The Creeping Dead: Book 2

by Edward P. Cardillo

  Satisfied, Lenny placed his hands on his hips and nodded. “See, cowboys!”

  Robbie and Tyrell sat down on the couch. Robbie was watching the movie, but Tyrell kept glancing in the direction of the dining room, which was now out of view.

  Billy sauntered over to Lenny and leaned in, as if to intimate something private. “Lenny, you saw what I saw.”

  Lenny waved a dismissive hand. He didn’t want to think about the bite mark and what it meant.

  “Don’t you shush me,” said Billy. “I don’t think the old lady or Mrs. Chief even noticed it. You have to tell them.”

  Lenny shook his head. “No, it’ll be all r-r-right.”

  Tyrell looked up at Lenny, looking perplexed, wondering who he was talking to. Lenny smiled at him, and Tyrell looked back at the television, continuing to shoot the occasional glance in the direction of the dining room.

  “No it won’t be all r-r-r-right,” pressed the ghost of Billy, mocking Lenny’s stutter.

  “Stop making fun of me,” muttered Lenny so that it was barely audible. “And you’re g-g-going to scare the k-k-kids.”

  Billy, exasperated, shook his head. “You know what’s going to scare the kids? When the good doctor turns and tries to fucking eat them.”

  Lenny shook his head and whispered, “That’s not going to h-h-happen. Not this t-t-time.”

  “Lenny, he’s going to hurt everyone. What kind of a shit show superhero are you if you let that happen?”

  “He’s helping Dr. Tara.”

  Billy was now standing directly in front of Tyrell, but Tyrell paid no mind, as he didn’t see him. He continued to look through him at the television. “Right now, he is. But, what is he going to do when he turns into one of them monsters?”

  Lenny considered this for a moment. Was it true that neither Mrs. Chief nor Mrs. Holly noticed the bite mark on Dr. Potts’s upper arm? Maybe he did have to say something.

  The ghost of Billy was now dressed as a cowboy, frilly sleeves and all, doing his best John Wayne. “You know what you have to do, pilgrim.”

  Lenny swallowed hard and nodded. Billy was right. He had to tell Mrs. Chief. He turned to Tyrell and Robbie. “I’ll be right back.”

  He walked through the living room and back into the archway of the dining room. He saw Dr. Potts placing pads on Dr. Tara’s stub. They were wet and sticky, as if turning to gel. Mrs. Holly was standing to the side with tweezers in her hand. On the table in front of her was a folded paper towel, stained red, with bloody bits of something on it. The scene caused Lenny to freeze in the archway, fighting back nausea.

  Mrs. Chief looked over at him, and she pursed her lips. “Lenny, what are you doing?” She marched over to him and shoved him out of the room. “I told you to stay out. You need to keep the kids calm.”

  “Mrs. Chief, I-I-I’m sorry.”

  Hearing the sincerity of his apology, she softened. He was about to say something else, but she cut him off. “It’s okay.” She squeezed his arm. “I know you’re worried about Tara.”

  “Yes, but…”

  “We all are. I promise that I’ll let you guys know what’s going on, but now’s not the time.”

  “B-b-but, Mrs. Chief…”

  “No ‘buts,’ Lenny. Stay in the living room.”

  Lenny nodded and put his head down. He walked back into the living room as Mrs. Chief returned to the dining room.

  Tyrell was studying Lenny’s face. “What’s wrong, Lenny?”

  Lenny wanted to tell somebody about the bite mark, but Tyrell was just a kid. He was tasked with keeping them occupied and calm. If he told Tyrell about the bite mark, it would frighten him. Lenny didn’t want to frighten Tyrell.

  Lenny shrugged. “Nothing. Everything’s ok-k-kay.” He gave one of his signature thumbs up. His performance seemed to do the trick, as Tyrell drew his attention back to the television.

  Lenny stood there, smiling, but dying a thousand deaths on the inside. He didn’t know what to do.

  “Good job, Lenny,” chided Billy. “Now you’re all going to get eaten alive.”

  In the dining room, Lenny heard a cell phone ring and then Mrs. Chief’s voice. “Hello? Nancy? My God, where are you?” Mrs. Chief stepped out of the dining room and into the kitchen. “Are you okay? Yes, I’m in a safe place…yes, Robbie, my neighbor, Lenny Krueger, and Tyrell Bigelow are all with me…his mother’s hurt really bad…we found a doctor who’s working on her now…uh huh…yep…sure…I can call him…wait, even better, here’s the number. You can speak to him yourself. So we’re not playing a game of telephone…are you ready?...”

  Lenny heard her read off a bunch of numbers. He recognized it to be a phone number, but he didn’t know whose number it was.

  “Okay…okay…yes…great.” Mrs. Chief must’ve hung up, because when she entered the living room, she was shoving her cell phone into her shorts pocket.

  She addressed Lenny and the kids, managing a smile. “Good news.” They all looked up at her, expectant. “That was Nancy from Blackbeard’s Pier. She’s actually at Marco’s Pizza on the boardwalk. She’s okay, and she’s with Vinnie, Dharma, and a whole bunch of people. They made it out okay.”

  Lenny, Tyrell, and Robbie all smiled at this morsel of good news. At least there was something positive. Lenny had, for the moment, forgotten the looming threat in the dining room, a ticking undead time bomb waiting to go off.

  Billy shook his head in disapproval, but he was quickly distracted by Mrs. Chief’s legs. He wolf-whistled and shook his head. “Damn, Mrs. Chief, if I wasn’t goddamned imaginary…”

  Chapter 14

  Chief Holbrook was hanging out the rear window of the police cruiser popping off shots at the trail of zombies they had rounded up. Martinez crept down the Main Street, going slow enough for the staggering dead to keep up, but fast enough to keep them trailing behind.

  As dead emerged from their flanks, Pacelli would run interference in his police cruiser, and Becky hung out the back window taking shots. Across the back seats of both vehicles were extra clips and ammunition.

  Holbrook had run out of ammo and ducked back inside the car to reload when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, expecting it to be Lena. “Hello?…Nancy? …uh huh…Where are you?...” Martinez turned around to look at Chief.

  Holbrook sat down, keeping his eye on the dead through the rear window. “…uh huh…yeah…we’re working on thinning their numbers…okay, we can do that…yep…bye.” He hung up his cell.

  Martinez looked at him in the rearview mirror. “Chief?”

  “That was Nancy Rizzuto. She’s at Marco’s Pizza with a bunch of survivors. She said Marie Russo has weapons at her house, and they want to help, but there are too many dead.”

  Confused as to why Holbrook had stopped shooting, Pacelli called Martinez on the radio. “What’s going on? Are you guys okay?”

  Holbrook waved a hand, indicating that he wanted Martinez to hand him the radio. Martinez passed it back to him.

  “Pacelli, slight change of plans. We have a bunch of survivors holed up in Marco’s who want in on the action. We need to provide a diversion so they can get out and get to some weapons.”

  “Chief?”

  “Marie Russo has a stash in her house, and frankly, we need all the help we can get right now. Follow my lead.”

  “Roger that, Chief.”

  Holbrook dropped the radio and pointed ahead over Martinez’s right shoulder. “Make a left on Mariner Avenue. That’ll put us two blocks away from Marco’s. Then we’ll turn onto Surf and round up some zombies and lead them away.”

  “Got it,” said Martinez.

  He turned left onto Mariner, and the dead followed.

  Holbrook marveled at how they just followed the car like lemmings, wondering if it was the flashing lights or the sirens. Or maybe both.

  Any that tried to branch off from the herd or flank them were swiftly taken out by Pacelli and Becky.

  As they turned left onto Surf,
Martinez gasped as he saw the abandoned police barricade. “Jesus.”

  Some of the cars even still had their lights flashing. There was blood spatter on the car windows, and guns littered the asphalt.

  “Where are the bodies?” asked Martinez.

  Then, almost as if in response, zombies poured out from the boardwalk ramps and in between buildings. Scattered amongst them were half-eaten, reanimated cops.

  “There’s your answer,” said Holbrook. “Wait a minute…” He looked out the window as zombies began to approach from all sides, pounding on the car and pressing up against the car windows like rabid fans swarming the limo of a rock star.

  Holbrook pulled out his cell phone. He redialed Nancy. “Hello…Nancy…listen, we’re right in front of Marco’s…you don’t need to go to Marie’s…there are plenty of weapons on the ground…yes…uh huh…we could use a few more cars…you’ll need a driver and a shooter in each…right…creep and shoot…we can divide and conquer…that’s right…okay…bye.” He hung up and shoved his cell back in his pocket.

  “What now, Chief?”

  “We’re going to lead as many of these zombies away from Marco’s, and we’re going to get more back up. If we can split them up and take them out, we might actually have a chance of clearing Smuggler’s Bay.”

  Martinez nodded. “Fuckin’ A.”

  *

  Nancy stood up and addressed the room. “Okay, I just spoke with Chief Holbrook. He needs pairs of drivers and shooters to operate abandoned police vehicles. He said there’re plenty of guns lying all over the ground. They could use the back up.”

  “I could drive,” volunteered Vinnie. He was a car guy, and he always wanted to drive a police cruiser.

  “Me, too,” said Marco. When Vinnie looked at him, Marco shrugged. “There’s no way I’m letting you go out there alone.”

  “Me neither,” said Dharma. “I’ll drive, too.”

  “No, you’re not,” said Emily. “There’s no way. You’re staying in here where it’s safe.”

  “That’s the point,” said Dharma. “It’s not going to be safe. Not unless we try and take the town back.”

  “I’m not crazy about you two going out there either,” said Maggie to Marco and Vinnie.

  “We don’t have a lot of time to argue this,” said Nancy. “Dharma’s right. Okay, now we need three shooters.”

  “I’ll do it,” said Marie.

  “Me, too,” offered Salvatore.

  Emily expected Marie to protest, but Marie didn’t.

  Marie nodded. “That a boy, Sal.”

  Emily couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Marie! You’re okay with your son going out there?”

  Marie shrugged. “He’s a good shooter. He’s been to the range. I’d rather he help out than wait in here to be a hot lunch.”

  Emily threw up her hands in exasperation. “I don’t believe this. Everyone’s lost their damned minds.”

  Nancy raised her right hand. “I’ll be the third shooter. The chief said he’s passing by now, so we’ve got to move fast. Drivers, grab the first available squad car you can find. Shooters, pick up as many guns as we can.”

  “Wait a minute.” Marco walked over to the closet in back and opened the door. He pulled out three pizza delivery pouches. “We can shove a bunch of guns in these.”

  “Good idea,” said Nancy. “Okay, let’s get ready.”

  Emily hugged her daughter. “Please, Dharma. Don’t go out there.”

  “I have to,” said Dharma softly. “Besides, I can’t let Vinnie go out there alone.”

  “He has his father with him,” insisted Emily, pleading.

  “Marie and Vinnie both risked their lives to help me save you and Dad. I can’t not help them now.”

  “Let her go,” said Ira softly. “She’s right.”

  Emily realized that she had lost the argument. She squeezed Dharma one last time. “You be careful out there.”

  Dharma smiled. “I will.”

  *

  Holbrook leaned forward, reached over the seat, and picked up the radio. “Pacelli, come in.”

  “Roger, Chief. There’re too many of them here.”

  “Tell Becky to stay inside the car. We’re just leading them away. Some of the survivors are going to grab some cruisers and join us. Divide and conquer.”

  “Roger, Chief.”

  They pulled away from Marco’s, pushing their way through the swarm of zombies that hovered around both cars like a cloud. Holbrook looked out the back window, and he pulled out his cell. He dialed Nancy again. She picked up.

  “Okay, you should be clear.”

  *

  Vinnie and Marie were at the front of the queue lined up by the back door of Marco’s. Behind them were Dharma and Nancy, and then Marco and Salvatore. Marco and Vinnie cleared the boxes away from the door.

  “Remember,” said Nancy, “drivers will grab a police car. The shooters will grab as many guns as they can.”

  Everyone nodded.

  Marco called over Maggie. “You close and lock this door behind us. You don’t open it up for anyone.”

  Maggie nodded. “Got it.”

  Marco kissed her and pushed the door open, and the three pairs dashed out. There were a few straggling dead lumbering around. When they saw the people dash out, one of them shrieked. They all began to converge on the survivors.

  Vinnie, Dharma, and Marco all dashed for the nearest police cars, tugging on the driver door handles. Vinnie’s and Dharma’s were open, the engines left running.

  The first squad car Marco tried was locked. He ran down past Vinnie’s and Dharma’s and found one that was unlocked. He slid into the driver’s seat and found the keys in the ignition. He prayed and turned the key. The car started. “Thank Christ.”

  Marie, Nancy, and Salvatore scrambled to pick up guns, shoving them into red Marco’s Pizza delivery pouches.

  One of the dead got a little too close for comfort to Marie, and she plugged it in the head. Nancy and Salvatore were able to dodge the others, narrowly avoiding bloody projectile vomit, holding up the large pouches as shields.

  Salvatore smiled at a zombie, an old man with tattered clothes, his pants torn off and his penis wagging in the wind. He flipped it the bird.

  “Stay focused,” snapped Marie. “Stop fucking around.”

  Salvatore wiped the smile from his face. He picked up a shotgun, cocked it, and fired point-blank into the bottomless zombie’s face, exploding its head off its shoulders.

  Vinnie, Dharma, and Marco flipped the lights on their pilfered cars. After they had gathered enough weapons and ammo, the three shooters paired up with their drivers.

  Marco took off first, followed by Vinnie, and then Dharma. Marco got on the radio. “Chief Holbrook, this is Marco Cantone. We’re rolling. Over.”

  There was a pause, and then the radio crackled. “Very good. Everyone accounted for with all their fingers and toes?”

  “Yes, Chief.”

  “Good. We’re going to lead them back around in front of the police station. I want one of you down a side street facing the opposite direction. When we bring them by, hit the sirens and draw some away. This isn’t a race. Creep and shoot. Take out as many as you can.”

  “Got it,” said Marco.

  “Roger that,” said Vinnie.

  “I’m on it,” said Dharma.

  Marco, being out in front, turned down Ocean Ave. Vinnie turned down Bay Street, and Dharma took off down Cove Street. Meanwhile, Salvatore, Marie, and Nancy were in their respective back seats dumping their guns out of the pizza delivery pouches and onto the back seats. They began sizing up their stash, assessing their ammo situation.

  When the drivers each made it to the end of their side streets, they each made three-point U-turns and faced the other direction, backing up so that the trunks of their cars were jutting out a little onto the boulevard in front of the police station.

  Vinnie looked in the rearview mirror and saw a scraggly old man
on the roof of the police station with a sniper rifle.

  Marco saw it too. He got on the radio. “We’re in position, Chief. There’s a man with a rifle on the roof of the police station. He doesn’t look like one of yours.”

  “Roger that,” said Chief. “That’s our sniper. We’re coming around, passing in front of the CVS. About to make a left onto Main Street. When we pass by, hit the lights and sirens and start creeping up your streets. Some of them should break off and follow you.”

  “Everyone got that?” asked Marco.

  “Yup,” said Vinnie.

  “Got it,” said Dharma.

  They waited, engines running.

  *

  Vinnie checked his gas tank. The car had been left running, so it was half full. He hoped he wouldn’t have to stop for gas. He got on his radio. “Everyone check their gas. Mine’s half-empty.”

  “You would be a half-empty kinda guy,” quipped Dharma. “I’m going to say that I’m half-full.”

  “I’m at three-quarters,” said Marco.

  Vinnie turned to Marie. “Are you ready?”

  Marie smirked. “I was born ready, Vincenzo.” She held up a police pistol. “Just don’t get nervous and take off too fast. We need to keep them close so I can get some headshots.”

  “Got it,” said Vinnie. “I’ll keep ‘em close.” He was glad he paired off with Marie. She was a genuine bad ass. He felt confident having her as his shooter.

  Holbrook came creeping up Main Street with his trail of undead lemmings behind him.

  “Here we go,” said Vinnie.

  Marie lowered her back window. She stuck the top half of her body out. There was a zombie ambling out from behind a few garbage cans, toppling them over. It saw Marie and staggered over to her, reaching out for her.

  “Look out!” said Vinnie.

  “I see him,” said Marie, her voice calm and casual.

  It was a pregnant woman, but her skin was bloated and green. Her abdomen was torn open, and there was a zombie infant hanging out, raccoon eyes, swiping its hand. The sounds it made were indescribably horrific.