Stay Dead | Book 1 | Wild Undead

by Mortimer, L. C.

  Greta.

  She was Greta.

  I remembered.

  Suddenly, everything came rolling back to me all at once. I remembered the infection. I remembered the yelling. I remembered the blood.

  And I remembered losing Angela.

  “I can’t believe it wasn’t a nightmare,” I muttered, dropping my head into my hands.

  “I’m afraid not,” Greta agreed.

  “Are we moving?”

  “Not on purpose. Not like we have an anchor, though. The way I figure is that we should make a plan before we do anything else.”

  “Can we still see the cruise ship from here?” I asked. I wondered if it had sunk or if it was still floating. When we’d last seen it, the lights had gone off and it was burning. It had actually been set on fire with people still there.

  “No, and that’s a good thing.”

  “Why?”

  “Don’t want any of those creatures coming out to get us,” she shrugged. As if on cue, the banging on top of the boat started again.

  “What are we going to do about that?” I pointed to the top of the boat. “We can’t deal with that much longer.”

  “Oh, it’s not so bad, not once you get used to it,” Greta shrugged. “I’ve dealt with worse.”

  “I haven’t,” I told her honestly. I was younger than her, and I knew I was less experienced, but I also knew that I didn’t really want to keep floating if there was going to be a zombie on top of the lifeboat. I wanted to climb out and kick it off of the top of the boat, and then I wanted to dock somewhere.

  “It’ll be fine,” Greta said. She started rifling around in one of the little containers that was in the lifeboat. “Here. Eat something.”

  Isaiah sat up from the little bench where he’d been sleeping, but didn’t say anything. He silently accepted food from Greta, and I did, too. I didn’t want to think about what we were eating or how old it was. Something told me that we’d be grateful for this food in a few hours once the sun was up higher and bearing down on us.

  I stared at the little packet of crackers in my hand. When I opened it, I realized they weren’t like any crackers I’d ever seen before.

  “These are like, MRE-quality crackers,” Isaiah said, biting into one.

  “MRE?” I asked, staring at the food.

  “Meal ready to eat,” Isaiah said. “They’re pretty popular in the military. My brother loves them.”

  “Your brother’s in the military?”

  “Not anymore.”

  He didn’t say anything else, and I got the vibe that it was a closed topic, so I started eating quietly with my new friends. We finished our breakfast, each had a little bit of water, and then turned the radio on, but there was nothing. Every single channel was silent, which was almost worse than the screaming.

  “Are we sure the radio isn’t broken?” Isaiah asked.

  “It’s not broken,” Greta and I answered together.

  After a bit of talking, we decided it was time to keep trying to find land. We were still out of gas and there wasn’t a spare couple of gallons stored on board. That seemed pretty terrible to me, honestly. What kind of lifeboat didn’t have enough gas to get you to land?

  “There are a couple of oars,” Isiah pointed out. “We could row.”

  “We can row or we can float,” Greta agreed. “There should be land to the west,” she pointed.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Pretty sure,” she told us. “That’s the direction we were headed with the ship when everything happened.”

  So, we were heading for a little island. That would be okay. The island might be fun. There could be fun, interesting people to meet there. There would be a civilization. Who knew? Maybe the virus hadn’t reached the island and we’d all be totally fine once we got there and got settled in.

  “Step one,” I looked over at Isaiah. “We’ve got to get rid of our stowaway.”

  “I’m not afraid to get wet,” Isaiah said, looking out of the little window at the water. “But I bet he is.”

  “Greta, you stay in here,” I started looking for anything I could use as a weapon. Luckily, it wasn’t difficult to find a rather angry-looking knife. That would do nicely.

  “Be careful,” Greta warned me. “Don’t let it touch you or bite you.”

  “I know that,” I said, slightly irritated. “I mean, I kind of fought a couple of these things yesterday.”

  “I know.” Greta didn’t seem bothered by the fact that I was irritated with her condescending comment. “You were amazing, Winter, but this is different. It’s wet. It’s slippery. That thing is probably hungry and probably scared.”

  “I don’t know if zombies feel scared,” Isaiah said slowly.

  “You might be right,” she shrugged. “It’s always better to err on the side of caution, though. Before you go, let’s get you ready.”

  I looked at Isaiah, who nodded.

  “I’ll go if you want,” he told me.

  “No, I want to do this.”

  I was tired of the monster on top of the lifeboat. I was tired of its horrible loud noises and its angry yelling. It had been the bane of my existence ever since we’d escaped from the cruise ship. It was time to say goodbye.

  Greta helped me into a poncho.

  “Better than the life vest I wore yesterday,” I told her. “That thing was so bulky.”

  I wasn’t sure when, but at some point during the night, I’d ditched the life jacket as protection and used it as a pillow. I didn’t really have any desire to put it back on.

  “Just be careful,” Greta told me. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  “Stupid is my middle name,” I told her.

  “It better not be.”

  I nodded and turned to the little door on the side of the lifeboat. It was going to be my saving grace or the thing that killed me, and I wasn’t sure which. I had to climb out of the door and use the railings on top of the lifeboat to hoist myself up there to dispose of Zombie Boy.

  It was time to get started.

  Chapter 12

  Winter

  I LIFTED THE CANVAS cover that seemed to think it was a door. Immediately, I was splashed in the face by a rogue wave. Water got into the lifeboat, and I realized that I needed to hurry so I didn’t completely flood my friends. I hoisted myself out of the door and reached for the top of the lifeboat. Grabbing the wet rail up there, I pulled, trying to lift myself up.

  It was harder than it sounded.

  “I’ll help,” Isaiah offered. Before I could protest, I felt him grabbing my legs and lifting up, which helped a lot. A moment later, I was on top of the lifeboat with the zombie.

  It hadn’t noticed me at first.

  I could see it clearly now, lying on top of the ship. It was on its stomach, hitting the top of the boat. What exactly was it trying to do? The zombie wasn’t trying to eat its way through or anything like that. It was literally just hitting the lifeboat.

  Hit.

  Hit.

  Hit.

  It had been hitting the top of the boat so much that its knuckles and hands were bloody and raw. What the hell had happened to it? Was that what happened if you got infected? Did you go completely crazy and destroy your own body?

  I didn’t want that.

  I didn’t want any of that.

  I caught myself crouching there on top of the boat as I looked at the being before me, but then the zombie noticed me, and it was time to take action.

  “It’s you or me, you ugly mutt,” I told it. “And it’s not going to be me.”

  I stood up and took two steps toward the zombie. Then I kicked it as hard as I could, thinking that would be enough to rid the lifeboat of the zombie. It wasn’t enough, though, because the zombie barely even moved.

  What?

  How was that even possible?

  I tried again, kicking harder, but this time, the zombie reached out and grabbed my ankle, catching me unaware. I fell, dropping hard on my ass. I landed with a t
hud and then a groan. Suddenly, everything hurt. I’d already slept poorly on the rock of a lifeboat, but this was something else entirely.

  “No,” I whispered.

  I wasn’t going to let the monster win. Not during the slowest fight of the year. Not like this. I’d managed to do okay fighting these things yesterday, and I wasn’t going to let today be the day that my fighting skills faded away. I could do this, I knew. I could.

  In the past, I’d been totally fine when it came to fighting things. I could do that again. I thought about the playground fights I’d had as a kid. I’d always been the girl who wasn’t scared to swing at the boys. I’d throw punches when people picked on my friends. I’d thought of myself as “The Defender” and had even called myself that all through middle school.

  Now I had a chance to defend more people.

  I had a chance to protect Greta and Isaiah. They were just as lost on this journey as I was, but we were all going to make it if we just worked together. We had to work together. We had to find land.

  We couldn’t do it with this thing, though. We couldn’t do it with the zombie.

  The zombie groaned and stood. It seemed to have incredibly good balance, and what was worse is that it seemed to move quickly. Weren’t these damn things supposed to be slow? When I’d seen movies or played video games, they were always really slow.

  This one seemed almost sprightly.

  Maybe that was because it was fresh.

  “You aren’t going to win,” I snapped, irritated. I managed to get to my feet just as the creature lunged at me again. This time, I swung harder. My fist connected with the zombie’s belly and it looked down at my hand, as if to see what had happened.

  It didn’t fall.

  I pulled my hand back just as the zombie headed toward me once more. The top of the lifeboat was narrow and small. There was almost no space at all. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to go overboard right along with this thing, and I didn’t know if zombies could swim.

  If they could, I’d be in trouble. I had been an acceptable swimmer in high school, but that was in a swimming pool: not the ocean. Now, I reached both of my hands out and shoved as hard as I could. The zombie went barreling back off the side of the lifeboat. It flew off, flopping into the water with a loud splash.

  I heard cheering coming from inside of the lifeboat. Greta and Isaiah had heard what I’d done, and they were happy. Good. They deserved to be happy. It was a small thing, defeating this gross little zombie, but I felt accomplished and content.

  Then I saw it grabbing the side of the boat, and my heart almost stopped. It wasn’t swimming, but it was hanging on. Apparently, it wasn’t quite the dead weight I’d expected it to be.

  “It’s on the side!” I yelled. I wasn’t sure if Greta or Isaiah would be able to hear me clearly over the crashing sounds of the waves, but I sprawled onto the top of the boat, lying on my stomach, and I reached down with the knife.

  I tried to stab its hands. Once, twice, and then a third time, I shoved the knife toward the creature, but I couldn’t quite reach it.

  “I’ll get it!” Isaiah yelled out from inside the boat, but I was so close. If Isaiah or Greta wanted to help, they’d have to open the canvas door on this side of the boat. The zombie had fallen off the opposite side of the boat from where I’d emerged, which meant it was clawing at the closed canvas on the side it was on now.

  If I could just get a little bit closer, I’d be able to hit it.

  Just a little bit closer.

  I jabbed at the zombie, once more trying to hit it with the knife, but that last strike had been too close. The zombie reached for the knife, wrapping its hand around it, and then tugged, pulling the knife down into the water.

  And me along with it.

  Chapter 13

  Isaiah

  SHE WENT UNDER.

  The moment I heard the sound, I knew what had happened. Winter had booted the zombie overboard and herself along with it.

  “Life preserver!” Greta called out when she realized what I was going to do, but it was too late, and I was too fast.

  “I’m fine,” I yelled, quickly opening the canvas flap that served as a door. It was strangely secure and tricky to open, but as soon as I lifted the flap, I was able to propel myself out of the boat and into the water. I landed hard with a splash, shocked as the cold water covered me.

  And it was cold.

  I should have undressed first or prepared in some way for the ocean waves that were moving all around me, but there had been no time. Winter was just ahead of me, and next to her was the zombie. She had a knife and was swinging at it wildly, but the zombie seemed unbothered and unimpressed by her efforts.

  “Get it!” Winter yelled. “Punch it!”

  She swung, trying to hit it again, but she missed. The zombie, which no longer seemed particularly threatening, waved its arms around. I could no longer tell if it had been a man or a woman yesterday before it became a creature.

  Before it became a monster.

  The zombie’s hair was matted to its face, blocking its eyesight, which was probably a good thing. I didn’t think it could swim. Instead, the zombie seemed to be staying afloat simply because it was waving its arms around so much.

  It had inadvertently figured out how to tread water, and it was staying afloat that way.

  “Kill it!” Winter called out once more. I had nothing to kill the zombie with. I’d jumped in without thinking. All I’d known was that I couldn’t let Winter face this damn thing alone.

  Swimming toward it, I tried to kick the zombie through the water, but the waves seemed to slow my movements down. I tried to get closer to the zombie without allowing the creature to hit me, but it seemed almost impossible.

  “Punch it!” I yelled to Winter once more.

  She move her arm above the waves and tried to stab at the zombie. The creature seemed invulnerable to her attacks, however, and simply kept floating.

  “Give it up,” we heard Greta’s voice. I managed to turn and see her standing there in the little doorway. “Let him drown on his own time.”

  “He’s going to get us if we don’t kill him,” Winter called out.

  “No, he’s weak,” Greta stared at the zombie, who seemed to be listening to what we were saying.

  “He’s stronger than he looks,” Winter yelled, swinging again.

  “Come back to the boat.”

  Greta’s voice was firm, and something about her tone seemed to resonate with Winter because she sighed audibly, but turned back to the tiny boat. Greta looked at me, but I turned back to the zombie.

  No.

  I wasn’t letting this thing get close to us.

  I wasn’t going to wait any longer for it to die.

  It ended now.

  “It’s you and me,” I snapped, yelling at the stupid creature. I wasn’t even supposed to be here. I wasn’t supposed to be in the ocean. I was supposed to be drinking on a cruise ship with my best friends. I was supposed to be partying my heart out.

  Now I couldn’t even see the cruise ship where we’d been only yesterday. I couldn’t see the place where I’d abandoned my friends to die. I wasn’t stupid, though. I knew they were already dead. They were dead or turned, and I wasn’t sure which.

  I wasn’t sure which was worse, either.

  The zombie bounced, still managing to stay afloat in the ocean waves. The water wasn’t as wild as it had been the night before, but it wasn’t exactly calm, either. I’d swam in pools before, not the ocean, so I wasn’t used to dealing with the waves that moved up and down.

  Carefully, ignoring Greta, who was still yelling at me, I swam toward the zombie.

  It had to die.

  “You took everything from me,” I snapped, pissed. I shouldn’t have been talking to it. Obviously, the dumb thing couldn’t understand me. Still, I was filled with a sort of anger I’d never experienced before. Something about seeing it there, just floating along, made me hate it.

  The damn t
hing seemed so carefree.

  It had spent the evening banging on the top of our boat, hitting the hard plastic with its hands. If it had been smart, it would have attacked the canvas door covers and crawled in, but it hadn’t been smart. It had been repetitive.

  Now it was my turn to remind this creature just what being human really meant.

  What being human meant to me was being clever, so that’s what I did.

  I swam over to it. The zombie made a strange sound, almost a gurgling noise, and tried to reach out and grab me.

  “No dice,” I said. I positioned myself so my feet were toward the zombie. Then I curled up into a ball on my side, making my body as small as it could be, and then I pushed out.

  Both of my feet connected with the zombie’s head. It jerked backward, falling back into the water, finally sinking beneath the waves. I stayed there, waiting to make sure it was really gone. A moment passed, and then another.

  It didn’t grab my ankle.

  It didn’t pull me beneath the water.

  It really was gone.

  “That’s enough now,” Greta yelled. I turned to see her standing there with her hands on her hips. She was mad that I hadn’t listened to her, but I didn’t care very much. She wasn’t my mom, my wife, or my own grandmother. She wasn’t in charge of me.

  “Come on,” Winter called, waving me back. She was standing beside Greta. Somehow, the two of them were side-by-side, hanging out of the narrow doorway. Winter was soaked, and now Greta was, too.

  “I’m coming,” I called, and I swam back to them. I was only about ten feet from the boat, but it seemed like an eternity as I swam back toward them. Kicking my legs, I very much regretted not taking off my shoes before I had dived into the water.

  I was almost at the boat when I felt it.

  I was almost at the boat, claiming my freedom, when the monster under the water finally grabbed me.

  The zombie’s hand wrapped around my ankle, and I screamed. Winter and Greta both seemed to pale as they realized what was happening, but I was done with this fight. I wasn’t letting the stupid monster win.