“Reanimates?” Tito snorted. “Just say the fucking word: zombie.”
Rune chuckled, then froze as the motion lights overlooking the backyard flicked on. “Down!”
Tito hurled himself onto the sofa and out of view while Rune dove behind a chair. The remote lay on the coffee table between them. The loud, frightened voice of the reporter filled the room along with the sound of gunshots and explosions.
“What is it?” Tito whispered.
Cautiously, Rune edged closer to the edge of the chair before peering around it.
A bloody man stood staring at the house.
“One of them reanimates,” Rune said, unable to resist ribbing Tito. He was rewarded with a scoffing roll of the eyes.
“Just one?”
Staying out of view of the zombie, Rune scanned the visible area of the patio. The creature stood on the opposite side of the pool, its cocked head swinging back and forth. “So far. Kill the TV. I think it’s trying to hone in on the sound.”
Tito slid off the couch and onto the floor. Crawling on his belly, he edged around the massive coffee table to the side where the remote rested.
Rune watched the creature, his hand withdrawing his Glock. The zombie’s face was covered in thick, congealing blood. Leaning its head forward, it appeared to be scanning its surroundings. Rune was glad it was too stupid to wipe the blood from its eyes so it could see better.
Tito reached the remote and clicked off the television. The resulting silence was unnerving after all the noise.
The zombie tilted its head, staring straight at the house.
“Just don’t move,” Rune ordered.
Tito froze on the floor.
The zombie let out an ungodly screech and surged forward. Reaching the edge of the pool, it simply ran forward and fell in. The undead being disappeared beneath the water. Bubbles rose over its submerged head, then gradually trails of blood began to snake through the water.
“Stupid bastard,” Rune chortled. “Took a header into the pool.”
The creature’s hands rose out of the water, flailing.
Tito moved to where he could see outside. “Can’t swim.”
“And that just bought us some time. That poor sap won’t be the last one to come this way. Must be coming from the interstate and either the fence is down, or there’s a gate open somewhere on the property. I suggest we pack it up now.” Rune slid to his feet. Cautiously, he approached the patio doors. The zombie was still underwater, tossing about, struggling to move. Nothing else stirred in the darkness.
“I say we kill all the lights except the lamp in the hall and the light over the stove in the kitchen,” Tito said.
“Agreed.”
The two men hurried to kill the main lights while providing enough illumination to move through the house using their natural night vision. Upstairs, they pulled curtains and blinds over the windows before turning on lamps and raiding closets for luggage. In the room that belonged to the son, they found several backpacks. Tito grabbed some clothes, while Rune searched the medicine cabinets for anything useful. Tossing everything on the king-sized bed in the master bedroom, the men worked rapidly through the top half of the house. When they finished, they divided the medicine and toiletries, while Tito packed a change of clothes for himself along with a leather jacket.
“This hand sanitizer is a freakin’ godsend in this time,” Rune muttered, shoving a quart size bottle in a backpack.
“Disease and infection are going to be our enemies just as much as those things out there,” Tito agreed. He packed the twin bottle from the double pack from Sam’s Club.
Carrying their bags, they cautiously returned downstairs. The motion lights were off outside, but they could see the zombie still thrashing around beneath the surface of the pool in the glow of the underwater lights. In the kitchen they worked swiftly. Rune carefully selected rations that wouldn’t weigh him down, considering he was traveling by bike, while Tito loaded up reusable shopping bags and hauled them out to the truck. In the garage they found camping equipment.
“Take the camping stove and sleeping bags. I got my own. I wouldn’t advise you to use a tent though. Sleep in the truck,” Rune advised Tito.
“What will you do?” Tito asked. “Since you’re insisting on riding a Harley during the end of the world.”
“I’ll find a place to lay my head,” Rune said confidently.
Nearly an hour later, the bike and truck were packed. There was no sign of walking dead, but they were both cautious as they maneuvered through the ground floor, carrying the extra weapons and ammunition to the garage. Tito planned to deliver it to the survivors in San Antonio.
“I suggest we both leave in the morning. Better to travel while the sun is up,” Rune said, shoving a suitcase full of ammunition into the bed of the pickup.
“I agree. We can’t sleep upstairs. If they get in, we’re trapped. And all these windows are making me jumpy.” Tito gestured toward the laundry room they had been walking through to gain access to the garage. “I say we sleep in there.”
“If we shove the washer and dryer out into the kitchen and barricade the kitchen door that will buy us some time,” Rune agreed.
It took a lot of effort to wrangle the washer and dryer into the kitchen, shoving the appliances to the door that swung open to the family room. By scaling the machines, they could get in and out of the kitchen.
“If they climb, we’re fucked,” Tito decided.
“Nah, we’ll have enough time.” Rune wiped the back of his sweaty neck with a kitchen towel.
Tito clambered onto the washer and hopped onto the dryer, before pushing the door open to peer into the family room. “Zombie is still in pool. The water looks like shit now.”
“Speaking of water, I’m taking a shower. Who knows how long the power is going to stay on? I’d like a hot shower before they’re just a memory.” Rune had sobered up during their hard work and he was feeling hungry, tired, and grimy.
Tito ran his hands through his greasy hair. “Yeah, you go first. Downstairs bathroom?”
“Yeah. I don’t like the thought of being stuck upstairs,” Rune answered.
Being a good sort of guy, Rune let Tito shower first while he sat in the darkened hallway, watching both the front and back end of the house. The motion lights had remained off, much to his relief, but he knew that time was running short. He felt it in his bones.
In the pool, the zombie continued to thrash about beneath bloody waves. It was comforting to know the creatures were not intelligent. Whatever had made them human was gone and the hunk of flesh that remained was merely an empty shell.
Tito emerged from the shower wearing a fresh pair of jeans and black t-shirt, both slightly too big for him, but he was making do. His black hair was gone, shaved down to a dark fuzz. Rubbing his hand over his newly shorn head, he shrugged at Rune’s inquisitive look. “I don’t like my hair to get messy.”
“That’s why I keep mine in a braid,” Rune answered, flicking his fingers at the silver rope of hair dangling over his shoulder.
“I could never let my hair get that long. My mother would kill me.” Tito’s smile faded, obviously remembering his mother’s fate.
“My ex-wife used to bitch at me about it,” Rune admitted.
“What did you tell her?”
“That she was just jealous that I’m prettier than her.”
Tito chuckled.
“Well, truth be told, I am. And she was jealous. And now she’s dead. Good riddance. I betcha she gave those zombies some serious indigestion when they took her down.” The anger, hurt, and hatred in his voice was cold steel. He could see it made Tito uneasy. “Sorry, man. She just did me all sorts of wrong. Meaner than the devil, that one.”
“My wife is an angel,” Tito said softly. “My heart. My soul. If anything happens to her...” Tito turned away, brushing his hand over his eyes.
“Then you’re a lucky man, my brother. A lucky man indeed.”
They
traded positions, with Rune shutting the door to lock himself in the small downstairs bathroom. To his surprise, Tito hadn’t left it a mess, having tucked his wet towels in a hamper. He had even wiped down the shower. Apparently, Tito’s wife and mother had him well-trained.
Rune wanted to take his time in the shower, but he knew better. His body ached and his back was one big knot of pain. Washing fast and efficiently, he kept his ear cocked, listening for any trouble. His two-toned skin — tan where the sun hit him, pasty white where it didn’t — bore the scars of countless falls, bar fights, and childhood tomfoolery. A few tattoos covered them up, but a few keloids were too thick and red to cover. Rune stared at the ones on his arm. They were from his wife’s nails. She’d clawed him until he bled when she was mad. He never hit a woman in his life, but he almost had the night she had raked his flesh open. Staring at the scars, he felt no remorse for her death. He was glad she was dead. But the thought of Lainey and Braden brought fresh, awful pain ripping through him. Raised to never cry, Rune turned his face into the water to hide the tears racing down his face. Despite the hot water, he shivered as an icy wave of air brushed over him.
“You need to keep moving,” a voice said on the other side of the shower curtain.
Rune drew it open to reveal a teenage girl standing on the bath mat. Her arms were covered in bites and her face was smeared with blood. He didn’t recognize her immediately. It took several seconds to recognize the daughter of his friend he had been trying to reach earlier in the day.
“Oh, Lord. Cassidy.”
“You have to always keep moving,” she said. Her dark hair was matted to her head and her glasses were broken and askew. Rune resisted the urge to adjust them.
“Cassidy, your pa...?” He kept behind the curtain, hiding his nudity, though that was probably foolish. She was beyond such things now.
The girl shook her head. Rune had been aware of Cassidy’s crush on him, but he had considered it cute more than anything. But apparently the fifteen-year-old’s feelings had been true enough to draw her to him after death.
“Are they coming now?”
“Someone crashed into the fence on the far end. It’s down and now they’re coming. They’ll be here soon.” Cassidy’s big dark eyes stared at him sadly. “I thought someone would save me before they got me. I didn’t think I would die. I kept thinking you or my dad would save me.”
“I tried to get to your pa’s place earlier. I’m sorry,” Rune whispered, his throat suddenly tight.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt anymore.” Cassidy tilted her head, tears in her eyes. “I was going to marry you when I grew up.”
Rune lowered his gaze. “Cassidy, I’m so sorry. I wish I could have been there for you.” Raising his gaze, he saw he was alone again.
With a sigh, he killed the slowly chilling water and stepped into the freezing cold room.
“Tito! They’re coming!” he called out.
Chapter 9
Tito was hunkered beside a chair in the shadows of the family room observing the backyard when Rune slipped out of the downstairs bathroom, hastily dressed and braiding his long silver hair. Slipping through the gloom, Rune angled his head to look through the glass doors toward the area past the pool.
“There’s movement out there in the trees,” Tito whispered. “At first it just looks like branches swaying, but then I can just make out the shape of heads.”
“Did you check the front?”
Tito shook his head. “Almost too scared to move, man. I didn’t want them spotting me and charging the house while you were still buck ass naked.”
Rune had to admit the other man had a point. Fighting zombies naked was not something he was interested in ever doing. “I’ll take a look.”
Though the house was secured and the alarm activated, Rune tensed as he cautiously progressed along the hall, sweeping his Glocks back and forth between doorways. Finally reaching the front, he drew the curtain away from the window with the barrel of his gun. The wide expanse of the front yard slanted down toward the iron gates and granite wall, illuminated only by small lamps lining the drive. Great swaths of lawn were hidden by the prevalent darkness. Staring into the pitch black areas, Rune felt the hair on his neck stand on end. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him, but he thought he detected movement.
On the toes of his boots, he hurried to where Tito was on guard. Just as he stepped into the family room, the motion lights outside flipped on, the brightness blinding him briefly as he dropped to the floor.
Outside, the eerie moans of the dead rose in a great wave.
Then the first zombie stepped into the light. It was a ghastly looking creature with strips of cloth and meat hanging from gnawed limbs. There was no face, but a grinning skull enshrouded in bloody gore.
Keeping low to stay out of sight, Tito crawled toward the kitchen. Rune followed, listening to the swell of the moans and screeches outside. The light was drawing the undead to the house. This was something he would have to remember in the future.
To slip over the appliances they had used to barricade the kitchen door, the men were forced to stand, bringing them into view of the creatures descending on the house. The second Tito crawled onto the washer, the noise of the approaching dead rose in volume. Rune briefly glimpsed the massive cluster of undead reaching the pool area as he scooted over the tops of the laundry machines. He hoped the front of the house wasn’t going to be as dangerous.
“Maybe most of them will fall into the pool,” Tito said while hurrying across the expanse of the large kitchen.
Somewhere in the house, glass shattered.
“Or not,” Rune grunted.
The motion lights on the side of the house flicked on, spilling bright light through the kitchen windows. More ruined bodies of flesh stepped into view. Rune paused to glance out at them, trying to ascertain the level of threat. Most were so badly mauled they could barely trudge along, but a few were whole and dangerously aggressive as they pushed their way through their slower brethren. A tall, muscled man, with his throat torn out and a few bites on his arms, tossed the shambling dead aside and raced for the kitchen window.
Drawing his weapon, Rune waited, wanting to see what the rampaging creature would do. To his horror—and amusement—the zombie struck the side of the house, its face smashing into the glass, splattering it with blood. Smashing its head and fists against the window, the thing howled, drawing more zombies toward it. There was a loud cracking noise, then fissures crisscrossed the glass, spreading outward.
“Rune!” Tito called out from the doorway into the garage.
“I want to see how far these fuckers are willing to go,” Rune answered shortly.
Somewhere in the house, moans responded to their voices.
“Dude, they’re coming!” Tito exclaimed, his words punctuated by the slap of flesh against the cracking glass.
The window shattered, the glass plinking onto the counter and into the deep stainless steel sinks. The zombie thrust one arm through the broken frame, the shards ripping away flesh. Rune shot him in the forehead, silencing him. Around the fallen body, gray-tinged bloody arms burst through the opening.
“Rune, let’s go!” Tito repeated.
“We gotta know their limits and behavior, or we won’t know how to hunt them,” Rune answered gruffly.
The thunk of flesh against metal and low growls announced the arrival of the dead at the kitchen barricade. Rune gave them a short glance, stepped into the laundry room, and shut the door.
In the garage, Tito had the door to the truck open, one foot set on the runner. “How we doing this?”
“Open the garage, and I’ll clear out anything that tries to come in. You floor it, I follow. Open the gates, we do the same thing.”
Now Tito was the one hesitating even though the moans of the dead were increasing outside. “Rune, I got some friends stranded north of here. I promised them I would go back for them after getting my family.”
“Want m
e to go check them out?”
“No, no. They’re safer there than anywhere else I think. I will go back for them. But...if...I show up...like my mama...”
“If you show up like your mama did, just tell me where they are, and I’ll find a safe spot for them. I’ll get them.”
“That’s all I wanted to hear.” Tito slung his lean body into the cab of the truck and banged the door shut.
Despite his gruff and somewhat calm demeanor, Rune had a knot of tension right behind his left eye. He hated facing the zombies at night. It would be harder to see once they were away from the house and the damn automatic lights. Charlene sat directly behind the larger vehicle, which granted Rune a limited view of either side of the truck. It would have to do though.
The electric motor of the garage door hummed to life and one of the four doors into the garage began to yawn open. As the heavy wood panel slid up on the rollers, Rune snorted as yet another automatic light snapped on outside. If the zombies didn’t know the men were in the garage yet, they did now. Rune slung his leg over his bike and started her as the truck roared to life. The stink of exhaust and death filled his nostrils.
The garage door wasn’t even halfway up on the rollers when a zombie slammed into it. Rune could see the spindly legs of the undead creature, covered in blood and filth. The thing didn’t crawl under the door like he expected, but banged against it, causing it to shudder under the onslaught. Another set of legs joined the first, then another. Rune’s fingers tensed around the heavy Glock he clutched in his left hand. The zombies clawed at the door while it rose, and their hands followed it after it lifted above their heads. They were confused by its disappearance and it took several long seconds for the creatures to realize they could now enter the garage. In that short period of time, Tito gunned the engine of the truck and it surged forward. A few of the undead were in the path of the truck, and they bounced off the deer guard and onto the ground.
As The World Dies Untold Tales Volume 3 Page 5