The Birth Of Decay

by Kelley Jr, John E

  I lowered my arm and stared blankly at the old woman. She started to move her arms and I heard a high-pitched beeping sound. Ricky shook his head and I could tell he was starting to panic. “I forgot man; those damn chips can restart your heart!” He said fearfully. The woman suddenly moaned loudly and started to stand up. She couched up blood, looked over to her pipe, and leaned down to grab it. I raised my gun and pointed it at her head. “Don’t do it!” I yelled. The woman picked up the pipe and lunged at Ricky; swinging the pipe at his head. I pulled the trigger and the top of her head exploded as she dropped the pipe onto the gravel. She laid there for a moment with her hands to her side and Ricky and I backed away. I started to feel surreal and felt an unnatural calmness. Everything seemed like a bad movie.

  I looked at Ricky and put my arms back down. “We should search this place.” I said calmly. Ricky nodded and I reached into the car and took out the keys. I shut the car door and we cautiously headed back for the office.

  I grabbed the door handle and heard the woman moan loudly from behind us. Ricky and I quickly turned around and noticed the woman was limping at us. I looked at Ricky in a sudden panic. “Why didn’t she die? I shot her in the head!” I cried. Ricky looked at the ground and I could tell he was thinking about the situation. He suddenly looked at me and pointed to his nose. “The Doctor told me that the chip is placed in the brain, just behind the nose.” He said quickly.

  I held my gun out, looked back at the now closer woman, and aimed at her nose. She coughed up blood and started hissing at me; her eyes were dilated and shifting around in in her head. I pulled the trigger, the bullet suddenly ripped her nose apart, and blood covered her face. She flew back and landed on the gravel. I was shaking and my adrenaline was pumping through my body. I put the gun into my pocket, pulled one of my swords out from my back, and walked over to the old woman. I stood at her side and raised the blade into the air. “Die already!” I yelled. I brought the blade down and it cut through her neck; her head detached from her body and I quickly stepped back. I dropped the sword onto the ground and looked at Ricky. He walked over to me and picked up the sword. “Come on.” He said.

  I followed him into the office and walked behind the desk as he headed to the back of the room. I grabbed the receiver off the phone and looked over at Ricky. “Be careful man, stay close…just in case.” I said with concern; I did not want anything to happen to my friend. I looked down at the numbered buttons on the phone and started thinking about my parents; they had the chips in their heads. I didn’t want this to be confirmed and I slammed the phone down. I started looking in the drawers and shelves below the cash register.

  Ricky suddenly came out of the back room. “Check it out dude!” He said with excitement. I peered over the counter and noticed he was holding a 12-gauge shotgun in his hand. “Now that is a gun!” I said. He held out my sword. “Here you go man, I wiped it off.” He said with a smile. I took the sword and placed it back behind my shoulder. “Thanks Dick.” I laughed. He shook his head. “I’m not a Dick.”

  I noticed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter and put them in my pocket. I walked out from behind the counter and took a closer look at the shotgun. “Did you find any bullets?” I asked. He went back into the room and came back out a moment later with two boxes of shells in his hand. “This is all I could find.” He said. I reached out, took a pair of keys off the wall, and noticed the number seven written on it. “I guess we are in room seven.”

  I pointed my handgun out the door and we walked back outside; Ricky had his shotgun pointed and ready to fire. We walked around the dead woman and went to my car. I opened the back hatch and we started grabbing what we needed and locked everything up. We found room seven and went into our first rest stop on this journey. It was not anything special but I couldn’t be picky at a time like this. I locked the door and we put the dresser and chair in front of it; we were extra paranoid.

  After we each took turns taking a shower I sat on one of the twin beds and lit a cigarette. I looked over at Ricky lying on the other twin bed. “You want a cig man?” I asked. He reached out, took one from the pack, and grabbed a book of matches that were sitting on the small coffee table. I put my gun next to me and noticed Ricky had his shotgun next to him. I started thinking about the woman outside and kept replaying myself shooting her in the face. I could not hold it back anymore and started to cry. I figured Ricky would make fun of me but he did not; he started crying too. It had dawned on us both; life would never be the same.

  Chapter Three

  I was not sure what time it was, but the sun had barely broken over the horizon when I awoke to voices talking just outside our motel room. I jumped out of bed and grabbed my gun. “Ricky, there is someone outside.” I whispered loudly. Ricky quickly jumped up and looked at me confused. I pointed to the large curtain covered window. “There are some people out there.” I said a little louder. Ricky grabbed his shotgun and walked over to me. “What do we do?” He asked in a slight panic.

  I walked as lightly as I could to the window, pulled back a small section of the curtain, and peeked outside. I noticed a muscular person trying to pull open my car door and he looked over at someone I could not see with my limited view. “Help me get in this damn car, we need something fast!” He yelled to his accomplice. I looked at the man’s free hand and noticed he was holding a crowbar. A woman in her late twenties suddenly walked past my window and stood next to the man. She put her hand on her hip. “Just break the damn window!” She yelled. I could tell the man was growing frustrated and he looked at the woman with anger in his expression. “Shut up! ” He whispered loudly and pointed to the decapitated woman I had killed. “someone obviously has a gun.”

  I closed the curtain and looked back at Ricky. “We need to burst out of here with our guns and catch them by surprise.” I whispered. Ricky set his shotgun on the bed and moved the obstacles from the doorway. I grabbed his gun and handed it to him. “Are you ready?” I asked. He pointed his shotgun at the door and nodded his head. I unlocked the door and swung it open. “Freeze!” I yelled violently as we both came running out of the room and pointed our guns at the strangers. The man jumped out of fear and dropped his crowbar and the woman quickly hid behind him. “Oh my god!” The woman cried.

  I stepped closer and aimed my gun at his forehead; my arm was shaking with fear and adrenaline. “Step away from my car or….or I will shoot you.” I said with anger. The strangers slowly backed away and I looked back at Ricky. “Go inside and get our stuff.” I said. Ricky ran into the motel room and started packing our stuff. I pulled out my keys and unlocked the car door. “Please man, we don’t know what’s going on. I just needed a car; mine broke down about a mile from here.” The man said with heavy emotion. The woman peeked from around him and looked at me. “Please don’t shoot us.” She cried. I let out a sigh and walked past them and opened my hatch, I grabbed a couple of bottles of water and the large machete. I handed them to the man and slowly lowered my gun.

  Ricky came out of the motel room, walked cautiously to where I was, and tossed our stuff in the back. I shut the hatch and Ricky and I got in the car. The man looked down at the machete and slid it behind his belt. I started the car and rolled down the window. “That woman was a zombie and that is her truck. The keys are on the desk; I noticed them yesterday.” I said as I put the car in reverse, pulled away, and ended up in the middle of the road, I quickly put it in drive and took off towards whatever was to come next. I looked in the rear-view mirror and noticed the strangers heading towards the office.

  “Damn I need breakfast.” Ricky said suddenly. I looked over at him and laughed. “I could pull over and you can graze in a field.” Ricky punched my arm and rolled his eyes. “Let’s stop at a grocery store and stock up. I put a few items in the backpack but nothing good.” He said slightly frustrated. I nodded and increased the speed a little.

  We drove about thirty minutes and passed the occasional zombie and stranded car. I noticed an exit sign
for one of my favorite stores and started to slow down a little. “We need to rush this, in and out. We will go straight to the camping section and grab a few backpacks, after that you got food and I will search for other supplies.” I said as I turned the car towards the exit ramp. “Sounds good.” Ricky said.

  He reached down on the floorboard, grabbed the box of shotgun shells, and started to load his gun. I stopped the car across the street of the parking lot and looked around for zombies or survivors. We noticed a few cars parked in front of the store and a couple of zombies wondered around aimlessly in front of the entrance. “Oh shit, there are a few zombies coming!” Ricky yelled. I turned my head, looked out his window, and noticed a few zombies limping towards us. I looked at Ricky. “We need to use quite weapons, we can’t attract more of these things.” I said. Ricky turned around, grabbed his metal baseball bat from behind his seat, and nodded.

  We opened our doors and jumped out. The zombies started growling and began to limp faster at us. I reached up, pulled out one of my swords, and held it firmly with both hands. I noticed an old crusted looking zombie wearing a biker outfit stumbled towards Ricky and started swinging its arms. Ricky raised his bat into the air and slammed it onto the zombies head and it fell onto the asphalt. Ricky slammed the bat down a couple more times onto the zombies head and then took a few steps back.

  A scrawny female zombie came up to Ricky’s side and I forced the sword into her throat; dark brown blood started to flow down my blade and I quickly pulled it out and jammed the blade into her open mouth with a violent push. The blade broke out of the other side of her head and I retrieved the blade.

  Ricky got into a batter’s position and swung hard against another zombie’s face and caused brains, blood and bone to erupt from the sudden impact. The zombie fell onto the ground and I leaned against the car to catch my breath. I looked at the end of the road and noticed a few more zombies limping towards us a good half a mile or so. “Let’s go Ricky!” I yelled. Ricky and I jumped back into the car, I drove into the middle of the parking lot, and the zombies near the store’s front entrance turned and started walking towards the car. I put the car in park and turned it off. “Let’s do this!” I yelled. We opened our doors and ran out to the front of the car. I still had my sword in my hand and Ricky stretched his arms out and popped his neck. Before I could say anything Ricky ran towards the Zombies and started smashing the bat onto the tops of their heads. I joined in and started slicing arms and legs; crippling the zombies so they could not fight back. Ricky would then run up and finish them with a heavy hit on the head. After a few exhausting moments, I looked down and noticed we had killed six zombies.

  We cautiously walked to the doors and they slide open. We slowly walked in and looked around. “Backpacks!” I whispered loud enough for Ricky to hear me. He nodded and we ran as lightly on our feet as we could to the back of the store. I noticed a few zombies limping around some of the isles, but their back were to us and we eventually ended up in the camping section. I grabbed a large black backpack and tossed it to Ricky. “Remember; can opener, canned food and water.” I whispered. Ricky put the backpack on his back and looked over at a sporting display. He walked over, grabbed another metal baseball bat, and smiled. He ran silently away with a baseball bat in each hand. I turned around, grabbed a backpack, and unzipped it.

  “Put that down son.” A man’s voice called out from behind me. I turned around and noticed an old gray haired man wearing a store nametag. I noticed he was not a zombie and shook my head. “Mr. you need to get out of here, there are zombies everywhere.” I whispered. The old man shook his head. “Their not zombies…they are just drunk.” He protested.

  I looked at the nametag and noticed it read Manager Tom. I looked at Tom’s eyes. “Listen to me carefully. There are flesh eating monsters in your store and you got to get out of here.” The old man shook his head and started to walk towards the offices at the back of the store. “I am going to call the cops.” He threatened.

  I shook my head and started looking for useful items in the isle. I put a few camping propane tanks, a large package of waterproof matches, a compass, and a small camping stove into the backpack. I ran out of space, put the backpack on, and grabbed a new one to start filling. I was getting ready to leave the isle when I suddenly noticed the guns and ammo display case to my right and stopped. “Hell yes.” I whispered. I ran up to it and noticed the display doors were locked. “Damn!” I mumbled to myself. I thought about the old man and ran to the offices in the back of the store.

  I walked around a few minutes and noticed the manager’s office. I walked up and lightly knocked. “I am calling the police!” Tom yelled from within the locked room. I quickly tried to think of something. “I am not stealing from your store I have lots of money. I just forgot a shopping cart.” I said at the closed door. A few seconds later, the door opened and I pulled my gun out and pointed it at Tom’s head. “I am sorry Tom but I need you to hand over the keys to the gun case.” I demanded.

  Tom raised his hands, walked over to a display of hanging keys, and tossed them on a desk to the side of me. I reached over and picked them up. Tom looked at me through his old scared eyes and slowly lowered his arms. “Just get your damn guns and get the hell out of my store!” He yelled. I shook my head. “You just don’t get it do you. Go ahead and call the damn police, they will not answer.” I said as I turned and walked out of the office. “I will keep the gun case opened for you, when you finally realize what is happening; I suggest you arm yourself.” I called out.

  I walked back to the gun case and unlocked the sliding glass door. I grabbed a 12 gauge, a hunting rifle with a scope and threw as many boxes of ammo as my backpack could carry. I started to turn away and I noticed a metal rack holding up a few black ammo vests. I took off my swords and straps and tossed them in the backpack. I grabbed one of the vests, fastened it tightly around my body, and grabbed another one for Ricky. I picked my backpack up and started running to the food section of the store; the butts of the guns hung out of the top of my dark red backpack.

  I heard Ricky calling out in the distance and my heart started pounding hard against my chest, was he in danger? I ran towards his voice and found him in the cereal isle; he was slowly backing away from two zombies. “Ricky!” I yelled. I knew now that every damn zombie in the entire store knew we were there and I did not care.

  Ricky turned around and ran up to me with his backpack half hanging off his shoulder and a baseball bat in each hand. “Did you get any food?” I asked curiously. He held his bag out. “I got a lot of stuff, and then these jerks showed up.” He said pointing at the approaching zombies. I pointed my gun at one of them and shot him in the head; the loud bang vibrated off the metal ceilings. I held out the black vest and Ricky quickly took off his backpack and put it on. He put his backpack on and I held the red backpack out. “Slip the bats in and take one of those guns. Make sure to load it up with ammo. Then we can run through a few more isles and I will load your backpack with food and you can focus on shooting them. They already know we are here any way.” I demanded.

  I quickly shot the other zombie in the head and Ricky tossed the bats in and pulled out the rifle. He loaded it with ammo and we ran out of the isle and looked at the front doors; there was over a dozen zombies walking into the store. I also noticed a few zombies coming towards us from the clothing section. “Shit!” I yelled. Ricky tossed the remaining box of ammo back into my backpack. “Let’s go.” He said as he held the gun firmly in his hands and walked down the next isle.

  We were in the baking isle and I looked at Ricky. “Stop.” I said. I backed up and I tossed in a few bags of pecans and dried fruit into his backpack. We went to the next isle, I tossed in a few cans of ravioli into his backpack, and we continued to the next isle. I noticed some energy shots and tossed a hand full in the backpack; I knew we would need to be alert after very little sleep.

  We ran down the next isle and noticed a zombie wearing an employee shirt sta
nding on the far end. I reached over and grabbed a large container of coffee and Ricky looked through his gun scope and shot the zombie in the head; causing him to drop on the ground. I was impressed and slapped him on the back. “Good job, I guess all that sniping in our video games had paid off.” I cheered. Ricky smiled and we exited the isle and looked at the front door. “Did you get the can opener?” I asked. Ricky pointed his gun at one of the zombies in the distance and looked through his scope. “You bet I did.” He said just before firing his gun and dropping another zombie.

  I quickly knelt down and refilled my gun with the 9mm bullets I took from the gun case and stood up. I started walking towards the zombies and shot one after another in the head; missing a couple here and there. Ricky dropped a few more zombies, we ran outside and noticed a few hundred zombies in the street, and they were slowly making their way to us.

  I shot a zombie in the head near my car and unlocked it. Ricky and I tossed our bags in the back seat and jumped in. I looked over at the approaching crowd of flesh eaters and shook my head. “Damn, I need to find a way out of here!” I yelled. Ricky reached back, pulled the shotgun out of the backpack, and started loading it. “Open the moon roof!” He demanded. I reached up and pushed the button for the moonroof. Ricky stood up and out of the opening. I started the car and put it in drive. I slowly drove the car towards the zombies and Ricky started firing his shotgun at them, causing blood and debris to fly. Group after group they started to drop. I noticed a clearing in the crowd. “Get back in here!” I yelled. Ricky ducked back into the car and I floored the car towards the opening; thank god, it is a turbo. We ended up hitting a couple of zombies and wound up in a clearing. I got off the exit and hit the old country highway again. Ricky and I cheered loudly as the store vanished in rear-view mirror.