremy.
“You know, for a big fella, you got some speed in you! What’s wrong? Don’t like fast food? Cause I couldn’t tell!”
It did not seem fazed by Jeremy’s sarcastic taunts. It wanted to kill him anyways. Jeremy ran towards the gate where they parked the truck the night before. The geek shambled after him as fast as its short, stubby little legs could carry it. Jeremy stopped and waited for the thing to catch up. The three others were sneaking up behind it. It was so focused on Jeremy that it didn’t even notice.
“C’mon big boy! Come and get me,” Jeremy shouted at it.
Its jaw was clamping up and down, drool dripping down its decaying chin. Ben ran up behind him, and raised up his axe, prepping to bring it down on the zombie’s head. He lost his footing, tripped, and brought down the axe on the freak’s shoulder instead of the death dealing head blow he planned. Its arm went flying, the axe cleaving straight through the soft, rotted flesh. The axe head kept going and clipped the side of the zombie’s massive stomach. Blood, puss, and bile spewed from the hole.
It finally turned to its attackers and seeing Ben on the ground, reached out for him first. It did not even seem fazed that it was missing an arm and juices were shooting out of its side like a geyser. Ben scrambled backwards, kicking at the ghoul. Lexx ran up and brought the chisel end of his hammer down on the z’s head. It seized, then went limp, and collapsed into a heap in front of Ben. A large, brown puddle of blood and feces collected around the mountain of dead flesh.
“Well, that was easy,” Lexx said, trying to catch his breath.
He did not even get the words out of his mouth before one of the crazies began shrieking off in the distance. Others joined in and moans began to fill the air. They all looked towards the fence. Zombies were coming from everywhere. The fence was now lined with walking corpses. The crazies arrived and began climbing over the fences. They hit the barbed wire and did not stop as it ripped chunks of flesh and meat from their bones. Their bright, red blood showered all over their slower comrades.
“Run!” Tori yelled.
They all booked it for the back door to the warehouse. Jeremy broke out into a full out sprint. He looked over his shoulder and saw that two of the crazies had untangled themselves from the barbed wire and were running after the survivors.
They’re mangled but yet still so fast, he thought.
Jeremy was a pretty decent runner. He ran cross country in high school, the one extracurricular activity he did besides work. But you don’t get scholarships for being responsible and holding down a part time job in high school. So, cross country it was then. But that was in high school and once he graduated he didn’t run as much as he used to. No time when you’re trying to help your mom make ends meet.
Right now though, he summoned up whatever leftover speed he had, and ran like a madman towards the door. The others had been a little closer, but he passed both Ben and Lexx on the way there. Tori held the door open and was shouting for them to get inside. Jeremy ran inside and was followed by Lexx. As Ben entered, one of the crazies reached the door and grabbed him by the shirt. Jeremy quickly brought his machete down on its arm. It fell back and down the stairs, Lexx slamming the door shut.
“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” Ben muttered over and over.
“Get yourself together!” Tori barked. “We’ve got to get up to the front of the building. They saw us come in the back, so they’ll be back here trying to get in. Let’s go.”
They ran towards the front of the warehouse. Lexx grabbed Tori’s bra on the way.
“Hey, you might want this!” He said with a boyish smile.
“You keep it!”
“Yes! Merry Christmas to me!”
He held it up to his nose as they made their way up front. When they got there, Tori went up to the door and pushed her ear against it. She was listening to see if it sounded like any zombies were right outside the door. She held her head there for a few seconds but it felt like hours.
“Sounds clear.”
“Oh, man… What about the truck?” Jeremy asked, just realizing that the twenty foot flatbed truck that they had parked in front of the gate the night before to protect them from an attack was now trapping them inside during an attack. Not a good situation.
“Shit. That’s right. How are we gonna move that truck?” Tori said.
A brief silence.
“I got this,” Lexx said with an unwavering assurance.
Tori started to protest, but Lexx, in all his macho bravado, put a finger up to her lips and shushed her.
“I got this.”
He stretched out his hands in front of him and cracked his knuckles. He walked up to the door but then turned back to the others.
“Look, I’m going to go out there and move the truck. As soon as you hear the engine crank, you run to the Jeep and get the fuck out of here. No matter what happens to me, you get outta here. You understand?”
The three of them nodded.
“Alright then, here we go,” he said.
He reached for the door knob.
“Wait!”
Tori walked up to him and planted a kiss on his cheek.
“Be safe you idiot,” she said.
He smiled.
“Of course.”
With that he opened the door and ran out towards the truck.
***
Lexx ran full sprint towards the gate. Tori was right. All the zombies, the crazy ones, had made their way back towards the back door. They didn’t even notice Lexx yet. The slower, dumber ones along the fence on the other hand, they noticed. They pushed against the fence. It swayed against the weight of the dead.
When he reached the gate, he yanked the unlocked chain through. The noise grabbed the attention of the crazies. He cursed himself under his breath. They shrieked in response to the clanging of metal chain against the metal chain-link fence. Lexx swung the gates open and quickly climbed into the truck. He left the keys in the ignition, just in case something did happen, and they had to get out quick. He promptly turned the keys, the diesel engine roaring to life. Being quiet was really no longer an issue. He threw it into reverse and began to back the truck over the line of walking dead behind him. The sound of bones cracking and the jostling of the truck brought a faint smile to Lexx’s face.
Fuck ‘em.
***
“There’s the engine! Let’s go!” Tori yelled.
The three of them bolted out into the sunlight, a stark contrast from the darkness inside of the warehouse. As their eyes adjusted, they scrambled for the Jeep. Jeremy ran towards the driver’s seat with keys in hand. He jumped in, then Tori, and then Ben. As Ben was climbing in, Jeremy turned the keys in the ignition and the Jeep came to life. He floored it in reverse, taking out one of the crazies in the process. He threw it into drive and sped out the gate. They saw Lexx and the truck still reversing over the dead down the street.
“We’ll wait for him around the corner,” Jeremy said, seeing the concern wash over Tori’s face.
She nodded, her eyes fixed on the large truck behind them. Jeremy sped around the curves and pulled back out onto Highway 17. He pulled the Jeep over right before a bridge that went over train tracks. Shifting into park, he turned and joined Ben and Tori in looking out the back of the Jeep. His mouth slowly dropped as he watched the truck cross the highway in flames, followed by dead corpses also on fire, and crash into another warehouse.
Chapter Fourteen
The flames from the warehouse burned brightly in the afternoon sun. Thick, black smoke rose up slowly into the clear blue sky. The three of them stared on in shock. Lexx was dead. He crashed the truck into the warehouse so they could escape. Someone else had given their life so that Jeremy could live. Someone again who barely knew him. Jeremy was the first to snap out of it.
“We have to go.”
“We have to go see if he made it,” Tori protested.
Jeremy looked into her eyes. He could see that she was fighting back tears. Although they said they only met yesterday, Jeremy felt that the two were closer then they let on. Surviving with someone will have that effect on you. Jeremy felt a companionship between Ben and himself. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
“He didn’t make it. There’s no way someone could survive that…”
She sat there in silence. She had grown somewhat attached to Lexx. They had been together since the outbreak in the restaurant, and as goofy as he was, she knew she could trust him. He couldn’t be gone. It’s crazy how when the world falls apart how quickly trust can be built or broken.
“Ok,” she finally said. “Let’s go. He wouldn’t want us to waste his sacrifice.”
Jeremy put the Jeep back into drive and turned the jeep around. He stopped for a moment, staring at the wreckage and the burning building.
“Where are you going?” Ben asked from the back seat.
“We’ll cut through the edge of downtown and get on I-16 from there.”
Ben nodded. Tori slunk down in her seat and staring out the passenger window; her eyes glazed over lost in thought.
“Where are you guys going?”
Jeremy and Tori spun around as Lexx climbed into the backseat.
“Lexx!” The three of them shouted in unison.
“Yeah?” He asked, grinning.
“We thought you were dead, man!” Ben said.
“How did you? Where did you?” Jeremy stammered in sheer surprise.
Lexx just grinned, his smile from ear to ear.
“What? Did you think I was still in the truck? Haha, that’s rich! I lit a rag on fire and stuffed it into the fuel tank, threw that bad boy in drive, and dropped a box of screws on the gas pedal. Got the truck rollin’ in the right direction and ditched it. The geeks didn’t even notice me drop out. They were too preoccupied with the burning truck. Those dumb ass-bags even caught themselves on fire!”
Tori’s countenance changed, she was now trying to hide her happiness behind a smirk of disapproval.
“What’s wrong, babe? Did you miss me?” Lexx asked, leaning in towards Tori’s direction.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say yes. Don’t get too excited about it,” she replied.
“I told ya you’d find me irresistible,” he said with a boyish smirk.
“Well, don’t plan on getting down on one knee quite yet. I still don’t like you.”
“I can live with that,” he said, leaning back in his seat. “I only regret that I left your bra in the truck.”
“Oh, I’m sure that was an accident,” she said.
Lexx chuckled.
“Maybe. Maybe not. We’ll never know for sure. Now Jeremy, if you would be so kind, would you kindly get us the fuck out of here?”
“With pleasure,” Jeremy answered, as he floored it towards downtown Savannah.
***
The neighborhood they passed through was rough looking. And that was before this whole zombie thing broke out. Savannah was weird like that. She had this beautiful historic downtown, coastal marsh land, and beautiful architecture, but at the same time, she had her fair share of projects, trailer parks, and ghettos. As some parts of the city moved forward in progress, other parts were left behind to rot, no matter how much SCAD tried to restore them to former glories. The diversity of Savannah is spread wide. From SCAD students to the homeless, from old money to no money, Savannah was dripping with culture.
Jeremy was unsure of what culture was dripping from the doorways of the houses they were passing. It seems that the hood ain’t no different from the islands when it comes to the dead coming back to life. Zombies don’t care how much you make, or your skin color, they just want to eat you.
He made a left turn when he came to the end of the street. Another fork in the road. Left would take them around the outskirts of downtown a bit more. Right would have taken them to MLK Jr. Boulevard aka the edge of downtown. Jeremy wanted to stay out of downtown as much as possible. Too many corners and tight streets to navigate. Too dangerous. Even in the Jeep, the last thing they needed was to get stuck on one of Savannah’s squares surrounded by the dead.
As Jeremy bobbed and weaved through abandoned vehicles, he noticed the cemetery to the left of them. One of Savannah’s countless historic cemeteries. Graves for as far as the eyes could see, until old oak trees blocked your view. The trees have probably been there longer than some of the graves themselves. The tombstones looked weathered by time, fading in the sunlight. They looked peaceful.
It was then that Jeremy realized something about the cemetery.
“Hey guys,” he said out loud.
“Yeah?” Lexx asked, the other two perking up as well.
“Check out the cemetery,” Jeremy said, pointing with one hand.
The three others looked out towards where Jeremy had pointed. They stared for a moment before Lexx looked back at Jeremy.
“Yeah? What about it?” He asked with a puzzled look on his face.
“There’s no dead rising.”
They all looked back over towards the cemetery. Jeremy was right. No graves looked disturbed. There was no dead coming out of the ground like you see in the movies. No hands trying to break free from the earth. Just rows and rows of tombstones and crypts like you would normally see.
“What does that mean?” Tori asked.
“I guess,” Jeremy started, “I guess it means that whatever this is going on, it doesn’t affect the already deceased. It only affects the living.”
They all rode in silence as they let Jeremy’s words sink in. It wasn’t necessarily good news, but it at least meant that this sickness only affected the living inhabitants of the planet. All seven billion of them. He continued to snake his way through towards West Bay Street. They were passing under I-16 at the moment. Sleeping bags and trash could still be seen under the overpass.
“What if they just haven’t gotten out yet?” Ben asked, finally speaking.
“What do you mean?” Jeremy said.
“Well,” Ben said, “What if they just haven’t dug their way up yet? Bodies are buried six feet under, right? Maybe they haven’t made it up all the way yet. It hasn’t even been a full twenty four hours yet. I don’t know, just thinking out loud.”
“I don’t think we will have to worry about them then. They’ll starve themselves out before they break through the casket and six feet of packed in dirt,” Jeremy responded.
Ben nodded, Jeremy’s answer seemed sufficient for him. He went back to daydreaming out the window.
“Hey, Jeremy, can you stop the Jeep for a moment?” Tori asked.
Everyone looked at her as Jeremy slowed the Jeep to a stop. She looked like she was thinking about something.
“Um, well, my dad is a drill instructor out on Parris Island and I know the plan is to head west, but if we can make it there, maybe it’s safe. Maybe Parris Island is okay? Plus, it would be great to know if he’s okay too. I mean, I know he is, it would just be nice to see him.”
Jeremy looked at Ben and he had the same look of concern.
“Look, Tori,” Jeremy said. “I’m sure your dad is fine, but when me and Ben drove by Hunter, it seemed vacant. And-”
“Well, yeah,” she interrupted. “That’s the Army. Of course they’d be overrun. My dad’s a Marine. Marines don’t get overrun.”
Lexx laughed. Ben looked back at Jeremy and shrugged.
“You think he’ll still be there?” Jeremy asked.
“I know he will. He’ll be expecting me to make my way to him. That was our plan anyways,” she said, motioning towards Lexx.
“Ok, then. South Carolina it is then. Any objections?”
Lexx shook his head and smiled. Ben, on the other hand, looked concerned.
“Our plan was to head west. Out past Rincon. My parents live out there,” he said.
> Tori turned in her seat to face Ben.
“Do you think they’re still alive?” she asked.
Ben nodded, albeit slowly.
“Well, if we get to Parris Island, we can better supply you to go find them. The base is going to be our best shot for survival, Ben,” she said softly.
Everyone in that Jeep knew that if they could make it to the Marines stationed there, they just might survive this thing. Ben nodded again. He knew she was right; he just didn’t like the idea of leaving his parents alone out there much longer.
They were stopped in front of one of SCAD’s many student housing units, a clear view of the Talmadge Bridge in front of them. Once they got over the suspension bridge, it would be an hour drive to Parris Island. Granted they didn’t run into any hang-ups. Or dead. Traffic seemed to be moving over the bridge. Slowly, but moving.
Ben leaned in towards the front of the Jeep.
“Do y’all hear that?”
Everyone else got quiet and Jeremy lowered the windows. It was the low rumble of jets in the distance. They watched as a pair of fighter jets did a flyby of the bridge, passing just over the top of it. The two jets were flying much lower than usual.
“What are they doing?” Ben asked.
“Probably just some surveillance. Those are Marine fighters, probably from the Air Station in Beau-”
The two jets made abrupt turns and raced back towards the bridge at breakneck speeds. As they got closer, you could see each jet drop something that raced off in the direction of the bridge. Both planes took off into the sky, disappearing into the clouds and sunlight.
A New Death (Savannah's Only Zombie Novel) Page 9
