The Dead Rise (Book 1): Zombies and Chainsaws

by Evans, Mike

  Chuck gave a thumbs-up. He said, “I think that is a deal that I can handle.”

  The four men ran to the edge of the alleyway heading out the back realizing they were not much better off than they had been if they would have ran straight toward the dead. They were flooding the streets and making travel difficult for the men. They walked by one of the landmark sites in the town square and for no particular reason something caught Jude's eye. The sign said ‘Welcome to the Home of One of America's largest Cemeteries. Ten acres of Resting Grounds.’

  The sign made Jude’s stomach turn. Chuck looked back at him reading the sign and said, “What the hell are you doing man? We need to get the fuck out of here. Come on let's go now, come on Jude we got to go.”

  Jude acted as if he was in a trance until Chuck came over and pulled him by the sleeve snapping him out of it, and making him jump as he thought that one of the dead had finally gotten him. He mumbled barely able to be understood.

  Jude said, "Guys look at this plaque. It says that we are in the nation's biggest cemetery. Why in the hell would a place like this have the biggest cemetery?"

  Chuck said, “Well with the way our luck is going today, I really can't say too much about how it surprises me. I think we are past the point where it matters, because what is done is done. I think we need to get the hell out of here now and not waste any more damn time. This place is just going to get worse.”

  The four ran through town just barely making it to the van. When they made it to the van Jude reached into empty pockets. He remembered he had given Pete and Roger the keys to the van and said, “Hey guys, where are the keys to the van?”

  Pete's face looked like he was going to puke. Pete said, “Oh shit. Oh no! Do you remember when you asked us for shotgun shells?”

  Jude said, "Don't fucking tell me this Pete. I'm serious don't give me any more bad news man."

  Pete shrugged and said, "Sorry Jude but all I got is bad news. It isn't like I did it on purpose. In all honesty, I do believe at that exact moment I did not think we would be getting out of that jail cell again. It isn't like I left them there on purpose. I didn't think they would ever serve a function to you and what little time I thought we had left on this sweet Earth."

  Jude stared for a moment not taking very long to come to the realization if the van was not going to run, the condition of the van was even less important to him. He brought back an elbow and sent it into the driver’s side window. Jude shattered the glass and then screamed in pain from the hit. He said, “Goddamn it that hurt. They sure as hell don't make it look like that in the movies do they?”

  Chuck pointed at the window and said, “That was bad ass man; that was like some Chuck Norris shit you're the man. Hotwire that damn thing and let's get out of here.”

  Jude said, "Why in God's name would I know how to hotwire something? I've owned all my cars. I don't have the slightest clue how you would steal a car. Do you know how to hotwire a car, Chuck?"

  Chuck said, “Well hell no I don't, I'm an honest law abiding individual. As long as you don't of course, count drinking and driving as a crime. So what are we going to do now that we can open the doors on this thing? What’d you break the window for then?”

  Jude said, “It doesn't take a genius to realize this van is quite possibly our only way to freedom.”

  Chuck went to speak, but Pete cut him off. Pete jumped a little at the prospect in front of them thinking about their salvation as a real possibility and said, "Jude this entire thing is full of chainsaws, axes, machetes, and all kinds of shit you can crush their heads in with. Think about it man we can make short work of those things we're practically home free."

  Not speaking, Jude climbed into the van carefully avoiding the broken glass on his seat. Jude jumped into the rear and opened the back two doors. He held on to one chainsaw for himself and started to distribute the rest just like it was another day on the job. The men took a few minutes preparing themselves placing forearm and lower leg guards in place which typically would protect them from the worst of accidents happening from the saws, but in today's case they were only worried about trying to stop bites from the dead and protecting their skin.

  They lined up the saws and filled each with as much gasoline as it could possibly hold and putting the rest in two containers. Each of the men also took a machete and an axe, clipping the machetes to their pants and wearing the axe across their back as a last ditch resort. It was a weapon which they hoped they would not have to resort to.

  The men started to walk out of town the visibility was difficult because of a light rain that started to fall as far as they could see. Had they known what they were in for they would have tried to stick it out in town for a little while longer until the rain had passed. Jude didn't feel like he had much time to waste, as he was not confident the dead would all stay resting across America. The main place in America he was worried about of course was his home sweet home of Adel. Roger said, “Hey you do realize how long it's going to take to walk where we drove in four hours right?”

  Pete said, “We aren’t going to walk that far. We're going to steal a car the first chance we get. I think Jude had the right idea getting out of town while we still can. God knows how many more of those things there are in town and they sure as hell didn't look like they're letting up when they were coming after us did they?”

  Chuck said, “Well it isn't like I wanted to stay in town either, it just seems like it's a hell of a long way to walk and no offense but the way the four of us look after a hard night of drinking and getting chased by zombies all morning doesn't quite scream friendly when it comes to hitchhiking. If somebody was dumb enough to pick us up they might not be the one I actually want to catch a ride with if you know what I mean.”

  Jude said, "All I'm doing is making the best guess I can man. I'm up for many options, but it just doesn't seem like we have a hell of a lot of good ones at our feet."

  The rain grew heavier and heavier until the point that they were not able to see even a foot in front of them. It was coming down in waves and the rain had a distinct smell to it that the men could not place, but they knew it did not smell natural. Chuck screamed over the rain he said, "What the hell is wrong with the water down here? It smells like somebody took a shit in it."

  Roger said, "That's a really good question, but I got one thing I know for sure. I'll even let you in on my secret. I'm not letting even a drop of that damn water in my mouth cause there's no way in hell something that smells that bad should be going in something this pretty."

  Jude said, “I think he's got a right good idea right there. No water in your mouth no disease in your mouth. You never know, it might be what made those dead come back? If that is what might have done it but I sure as hell don't want to drink any of it. But we are probably just being dumb, I'm sure it's okay.”

  Pete laughed at the men and took a large mouthful of the water in straining his head into the air filling it with a mouth full of water and drinking it happily and cringing at the taste. He was hot and hung over to truly care anymore about anything else for the day.

  Jude said, “What the hell are you doing drinking that water. I don’t know why you’d trust anything after the day we’ve had man. Spit that shit out now.”

  It was already too late it had made its path down his throat. Pete said, "I'm hung over man I need my damn water I can't help it. I'm not going to make it much further if I don't get hydrated."

  Chuck said, “You will walk plenty far. Hell, I can't imagine how long a dead guy can walk when things like sleep, food, never being thirsty, and probably a whole bunch of other shit people don't care about don't have to deal with no more.”

  Pete drank until he was content ignoring his friends and continuing walking and keeping up the pace with the other three. They walked for a half hour and the rain had started to let up. They had yet to see another human going across their path to ask for a ride. They figured there would be plenty of people headed out of town but were star
ting to wonder since they had been cut off from communication for the better part of the night if a warning had already gone out to the citizens of the state.

  Jude kept a watchful eye on Pete. He started to get a little suspicious as Pete started to sweat more in the cool morning air. He was the only one drenching himself in sweat as far as he could tell.

  Jude leaned over close to Chuck whispering, “Would you take a look at Pete, he isn't looking so hot. I'm really starting to debate if he should have drank any of that water.”

  Chuck said, “Hell no he shouldn't have drank any of that water that was dumb as fuck doing that he's going to kill himself. He might kill us if he turns into one of those freaks. Coming back from the dead and shit that ain’t natural man. I don't know what to do with them. I think I might feel a little guilty if I had to start this here saw and cut his head in half.”

  Jude said, “Yes I can understand how that might affect an individual, especially when one is close to the man whose head he is chopping in half Chuck.”

  The men made it another quarter mile before what they were worried about started to come true. Pete started to slow down wobbling a little as he walked and his knees began to buckle. After the first misstep, Roger who was a few feet away from him picked it up a notch and gave him some distance. Jude and Chuck had not seen this going down and Roger asked loud enough for the rest to hear, "Hey are you feeling okay there Pete?"

  Pete waved him off as if to indicate he was perfectly fine of course. But he started to sway and as he did the cornfields around him began to spin in circles quickly.

  Jude yelled, “I told you that you shouldn’t have been drinking that water you dumb fuck now look at you! You realize there isn’t anything we are able to do for you right? You want me to put you out of your misery, then you say the word man.”

  Pete started to look even more nervous. He held up his hands shaking his head desperately. He said, "Please don't kill me Jude, please don't kill me please, I ain't one of them yet. I could just be sick, I told you all I was hung over. It ain't my fault."

  Jude said, “No that's cool you can keep walking. But I guarantee you the minute you start trying to eat me I'm going to slice your damn head in half. You know I got a boy to get home too and I sure as hell ain't going to say that I couldn't do it because I went and got my dumb ass eaten by one of my best friends. If you would have listened just a little bit to me we wouldn't be having this issue right now. “

  Pete nodded and the men continued walking down the highway. They kept a watchful eye on Pete who at no time started to look any better. After another mile, Pete stopped walking he let his saw drop to the ground and looked at his friends he looked very confused.

  Chuck said, “You doing okay there Pete?”

  Jude approached him slowly and said, “Pete buddy, I really need you to be able to talk to us right now buddy. Are you doing okay?”

  Pete started twitching and fell to the ground on his hands and knees. He started having massive convulsions and a green foam started to pour out of his mouth. He fell to the ground flat shaking violently. The three others took a step back realizing this was probably going to be it for Pete. They watched him having no idea what was going to happen next of course and then Pete lay still.

  Jude bent down next to him and picked up his chainsaw. He backed up slowly and motioned to the others that they should continue walking.

  Roger said, “We can't just leave him out here in the middle of nowhere Jude.”

  Jude said, "The fuck we can't Roger. How about you tell me how you want to get him somewhere because we don't have a car we don't have a stretcher and he's got green shit coming out of his mouth. From the look of him he looks like he quit breathing too."

  Chuck said, “That green foamy shit is pretty damn creepy man. I think we need to get our asses moving and get out of here. The more distance between us and this town the better for everyone.”

  Jude said, “Yeah I gotta agree with Chuck on this one man we need to get the hell out of here. We got a long ways to go, Pete had every reason he could have listened to us and not ended up like this. Simple as that guys.”

  Roger took one last look at his good friend and then the three of them started their walk. As they made it a hundred yards away from him they heard noises coming from behind them. Jude turned around first to see Pete up on his feet and in a crouching position. He looked around still appearing confused and when he eyed the three men he took off in what resembled a run. He looks like he had rigor mortis already going through his body. Pete didn't look like he was able to bend one of his knees fully, which made him run looking extremely awkward. Chuck walked forward saying, "I got this. Let me get Old Betsy here fired up and I will help take care and put him out of his misery."

  Chuck pulled on the faithful chainsaw and then began to curse as he had flooded it and the saw would not start. Jude gauged the distance between himself and Pete realizing by the time he got his own going that it would be too late. He slid the axe off that he had hanging around his neck and waist and swung it as if it were a baseball bat. When Pete got within striking distance he used the back end of the axe head and connected directly with Pete's chin. The force of the blow snapped his head at an impossible angle and sent Pete back off of his feet landing flat on the ground.

  Pete did not scream or moan but made some other awkward growling sound. It was impossible to believe but he did not look like he was in any amount of pain. He tried pushing back up to his feet but Jude kicked him in the chest knocking him back flat and in one violent strike brought the blade end down with all of the force he could muster striking Pete through his skull.

  The blade disappeared into his skull leaving only the handle protruding out from it. The blood came out at first slowly then quickly began to exit the wound. Pete convulsed one last time before his body stopped moving.

  Jude said, “That might have been one of the most awful things I have ever had to do.”

  Roger who had only one thing on his mind said, "Honestly, I'm just glad we did not have to take him with us trying to carry him. Can you imagine if he would have just come back or whatever the hell just happened and we had not gotten any amount of warning beforehand?"

  Chuck said, “Yes, we would have been totally screwed if that was the case.”

  Jude didn't need to say anything he knew both the men were correct. He placed a boot on Pete's head and wedged the axe handle back and forth until it finally came loose and dislodged itself from Pete's skull. Jude wiped the blade on Pete's shirt and secured it back behind him.

  They did not have an opportunity to begin walking again as they heard the sound of a motor coming very quickly toward them. The fact that the three of them were standing in the middle of the highway made them very nervous. A van labeled CDC on the front hood came flying over the top of the hill headed on a collision path straight toward them.

  The men were frozen in place and the look on the driver's face was one of fear and shock at the three of them standing there over Pete’s dead body. She slammed on the brakes with both feet making the van slide wildly. It went into a fishtail and when she tried to correct the van she turned the wheel too hard to one direction. The van’s left side came up off of the ground and left a shower of sparks behind it as it skidded to a stop. The three men ran quickly to the van each of them thankful they had not been plowed over by it.

  Jude was screaming as he ran, “Are you okay, are you okay?”

  Kayla looked at him through the shattered windshield. She was unsure what her eyes were telling her as all she could see was a man with two chainsaws was running at the van and he was covered in blood and screaming at her. She looked in the distance seeing two more men each of them carrying a single saw and a corpse lying on the ground further back with an axe protruding from its skull.

  Jude knelt down next to the windshield and yelled, “Are you able to move? Did you break anything?”

  She did not respond and Jude removed the axe from his shoulder a
nd put the blunt end through the windshield making both women scream.

  Joanne yelled, “Please don’t kill us, we are here to - to help. Please, please don’t do anything stupid.”

  Jude pushed the axe in just a bit further turning it and started yanking on it wildly until it broke the protective windshield free and he was able to pull it off of the frame. Jude said as calmly as possible, "I'm not trying to kill you, I am trying to free you. Christ if I left you here for too long it'd only be a matter of time before one of the dead came around and ate the two of you."

  Kayla said, "Wait, what do you mean one of the dead? The dead are in the ground or cremated. Joanne, can you tell me what in the hell this crazy son of a bitch is talking about?"

  Joanne said, “Why don’t we get out of this van first, and then maybe we can have a talk while we head to wherever these guys’ car is located at.”

  Jude said, "We are on foot like I said we got out of town, those things are everywhere and we just barely got out with what we got on our backs."

  Kayla pushed out taking Jude's hand and he dragged her out of the van she started screaming immediately. She cursed and pushed herself up only to fall directly back down and screamed loudly in pain again. Chuck always one to point out the obvious said, "Her goddamn bone is sticking out of her fucking leg man. Holy shit I ain't never seen a real live bone sticking out of no one ever before. She needs a damn doctor and shit man."

  Kayla just stared in confusion at him. She said, “Oh my God is he dense or what?”

  Roger bent down next to her kneeling and seeing what exactly the problem was. He said, "Now believe it or not I am no doctor, but I did have some first aid training in the army, and I have good news."

  Kayla said, “I have a bone sticking out of my leg, what exactly could the good news be here?”

  Roger said, “We shouldn’t have to saw off the leg.”

  Kayla reached for him, and Jude and Chuck were confident that if she would have been able to reach him she would have been perfectly content to strangle him. This was not a time for joking matters and she was ready to kill. She screamed through tears, “Does this look like a joke you fucking moron- does it? Huh, does it?”