“Get to the car!” Jack shouted at Kate while picking Brett up. Adrenaline made his son as light as a child’s stuffed doll.
The quake had ended but left a haunting stillness in its wake. With Kate by his side, they raced over the broken ground and upturned headstones to reach the Escalade. Kerri already had the doors open.
“Get in!” she said.
Kate jumped in and slammed the door shut. Jack carried Brett into the driver’s seat and locked the doors. He looked down at his son, who didn’t appear to be breathing.
“Buddy, are you okay?” he said, searching for a pulse.
Brett’s eyes fluttered open. “I didn’t like that ugly zombie woman,” he said with a cough.
With tears misting his eyes, Jack kissed his son’s dirty face. “It’s a hell of a way to meet your great-great-great-grandmother.”
“What was that thing?” Kate said with panic in her voice.
“A zombie,” Brett said.
“There’s no such thing,” Kate said. “It’s not possible.”
“Oh, yeah?” Kerri pointed out the side window. “Go tell it to all those freaking bodies walking around in the graveyard!”
CHAPTER THREE
Jack stared outside the Escalade in disbelief. Dozens of dark human forms staggered like drunken sailors among the damaged grave plots. He couldn’t see their faces, due to the eerie twilight, but after the horrible encounter with the undead Tess Harmon, he had an idea what they looked like. The eerie mob started to shamble in their direction.
“Dad, those are zombies,” Brett said.
“Where did they come from?” Kerri said. “Out of the graves?”
“The earthquake must have awakened them somehow,” Jack said.
“No.” Kate shook her head. “You’ve got it all wrong. They’re not zombies. They’re the souls of the resurrected that God has called forth to heaven.”
“I don’t think so.” Jack lifted his son off his lap. “Get in the back, buddy.”
Brett climbed over and dropped into the backseat. “What’re we going to do, Dad?” he said.
“We’re not hanging around here, that’s for sure.”
“We can’t leave.” Kate raised her hands toward the ceiling. “We should stay and rejoice, for it’s Judgment Day. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! The day of his reckoning has arrived.”
“That’s crazy talk.” Jack turned to his daughter. “Kerri, call 911.”
“I tried that.” She slammed down her phone. “I just lost the signal.”
“The towers must be down.”
Jack searched for an exit from the cemetery. Broken tree limbs littered the cracked gravel drive. Luckily, the Escalade was four-wheel-drive. “Everybody buckle up. It’s going to get bumpy,” he said.
“We have to stay here,” Kate said. “This is the Rapture that God has promised. All Christians are being called to heaven. They’re here to take us with them to God’s everlasting glory.” She unlocked her door. “We must join them.”
“Kerri, grab your crazy mother,” Jack said.
“Mom, please don’t go out there.” Kerri reached over the back of the seat and hugged Kate’s neck. “Don’t leave us.”
“Please, Mom,” Brett said.
“We can’t run from God’s will.” She struggled to open the door.
“The hell we can’t.”
Jack started the Escalade, and the headlights illuminated a cadaverous man with dead flesh hanging from his gruesome face fifteen feet away. He opened his mouth, spilling out worms and visceral matter. Jack gripped the steering wheel in shock as everyone else in the vehicle screamed. The undead corpse staggered forward and pounded his fists against the hood; the action shook loose the grave dirt still clinging to the shoulders of his ragged suit coat.
“Does that look like an angel to you?” Jack screamed at Kate.
She remained silent, her face a frozen mask of fear as she stared at the horrid thing.
The zombie continued pounding on the hood while emitting an inhuman moan. Beyond the headlight’s glow, more dark figures staggered toward the SUV.
“Screw this!” Jack said.
He slammed the vehicle into gear and stepped on the gas. The Escalade shot forward and crushed the zombie against the side of the dead tree in the center of the graveyard. The impact forced him to vomit his rotting insides all over the hood.
Jack dropped the SUV into reverse and sped away from the crushed body. The tires bounced over broken tree limbs before he stepped on the brake and swung the front end around to face the exit gate. The swath created by the headlights illuminated a line of zombies standing between them and the way out. Once more Jack blinked in disbelief. Clad in their ragged burial attire, the living dead exhibited various stages of decay. Some were bloated and fleshy, while others were nothing more than desiccated skin on bone.
“Get us out of here!” Kerri yelled.
“Hang on,” Jack said through gritted teeth.
He revved the engine and let off the brake. The Escalade plowed forward, knocking aside several bodies before racing out the gate and down the gravel drive. Once they reached the road adjacent to the cemetery, he put on the brakes.
“Everyone all right?” he said, trying to calm his nerves.
“Yeah,” Brett said.
“I’m scared shitless,” Kerri added.
“Me, too.” He turned to Kate. The look in her eyes was as vacant as the walking dead things they’d left behind at the cemetery. “Are you okay, hon? I thought we were going to lose you back there.”
“Don’t you see, Jack? It’s all coming true as foretold in the Bible. God’s Judgment Day is here. For it says in Revelation”—she grabbed her Bible and flipped on an overhead light—“ ‘I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of Life, and the dead were judged out of those things—’ ”
“Shut that light off! They’ll see it!” Jack said.
She continued reading. “ ‘Which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were—’ ”
He slapped her hard across the face. The move surprised him as much as it did her. He had never struck her before, even at his most drunk. The blow caused her to recoil and drop the Bible.
“Listen to me,” he growled in a voice he barely recognized as his own. “I don’t care what the Bible says, I’ll be damned if I’m going to let those things get my children! Do you hear me?”
“You hit me!” she gasped.
“I’ll do it again if you start talking crazy shit like that!”
“Dad! Don’t!” Kerri hugged her mother close. “Why did you hit Mom?”
“She wants us to join those dead things out there. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let that happen.” He pointed at Kate. “You got that?”
“Yes.” Her voice broke as she erupted into tears.
“We’re going to survive this,” Jack said to his family. “I swear it.”
Kate wiped her eyes, picked up the Bible, and started praying.
“Dad, they’re coming,” Brett said.
Jack checked the rearview. Zombies staggered out of the ruined cemetery and headed straight for the Escalade.
“Son, tell me again how to kill zombies.”
“You got to shoot their brains out or cut off their heads. You can burn them, too.”
“Why are they after us?” Kerri said above her mother’s murmured prayers. “What do they want?”
“To eat us,” Brett said.
“That’s stupid,” Kerri said. “They’re already dead. Why do they need to eat anything?”
Brett shrugged. “It’s what they do in the movies.”
“They’ll have to catch us first,” Jack said. “I’m going to outrun their rotting asses.”
“Way to go, Dad,” Brett said.
“Just give me a second to figure this out.”
He switched on the high beams and studied the dirt road stretched out before them. The quake had transformed it into an obstacle course, with earthquake debris in place of orange cones. Broken telephone poles lay strewn about its cracked surface like tossed pickup sticks.
“What’s up with the sun?” Kerri said. “Why is it so dark in the middle of the morning? Are we having an eclipse?”
Jack followed her gaze and saw that the sun appeared as an eclipsed orb in the ashen sky.
“I think it’s something caused by the quake throwing dust in the air,” he said. “Hopefully, it’ll pass soon.”
Jack eased off the brakes and steered down the broken road. He’d gone thirty yards before reaching the first fallen telephone pole. Unable to drive over the obstacle, his only choice was to swing around it, which brought the vehicle dangerously close to the edge of the deep roadside ditch. He continued easing forward and held his breath as the SUV started to tilt. He straightened the wheels and brought it back on track.
“Whew!” he said. “That was too close.”
Kate continued reading her Bible to herself. Jack turned on the radio and scanned the channels. He got nothing but static and shut it off. No zombies were visible in the rearview mirror, but his gut told him they were still following them. He increased his speed in an effort to get more distance.
“Where are we going?” Kerri said.
“First we find the highway and then back to Cobb’s Corner.”
“Good. I hope Doug is all right.”
“Doug?”
“The guy I met back at the station.”
“Oh, the one with the lip ring.” He didn’t want to tell Kerri that Doug’s welfare was the last thing on his mind at the moment. He had already done enough damage in his daughter’s eyes by hitting her mother. No need to compound the problem.
“You don’t like his lip ring?” she said. “Why am I not surprised?”
“It’s gross and disgusting.”
“I think it’s hot.” Kerri grabbed his shoulder. “Dad, look out!”
The road ahead suddenly fell away into the shadow of a deep fault. Jack slammed on the brakes and the SUV skidded to a halt at its crumbling edge. Letting out a long nervous breath, he studied the deep earthen scar stretching across the road. There was no way to drive around it, which left him with only one option: they had to abandon the Escalade.
“Damn!” Jack slammed his fists against the wheel. “Damn! Damn!”
“Now what?” Kerri said.
“We go on foot from here.” He shut down the engine. “Grab your jackets.”
“What about our luggage?”
“Leave it. We have to move quickly.”
The kids snatched up their coats and stuffed the pockets with whatever they could carry.
Jack turned to his wife. “Kate.”
She looked up from her Bible with teary eyes. “What?”
“I’m sorry I lost my temper.” He placed his hand over hers on the open book. “We can’t go any farther in the SUV.”
Kate looked out at the crevice in the road. “I told you there was no escape. Do you believe me now? We should stay here and pray for God’s redemption.”
He fought the urge to yell at her again. He kept his voice calm. “Even if it’s the end of the world, as you say, I’m not giving up. Right now I need you to be sane for me. The children need you, too. Can you do that for me, Kate?”
“Mom, please,” Kerri joined in.
“Very well.” She closed her Bible and straightened her posture.
“Good.” He tossed her jacket into her lap. “Grab your stuff.”
She nodded and slipped on her coat.
Jack got out of the vehicle while pulling on his jacket. He looked back down the road in the gloomy light. A few hundred yards away, the dark shapes of the zombie mob headed in their direction but would not reach them for a few minutes. He had to get his family to safety on the other side of the crevice first. Rushing to the back of the Escalade, he opened the hatch and removed a tire iron and a flashlight. He was about to close it when he remembered the pair of binoculars he’d intended to use when they reached the Grand Canyon. They would prove invaluable for scouting out the shattered landscape. He slung them around his neck and looked one last time at the sleek new Escalade he had driven off the showroom floor less than a week before.
“Screw this!” Jack turned and flung the keys at the approaching zombies. “It’s yours now, you putrid shits!”
He returned to the front and stuck his head into the car. “Okay, let’s go.”
Kerri and Brett got out while Kate stuffed the Bible into a pocket of her jacket. Jack looked one more time down the road. The zombies were now a hundred yards behind them.
“We’ve got to cross to the other side of the crevice,” he said. “Let me see how deep it is.” He walked to the edge and flicked on the flashlight. The bottom was ten feet below. “It’s not too deep,” he called back. “We can climb down it. I’ll try it first.”
Slipping the tire iron into his belt, he started down the dirt wall with a silent prayer that there wouldn’t be an aftershock that caused the rift to close. Loose soil gave way. He fell hard on his ass and slid to the bottom, losing the flashlight in the process.
“You okay?” Brett said.
“Yeah,” Jack brushed off the seat of his pants and picked up the light. “Nothing bruised but my pride. There’s a lot of loose dirt, so be careful when you climb down.” He shone the light up at his son. “You’re next, champ.”
“No problem.”
He went over the edge and descended in a surfing slide, and Jack caught him. “There you go, son.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
He gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Buddy, find me a way up the other side.”
“Sure thing.”
Brett took off to scramble up the other wall of dirt.
“The zombies are getting closer,” Kerri said with a fearful look over her shoulder. “I can hear them.”
“You’re next. I’ll catch you.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
She slipped over the side, creating a shower of loose dirt, before sliding to the bottom.
“There you go, girl,” Jack said, offering her a hand.
She waved it away. “I can stand on my own.”
“Whatever. Now follow your brother.”
Kerri started to climb the other side as Jack turned the flashlight up at Kate. “Hon, it’s your turn.”
“I’m too scared,” she said.
“Come on, Kate. You promised me you would be sane.” He extended his arms up. “You can do this. Just step over the side and I’ll catch you.”
She hesitated. “I have to go back to the car. I left my laptop.” Behind her came the haunting moans of the approaching zombies.
“You don’t need it. It’ll slow you down.”
“But it has all my family research.”
“Goddammit, Kate! Jump now!”
“Don’t use the Lord’s name in vain.”
She slid down the wall and Jack caught her around the waist. Her momentum caused them both to tumble to the ground, where they lay side by side in the soft dirt. Jack looked deep into her green eyes and she showed a slight smile. For a fleeting moment, he no longer saw the Church Lady but the old Kate he’d fallen in love with years ago.
“I said I’d catch you,” he said. “I’m sorry about slapping you. Everything got out of control back there. Are we good?”
“I believe in what I said.” Kate looked away. “You shouldn’t have hit me.”
Jack kissed her forehead. “I promise I’ll never do it again. Do you forgive me?”
“Yes, but you should ask for God’s forgiveness, too.”
“I will if he helps us get to safety.”
“Dad!” Brett’s shout brought the situation back into focus. “Zombies!”
Jack looked up to the top of the fault. The undead had reached its edge and stood against the
backdrop of the ashen sky. The surreal sight of them staring down with lifeless eyes made him doubt his sanity once more. For the second time this incredible morning, he wondered if he wasn’t back in the hotel room dreaming the whole thing. He watched in shock as a zombie stepped off the edge and fell to the bottom of the ravine. The others followed in an avalanche of rotting bodies.
Kate screamed.
“Climb!” Jack shoved her toward the other wall.
Something moaned nearby. Jack swung the flashlight around and illuminated the withered corpse of an old woman with half her face missing. Worms hung out her mouth as she reached for him with shriveled arms. He slipped the tire iron out of his belt and smashed it hard against the woman’s face. Dried bone cracked from the blow and the undead thing stumbled back as he swung the iron again. This time he hit her so hard that her jaw went flying from her face.
More zombies stumbled toward him. Jack threw the flashlight up to the surface on the other side and scrambled to climb the crumbling wall of dirt. Kate had already made it to the top. Nightmarish moans sounded below as undead hands reached up to pull him back down into their midst. He kicked at something gripping his pant leg and heaved himself up the wall. Once on the surface of the road, he chanced a glance back down the ravine. The undead clawed at the loose dirt in a mindless attempt to follow, and some climbed on the bodies of others and were already halfway up the wall.
“Run like hell,” he shouted to his family.
CHAPTER FOUR
They fled down the road beneath a shadowed sky. Jack knew the zombies would eventually climb out of the crevice, but for the moment, they had gained a few precious minutes to escape.
He used the flashlight to light the way as they continued running like shell-shocked war refugees fleeing a great battle. Abject fear showed in his family’s frightened glances. He knew his eyes mirrored their near panic as well, but his focus remained on getting as far away as possible. There would be time when they reached shelter to process the day’s cataclysmic events.
Undead Flesh Page 3
