Zombies Inside

by Rebecca Besser

  Jotan battled with the beast for a while, until loss of blood had made him weak. The dark grey creature had stood over him roaring and he’d expected to be eaten alive at any moment. But, instead, the werewolf had dropped down on all fours and sniffed him, growling deep in his throat.

  A loud, high-pitched whistle had broken through the night air and the beast’s head had jerked up. It howled, whimpered, and ran off toward the source of the sound.

  Jotan had managed to crawl over to his bedroll and pass out, not expecting to see morning.

  Strange memories of that night still flitted through his mind, images that seemed like nothing more than dreams of the wolf returning with a young, beautiful woman. She looked into his face and he’s seen into the dark depths of her cold black eyes. Somehow he’d known she was the witch that dwelled on the mountain.

  “Ah,” she’d said. “You’ve killed my pet. Don’t worry, I’m not angry. You will soon prove useful.”

  She threw back her head and laughed. The dying embers of the fire created dancing lights in her black wavy hair, which made her look like she was surrounded with glittery magic.

  He’d turned his head and seen the werewolf standing on the other side of the waning fire, just watching.

  He’d had a fever, so he’d thought it had all been his imagination, until he woke up the next morning in a haze, his body not wanting to move. There was a long black hair clinging to the front of his shirt and he knew that it had been real. He didn’t like what that implied.

  Now, here he was with some young man hugging him, calling him “Father.”

  Jotan didn’t recognize him and it wouldn’t have mattered if he did. He’d lost his ability to speak days ago. This strange sickness was doing weird things to his body.

  The young man pulled back, letting him go. The world spun, then clouded over. He landed in the water with a splash, unconscious.

  ***

  Hinun gasped as Father fell into the water, facedown. Quickly he flipped him over before he could drown, and dragged him to the bank. Frantically, he tried to revive him, to no avail.

  Laying Father’s head down gently, Hinun went in search of something he could use to make a stretcher to move him on. He could drag him home, but not without a bit of help.

  Twenty yards up the bank Hinun came across a couple of saplings that were tall enough and thick enough for what he had planned. It took him the rest of the day to cut them down with his small hand ax and lash them together with a coil of twine he had in his pack and his cloak.

  By the time he was ready to set off, it was almost dark. Hinun knew that if he pushed, and they didn’t get caught up in the underbrush, they could make it home by morning. His concern for Father’s life urged him to risk the dangers of traveling at night, in the shadow of Evil Mountain.

  ***

  “What do you mean you can’t find him?” Freka yelled at Yito. “Do I have to do everything myself?”

  The witched slammed her fist down on the arm of her huge wooden chair with such fury that the werewolf flinched. He wouldn’t turn again until the moon rose, and he wished it would hurry up and happen. Yito wanted out of her presence and out in the freedom of the woods.

  He bowed. “I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you, Mistress.”

  “Disappointed me?” Freka asked with a snarl. “You’ve done far more than disappoint me. You’ve shown how useless and incompetent you really are! I should kill you right now!”

  Freka raised her hand, the blood ruby in her ring glowing ominously on her finger.

  Yito threw himself at her feet. “Please, no! I’ll do anything for you, Mistress, anything. Please, let me live.”

  He was strong and formidable in werewolf form, but as a man he was skinny and frail. He hated the weakness of his human body and wanted to be a werewolf all the time. Freka had the power to make it happen, but she would only give him what he wanted if he served her well. He had to make this up to her or she would never give him that gift.

  “I know where the man’s family lives,” Yito lied. “I can go there tonight and bring him back here for you. I can!”

  Freka lowered her hand, the ruby losing half of its radiance. “Get up. I hate it when you grovel like a dog.”

  Yito slowly got to his feet, careful not to touch her feet. Last time he’d accidently bumped into her, she’d had him beaten. The scars on his back were the reminder of the brutality of her lover, Lendor.

  The vampire had delighted in beating him, jealous of the time and attention that Freka gave him. But Yito knew it was because she wanted to manipulate him, both of them probably. She loved to pit them against each other.

  Freka stood and walked around Yito, looking him over.

  He felt her fingernails slide through the white grooves on his back as she walked.

  “You won’t disappoint me again, will you?” she asked playfully.

  “No, Mistress,” Yito said, hearing the steel undertone of her flirtatious purr. “I’ll never disappoint you again.”

  “Good,” she chirped with a smile. “I want you to bring him and his entire family, and I want them all here by midnight. Lendor needs to feed. They should make quite a banquet for him.”

  Yito bowed. “Yes, Mistress, as you wish.”

  He turned to leave and had almost made it out the door when she called after him.

  “Yito!”

  He turned and bowed. “Yes, Mistress?”

  “If you succeed, I’ll give you what you want. If you don’t, you’ll die.”

  Yito bowed again, turned, and left. He needed to find out where the family was, fast. His very life depended on it.

  ***

  Hinun dragged Father through the woods. It was almost pitch black, with the trees blocking out any and all light. He’d stumbled numerous times, scraping his knee, and cutting his palm. Not being able to see where he was going was also causing the stretcher to get stuck where the poles dragged the ground. At this rate they’d never make it home by morning.

  He sat down to rest for a moment, his entire body covered in sweat from exertion. Gently setting down the poles he’d been dragging, he flopped to the ground and lay still, just breathing in the cool night air. Before he realized it, he fell asleep.

  ***

  Kilna had just tucked a sleeping Duna into her small cot close to the fire when she heard it – howling on the wind. It waft through the open window and to her ears as the stench of a skunk would have come to her nose.

  She shivered as she walked over to the window, expecting some dark creature intent on harm to be standing there, waiting to grab her and drag her through.

  No one was there. The yard was empty. There wasn’t so much as a raccoon looking for stray bits of chicken feed. The night was silent . . . too silent.

  Gripping the rough wood of the shutters, Kilna closed the window and slid the board into place to keep it shut.

  She undressed and went to bed, praying that the men she so dearly loved were safe.

  If she’d waited a moment longer before shutting the window, she’d have seen a two-headed dragon in the sky, silhouetted by the moon, with a werewolf on its back. Then she would have realized that no amount of praying would keep Hinun and Jotan safe that night.

  ***

  Hinun woke with a start. Father was awake and was thrashing around, trying to get free of the stretcher. He’d lashed him down with their leather belts, so he wouldn’t fall out and get hurt.

  “Father?” Hinun said, getting up off the ground. “I fell asleep. Are you all right?”

  As he stepped closer, Father strained against the leather and snapped at Hinun, like he was trying to bite him.

  “Father, what’s wrong?” Hinun asked, reaching forward to feel Jotan’s head.

  Jotan lunged for Hinun’s fingers, trying to bite them off.

  Hinun pulled his hand back quickly, not understanding what was going on. “Are you hungry? I have some jerky in my pack.”

  After retrieving the jerky he hel
d it up to Father’s mouth, but he cocked his head and tried to bite Hinun’s hand again.

  Frowning, Hinun tucked the jerky away and picked up the poles, continuing home. While he was walking, he contemplated his father’s strange behavior, unaware of the threat that hovered just above the trees.

  ***

  Yito had decided that Gox was his best bet of finding the man and his family, and transporting them back to the ice castle alive. There was no way he could do it himself.

  Glancing at the moon, he estimated the time to be somewhere around ten o’clock. That left him two hours to accomplish his mission.

  Gox had been surprisingly compliant. Normally the two headed dragon would baulk at letting Yito ride him, but he hadn’t been out in a while and seemed eager to fly, even if it was with his least favorite passenger.

  Yito watched the heads of the dragon swing back and forth in the wind. One would breathe fire one minute and the other would spew ice the next. Gox seemed to be playing and that was fine with Yito, as long as it didn’t interfere with his mission. So far things were going great.

  He’d already managed to spot the infected man in the woods; his scent was unmistakable. As his body changed from human to zombie, he began to stink in a way that no other creature could. But Yito smelled fresh blood with him as well. This confused him. He didn’t know why the new zombie hadn’t attacked and eaten yet. He wasn’t going to make them aware of his presence just to see why. That could wait. He just hoped they were leading them to more people. Family or not, he had to show up at midnight with a few humans if he wanted to be rewarded.

  ***

  Hinun looked up at the moon as he dragged his father the last few feet into the yard. It was after eleven. He just hoped Mother would open the door for him. Crawling through the yard, ever muscle in his body protesting even the slightest movement, he made his way to the door.

  Knocking with all the strength he had left, Hinun passed out on the step.

  ***

  Kilna heard a thumping on the door and jumped out of bed. Her hand flew to the latch, ready to tear the door open, but caution made her pause. Pressing her ear to the door she stood silent, waiting for any sound to come to her that would tell her who was outside.

  She heard a distant moan; it was almost too faint for her to perceive, but it was there all the same. Convinced that someone was hurt, she threw the door open and gasped at the prone body of her son on the doorstep.

  Kneeling down, she cradled his head in her lap, slapping his cheeks.

  “Wake up, Hinun,” she pleaded.

  He moaned, looked up into his mother’s face, and smiled. “Mother.”

  She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “Shh, we can talk when you’ve rested.”

  Hinun’s brow wrinkled in a frown. “No, Father!”

  Kilna frowned down at her son. “What about Jotan? Where is he?”

  Hinun lifted his arm and pointed to the edge of the yard where he’d left the stretcher.

  Kilna jumped up, careful not to let Hinun’s head fall on the hard stone, and ran to her husband. Her long white cotton nightgown plastered itself to her body and slowed her down, but she was still there in a couple of seconds.

  The stretcher was empty. Lifting the straps she noted that they had teeth marks on them; they’d been chewed through.

  She turned back to the cottage to see a two headed dragon standing beside it and a werewolf throwing Hinun’s body over its neck. She dropped the straps and screamed, running to her son’s aid.

  She’d only gone five feet when a shadow fell over her, the shadow of her husband.

  “Jotan?” she whispered. “Jotan!”

  She threw herself into his arms, too happy and excited to see him alive to stop herself. Pulling back, she looked up into his vacant, cloudy eyes. She shivered and pulled away.

  Jotan moaned and stepped toward her, gripping her arm, dragging her back to him. With his other hand he pulled her hair violently, lowering his wide-open mouth to her neck. He was about to sink his teeth into her soft warm flesh when something slammed into the side of his head, knocking him down.

  While Jotan was shaking his head and trying to figure out where the meal that had just been in his arms had gone, Yito knocked Kilna out and carried her to the dragon.

  Jotan struggled to his feet slowly, sniffing the air to see if he could locate the food that he knew was around. A strange smell entered his nostrils. It was stronger than human scent and more musky. Staggering slowly, Jotan made his way toward the strange smell, wondering if whatever it was would be a good meal.

  Yito went into the small cottage, stood over the bed of the little girl, and just looked at her. He could smell her sweet innocence and wanted to sink his teeth into her, rip her apart, and savor every drop of her blood. But he knew that if he did Freka and Lendor would kill him. He had to restrain himself and take her with him. There would be other innocent humans to enjoy later.

  Yito picked her up, careful not to wake her, and turned toward the door.

  The zombie was standing there pretending to look around. Yito knew he couldn’t see anything. The last one had been completely blind and had traveled through life depending completely on scent. This one was probably the same.

  Yito took a step forward and the zombie grunted and stepped inside.

  Walking forward with purpose, Yito lifted one of his rear legs off the floor and kicked the zombie in the gut, sending him flying through the air to land in the dirt of the yard. He was extremely careful not to jar the child or to make a sound. He didn’t want to accidently kill her when he tried to knock her out. He wanted her to stay asleep as long as possible.

  Jotan grunted and groaned, rolling all over the yard, trying to get up, not realizing that his leg was broken.

  Yito shook his massive wolf head at the zombie. He couldn’t believe how stupid they were. No brain power, just driven by blood lust. He didn’t understand why Freka kept one around.

  Shrugging, Yito tied the girl to her mother, making sure the bonds were tight enough that if she woke up and struggled he wouldn’t lose her.

  Gox raised his heads as Yito mounted. Growling, he nodded toward the zombie still rolling around in the yard. Gox huffed smoke and snow and took flight, grabbing the zombie in his claws as they took to the air.

  Yito was excited. He’d done what he’d said he could do. He’d gotten the zombie and the family. Finally he would be granted his wish. He would be a werewolf all the time.

  As they flew to the ice castle, he dreamed about what it would feel like to have sunshine on his fur as he frolicked through the woods.

  ***

  Freka was waiting expectantly at the door when they arrived.

  “I’m impressed,” she said, looking over the cargo. “I didn’t expect you to deliver. Lendor will be pleased.”

  Yito growled contentedly, pleased with his mistress’ approval.

  “After Lendor feeds,” Freka purred. “I’ll give you what I promised.”

  Yito nodded and set about unloading the cargo. The little girl had woken up during the flight and had screamed for a while, but now she was silent and ridged. He was sure she was in shock.

  “Yito,” Freka said. “Would you tie up the zombie for me? Just chain him to the wall or something – anything to keep him out of the way for now.”

  Yito grunted, acknowledging the request.

  Freka lifted her hand, the ruby glowing bright, mumbled something under her breath, and the humans stood and lined up in a row, facing forward.

  “Walk,” she said, and they walked.

  Yito watched for a moment, amazed at the witch’s power, before he grabbed the zombie by the scruff of the neck and hauled him off to tie him up.

  ***

  Lendor stood at the window, staring out into the darkness with his arms folded behind his back as Freka brought in the humans. He turned to survey his gift.

  “Not bad,” he said, walking toward them. “I had hoped for the girl to be ol
der, but I can’t have everything, can I?”

  Freka frowned. “Why did you want the girl to be older?”

  “Ah, my darling, I don’t see why you like to ask such silly questions,” he said as he examined Kilna.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Freka snapped. “If you don’t stop talking in riddles, I’ll let the zombie and the werewolf have them and you’ll have to hunt your own food.”

  Lendor turned to look at the witch, hissed, and bore his teeth.

  She shrank back. “You’re grumpy. You need to feed. I’ll go and make sure our new zombie is settling in.”

  Freka hurried to leave. Lendor sometimes scared her. He was the only one that wasn’t afraid of her powers. In truth, they didn’t work on him at all for some reason. She could do as she wanted with everyone else, but not with him, which is why he was her lover. It excited her to have someone that she couldn’t control.

  Yito had done what he was asked. The zombie was chained to the wall in the cellar, a collar connecting him to the wall. He was in bad shape – his leg was broken and his guts were hanging out of a gash that Gox’s claws had made.

  She sighed and headed back upstairs to see how Lendor’s feeding was going.

  Freka opened the door, stepped into the lounge, and stopped dead in her tracks at what she beheld.

  Lendor had already feed on the young man – the limp body lay on the floor where he’d been standing. The young girl was still standing where she’d been earlier, staring off into space, but that wasn’t what had caught Freka’s attention.

  It was the woman. Lendor had her bare to the waist, kneeling in front of him. His mouth was attached to her neck where he slowly sucked the blood from her body while he caressed her torso. The woman was gasping and panting. He was taking his time with her and enjoying her as more than just a meal. He was enjoying her as a woman as well.

  Freka gasped as a red-hot ball of jealousy shot through her body. Stomping over to the couple, she grabbed the woman’s head and, with a twist, broke her neck, killing her instantly.

  Lendor reared back and hissed, angry that his main course had been taken from him before he was ready. Closing his eyes, he licked his lips, savoring the last taste of the woman before the blood went cold.