One Hour to Live

by Gary M. Chesla

  Maybe she would wake up and discover it was just a bad nightmare.

  Lisa frowned at that thought. That would mean that what took place at the Pink Flamingo today was also just a dream and not real.

  No way did she want to give that up.

  She had dreamed of this day happening again for almost two years now.

  But then again, she and Kevin could come back here tomorrow and create more good memories.

  In fact, tomorrow, she had already planned to make Kevin forget all about today.

  Lisa sat up on the bed as an ornery grin appeared on her face.

  She listened for a minute to be sure Kevin was still in the shower. The water was still running.

  She ran over to Kevin’s clothes and carefully took the little pink cell phone out of his pants pocket.

  She pushed the power button and waited for it to power up.

  She smiled to herself. She told Kevin that these little phones couldn’t take pictures or movies.

  That wasn’t quite true, they couldn’t take high quality pictures or movies, but they would do enough for her purposes.

  When the phone was fully powered on, she pushed a few buttons and waited.

  A second later a movie started on the small screen.

  It showed her walking over and lying down on the bed.

  The small screen showed her making the most seductive pose she could think of. She saw that it hadn’t been her best pose, but of course, Kevin didn’t require a lot of motivation.

  Then she watched Kevin climb into bed and then on top of her.

  The smile on her face grew bigger as she watched.

  She could feel the perspiration forming on her forehead.

  “I better turn this off,” Lisa smiled. “This should get him up to Boston next weekend.”

  As she slipped the pink cell phone back into his pants pocket, she thought, “And if he doesn’t come to Boston, I’m going to Indiana.”

  When Kevin got up to go to the bathroom earlier today, Lisa got one of her ornery ideas and decided to give Kevin some incentive not to ignore her for another two years.

  She couldn’t believe she had a second chance with Kevin and she was going to make the most of it.

  She knew when she didn’t hear from him at school, she should have called him.

  She should have never believed her dad when he told her that he never came around or asked about her.

  He told her Kevin had moved on and so should she.

  She should have called him, after all, it wouldn’t have been the first time she had made the first move with him.

  In the beginning, he needed a little encouragement to over-come his shyness.

  She smiled as she remembered their first time coming to the Pink Flamingo.

  She had been hinting for two days, but he obviously thought she was just being ornery or wasn’t serious.

  So, one day while riding in the car, she decided she couldn’t wait any longer. After she whispered in his ear what would happen if he would take her somewhere private and then started taking off her clothes, their summer of adventure exploded. She thought he was going to wreck the car getting her to a motel.

  She didn’t intend to lose what she felt so lucky to have found again.

  Lisa ran back over to the bed and sat down when she heard the water being shut off in the bathroom.

  She reached up and turned on the TV, hoping to get her mind on something else.

  She knew she was blushing and didn’t want to make Kevin suspicious.

  She didn’t want Kevin to know about her little surprise until the day when he left to go back to school.

  She had placed the phone perfectly to record them in bed earlier and slipped it back in his pocket when he wasn’t looking.

  The way he fumbled around with the phone at the store, she knew he would never find her little surprise on his own.

  She didn’t want Kevin to see it until he was back at school. She would call him and walk him through how to find it.

  She knew she promised to tell him about the surprise when they got back home tonight, but felt she shouldn’t have any problem distracting him for a few more days.

  Besides, what would he do, spank her.

  “Humm,” she grinned as she felt a shiver run down her spine, “We haven’t tried anything like that before. But, hey, if Kevin wants to spank me, I’m willing to let him.”

  The TV screen sprang to life, but Lisa quickly turned off the irritating static that came from the TV.

  “It looks like the TV stations are off the air too,” Kevin said, causing Lisa to jump and let out a shriek.

  “You scared the crap out of me,” Lisa gasped as she turned to see Kevin drying off with a towel.

  “Sorry,” Kevin smiled.

  “I was just trying to see if there was anything on the TV while I waited for you to get out of the shower,” Lisa smiled as she watched Kevin dry off.

  “I was wanting to go home, but I think maybe I’ve changed my mind,” Lisa grinned as she leaned back on the bed.

  But Lisa quickly jumped up when they heard a blood curling scream come from out in the parking lot.

  “What the hell was that?” Lisa asked as a frightened look came over her face.

  “I don’t know,” Kevin replied as he walked over and looked out around the corner of the curtain that hung over the one large window in the unit.

  Lisa looked curiously at Kevin as the expression on his face changed from one of curiosity to a look of horror.

  “What’s going on Kevin,” Lisa asked as more sounds came from outside.

  A man screamed next, windows smashed, doors slammed, people yelling hysterically, engines roaring, but soon stopped after the sound of a loud crash.

  “Kevin?” Lisa asked again.

  “I don’t fucking believe it,” Kevin said. His voice was barely above a whisper.

  Lisa ran over next to Kevin and looked through the curtain.

  A naked woman ran out of unit 5.

  She only made it ten feet out into the parking lot before the growing mob, surrounded and attacked her.

  Lisa gagged when she saw the woman being grabbed, followed by a man viciously biting her neck, ripping out the entire side of her neck.

  Blood sprayed, covering the surrounding mob with a sickening red spray.

  Next two figures staggered out of the room where the woman had run from. One of the blood covered figures was holding an arm as it viciously ripped the flesh from the bone.

  The second figure had a large mass of bloody flesh hanging from its mouth as it stumbled awkwardly into the parking lot.

  The approaching crowd rushed the two figures and began an attempt to pull the bloody body parts away from them.

  Then the sound of more screaming and more windows smashing as parts of the mob broke off and rushed into the other units.

  Moments later, more struggles took place and spilled out into the parking lot as the figures battled for the possession of various body part prizes.

  Lisa was crushing Kevin’s arm with her grip as she watched and winced at each savage attack.

  “Kevin, it’s those people that surrounded our car,” Lisa whispered.

  “It’s them, but I don’t know what the hell they are,” Kevin replied. “You asked me before if I believed in zombies? I can’t believe it, but yes. Until someone can come up with a better explanation for this, nothing else makes sense.

  They watched as another mob broke into the office.

  A horrified look covered Mike’s face as he disappeared under the mass of gruesome bodies that had forced their way in to the office.

  They watched for a few more minutes.

  “Kevin, they are working their way to our room,” Lisa said, “we have to get out of here.”

  “They’re everywhere,” Kevin whispered back. “We would never make it.”

  “If we stay here,” Lisa stopped and began to shake, “They are going to eat us.”

  Kevin looked aro
und the room.

  With the flimsy doors on the rooms at the Pink Flamingo, a stiff breeze could knock down the door. The single pain windows with cheap aluminum frames rattled every time a truck drove by the motel.

  Lisa was right, if they stayed here, it would all end soon.

  But he also knew there was no way they could reach the car before the mob of zombies caught up with them.

  “I have an idea,” Kevin whispered.

  “Whatever it is, we better try it fast,” Lisa replied.

  “Go in the bathroom,” Kevin said.

  “We can’t get out through the bathroom,” Lisa said as Kevin pulled on his pants and put on his shoes. “Can we?”

  “I don’t know, but right now it’s more important we get somewhere where they can’t get in.”

  Lisa ran over to the bathroom and looked inside.

  “Get in the bathtub and lay down,” Kevin ordered.

  Lisa quickly ran in and jumped in the bathtub and sat down.

  Kevin followed a second later, carrying the night stand that had been by the bed.

  “It’s not very big in here,” Lisa said.

  “It’s the right size,” Kevin answered as he pushed into the room and closed the door.

  He wedged the night stand in between the toilet and the bottom of the door.

  Lisa watched as Kevin pulled down the shower curtain and pulled the curtain off the shower rod.

  He then wedged the curtain rod against the top of the door and the medicine cabinet.

  “I hope that will hold for a while,” Kevin said.

  Lisa jumped when the sound of the window in their unit came crashing into the room.

  Pieces of glass hit the bathroom door, then slid down on the floor.

  “They’re in the room,” Lisa mouthed.

  Kevin put his fingers to his lips to signal Lisa to stay quiet.

  He turned off the bathroom light and felt his way over to the bathtub and crawled in next to Lisa.

  Lisa grabbed Kevin and squeezed him tight, “If this is it, I’m glad I’m here with you.”

  “We’re going to be fine,” Kevin whispered. “You’ll see.”

  “You think so,” Lisa whispered.

  “Of course,” Kevin whispered in her ear, “There has never been a time when I was wrapped around you like this, that we didn’t have a happy ending.”

  “If we get out of this,” Lisa whispered, “I’ll show you what a happy ending really is.”

  “Then there is no way I’m not getting you out of this,” Kevin said and kissed Lisa’s ear.

  But over the next three hours of nightmarish crashes, groans, and pounding against the bathroom door, Kevin wasn’t so sure.

  He held Lisa tightly against his body, and prayed this would all go away.

  Chapter 11

  September, One year ago

  Bob and Bill sat at the top of the stairs in the dark and listened.

  It had been hours since they had been forced to run to the second floor to escape their attackers.

  They mostly sat in silence and listened for any sign their attackers were going to try to get to the second floor.

  It had been a long night, thankfully the eerie groaning had finally stopped.

  “Why don’t you think they haven’t tried to get up here?” Bill asked in a whisper.

  “I don’t know,” Bob replied. “Maybe they didn’t see us come up here.”

  “You would have thought by now, one of them would have opened the door to take a look?” Bill suggested. “Just out of curiosity.”

  “Did those bastards look curious to you?” Bob whispered back.

  “I’m not sure,” Bill whispered back.

  “What do you mean you don’t know if they looked curious?” Bob asked. “What did it look like they were to you.”

  Bill thought for a minute.

  “I guess they looked dead,” he replied. “You know, like zombies.”

  “Yup,” Bob replied. “I don’t know much about zombies, but from the movies, zombies don’t know how to use door knobs.”

  “Why not?” Bill asked.

  “Cause they’re dead,” Bob replied. “Their brains are fried and they don’t know anything except that they are supposed to eat your brain.”

  Bob watched Bill think about what he said.

  “Don’t worry Old Timer,” Bob whispered, “You don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “Funny Mac,” Bill grinned. “But where the hell did the zombies come from?”

  “Since zombies aren’t real, how the hell would I know,” Bob replied.

  “They looked real to me,” Bill replied.

  “Of course they were real,” Bob said. “Where the hell those things came from is a good question. Who would have ever thought there would be zombies in Bolivar. Everything else can’t wait to get away from this place. Why zombies?”

  Bill chuckled, “It just shows you how dumb zombies are.”

  They sat and listened for a while longer.

  “Do you have any more beer?” Bill asked.

  “It’s down in the refrigerator with the zombies,” Bob replied.

  “It’s been quiet for a while, maybe we should go down and take a look around,” Bill suggested. “I could really use a beer.”

  “Not yet,” Bob whispered, “I’m not going down there until I can look outside and see if any of those bastards are hanging around outside. It should be daylight soon.”

  “You left the porch light on,” Bill replied, “You can take a look out back and see.”

  “If you noticed, why do you think we are sitting in the dark?” Bob asked.

  “Sorry, I forgot the power went out,” Bill replied. “All this zombie shit has my mind all jumbled up.”

  “Oh, so that what it is,” Bob replied.

  They sat again and waited.

  “Mac, how do you spell apocalypse?” Bill asked.

  “I don’t know,” Bob replied. “A,P.O.C.A,L,Y,P,S,E, I think.”

  “That’s ten letters, I think that’s the answer to your crossword puzzle,” Bill said excitedly.

  “Bill, do me a favor,” Bob said.

  “What?” Bill asked.

  “How about you shut the hell up for a while,” Bob growled quietly.

  It was about an hour later when the sun began to shine through the windows.

  Bob had finally drifted off into a light uneasy sleep as he sat, propped up against the wall at the top of the steps.

  Bill shook Bob’s shoulder.

  “Mac, the sun is up,” Bill said.

  Bob slowly opened his eyes.

  “Sorry, I must have fallen asleep,” Bob said as he looked around at the walls now lit by the sunshine coming in through the windows. “Did you hear anything after I feel asleep?”

  “Nah, it’s been quiet,” Bill replied.

  Bob slowly stood and waited until he had his balance.

  “Let’s go have a look outside,” Bob said as he moved slowly down the hall, trying to work the stiffness out of his back.

  They went into the back bedroom first, Kevin’s room.

  They stood side by side as they looked out the window.

  Bob leaned in closer and looked to the right and left.

  “See anything,” Bill asked.

  “I can see the path they took to get here,” Bob replied, “It looks like hunting season and a hundred hunters dragged their kills down the road and up through my yard.”

  Bill moved closer and looked down into the yard.

  “Let’s go look out the other side of the house,” Bob grumbled. “I hope they just kept the hell going and aren’t hanging around my yard anymore.”

  Bill followed Bob down the hall and into Bob’s room.

  Bob walked over to the window and looked outside.

  “What do you see?” Bill asked.

  “Have a look,” Bob said and moved to the side of the window. “I only see a couple of stragglers. It looks like most of them went out Market Street
and over the creek.”

  “Hopefully they fell in the sulphur creek, it would make them smell better,” Bill grinned.

  “Well, you wanted to look down stairs, let’s go, Bob said.

  Bob walked out into the hall and picked up his shotgun. He clicked open the gun and made sure he still had two shells in the chamber.

  He quietly clicked the barrel closed and whispered to Bill, “Stay behind me and be quiet.”

  Bill nodded.

  They moved down the steps slowly, propping the mattresses and bed stands to one side of the steps, clearing a path so they could get to the bottom of the steps.

  When they reached the bottom of the steps, Bob turned to Bill and held his finger to his lips.

  He leaned his head close to the door, turned the handle and opened the door a few inches and looked out.

  He leaned back and closed the door.

  “They didn’t break the door down, but one of them must have fallen in through the window,” Bob whispered as he held his shotgun up in front of him.

  Bill nodded.

  Bob opened the door a few inched and slowly pushed the barrel of the shotgun through the opening.

  He slowly raised the gun up and aimed down the barrel.

  Bob pushed the door open with his shoulder and fired.

  “BOOM!!!!”

  “Holy hell Mac,” Bill yelled, “I think you broke my damn ear drums.”

  Bob jumped out of the stairway and walked over to the headless body on the floor.

  Bill followed behind.

  When they reached the body in front of the back door, Bob kicked the body a few times as he looked at the boney emaciated body that was little more than skin stretched over bone.

  “Ugly bastards,” Bob mumbled.