Zombified (Book 1): The Head Hunter

by Sowder, Kindra

  The terrifying color of his eyes told her he was a Revenant, a bloodsucker created by a different state of Syc infection. Those same eyes glanced around the space as he opened his mouth to shout at his men moving through the hallway.

  “Move,” he yelled as they fell in behind him. “Get these rats outside. Now!”

  Before Misty had a chance to move away from the door, his eyes met hers, and she gasped.

  “Crap,” she whimpered as she backed away and removed her gun from its holster.

  She no longer cared for her modesty in a gray tank top and gray pajama pants as well as her thick-soled flats. The only way out of the room was the door that was no longer an option, so as she raised her weapon and held her thumb over the safety, she kept her eyes focused on the empty sliver of a doorway, knowing it wouldn’t remain that way for long. Her breath hitched in her chest, and her stare gaze never wavered as she listened to the cries and hurried footsteps moving away from her room. All except for one pair. She blinked, but before she could follow through with it, the Rev appeared in the doorway and made his way through as quickly as she had appeared there.

  Her thumb switched off the safety, and the pad of her index finger softly touched the trigger, knowing she would need to pull it soon enough and her trigger finger was beginning to itch. He moved toward her with speed and agility she had never seen, the hiss coming from between his pale lips animal and hungry; making his appearance even more primal because the blood running down his chin from however many human beings he had fed upon.

  The Rev laughed, looking at Misty’s weapon, and taunted, “Do you really think that will kill me?”

  She used her thumb to pull the hammer back on her pistol and kept her face free of emotion, even though her hands trembled. Metal clicked against metal as the gun shook in her hands.

  “No,” she paused, taking a deep breath, “but it’ll hurt.”

  She pulled the trigger, and the shot rang out.

  ***

  Cries echoed through the still night air within the Station walls as Joshua and Mark stood outside with everyone. Five Revs stood with them, keeping a close eye on the humans as they stood huddled in their perceived cocoon of safety. Joshua looked to Mark. His eyes shifted back and forth between the empty courtyard before them and the others standing around them.

  “Where are the girls?” Joshua whispered as he continued to scan his surroundings. Misty and Jenny were nowhere to be seen, making him wonder if the Revs had killed them or if they were still inside the building, having managed to be missed entirely by them.

  “I have no idea, man. I don’t see them anywhere,” Mark replied.

  Joshua continued to look around but heard a very familiar string of grunts and angry tones. He turned, Mark following close behind, as Misty emerged from the exit door, dragged by the Rev leader that had led the rest of them inside the Station walls. This shouldn’t have happened. The Stations were equipped with some of the most powerful security systems on the face of the planet because of the changes the environment had taken on after the meteorite shower and the crimson fog that had rippled along the ground, taking anything and everything from them in a matter of hours or days.

  The Rev shoved Misty into the crowd as Joshua and Mark moved to stand in front of them, her body colliding with Mark’s chest as she held onto her left forearm. She winced in obvious pain, the Rev having gripped her so hard that bruises were already beginning to spring forth on her skin. The Rev held her G.O.D. issued pistol in his other hand and, once she was free of his grasp, he disassembled the weapon and dropped the parts to the dusty ground, the last piece of the gun to fall being the magazine. And he smiled as the rest of them watched in fear.

  Joshua wondered what this was all about as he and Mark held Misty protectively between them while she held her injured arm against her body. The other five Revs moved around them and watched their actions to ensure that none of them would attempt to run. There would be no such event taking place. The man in charge removed his hood, letting it fall on his shoulders. His eyes met each one of theirs, the blue veins barely showing underneath his pale flesh in the moonlight as well as artificial light from within the Station walls. A sinister grin spread across his lips and his eyes met Misty’s, causing Mark to pull her even closer against his chest as Joshua’s hand moved to sit on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture. Joshua looked around the group, wondering where the G.O.D. officials were who were supposed to protect them from an assault or invasion. They were among the crowd still dressed in their night clothes. That was when he finally noticed the bodies of those in black uniforms and bullet-proof vests on the ground, their blood spilled into the dirt underneath them from their mangled throats. Each of their heads had been removed from their bodies to ensure that no infection would take place.

  “Now,” the Rev in charged shouted into the heavens, showing he was the one in charge. “I am going to ask you all a question, and you are going to answer me honestly. Do we have an understanding?”

  Silence flowed over the group like a tidal wave, but no reply was needed. He knew that all of them would answer to the best of their ability and would do so because they wanted to live to see the next day in a world where that was never a guarantee. He scanned the crowd again, making certain his target was nowhere to be seen. Her absence confirmed, Jenkins moved closer to the group and removed a photo from within the interior pocket of his jacket, making certain the light hit it so that the humans could make out the face on its surface.

  “My target is a young woman, between the ages of twenty-three to twenty-five with brown hair, brown eyes, and a tanned complexion. If you have seen her, you would recognize her instantly. Her name is Jennifer Meldano, and she moved here to Station Four three weeks ago. Have any of you seen her?”

  He held it up higher, so the light flashed on the shining image, and lowered it to then pass it around the group. As he watched them glance over the image of Jennifer, he could make out hints of recognition flash in the eyes and faces of some of the inhabitants of the Station, but no one said a word. He listened intently past the warm night breeze that moved through the courtyard of the Station. Heart beats picked up, and breathing became more labored. The scent of perspiration caught in his nostrils and he knew they had all seen her but, as he knew from the invasion of the other three Stations, they were all ordered not to give anything away no matter what your relationship with someone was like. And he had a feeling that if Jennifer was like her father in any respect, she didn’t get along with many of the individuals who lived within its walls.

  The photo made its pass through the very back row of the group and he picked up on one sharp intake of breath, turning in just enough time to see the color leave the face of a young blond woman. She looked to be around the same age as another blond woman tucked in close next to her. The other woman had her hand over her mouth, nails perfectly manicured just like the one he knew would most likely give him the information he was looking for.

  His eyes flicked to one of his henchmen and back to the girl, the Rev soldier nodding as he recognized the order. He moved swiftly toward the girl, who cried out when she looked up and realized he was coming for her, but she froze in place despite the fact he knew her instincts screamed at her to run. The soldier took her arm in his pale hand and jerked her roughly toward Jenkins, the girl losing her grasp on the photo. It fluttered to the ground and was quickly coated in the dust that surrounded them. Yes, the meteorite shower had vastly changed the landscape of what used to be lush and green Tennessee, all except for the mountains which were still covered in life and greenery. It took that instant for him to remember he didn’t miss it at all as the girl was shoved to stand in front of him, her whimpering causing a violent urge to ripple through him to dispatch her and be done with her altogether. Her blond hair whipped in the warm breeze and, upon further examination, her knees were stained with the rust-colored dirt beneath their feet. She had fallen on her way to the courtyard, which made him chuckle slightly w
ith amusement. She refused to look at him, keeping her gaze averted to the ground as everyone watched her shaking in the face of his power.

  “What is your name, girl?” Jenkins asked, looking looked down at her.

  She didn’t answer but stood there shaking like a leaf as he sneered down at her. He raised his hand and gripped her chin between his fingers, forcing her to look up at him even though she still fought him. She cried out in pain and stopped resisting, her blue eyes meeting his pale gray ones as tears reflected in them from the lights around them.

  “I won’t ask you again. What’s your name?”

  “Amber. Amber Galveston,” she replied with another whimper.

  His fangs throbbed as he stared down at her. The fear gliding along her pale skin smelled delicious, and he had to hold his breath to keep from killing her right then and there.

  “Well, Amber, today is your lucky day,” Jenkins admitted as he chuckled at her display of terror. He looked to the same soldier who had brought her to him. “Bring me the photo.” The soldier did as ordered and Jenkins help the photo up again, making certain the girl saw it as he held it up next to his face.

  “Jennifer Meldano. You know her, do you not?”

  She nodded as a tear escaped her wide eyes.

  “No, I want to hear you say it. Before I lose my patience and kill you just because you’re pathetic.”

  “Yes, yes. I know her,” she shouted, the hesitation leaving her as tears flowed down her cheeks and ran over the exposed flesh of his fingers. They were warm, and he could smell the salt in them on the air.

  “Where is she?”

  Her shaking stopped, and she froze in place as he held her there by her face alone. She looked confused, and he could see the wheels turning inside of her mind in search of the answer.

  “I—I—I don’t know,” she stammered. “She didn’t come out with the rest of us.” Fear took place on her face again, and he knew she was telling the truth. “I’m sorry, I don’t know. Please. Please don’t kill me.” Her voice rose in pitch with her terror, and he savored the scent of it as it moved along her flesh.

  “Oh, stop your whimpering. You’re like a filthy animal,” he insulted as he pushed her away from him. She fell to the ground and dust kicked up around her, but no one moved, not even her friend who had been cowering right next to her not even minutes before.

  Jenkins pointed at two of his Rev soldiers, one having been turned right after his transition and the other only a few months old, and growled.

  “You two, go find her. If she is not inside the Station, she is in the town below. And make it quick.”

  ***

  Near the Kentucky Dam

  July 2027

  Station 4 – Township

  Jenny heard the screeching of the emergency alarm as it ripped through the air, startling her as she sat on the ground in the darkness. Her head whipped around in the direction of the noise, her heart picking up the pace as she rose to her feet and watched. Nothing happened, and all there was was the sound meant to terrify everyone so that they would act. To let them know that something even more terrifying had made it inside the walls. Jenny could barely see anything past the old buildings surrounding her, so without a second thought, she ran in the direction of the Station, stopping just within the town limits to watch the sky light up with the artificial light that G.O.D. could afford to power for the Station.

  “What the heck is going on up there?” she whispered to herself.

  That was when she noticed that no one within the town had emerged from their homes. No one seemed to care, or had they been ordered to stay inside to keep them as safe as possible? She had a feeling, considering G.O.D.’s firm hand when it came to anything, that they had been told to remain indoors in the event the emergency alarm sounded. Which she understood completely. Then, as quickly as it came, the alarm fell silent, leaving her in the relative darkness she had chosen to surround herself with. Now she was rethinking her decision. She needed to be up there, helping in any way that she could. What if someone was dead or injured? What about her newly found friends? She couldn’t just leave them to whatever fate there was for them up there.

  A scream ripped through the air, high and female, but she couldn’t tell who it belonged to. What if it was Misty? She took a step forward but had to stop herself. Two dark figures moved toward the town in the distance, coming up quickly, and she instantly knew what they were. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that two Revs were on their way. Especially when they pushed their hoods back and exposed the shining flesh where their hair had fallen out due to infection by the Syc parasite. What they were out there for, she had no idea, but it couldn’t be good. What she did know was that it would be a good idea to get out of sight before she was spotted. As a human being in a world crawling with monsters beyond the imagination, the cold hard truth was that there was no safe place for her unless she was already dead and buried.

  Jenny turned as quickly as she could and put her back against the closest building, hoping her black clothes would offer her a little more safety in the near dark, despite the fact that Revs had great night vision. If she could keep out of sight long enough for them to walk right past her and not turn around, she could make a run for it, but to where? And they would eventually hear her, especially when the thick soles of her boots scraped against the asphalt. Their shoes scuffed along the broken ground as the Revs crossed over into the broken street of the town that no longer had a name, and they spoke rather candidly for what she assumed were supposed to be soldiers following orders.

  “I can’t believe he sent us out here to look for her. This is stupid,” one Rev stated. He was male and sounded young, maybe even in his late teens when he was turned. From the tone of his voice, it didn’t sound like he had been a Revenant for long. Maybe a few months or less since it didn’t possess the deep, gravelly base known to those that were turned years prior.

  “We follow orders, that’s what we are made for. To be soldiers. We do what Jenkins says, and he doesn’t send out to the sun. You got that? Just keep your mouth shut and let’s get this over with.”

  This one sounded older, the gravelly tone of his voice showing that he hadn’t had to take in human nourishment for years. Most likely changed during or right after the meteorite shower. Of that much Jenny was certain. The more human blood a Rev took in, the more the true voice of the creature inside him that held his heart in its grasp took hold. As if that life force strengthened it in more ways than just one. It was interesting but more than she wanted to know.

  “Yeah, yeah, let’s just do this so we can get out of here. I’m starving,” the younger one replied.

  Her heart leaped into her throat, hoping she wasn’t their next meal. When being fed off of by a Rev it was inevitable that you would turn, the process taking between minutes to a few hours. The only way to avoid it was to sever the spinal cord, the brain, or the heart. Those were the only three things that needed to be destroyed to ensure someone who was bitten didn’t turn because of the Syc or to kill one. Hurt them any other way, and they still lived, even if they bled out. All they would have to do was bite the nearest human and ingest their blood to replace their own, and the parasite would work its way through quickly. This made her happy she had picked up her gun and brought it with her for her walk. Always be prepared. It wasn’t just the motto for the Boy Scouts anymore. It was a way of life.

  Jenny pulled the pistol from h its holster and brought it up to a point toward the sky as she turned off the safety, a slight click sounding as the metal scraped. She winced at the noise and hoped the Revs hadn’t heard it. As she watched, they continued to move away from her and, if they had heard it, they did a very good job at acting as if they hadn’t. They disappeared around a corner, and she knew this was her window. She crossed slowly from the concrete sidewalk to the broken asphalt of the road, trying to move as quietly as she could so they wouldn’t hear her. Somehow in the near dark, she managed to avoid large chunks of the rock
and her feet made it into the soft grass. Now she could run for it. Her arms pumped at her sides as she picked up the pace, not once thinking of turning the safety off on the firearm just in case.

  A rush of air moved past her in a whoosh, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. The Revs had heard her, and she hoped she could at least get one round off before they killed her and drained her dry. The brush of cold flesh on hers caused panic to set in, something she knew she shouldn’t let happen. One you panicked you were an easy mark, and she had always avoided that as well as she could hope to under the circumstances, but this time may be different. This time she was seemingly the target before she even knew it. She changed her direction to the orchard instead of the Station itself, but quickly found it was more confusing than the straight shot to the Station because she couldn’t see. Her hand in front of her face was barely visible, only the soft light of the outline of her hand any indicator that it was truly there.

  She stumbled slightly over exposed tree roots and ducked low to avoid being hit by the low hanging branches of peach trees. Her breathing came ragged and labored from the sprint, but she was able to make certain it could barely be heard over the deafening quiet surrounding her and her hunters. Hunched down, she settled against a thick tree trunk and worked to slow her breathing as well as quiet her erratic heart, which she was confident they could hear regardless, and were just playing games with her. What happened next confirmed it.

  “Here, chicky chicky. We won’t hurt you,” the younger of the two shouted in a sing-song voice. “You know we can hear you.”

  These words caused her to tremble violently, the metal on metal click of the gun as it shook in her hand hard to miss, especially to them. She placed her hand with the gun in it against her leg, pressing her arm firm against it and the other right on top of it, attempting to hold back the tremors that threatened to give away her position—even though it they certainly already had because her pursuers could sense her very presence and position.