“Yes, sir, how may I help you?” Erica asked openly.
“Tell me, do you have any security cameras or silent alarms? I am a security consultant with your father.” Ivan’s thick accent was hard for Erica to understand.
“No, sir, we’re just a small-time junkyard. There’s not a whole lot to steal around here.” Erica turned to see Ivan standing behind her.
“That is not good…for you.”
Ivan went to the front door and locked the bolt. “You know you are a very beautiful girl,” Ivan stated as he start to wheel the blinds closed.
“Thank you, sir, but I don’t try to look pretty. I just work for my dad,” Erica said, as she calmly picked up her office phone and hit the intercom button.
“Don’t do that,” Ivan commanded. He was now kneeling in front of her, holding both of her wrists. “Your father owes me something, and I’m going to take it from you!” She could see her own scared reflection in his eyes.
“No! Fuck off, you weirdo!”
She wrestled her left hand free as she reached into her purse. Ivan reassured his grip, and he pushed her on top of the desk. Erica struggled with all of her might. She began to kick and scream, and Ivan rolled her onto her stomach. As she was bent over her desk, Ivan spread her legs, and he leaned on top of her pulling her hair. He whispered, “I’m going to fuck you, and you’re going to enjoy it!” Ivan began to tear away her dress and panties. Erica laid there frozen in fear. Just as Ivan was about to penetrate, he felt a hairy forearm slide under his right armpit and around the left side of his neck. As Ivan was standing there behind a frightened teenager who was shaking with fear, he felt a sharp pain radiating from his genitals. “Which would you prefer: I just snap your neck now, or I cut you to pieces?” A voice thundered from behind.
“Do you know who I am?” Ivan said trembling.
“Yeah, you’re the guy trying to rape an innocent girl, but I’m the guy who’s got a knife to your cock. Who’s got authority here, asshole? Erica, get up, and go lock yourself in the break room.” Erica, who was still frozen in fear, turned around to find Devin holding Ivan’s penis hostage.
Erica rose from her attempted rape, suddenly; the color came back to her face like a cloud moving out of the sun. “Devin, I—,” Erica tried to say something, but she was cut off by Devin. “No talking. Go lock yourself in the break room,” Devin commanded as he reassured his grip around Ivan’s neck.
“What about Dad?” Erica asked as she covered herself with her arms.
“Don’t worry, Frank’s got that covered.” At that very moment, a shotgun blast rang. “Frank!” From outside the propped open glass door, another shot rang out.
“Yeah!” Frank yelled facing the two bigger Ivans.
“You OK?” Devin yelled back at him from behind the leading Ivan.
“No,” Frank said as he walked in the back door to find Devin holding a man’s penis at knifepoint and Erica emotionally shaken against the wall. “What the hell did I miss?” he asked as he reloaded his double barrel.
“She hit the interco…,” Devin began as his focus was turned to Robert standing behind Frank, dwarfing him in size. Robert’s face was bruised, and his eyes had gone red. Blood soaked his button-down shirt and khakis.
“Boss, sorry about the mess. I got scared,” Frank spoke as his attention then turned to the two big men in black suits arising from the ground. “What? I don’t understand it! I put a shell into their chests!” Frank said, as he raised the gun to them again.
“Dad! No!” Erica shrieked as Robert grabbed Frank by the shoulder and stuck his teeth into Frank’s neck.
“Ah! You fuck!” Frank screamed as he hit Robert in the chest with the butt of his gun.
ESCAPE
CHAPTER 9
MONDAY 1135 CST
MEMPHIS
Devin threw the trembling Ivan to the ground, dashing over the desks and knocking over a computer, to get to Frank and Robert. He grabbed a lamp from the side table and forced it into Robert knocking him back a few feet. Devin went to pick up Frank from the ground. Frank was bleeding from the wound on his neck. “What the fuck is going on here?” Frank exclaimed when he got back to his feet. Devin exchanged Frank’s double barrel for a handkerchief covered in grease. “What do you want me to do with this?”
“Put pressure on the wound, numbnuts; stop the bleeding,” Devin responded. “Everyone to the break room!” Devin said as he pointed the double barrel toward the sickly looking Robert. Erica, in shock from her run-in with Ivan, stood motionless gazing at her father.
“Erica! Break room! Now!” the angry dwarf commanded. Erica was shaken out of her dismay and did as she was told by Frank. She ran behind Devin pointing the shotgun at her father.
“Dad?” she whimpered.
“He’s not your dad! I don’t know what’s going on, but I know he isn’t your dad. Get back!” Devin said as he walked backward keeping Robert and the two body builders at bay with the shotgun.
“What about me?”
Devin glanced over his shoulder to see Ivan the Rapist up against the far wall trembling with his pants still around his ankles.
“Best of luck, motherfucker!” Devin shouted as he closed and locked the break-room door. The sickly Robert and the two large Ivans began to claw at the door and screech. Ivan the Rapist looked at these strange creatures. He didn’t understand what they were or why they were working together; he arrived at the junkyard with the two large-body Ivans to beat some money out of Robert. He thought it would have been an easy snatch and grab. He chuckled at how quickly greed can change a man. “Hey, boys,” Ivan interrupted the trio of bloody men, trying to pull up his pants. The three blood-soaked men turned to the direction of the sound. Ivan the Rapist stood there pretending like he still had dignity and control over his soldiers. “Boys, what is going on? Why did you let this man go? Why are you not in pain? Are you all coked out again? Look, I told you…” The trio of moaners began to walk toward Ivan leaving bloodstains in the carpet. “Not while we were working! You have all day to do as much coke as you want, but not while we’re working! Why are you all staring at me like that?” There was no response from the two Ivans or the proximal Robert.
Jeff watched as Cincinnati was busy living as a city. People were on their way to work. The siren and spinning lights on top of the Humvees made a quick path out of the traffic. Jeff looked out the window to see people coming out of their vehicles. “Look!” he said pointing forward. Henry kept his face on the modulator in front of him.
“Large heat signatures!” Henry called out looking for a response.
“It’s a traffic jam?” Jeff asked.
“Blow it!” the beret said, not turning his head to respond.
“Firing!” Henry called out.
“What?” came from Jeff’s mouth before he saw two streams of white smoke connect the sky to the situation in front of them. The road in front of them ignited in orange flame.
“Inside!” the beret spoke into the radio. The gunner who had been on the SAW turret quickly squatted into the Humvee.
Jeff began to panic. “What the hell is happening? What the hell did you do that for?” He grabbed Henry by the flight suit. “Those were Americans you just fired at!” Jeff shouted. “Collins!” was the last thing Jeff heard before the gunner placed a right hook across Jeff’s face. Jeff’s vision went dark.
Back inside the break room, Devin was tending to Frank’s wound on his neck. Erica was crouched against the wall in the fetal position. She only had one shoulder of her dress on, and she had bound her dress around her the best she could. Most of her body was exposed. She sat there sobbing. “What do you think we should do?” Frank said chokingly.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on outside. We need to get you to a hospital. Erica…Erica?” Devin motioned toward her; she shifted her body to force her face into a corner. “Erica, I know things are fucked up, but we can’t just sit here. We have to get to safety. There is no telling how l
ong it will take for those things to break down that door. Erica, take a jumpsuit. It will cover you better. I’ll turn around. You need to change,” Devin said as he handed the spare one-piece denim jumpsuit still crisp from the wrapper.
Robert had ordered some new ones because the men’s oil stains were getting on the furniture, but he forgot to order the right size for Frank. Devin found the idea of a new grease suit to be ridiculous because it would just get dirty after an hour of this job. Garry would never give up his lucky jumpsuit for a new one, so they just sat in the break room. Erica didn’t turn until she heard the screams of her attacker. Through the wall, they all heard what sounded like Ivan the Rapist getting torn apart. “He screams like a bitch,” Frank said jokingly as he coughed up some blood. Devin was pacing back and forth, listening to lead Ivan getting eaten by the three creatures on the other side of the dry wall.
“Wait, what about Gary?” Devin looked at the others; the only person to respond was Frank with a shoulder shrug. “We need to get out of this room. It’s a death trap,” Devin said as he was looking for an alternative exit. He noticed a ladder behind some lockers. “I found it!” Devin said excitingly.
Devin climbed the ladder and opened the hatch to the roof. He hopped down. At this point, Erica had changed into her extra-large denim jumpsuit and began to zip up the front as Devin had come around the corner, and they exchanged a glance. “OK, Frank, are you ready to climb?” There was no response from the bleeding man on the ground.
“Frank?” Erica whispered. Devin reached down to feel a pulse.
“Erica, he’s burning up, and I can’t find a pulse.”
Devin stood up and grabbed the shotgun. He aimed down the sights at the dead dwarf. As Devin closed his left eye to align the line of sight down the bridge of the double barrel, he began to squeeze the trigger. All of a sudden, the deceased’s head turned straight ahead. As the eyes opened and a shriek was released, Devin fired the left barrel into the dwarf’s chest. As Frank leaned forward, the forehead of the bitten man pressed against the smoking barrel of the shotgun. Without hesitation, Devin fired the right barrel into the cranium of the corpse that had regenerated life. “Oh fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Shit! What the hell is going on?” Devin shouted as he pulled the ladder down.
Erica had turned away from the final blow. She had pressed her forehead against the rungs of the steel ladder for a reality check. “This has to be a dream,” she said as Devin realized he had fired both barrels of Frank’s double barrel. He thought about searching the little man’s pockets for more ammunition, but he resisted. He knew the round to the chest would have killed a normal man, but he wasn’t sure about what the bitten man could have taken. Devin took the gun, turned it around, and began to bash the remaining skull of the dead man.
Savagely, Devin beat the twice-dead man’s head into a pulp. When he was finally out of breath from a good number of blows from the butt of the shotgun, Devin collapsed on to his knees. He began to hear moaning from the other side of the door. “Fuck, I can never catch a break.” The beings on the other side of the door began to pound at the door. The crappy wooden door wouldn’t keep them out for long. Devin began to rapidly search the little man’s pockets for anything he could find. Car keys, a wallet, a pocketknife, a pack of cigarettes, and some loose change. “No fucking shells!” Devin said as he started to pocket all the items from Frank’s pants. Hands began to come through the cheap wooden door; Devin looked up in time to notice. “Fuck!” he exclaimed. “Erica!”
By this time, Erica had climbed the ladder, and to her dismay, the world she knew was covered in smoke, and alarms and sirens were wailing. Screams and explosions could be heard in the surrounding area. “Here!” Devin shouted as he tossed the shotgun onto the roof. Erica didn’t flinch. The shotgun clanked onto the gravel roof. As Devin climbed onto the roof, he too felt the surge of destruction. Suddenly, a hand appeared and grabbed Devin by the ankle. He fell on his face and felt himself being dragged toward the creatures that had begun to ascend the ladder. Devin tried to kick the hand free; he didn’t want to kick too hard because he didn’t see the head of the creature. If Devin knew anything, he knew he didn’t want to be caught in the jaws of the creature on a missed kick. Devin reached for the gun. It was just out of arms reach. He turned his head to see what was behind him. It was the lead Ivan.
Devin reached out and grabbed Erica’s denim-covered calf. She came back to reality; she looked down and realized that Devin is in trouble. Erica grabbed the shotgun and tried to fire it at the arm of the attacker, but the trigger clicked with emptiness. She followed the arm to the face. It was Ivan, the man who tried to rape her. She felt the rage fill her soul. She turned the gun around and began to pound the butt of the shotgun into the face that was sticking out of the roof hatch. Without mercy, she continued to beat the face of the attacker until it released the grip on Devin’s leg. Devin stood up and kicked the hatch closed. “Fuck! Erica, where is your car?” Devin expelled full of adrenaline. Erica pointed to her Bug’s tail sticking out from the front of the office parking lot. “Too far! We’ll take Frank’s truck. It isn’t too far. We can jump!” From the pounding coming from the roof hatch to the explosions, Devin and Erica heard a scream for help. Somewhere close. Gary was being chased through the junkyard by a bloody creature. Devin shouted at Gary, trying to get his attention, but Gary was too concerned with the blood-soaked creature, which was naked and covered in mud, chasing after him with great force and speed. Erica watched in dismay as the naked man was gaining on Gary. With a great leap, the naked man tackled Gary and began to feast on his chest. Erica and Devin watched in horror as this man, this thing was eating the flesh off old Gary’s chest.
Devin grabbed Erica and put her face into his chest. Devin watched as the naked man and other creatures found the meal, and they too began to consume pieces of flesh from the motionless body in the junkyard. Suddenly, the creatures stopped feeding and began to walk away. After a few paces, they twitched, and red oozed around the backside of their bodies. Then, Gary stood back up. His eyes met Devin’s with a glanced stare. Gary was awake, and he was hungry. Gary began to stumble toward the building. “Um. Shit! OK, we’ve got to get out of here. Erica, do you trust me?” She nodded in compliance.
“I’ve got Frank’s keys. He had the shotgun. We need more ammo. There is bound to be some in the truck. OK. Are you with me? I don’t know what these things are. All I know is that they are going to come through that hatch, and we don’t need to be here when that happens.” She nodded in agreement. “I need you to get their attention. I’m gonna go get Frank’s truck; then I want you to jump in the back when I back up to the roof. OK?” They shared eye contact. They were both scared, but they knew they needed to do something and do it fast.
Devin grabbed the shotgun. Even though it didn’t have any ammo, he could still use it as a blunt object. He held the keys in his mouth and the shotgun in both hands. When Devin began to get to the edge of the roof, Erica began to scream. She screamed all of her frustration and rage out. She was almost raped, her dad was one of the creatures, and she just demolished the head of her attacker with the butt of a shotgun stolen from a dead man.
All the while Erica was screaming, Devin jumped down with a crash. He didn’t even flinch when he hit the trash dumpster; he just started off running toward the white dual-wheeled pickup truck. Devin saw the naked man covered in mud staring at him. As the naked man began to run toward Devin, Devin turned the shotgun into a lance and knocked the naked man aside. With a swiping motion, Devin hit the keyless entry for Frank’s pickup with his teeth.
The blinkers flashed. And a ray of hope filled Devin, and he jumped into the cab of the pickup and fired up the diesel engine. Devin turned the key. Nothing happened. The dashboard came to life. A bloody face and a hand came alongside the driver side of the truck, leaving a streak of blood down the window. Devin tried the key again. The engine wouldn’t turn over. “Goddamn diesel piece of shit!” he shouted as he had to wait for
the hemi engine to prime itself. After an icon had disappeared from the dashboard, the engine roared to life. Devin flipped the gear into reverse, running over the first naked man with a crunching sound. As Devin revved the engine in reverse, he backed the bed of the truck up to the building with a crash.
Erica, scared out of her mind, took a leap of faith into the back of the truck, and Devin reached the back to open the back-window slit to allow Erica into the cab. As she started to crawl into the cab, Devin peeled out of the junkyard and forced his way onto the street with Erica’s legs still dangling out into the bed of the truck.
As Devin veered the truck right along the shoulder, left across the median, and into oncoming traffic, he didn’t know where he was going, but he knew he wanted to get far away from the junkyard. In the cab of the truck, there was pure silence. Outside the truck was pure chaos. People were running, screaming, and being chased and eaten. Vehicles were crashing and burning. Creatures were running amok. Creatures were feeding on the slow and those who were more interested in their cell-phone screens than to notice those around them. “Turn the radio on. See if there is any news. Hang on!” Devin finally broke the silence as he swerved to avoid a motor-vehicle crash.
With the push of a button, the radio lit up and started playing a country song. “Jesus, not this!” Devin said as he refused to die listening to country music. Erica dialed it to the FM frequency and began to scan the stations. “…tion. Attention. This is KPPX news. Memphis has been attacked. At the moment, we don’t know who is to blame or what is going on. What we do know is that there are a group of ravenous people going around and biting people. This group of people seems to be infected with some form of virus. Again, we are not sure how this started. But from what our sources have gathered, these groups of people came from the Mississippi River and have begun infecting anyone they come in contact with via a bite. We will continue to give updates here on KPPX. All we can tell you is to stay indoors and keep away from the infected. The infected have some if not all of the following symptoms: bloody eyes, fever, pale skin, awkward movement, bad breath, and a hunger for human flesh. Again, I am told to inform you to stay inside and keep away from anyone who I have just described. {Silence} Attention. Attention. This is KPPX new….” Devin flipped the radio off. “Well, got any ideas?” he asked Erica, who was silently crying with her head in her arms and her knees to her chest.
The Week of the Dead Page 3
